The Next Generation

[LarryB]

Sorry if this is a re-post, I havn't seen it.

This was written in the Daily Record (Ellensburg, Washington's paper) on
Wed. Oct. 6, 2004 by Mathew 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 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 grisly 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."

Mathew Manweller