A good read -
Author unknown.....

      The other day I was reading  Newsweek magazine and came across
some poll data I found rather  hard to believe. It must be true given
the source, right?  The  same magazine that employs Michael (Qurans in
the toilets at Gitmo)  Isikoff.   Here I promised  myself this week I
would be nice  and I start off in this way.

       The Newsweek poll alleges that 67 percent of Americans are
unhappy with  the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of
the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In
essence 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change.

      So being the knuckle dragger I  am, I starting thinking, ''What
we are so unhappy  about?''

      Is it that we have  electricity and running water 24 hours a
day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air
conditioning in the  summer and heating in the winter? Could it be
that 95.4 percent of these  unhappy folks have a job?
Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery  store at any time and
see more food in moments than Darfur has  seen in the last year?

      Maybe it is the  ability to drive from the Pacific Ocean to the
Atlantic Ocean without having to present identification papers as we
move through each  state? Or possibly the hundreds of clean and safe
motels we would find  along the way that can provide temporary
shelter? I guess having thousands of restaurants with varying cuisine
from around the  world is just not good enough. Or could it be that
when we wreck our car, emergency workers show up and provide services
to help all  involved. Whether you are rich or poor they treat your
wounds and even, if necessary, send a helicopter to take you to the
hospital.

      Perhaps you are one of the  70 percent of Americans who own a
home, you may be upset with knowing that in the unfortunate case of
having a fire, a group of trained firefighters will appear in moments
and use top notch equipment to extinguish the flames thus saving you,
your family and your  belongings. Or if, while at home watching one of
your many flat screen  TVs, a burglar or prowler intrudes; an officer
equipped with a gun and a bullet-proof vest will come to defend you
and your family  against attack or loss. This all in the backdrop of a
neighborhood free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the
residents.  Neighborhoods where 90 percent of teenagers own cell
phones and computers.

      How about the complete  religious, social and political freedoms
we enjoy that are the envy of everyone in the world? Maybe that is
what has 67 percent of  you folks unhappy.

      Fact is, we are the largest group of ungrateful, spoiled brats
the world has ever  seen.   No wonder the world loves the U.S. yet has
a great disdain  for its citizens. They see us for what we are. The most
blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we
don't have and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the
good Lord we live here.

      I know, I know.  What about the president who took us into war
and has no plan to get us  out? The president who has a measly 31
percent approval rating?  Is this the same president who guided the
nation in the dark days after  9/11? The president that cut taxes to
bring an economy out of  recession?
Could this be the same guy who has been called every  name in the book
for succeeding in keeping all the spoiled brats safe  from terrorist
attacks? The commander in chief of an all-volunteer army  that is out
there defending you and me?

    Make no mistake about it. The troops in Iraq and  Afghanistan have
volunteered to serve, and in many cases have died for  your freedom.
There is currently no draft in this country. They didn't  have to go.
They are able to refuse to go and end up with either  a ''general''
discharge, an ''other than honorable'' discharge or, worst  case
scenario, a ''dishonorable'' discharge after a few days in  the brig.

      So why then the flat  out discontentment in the minds of 69
percent of Americans? Say what you  want but I blame it on the media.
If it bleeds it leads and they  specialize in bad news. Everybody will
watch a car crash with blood and  guts. How many will watch kids
selling lemonade at the corner? The  media knows this and media
outlets are for-profit corporations.  They offer what sells. Just ask
why they are going to allow a murderer  like O.J. Simpson to write a
book and do a TV special about how he didn't kill his wife but if he
did ââ,¬Â¦  insane!

      Stop buying the negative venom  you are fed everyday by the
media. Shut off the TV, burn  Newsweek, and use the New York Times for
the bottom of your bird cage.  Then start being grateful for all we
have as a country. There is  exponentially more good than bad.

    I close with one of my favorite quotes from B.C. Forbes in  1953:

      ''What have Americans to be  thankful for? More than any other
people on the earth, we enjoy  complete religious freedom, political
freedom, social freedom. Our  liberties are sacredly safeguarded by
the Constitution of the  United States, 'the most wonderful work ever
struck off at a  given time by the brain and purpose of man.' Yes, we
Americans of today  have been bequeathed a noble heritage. Let us pray
that we may hand it  down unsullied to our children and theirs.''

  I suggest we sit back and count our blessings for  all we have. If
we don't, what we have will be taken away. Then we will  have to
explain to future generations why we squandered such blessing  and
abundance. If we are not careful this generation will be  known as the
''greediest and most ungrateful generation.'' A far cry  from the
proud Americans of the ''greatest generation'' who left us  an
untarnished legacy.