Peoria, Are You Still Out There?
29 Mar 2007
I’m daily dumbfounded by the decadence reported in my morning newspaper. Things that were once unimaginable in this country are now common place and scoundrels who would have once been considered “the scum of society” are now our society’s most celebrated stars. Where is the moral outrage? Is there no decency left in this land? One cannot help but wonder how much longer it will be before our morally bankrupt nation cashes it in.
This morning, I read two stories that speak to the heart of our nation’s dark hearted condition. First, DNA testing has established that three newborn babies found over the last three years in Orosi, California were abandoned by the same mother. The first was found in a blanket on a park bench with an umbilical cord hanging from its tiny body. The next two were found in parked pickup trucks in the same neighborhood. The first two survived and are presently wards of the state, but the third was already dead from exposure when discovered.
In an effort to prevent the future abandonment of newborn babies by their mothers the city of Orosi is putting up stickers showing a woman throwing her baby in a garbage dumpster with a circle around it, a line through it, and the word “NO” printed below it. On the other half of the sticker, a woman is shown handing her baby over to a nurse with a circle around it, no line through it, and the word “YES” printed below it. One cannot help but get the impression from the sticker that there’s a right way and a wrong way to abandon one’s newborn baby. Of course, in today’s America, an abortion clinic can legally throw your baby in a garbage dumpster for you.
The second story that spoke to me of our nation’s sad state of affairs is the Democrats and Republicans studying ways to vilify each other over Congress’ failure to fund our troops in Iraq. Do you remember when politics had certain boundaries that no politician would dare to cross? For instance, Senator Arthur Vandenberg once said, “Politics must end at the water’s edge.” All politicians in Vandenberg’s day understood that in a time of war a unified front and national security takes precedence over partisan politics and political parties.
Today’s politicians, I’m sad to say, are not cut from Vandenberg’s cloth. Instead, they will stoop to anything and stop at nothing to destroy their political opposition and advance their partisan politics, irregardless of whether or not it emboldens our nation’s enemies and betrays our nation’s best interests. To today’s unprincipled politicians nothing is off-limits, not even failing to fund our troops in harm’s way. So what if some of our nation’s finest have to lose their lives in Iraq in order for Democrats and Republicans to gain a political advantage in Washington? As far as today’s sleazy politicians are concerned, the sacrifice of a few soldiers for the sake of the Democratic or Republican Party is well worth it.
Although it might play this way in these days and times in Washington D. C., I’m still hopeful that it’s different in Peoria, despite the fact that Peoria hasn’t been heard from in a long time. Where are you Peoria? Hopefully, you’re not busy hanging stickers like they are in Orosi. If so, we’re in a “sticky wicket,” as the British would say.
Don Walton
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