Mom ain't Mom anymore

Whenever anyone thinks of the glory days of this country the phrase ‘as American as mom and apple pie’ comes to mind.

Mom has always brought thoughts of a protected youth and unbridled love.

We use different forms of the word to symbolize protection and nurturing as when we speak of Mother Earth or Mother Nature.

I even use M-O-M when I grill on the barbecue. (Medium heat - Off - Medium for those of you in apartments.)

And what child hasn’t heard about the history and folklore surrounding Johnny Appleseed and his exploits as he made sure America would never be without apple trees?

Personally as a child I loved my mom and she knew I could never get enough apple pie. I especially enjoyed it slightly warmed with a touch of cinnamon and of course vanilla ice cream on top. That could be why I was so overweight back then but that’s another story.

However I grew up and so did America.

Neither of us is as young or carefree as we were back then.

Mainly because there are more things to worry about and more complexity in every problem.

The world may be flat but we seem to always be going uphill, at least those of us who were not born with silver spoons in any of our orifices.

Maybe that’s because too many people have forgotten what made this country great in the first place.

We were a Union of States.

We were a nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

We had principles and ideals.

We succeeded in the success of our people and failed when they failed.

We protected our citizens to the best of our abilities and tried not to do harm to others unless they harmed us first.  And even then we made sure we had the right culprit or 'unsub' for you "Criminal Minds" lovers.

Now much of that has changed!

One of our States feels the urge to secede.

Wars against wrong countries continue and escalate draining our coffers of cash we could use elsewhere and lives we will never get back.

Anti social, anti human individuals play the system for personal gain without thought as to how it will affect others. For these individuals a guilty conscience is considered bad form.

What would mom say?

The government that used to be of by and for the people doesn’t even place roadblocks in front of these egoists.

It’s as though the greediest among us who seem to be able to control Congress and all who enter never had moms.

But they did have moms even if they were test tubes!

But to these people the word mom doesn't mean the same thing as for you and I!

That’s because their mom now stands for My Own Money.

There’s an old joke about marriage where the wife would say, “What’s mine is mine and what’s yours is mine.”

Well somewhere along the line the wealthy became all of our spouses and the ‘what’s mine’ in the relationship is thought to be theirs!

Can we turn things around?

It’s doubtful.

We’ve loosed the Pandora’s padlock of personal profit and those who have reaped the rewards will not allow things to return to the way they were in the old days.

Can Congress and our current President build up enough nerve to buck the trend?

Can they survive without the funding and power these wealthy anti-social deviates wield?

Time will tell but I don't hold out much hope.

There is another well known phrase - Money talks, nobody walks.

The money is talking quite loudly these days and DC-ites seem to be listening very closely.

Well I can still heat up a slice of apple pie and hopefully afford a scoop of vanilla on top.

They can’t take that away from me, can they?  Please?