For the past two weeks my social media has been flooded with news reports, videos and many comments about Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens’ gorilla Harambe that was shot to save the life of a child that purposefully climbed into the enclosure. There are many questions being asked: why wasn’t he tranquilized, where was the mother, why isn’t the mother/family being held responsible and where is the justice for Harambe?
The kid being in a Silverback’s enclosure and Harambe being shot are both bad situations. If the zoo had not shot the gorilla, the child would more than likely be dead, but this is not a dispute for or against Hamarabe being shot.
Here’s my question: with so many things happening around us with much greater importance, why are we so fixated on the death of this single gorilla?
A main concern should be who is going to win this presidential election. Who do we trust as our Commander in Chief? Trump? With his “wall” he plans on building, the deportation of all undocumented immigrants and let’s not forget his illiteracy. Or Hillary? With her scheming and lies about her textual relations with that server. What about Bernie? With his free college education and his late term abortion that Hillary is also in favor of. What happened to presidents with grit and down right love for the U.S.A? We need another Ronald Reagan, JFK or Dwight D. Eisenhower that bled red, white and blue.
What about abortions? We lose our minds when one gorilla is shot but avert our eyes to the fact that over one million abortions are performed every year. More than 10 percent of said abortions occur during the second and even third trimester. As you can see I’m pro life and I understand that a woman’s body is hers and hers only, but what about that baby’s life? To a majority of the population it’s only a specimen until birth. Why is that such a wishy-washy subject? Where’s the justice for these unborn children?
The older I become the more I see pictures, videos and people before my own eyes disrespecting the American Flag. No, it is not an idol. No, it is not being worshipped. And no, it is not being put before God. It’s a symbol that stands for all of the men and women that paid the ultimate sacrifice for you to have the choice to sit down during the National Anthem and disrespect the soldiers that weren’t able to return home, the soldiers that only partially returned home because of injuries, their families and everything this nation has ever stood for. If you can burn or step on the flag, not place your hand over your heart and remove head covering during the pledge or national anthem, I encourage you to stand in front of our troops and experience what they go through. That way you can gain a better appreciation of what that flag stands for and means for our nation. If you still feel the way you do, America is not the home for you.
When are we going to make a better attempt to help our veterans? A vast majority of the men and women who fight for our freedom and safety come home to the States to nothing. They come home, homeless. Sure the percentage of homeless vets has gone down since 2014, but that still leaves over 20,000 without a home. The majority of these homeless vets have served more than three years overseas in a war zone. It’s hard to house that many people, I get it. Many of these veterans have severe PTSD and many disabilities from fighting in war zones, and that’s a lot of medical bills. But when are we going to stop making excuses why we aren’t making more of an effort? Without them, where would we be? We need to start taking better care of these men and women because they take care of us. Something 90 percent of us couldn’t ever stomach doing. This topic is one that Trump has committed to, and if elected I pray he sees it through.
And lastly but most importantly, let’s discuss President Obama’s trip to Hiroshima. Obama visited Hiroshima on the 71st anniversary of the U.S Air Force dropping the atomic bomb. Yes, I think we need a world without nuclear weapons and that war is a terrible thing. But I for one, as a proud American through and through, am deeply and utterly offended. There is a reason no sitting president has ever done this. No he did not outright say that he apologizes on behalf of the U.S, but his actions screamed it. Yes, he’s visited the USS Arizona Memorial but so has every president since the memorial was built. Let’s not forget Mr. President that the bombing of Hiroshima was not unprovoked and we were by no means in the wrong. The bombing of Pearl Harbor was the first time we as a nation were attacked on our turf and no matter how many years it’s been, that cannot be forgotten. In my opinion, your speech, wreath and visit disrespected all of our men that died at Pearl Harbor and in WW2.
It’s terrible that this endangered animal was shot because some child climbed into the enclosure, but should he be living in captivity in the first place?
The future of our nation is in our hands. If we don’t take it seriously, who will?
