this is an american prayer

i'm not unpatriotic. i'm not anti-american. i just have problems with understanding how things are going in this country of ours.

after a discussion with a good friend of mine, i was told that if i didn't like this country, i should just leave. unfortunately, it's not that easy. somtimes i wish it were.

i have great troubles with the way this country handles situations. we don't have the liberty of "free speech" that it seems. when one person says something that another does not like (typically with a large amount of money involved), it causes great divide.

with the announcement of rosie leaving 'the view', i was told "good riddance". for me, i see her as a way of expressing free speech. others view her as shouting her position. i thought that was one of the things that was supposed to make our country so great - - we are supposed to be allowed to express our feelings and views. i respect her passion for those things that are near to her heart. thankfully, i agree with many of her positions.

why are thousands, perhaps millions, of our own children living in poverty day to day, while others are getting richer by the second? why are thousands of our military dying for an unjust war? why don't all of our citizens have affordable health care available to them? why do some politicians use scare tactics to put themselves into power?

i can't help but wonder if democracy and capitalism are failing our country.

i've started to realize that american is based upon two great principles:

1) money
2) hypocracy

george orwell, it seems that you had things right....only your timing was off a couple of decades.