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~ Roy Williams THE STATION OF OUR NATION I am troubled by the station of our nation in these amber waves of grain. What happened to “crowning our good with brotherhood” across the fruited plain? What did we do with our purple mountain majesties? How did we let this happen to our country, you and me? We need to get back to crowning our good with brotherhood, from sea to shining sea. You know the words. One hundred and thirty years ago, Katharine Lee Bates wrote, “O beautiful for spacious skies For amber waves of grain For purple mountain majesties Above the fruited plain America, America God shed his grace on thee And crown thy good with brotherhood From sea to shining sea” In 1996, one hundred years after Katharine Lee Bates wrote those words, George Carlin said, “If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders.” Bill Clinton was president in 1996, but George wasn’t talking about Bill. This is exactly what George Carlin said that day, thirty years ago: “You might have noticed I don’t complain about: politicians. Everybody complains about politicians. Everybody says they suck. Well, where do people think these politicians come from? They don’t fall out of the sky. They don’t pass through a membrane from another reality. They come from American parents and American families, American homes, American schools, American churches, American businesses and American universities, and they are elected by American citizens. This is the best we can do folks. This is what we have to offer. It’s what our system produces: Garbage in, garbage out. If you have selfish, ignorant citizens, you’re going to get selfish, ignorant leaders. Term limits ain’t going to do any good; you’re just going to end up with a brand-new bunch of selfish, ignorant Americans. So, maybe, maybe, maybe, it’s not the politicians who suck.” George Carlin stood on that stage, looked his audience in the eye, and told them that they were selfish and ignorant. And that THEY sucked.