Here's a handout I received in my American Government class, which I thought was quite cool..... -- The Brink of Madness!

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Date Posted: 23:03:54 08/28/03 Thu
Author: Hero of Time
Author Host/IP: 66.189.225.43
Subject: Here's a handout I received in my American Government class, which I thought was quite cool.....

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I want you to close your eyes and picture in your mind the soldier at Valley Forge, as he holds his musket in his bloody hands.

He stands barefoot in the snow - starved from lack of food, wounded from months of battle, and emotionally scarred from the eternity away from his family, surrounded by nothing but death and the carnage of war. He stands tough, with a fire in his eyes and victory on his breath. He looks at us now in anger and disgust, and tells us this:

I gave you a birthright of freedom, born in the Constitution, and now your children graduate too illiterate to read it.

I fought in the snow barefoot to give you the freedom to vote, and you stay at home because it rains.

I left my family destitute to give you the freedom of speech, and you remain silent on critical issues, because it might be bad for business.

I orphaned my children to give you a government to serve you, and it has stolen democracy from the people.

It is the soldier, not the reporter, who gives you the freedom of the press.

It is the soldier, not the poet, who gives you the freedom of speech.

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer, who gives you the freedom to assemble and demonstrate.

It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves the flag, and whose coffin is draped with the flag, who gives the protestor the right to burn the flag!
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It was wrapped up with a short prayer for the troops, but it had no connection to the piece, so I've omitted it. I did a lot of grammatical corrections, and placed the italics for emphasis, and added some words to make the article more coherent. I think it speaks wonders and makes on open his/her/its eyes on a whole new perspective concerning our political lives today.

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