An American's lament for the country he lost.

Essay by Keir September 2005

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I was born when Ike was President and we had a portrait of Ike at home when I was a small child. And I learned how to read when I was two years old, so one of my earliest memories is of looking at that portrait of Ike, with his words written at the bottom:

"I shall go to Korea."

So, I remember a different kind of America, way back in the late 1950s, when our house would only fly the flag a few times a year such as special days like the 4th of July and Memorial Day when we would fold up the flag respectfully, until the next patriotic holiday. Compare that today with all those false American "conservatives" who dishonour the flag by flying a little plastic flag on their car antennas...)

And I remember too- as recently as the late 1970s - how special it was, on every Memorial Day Parade, to talk to the old veterans of the Spanish-American-War, and of the First World War.

So very precious it was, to meet and to talk with those old heroic vets of a bygone age!

I was born in Ike's time, but I was also around when some former American slaves were still living.

My friends at cheathouse, if you have never known anything about what SOME parts of America were like before 1980, then I feel sorry for you. Yes, it is true, the cancer started around 1945. But the cancer did not take over the whole country until the

last 20 years or so, when the cancer of "development" developed even further.

Sweet Lord Jesus, I am less than 30 years older than Posh Spice. However, I remember going to the Farmers' Market near where I grew up, and listening to stories about...