Why won无毛视频檛 there be a country?
The call for Americans to come forward and unselfishly mobilize in the interest of the common good was the hallmark of John F. Kennedy无毛视频檚 new presidency in 1961.
无毛视频淎sk not, what this country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,无毛视频� was a simple request for Americans to look beyond themselves in an ever-complicated world.
Thus came the Peace Corps, which was founded just 40 days after Kennedy无毛视频檚 inaugural address.
So far, 240,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps. They无毛视频檝e taken their efforts to 142 countries.
Kennedy had inspired young Americans for decades with his call to service.
Not every president could be so inspirational.
I can think of one president, off the top of my head, who apparently thinks about getting placed on a pedestal 无毛视频� before the common good gets done.
无毛视频淒on无毛视频檛 ask what you might do for your country,无毛视频� he might say. 无毛视频淎sk what you can do for me.无毛视频�
Our most recently non-reelected president, Donald J. Trump, would rather cling to the misguided fairy tale of his spectacular non-reelection than inspire anybody to do anything, except bow in his presence.
Most former presidents avoid such unseemliness. Not our most recent one, though.
He runs from rally to rally, telling his audiences, 无毛视频淚f we don无毛视频檛 fight like hell, there won无毛视频檛 be an America anymore.无毛视频�
Those words, by the way, were used at that Jan. 6 rally that served as the prelude to Mr. Trump无毛视频檚 very own insurrection.
He无毛视频檚 used words similar to those ever since.
He likes to imply how, if things don无毛视频檛 go the way he wants them to go, America will go straight to hell in a hand basket.
无毛视频淲ithout borders,无毛视频� he无毛视频檒l tell his convulsing rally-goers, 无毛视频淲e don无毛视频檛 have a country.无毛视频�
Oh, yes we will.
If this country could survive a Civil War, a Great Depression, a couple of World Wars, and, an attempt to toss out a free and fair presidential election, I无毛视频檇 say this is a pretty durable country.
Countries don无毛视频檛 generally vaporize based on the aspirations of a childish, belligerent, would-be tyrant.
In April of last year, Trump decided he无毛视频檇 endorse Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks, in his run for the U.S. Senate.
Rep. Brooks had been a strong Trump supporter.
In fact, during the prelude to that Jan. 6 insurrection, it was Brooks who famously said, 无毛视频淭oday is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.无毛视频�
All of that 无毛视频渒icking无毛视频� didn无毛视频檛 seem to help Brooks stay in Mr. Trump无毛视频檚 good graces.
Brooks hadn无毛视频檛 been able to convince enough people that Joe Biden had stolen the 2020 presidential election from Trump.
(I don无毛视频檛 know what scale of allegiance Brooks failed to live up to in this regard. All I know is that it didn无毛视频檛 quite meet Mr. Trump无毛视频檚 expectations.)
In March of this year, Trump claimed, 无毛视频淚 am hereby withdrawing my endorsement of Mo Brooks for the Senate.无毛视频� Then he got more specific. 无毛视频淓lection fraud must be captured and stopped, or (and here he goes) we won无毛视频檛 have a country anymore,无毛视频� said Trump.
I still don无毛视频檛 know why it无毛视频檚 such a great political strategy to claim that if people don无毛视频檛 follow your dictates, the country will disintegrate.
For some reason, Republicans are way better at doomsday rhetoric than Democrats.
With the upcoming mid-term elections ahead, you can expect to see nonstop Republican TV ads warning us: about the rampant socialism, induced by Democrats, that they无毛视频檙e preventing; the unimpeded lawlessness (but only in cities controlled by Democrats); that migrants from all over the southern hemisphere are about to take everybody无毛视频檚 jobs unless Republicans are elected or reelected; that Democrats are preparing to force-feed the supposed scourge of Critical Race Theory to the nation无毛视频檚 preschoolers if Republicans don无毛视频檛 prevail; and, of course, there无毛视频檚 a plan by Democrats to confiscate every single weapon in America 无毛视频� except peashooters.
America is destined to unravel. And the only hope is a Republican-controlled everything, they无毛视频檒l say.
That无毛视频檚 not true.
Want proof of that?
The United States of America survived Donald Trump!
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.