Wouldn't it be nice if we had a president who was willing to go before a watching world and defend the honor of his own country and countrymen? Of all the disagreements and disputes I have with the current administration, this is perhaps the greatest.
Just a week ago, the President of the United States had an incredible opportunity to say a few things that need sayin' when he stood before the utterly corrupt United Nations. And for a brief, fleeting moment, I thought he was about to do it. After a dramatic pause, President Obama began his sentence by cautioning, "For those who question the character and cause of my nation..." I moved to the edge of my seat awaiting that "hero moment" when the leader of the free world would scold the dictators, tyrants, and crooked regimes that have built their pathetic thugocracies on the shallow rhetoric of anti-American posturing.
Time stood still for a brief second, suspended in mid-air as I envisioned the words that Americans past and present desperately desire and definitely deserve to hear their leader speak to the world. Here's what I imagined:
"For those who question the character and cause of my nation, perhaps you should take a moment and consider where the world would be - where you would be - without the leadership, goodness, and benevolence of the American people.
To our friends from Africa, my nation has poured its treasure into combating the rampant spread of the debilitating AIDS virus throughout your entire continent. You are aware that had it not been for the long hours of our scientists, the ingenuity of our technology, the perseverance of our medical personnel, and the sacrifice of our life-saving envoys to your people, the death tolls would have been unimaginable.
To the good people of East Asia, you too have seen the heart of my nation. It was less than a decade ago when your shores were ravaged by the waters of an unrelenting tsunami that killed untold thousands and devastated your economies. The outpouring of aid you received not just from the American government, but far more significantly from private American citizens and institutions, speaks volumes about our character.
Consider that American Christian churches give $8.8 billion in aid to developing nations throughout the world. That alone is over $1.5 billion more than the private donations of all the other 30 most industrialized nations combined.
To our European brothers and sisters, may I remind you that your beaches are still stained with the blood of many American GIs who paid the ultimate price for your liberation from the Nazis and communists. And as if that weren't enough, when your war-torn countries saw famine and depression following the World Wars you initiated, the United States was there to pour $13 billion into the Marshall Plan, which literally saved your continent from ruin.
Much has been said in these halls about America's go-it-alone philosophy and our imperialistic attitude. Let it be remembered that never before has a nation on this earth possessed the power that we have held in our hands for nearly a century. Consider our military prowess, our nuclear arsenal, and then consider the manner in which we have used them - not to subjugate, annihilate, or pillage, but liberate and protect.
Before condemning the imposing hand of the American empire, consult the texts of history and recognize that never before has a people been so strong...and simultaneously so restrained by their own sense of virtue.
Without the United States, the world would be a darker place...a much darker place. We do not suggest that we are perfect. Indeed, more than any other country, we put our faults and failures on full display, holding them up to the light of day in order that we might correct them in our ongoing pursuit of creating a more perfect union. Some of you take advantage of that reality to mock and belittle us. But perhaps you would do your citizens a greater favor by modeling our openness and imitating our willingness to correct our mistakes.
My fellow citizens of the world, I don't come here today to ask for your respect. Rather, I come here to remind you that generations of Americans have already earned it. Thank you."
But our president didn't say that. Instead he implicitly agreed that all the vitriol, animosity, and anti-American hatred so prevalent amongst these corrupt regimes was justified and well-grounded. But, he assured them, now that he had ascended to power there was reason for hope.
Wouldn't it be nice if we had a president more interested in defending the honor of his country than in polishing his own global celebrity?
