Posted on 10/27/2004 7:57:41 AM PDT by dvan
Written by Mathew Manweller, Political science professor at Central Washington University
This was written in the on Wed. Oct. 6, 2004. It was written by Mathew Manweller who is a Central Washington University political science professor.
The title of the article was "Election determines fate of nation."
"In that this will be my last column before the presidential election there will be no sarcasm, no attempts at witty repartee.
The topic is too serious, and the stakes are too high. This November we will vote in the only election during our lifetime that will truly matter. Because America is at a once-in-a-generation crossroads, more than an election hangs in the balance.
Down one path lies retreat, abdication and a reign of ambivalence. Down the other lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the daunting obligation its future demands. If we choose poorly, the consequences will echo through the next 50 years of history.
If we, in a spasm of frustration, turn out the current occupant of the White House, the message to the world and ourselves will be twofold. First, we will reject the notion that America can do big things. Once a nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the moon, we will announce to the world that bringing democracy to the Middle Eastis too big of a task for us. But more significantly, we will signal to future presidents that as voters, we are unwilling to tackle difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness, embracing the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations.
The defeat of President Bush will send a chilling message to future presidents who may need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America has always been a nation that rises to the demands of history regardless of the costs or appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn away from who we are. Second, we inform every terrorist organization on the globe that the lesson of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia we showed terrorists that you don't need to defeat America on the battlefield when you can defeat them in the newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become a defeated America. Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracing polls will do the heavy lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except that Iraq is Somalia times 10.
The election of John Kerry will serve notice to every terrorist in every cave that the soft underbelly of American power is the timidity of American voters. Terrorists will know that a steady stream of grizzly photos for CNN is all you need to break the will of the American people. Our own self-doubt will take it from there.
Bin Laden will recognize that he can topple any American administration without setting foot on the homeland.
It is said that America's WW II generation is its 'greatest generation.' But my greatest fear is that it will become known as America's 'last generation'. Born in the bleakness of the Great Depression and hardened in the fire of WW II, they may be the last American generation that understands the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice. It is difficult to admit, but I know these terms are spoken with only hollow detachment by many (but not all) in my generation. Too many citizens today mistake 'living in America' as 'being an American'. But America has always been more of an idea than a place. When you sign on, you do more than buy real estate. You accept a set of values and responsibilities.
This November, my generation, which has been absent too long, must grasp the obligation that comes with being an American, or fade into the oblivion they may deserve. I believe that 100 years from now historians will look back at the election of 2004 and see it as the decisive election of our century.
Depending on the outcome, they will describe it as the moment America joined the ranks of ordinary nations; or they will describe it as the moment the prodigal sons and daughters of the greatest generation accepted their burden as caretakers of the "City on the Hill."
A Little Perspective.
Even if you're not interested in debate, every American should know the following:
There were 39 combat related killings in Iraq during the month of July In the fair city of Detroit there were 35 murders in the month of July.
That's just one American city, about as deadly as the entire war torn country of Iraq.
When some claim President Bush shouldn't have started this war, consider the following ...
FDR... Led us into World War II. Germany never attacked us: Japan did. From 1941-1945, 450,000 lives were lost, an average of 112,500 per year.
Truman... Finished that war and started one in Korea, North Korea never attacked us. From 1950-1953, 55,000 lives were lost, an average of 18,334 per year.
John F. Kennedy... Started the Vietnam conflict in 1962. Vietnam never attacked us.
Johnson... Turned Vietnam into a quagmire. From 1965-1975, 58,000 lives were lost, an average of 5,800 per year.
Clinton... Went to war in Bosnia without UN or French consent, Bosnia never attacked us (we are STILL there). He was offered Osama bin Laden's head on a platter three times by Sudan and did nothing. Osama has attacked us on multiple occasions.
In the two years since terrorists attacked us President Bush has liberated two countries, crushed the Taliban, crippled al-Qaida, put nuclear inspectors in Libya, Iran and North Korea without firing a shot, and captured a terrorist who slaughtered 360,000 of his own people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Democrats (and media) are complaining about how long the war is taking, but... It took less time to take Iraq than it took Janet Reno to take the Branch Davidian compound. That was a 51 day operation.
We've been looking for evidence of chemical weapons in Iraq for less time than it took Hillary Clinton to find the Rose Law Firm billing records.
It took less time for the 3rd Infantry Division and the Marines to destroy the Medina Republican Guard than it took Ted Kennedy to call the police after his Oldsmobile sank at Chappaquiddick.
It took less time to take Iraq than it took to count the votes in Florida!!!!
Our Commander-In-Chief is doing the best job he knows how! The Military is doing a superb job, given the circumstances!
Theodore Roosevelt said, "To sit home, read one's favorite paper, and scoff at the misdeeds of the men who do things is easy, but it is markedly ineffective. It is what evil men count upon the good men's doing." - The Outlook, December 21, 1895.
You can help reduce the deception in this campaign by forwarding these facts to people in your sphere of influence. Please don't sit by and do nothing. Get involved. Every person counts.
Every vote counts.
BTTT
Good article. If anything, however, it UNDERSTATES the stakes in this election.
This is a world wide war against radical Islam. If the Islamists succeed in unifying Islam, it could even become a war of ALL Islam against the rest of the world.
Even if it can be limited to "just" the radical Islamists, it has the potential for the widespread use of weapons of mass destruction. The Islamists believe the U.S. can be brought to its knees through the use of these weapons, after which the rest of the world will fall.
That means this election determines much more than the fate of the U.S.
BTTT
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