During the last presidential election cycle I spent quite a bit of time discussing issues with professional peers. One friend in California simply said, "Tammy, the State of the Union will remain strong." I took great comfort in his perspective. As a decorated combat veteran and Army Reserve Ambassador his love for this land runs deep.
It is amazing to reflect that during the early years of our nation there were citizens who also harboured fears for the dissolution of the state. Our first president, George Washington, was a commanding public figure and popular amongst the vast majority of Americans. After turning down a third term, it was John Adams who became the second president of our nation. During his term was a season in which government assumed what were considered excessive powers. The Alien and Sedition laws strengthened a centralized government at the expense of the individual American and his liberty. Americans were uneasy regarding the course of our nation. Sound familiar?
But then Thomas Jefferson took the helm. In comforting manner he spoke these words during his inaugural address:
"If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated when reason is left free to combat it."
To this day we retain the gift of freedom by which reason combats error of opinion. In a sense, we must allow the error. The nature of truth is that it rises up in the face of error. So the dynamic of error is that it is the keyhole to truth. "We hold these truths to be self-evident...."
Truth in the end. That has always been the manner in which Americans act and react. We weigh opinions but we seek the truth of a matter. We are patient to sort things out and let things run a natural course. We await the graceful rise of truth in our midst.
It is good to be an American. It is good to come from such good stock. The State of the Union will remain strong.
Tammy Swofford
tammyswofford@yahoo.com
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