Featured Column
Week of 10.19.2008
Why not dream?
America is at a turning point
By now George W. Bush must be itching to pack up his things, put on his ten gallon
hat, march out of the White House with Laura and head for Crawford.
The milestone
events of his presidency are piling up, readying themselves for the writings of the historians. How the George W. Bush years will
rank with those of past presidents are beginning to align themselves with James Polk, Millard Fillmore, Rutherford B. Hayes and Herbert
Hoover.
The current president’s tenancy has been filled with the kind of events that
alter and illuminate our times – Katrina, Gustav, the attacks on September 11, 2001, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, floods, fires,
most currently, the mind-numbing and wallet-shrinking economic storm and the massive bailout expenditures. Whether or not these events
will cause George W’s White House occupancy to be ranked high or low in relation to our other presidents we shall leave for tomorrow
and the writings of the historians.
We are now faced with the final weeks of this
unpleasant and disagreeable presidential election campaign.
After the passage of
the two weeks Americans will finally decide on the person who will lead this country for the next forty eight months. Of all the jobs
available, becoming this nation’s next president seems to be the least attractive. The new president will be faced with a list of
problems that would bring most men to their knees.
The new president will have the responsibility
of not only lifting this country from its economic quagmire, but of bringing pride and respect for our country and its leaders back
into fashion.
Our new president must, from the first hour in office, give Americans hope and
pride and a belief that he is capable of making the decisions that will return this country back on the road to success. We have been
doubtful and unsure as a country for too long.
There are so many things that must be done.
During our new president’s first term I would like to see at least a start made in moving this country ahead – to bring back a sense
of pride and accomplishment.
My hope is that the new president will make a list and
starting checking things off as they are started and completed.
My new world would
contain the beginnings of the creation of a new and adventurous America. An America that would find the president providing ten billion
dollars for the eradication of cancer during his lifetime. Another ten billion dollars for finding a cure for heart disease and diabetes.
I
dream that during the first forty eight months of the new president’s term he would initiate action to free us from the tyranny of
foreign oil. We would see wind farms, tidal energy created, nuclear plants around the country built, clean coal energy plants constructed
and the production of our own oil.
We would see electric and hydrogen powered autos
on our highways. All new homes, apartments, office buildings and factories will be required to have solar panels built in.
I want to see factories in America, filled with American workers. Men and women who have no desire to be computer techs. Men and women
who want to earn a good living assembling American automobiles, sold to Americans. Factories where Americans build refrigerators,
and television sets and steel. Factories where hard working men and women of America bring home weekly paychecks and stay off the
welfare rolls.
When my computer or television set or microwave oven needs repair
I want to get on the phone and call for assistance and talk to someone, not in Bombay or Manila, but in Akron, Ohio or Beloit, Wisconsin
or Oregon City, Oregon.
I want to see the American military stronger than it has
ever been. A military that would cause any foreign oppressor to shrink from any confrontation with us.
I want to see an Iraq free and peaceful and without the presence of American soldiers.
I hope that our new president will not make the same mistake in Afghanistan that the current one made in Iraq. I hope to not see American
foot soldiers marching in the barren mountains near Pakistan. I hope that the search for Osama bin Laden ends quickly with the tall
terrorist held up for all the world to see, shamed and humbled.
I hope that the resolving
of the street gangs and drug problems in America will become a priority for the new president – they are the deadly blight of America’s
cities and towns.
The new president must quickly find the fair and just plan for
American’s health care. From our children to our senior citizens, and all between, proper health care must be available for all Americans.
If our Social Security program is to be altered then it must be done with intelligence
and sensitivity. There will be no quick cures for it.
As we head into the final two
weeks of a numbing presidential election campaign my hope is that our new president will be given an opportunity to begin his long
walk down history’s highway. I hope that common sense and intelligence will again reign in America. To start these new programs the
Democrats and Republicans will have to put a hold on the wasteful infighting and join together in the effort to rebuild America.
What is at stake is the very fiber of our country.
Ron was born in the Bronx, New York. He was raised in Southern California and lived in Honolulu, Hawaii for three decades. He attended Inglewood High School and U.C.L.A.. His youthful goal was to become a major league baseball player. In Hawaii Ron played on a series of championship softball teams. He is an active tennis player.
Ron’s career began at the Inglewood Daily News where as a youngster was enrolled in a publisher training program. He served as an advertising salesman, circulation manager, writer and layout and design staffer. He has been a newspaper publisher at the Oregon City Oregon Enterprise Courier, the Beloit Wisconsin Daily News, the Elizabeth, New Jersey Daily Journal and This Week Magazines (Hawaii).
Ron lives with his wife, Marilyn, in San Diego, California. His two children, Douglas and Diane also live in the San Diego area. Ron’s interests range far and wide and are reflected in his columns diverse topics.
Ron Cruger