E.M. Forster infamously said that, if he had to betray his country or a friend, he hoped he would betray the former.  He was cheered for it by Oxford swells who had seen their elders slaughtered in the trenches during World War I, and by fellow homosexuals whose proclivities were illegal at the time.  This was sometime in the 30’s.  Reading it, I remember being appalled and saying to myself how typical it was of an effete English poof to denigrate his country.

Well, this is 2016, and I would be doing a Forster if it came down to choosing between the good ole U.S.A. and a friend.  No, I still prefer girls to boys, and still consider myself a patriot, but when the country continually betrays its citizens, we need to call a time-out and have a rethink.  How can one justify allegiance to Uncle Sam when the president of the United States unequivocally states that he will veto any bill that would allow the Saudi government to be held responsible in a U.S. court for any role in the September 11 terrorist attacks?  Add to that outrage the statement by the U.S. secretary of state that such a bill would establish a terrible precedent.  What in heaven’s name is going on here?  Close to 3,000 innocent Americans were murdered by Saudi fanatics who had help from Saudi diplomats inside the United States, yet the top two boys of our government insist it’s a no-no.  Backing the Saudis over their own citizens is something olive republics in Europe tend to do.  Greece, for example, will allow the camel drivers to ignore Greek laws as long as the money flows; but even a Greek prime minister would never side with the sandy types over 3,000 Greek lives.

Yet just the threat by the head camel driver to sell billions in U.S. assets (if Congress passes such a bill) has Osama—sorry, Obama—quaking in his boots and native dress, whatever that may be.  We know that the then-ambassador of Saudi Arabia, Bandar, and his wife were directly involved.  Funds from her bank account were discovered after the fact to have been diverted to some of the hijackers.  How can our elected leaders side with a one-family-controlled kleptocracy that has contributed nothing to society aside from funding mosques and anti-Christian propaganda, a ruling elite that stones adulterers and homosexuals to death?  The Saudis have never been held accountable for their crimes against humanity

But let’s put the Saudi blackmail aside, however ghastly the thought of these savages holding us ransom.  And let’s think of Nathan Hale.  Would the great Nathan, were he alive today, be as regretful that he had but one life to give for this country?  Would Hale die for bathroom freedom fighters, as the grotesque Bruce Springsteen called those folks who were born one sex but like to spend time in the other sex’s bathrooms?  Brucey baby has chosen not to make his noise in North Carolina, whose state legislature has, in the words of the New York Post, “attempted to retain the silly old notion that ‘single-sex, multiple-occupancy bathroom and changing facilities’ should be entered based on a person’s biological gender,” as opposed to “the one they imagine it to be.”

Better yet, would Hale die happily for the freedom that rapper Rick Ross enjoys while on a visit to the White House?  Ross was a guest of President Obama, but during the visit his ankle bracelet started beeping.  Obama was discussing keeping kids from crime, when a real criminal’s beeper went off.  Ross wears the bracelet because he’s out on bail for kidnapping and pistol-whipping his groundskeeper.  Ross is also a songwriter.  His lyrics promote Ecstasy and date rape.  Oh, and last year he fantasized in a rap song about killing a presidential candidate—a white one.  Would Nathan really go happily to the gallows so Ross would be free to publish his stuff?  Maybe if the Brits gave him some LSD . . .

And how would Nathan Hale deal with Black Lives Matter?  In St. Paul, Minnesota, two high-school students punched and body slammed a teacher who had complained about lenient disciplinary policies that had led to assaults against teachers.  Both students were black; all the beaten-up teachers were white.  The Obama administration has threatened school districts around the country with lawsuits and funding cuts if they punish more black students than white students, because that perpetuates the “school-to-prison pipeline.”  When a St. Paul teacher said that the “pipeline” claim is unfounded in reality, Black Lives Matter called him a white supremacist, met with the school’s superintendent, and the teacher was suspended, according to the New York Post.

I finally realize why Nathan was so brave.  He must have known what his country would turn into: sex and violence on TV; rap music; bathroom rights; gay marriage; Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington instead of jail; the Saudis.  No wonder Nathan was eager to hang.  He’s still thanking God that he didn’t live long enough to see what happened to his country.