The Audacity of Entitlement

The Obama book title should have been a red flag.

Au*dac"i*ty\, n. 1. Daring spirit, resolution, or confidence; venturesomeness.

2. Reckless daring; presumptuous impudence; -- implying a contempt of law or moral restraints.

I think it is part naivety and part apathy that draws poll respondents to Obama. The ignorance of some and the apathy of others is irritating at best, but I can only pray that the apathetic just remain apathetic and home, and the ignorant become arrogant in their victory and stay away from the polls. I can’t bring myself to believe that this is the undoing of America. I saw some clues during Katrina and the rants and fists of those victims. Yes it was a tragedy, yes we as Americans should pour out our hearts and jump in, but the audacity of raising your fist to America and demanding our president, our people, our country to do something. What a difference from the floods in Iowa or the Tsunami in Indonesia. How can there be ‘fist raising’ after a natural disaster, or worse, in New Orleans, the failure of the local government to spend the money to shore up the levees. Fist Raising shows their audacity!

I was embarrassed for President Bush and everyone down the chain of command as they fell over themselves to get aid to the area. They admitted guilt in their actions rather than demand an investigation into the levees and the local money trail that put the town at risk. The clouds hadn’t even retreated and the government is passing out ATM cards to anyone that asked. It’s really quite amazing. I was trying to think of the Americans that impressed me as a child, and I can’t imagine they would ever have stood in line for those cards, let alone raise a fist at the government.

Our American sponsor families weren’t overly fond of the government either, but they wanted less of government, not handouts, and they surely wouldn’t have blamed the ‘government’ for their misfortune. Where does that mentality come from? It’s not a black thing, or a southern thing and it’s not a poor thing. This is an entitlement thing, an audacious thing! That’s ‘audacity’ at its worst isn’t it? Raising your fist and shouting that help didn’t arrive fast enough. I didn’t see the good people of the Midwest or Galveston raising their fists when they were flooded out. I didn’t see the earthquake or tsunami survivors raising fists at the government after their tragedies? What makes Katrina victims different…audacity!