A FOX Noise contributor is condemning President Obama; what a surprise! He denounces the President for not following the policy of George W. Bush and mentioning “9/11” in every other sentence. He claims that Mr. Obama lacks the “resolve” to defeat terrorism. His name is Michael Goodwin.
If I didn’t know in advance that Mr. Goodwin was a FOX Noise contributor, just by reading his first two paragraphs I would have learned who signs his paycheck. He obviously believes that keeping a nation in fear is good politics. Moving forward and regaining or faith and optimism in America is not an option.
It is entirely true that the organization which calls itself the Republican Party today is an entirely different group of untalented and uncaring politicians than legendary Republicans of the past, beginning with Abraham Lincoln. Above all else, there is one trait of this group which I completely detest, and why I condemn virtually every man and woman on the right side of the aisle. The GOP has brainwashed their supporters for sixteen years by using emotional warfare. Our nation is a nation filled with fear; hope appears to be lost.
It’s true that certain historical facts must never be forgotten. Although some Republican politicians want to delete any history from our school books which references a less than perfect United States, we must never allow either the successes or the failures of our nation to be omitted for those too young to remember. 9/11 is but one of the tragic and preventable events which our nation must refuse to forget.
We must never ignore the Civil War. This disaster was the cause of more loss of human life than any other war fought in our nation’s history. No American can deny the evil that was slavery in America.
The Salem Witch Hunts were an effort by religious zealots to destroy the practice of alternate religions.
The Civil Rights movement of the 1960’s exposed the extremes of racism and bigotry within our nation. Hatred replaced the teachings of Jesus Christ who commanded mankind to “love one another as I have loved you.”
Waging a war in Vietnam remains a conundrum for many Americans. Why did we engage in conflict with North Vietnam? What result did we expect to achieve? Why did our government continue to send more and more young Americans to their death, while America experienced a great division among its people?
The invasion of a sovereign nation under false pretenses must become a part of our history. Under the leadership of Bush/Cheney, our nation became a villainous entity denounced by the rest of the world’s people. The division of our nation neared that of the Civil War period.
The importance of these events must be that we do not repeat our mistakes. We must learn and move forward; strengthening our understanding, tolerance, and compassion for all of our nation’s people. We must reject living in our tragic past. We must reject fear, anger, hatred, racism, bigotry, homophobia, and misogyny. There is no place in our nation for these emotional controls.
Contrary to politicians, America has not been a great country since its beginnings. We could be, but we must advance and not regress. We must accept the principles and ideals of our founding fathers and denounce the politicians who would use evil for their own ambitions.
We can be great, but only if we elect great men and women to lead our nation and serve the majority. This is even more obvious in 2016.
Op-Ed
By James Turnage
The Truth With No Restrictions 