What are we so afraid of?
Tue Dec 18, 2007 at 11:01:33 AM PDT
Franklin Delano Roosevelt would be ashamed at what’s going on with his party in Washington today.
Over seventy years ago, he uttered these words in the shadow of the Capitol:
This is preeminently the time to speak the truth, the whole truth, frankly and boldly. Nor need we shrink from honestly facing conditions in our country today. This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.
If he could see how his party had forgotten his admonition, it would likely break his heart.
There is something wrong in Washington when the fear of a political attack ad or a negative direct mail campaign is enough to keep good people from doing the right things. And there is something wrong when surrender on crucial questions becomes the de facto way to neutralize political opponents. "As long as we don’t give them any ammunition, we’ll be okay" seems to be the mindset that controls far, far too many of those elected to represent our needs.
I’m looking to change that.
For most of this Congress our party has behaved not as a strong majority with an unprecedented mandate for change, but as a shell-shocked shadow of its former self. Being afraid of schoolyard taunts will not suffice when real lives are on the line.
If our representatives really need to feel afraid of something, let them be afraid of the consequences of inaction. Let them be afraid of the damage wrought by an unchecked administration’s overreach. Let them be afraid of the effects, here and in Iraq, of an unending war. Let them be afraid of the risks of having 45 million Americans with no access to health coverage. Let them be afraid of record foreclosures and a growing mortgage crisis threatening our economy. And let them be afraid of what our own fears say about our lack of strength in the face of adversity.
My grandmother was a product of the New Deal era. Widowed with six children after a workplace accident killed my grandfather, she managed to scrape by, largely thanks to the programs of FDR and the strength she drew from participating in the Labor Movement. She didn’t have time to be afraid of name-calling and dirty tricks—she was too busy keeping her family alive and housed.
Our nation, once again, is in a dark hour. Whether we retreat into political calculation and a siege mentality, or stand and confront our problems with frankness and vigor, will define our party for generations to come.
I hope you’ll stand with me.
Mike Waltner
Candidate for Congress, PA-03
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