America is great because our history is rich with moral goodness. What do I mean? It means we stand for what is right and do what is good. A simple way to explain is to use Donald Trump’s perspective on Libya.
In the spring of this year, we engaged, as part of a NATO-led coalition, in active support of rebel forces in Libya in their effort to overthrow dictator Muammar Qadaffi. The effort consumed more of our resources (time and money) than anticipated. Eventually, the rebel’s succeeded and the dictator was killed. (Now, I have views on whether we should have engaged or not, but that’s not my intent here.)
The Donald has stated a few times over the past few months that we should get compensated with oil for the assistance we provided.
“We are NATO,” Trump said. “We back NATO in terms of money and weapons, what do we get out of it? We have all of these rebels running around, beautiful name ‘rebels,’ are they from Iran, who is going to take over Libya, who’s going to take over the oil? So what do we get out of it, and why won’t we take over the oil?” he said. “Why aren’t we reimbursing? You know in the old days, when you win a war, you ‘kept to the victor, belongs the spoils.” http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/08/trump-on-libya-why-wont-we-take-over-the-oil/
Sounds logical, right? If we get involved in all of these wars and help all of these people out, why shouldn’t we take a piece of the prize? Right?
But here’s my issue with what Trump said. It goes against what has been and, I think, still is (to a certain degree) morally good about the United States of America. We have made a lot of mistakes throughout our history (slavery, discrimination, Vietnam, etc), but we have also done a lot of good (fight against evil like Hitler and Soviet Union). We continue to assist many nations through financial support and “boots on the ground” to rebuild and protect. And, traditionally, there has been extreme generosity from the people of the US through charities, adoptions, mission trips, etc.
We are in a fight for the future of our nation. 2012 is a fork in the road. We either continue to follow progressives like Barak Obama and John McCain or we reclaim the power of the people and the principles of the constitution. I urge you to think for yourself. Do the hard stuff. Research the candidates. And vote for who you think is best for the country, not who the media tells you who can win or not. Let us reclaim the moral goodness that we have been so that future generations can see it, learn it, and live it.
