HardJedi
10-19-04, 10:12 PM
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 it's 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
two-fold. 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 East is 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 whom 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 grisly 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 W.W.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 W.W. 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."
Mathew Manweller is a Central Washington University political science professor
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 it's 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
two-fold. 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 East is 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 whom 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 grisly 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 W.W.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 W.W. 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."
Mathew Manweller is a Central Washington University political science professor