Today’s conservative would have you believe that less is more. Less government or fewer taxes or less just about everything, we are told will make our lives better. Well, sorry, less is in fact less. 

Today’s conservative is today’s nattering nabob of negativity. They are the preachers of doom, the false prophets of the end of times, the advocates of selfishness and avarice and like the locusts of biblical fame, they would spread destruction in the name of saving us our liberty.

Americans are a positive people. We had to be optimistic from the day our forefathers stepped onto those ships that crossed the rugged Atlantic Ocean to brave a dangerous crossing to face a new world. We were that city on a hill that brought with it, danger but opportunity.

We were immigrants who traveled over the next mountain to find a new settlement. Lewis and Clark, were examples of courage, when they led a group of men across uncharted territory to reach the Pacific Ocean.

Today, we are told that austerity is the key to success. We are told that our best days are behind us, and that our children will most likely have a dimmer future than their parents had.

Frankly Scarlett, I am darn tired of hearing this nonsense, this barrage of negative thoughts. We can afford to invest in our future.

Scott Carpenter died this week. He famously said once, “Godspeed John Glenn.” Carpenter was believed lost at sea, as we struggled to find him in his space capsule, while he lay adrift for 40 minutes, but we found him. We persevered, and found him, and we owe it to Scott Carpenter to find our lost spirit and confidence to be Americans once again. All of those original astronauts represented what is best in America, they represented the can do spirit.

Whoever would have thought that America could have risen from the ashes of Pearl Harbor to be the savior of the world. We had been in the Depression and were told we couldn’t afford to do what we did, but we did it. We were the sleeping giant and we still are.

President Kennedy challenged us to, not ask what our country can do for you but what you can do for our country. So let us shake off our lethargy

My ancesters faced the same fears that others faced when they arrived in Virginia in 1696, and thankfully we are still here, still standing, unbowed by the fear of the present and the doubts that we face for our future. Let us not pretend that less is more, less government or less safety for our parents, or less money for education is what it is, it is less. We owe it to our children to ask for more, more opportunity for all, newer bridges and new roads to lead us into the future. We are Americans, after all, we are the future.