In fact, the power point presentation which I saw actually even showed photos of the lifecycle of the American Bald Eagle.
I believe too often America has avoided the need to transform and has often either taken the paths of least resistance and least-soul-searching after many major crises in my lifetime over these past 45 years.
This tendency in America today to not take the bull-by-the-horns has left America with gaping problems in terms of social, economic, and spiritual development.
For example, our founding fathers (if alive today) would agree that impeaching President Bush and Vice-President Cheney to be the mature but difficult thing to do in 2007.
However, American political kingmakers have shied away from the obvious. Instead, they continually choose the route of least resistance—saying it would be easier to just wait till the next (2008) elections.
This approach is a losing proposition in the long-run of American history because already Congress and the Presidency have the lowest level of respect from the American public since polling first began decades ago.
Similarly, instead of impeaching the president, the current Congress simply approves fo office, men such as the new Attorney General, men who cannot stand unequivocally against the president and state that torture (water boarding, etc.) is wrong!
Once again, by choosing the path of least resistance, America does not mature nor does it set the stage to either renew or transform itself into the younger creature we once knew.
VIETNAM-ERA LESSONSI came of age in the 1970s when Congress had told the CIA to get out of wars in Africa, and I came of age when a president declared that human rights would be the cornerstone of our foreign policy.
Those were not just promises!
The U.S.A. got out of the Angolan civil war when Congress told it to. Meanwhile, people in countries, like Nicaragua, were supported in overthrowing bad government when it became clear that the U.S. under Jimmy Carter’s policy would promote human rights over other ideologies of the Cold War.
Moreover in the 1970s, the U.S.A. was becoming more and more accepted as an honest broker on the global stage—the Camp David Accords between the Israelis and Egyptians were a reflection of this American stand.
This is the sort of transformation I believe we need now—even if it is painful for some politicians who have voted too often unequivocally and blindly to support the presidents’ wars over the past seven years. (I think of Kansas Senator Pat Roberts for example. However, all across the nation there are Republicans and Democrats who are refusing to fall on their swords—i.e. failing to do what is painful, what is right and what would be beneficial.)
I ask that the transformation begin of America becoming a mature but energetic & youthful, more positive creature once again.
This process may be painful, but think of the benefits and progress that will be awaiting us, our children, and other future generations if we start the agonizing process of cleaning up the aging pile of bad growth in Washington and begin apologizing for our sins and weaknesses.
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