God bless America...
Like all nations, we do have our issues, but, with the fourth of July, comes the celebration of the re-establishment of democracy. Athens had their pure democracy and Rome [started as] a Republic... but, how many nations followed that ideal of freedom over the next 1700 years? At the time of the birth of the United States... democracy was not prevalent... Europe was still under monarchial rule.
As I watch the stories of Iran's election and Honduras' coup... the one thing that every American must love and be proud of... since the 1860's... is the PEACEFUL transition of power. For almost 150 years... state and federal level, there has been no major dissent against the legal process of governance. One of George W. Bush aides had this in mind when he begged (and finally convinced) Bush not to give a victory speech after Gore rescinded his concession. After weeks of fighting over Florida, Gore also had this in mind, when he finally gave in to the Supreme Courts decision over recounts. Its why every outgoing president, no matter the circumstances, follows the same tradition of being walked out of the White House to the helicopter, by the new president. No matter what Bush, 43 said about Clinton during Bush's campaign, they would be cordial and respect tradition. No matter what Obama said about Bush, they would respect tradition. It is a visible, public display to the American people... a display of the enduring peaceful transitory nature of American democracy.
Greater than any one president... greater than any political party... is the nation itself... and the ideals and values for which it stands.
I am glad to live in a country where the concept of a visible presence of domestic soldiers on the homeland is anathema. Similar to the Roman soldier being merely a citizen once he set foot inside the gates of Rome, the United States soldier has no authority on American soil outside the the case of foreign attack. The US army never dissents. There are no coups. They respect THE ROLE of the civilian leadership in government, no matter what they may think of the individual man or the decision. United States presidents who might be ousted (e.g. Johnson, Nixon and Clinton) are not done so by the military... there is a civil process created in our Constitution by which these men are judged.
Even the legal authority for sending our troops to war, even for noble purposes... that power resides in the United States Congress, not the White House. Ingenius. Everytime our nation goes to war, the President ASKS the Congress for a Declaration of War. No one man, in a true democracy should have such power.
God bless America...
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