Letter: Good life should not have to be a dream

I had a dream last night.

I dreamed that I was back in my old home town, and that it was 1950. I had just gotten a job, but decided that I would serve my country first. After serving four years in the U.S Air Force, I returned to my job. It was a time when everybody had a job, there was a sense of optimism, and everybody seemed to get along.

Maybe I was just naive, but it was just great to be alive. My buddies and I would park on Main Street and watch the girls go by, like the song says.

Then I woke up.

I turned on the TV for the daily news and was immediately assaulted with shrill voices on every news network. The Democrats hate the Republicans, the Republicans hate the Democrats, ISIS is beheading people, Iran wants to eradicate Israel, the Soros-backed anarchists are rioting. And when I hear the language that rappers and other “entertainers” use, I just cringe. I guess it fits right in with the current atmosphere of anti-Trumpism. This is not the world I knew in the ’50s.

My hope is that I will pass on before my country does, because history tells us that our republic will not survive, and, given the toxic atmosphere in the Congress and the country, I am really not optimistic. If the partisans in our government do not wake up, pay attention to history and actually govern, America will be history.

Take me back to the ’50s, please.

This story was originally published February 16, 2017 at 10:32 AM with the headline "Letter: Good life should not have to be a dream."