I keep hearing people excuse what’s happening in France by saying, “They’re just students. They’re tired of the way things are and they want change.” Well, perhaps some people need a history lesson. In 1966, Chinese students became Mao’s Red Guards, determined to remake their country. Millions of young Chinese were eventually sent to the countryside to work as peasants while the Communist Party leadership retained its power and privileges. In 1979, students helped bring down the Shah of Iran. Many believed they were fighting for freedom and a better future. Instead, they helped usher in a revolution that established an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Khomeini. And now we’re watching scenes of rioting, destruction and vandalism in France, with people dismissing it as young people simply wanting change. I have absolutely no problem with peaceful protests. That’s a fundamental freedom. But smashing windows, burning property, destroying businesses and terrorizing communities is NOT peaceful protest. It’s rioting, vandalism and lawlessness. Call it anarchy if you want, but don’t pretend it’s peaceful dissent. History has taught us that young people can be instrumental in tearing down an existing system without having the slightest idea of what will replace it. And sometimes the very people cheering for a revolution end up suffering under what comes next. There’s a big difference between demanding change and destroying your own country.

I love America with every fiber of my being. I breathe and bleed red, white, and blue, and I make no apologies for it. I’m the only woman from my school that I know of, among my circle of friends, and certainly in my family, who ever served this nation, let alone earned the title of United States Marine. I’ve lived through the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, his brother Robert, and one of the greatest civil rights leaders this nation ever knew, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I lived through Vietnam, the protests, the hatred, and the terrible division that nearly tore this country apart. I watched Americans come together after September 11, 2001, when we remembered that we were Americans first and everything else second. I’ve seen this country at its best and at its worst. And through it all, I’ve never stopped loving her. So my prayer is that you younger generations find a way to pull this country back together. If it doesn’t happen in my lifetime, I pray it happens in yours. Generations before you fought hard to build this nation, defend her, and hold her together. Please don’t let all of that sacrifice be for nothing. And Tom MacDonald, thank you for this song. You knocked it out of the ballpark, as you so often do. You put into words what so many of us feel deep in our hearts. God bless America. She’s still worth fighting for.

Nidal Hasan was a U.S. Army major who walked into Fort Hood and executed unarmed soldiers getting ready to deploy. Thirteen dead. More than thirty shot. Pfc. Francheska Velez, 21, pregnant, just home from Iraq, was one of them. He yelled “Allahu Akbar,” called it jihad, and sat on a death sentence since 2013. Now a December 3 firing squad at the same post may be livestreamed, and the same ghouls who clapped when Charlie Kirk was murdered on camera are suddenly too fragile to watch Kirk had a microphone. Hasan slaughtered his own. Keep your tears. He earned the squad.

I'm sick and tired of watching Americans tear each other apart over what generation they were born into. This ageist bs has gotten completely out of hand, and I'm not going to tolerate it. We've got serious problems in this country, and blaming people for the year they happened to be born isn't solving a damn one of them. I've even heard Boomers blamed for the Vietnam War. Think about that for a minute. We were the generation sent to fight that war. Young men were drafted at 18, and until 1971, they couldn't even vote until they were 21. Many weren't old enough to vote for the president sending them halfway around the world to fight and die. And now we're supposed to take the blame for it? Have you ever considered that all this finger-pointing is playing right into the hands of people who want Americans divided? You are literally advocating for Cultural Marxism. Divide people into groups, convince them that another group is responsible for their problems, and keep them fighting among themselves. And this goes well beyond generations. We are never going to come together as a nation if people abandon their critical thinking skills in favor of tribalism based on skin color, gender identity, age, or any other label someone wants to put on us. Every generation has contributed something to this country, and every generation has made mistakes. We are individuals, and we ought to be judged by our own actions, character, and contributions, not by some group identity. And I'll tell you something else. This constant division is getting old. W e have a country to save, and we're not going to save it by treating our fellow Americans like the enemy. If you can't see past someone's age, skin color, or identity long enough to recognize that we're all Americans, then maybe you ought to ask yourself whether you're helping this country or contributing to the very division that's tearing it apart. We've got enough problems without making enemies out of each other. It's time to grow up, start thinking for ourselves, and remember we're supposed to be on the same side. If I didn't know better I would think some Americans have fallen into the ideology of Cultural Revolution of Chairman Mao and the destruction of the "Four Olds". The commies win everytime you get yourself into this mindset.

Some good Tuesday advice from the front porch in Arkansas. Yes this really is my front porch.