Auld Lang Syne 2009 - A Farewell to Freedom?

(Note: For background on the tradition of the New Year's Day poem, see TheFlyingCurmudgeon post for Monday, 31 December 2007: A New Auld Lang Syne)

0001 - 01 January 2010

Auld Lang Syne 2009 - A Farewell to Freedom?

Auld lang syne, 2009, another year's come, and one's gone.
A year, somewhat bitter, we stop to consider, on this January "One."
As the Bard - yet again, picks up his...pen? And begins this lyrical ode,
With all that's passed, will Liberty last? And what will the new year bode?

'Twas one year exactly, when matter-of-factly, Flight 1549 departed
La Guardia Airport. "Switch to Departure," the Tower instructed.
And while a new frequency's tuned, with a sudden loud banging, a terrible shudder,
And the smell of burnt feathers, like "that," the airplane's a glider.

"We've hit birds," said the captain, calm and collected,
"We're turning back to the airport," he stated.
But both engines were dead, an emergency - dread. Alas, it wasn't to be.
So heavy and slow, toward frigid waters below, Sully guided the A-320.

"We'll be in the Hudson," he told the controllers,
While his co-pilot ran the procedures,
For a loss of two engines. Meanwhile, back in the cabin,
The flight attendants did what they could. Then,

They shouted instructions, "Heads down, stay down!" Over and over,
And did their best to prepare them. While the passengers took cover,
As the aircraft descended, three sobering words were now heard,
"Brace for impact!" A jolt, and a splash - thank God, none was injured.

A short five days later, in the Capital City, awash with pomp and pretension,
A wind just as bitter, blew from the River, while millions more, 'cross the nation,
Along with Sully and crew, saw a man raise his hand, and swear, "...to protect and defend..."
The United States Constitution. Barack Obama, the first "African-American"

President. While the stock market crashed, his Chief-of-Staff, unabashed,
Freed the cat from the bag, "Let not a crisis be wasted."
So the "Messiah" and friends, the march leftward, beginning,
Engaged in an orgy of spending. In less than a year, accumulating

More debt than all prior presidents - combined. A trillion spent here, another spent there,
The numbers just boggle the mind. If Senator Dirksen were here,
What would he say, to this feckless display, a mere four decades hence?
"The country is bankrupt..." We all need to fess up, it's just plain, common sense.

As Pelosi and Reid, the economy, seized, while evil men still plan our destruction,
Obama bows low, to tyrant and foe,  and they laugh at his genuflection.
Like it or not, our enemies plot, nothing short of our complete subjugation,
Will make them cease and desist, their "Global Contingency Operation?"

With euphemisms abounding, "Man-made Disasters" surrounding, we have to be clear,
The War on Terror persists, and though the critic resists, we mustn't give in to our fear.
And like our Forefathers - for Freedom, we all STILL must pledge, one to another,
For the sake of Posterity, "...Our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."

"History does not long entrust the care of Freedom to the weak or the timid."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Happy New Year.

The Flying Curmudgeon