Betrayed!

I was a loyal American as I charted my course in life.  Not a super-patriot, but proud of my country and what it stood for.  Indeed, in 1961 I heeded Kennedy’s call and joined the Foreign Service.  I was happy to represent the USA overseas.

The time we’re living through now is challenging my assumptions.  It’s not only Trump, although he embodies pretty much everything I hate.  It’s where we are as a people.  What I once took for granted – an America that led the way in freedom and respect for others – is hard to find.

Why do I have such an emotional response to what I see?  I feel betrayed.  It’s more than simply watching my youthful idealism go into the toilet.  My identity as an American, what I assumed my country (and by extension me) is all about, is being called into question.  And I feel helpless to stop the rot.

I haven’t given up all hope that our current path will be reversed.  But I am skeptical, even cynical, that my dream will be revived.  Like every empire in human history, we have a limited time to be #1.  It looks like our time has run out.  Betrayed!