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RE: What is America? (The Message)
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Phil Enns
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Mar 07, 2004 20:11 PST
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John McCreery, inviting comment, wrote:
"It is clear to me that one defining difference between the Republican
and Democratic parties today is that the GOP has defined itself as the
party of the Sacred Mission, wrapping itself in the flag and insisting
that the true test of leadership is stubborn adherence to the mission,
the blind hedgehog's one big idea--no doubt, no evidence, no argument
can ever shake the leader's commitment."
and then,
"Shouldn't we, instead, find simple ways to celebrate the Great
Experiment, the adventure in cooperative effort that often makes
mistakes but is, at the end of the day, the only engine of progress?"
Isn't the 'big idea' of those who identify with the U.S. Democratic
party precisely this belief in progress and in particular the belief
that it is the essential nature of the U.S. to be the engine of progress
throughout the world? Here, the U.S. is not the state nor the
government but rather a core set of ideals first envisioned by the
founding fathers and subsequently nurtured by visionary people who are
able to see a world where all people share these ideals. Can one doubt
or argue against the claim that all human beings ultimately desire the
values that drive the "Great Experiment"? And if there are people who
would argue against them, how could they be anything but confused or
wicked?
Personally, I distrust any cause that associates the state with ideals,
which I suppose makes me something like an old-fashioned liberal.
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Toronto, ON
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