FROM THE TOP
LELAND ACKER chreporter@mediactr.com
Happy Independence Day! This is the day that we celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. I remember when I was a child, there were patriotic festivities everywhere. I remember a nation that was proud to be American.

Sadly, I feel like this national pride is fading. Sure, this year, there will be parades, marching bands and fireworks. Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the U.S.A." will be played on radio stations nationwide. However, tomorrow morning, everything will be right back to normal.

Cindy Sheehan, along with several other anti-war protesters, have stated that they don't even recognize their country anymore.

Televangelists and religious right commentators proclaim that America has turned her back on God and will suffer His wrath if she doesn't repent.

Our leaders in Washington are too busy playing political chess to worry themselves with the well-being of the country. Funding and support for our troops fighting overseas is now a political game.

Our country is in a malaise. We aren't committed to finishing what we started in Iraq. We don't even want to be there anymore.

Where is our national pride? Where are our victories? Where is the vision of our leaders? Where is "the Great Society?" Where have all the cowboys gone?

Are things as bad as they seem? Of 'course not!

We tend to look back on the past with rose-colored glasses. Even back in America's golden age, the 1950s, we had our share of problems and set-backs. Remember the beginning of the arms race, the Cold War, polio and the Korean War?

The 1960s featured a vehement anti-war movement and counterculture, not to mention several key assassinations, including John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Then, there were two Darren's on "Bewitched."

What about the gasoline crises, recession, political scandals and military woes of the 1970s?

The 1980s brought AIDS, crime and Mt. St. Helens.

So why do things seem so bad today? Two reasons. First, we've romanticized the past. Second, our national leadership (Republican and Democrat, White House and Congress) is lacking.

Go and live in another country. You will find that America is still a beacon of freedom, a nation that still captures the hearts and dreams of people worldwide.

I am still proud to be American. Happy Independence Day. Thank you veterans.