Just came home from the theatre. Here I am at 12:43 AM on Tuesday morning processing the new blockbuster movie, Top Gun: Maverick, starring Tom Cruise. He is very good at looking very good. Who needs to act well, when one has those deltoids and lots of beef cake shots? It works. The story is a well taken, over-the-top, Hollywood grandstanding fairytale. Most of it is halfway believable. It is stunning from the standpoint of the visual. And the, keep you on the edge of your seat, nail-biting, elevated heart rate suspense is provided in spades as well as the comic relief and the surprises. So why am I feeling like I need to write this down right now? Because there is fundamental stuff here that if I don’t write it down now, it will keep me awake for what’s left of the night.
Did I walk out of this film with the inspiration and patriotism that everyone else has had that has seen it? Sure. Did I feel good about my country’s military superiority in the face of our enemies? You bet.
But do I believe it?
What we have witnessed in the past one and a half years in lack of leadership in this country, this state, and this county is beyond the ability of the fairytale tellers in Hollywood to make up. The optimism of four years ago that has crashed into unbelievable chaos today could never have been foreseen. It was a perfect storm of a plandemic that paralyzed the free world and a fraudulent US election that crippled a nation. Swept under the carpet by 99% of our national, state, and local authorities who have all watched, and said nothing, as the Emperor marches down the street with no clothes. Our chief executive does not know where he is nor what day it is. Our governor thinks leadership is a thing driven by the winds of moderation and safety. Wyoming’s secretary of state, county clerks, and our own county commissioners hide behind statues and double-speak rather than face real issues of voting machines that no one trusts.
Obama started to transform our military by quietly removing almost all of the reliable and competent officer corps. Biden has appointed the first transgender, whatever “she” is, admiral to the Navy’s U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps. Doesn’t that send an encouraging message to our sailors? There is no communication between our military’s high command.
Do I paint a correct picture, or do I exaggerate?
So do I feel proud of the rank and file of our Navy pilots, sailors, boots on the ground GI’s and Marines, and the American public?
Yes, I do.
Whether Hollywood knows it or not, and I really don’t care what they think, it has given us another reason to hope. And hope is like water in the dessert. It has demonstrated, once again, that American Exceptionalism and character are alive and well in its most sacred of qualities, rugged individualism. One person can make a difference. And, you know, lots of one persons can make lots of differences. So take courage America, when you watch this movie.
Do not go home after and think…” just do.”
