Posted on 10/19/2004 11:26:39 AM PDT by Roos_Girl
I received this in an email. I did a search and didn't find it, so I thought I'd go ahead and post it. Send it to all your liberal friends who still think it's a great idea to vote for Kerry.
This was written in the Daily Record (Ellensburg's paper) on Wed. Oct.6, 2004. It was written by Mathew (only one t) Manweller who is a Central Washington University political science professor.
The title of the article was "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 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 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 could 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."
Out bloody standing.
Excellent post... I have to agree...
bump
OMG!!!!! B R A V O
Magnificent.
I checked this out - the name, the campus, and the email article, are all genuine.
Great find.
Yes, the Daily Record did in fact publish an Oct. 6 column by Central Washington University political science professor Mathew Manweller titled "Election Determines Fate of Nation." If you would like to purchase a copy of the column, please call our office at (509) 925-1414. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific time.
Send that one around. Incredible.
Guess I didn't search very well, it's posted about 10 articles down!
Good post, but please...the grammar and spelling!! The other thing we don't want to promote is poor grammar and equally poor spelling.
it's = its
tracing=tracking
grizzly is a bear - grisly is bloody and disturbing
excellent!
BUMP
I rec'd this yesterday via email. I fowarded to everyone in my email address book this a.m. Anyway, thanks for posting it.
I didn't write the article, I simply copied and pasted. I refuse to spell and grammar check someone else's editorial. We'll call it freedom of speech and end it there! By the way, there's a typo in your last line ;)
I have been just a "looky loo" at FreeRepublic for several weeks. I registered in order to reply to this superb post.
I forgot to say "Thank you"
Excellent post.
But I call BS on the above statement. They did fight and die in WWII; BUT they raised the hippy generation, started America down the socialistic path with FDR's domestic "solutions", and %70-%90 will turn out to vote Kerry for all their "gimmies"; I'm not seeing the duty, honor and sacrifice there.
I believe this article was posted last week, but we need to drive the point it makes home, this election is just as important as it was in 2000. Back then, I said that "America is at a crossroads" and as we can plainly see, we are still at that junction today, even more so in this post 9-11 world.
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