Fear Factor

Someone once described courage as not never being afraid, but going on in spite of the fear. As a nation and as elected officials we seem to be running dangerously low on courage. Oh we have the tough talk down, we have the posturing, but do we really have true courage? Since 9/11 when at least 2,985 people died from the terrorists attacks I think that what has been lost in all the hype is some perspective. While this was surely a tragedy, the population of the United States in the year 2001 was somewhere around 290 million people. Based on those numbers the terrorist attacks killed less than .02% of the population, yet since the attack we have responded by invading sovereign nations, torturing our fellow human beings, and gutting our Constitutional protections.

We currently have a sitting President with plummeting approval ratings in the last year of his failed presidency and yet he is still able to bully a frightened Democratic Congress still fearful of the “national security” question in the upcoming election. This President should not be able to get even universal health care passed at this point. But when courage is needed in the face of not only terrorism, but also tyranny, once again our elected officials can’t seem to find any. Because of these fears Democrats have caved on a number of issues trying to appear “tough” on terrorism. My question is what have we gained the last eight years with warrior sheep Bush in the White House being tough on terrorism? We must as a nation begin to demonstrate real courage by not allowing what the terrorists couldn’t take away to be taken away by the fear of terrorists.

Wiretapping orders approved by secret orders under the previous version of the surveillance law were set to begin expiring in August unless Congress acted. Heading into their political convention in Denver next month and on to the November Congressional elections, many Democrats were wary of handing the Republicans a potent political weapon.

The issue put Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, in a particularly precarious spot. He had long opposed giving legal immunity to the phone companies that took part in the N.S.A.’s wiretapping program, even threatening a filibuster during his run for the nomination. But on Wednesday, he ended up voting for what he called “an improved but imperfect bill” after backing a failed attempt earlier in the day to strip the immunity provision from the bill through an amendment.[1]

It is a sad day when even the presumptive nominee of the opposition party feels compelled by political expediency to succumb to the political reality that is now America. The thing that I can not understand is how can we as a nation ever expect unity when we can’t even look at the same information and agree on what we are seeing. It’s like looking at a man being lynched and someone calling it a suicide. We as the governed of this country must begin to exert some courage of our own and start demanding an end to this childish bickering and obstructionism. It is time for some truth and honesty about what is going on in the name of freedom.

If we continue to allow our freedoms to be eroded then the terrorists will have created another Tet offensive. In the Tet offensive in Vietnam the Vietcong engaged in an all out offensive throughout the South in an effort to demonstrate that no area was safe from their reach. While the offensive was a military disaster it was a political windfall for the Vietcong. It was the turning point of the war for many Americans because it showed the disconnect from what the government was saying and the reality on the ground. Do you think it mattered to the Vietcong that it was a political decision to leave their country and not a military victory?

In many ways we are encountering the same thing today with the war on terror. If we lose our freedoms then the terrorists have won. It won’t matter that it wasn’t a military victory, they don’t have the numbers or technology to accomplish a military victory. They will have won in the sense that we will live in a constant state of terror and we will no longer have the rights we are suppose to be fighting for. They will care less if our rights were taken by a jihad or loss to a fear mongering political class.

The real courage will not be found in Washington, they have proven over and over that many of them lack the courage of their convictions or they have no convictions. No my friends the courage must come from the people. Just as with the Tet offensive it was the grassroots movement that turned the tide against the war. It wasn’t the “dirty hippies” but just everyday folks saying enough was enough. They demonstrated the courage that was missing in Washington. They were willing to take to the streets to reclaim the idea of “government by the people”. We have never needed courage in this country more than we do now. Today we face the lost of our freedoms in the name of saving them.

Moral cowardice that keeps us from speaking our minds is as dangerous to this country as irresponsible talk. The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character. - Margaret Chase Smith

[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/washington/10fisa.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

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Political Courage

I know to look at the headline is to see an incredible oxymoron. How can anyone put political and courage in the same sentence? I believe that the time has come where we must demand courage from our elected officials.

What is courage? I define courage as the following: courage is not, never being afraid, that is foolishness. Courage is even though I am terrified I am going to go on anyway, in spite of my fear. I am going to do this thing, because it is the right thing to do and damn the consequences. There are not many of us with that kind of courage, so it is not surprising that we are not seeing it from our elected officials. Remember, they are merely a reflection of us. However, having said that, it is precisely this type of courage that our troops require of us all at this moment. The time for moral victories and rhetoric has passed. Either we want to end this war or we don’t. We must be clear as a nation; do we think we can win this war? If the answer is no, then we must do what needs to be done regardless of the consequences. If we answer no, then we have a moral imperative to find the best and most humane way to end this. This is no longer about some political “pissing” contest or who is the most resolute in their convictions, it is about life and death.

It has become self-evident that we cannot expect this President or this administration to end this war on their own accord. It also appears that the Republicans have chosen to place party over country and that is a mistake that history will judge very harshly. How can we believe that the same people, who used criminal tactics to get us into this war, will now find the error of their ways and relent to the inevitable. It is not going to happen. We, the American people must and should make plain in no uncertain terms that we want this war to end. We must let this President and his cronies know that we have lost confidence in his leadership and in his word. Up until now there have been no consequences to this Presidents intransigence on this issue. It is now time to bring it to a head, it is time to have the debate we should have had 4 years ago. This debate will not take place unless our elected officials stand firm on the bill they have sent to the President. If he chooses to veto it, then we must continue to resend it until he gets the message. Now, here is where courage comes in. It will be easy to say at that point, “We did our part and he vetoed it” and then concede to the funding without any clear time table for action. We must give the Congress the will and the courage to stand strong in the face of their fear. They will not unless we stand with them. We must contact our lawmakers and let them know that they have our support in this fight. And we must contact those who are supporting this war and let them know that this is not the will of the people.

I have included the links to the Congress and Senate homepage. On these pages you will find links to email your congressman and senator. Let’s encourage them to stand strong on this issue and to not succumb to the bullying tactics that have become synonymous with this administration. The lives of our troops and the lives of the Iraqis are in our hands. When the vote is cast for truth, will you be there? When history finally closes this chapter will you be able to say you stood on the side of action? Or were you too busy watching American Idol to save our troops? The time is now to instead of supporting our troops, let’s begin to save some of them. And our brave service people count on you? Courage!

http://www.house.gov/writerep/

http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

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