USA The George Bailey of Its a Wonderful Life

USA Today ^ | 3-24-2003 | Richard Bendetto

[shoedog]

WASHINGTON

[Taft in '52]

Thomas Hobbes writing in 1651, provides a pretty good description of a present-day world without the United States. Such a world would be characterized by "continual fear, and danger of violent death; and the life of man [would be] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."

[AHerald]

Like it.

[dead]

Bump.

But the "there has to be another alternative, though I have no idea what it is" crowd just pushes such scenarios out of their mind. It would force them to actually use their brain.

[Captain Kirk]

"Nasty, brutish and short?" It brings to mind life in Afghanistan (outside of the enclave of Kabul) Haiti, Kosovo, Somalia, and Iraq. Now...what do all these nations have in common? Hmm....

[q_an_a]

WW1, WW2, The Suez Canal, The 6day war, Bosnia, Tibet, Kashmir, Ruwanda, Nigeria, Zimbawe, Checynia, East Timor and the monthly South American resuffle of goverments... all started without the help of USA. Most started by people trying to figure out how to make communism work and forgeting November 1989 proved it does not.

[NotJustAnotherPrettyFace]

I'm convinced that one of the reasons why America and all it stands for is hated and feared - mainly because of our eternal message of hope and optimism.