Still that Shining City on a Hill

President Bush poll numbers continue to be low, but what does that really mean? I wonder what President Lincoln’s job approval rating would have been like just prior to Gettysburg. What would the polls have said about President Washington after he used force to put down the Farmers Rebellion of 1793?

There will always be naysayers and malcontents who will oppose a leader on the basis of party affiliation, regardless of the cause. Lincoln was a Republican, and without a doubt would have faced the types of bashing we see President Bush subjected to now. When this country was founded, there were no political parties. President Washington viewed political parties as factions counter to the public good. Seeing what is happening now, President Washington was right.

We are the most powerful nation that has ever existed on the planet. No nation has wielded more power than we have today, but used it so reluctantly. This country has made mistakes, as all nations have. But when all is said and done, as President Reagan stated, after more than 200 years America is that bright and shining city on a hill. America is still a beacon, still a magnet for all that must have freedom. Caesar’s Rome, Napoleon’s France, Hitler’s Germany, Stalin’s Russia, Sadam Hussein’s Iraq all once wielded great power, and all too often used that power to oppress entire continents. The blatant atrocities committed by these empires are examples of how true power corrupts. Because we as Americans hold freedom so dear, we all too often in the past have been slow to react to the enemies of freedom. We can no longer afford the luxury of waiting to be attacked first; the price is too high, and the stakes are too great.

We live in a new world. A world of wondrous marvels and unprecedented prosperity. A world where the enemies of freedom have blogs to try and justify their despicable acts. A world where people in our own nation compare our soldiers to Nazis, yet refer to al Qaeda as freedom fighters. Freedom fighters do not behead innocent civilians. Freedom fighters do not bomb their own people indiscriminately.

History will show the world that we were right that America and her allies drew a line in the sand against the gutless terrorists who want to impose their intolerant ways on the rest of the world by way of the sword (or in al Qaeda’s case, the cowardly bomb).

My position is far more popular than the news and polls show. It is not a position derived from political rhetoric, but from the knowledge of the past. America’s past as a nation committed to justice, and that evil (regardless of what name they use) will never survive or prosper as long as that bright and shining city stands strong and united.

Jeff Chidester