Thoughts

I am reading a book right now that is a detailed history of the United States. Something that became apparent to me is the fact that war is unpopular with the majority of people no matter the circumstances surrounding it. Washington during the Revolutionary War and Lincoln during the Civil War were faced with the same type of criticism and second guessing that President Bush faces now. It seems that there are scarce few that have the wear withal to make the hard decision to go to war and even fewer that can endure until the end of one. I think in most people human nature doesn't give them the attention span or patience to stick with tough positions for long. Eventually they wear down and give in to the things that were once thought to be noble causes. Memories are short and cause one to loose site of the bigger goal. Unless involved in the day to day of the situation, attentions turn back to the more mundane things. The nuts and bolts of life. Soon confusion sets in and we can't remember why we are even involved. We begin to think that it has just gone on too long. It's not interesting any more. This could go on forever. What's the point.

Thank goodness there have been leaders in our history who don't possess this handicap. Ones who push on toward the goal never loosing sight of the objective. They know deep inside them that the cause is noble and necessary if freedom is to continue. If Washington would have given up when things were tough we may be under the rule of a King. If Lincoln would have listened to some in his day, slavery may still be a way of life. The effects of current events may only become clear years or decades after they occur. This means that there is no way to know where are headed but we can learn lessons form history. It seems that we have good proof that fighting for a noble cause leads to good things for those fighting on the right side of the cause.