UPDATE 11/17/2004: Added Porter Goss CIA Shakeup Memo quote to the end of the post.
This country has had many exceptional leaders. Among my favorites are Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, Dwight Eisenhower, and George Washington. These four, among others, had a common guiding principle that was obvious in their execution of their duties as President.
"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his efficiency or inefficiency in rendering loyal, able, and disinterested service to the Nation as a whole. Therefore it is absolutely necessary that there should be full liberty to tell the truth about his acts, and this means that it is exactly necessary to blame him when he does wrong as to praise him when he does right. Any other attitude in an American citizen is both base and servile. To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. Nothing but the truth should be spoken about him or any one else. But it is even more important to tell the truth, pleasant or unpleasant, about him than about any one else."
-Teddy Roosevelt, May 17, 1918 in Kansas City Star
The common thread is that all believed that despotism is too easy to come by, and that Americans need to watch out for those who would try to lead the country down that ruinous path. They all believed that too much power, and too few checks on that power by the citizens, and by the various branches of government, would destroy our great nation.
They all stand in stark contrast to the current administration, and its unparalleled determination to quash dissent wherever it may arise, often under the pretext of "national security":
"The danger I see here is that intrusive judicial oversight and second-guessing of presidential determinations in these critical areas can put at risk the very security of our nation in a time of war," Ashcroft said in his first speech since his resignation became public Tuesday.
- John Ashcroft, November 12, 2004
The great minds of the great leaders of our history knew that people expressing their differences, congress standing up for the people, and judges expressing their legal opinions, were the foundations of the true strength of our democracy. They knew that unquestioning obedience to the President, especially a President whose personal ambition was very strong, could lead to one of the greatest dangers any country may ever face:
I hope I am over wary; but if I am not, there is, even now, something of ill-omen, amongst us. I mean the increasing disregard for law which pervades the country; the growing disposition to substitute the wild and furious passions, in lieu of the sober judgment of Courts... Is it unreasonable then to expect, that some man possessed of the loftiest genius, coupled with ambition sufficient to push it to its utmost stretch, will at some time, spring up among us? ... Distinction will be his paramount object, and although he would as willingly, perhaps more so, acquire it by doing good as harm; yet, that opportunity being past, and nothing left to be done in the way of building up, he would set boldly to the task of pulling down.
- Abraham Lincoln January 27, 1838
Meanwhile, the current administration tries to convince us, time and again, that dissent is somehow unpatriotic:
"Every nation and every region now has a decision to make. Either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."
- George W. Bush, September, 2001
Unlike President Bush, President Eisenhower understood that Americans must even question the military, because the potential for abuse of power was tremendous.
In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together.
- President (and General) Dwight D. Eisenhower
George Washington knew that, once one party came to dominate the others, the country would be on its way to despotism:
The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissention, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an Individual: and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.
- Geroge Washington, Farewell Address, September 19, 1795
Our forefathers knew first-hand the ways in which despots worked, dividing people, pitting them against each other, distracting them so they would be too busy to notice the loss of their freedoms.
Our progress in degeneracy appears to me to be pretty rapid. As a nation, we began by declaring that "all men are created equal." We now practically read it "all men are created equal, except negroes" When the Know-Nothings get control, it will read "all men are created equal, except negroes, and foreigners, and Catholics." When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty -- to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocracy [sic].
- Abraham Lincoln Letter to Joshua speed Aug. 24, 1855
In the above quote, substitute "French" or "Old Europe" for "foreigners," and "gays" for "Catholics," and you've pretty much captured the essence of the Bush administration.
All these great leaders came to their beliefs through experience. They watched other countries fail through attempted imperialism. They watched dictators triumph, however briefly, leading to the destruction of once-great nations. They learned the "quaint" lessons of history, and used that knowledge to create a new brighter future for us on the North American continent.
They tried to warn future generations of the types of men to watch out for. I'm afraid that too many may not have heard.
They could see the importance of dissent to the survival of our democracy. Why can't Bush and his minions? Perhaps they are blinded by their ambition for power.
My grandfather proudly fought for this country in WWI. My uncle, my father, grand-uncles, and even a cousin or two all served this country at different times in our history. Great and great-great grand-relatives fought in the Civil War. What a shame it will be if all their efforts come to an naught due to the hubris of George W. Bush and his megalomaniacal wish to be emperor of the world. What a shame indeed.
UPDATE 11/17/04: As if he could read my mind, the new director of the CIA has sent out a memo with some interesting phrasing. From the
New York Times article about it:
Porter J. Goss, the new intelligence chief, has told Central Intelligence Agency employees that their job is to "support the administration and its policies in our work,'' a copy of an internal memorandum shows.
"As agency employees we do not identify with, support or champion opposition to the administration or its policies," Mr. Goss said in the memorandum, which was circulated late on Monday. He said in the document that he was seeking "to clarify beyond doubt the rules of the road."
