At my age, it is a natural thing for me to look back on the past; not so much to review my own life, but to see how I lived in the context of those who preceded me. This led me to a speech given by Theodore Roosevelt in 1910. Here is an excerpt that I think the current generation of leadership in our country needs to revisit and internalize. It seems to me we are losing the insights that made us a free country and a world power in the first place:
“The people of the United States suffer from periodical financial panics to a degree substantially unknown among the other nations which approach us in financial strength. There is no reason why we should suffer what they escape. It is of profound importance that our financial system should be promptly investigated, and so thoroughly and effectively revised as to make it certain that hereafter our currency will no longer fail at critical times to meet our needs.
It is hardly necessary for me to repeat that I believe in an efficient army and a navy large enough to secure for us abroad that respect which is the surest guarantee of peace. A word of special warning to my fellow citizens who are as progressive as I hope I am. I want them to keep up their interest in our internal affairs; and I want them also continually to remember Uncle Sam’s interests abroad. Justice and fair dealing among nations rest upon principles identical with those which control justice and fair dealing among the individuals of which nations are composed, with the vital exception that each nation must do its own part in international police work. If you get into trouble here, you can call for the police; but if Uncle Sam gets into trouble, he has got to be his own policeman, and I want to see him strong enough to encourage the peaceful aspirations of other peoples in connection with us. I believe in national friendships and heartiest good will to all nations; but national friendships, like those between men, must be founded on respect as well as on liking, on forbearance as well as upon trust. I should be heartily ashamed of any American who did not try to make the American government act as justly toward the other nations in international relations as he himself would act toward any individual in private relations. I should be heartily ashamed to see us wrong a weaker power, and I should hang my head forever if we tamely suffered wrong from a stronger power.”
I especially want the Administration to consider the negative aspects of what they are doing to our military via the witch hunts that are going on among our senior officers and also, the level of care they are providing to our veterans. A great General Officer may not be a great human being, but then, that isn’t in his/her job description. In addition, waiting decades to award such things as the Medal of Honor is a national disgrace. And, I’m tired of seeing the Veterans Administration perpetually struggling for funds. This is an even bigger disgrace. It does not become a country of our stature and historical underpinning.
