The Better Angels of Our Nature

This post is for Hugh Hewitt's latest symposium: Vox Blogoli IV: "Why vote for Bush and what's wrong with Kerry?"

At a time of great discord within our nation, a now legendary man of relevant experience had the wisdom to point, even then, toward the better angels of our nature. With war pending, in his first inaugural address Lincoln said,

“We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Just as Lincoln had the foresight to know that the great cloud of civil war would one day pass, we must also know that one day, soon, the current strongly expressed discord of Left and Right, Democrat and Republican over the coming election will also pass. And we will then be left all looking to our "better angels" to heal and make us one. It is, after all, the "American" way. In that context I ask you to at least consider my observations when you come to decide for which candidate you will most likely vote.

I see a challenger, Senator Kerry, who has chosen a certain tack for the purposes of securing the Presidency. He attempts to divide white from black through completely unfounded reference to voter suppression and intimidation on the part of his opponent. I see him attempt to scare the old with outlandish claims as regards the dismantling of Social Security by his opposition, a claim so brazenly false even the press has dismissed it. And I see him attempt to scare the young through allusions to a draft, a policy which the Congress, Pentagon, Press and President have already dismissed as unwarranted and undesirable. While not overly religious myself, I must question what "better angels" guide any man who would damage and tear down so much to achieve any singular purpose for himself.

On the other hand, I did not vote for President Bush in 2000. I saw an average man assume the office of the Presidency in January 2001 under an unprecedented and constitutionally unwarranted cloud of illegitimacy. I saw an already developing recession drag down our economy even before he put forth his first budget. The dot com implosion soon followed and took trillions out of our economy, followed almost immediately by scandal after scandal involving C-level financial mis-management in corporate America. Those crimes had gone ignored during the Clinton years and were now being justifiably prosecuted under President Bush. And then 9-11. Our Nation experienced the single most devastating attack in its history, an attack that stressed our economic and emotional fabric beyond belief. Frankly, I feared for economic depression, or sheer collapse.

And through that all I saw one average man stand strong, calm and reassuring while under pressures I absolutely could not imagine any one individual in this life having to bear. And, at least in my eyes, somewhere along the way I came to see that "average" man as simply a good man made great by circumstance. Frankly, I cannot even look into my heart and know for fact that I would have reacted the same way, shown the same strength and resolve. And that's a difficult thing for someone with my ego to admit.

He led us to war and quick victory in Afghanistan, stayed the course, and just last week 10 Million people voted in the first free election within a nation 1,000 years old. Under any circumstances that is absolutely nothing short of miraculous. With the true threat of global terrorism now recognized and engaged, Iraq took on a different light. After years of partnership with an irresolute United Nations in confronting a brutal and dangerous dictator President Bush decided to act - and over 70% of the nation supported him. Not simply because of 9/11, or WMD - but because Saddam Hussein was part and parcel of a Middle-Eastern brewed evil that had declared war on America long before we ever launched a first strike. He was right to do it then and he is, as he should be, resolved to see it through.

There can be no denying that the summits and accords of Carter and Clinton, while earning Peace Medals for some, have done nothing to solve the oppression, violence and unrest within the Middle-East. Without free societies in that part of the world we will never reverse the cycle of hatred and terrorism that perpetuates in an ever expanding circle epitomized by a 9-11. Frankly, it is not the President who has abandoned us on this issue, it is that too many of us have grown weary and now contemplate abandoning him. I for one cannot.

And so when I counsel my better angels in this coming election. I see a determined challenger who speaks of amorphous plans as yet undisclosed: one who is too clearly predisposed to change policy and alleged principle for political gain. On top of that, he opts to divide and instill fear among a population he would purport to one day govern as a unified whole. And my better angels simply tell me "no."

On the other hand I see a man who has proven he can lead and stay the course. A man I once thought average and now find made great for having risen to circumstance. A man who speaks plainly and without nuance, the very same way in which my better angels now counsel me. And I know that I do not need to make a choice on November 2nd. I simply need to complete an affirmation.

As to what your better angels would tell you, I cannot say. I do genuinely believe that if those angels value plain speaking, clear resolve and the courage of consistency in the face of adversity they will tell you to pull the lever for President Bush. In closing, it is not simply the winning or losing of an election I fear most on November 2nd. If, from a lack of resolve, the better angels of most Americans counsel abandoning a proven leader at this critical point in our history, then, like Lincoln, it is ultimately for the direction of this great Republic that I must be most afraid.

Comments

[chrys]

Great article

[rdeat]

Amen.

"imagine any one individual in this life having to bare".
Did you mean bear? perhaps? I hope he didn't bare anything. :-)

[Dan]

Hi rdeat. It's been corrected. Thank you.

[Kathy]

Excellently done. You have risen heroically to the cause you champion by giving voice to it so eloquently. I believe that George Bush is the Right Man, in the Right Place, at the Right Time. Four more years....

[Terry Gain]

Dan,

Kathy is right about Bush, however I want to blog about Dan. You may not be overly religious and neither am I, but I discern the presence of angels in your uplifting, persuasive, poetic and patriotic defence of your President.

Once again I am impressed by your ability to organize your thoughts into an effective argument. IMHO you are the Right Blogger at the Right Time. Now if only you would receive the recognition you deserve you would be in the Right Place- near the top of the blogroll-head of the class.

Terry Gain

[Daisy]

Great job, Dan. We were nearly simultaneous-link bros. on Hugh's site. Press on.