Is it unfair to ask, as previous generations of Americans have asked, and future generations of Americans depend on us to ask today, for a leader worthy of the office once held by Washington and Jefferson, by Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt, by FDR and JFK?
Imagine a president who leads the world in the battle of ideas, who knew from the start that we are a nation of idealism and hope, not a nation of torture memos and spying on each other in secret.
Imagine a president who was wise enough to know from the start that an unwise war was wrong, and who spoke with clarity and conviction when it mattered the most, and when others fell short.
Imagine a president who has believed from childhood that our Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights comprise the sacred trust of the world’s greatest nation, and has stood for this truth in good times and bad, in hard times and moments of triumph, from the House of Representatives, from the Senate, and from the vice presidency of the United States.
Imagine an America that is once again seen throughout the world as a beacon of hope and light, as an inspiration for human rights and freedom, and as a liberator of the world from poisoned energy that imprisons men and women everywhere, and ultimately endangers the very existence of the world itself.
Imagine an American democracy that is greater than an exercise in poll-taking, fundraising and the character assassination of fellow Americans and becomes again a democracy in which politics is viewed as a noble profession and Americanism is viewed as a call to share both the sacrifice and the triumph, and young people are inspired to reach for the stars in every endeavor in their personal and civic lives.
Imagine an America without the scandals of wounded troops and the mistreatment of disabled veterans and rising numbers of homeless heroes because our president will avoid war when we can, win war when we must, and fight for our troops and our veterans every hour, every day, in war and peace, in deed as well as word, no
matter how hard it may be, because in our country it is right, and in our country, right makes might.
I know it is fanciful, unrealistic and probably naive to believe in the greatest aspiration that America should choose its best possible president. But America has always had the Frank Capra quality of daring to dream, of looking at the stars and viewing the better angels of our nation.
Our nation began with the impossible dream of a world ruled by kings, that could be forever transformed by a brave and generous people who put their hearts, their souls, their spirit, their lives, behind what they called their sacred honor and believed was their sacred trust.
Many tears have fallen, much blood has been shed, many dreams have been crushed on the road from there to here, but for every Valley Forge there has been a Yorktown, for every Gettysburg there has been an Appomattox, for every Pearl Harbor there has been that moment in Times Square where the sailor kissed the lady, and the lady in that harbor lifted that torch higher than ever before.
Personally I will support any of the Democrats over any of the Republicans, but does anybody believe that the campaign of 2008 has given any hint of a renewal of American greatness?
In my view, never before in memory have the man, the moment and the magic come together as they come together for Al Gore in 2008.
My hope is that he is awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, but whether or not that comes to pass does not ultimately matter.
There is a far higher stake than another honor, another prize and another award, and that is the future of a great country that deserves a remembrance of our past, a renewal of our better angels, a reform of our shortcomings, a revival of our national spirit and unity, and a restoration of our role as the true leader of the free world.
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Here's What I Say
Imagine a president who leads the world in the battle of ideas, who knew from the start that we are a nation of idealism and hope, not a nation of torture memos and spying on each other in secret.
Imagine a president who was wise enough to know from the start that an unwise war was wrong, and who spoke with clarity and conviction when it mattered the most, and when others fell short.
Imagine a president who has believed from childhood that our Constitution, Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights comprise the sacred trust of the world’s greatest nation, and has stood for this truth in good times and bad, in hard times and moments of triumph, from the House of Representatives, from the Senate, and from the vice presidency of the United States.
Imagine an American democracy that is greater than an exercise in poll-taking, fundraising and the character assassination of fellow Americans and becomes again a democracy in which politics is viewed as a noble profession and Americanism is viewed as a call to share both the sacrifice and the triumph, and young people are inspired to reach for the stars in every endeavor in their personal and civic lives.
Imagine an America without the scandals of wounded troops and the mistreatment of disabled veterans and rising numbers of homeless heroes because our president will avoid war when we can, win war when we must, and fight for our troops and our veterans every hour, every day, in war and peace, in deed as well as word, no
matter how hard it may be, because in our country it is right, and in our country, right makes might.
I know it is fanciful, unrealistic and probably naive to believe in the greatest aspiration that America should choose its best possible president. But America has always had the Frank Capra quality of daring to dream, of looking at the stars and viewing the better angels of our nation.
Our nation began with the impossible dream of a world ruled by kings, that could be forever transformed by a brave and generous people who put their hearts, their souls, their spirit, their lives, behind what they called their sacred honor and believed was their sacred trust.
Many tears have fallen, much blood has been shed, many dreams have been crushed on the road from there to here, but for every Valley Forge there has been a Yorktown, for every Gettysburg there has been an Appomattox, for every Pearl Harbor there has been that moment in Times Square where the sailor kissed the lady, and the lady in that harbor lifted that torch higher than ever before.
Personally I will support any of the Democrats over any of the Republicans, but does anybody believe that the campaign of 2008 has given any hint of a renewal of American greatness?
In my view, never before in memory have the man, the moment and the magic come together as they come together for Al Gore in 2008.
My hope is that he is awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace, but whether or not that comes to pass does not ultimately matter.
There is a far higher stake than another honor, another prize and another award, and that is the future of a great country that deserves a remembrance of our past, a renewal of our better angels, a reform of our shortcomings, a revival of our national spirit and unity, and a restoration of our role as the true leader of the free world.
**********************************
Here's What I Say
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