R.I.P.

Ladies and Gentlemen, friends and neighbors, fellow Countrymen. It is with great sorrow that I appear before you today, for today we bid farewell to a great lady. Although I only knew her for a short period, I was able to recognize her greatness, in truth; I was able to recognize the greatness she had in her. To understand her, you must go back to her birth.

From her beginning it was obvious that she was different. In fact no one was sure of what to make of her but they knew that she could be wonderful. During her infancy the United States, as she would come to be known, was already showing signs of her independence, signs of her desire to cut the apron strings. She showed strength that no one expected or knew how to handle. When she finally did cut the apron strings she had the class associated with proper upbringing to give notice. She did this in the form of a Declaration, a Declaration that stated in no uncertain terms her intentions and the reasons for her actions. Of course this caused consternation with her Mother, Britain. This was not a peaceful breakup but both Mother and Daughter were smart enough to not permanently burn the bridges of their relationship. It has been a relationship that has been beneficial to both through the decades.

When the United States broke the ties with her Mother she knew she had to complete the break by assuming a new name; that is when she adopted the name, United States of America. Being a new Nation, albeit a late comer as Nations go, she knew she would need rules in order to survive. She accomplished this by writing a Constitution. This Constitution defined exactly how she would take care of her house and all its parts. She understood at that time that the face you put on behind closed doors was your true face. For the first century of her existence her written plan worked well, granted there were bumps in the road, pitfalls and even a few set backs; but for the most part she stuck to her self written rules and flourished.

Although the United States was the rookie on the field of Nations she hit the ground running. She had to prove herself and prove herself she did. The United States grew faster socially, economically, industrially, and militarily then any other Nation; almost to fast. Around midway into her second century she had started to believe she could impose her beliefs on others; this came back to haunt her when she was attacked from outside. True to the strength she had shown during her early years she responded with determination and resolve. Unfortunately instead of learning that she should not try to push her beliefs on others she instead believed that now she was invincible. Unfortunately the other Nations bolstered this by labeling her as one of the super powers of the world, right along with Mother Russia. What she failed to realize, being the young country of the world, was that the other Nations knew they would be able to exploit her and her new found power.

This new found prestige was like opium to an addict; she craved it and had to have it. She started to believe that her way was the only way. She started to believe that she was the protector of the downtrodden. She started to push her beliefs on everyone else whether they liked it or not. She spread herself so thin over the globe that she started to neglect herself, she let herself fall apart. She ignored the very rules she had written for her own survival believing they were holding her back. Ignoring her own rules resulted in her slow deterioration, a slow cancer she tried to ignore. Like most that believe they are on a righteous path, she could not be bothered with her own health as long as she was doing the work she had come to believe was her calling. Like most cancers the more she ignored it the more it spread; the more the fight to destroy her from within intensified. Still, believing she was invincible she ignored the signs.

Today we are all paying the price for her ignorance as we say Goodbye to what could have, what should have been, the greatest Nation this world has ever seen. Today we are lying to rest a set of rules that had the potential of ensuring true freedom, liberty and prosperity to an entire Nation. Her passing, while greatly premature, will have a far greater impact on the entire world then anyone could have foretold at her birth. The loss of her strength, determination, exceptionalism and independence will be felt across the globe. My only hope is that all of us will learn from her passing. My desire is that we learn where she strayed and pray that we have the opportunity to apply what we have learned and do her honor by once again birthing a Nation of liberty, a Nation of laws, a Nation of freedom. If we do not then we may well learn that her passing will be the passing of freedom and liberty from the Earth. Thank you and God bless you all.


Foot note: I was a little hesitant to post this, especially on Independence weekend. Then after talking to my wife about it I decided this might well be the perfect time to post it. We are on the verge of losing our freedom, liberty and our country. Maybe seeing a possible eulogy for our Nation on the anniversary of declaring our independence will fire up enough people to take a stand, to get educated about what is happening and to get involved. It is my greatest hope that this eulogy will go down as just a work of fiction, never to be a fact.

Steve Avery
7/2/2011