These Are the Times

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” --Thomas Paine In these times, I no longer feel comfortable in my own skin. I am, fighting an inner-mind battle, becoming more cynical, skeptical, and saddened by the crisis of this present generation with whom I cannot identify. In the America I knew, the America of my youth, no one would have seriously considered challenging the will of fellow-Americans at the ballot box ... to breach the hallowed halls of Congress would have been unconscionable ... no, unthinkable! The America I knew, the America of law and order would hold the offender accountable, irregardless of high station, would never countenance incitement to riot against our democracy itself. The tyranny of our time is, apparently, mob rule. As Paine said, “...like hell, [it] is not easily conquered;” But conquer we must if we are to restore order, if we are to become, once again, the America we know and love.