A Soldier's Prayer

There's this guy who's the best bagpiper I've ever heard. I'm not alone in thinking that. He's widely acclaimed in bagpipe listening circuits, so those of you who cringe at the sight of a kilt and a pipe will just have to take my word for it. He used to play with Seven Nations, and lately with a group called Rathkeltair.
In recent years he married a charming woman who loved his young son, and we all rejoiced when his second son was born. He's Army reserve and was unfazed at being called to active duty a while back. He thought as many did that this was a righteous war and spoke of "taking out the trash." He was used at first to train soldiers--he's a major--and then in the summer was sent off to Baghdad. I've noticed his posts on his website changing in tone as these last three years have passed.
And then today I dropped by his site, antipypr.com, to find this prayer posted:

A Soldier's Prayer for America in 2008

Lord, in 2008, please send us a leader.
Send us someone we can truly place our trust and confidence in.
Send us someone who at some point in their life actually earned a day's pay for an honest day of hard manual labor.
Send us someone who knows what it's like to just scrape by and wonder how they'll make it to the next paycheck.
Send us someone who volunteered to go to war at his country's behest, and didn't use privilege or status to avoid serving in harm's way, or at all.
Send us someone who seeks wise counsel, and is not ignorant, arrogant, or immature.
Send us someone who treats his office as a sacred trust and not just an opportunity to settle old scores or marginalize the opposition.
Send us someone who will not surround himself with greedy, unscrupulous sycophants.
Send us someone who doesn't lie too well, and when we catch him in a lie, has the balls to admit it.
Send us someone who understands that the United States is part of a global community and not the schoolyard bully.
Send us someone with the maturity, the intelligence, and the guts to make his own well-informed decisions.
Send us someone who puts the interests of this nation above the interests of his party.
Send us someone who feels it is beneath his dignity and a betrayal of public trust to pander to any special interest group, no matter how much money they spent to get him elected.
Send us a statesman with the vision to have good long-term ideas and the courage to back them up with legitimate action.
Send us someone who respects the lives of our defenders and does not needlessly squander them in ill-conceived folly.
Send us someone the whole world can look up to, instead of muttering, "My God, they're the most powerful country on earth and this is the best they can do??"
Send us a leader.
It's signed by him:
Major Neil Anderson

Stay safe and come home in good working order, Neil. I miss your music.