by Tom Fowler

Created on: September 05, 2008

The United States of America, whether we believe it anymore or not, stands for decency, civil liberty and opportunity, among many other things. I cite these examples because today they are the most vulnerable of the traits which we like to think separates us from the rest of the world. My belief is, we do believe in ourselves; even if we are a bit demoralized in these difficult and complicated times.

America's record in the 20th century is quite impressive. We ended two brutal world wars and assisted countless other countries in maintaining their liberty in smaller wars. We gave away, and continue to give, more foreign aid dollars than most of us can count. Did we make mistakes? You bet. Did we do, and are we doing now, everything we should to be that shining city on a hill? Well, not always, but the intent and effort has always been there, even if our judgment and actions have not always been perfect. This is what we should pass along to our children: America is indeed the land of the free, the champion of the underdog and downtrodden, and a place where anyone may, through hard work and, perhaps, a bit of luck, become whatever he or she wishes to be.

America is not perfect and too often we tend to beat ourselves up because of it. That is not entirely a bad thing, for it assures that we still have a national conscience and desire to do good things - even if we at times stumble and dash our foot against the proverbial stone along the way.

I would say to our children: We welcome mass immigration, as long as it is done legally, orderly and with a rational plan and purpose. Immigrants built this country and will continue to inject new life blood into our society.

I would say to our children: We will continue to assist peoples around the world whose governments terrorize and limit freedom. However, we will do it with a purpose and resolve we have not had since World War II. When we assist a country militarily, we will go with the intention of cleaning up the mess as quickly as possible, then return home when things are stable. I would state as example the first President Bush's handling of the first Iraqi war in 1991, with the exception of the decision leave Saddam Hussein in power.

I would say to our children: In the future, excessive government intervention and privacy intrusions into our lives will not be tolerated in the name of national security. We as a people are better than that. Better, too, than resort to torture and illegal imprisonment of those we only think

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