DISCLAIMER:<\/b> I only speak for myself, not the military, not the veteran community, and not the Army Special Forces. \u201cI have great respect for the men and women that fought for this country,\u201d and these are simply my opinions and feelings, based on my values and experiences. However, feel free to virtually crucify me \u2014 as if you needed my permission.<\/i><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear United States of America,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.\u201d<\/i> – Socrates<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n
That quote has been in my Twitter bio for as long as I can remember. No, I didn\u2019t know him, but I\u2019m pretty sure Socrates was a smart guy, and it sounds like he might have been humble too. Weird. Socrates served in the military, and from my limited research led a really complicated life, much of which he was criticized for. He also may have even opposed democracy, which seems to be one of the factors leading to his eventual execution. That being said, if I had known him, I probably wouldn\u2019t be onboard with all things Socrates<\/a>. But, I do love that quote. I didn\u2019t plan on writing about Socrates, and it sounds like he wouldn\u2019t want that anyway. In this current social climate, I will undoubtedly be virtually executed by somebody for quoting him, so please, allow me to preemptively apologize. With the \u201ccancel culture\u201d we\u2019re currently navigating, or tiptoeing I should say, my days are surely numbered. But, I digress, which I will do throughout this\u2026 manifesto? Or whatever this piece of word vomit is. Anyway, to me, that quote pretty much sums up the first half of 2020. A metric s*** ton of unknowns<\/i>. What will life look like on the other side of Covid-19? Who will be elected President in November? And perhaps the most important question of all: WILL THERE BE A 2020 NFL SEASON?! I\u2019m not getting into the weeds on coronavirus, or protests over the death of George Floyd, or the litany of challenges we\u2019ve already<\/i> faced in 2020. We were there, we know what happened, right? Well, we better know<\/i> anyway, after how much it\u2019s all been politicized. Regardless, I genuinely just don\u2019t wanna write about that either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019d rather talk about the second half. This year, the way I see it, Fourth of July is America\u2019s \u201chalftime\u201d for the 2020 season \u2014 and boy was the first half a kick in the balls. Ouch. But, without pain there is no growth. When you workout in the gym you are literally tearing your muscles, and the only way they are able to grow is through recovery, and healing. Maybe that\u2019s what\u2019s happening now (or about to happen, anyway)? There seems to be a lot of growth going on around the country amidst all the tragedy, anger, and division. For instance, we kinda sorta finally recognized June 19th as a national holiday, maybe 150 or so years too late, but important nonetheless. There\u2019s a lot of people that feel like Juneteenth<\/a> is as important as the Independence Day that we\u2019ve celebrated for almost 240 years. Some of those people even feel that it\u2019s more important, and guess what, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they\u2019re unpatriotic. Fourth of July is important too though, at least to me. And at this point, despite my personal connection to Old Glory, it would be quite challenging for anyone to convince me that the American flag is just a \u201cpiece of cloth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t