Sunday: The verdict of history
Future generations will judge us.
Even at age 11, in 1961, I understood that I was hearing something special in President John Kennedy's inauguration speech. I was a young American, and I realized I was part of something very, very big. Our lives meant something.
I remain moved by words that connect community and country to some greater purpose. Tomorrow's guest post will be from a Vietnam veteran who understood his job involved accepting death as the price of protecting classified documents if the building he was guarding got overrun by Vietnamese troops. He had a duty.
I heard people on Fox this morning scoffing at Liz Cheney. I don't scoff. I remain moved by Liz Cheney's words:
At the heart of our republic is a commitment to the peaceful transfer of power among political rivals in accordance with law. President Ronald Reagan described this as our American “miracle.” . . .
History is watching. Our children are watching. We must be brave enough to defend the basic principles that underpin and protect our freedom and our democratic process. I am committed to doing that, no matter what the short-term political consequences might be.
In the late 1960s I protested the War in Vietnam out of a sense of patriotism. I thought America was letting itself down. We were better than this, I thought. My dismay today comes because so many Americans are willing to excuse, or overlook, or even actively participate in finagling to overthrow elections. We are letting ourselves down. History is watching.
I don't consider people who sacrifice for their community and country to be losers. They aren't suckers who fail to understand that history is written by the winners. They are heroes who are part of something important. Given this era of political performance and gamesmanship, I suppose I need to tell young readers that JFK is not speaking ironically. There is no barely-hidden smirk. No knowing glance. No sense that it is over-the-top big-gesture performance. JFK isn't holding up a Bible nor is he clutching and hugging a flag for the cameras. He is dead serious:
In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than mine, will rest the final success or failure of our course. Since this country was founded, each generation of Americans has been summoned to give testimony to its national loyalty. The graves of young Americans who answered the call to service surround the globe. . . .
In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility--I welcome it. I do not believe that any of us would exchange places with any other people or any other generation. The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it--and the glow from that fire can truly light the world.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. . . .
Finally, whether you are citizens of America or citizens of the world, ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you. With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.