Dead Presidents Wondering

52 Stories in 52 Weeks: 2007 ## 8 Dead Presidents Wondering:

By: Mr. George Patnoe Jr.'s Ambidextrous Writing Brain + Mind

As they heard stories from current dead America presidents, Washington said to Lincoln, "Well, if we knew how America was going to turn out after we fought the British and then after we had fought among ourselves, maybe we would have acted differently if we had known better." "Yea," said Lincoln. "But how could we have known that the baby America would have grown up to become the adult global superpower that it has become in the form that former presidents in the pass a way President’s Club zone have stated to us." "Well, we did what we had to do in the moment that we had to do it." responded Washington. "We might have created a completely different constitution, but one can not plan for every future event; especially when no one knows what the future holds for America and the world. The world changes just to fast, it seems. Women’s rights, gay rights, black rights, muslim rights, and not enough people carrying their own guns....What is that? So many drug dealers carrying guns and not enough non-drug dealers carrying their own guns....What is that? What happen to the freedom to carry guns, to protect yourself from evil people? Like those futuristic drug dealers? Oh well!"

As they shared a bottle of scotch, they raised their half filled glasses of the yellow liquid towards the ceiling of the pass a way President’s Club as one or the other made a toast, "To America’s dreams of building freedom and all that freedom truly stands for, without any more war and death." Of course both Washington and Lincoln knew that was not possible in any year yet, but they hoped that one day peace would prevail, as did all of America’s previous presidents. But they all knew by experience and wisdom that there was a certain evil in the world that did not believe in the general concept of freedom, but especially of America’s concept of freedom, which included the freedom of a general class of free thinking people to think freely about God, the universe, and even human government, politics, and law.

In the pass a way President’s Club, Washington and Lincoln heard the whispers of other war time presidents, "Until that evil against freedom has disappeared, war and blood and death will continue in some form; for America as well for the whole world, until that is, every ounce of evil against true freedom has been destroyed, gone from the minds of men in governmental and religious power. A voice was heard reminding Washington and Lincoln how President Ronald Reagan stated, in front of the whole world, "Take down this wall!" in a speech in Germany, June 12, 1987. Maybe Reagan did not know that how one statement, one sentence would not only change one divided country called Germany, but how he put an idea into the minds of everyone who had heard the concept, "Drop the barriers that divide people from each other and from enjoying the freedom of being one people, one nation.....in a sense one world."

Other presidents nodded their heads up and down as they began to realize how one sentence can carry much bigger meanings that are not meant at the moment. When President Kennedy state that, "Before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon, and returning him safely to earth...", He might not have realized how he changed the minds of every listener in one moment of time. Not only did he change the course of human events, but he also changed how people dreamed about the future, even if they themselves would never travel to outer space. But other people, like governmental leaders of other countries saw their future space programs as future war budgets and goals.

Washington and Lincoln both looked at each other wondering how much the world had changed since they were presidents and how one American President in May 25, 1961, only one hundred years since Lincoln’s swearing into president in 1861, could change the world by making a single wish if you will, with a single demand to put a man on the moon within ten years. Kennedy never said, "Lets dream of putting a man on the moon." He spoke of committing to a goal and as the whole world heard his desire to commit to a goal; somehow, he had committed everyone desire to a seemingly impossible goal of placing a man on the moon.

Washington and Lincoln knew that they had never dreamed of setting such a high goal because their presidential goals were different than other presidents of different eras. They were forced to create and develop a nation from the start of its new birth away from its mother country of Britain to become a land, a country, a nation where all men would have the freedom to dream, and to fulfil those dreams even if that meant that only one or two men out of millions would force all men to dream impossible dreams, whatever those dreams may be for the future generations. Other presidents whispered their thoughts to one another as Washington and Lincoln walked over to Kennedy. They each had shaken Kennedy’s hand as Lincoln stated to Kennedy, "It is a good thing that all of those boys did not die for nothing. As Reagan overheard their conversation, Reagan was glad that he did not have to send anyone to fight and die in a full scale war, although he knew that he would have if he had to defend America’s land and freedom from outside enemies. After all, he was president of America during the cold war when the atomic age was also in its infancy. How ironic that the greatest and most powerful country on earth needs the most powerful and greatest weapons to defend itself against the evil people who believe that death is their answer to power.

Each president, the commander in chief of the United States Armed Services for the greatest and strongest nation on earth to date, with the most deadly of all weapons to date. Some would call that evil; the evil to be creating and owning the deadliest of weapons; when one bomb could and has killed tens of thousands like a blast from the heavens, sending death and destruction to people who sinned little, if at all, except to stand up for their country in which they lived. And yet, the biggest of political sinners are those evil religious fanatics who wrongly believe that they should obey a person’s moral standards of a thousand years ago or whenever.

America, where the separation of church and state is part of the bargain America made with itself at its birth. Someone mentioned how ex-president Carter, a Christian or religious person, might have answered such issues, with the response, "How can a religious person who becomes America’s president or commander in chief deal with such issues such as war and the evil that would like to destroy America’s freedom that allows men to dream and think, unlike any nation on the planet. How can a leader who not only goes to church, be truly believes in the man Jesus and his teachings, be concerned with the world and its ways; of money, of war and mass weapons of mass destruction. But maybe even more deeply, how can a religious president put himself into a position of being responsible for the lives of men, either good or bad?
Carter or someone like him might bring up or quote stories from the Bible how certain leaders had to destroy other nations for the sake of a religious reason. But some thinkers might ask, "Are we not supposed to be a more civilized human race after 2000 years after the thinker Jesus preached his words to the world?" And other thinkers might answer, "Just because the current civilization possesses the highest technically does not mean that the human soul and especially the human animal has progressed enough to use that technology in the manner for good and not for evil.

Washington raised his voice and yelled, "Thank God that we did not have your modern weapons when we were fighting for America’s freedom from the British." Lincoln approvingly nodded his head. The room became silent as the angry Washington sat down to rest. Then, Reagan stood up and stated, "But you previous presidents do not know what kind of evil people would use the modern day technology to destroy America and other parts of the world. There are millions of people who still believe that they should kneel down in front of the sun to find their god, while they want to cause harm to America’s people. A modern day president must be prepared to defend America and the world from religious nut jobs who would kill anyone for any reason in the name of their god. At least America does not kill in the name of any God. Just to protect the concept of freedom and the people who live in America."

One ex-president stood up and remarked, "So what is going to change the minds of religious nut jobs who believe that they can kill innocent people just because not everyone believes in their god, or morals, or dress codes, or even in their concept of heaven and hell when after all, we have space ships traveling into outer space. The old concept of heaven and hell is gone because of the new technology, so that should led to a new sense of politics and government. The desire to please an old concept of god, as if god was human or even a human being should also be gone too, but it still hovers over people like a five thousand piece of art. The art is hung on the wall for everyone to observe, but some people walk away from the old art to look at the new art and furthermore, to create some new art."

The pass away president’s club’s members wondered about what future president’s as commander in chiefs would have to do to protect America from the ever changing forms of evil that would like to destroy America, it people, and America’s freedom. But one ex-president yelled out from the background, "Long Live America, and to hell with the evil doers!" Another ex-president stated, "We may not be able to send them to hell, but we better be able to send them up in smoke."

Another stated, "Maybe not. We might need war to keep the economics of the world from being slowed down to nothing. There is money in guns, bullets, tanks, planes, etc., etc., etc., We need jobs and with so many wars, there is always a business for us. After all, computers and robots are taking over many jobs, so we in the end, maybe computers and robots may be fighting the wars for America’s freedom." Washington looked at Lincoln. Kennedy looked at Reagan. And then a cheer was yelled by an unfamous president, "Thank God we are dead."