There’s a lock. Use it!

A radio commercial I heard recently hit the nail on the head as far as our national security is concerned. The ad had nothing to do with the country but it did have to do with protecting something we hold dear – our possessions.

The announcer was trying to convince people to buy a certain auto protection system, and near the end of the spot, he was pressuring people who might feel they have no need for such a system because they live in a safe area.

He asked them to consider that when they get home, even though they think their neighborhood is safe, they still lock their doors and windows, perhaps have an alarm on the house and may even have bars on some windows. They almost always have insurance on the house and on the contents.

The whole idea is that you take definite steps to protect what you hold dear and consider valuable. Nothing wrong with that, in fact it makes eminent sense.

So you tell me. If we’re so diligent about our personal possessions, why are we so sloppy about our country? Why is it we’ve lost sight of the fact that if the country isn’t safe, then neither is our house or our possessions or our families or anything else for that matter.

I know. There are some of you who are thinking I’m crazy – that there’s nothing at all similar between our houses and our country. Really?

Think about it. The terrorists who destroyed the World Trade Center towers, damaged the Pentagon and caused a plane crash in Pennsylvania were strangers who came in our country easily because we let them. We dropped our guard and were sloppy at the borders. That laxity allowed the enemy to be among us – plotting against us, and ultimately killing more than 6,000-and-counting of us.

Think of it as your entire extended family being in your house and you leave the front door open. Home-invasion robbers enter easily, barely armed, and in the middle of the night, kill all of you.

The concept of protection is something we seem to have lost track of when talking about our country. If you take today’s visible patriotism as proof of love of country, we have to ask why we’ve allowed our immigration, border and customs departments to be so careless. If we really loved our country and valued what it stands for then you’d think we’d do all we could to protect it.

I’ll tell you what I think. The people of this country, the flag-waving patriots of today who are usually the silent majority, do hold the country in esteem and thought their elected officials did too. They thought that those in charge could be relied on to do the right thing – protect the country they were elected to serve.

But they were wrong. Elected officials and bureaucrats watered-down rules and regulations, cutting staffs and budgets. This allowed entry to this country of people never properly screened. You need only look at the WTC suspected terrorists.

Cuts and politically-correct guidelines make it impossible for the Border Patrol to do its job. Need proof? Today there are upwards of 8 to 10 million people here illegally and the power-elite are ready to welcome more.

Not only is virtually nothing done to stop the inward-flow of illegals but many in Washington are ready and willing to legalize those already here. In other words, to reward a federal crime with free citizenship and all the goodies!

Even states are on the handout bandwagon. California just decided to allow illegals to pay the reduced in-state tuition to state universities, came that close to allowing illegals to get drivers licenses and already provides schooling and health care. Other states are doing the same. Remember, we’re talking about known illegals.

Imagine what that tells the rest of the world. Not that we’re a world power. Not that we’re a country of law and justice. Not that we’re the land of the free and the home of the brave. No. It advertises to the world that we’re the land of the freebies and the home of the boobs. And gullible at that!

We must put first things first: protect and preserve what we have. Tighten the borders. Cut legal immigration. Computerize the entry of any foreigner, do background checks, keep track of their whereabouts and when it’s time for them to leave, escort them to the border if necessary.

We’ll be doing what we used to do when this country grew and blossomed with the legal melting pot our Constitution allows. We would also be doing what most countries in the world still do.

Never forget that many of those countries, especially those with economic problems, secretly cheer our stupidity for it means their poorest and least educated become our problems, which takes the pressure off of them.

As for our elected elites? The patriots of this country must hold their feet to the fire. Tell them to put us (U.S.) first or start job-hunting the day after election day.