Glanz: It's Time To Dust Off The History Books ...

written Before The 'Age Of Revisionism'

By Dan Glanz

First, I may not be the first to say this — or maybe I am. This is America´s century!

The new millennium with all the hoopla of Y2k turned into a show of ships in harbors and enough fireworks to be seen by rowboats on the lakes of Venus or the foxholes of Mars.

The old millennium ended in political disarray. An outgoing President with not enough self-respect to leave the office after being impeached — and as a parting shot stole, or tried to steal the furniture from the White House. And then he foists his scorned wife on the voters of New York (whom she doesn´t talk to.) His teen lover has gone from typing to handbags to television. And we wonder and worry about the morality in America.

The election of 2000 was not significant in that Bush won. (Thank G-d he did.) Or, that Gore lost — it is significant because of the numbers of Americans and American Voters who knew nothing of the Electoral College.

Thinking back, I seem to remember a few of the press corps who were equally confused by something that was drilled into your head in 7th grade Social Studies classes. Or, don´t they teach that anymore?

There is of course, the other possibility newspapers and other media had an agenda … and the voters did not act in accordance with their proscribed plan. Nah … that couldn´t be. The Old Grey Lady would never print misleading stories or something on their agenda. By the way, how long did Jayson Blair work at the Times?

Can you remember what the World Trade Center looked like? Were you ever fortunate enough to work there or visit … or even see it in person? I can remember having an office so high up, the traffic helicopters looked the size of Matchbox toys below and people on the street were walking on the head of a pin.

I have often wondered, since that day, of the coincidence of September 11th and 911 as our universal emergency number.

It seems now our leaders have been aware of the emerging dangers of fundamentalist Moslems and their radicalized followers for decades. We were just not as familiar with them. Yeah, some of us junkies knew about bin Laden. But did ya know about the Wahabis? And Gadhafi is just a name in history. And you remember the Faud family?

As I wrote several weeks ago, America and Americans are so sure we have the proper perspective on life with freedom, we allow our friends … and our purported allies … AND our enemies to abuse us verbally, decry our values in parliamentary bodies across the globe.

Perhaps it is time to dust off the history books written before the ‘Age of Revisionism.´ Perhaps it is time to look at the microfilm in libraries across our land and read Life Magazine and Look Magazine and listen to the recordings of newscasts of Walter Winchell and Gabriel Heater. Perhaps, it is time … to start thinking of what made America the country. The country the tired, the poor, those yearning to breathe freely wished for … and some number of them did get the blessings … of living … as Americans.

We allow our Foreign Service officials to not have an ‘America First´ policy and attitude. Those with any interest in foreign affairs have known for decades the career State Department employees have had their own agenda of dealing for America. The Middle Eastern experts were certainly Arabists … and looked at Israel with disdain. Had they instead looked inwardly at America, and the life Americans value and worked to imbue in the nomads of the desert, in the bureaucrats of the fiefdoms, of the dictatorships in the region — maybe we would be talking now of a Middle East in thriving commercial and cultural unity.

We have politicians seeking higher office saying how terrible we are as a nation, because they don´t agree with our current President. We know and accept they would be cheering in the streets if the President was someone else … almost anyone else! And now there are 10. Hillary has intimated she is considered a run in 2004, forrgettabout what I said previously.

We have a Supreme Court now pandering to the whims of the people rather than the Constitutionality of an issue. The Court supposedly is above the fright and fight of the political arena. I agree the nation does not need to peek into the bedrooms and windows of ordinary Americans seeking to live their private lives in private style. Yet I am opposed to having some stylized behavior that belongs in the bedroom being paraded down Main Street … because it makes them feel good and some judge in some jurisdiction has said, ”Hey, I can't see it from my kitchen window!”

Let´s see now, Rehnquist retires, O´Connor moves up to Chief, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzalez takes the O´Connor seat. A woman Chief Justice, a Hispanic Justice … is that pandering for votes? Of course not! John Paul Stevens is 80 years old. Ginsburg, O´Connor and Stevens have faced cancer. There could well be as many as 4 more appointments by the end of the 2nd Bush term.

We are fortunate, even if you cannot see it, to have a President who would gladly lay down his life to protect you and me … and America. He will do the proper thing, even if Kennedy and Tiny Tom don´t like it. But you know, and I do too, he is so honest and so concerned about Americans everywhere and people around the world, he just keeps trying to solve all the problems in just his first term.

Yes, I am more pleased with President Bush than displeased with him. I have some serious issues with him … and if he ever does get around to sitting in Washington for a few days and he invites me to one of those breakfast meetings, I would surely attend … and give him some hard thoughts.

Mr. President, George … stop apologizing for something we didn´t do. History is in the books, not on the front page!

About the Author:
Toogood Reports contributor and "Best of the Web" award-winning writer Dan Glanz has a background in broadcasting and real estate. He is an admitted civics junkie who grew up in Washington, DC. Dan is a registered Independent who considers himself a conservative with a finely-honed realistic view of politics. While he does not disrespect those who have campaigned for and won political office, he does despise those who, for whatever reason, poison the landscape of American values via their positions of power – from both sides of the aisle. Dan's weekly column is seen in newspapers across the country. Readers' comments are welcomed. Email the Author: TalktoDan@comcast.net