"2004 Election determines fate of nation"

[TYLERTECHSAS]

From the Wed 06 Oct 2004 issue of the Ellensburg Daily Record
(Ellensburg,
Washington) written by Mathew Manweller - Central Washington
University
political science professor...

"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 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 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
Ir! aq 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 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 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."


Mathew Manweller

[ARKDAWG02]

Not much more to add to that. Pretty well says it all.

[daybreaker2]

Part of me almost hopes Bush does get re-elected just so I get to say I told you so. If I'm not dead, or in another country that is outlawed from the American Internets due to heightened regulation and governmental control, that is.

[DawgyNWindow]

"Part of me almost hopes Bush does get re-elected "


That's the first thing you've said that I agree with.

[ARKDAWG02]

Now you're finally coming around Day.