For those of you who think your life is rough in the San Fernando Valley or other comfortable middle class neighbourhoods try taking an innocent drive to the Flower District in Downtown Los Angeles.  My wife wanted to go to Moskatel’s Craft store on San Julian Street.  I did not know that street between 6^th Street and 7^th Street is Skid Row.  One drive down that block will convey the horror of homelessness.  Everyone reading this should give thanks that they are not part of those poor people.

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Back when we were married, 41 years ago, my bride to be decided to help defray the cost of wedding flowers at each table by making the settings herself.  We went to downtown Los Angeles to the flower district.  There we found Moskatel’s Craft store on San Julian Street.  While I knew it was in the skid row area we never saw any homeless people on the streets.

My wife has been a crafts person all of her life.  Yesterday the idea came to her to return to that store.  “Just for fun” she said, “Lets go down there and then go out to lunch.”  I found the store address on the internet.  They do not have a website but the name and address were easily identified.

We exited the Harbor Freeway onto 6^th Street and drove to San Julian Street without incident.  The right turn onto San Julian brought the horror of skid row right into our faces.  That first block was lined with homeless people sitting on curbs and leaning or sleeping against the walls of the buildings.  I drove carefully and slowly down the narrow street stunned by the obvious despair.  Surprisingly the next block was totally clear of homeless people.  This was the block that housed Moskatel’s and we saw the sign over the entrance to the store.

I circled the block looking for parking.  Along the way my wife saw another craft store she wanted to visit.  We found parking in a structure that adjoined the store.  Once inside the structure that led us into the store I felt safe.  Inside we found the variety of crafts supplies greater than any Michael’s (they now own Moskatel’s) or JoAnn’s.

Then my wife announced she wanted to walk over to that other store she had seen just a block and a half away.  That store was back towards skid row but one block over on the corner.  It was a frightening walk past people sitting on the sidewalk, laying on the sidewalk, and one individual who was starting to approach us.  He (perhaps she) was wrapped in a blanket as he was starting towards us.  The traffic light changed to green and we quickly walked across the street and back to our car.

Lunch was just a few block away at Lawry’s in a new entertainment center that is part of L.A. Live.  Included in the center is Staples Center, Nokia Theater, the Grammy Museum and two new hotels.  The parking attendant, had never heard of Moskatel’s, and was obviously oblivious to what we had just seen.

Despite what Glenn Beck has said about taking America back, America is going forward.  America has been a progressive country and will continue to be a progressive country.

Don Lemon on CNN today had as a guest, Tim Wise,  a White blogger who identifies himself as an antiracist essayist, author and educator. Mr. Wise posted the linked piece in which he tells the right wing and the Tea Party that they should party hardy because their time is short lived.

I am somewhat older than Mr. Wise but I can relate to his view.  America is no longer the world of “Howdy Doody” and “Father Knows Best.”  I do not want to go back to those times and neither should you.

Unless we defend our culture the United States will become another nation’s culture. Most of our ancestors came here to begin anew and that includes becoming part of America.  I wrote about this issue in a piece titled “We Speak English.”

Published November 04, 2010 | FoxNews.com

Melissa Taggart says she was delighted that her son was learning a foreign language in the eighth grade — until she learned he was expected to recite the Pledge of Allegiance in Spanish.

And that he’d receive a zero if he didn’t.

Taggart, of Edmond, Okla., said the Pledge should be recited in English — and English only.

“English is our language…and I just feel it’s wrong that he would have to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America in Spanish. It’s just wrong,” a frustrated Taggart told Fox 4 Oklahoma City.

She said she couldn’t begin to understand why her son’s teacher would choose the Pledge for her class. And she was upset that her son was told he would receive a zero if he did not complete the assignment.

“There are poems, lyrics, and great writes that she could have chosen that emphasize the Spanish culture and to teach our children,” Taggart said. “Why the Pledge of Allegiance?”

She said she and her husband were appalled by the assignment and that they “don’t believe in it, and I do not want my child doing it.”

“I just feel that it’s wrong,” she told Fox 4, “that he’ll have to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America in Spanish. That’s not how it should be taught. That has nothing to do with the Spanish language.”

The United States has lost its way!   How many Americans are proud of their country?  Apparently too many Americans long for their native countries.  That fact is displayed by the waving of flags and banners as well as auto license frames and decals announcing their nation of origin.  In addition to that outrage many Americans refuse to say the “Pledge of Allegiance” or stand up when the “Star Spangled Banner” is played.

Compare that behavior with Canadians.  An example is a Canadian from Sudan who running for office in a small town in Alberta.  The sign on the back of his car says “Proudly Canadian.”  Michael Mayen arrived in Brooks three years ago after fleeing the brutal civil war in Sudan. He is running for council.  His story is reported in detail in the Toronto Star.

Proud Americans are in short supply.  How do we change this situation?