Election determines fate of nation

"In that this will be my last column before the presidential election, there
will be no sarcasm, no attempts at witty repartee. The topic is too serious,
and the stakes are too high. This November we will vote in the only election
during our lifetime that will truly matter. Because America is at a
once-in-a-generation crossroads, more than an election hangs in the balance.
Down one path lies retreat, abdication and a reign of ambivalence. Down
the other lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the daunting
obligation its future demands. If we choose poorly, the consequences will
echo through the next 50 years of history. If we, in a spasm of
frustration, turn out the current occupant of the White House, the message
to the world and ourselves will be two-fold.

First, we will reject the notion that America can do big things. Once a
nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the moon,
we will announce to the world that bringing democracy to the Middle East is
too big of a task for us[emphasis added by Dad]. But more significantly, we
will signal to future presidents that as voters, we are unwilling to tackle
difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness, embracing the
mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations. The defeat of
President Bush will send a chilling message to future presidents who may
need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America has always been a
nation that rises to the demands of history regardless of the costs or
appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn away from who we are.

Second, we inform every terrorist organization on the globe that the lesson
of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia we showed terrorists that you don't
need to defeat America on the battlefield when you can defeat them in the
newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become a defeated America.
Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracing polls will do the heavy
lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except that Iraq is Somalia times
10. The election of John Kerry will serve notice to every terrorist in
every cave that the soft underbelly of American power is the timidity of
American voters. Terrorists will know that a steady stream of grizzly
photos for CNN is all you need to break the will of the American people.
Our own self-doubt will take it from there. Bin Laden will recognize that
he can topple any American administration without setting foot on the
homeland.

It is said that America's W.W.II generation is its "greatest generation".
But my greatest fear is that it will become known as America's 'last
generation.' Born in the bleakness of the Great Depression and hardened in
the fire of WW II, they may be the last American generation that understands
the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice. It is difficult to admit, but I
know these terms are spoken with only hollow detachment by many (but not
all) in my generation. Too many citizens today mistake 'living in America'
as 'being an American.' But America has always been more of an idea than a
place. When you sign on, you do more than buy real estate. You accept a set
of values and responsibilities. This November, my generation, which has
been absent too long, must grasp the obligation that comes with being an
American, or fade into the oblivion they may deserve.

I believe that 100 years from now historians will look back at the election
of 2004 and see it as the decisive election of our century. Depending on
the outcome, they will describe it as the moment America joined the ranks of
ordinary nations; or they will describe it as the moment the prodigal sons
and daughters of the greatest generation accepted their burden as caretakers
of the City on the Hill."

"Reward your friends and punish your enemies" -Atilla the Hun
and
"Never,Never,Never give up" -Lord Winston Churchill

"He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for
a moment, but a fool forever." --Tillotson

Pass this on to anyone you know. . .there's more to this election than what meets the eye. Remember that "one man with courage is a majority." -Andrew Jackson