It’s Time for ALL of Us to Step Up to The Plate

When I was a mere tot I lived in a tiny one bathroom, non-air conditioned “airlight” row home in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia. WWII had just ended and the men, and a few women, were returning from the War Zones in Europe and Asia. It was a very hot summer. Air conditioning, as I said, was not yet common, and most people sat on folding chairs on the sidewalks in the evening hours to escape the heat.

Normally the parents and young kids were the first to get up and head indoors to the “saunas.” The returned veterans often would sit outside much later in the evening. Ultimately their discussions would involve the War and their individual experiences. Frequently my parents would let me sleep on the lawn (slightly larger in size than a ping pong table) of our home on “C” Street. When this occurred I would listen to them laugh and retell their own experiences endlessly.

Often, as the hour grew later, things would get serious. In a sense I now understand that it was like “group therapy.” Lou Gave told how he had been on two ships that had been sunk by Kamikaze aircraft off of Okinawa. Tony Luca had been blown out of two Sherman tanks while battling under Patton. Still another member of the group told how he had been shot down over the Pacific during the Battle for Guadalcanal. Len Wagner had enlisted in the Marine Corps when he was just sixteen and had “island hopped” until they dropped the Bomb. Skinny Sunny complained that he spent the War “stateside.” On occasion they would mention Asa Pulenski and Kenny Kaplan, guys in the neighborhood, who did not return to share their experiences.

There were more tales to be told, but I was very young and usually fell asleep long before their marathon sessions ended. But this I know, these men, despite the humor, the jokes, the tall tales and the kidding, had been scared … perhaps petrified is a better word … by what they had experienced. The later the hour, the more their real fear was exposed. Still they had done what had to be done.

Later in life, with the advent of maturity, I came to realize that to a man, they had stayed the course because they were defending their families, their nation and their way of life from vicious enemies. They did what they had to do (and sometimes what they did not want to do) because they saw little, if any, other course of action. So many of these “non heroes” literally marched into the jaws of hell to do what had to be done. And the ones that survived the nightmare returned to a most appreciative nation.

I start my column this month with this prelude because unlike the threat posed by the Germans or the Japanese, I believe our greatest enemy today is not China or Russia or even ISIS. Our greatest danger, in this humble writer’s opinion, is from within.
I fear the numerous minorities and their manipulation of our legislature and executive branches of government. I fear the judicial system the most. I also fear the press. The three branches of government institutions and the “fourth estate” are more of a threat to our way of life, in my opinion, than any external threat we face. Pardon me for saying this, but at times I view these organizations as the “Anti-Christ.” Much that is legal sure as hell is not moral or ethical… at least not in today’s world.

So despite warnings from friends and readers alike, who fear challenging what is occurring in our great land, I choose to write. I choose, at times, to use this tiny publication as a vehicle to urge as many as possible to stand up for what they believe. Fight back. Fight back like many of our parents and grandparents did in the past. Fight back, despite apprehension. The America that is rapidly disappearing needs all of our help.

While I am not opposed to gay marriage, I believe it is a monstrous miscarriage of justice that a young baker can be fined $135,000 for merely saying she would not bake a wedding cake for a gay couple… IF ASKED … because it violates her religious convictions. (The gay wedding violates her religious convictions.) Something is wrong.

While I am not opposed to immigration, something is “rotten in Denmark” when people can just pour into our nation, uncontested, and many cities defy the federal government only to become “sanctuary cities” for illegal criminal aliens.

While I am not in favor of stopping women from having abortions in their FIRST trimester, something is not right when a doctor is threatened with the loss of his or her license because he or she refuses to perform abortions on women in their third trimesters. And when people who receive taxpayer-funding can legally sell parts of fetuses with impunity… something is horribly wrong.

But it doesn’t end there. Did you know that in Oregon children can get taxpayer-funded sex changes without the knowledge of or permission of their parents? Something is really %#@ wrong. And when twelve year olds in the state of Washington can get taxpayer-funded birth control devices without the knowledge or consent of their parents … we have a real problem. At least I think we have a problem.

So I sit home and watch these endless horrors unfold on TV or read about them in the large number of dailies we receive. I just shudder. How in the hell can this insanity really be happening in this nation!

Recently I read about a man in Montana petitioning the Court for the right to marry his mistress who he loves as much as his wife. And the Obama Administration has just altered the path to citizenship so that new, naturalized Americans can refuse to serve in the armed forces without even stating why!

The horrors just go on and on. And increasingly fewer people are even willing to discuss these nightmares. They are both afraid and feel that they have no control of the insanity that is taking over the Land. Many have stopped listening or even caring. They really have “turned off.”

A lot of people see clearly the retribution society, the government and the press places upon objectors. Many believe that since they can’t change anything why should they bother to stick out their chins.

I can’t live with this view. It’s not my nature. I will continue to fight back and have decided to launch my own campaigns where possible.

What can little Al do to effectively protest?

I’ll take one issue at a time and promote that view through action. Perhaps others who wish not to lead but are willing to follow, to spread the word … will urge others to follow suit.

So I have begun “my” tilting windmills … one at a time. I am “avoiding” San Francisco. The government of this city by the Bay should be made to understand that their weird, dangerous, illegal, illogical and cavalier actions are harming ALL, legal and illegal, who reside in America. Until the city changes its policies as a Sanctuary City I will not visit the city, attend any conventions or other social activities they house. Nor will I purchase any products that are manufactured in the city. I have notified my travel agent that I don’t even want to be routed through their airport.

These types of actions are not original. They are strategies I learned from the NAACP and they seem to obtain their objectives.

Perhaps others who read this agree and will pass it on. Maybe others will begin to do things such as I am doing or launch their own plans to protest. It’s time for all concerned citizens to fight back. “Not trying” is not an option for me. And perhaps, it’s not yours. I hope so. Let all “non heros” start tilting windmills together so they actually fall, for real.

Allen Herman
Your opinions are always welcomed.
uptightsuburban@aol.com