Words of Wisdom

"If we drove out a mediaeval tyranny only to make room for savage anarchy, we had better not begun the task at all. It is worse than idle to say that we have no duty to perform, and can leave to their fates the [nations] we have conquered. Such a course would be a course of infamy. It would be followed at once by utter chaos in the wretched [country]. Some stronger, manlier power would have to step in and do the work, and we would have shown ourselves weaklings, unable to carry to successful completion the labors that great and high-spirited nations are eager to undertake.

"The work must be done; we cannot escape our responsibility; and if we are worth our salt, we shall be glad of the chance to do the work - glad of the chance to show ourselves equal to one of the great tasks set modern civilization. But let us not deceive ourselves as to the importance of the task. Let us not be mislead by the vainglory into underestimating the strain it will put on our powers. Above all, let us, as we value our own self-respect, face the responsibilities with proper seriousness, courage and high resolve."

No, these words were not uttered by George Bush during his State of the Union. The above words are excerpted from a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1899. He was refering to the islands taken from Spain during the recently concluded Spanish-American war. (the words in brackets in the above excerpt read "islands" in the original.) How truly these words fit the situation in which our country finds itself today with respect to Iraq and Afghanistan. What a contrast to the snivelling and disgraceful resolution passed by the Senate this week.

Here's another gem taken from the same speech by TR:

"The man must be glad to do a man's work, to dare and endure and to labor; to keep himself, and those dependent on him. The woman must be the housewife, the helpmeet, the homemaker, the wise and fearless mother of many healthy children. In one of Daudet's powerful and melancholy books he speaks of "the fear of maternity, the haunting terror of the young wife of the present day." When such words can be truthfully written of a nation, that nation is rotten to the heart's core. When men fear work or fear of righteous war, when women fear motherhood, they tremble on the brink of doom; and well it is they should vanish from the earth, where they are fit subjects for the scorn of all men and women who are themselves strong and brave and high-minded."

TR believed that abortionists should be given the death penalty, as should any man who forced a woman to have an abortion. It was unthinkable to him that any women would willfully have an abortion -- in his mind the only reason for such a horror would be that a women was forced into it against her will.

What would he think of America today? I can only imagine he would be apoplectic with rage and disgust. Where is the Teddy Roosevelt of our time?

The State of the Union

I give the president high marks for his State of the Union speech tonight. I thought it was his best SOTU address to date. Some of it I endorsed completely, but I can't say that I was enthusiastic about everything he said.

I believe he is overly optimistic about the motivations behind our enemies (the terrorists). He reiterated in his speech his belief that evil tendencies on the part of terrorists will be overcome by the development of democracy throughout the world. In his view, the lack of freedom is what foments terrorism. I believe, on the contrary, that the ideology is the thing. The London bombings, for example, were carried out by Muslim terrorists who were citizens of the U.K. You can't argue that they were frustrated by a lack of freedom in their society. Similarly, it wasn't lack of freedom in Germany in the 1930's that drove the Nazis to power. Evil belief systems are the problem, and they need to be eradicated in order to achieve victory. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean you have to kill everyone who has wrong thoughts. You do have to overcome evil with good, and there are various ways to do that, but they all begin with recognizing evil and naming it for what it is.

I admire the President, and I very much want us to succeed in Iraq. I believe he is right to send additional troops at this time. His plan is a good one, and I definitely agree that a stable Iraq is better than an unstable one, so I am very much in favor of his program on that score.

Time will tell.

I'm Glad I'm Not a Rabid Patriots Fan

But I do feel sorry for my friends up North, who tonight are crying buckets over the loss to Indianapolis. Football holds a passing interest for me. I enjoy watching it, but not enough to go out of my way to watch or listen to a game. Still, I did tune in for the final seven minutes of the Patriots game tonight. I had to coax the radio in my living room to pick up a station that was carrying the game (tuning in my t.v. rabbit ears was a non-starter -- way too much trouble). As the a.m. station faded in and out, I could picture my friend Paul B. biting his fingernails down to the bone with every passing second. With one minute to go, and Indianapolis ahead by 4, the radio announcer declared "For you folks at home, this is NOT the time to go to the bathroom!" Just then I had the evil thought to call Paul on the phone and pretend I didn't know the game was on, but that would have been cruel (fun, but cruel).
So, my New England friends and Patriot fans everywhere, my condolences. I really would have liked to see your team go to the Super Bowl, but there's always next year!