NBC pissed a few folks off by interrupting the broadcast of the Olympic games the other night but I thought it was great: Tom Brokaw did a piece on the resolve and perseverance of the British during the early months of World War II, the months before the U.S. entered the war. It was a time when the British were pounded night after night by German bombs raining massive destruction and loss of life-- men, women, and children. All of Europe had fallen to Hitler and Great Britain stood alone against Hitler's heinous war machine.
Winston Churchill rose up in that time and led his people by virtue of his powerful voice, a voice which engaged the common spirit of his countrymen. His was a voice which enlisted the common spirit of sacrifice. His was a voice which enlisted a common spirit of courage. His was a voice which engendered concern for others, deference of self to the success of the whole. His was a voice so compelling that he had the audacity to proclaim, "Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, This was their finest hour." This, in the face of the fall of France and all of Europe, with a battle against all odds about to begin.
In this day and age such talk would be immediately attacked, dissected, and ridiculed on national media. We would have a loud and vocal group telling us just how misled, ill-advised and uninformed is such a leader. That's not to say the least about how much we would have already heard of the man's drinking and other personal shortcomings. Instead we would be told about how we need to protect individual rights. How we should not be expected to pay more taxes. We would be fed all manner of twisted facts and estimations to convince us to turn inward, place our needs before those of others, to look toward the success of the individual to fuel the success of the whole. In short, to convince us we've already done enough.
By the standards of this day and age Churchill would not have faired well. His words would probably have been twisted, distorted, and discredited beyond all usefulness. His personal demons exposed, magnified, and displayed for all to see and despise. If he'd had an ounce of luck remaining, he would have been forced into retreat and exited into obscurity as a professor of government at some university. All of that, and half the world would be speaking German.
I watched this piece and had to draw parallels with where we find ourselves today. I listen for voices calling for resolve to raise the tide of humanity, even just in our own country. I listen for voices asking us to think of the future, the society as a whole; to think of our neighbor and his needs. At times I think I hear such voices but they are faint and without stature. I do not see the engagement. In it's place I see selfishness, neediness, greed, short-sighted planning to meet the needs of a few. I see fear on the part of those who are in a position to give.
The battle we face is far worse than an enemy across the English Channel. We are at war with and among ourselves. We need a Churchill, an FDR, a voice. We need a compelling voice of reason to regroup this nation and get it back on the road to prosperity. Not the kind of prosperity that permits one to enjoy multiple homes and off-shore savings accounts. Rather, the kind of prosperity that allows us to go to bed at night with the assurance we are safe: Safe from hunger, safe from illness, safe from the elements, safe in our beliefs, safe in our personal choices. That our future, that of our children, and that of this world, is secure. Such an accomplishment would, most certainly, be our finest hour.
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