*(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 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 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."
