“Never give up”. What’s it mean? Does it truly define courage? I’m sure that Atticus Finch would agree with me, when I say that courage takes the form of a variety of hosts. It’s not just that courage is running into a blazing fire and retrieving someone’s dear cat. No … it’s not just laying your life down on the line for brothers either. It’s something that you are born with. Courage is in all people, but what is true courage?

The answer is simple. Feel your pulse; you can feel it, your muscles expanding and pounding, pumping life sustaining blood through tiny capillaries, and minuscule vessels. True courage abides in your heart. You either have it, or you don’t. When courage makes a stand, it’s selfless. When the papers come out and they bash the government for killing young men by fighting a “childish war”, the government didn't kill those boys; it was their selfless courage that did it. See, The New York Times believes that by including their side and leaving out the opposition’s altogether that their flimsy double sided excuse for literature is suddenly a great work of art. The fresh coffins not being prayed over, even though all the soldiers were Christian? Their story is of true courage, courage in the line of duty, helping instead of running. So What? True Courage… my butt. Good riddance there’s 10 less to spend “wasted” tax dollars on!

While the rich American snob wearing a seal fur coat, who sits in Starbucks every Saturday, while checking her iphone and deleting PETA propaganda, her? Oh yeah she has some real courage. She’s proud to say that last month she saw a homeless man with a sign “please help am blind” and she scrounged around in her cashmere purse and pulled out a one, and gave it to him. AMERICA! Home of the stupid and “Courageous”!

I have no problem with the college football players that run through people like their lives depend on it. It does! With each season and what they call “courage” comes over 1500 hits to their ham heads. Now it all makes sense why they translate sex, drugs and drinking into courage. Don’t get me wrong, college is supposed to be fun, but if that’s all you do, then maybe being arrested is what you deserve! Oh… wait all college players seem to only get expelled for one game if they are 20 and get caught smoking… at their school’s stadium. Then the “courageous” coach steps in and in a flurry of court meetings squeaks out a sweet deal. “Give me back my princess, and I’ll give each of you $20,000!”

See? that’s my gripe. This backwards country has confused courage so much with other values, that not even our president can be called an example. The man said nothing about an American ambassador being slaughtered, but instead apologized to the other country’s leaders? Pride comes to mind and Patriotism when I think about this. Where’s the courage? He’s hiding in his castle, while his men in black patrol the halls roofs, yards, planes, and areas around the White House. “Courage” seems to hate America, but love spending money to do “courageous” things… like take a movie about him out of theatres? Weird Huh?

True courage is putting others before yourself, its having more desire for them than for your own well being. If courage exists in all of us then why can’t true courage also? Where is America’s true courage?