Turning Rats Into Cats ...by Bill Knell

We all experience things in our lives that stick in our heads and refuse to leave. As a child growing up in the 1960s I, like many, had a Dad who was a World War Two Veteran.

During one quiet weekend in our house I came in for lunch and saw my father staring intently at the television set in our living room. My mother was nervously busy. She was doing things that probably could have been put off, while listening intently to the radio.

Being an only child, I was always very closely in tune with my parents and what they were feeling. It was obvious that something had upset them greatly and each was reacting in their own way.

The television screen flashed images of what appeared to be a small U.S. Navy Ship. It was the USS Pueblo, a ship designed to electronically spy on North Korea by listening for radio signals, code transmissions and the like.

Though the ship proved to be operating well into International Waters, North Korean gunboats quickly surrounded the Pueblo and demanded surrender. During the time there was a chance to send help, the same disorganized group (headed by President Johnson) who brought us the Vietnam mess could not decide what to do. In the end, the Pueblo was seized and it's crew became POWs.

My father and many of his Veteran friends were in a state of disbelief over all this. More so, as the POWs were paraded before the International Press. As always, the Washington crowd did nothing. Though the POWs evenually came home, the Pueblo was made the flagship of the North Korean Navy!

I think that was the first time that my dad and his veteran friends truly understood the depths to which our government had begun to sell out to popular opinion and politicians who thought that they could achieve peace through compromise.

My father spent the rest of the day sitting quietly at our picnic table writing an essay to himself. He never got over the Pueblo incident. For me, it was just the first of many sad situations during which my government would betray itself, it's people and it's military.

During World War Two, a woman who worked all day in a factory making the things our troops needed to wage war against tyranny would often donate her rest hours to serving donuts and providing friendly conversation to troops visiting local USO clubs. In doing this she felt as much a part of the War Effort as a troop on the front lines of combat, and rightfully so!

America during World War Two was a team effort. Though everything in our nation was far from perfect and the ugly spectre of discrimination still existed in our society, there was a clear enemy and clear objective.

Today, the Congressional Control Freaks seek to divide and conquer the American People and replace our Constitution with a Socialist, utopian dream State that never has and never will work.

We are no longer all Americans. Instead, we are African Americans, White Americans, Oriental Americans, Hispanic Americans. Non-deaf Americans threaten the deaf culture. Blind Americans are put upon by seeing Americans. And so on.

Those who threaten us are no longer Red China, the Communist Vietnamize or Castro's Cuban Dictatorship. Today, it's the free state of Taiwan, Cuban Refugees and former South Vietnamize who are the enemies of our democracy. After all, if not for them we would certainly have normal relationships with China, Cuba and Vietnam.

Your enemy is not your fellow American, it's the Cowards of the Congress and political party puppets who seek to gain control over you. Poor American, if only you could see that you simply are not smart enough to make important decisions for yourself! THEY know what is best for all of us.

Justification for the loss of rights is made in the name of children, controlling crime and health care costs. Are children better off? Is there less crime? Is health care cheaper? Beware that slippery slope. I believe that in the not too distant future they will tell you how old you can get, how fat, how smart or dumb.

Yes, they have found the old Communist tools of divide and conquer and absolute control at any cost still work really well. They have turned Rats into Cats and Cats into Rats. Soon no one will know what good or bad is, just situation ethics. But by then they will control it all and make all those decisions for you, anyway.

Use your vote while you still have one and your conscience before they take that from you as well.