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Huan Yi
Member Ascendant

since 2004-10-12

Posts 6688
Waukegan

0 posted 2005-06-12 07:32 PM

Sunday, June 12, 2005

WALLACE: What lessons do you hope Americans take away from the events of 1776?

MCCULLOUGH: That character counts; that courage is contagious, infectious; that we do truly have rights, freedoms, noble ideals and ideas, worth fighting for; that democracy doesn't come easy, never has; that the war with the longest struggle in our whole history, except for Vietnam; that it was bloody, and people suffered, hardships were terrible, but they didn't give up.

And I think also that some wars are necessary. I think one of the most interesting things about this year and the whole struggle altogether is the most -- the man who turned out to be our most effective, I'm inclined to say brilliant general was a Quaker, Nathaniel Greene. The man who expressed for the man in the ranks, for the common American, expressed what the war was about best, and who really was as important a force almost as Washington was Thomas Paine, who was a Quaker, who put aside his pacifist feelings, because, as he said, "The sun never shined on a cause of greater worth."

I also think we ought to know about these people, because we're taking stock, who we are, what do we believe in, what have we been through, at our own time of risk, danger, dark shadows hanging over the future, and come to the realization, others have been through worse, and this isn't new.

Churchill came over after Pearl Harbor, when Hitler was running wild, almost to Moscow, when we had lost half of our Navy at Pearl Harbor, when we had no air force, when recruits were drilling with wooden rifles, and Britain was virtually on her last legs, and he came over, and he gave a magnificent speech, in which he said, "We haven't journeyed this far because we're made of sugar candy."

Did anyone else feel David McCullough was making a political statement directed
at Americans of 2005?

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,159298,00.html

[This message has been edited by Huan Yi (06-12-2005 10:37 PM).]

Alicat
Member Elite

since 1999-05-23

Posts 4094
Coastal Texas

1 posted 2005-06-12 08:00 PM

Named link so others can see the context?

Mistletoe Angel

Member Empyrean

since 2000-12-17

Posts 32816
Portland, Oregon

2 posted 2005-06-14 01:58 PM

Oh, I think it's pretty obvious that he is. I'd disagree with his use of comparisons with that being the case, nevertheless he has written a lot of deep histories including that of John Adams.

McCullough, after all, supports the war on terror, and also has often compared George W. Bush to Harry Truman in terms of being underestimated; knowing little about foreign relations.

He has every right to his opinions and comparing the current quagmire to World War II or 1776. I just don't buy those comparisons, because in terms of Iraq, what odds were against us?

McCullough also admitted the exception of Vietnam from where courage is worth fighting for. There are still divided beliefs on where Iraq is going, but more and more are speaking out against it and seeing it as Vietnam II.

So what if we're made of sugar candy anyway? I'd much rather let the children have candy and not see those images of fear and hatred on the screen.

The threat of terrorism is there, but I believe it is being way too overexaggerated and theatricized and is a much different scenario than that of Pearl Harbor or the American Revolution. Terror stems from hatred psychologically and until we resolve this "unfinished business" I've spoke of before in making an effort to communicate and find out from where this sort of antagonistic behavior originated, terrorism will always be part of our world culture.

Sincerely,
Noah Eaton

"If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other"

Mother Teresa

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