What Have I Done.........November 2013
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The beginning of the Space Age is said to have been October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. It was the first man-made satellite and its success shook the American science community to its core. Over 69,000 Americans were in Yankee stadium watching the first game of the World Series while that satellite was put into orbit. I was probably watching Leave It To Beaver that evening but the possibility exists that I was at the movies watching Bridge On The River Kwai for it was released two days previous to the Sputnik launch and I do remember my father taking me to see it.
Kwai was a great film. Directed by David Lean and starring William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa and Jack Hawkins it won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. There have been times over the years when that theme song, that also took the Academy Award, comes into my mind and I can't get it out, but it's the ending of the film that I have written about a few times over the years in this blog.
To fill you in...British Colonel Nicholson played by Alec Guinness was a fine soldier and certainly loved his country but something ran amok in his thinking process that turned him into a willing dupe...even a traitor to the profession that he loved. Maybe it was delirium caused by his punishment in the hotbox torture chamber in the Japanese POW camp, but whatever it was, his view of himself as a soldier became that which must at all costs be protected....over everything else!
He was building a bridge that would help the enemy and was totally oblivious to the ramifications of what he was doing. With his bridge project complete, the American who earlier had escaped the camp returned. Played by William Holden, this character of Commander Shears was the goldbrick, the opposite of what Colonel Nicholson deemed to be a soldier but Nicholson suddenly realized that Shears had come back with help.... to blow up the bridge! He is visibly shaken as he begins to see that he, not Shears, had failed his profession. As Colonel Nicholson's world collapsed around him and he realized that he had aided the enemy, he could only utter the words......"What have I done?"
The day may be fast approaching when many Americans, those who are honest anyway, may utter those same words. This isn't just being on the wrong side politically nor is it an ideological issue in supporting Barack Obama. There really is no legitimate excuse for not seeing him for who he is. With no experience, no paper trail of accomplishments, communist mentors and dubious friends, and not even a hint of abilities to have been given the reins of a small company let alone our government, he swaggered into the Oval Office and abused his authority from day one while usurping powers of other branches of our government. He played golf and partied while our enemies smiled to his face while taking advantage of his incompetence in domestic and foreign affairs. All the while Barack Obama chipped away at our liberties while putting his people in positions of power and influence to further the grand hoax.
Where were the protectors of our constitution during all of this? Whether they were in the Congress, or bureaucrats just taking orders, or teaching in our colleges and universities, or in our courts, or editing the 'news' to their own benefit.... they failed us....more than failed us as they actively worked against the American people who did recognize the warning signs and red flags. As you watch the YouTube that follows you may see in Colonel Nicholson what will be their own expressions in the future as they realize ......what they had done.
The video may not come up on your iPhone but can be easily viewed by searching 'Bridge On The River Kwai, What Have I Done' on YouTube.
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The beginning of the Space Age is said to have been October 4, 1957 when the Soviet Union successfully launched Sputnik I. It was the first man-made satellite and its success shook the American science community to its core. Over 69,000 Americans were in Yankee stadium watching the first game of the World Series while that satellite was put into orbit. I was probably watching Leave It To Beaver that evening but the possibility exists that I was at the movies watching Bridge On The River Kwai for it was released two days previous to the Sputnik launch and I do remember my father taking me to see it.
Kwai was a great film. Directed by David Lean and starring William Holden, Alec Guinness, Sessue Hayakawa and Jack Hawkins it won seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. There have been times over the years when that theme song, that also took the Academy Award, comes into my mind and I can't get it out, but it's the ending of the film that I have written about a few times over the years in this blog.
To fill you in...British Colonel Nicholson played by Alec Guinness was a fine soldier and certainly loved his country but something ran amok in his thinking process that turned him into a willing dupe...even a traitor to the profession that he loved. Maybe it was delirium caused by his punishment in the hotbox torture chamber in the Japanese POW camp, but whatever it was, his view of himself as a soldier became that which must at all costs be protected....over everything else!
He was building a bridge that would help the enemy and was totally oblivious to the ramifications of what he was doing. With his bridge project complete, the American who earlier had escaped the camp returned. Played by William Holden, this character of Commander Shears was the goldbrick, the opposite of what Colonel Nicholson deemed to be a soldier but Nicholson suddenly realized that Shears had come back with help.... to blow up the bridge! He is visibly shaken as he begins to see that he, not Shears, had failed his profession. As Colonel Nicholson's world collapsed around him and he realized that he had aided the enemy, he could only utter the words......"What have I done?"
The day may be fast approaching when many Americans, those who are honest anyway, may utter those same words. This isn't just being on the wrong side politically nor is it an ideological issue in supporting Barack Obama. There really is no legitimate excuse for not seeing him for who he is. With no experience, no paper trail of accomplishments, communist mentors and dubious friends, and not even a hint of abilities to have been given the reins of a small company let alone our government, he swaggered into the Oval Office and abused his authority from day one while usurping powers of other branches of our government. He played golf and partied while our enemies smiled to his face while taking advantage of his incompetence in domestic and foreign affairs. All the while Barack Obama chipped away at our liberties while putting his people in positions of power and influence to further the grand hoax.
Where were the protectors of our constitution during all of this? Whether they were in the Congress, or bureaucrats just taking orders, or teaching in our colleges and universities, or in our courts, or editing the 'news' to their own benefit.... they failed us....more than failed us as they actively worked against the American people who did recognize the warning signs and red flags. As you watch the YouTube that follows you may see in Colonel Nicholson what will be their own expressions in the future as they realize ......what they had done.
The video may not come up on your iPhone but can be easily viewed by searching 'Bridge On The River Kwai, What Have I Done' on YouTube.
