What do these dates have in common?

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June, 15 1961 / November 9, 1989
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............&.................
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July 4, 1776 / November 7, 2009
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Give up?
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The first set is the life span of the Berlin Wall.
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Tomorrow is the anniversary of the Berlin Wall coming down. It was, for 38 years of my life, the very symbol of oppression. A barrier between those of us who lived in freedom, and those who were under the control of an overbearing government. All run by a central committee who had people imprisoned for not following the rules.
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It's more than just a little ironic, that the country that forced the Soviet Union into capitulation, is now quickly becoming one of most socialized countries of the western world. It is more galling still to those of us who fought the Cold War.
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I know about other wars that we've fought. But this one was a 50 year staring contest, and the other guy blinked.

From August 1945, to November 1989, the grand majority of us who served in the military, fought ONLY that war. And it looks to me, like we lost it.
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To use a common 21st century short hand, I just hope American Revolution 2.0 is a short one. I'm not young anymore, and I'd like to see my grandsons grow up.
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I'd like to see them have a future. But this morning that future looks bleak. They are about to inherit that which I served to defeat. An overbearing central government.
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And just for the record, it took me thirty minutes to write this far. It was a little hard to see through tears. If you think that makes me weak or a wimp, it's still, this morning anyway, your right to think what you want. But I always cry when something or someone dear to me dies, or I hear that the dear thing is very sick and may be dying.
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And now my last few lines.
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Last night was "it" for me, and this morning is the result.
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There is simply too much to do, to sit here even a few hours a day, pouring my energy into words on a screen. I'm going to find some way, to be more active in my community at a grass roots level, to save my country. I took an oath once to do that. And by my own admittance this morning, to you my friends,
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I have not lived up to my oath.
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I have bitched, complained and voted, and that's about it. It's not enough. I allowed my inactivity to keep my current Congressman, the (dis)Honorable Brad Miller, in office way beyond his usefulness to my district. He voted FOR last nights abortion. He is way too liberal, to represent even my district, even though we have a major university smack in the middle of the district. Real Americans should not be out voted by liberals in academia, or their liberal friends in the neighborhood. And that's all a Congressional District is, a big neighborhood.
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I'm going to find the NC Republican Party headquarters this week, and I'm donating this blogging time, to me grandsons, via that office. I'm going to find old fashioned, cast iron, conservative, constitutionalists to back for ALL public offices. I even want my dogs picked up by conservative dog catchers.
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A war was declared long ago, against America, by believers in socialism / communism. Last night, they fired directly into my home. Yes, I know they've fired at me before, but this one went right through the kids rooms. I'm going to try to see to it that it doesn't happen again.
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Many of you, my friends, have my e-mail address. Don't be strangers. And Jimbo, Paradise isn't in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, living among the lotus eaters, and uber-liberal voters. It's in Texas, among bbq cooks, Shiner Bock and cowboys.
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Go home, while you still have the option buddy. Money ain't everything.
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your friend, Steve Rhudy, the EX-blogger.
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Schteveo is dead, here lie his bones
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