"Walk softly and carry a big stick"

When did TR's dictum - the ultimate American foreign policy statement - become "Make as much noise as possible and wave your stick around like a maniac"? We seem to be becoming a nation of bullies and braggarts, determined to declare our supremacy on everything as noisily as possible. What happened to humility, what has happened to thoughtful examination of our flaws in order to correct them?

My image of the quintessential American soldier was always the dogfaces in Bill Mauldin's WWII cartoons, Willie and Joe - the ordinary guys from ordinary American towns and country, giving candy bars to kids. American soldiers don't torture prisoners - do they? My Lai was a shock to the American self-image, but surely it was an aberration. Surely we have not sunk to the point of institutionalizing that kind of behavior?

The real meaning of "my country, right or wrong" was defined in 1872 by a Republican senator from the "Show Me State" of Missouri. In response to a challenge from a fellow legislator to support the U.S. takeover of San Domingo, Sen. Carl Schurz declared: "The American people ... should be especially careful not to permit themselves to be influenced in their decision by high-sounding phrases of indefinite meaning, by vague generalities, or by seductive catchwords appealing to unreasoning pride and reckless ambition. More than ever true patriotism now demands the exercise of the soberest possible discernment."

When Senator Schurz's loyalty was challenged, he rose in anger to quote Stephen Decatur: "My country, right or wrong; if right, to be kept right; and if wrong, to be set right."

We have become a nation that values style over substance, image over content. We idolize a Ronald Reagan or a John Wayne as the ultimate symbol of the soldier, ignoring the fact that neither ever served in the military, while ignoring the quieter, less jingoistic heroism of a Jimmy Stewart, who preferred never to speak of his highly-decorated military service.

President Teddy Roosevelt said: "Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president. ... It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him (when) he fails in his duty."

We have chosen, as a nation, to elect a man who actively avoided combat duty over one who served honorably (despite slanderous, libelous, and vicious calumnies to the contrary). We have chosen, as a nation, to honor the man who TALKS tough over the man who understands what toughness really is.

The young men of America voted for this President. It is they who will die in his unilateral wars of aggression. It is they who will be unable to find abortions when they get their girlfriends pregnant. It is they who will suffer disproportionately from the proliferation of assault weapons. May they reap what they have sown.

As to anyone else who likes talking tough and playing soldier - please, go ahead and play soldier for real. Enlist. If assault weapons and wars of foreign aggression are so crucial to your image of America, then why are you still living in your mother's basement and playing on the Internet? Go enlist and serve your country. They'll give you all kinds of cool toys to play with.