NOTE: "AND NO IT WAS Jabrinski"
MATTHEW MANWELLER'S COMMENTARY ON THIS ELECTION The commentary is from
Matthew Manweller, a political science professor at Central Washington
University. Here's the text of that commentary: "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 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 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 WWII 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 WWII, 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 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."
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Enjoy!!!
Hog
