Before the sentencing was read aloud, Judge Young asked the defendant if he had anything to say. As a true Islamic extremist, the defendant plead his guilt for the crime in question and went on to state his allegiance to Osama bin Laden, Islam and the "religion of Allah." When he was finishing his statement he said that he would not apologize for the crime and that he was a "soldier" at war with this country. Truly a chilling statement to make before being sentenced for the crime of terrorism, but, as I sit here listening to Toby Keith's deep voice resonate through the lyrics "We'll put a boot in yer ass, it's the American way," I have to say that I have no doubt that this chill isn't from the words of a deadman, but the words and spirit of every single American that were made audible by the voice of Judge William Young.
After reading the full sentence to the defendant, Judge Young had some words of his own to add. The full transcript, 8 and a half paragraphs, can be read here and I encourage everyone to read all of it. But I'd just like to take out a few choice phrases to remind people as to what the focus of this country should be.
Now, let me explain this to you. We are not afraid of you or any of your terrorist co-conspirators...We are Americans... Here in this court, we deal with individuals as individuals and care for individuals as individuals. As human beings, we reach out for justice.
It seems to me, you hate the one thing that to us is most precious. You hate our freedom. Our individual freedom. Our individual freedom to live as we choose, to come and go as we choose, to believe or not believe as we individually choose. Here, in this society, the very wind carries freedom. It carries it everywhere from sea to shining sea. It is because we prize individual freedom so much that you are here in this beautiful courtroom, so that everyone can see, truly see, that justice is administered fairly, individually, and discretely. It is for freedom's sake that your lawyers are striving so vigorously on your behalf, have filed appeals, will go on in their representation of you before other judges.
We Americans are all about freedom. Because we all know that the way we treat you, Mr. Reid, is the measure of our own liberties... It is yet true that we will bear any burden; pay any price, to preserve our freedoms.
The concept that seems to be most significant in Judge Young's statement is that of individual freedom. America was founded on this rather simple concept. This is not a country built upon the principle of collectivism. We have not been a nation focused on the group succeeding at the expense of one another. We are a union constructed so that the American Dream could be realized, the little guy could win through hard work and determination and the success of one man was attributed to himself rather than the success of an entire group of people with like-minded ideas.
I have seen this country change in the past few years. I'm not talking about presidents and elections, the up or down of the stock market or the number of jobs being created or destroyed. I'm talking about how certain sects of the country are taking an unhealthy page out of the playbook of many South-east Asian countries. We have black men being a credit to their race because they can shoot a basketball, women taking credit for what other women have accomplished in the areas of math and science and gay basketball players being congratulated because they came out of the closet and announced their sexual attraction to other males on national media.
This is what collectivism is all about. Not only do people not receive the credit that they deserve for their personal abilities, but others take credit for things that they did not do but a member of the same sex did. We have people deciding that it is necessary to come out and tell people who they take to their bedroom and, even more disturbing, we have people who actually seem to want to know who other people are sleeping with.
Our Founding Fathers did not fight for independence so that the country would develop into a culture of collectivistic, nosey, spoiled brats taking what isn't theirs just to make the playing field a little more even. Life isn't about making everything even, because it won't be, ever. Life is about playing the hand you're dealt and doing the best you can with the cards you can play. It takes hard work, determination and the willingness to do the best you can every day in everything you face.
Own your defeats, sufferings and setbacks and then push forward and accept that you did "build that," you did achieve that, you achieved that for yourself, not for a bunch of other people but for yourself. Be selfish in your accomplishments but don't forget that you didn't get there on your own, you most likely had help, so don't be a raging prat about your success either. It's a fine line, I know.
Own your defeats, sufferings and setbacks and then push forward and accept that you did "build that," you did achieve that, you achieved that for yourself, not for a bunch of other people but for yourself. Be selfish in your accomplishments but don't forget that you didn't get there on your own, you most likely had help, so don't be a raging prat about your success either. It's a fine line, I know.
America is the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave and always will be. I'll leave you with one last quote from Judge William Young:
See that flag, Mr. Reid? That's the flag of the United States of America. That flag will fly there long after this is all forgotten. That flag stands for freedom. And it always will.
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