John Edwards: A Deeper Purpose (from HuffPost)

[marmar]

John Edwards

05.16.2007
A Deeper Purpose (37 comments )

Memorial Day is a time of remembrance for those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom. My wife Elizabeth grew up on military bases around the world, as the daughter of an Navy pilot, and this holiday has always had special meaning for our family. This year, I am calling on all Americans to use their Memorial Day Weekend not only for celebration and time with family and friends, but also for a deeper purpose: to honor the memory of the fallen by acting, as patriots, to honor troops today-to end the war and bring them home.

This is a serious holiday and a serious time. The American people voted last fall to stand by our troops, end the war, and bring our soldiers home. The Congress has sent the President a bill that would fund the troops and bring them home. But President Bush has embarked on a stubborn path-rejecting the will of the people and of Congress. He is not only continuing the disastrous war in Iraq, but is escalating our presence there and vetoing Congress's bill that would support the troops. It has become clear that the only way to support our troops and end the war is by direct action -- by democracy.

Some will say that this weekend is not the right time to ask Americans to stand together and tell the President and the Congress to end this war. They may say it is not patriotic, or that it does not honor the fallen.

I strongly disagree. I believe that Memorial Day Weekend is exactly the right time to honor the memory of those who paid the ultimate price for our freedom, and to honor the troops serving us today.

It has been said that dissent is the highest form of patriotism. Mark Twain once wrote that the government must not "decide who is a patriot and who isn't." President Theodore Roosevelt went even farther. He said that to say there should be no criticism of a president is not only "unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."

...(snip)...

It was only four decades ago that we found ourselves in a similar place to today. We were embroiled in an unpopular war, plagued by disparities and inequalities here at home, and looking for leadership in Washington, D.C. Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. called us to action with three simple worlds. As he put it then, there comes a time when "silence is a betrayal" -- not only a betrayal of one's personal convictions, or even of one's country alone, but also a betrayal of our deeper obligations to one another and to the brotherhood of man.

Martin Luther King's demands were not to the government of the United States. He issued a direct appeal to the people of the United States, calling on us to break our own silence and to not sit idly by and wait for others to right the wrongs of the world. Today, I'm again calling on our nation to break its silence -- speak out to end this war and bring our troops home.

At Riverside Church in Harlem in 1967, Dr. King made another attempt to reclaim patriotism. He told his audience they had to move beyond "the prophesying of smooth patriotism" toward "a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history."

This Memorial Day Weekend, we should all take up Dr. King's call to action. It is time to take back patriotism from a President who has misused it to justify policies that have exacted such terrible costs-from Guantanamo Bay to domestic spying to the War in Iraq itself. Let us reclaim patriotism for all of us who love our country, support our troops, and are ready to end the war-and to bring these brave servicemen and women home to the heroes' welcome they deserve. .....(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-edwards/a-deeper-purpose_b_48605.html

[JohnLocke]

1. Excellent post.

Thank you.