The Road Ahead?
President Obama, in his Foreign Policy Speech to the graduating Cadets at West Point, quoted Eisenhower's definition of "War" (my parenthetical added). One talking head in the Media advised us to "read the speech". That is good advice. Don't think for a moment that accepting anyone else's interpretation is fair to the speech, the President, or to you! You will receive messages from the reading that you might not if you only listen to it.
Reflect back, then, as far as your memory can be trusted, and try to put what the President is telling us into your context. My memories stretch back to Truman, and a few years of FDR. I've always felt that we would not be in this mess today, if only Truman had decided to run, and won again, in 1952. As it turned out, we had back-to-back Presidents from the bordering states of Missouri and Kansas. Truman's background was shaped by the Ku-Klux-Klan; Eisenhower's roots go back to "Bleeding Kansas, and John Brown. Both are tangled in deeply held beliefs in White Supremacy. Truman took bold steps toward the end of Racism as he knew it; by integrating the Armed Services. Eisenhower, by contrast, did nothing to slow or halt McCarthyism, and inserted "Under God" into our Pledge of Allegiance within days of the Supreme Court Ruling on Brown v. Board. Truman started the process toward the Desegregation of our Society; while Eisenhower passively allowed Fascism to root in the U.S., Post-War-II. A silent race war has been waged in this country, lasting through Vietnam, the 4 Assassinations, Urban Riots, School Desegregation, Voting Rights, and the current Dysfunction of our national government due to a "Divide" rooted in the racism of the Republican Party.
The 2008 election of the First Black President brought our widely dispersed and entrenched racial beliefs out into the open for the entire world to witness. They dog every step taken by our country to address the severe problems caused by political activities during the 2000-2008 terms of "Cheny/Bush" The current race-based opposition clearly wants "war" in response to Libya, Syria, Benghazi,, and Crimea. They are viscerally opposed to efforts to assist Veterans, and push to destroy the Veterans Administration.
The President's Speech lays out a road-map for rationally facing the evolving threats that face us at home and abroad. It's long overdue!
Stay Vigilant! The Safety and Sanity of all citizens demands that we read and reflect on ideas that can work and lead us out of our current conflicts.
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