The Art of Anger Management
By Joe King

"In certain trying circumstances, urgent circumstances, desperate circumstances, profanity furnishes a relief denied even to prayer." 
-- Mark Twain

From the "Edge of the West" something wicked this way comes. "Under God or no under God, isn't it a little bizarre, even a little bit creepy, in 2002, to still be commanding rooms full of 6 and 7 year olds to stand in unison, hands on hearts, pledging allegiance to a flag, nurturing a nationalistic and religious fervor that gets this planet into trouble time after senseless time?"

Ron Scott Smith tries to hide his hatred of the last vestige of morality left in our public schools by tying it to a litany of name calling by AM radio personalities. From his blow-by-blow descriptions of programming from sun up to sun down, I suspect he is as avid a fan as I -- "methinks he doth protest too much."

Let me mangle another quote: "Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it." When President Eisenhower led the movement to add those linchpin words, "under God," it was fresh on the heels of his victory against the antichrist Hitler as "General" Eisenhower -- Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces that, yes, Virginia, saved the ass of the free world. A no-small task that would not have been necessary had Adolph not been enabled by the PC prophets of the time.

Is it REALLY not generally known that the Indiana Jones franchise of swashbuckling US agents pitted against occultic Nazis is based in fact?

Did you NOT read Tolkien's Lord of the Rings in high school -- or somehow missed those badly pedicured Hobbits this past Christmas in the theaters?

How IS it that by fact or fiction -- or even fiction based on fact, that someone can stand by while the dust is still settling from the wreckage of the twin towers -- with his finger in his nose, and remain ignorant that we are in the midst of a life and death battle between what is good and what is evil? Perhaps the last battle.

I usually reserve my disdain and sarcasm for venting through the comics page, (and even as I venture forth here in writing I am crippled by the nonuse of all those names Smith cried foul on) but great oogily boogily man! Have you lost your mind? Or just your cajones? We have poison dripped in our ears daily by the hypnotic media voices that attempt to paralyze us with the lies that we are impotent, vulnerable and helpless while the next attack is inevitable and unforeseeable -- all the while our enemies are whooping it up bigger than Tony Robins at an AMWAY convention. Ask your friendly neighborhood mosk member if he feels empowered or not.

Whether we are parents or not -- as adult citizens, we have duties that pertain to our young ones. Courage. Resolve. Faith. Allegiance. These are but a few that no child will grasp without a role model. To teach them peace, mercy and how to beat swords into plowshares are the rewards and privilege of living in safety. A safety that would never exist should more people like Smith have their way.

Oh, I suppose it's more fashionable these days to burn the Flag than salute it. More chic to backbite those that defend us than stand beside them. More easy even to believe in nothing than in something. But if the Smiths of the world have their way, it won't be "nothing" that you get. It will be a "something." And it will be something far sadder than we can imagine -- not a nation any longer, not even a society, but merely a population, where even the faith of a child is nowhere to be found.

The never-ending battle for Truth, Justice, and the American Way rages on friends. It's time to get in the game. Lift up your voices, lace up your boots and NEVER leave the house without girding your loins!
The heroes we have created for entertainment are the avatars for our time. Channel one for goodness sake. We have all been afraid at one time or another. You can either listen to the voice of your inner-coward or unleash Captain America. It's up to you. How will you train your child to dress themselves? Will they put on a burka -- or a Superman's cape?

"As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." We just happen to serve the Lord in white Stetsons, blue jeans and very sharp spurs.

Rooms full of 6 and 7 year olds, standing in unison, hands on hearts, pledging allegiance to The Flag; may it ever be so!

Copyright 2002. Joe King. All Rights Reserved.