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History's Grace Period John L. Perry History requires – not merely expects – greatness of great nations, and America is the greatest ever. The catch: History can run out of patience frighteningly soon. Down the years it seems to be saying to those that flunk the greatness test: "There are other nations, other worlds. You had your chance. You blew it." So this is no season for winners or losers to squander allotted time. No matter who won the recent elections, there is something still at stake here, something that far transcends the foresight of either political party's Lilliputians. It isn't the future of Iraq that's teetering in the balance. It is the future of the United States. And history writes that any great nation's future is dependent on what that great nation does for the less great. Nothing New Here If that sounds like a Sunday school lesson, maybe it is. It is, after all, a well-known historical tenet of Jesus Christ. George W. Bush took the United States into war against Iraq, along with the handful of other free countries willing to fight to retain that status. The rationale far exceeded the threat of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. Its overarching justification was spelled out in what was promptly labeled, and then denounced, by the press as the Bush Doctrine. Story Continues Below
Little did the masscomm slanderers think that they had, inadvertently, handed Bush his chance at a place in the pantheon of history's greatest leaders. (Anyone writing about one of "history's greatest leaders" in reference to Abraham Lincoln during his lifetime would have been greeted with the same sneers as that previous sentence no doubt awakens in Bush belittlers today.) Read the Fine Print The Bush Doctrine covered a wide swath – another attribute maddening to the Bush haters. The heaviest headline type was reserved for Bush's unabashed assertion that America has, and will exercise when necessary, the right to strike first, rather than wait first to be blown to smithereens. Those would be the same critics, if they were among the survivors, to blame Bush the loudest for not pulling the trigger first should America ever be mortally attacked. The Bush Doctrine went much further, which the catcallers are only now beginning to catch onto. It said also that America would project its power around the world when it felt it could help the less great to win their way into the ranks of the free (and, not incidentally, the brave). America has often responded to history's call to step up to greatness, as in the incubation of the world's first genuine democracy, the discovery and opening of an entire continent, the abolition of slavery within its own borders, and the salvation of the entire civilized world from slavery under fascism and communism. No nation in history, as a state or as its citizens acting individually, has given, gladly given, of its own riches to feed the hungry, clothe the destitute and heal the stricken as much as has the United States. America Unwanted … by None No other nation has built its own house, imperfect as it is, on a foundation more firm and within a society more just, to the extent that millions of the less great swim, crawl, claw and bite their way to enter, just for the chance to become Americans. America has not always been beloved for its magnanimity. No giver is universally blessed by those who receive. That really doesn't matter. If it was right to give, it was right to give. The need now all around the world is for someone, or ones, willing to pay the price of standing up and fighting for the less great, to give them a clear shot at building something, even remotely, like what America has built and earned. Look around. Who else is going to do it? Who else is willing to do it? Who else can do it? Great Britain? The French? Germany? The wretched residue of the Soviet Union? Communist China? Japan? The whole Muslin world? Last in the Batting Order With the exception of Japan, whose economy is now anatomically a part of America's, all the rest have had their turn at bat and whiffed. Only the United States remains eligible. Can the United States fulfill the Bush Doctrine? That actually is an irrelevant question. The only pertinent question is: Will the United States do it? Not if Bush's present detractors can help it. They continue to demonstrate they would cut off their own noses to spite their face. Maybe they know within their secular souls that they haven't what it takes to do the job even if they were prepared to try. The hopeful news – which really isn't news – is that the task will have to be up to the American people, as individuals and as a nation. The political pygmies, both left and right, do not speak for the American people on this one. (Does anybody hear one of them calling for greatness?) What they want is dwarfdom for America and its indomitable soul. Two Years and Counting In the fleeting days remaining to him in office, this president may not be able to ignite the spark of global freedom that awaits lighting. But, by George, he can try his damnedest. It'll never come about if he doesn't try, that's a certainty, even if it takes more American lives, blood and treasure. If he does try, there is at least hope – for the world and for America. He will have to move with alacrity. The window of opportunity is closing. History's grace period is running out. Agonizingly Unfair George W. Bush must be asking himself, "Is it worth it? Why was my presidency dealt this hand? Is this fair?" No, it isn't fair. Nothing about greatness, certainly not about the call to greatness, is ever fair.. The late I. F. Stone, one of the greatest journalists this nation ever produced, had a great line, which applies exquisitely to the demands of greatness: "The violins in the orchestra do not understand their agony, either." John L. Perry, a prize-winning newspaper editor and writer who served on White House staffs of two presidents, is a regular columnist for NewsMax.com. Read John Perry's columns here. Editor's note:
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