The Election in a Nutshell
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 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 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.
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 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 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.