'Dan Rather Reports'
Still Betting on the U.S.A.
Posted: 8/9/11 02:00 PM ET
...................
Most Americans believe in true compromise, a balanced approach to solving our budget. I think even many wealthy Americans are embarrassed by our national income disparity. We wonder why we have to be the world's policeman, shouldering almost all the costs alone, when we can't afford to build bridges and schools back home. We want to help out the least amongst us, take care of our seniors and keep our water and air clean, but we know that costs money. We just want to know how we can afford what we need without burdening ourselves with too much debt.
The problem is that Washington isn't working. That's not necessarily new. There were many times throughout our history when it didn't work. But ultimately, something came along to make it work. Sometimes the change came in the form of a rising political leader, like a Teddy Roosevelt or a Harry Truman. And sometimes a groundswell of change came from the people, like the Civil Rights movement.
It's unclear from where the break in this unhealthy stasis will come. But it must come, and I believe it will.
Politicians and the chattering media class in their air-conditioned studios need to get out of their bubbles and talk to real Americans, who are doing their best everyday to make tough decisions in their own lives. They should talk to families in food lines, an unemployed worker going to community college to learn a new skill, a police chief trying to make a budget and the millions of other kinds of Americans who are living in reality. We have enough wealth in this nation, in terms of human and physical resources, to move toward solving our problems. What we need is a lot more leadership than we're getting. But I think our history shows that
if we don't get leadership soon, we the people will demand it ourselves.In the meantime, there is this: for too long, the world has overestimated what America's military and economic strength could accomplish. As we've learned, there are limits to such power.
Maybe it's not so bad now to have the world underestimating us.the rest:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dan-rather/still-betting-on-the-usa_b_922292.html(finally get to post something i want to believe in!, kpete)
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