Trending Topics

Living with the Sacrifice: Unite, America!

Hurricane Sandy, with all her fury and force, may have happened for a reason.

Mother Nature figured we needed a good kick in the tush. Her message — stop bickering and unite as Americans.

No other political campaign and election year has left this country as divided as the 2012 Presidential race.

Tea parties, Occupy rallies, Obama care, abortion, same-sex marriages, the economy, taxes, budget deficient, 47 percent, bringing the troops home or increasing defense spending, China, and the list goes on.

These issues have divided this country along red or blue affiliations like never before.

Candidates bash each other. Heated debates run amuck. Republicans take one stance while the Democrats take another just to oppose what the other party is advocating all for the sake of opposition; not for doing what is right for the country.

The campaign even brought a four-year-old to tears in a video that went viral on YouTube.

Mother Nature’s message to us with Hurricane Sandy: STOP IT!

We are all inhabiting this planet together, Republicans and Democrats alike. We are all Americans wanting the same thing — a strong, safe, and prosperous America.

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, one of the president’s most vocal dissidents, gave high praise to Obama for his handling of Hurricane Sandy. The governor told Republicans who criticized his accolades in a closely-contested election year to get lost saying that he could care less about presidential politics right now. Christie said that Obama was responsive giving the governor a direct line to the president and doing everything Christie asked in a timely manner.

Governor Christie knew that law enforcement officers live by the WIN principle: What’s Important Now.

The campaign be damned. People needed help and needed it now.

Federal aid is costly. Hurricane Sandy will only make the trillion dollar deficit worse, not better. Let’s come together as Americans working for what’s right for the country and stop putting so much energy into working against each other.

The sad thing is that it took the fury of Mother Nature wiping out half of the Northeast coastline for us to see what is important right now — getting the East Coast back on its feet and the country on its way to economic stability.

Rebuilding Long Island and the New Jersey shore, getting the New York subways running again, and power restored will create jobs and save old ones.

Let’s build on that.

America needs to make Hurricane Sandy its phoenix and rise out of the puddles left behind from the storm surge to be a stronger and more united America.

Exercise your right as an American. If you haven’t already voted early, vote on Tuesday.

Then put away your party affiliation and unite your community in building America.

Natural disasters test the ranks of law enforcement. Support your fellow officers, donate to the Red Cross, send supplies to the departments hardest hit.

Adopt a department and ask what they need. Blue must take care of blue.

Barbara A. Schwartz has dedicated her life to supporting the brave officers of law enforcement for 52 years.

Schwartz is certified as a first responder peer supporter by the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation (ICISF) and the Law Enforcement Alliance for Peer Support (LEAPS). She maintains specializations in grief, injured officer support, suicide prevention, and traumatic stress injuries.

As a reserve officer and Police Explorer, Schwartz served in patrol and investigations. Her articles and book reviews have appeared in American Police Beat, The Thin Blue Line, Command, The Tactical Edge, Crisis Negotiator Journal, Badge & Gun, The Harris County Star, The Blues, The Shield, The Police News, Police1.com and Calibre Press Newsline.

Schwartz was instrumental in the passage of the Blue Alert legislation across the country, the enactment of the National First Responders Day, and the establishment of the Houston Police Officers’ Union peer support team. She is proud to be a founding member of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Foundation.

She maintains memberships in the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) and the International Law Enforcement Educators and Trainers Association (ILEETA).
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU