“It is curious - curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare”

When King George leaves office in 175 days, it will be incumbent upon his successor to subject the Nation to an extensive, thorough, gut-wrenching, self-imposed intervention. For the most important question facing the new President and the Nation is not how to fix the economy; it is not how to ensure viable healthcare for all Americans; nor is it how quickly we should withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The question before us in the light of 2009’s dawn will be, “Who are we and for what does this Nation stand?”

Are we the Nation that codified our moral standard in the Declaration of Independence, or are we the morally debased superpower that believes it can violate international law, ignore treaties and trample on the rights of individuals in the name of “National Security?”

Are we the Nation that sweated and sacrificed to come to the rescue of a Europe swallowed by the debasement of the Nazi war machine, or are we the back-alley bully seeking to impose our will on sovereign nations through the application of our own muscle and dirty tricks?

Are we a Nation of free men and women living lives free of fear, or are we a society in which the rights of the individual are subject to the whims of a government bereft of any moral compass?

Are we a Nation in which no man is above the law, or are we a land in which those with enough money and enough power are deemed to be above the Rule of Law and are exempted from any accountability for their actions?

Are we still the Land that says to the rest of the world,

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

or are we a People so afraid that we now lock our country’s doors in fear an intruder will steal our possessions, forgetting that our most precious possession, Freedom, cannot be stolen; it can only be abandoned.

Our rights as individuals – our Freedom – have for over 200 years been defended and nourished by the sacrifices of brave and valiant people who said, “We will be free!” Will we now relinquish that which was so dearly purchased without so much as a whimper, or will we resolve that no one, neither foreign despot nor domestic tyrant, will ever take away that which was so dearly purchased?

The answer will come only after some serious National soul searching.