Monday, November 15, 2004
My apologies, George. We tried. We really did.
"All obstructions to the execution of the laws, all combinations and associations, under whatever plausible character, with the real design to direct, control, counteract, or awe the regular deliberation and action of the constituted authorities, are destructive of this fundamental principle, and of fatal tendency. They serve to organize faction, to give it an artificial and extraordinary force; to put, in the place of the delegated will of the nation the will of a party, often a small but artful and enterprising minority of the community; and, according to the alternate triumphs of different parties, to make the public administration the mirror of the ill-concerted and incongruous projects of faction, rather than the organ of consistent and wholesome plans digested by common counsels and modified by mutual interests."
-- George Washington, Farewell Address 1796
Isn't it just a tad embarrassing that his observations are this poignant 208 years later? Don't you think that in the last couple of centuries we could have matured as a people to the point of being able to rightly call Washington's apprehension "quaint" instead of the Geneva Convention? Do you think we could have grown up enough to have, figuratively speaking, just wiped the blood away and gone on as Americans after being punched smartly in our Trade Centers rather than becoming this mass of trembling, fearful indignation shouting inappropriate epithets--and hurling really inappropriate ordinance--at the world? Wow. These questions seems so...reasonable when you just come right out and say them.
Damn. What went wrong?
Santayana was (and is) right: "Those ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it".
It is a shame that those of us who have not forgotten our history will suffer along with those who have and without the benefit of the bliss of ignorance and, of course, with the always scintillating, rewarding company of those who remain determinedly, energetically blissful.
Isn't it?
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This is one of those moments when courtesy requires me to step out "diary" mode and acknowledge the ineffable pain endured by the individuals directly hurt by the 9/11 attack. On this personal side, there are, I truly believe, no words that can express the impact of such a thing. These people deserve only the deepest deference and respect as does anyone anywhere who has been wounded in any fashion, or killed, by this war in Iraq.
On the national side, however, it was just a stout, swift punch that caught the country off-guard. Any actual threats to the foundations of our democracy have come about in the government's response to the attack. In fact, I have to consider that there will indeed be no more attacks because our response to the first one has been far more damaging to our democratic, American way of life than a second attack could ever have been.
Nevertheless, I'm sure there are herders watching who are ready to prod us again should the need arise.
I ask forgiveness in advance from anyone who might mistakenly believe that I in any way wish to diminish the effect to the individuals harmed by the attack by trying to find perspective on the actual harm to the nation.
- posted by Zeeper @ 7:10 AM
