The following passed as an article that appeared in the college's paper. It was written by Michael Parker.
"I Believe..."
""Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and the success of liberty. This much we pledge, and more."
With these words and others, John F. Kennedy labeled every citizen a combatant fighting for some very revolutionary beliefs. Those beliefs that all men are created equal, that each person innately possesses freedom and liberty, and that no state or institution can take away our human rights for any reason remain as much at issue today and as undecided today as they were in 1961 or 1776.
There are many well-meaning people who ignore Kennedy, FDR, Truman or any other liberal as weak. Today, with 24-hour cable news, our country would not elect a man in a wheelchair. But from a wheelchair, FDR fought a global war and won. From that same wheelchair, his voice carried by radio waves, he stopped the sense of hopelessness caused by the Great Depression.
But by today's standards, he was a liberal and therefore too weak. He should have never been elected and he could not be elected today in a wheelchair.
Truman, forced to stand on his own two legs, delivered the orders that dropped the only two atomic bombers ever used in combat. He had to fire Gen. Douglas MacArthur, as much for stupidity as for insubordination. Just another mindless Democrat that supported FDR, who would vote for such a socialist today?
Kennedy labeled us all as combatants in the ideological war with godless communism. When tested in October 1962 by the Cuban Missile Crisis, he expected nuclear disaster, wonder aloud about his children. Yet, he would not allow offensive nuclear weapons in Cuba.
Kennedy, willing to fight a nuclear war where the survivors would envy the dead, is by today's standards just another East Coast-educated liberal. Who would vote for such a weakling today?
To those uninformed, we are not at war. We have no draft of our 18-year-olds. We have not rationed our food, clothing or gas. We have no Civil Defense network to guard our ports. That's seen as a job to be done by the lowest bidder, even another country. We have no frail old man in a wheelchair to assure us that we have nothing to fear but fear its self [author's misspelling]. What confronts us today is mere political posturing against an idea. Ideas must be fought with ideas and armies fought with armies.
To those brainwashed by the wingnuts of the far right, advocating the "eradication of extremist-terrorist Muslims:" With our military of a million and a half, an unlimited amount of time, no Republican leader will ever, by force of arms, eliminate or eradicate a single idea from the minds of 6 billion people. Not even if they burn all the books."
And now for but a few rebuttals.
You should really get a better understanding of the English language before you even
attempt to persuade others with your views. I reference your third paragraph where you made mention of ignoring someone as weak. Now, you can ignore someone
because they are weak, but not ignore someone as weak.
Referring to the Pacific Theater alone, FDR was thrust into a situation much like that of our current Fearless Leader. The only difference is that in Bush's situation it struck much closer to home, as it was civilians on the homeland, as opposed to only soldiers on a distant island, who died. I totally agree with the responses of FDR and Bush. When asked about the September 11 incident, Al Gore said we shouldn't attack anyone. For that reason alone the Gore Bot, a liberal, is too weak and inept to lead a nation. And where did you ever get the notion that FDR is too weak to lead America, by today's standards? Lay off the crack. Though I by no means agree with his policies, he was an excellent and dynamic leader. You're connection between Truman and FDR as socialists is actually correct (even a broke clock is right twice a day), just as Bush is.
The liberals that you did mention were by no means common place to the American political spectrum. They were all extraordinary people, just as Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, John Jay, Benjamin Franklin and many others throughout America's history have been.
You also say that we are not at war. Talk to the, at the time of this writing, 2506 American families that lost a loved one in Iraq or the 349 American families who lost someone in Afghanistan. And I guess the 16 other countries that have lost soldiers in Iraq and the 12 other countries that have lost soldiers in Afghanistan are all just a dumb luck coincidence? Get a clue.
Brainwashed wingnuts of the far right advocating the "eradication of extremist-terrorist Muslims", huh? Do you know what their ideology is? You surely don't understand the situation because you grouped all the Muslim people as being under a single belief, which is not the case. This is apparent to most people through the sect clashes that we've seen in Iraq, but I shouldn't expect an upcoming journalist to thoroughly understand the situation in which he or she chooses to write about. Yet, that is for another post. I should probably inform you that the belief of those "extremist-terrorist Muslims" is the complete destruction of all non-Muslim institutions. But, I guess you would rather sacrifice your culture, who was NOT the initial aggressor, than to actually take a stand for it and defend it. The affirmative action that you so loyalty stand by would be abolished. Feminists? Shot in the streets. But, alas, we shouldn't defend ourselves. Afterall, the brainwashed wingnuts of the far right should just idly sit on the way side and allow our society, culture, country and beliefs to be forever vanquished from the face of this Earth.
What really gets me is how you completely contradict yourself in a matter of just several paragraphs. You start by saying how great a man Kennedy was because he took a stand for America's values. Yet, when you finish, you are bashing the very people who are carrying on the defense of those values.
And I do beg to differ. Given enough time, you could surely "eliminate or eradicate" the idea of a collapsed America and that of total Islamic Imperialism. Watch me. Witty connection to the Nazis, by the way, but not applicable. The last thought I want to leave you with is this: Those brainwashed wingnuts of the far right who you are so quick to hate are ones who secure, defend, and guarantee your right to call them such by putting their lives on the line day after day.
Freedom Will Be Defended.
Crispy
