News & Columns > Dave Henderson > Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Ozzy Osbourne

Clint Eastwood, John Wayne and Ozzy Osbourne

By Dave Henderson
Saturday, September 29, 2007

As a child I grew up in the post World War II era. My father was a veteran pilot of WW-II and is to this day, and always will be, my hero.

The TV and movies were filled with Clint Eastwood, Roy Rogers and John Wayne, all of whom I admired.

The events of this month have left many of us thinking about the firefighters and the sacrifice made to protect our homes and mountain paradise.

Why do we idolize others? What makes a person worthy of our envy?

In my youth, I idolized those who were brave. They wore white hats, combat boots, fire helmets and badges. As I became older, the Hollywood heroes were no longer important to me. However, I still respect those who are willing to put their life on the line to help others, those who stand tall against all odds and do so for the betterment of their fellow man and country. What kind of person rushes into a burning building to save a total stranger? What kind of person endures the unendurable for another not of his or her own blood?

Throughout time, all societies have needed and depended on a few brave souls to fight our battles, defend our homes and do the unbearable. The brave do not always carry a fire axe or a battle rifle. Our history is full of brave men and women who were willing to risk violence and death to right a wrong and used peace as their weapon of choice.

Today we seem to have a very warped sense of who or what we as a society should place in a high regard. Today our news media wastes valuable airtime of the latest arrest of Paris Hilton. Brittney Spears is somehow worthy of the "breaking news" moniker. Imitation heroes now consume our culture. Our children idolize a culture of destruction, brought to us packaged by the mass media in the form of rap music and a gangster lifestyle. The drug-induced coma of Ozzy Osbourne occupies our TV screen as "Reality". Spoiled athletes are raised to idol status and paid millions of dollars, not because of their intellect or what they have done for there fellow man, but their ability to catch a ball.

All this while those we entrust to educate our children are paid poverty level wages.

Our esteemed universities give voice to dictators while at the same time refusing to allow the guardians of our democracy on campus to recruit those who will defend our very lives and country. The city of San Francisco refuses to allow the filming of a recruitment ad if it has a Marine in it.

I tend to think that these esteemed officials must be in the same drug induced coma as Ozzy. Maybe their vision is clouded by the residual fog of the 1960's. The same fog that made this country lose its way. It is my opinion that this country is now a ship lost in the fog. We no longer have a compass of right and wrong.

Our heroes have been replaced by Ozzy and our true heroes are treated with contempt. Our country is divided across lines of which no one is willing to retreat. Our government leaders prioritize their reelection efforts over the good of the people and we are left with the decision of the lesser of the evils to elect into office.

I, for one, fear for our country, our freedom, and our children. One of the greatest inventors and statesmen of our nation, Benjamin Franklin, said it like this:

"We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately".

This article was first published on Friday, September 28, 2007 at 12:00 am. This article has been viewed 1833 times.

Dave Henderson is the Vice-President of Operations for RIMOFTHEWORLD.net and it's parent company Vicinitas, LLC. Dave is the commercial and operational manager for the site.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. This column is copyrighted by Dave Henderson.