Have you forgottten or just become accustomed to things?

I was listening to Michael Savage this afternoon and he was going on about how Americans are a bunch of head in the sand ostriches. His claim is that we're being lulled into a false sense of security by the "liberal media" and the government. He backs up his claim by interpreting the governments response and the media coverage of the latest terrorist plot foiled at Ft Dix. Also today I got the pleasure of listening to one of our top enlisted leaders today and he spoke on this subject as well but from a different point of view. His was a warning to us that before this war is finished it's going to get a lot more unpopular. So twice today I was reminded that America has a short memory; initially strong and patriotic but then wanes towards acceptance of the status-quo. Does America have that short of a memory to accept the tragedy of 9-11? Have we become complacent in our false sense of security thinking we've won becaus we we foiled one small terrorist plot? God I hope not. Folks, terrorist are real, our country's enemies are real, and the need for this war on terror is real! There are bad people out there in the world, people who hate our way of life, who hate our freedoms, people who hate the fact that we exist. I'm not talking about the religious zealots, these are nothing but pawns in the this war. I'm talking about terrorist who use religion as a masquerade for their hatred or us. This isn't about religion it's about our enemies using any and all methods to wage war against us. The terrorist goal is to destroy us, we can not let this happen. You know I live in a very pro military community, people are always saying thanks for doing what I do. I really appreciate it but why do they do it. Are they truly appreciative for me going and off to war? Maybe they say thanks to make themselves feel better thinking I need to hear it? I don't know why but it does make me feel like I'm making a difference. I know that in a lot of other places in the country our military folks aren't being treated like this. They are being spit upon, being called government stooges, or worst of all "losers" by their own government representatives. This behavior is unforgivable. Folks, these Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airman are doing their job. They joined to defend your freedoms; please show your respect for at least that! I don't care what your political affiliation is; I and many like me do our job because we said that's what we would do, defend YOU!. It's called a sense of duty and if you haven't been in the military you'll never understand it. Many other countries in the world have a mandatory military service requirement for their youth. Once you've finished high school you're required to do 2 years in the military to learn basic soldering. While I don't want to go back to a draft I would support this idea. After two years you could go off and do whatever you wanted, further military service would be totally voluntary as it is now. Military vets are sought after commodities in the work force because of the discipline, integrity, and sense of duty that's been honed over years of military service. Our youth could sure use that type of training. The byproduct of this training would be a greater sense of patriotism and government involvement. It's a win-win scenario no matter how you look at it. So next time you see a military person don't go up and say thanks, turn to your child and say how much you'd like them to be like that. Patriotism is contagious, spread the word!