Not without me!

Submitted by David R. Wills (United States), Nov 1, 2006 at 07:01

Daniel Pipes wrote: "[...] the American apparatus of participation fades away, leaving the president on his own to make this difficult call [....]"

The president need never be on his own. He uniquely has access to data and analyses, and to learned counsel, of a kind to which few others have recourse. Moreover the president, by virtue of his office, may personally engage practically every head of state, and so mitigate the possibility of misunderstanding between himself and other world leaders.

Of what "apparatus of participation" does Mr. Pipes write? If he refers to the election apparatus, the American people's participation carries on in our choice of leaders. If, however, he refers to Americans' interest and willingness to participate in some meaninful way/s with the president's most important decisions affecting all of our lives, I beg to differ with Mr. Pipe's judgment that our "participation fades away".

Our participation in this momentous decision of which Mr. Pipes writes, is probably more intense just because of the magnitude of its implications. Indeed, my writing this response attests to that fact.

The real question is not whether the president must make this historical decision alone, but whether he shall make it alone. Shall he ignore the counsel of the American people, who speak in the persons of our Congressional representatives? Shall he ignore the timeless wisdom that America's Judeo-Christian heritage offers to illumine his thoughts at such a time as this? Shall he ignore the truth that American society is (still) worth protecting and preserving, notwithstanding the growing malevolence of world opinion?

I believe the right thing is seldom hard to know, but often hard to do. This time, I pray the president shall not make this decision 'alone', but that, with the help of God, he will truly do the right thing.

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