Wars and flags and 4th of July

In his radio address to Americans on July 4, 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt called for vigilance and a nose-to-the-grindstone work ethic amidst the national hour of darkness that was the early stages of World War II.

“To the weary, hungry, unequipped Army of the American Revolution, the Fourth of July was a tonic of hope and inspiration. And so it is now,” Roosevelt reassured the public with that special oratorical flourish that made his voice so easily recognizable to the masses.

“Never since it was created in Philadelphia [in 1776] has this anniversary come in times so dangerous to everything for which it stands,” Roosevelt said. “We celebrate it this year, not in the fireworks of make-believe, but in the death-dealing reality of tanks and planes and guns and ships.

“We celebrate it also by running without interruption the assembly lines which turn out these weapons to be shipped to all the embattled points of the globe. Not to waste one hour, not to stop one shot, not hold back one blow – that is the way to mark our great national holiday in this year of 1942…”

Which is why Roosevelt was on the job on that special day, and why most federal agencies and private businesses followed his lead in behalf of the war effort, explains James R. Heintze, librarian at American University, on his Web site gurukul.american.edu.

“The tough, grim men who fight for freedom in this dark hour take heart in its message – the assurance of the right to liberty under God – for all peoples and races and groups and nations, everywhere in the world,” the wartime president concluded.

Those presidential words of 64 years ago seem applicable this morning as America – involved in yet another overseas war in yet another dark national hour – prepares to observe the Independence Day holiday.

Today though, FDR’s words about not wasting one hour, stopping one shot, nor holding back one blow seem to more aptly describe the ground rules for our national political discourse than express any grass-roots unity of purpose in pursuing the current war.

Not that there’s anything wrong with keeping the pot boiling. Freedom of speech and expression, is, after all, a major essence of the Declaration of Independence and related handiwork of the Founding Fathers that we celebrate on the Fourth of July.

A bonus in spirited public debate is the comic relief it generally provides. Consider, for example:

. A Democratic congressman from Tennessee calls the three Republicans vying for the nomination to run opposite him in November “the Three Stooges.” The loyal opposition immediately demands an apology, of course, when, truth be told, it’s probably Larry, Curly and Moe who should be expressing outrage and insisting that the congressman take back his slanderous words likening the trio to politicians.

. The Democrats’ longed-for “redeployment” of troops back home from Iraq is, to Republicans, the “cut-and-run” strategy of cowards, and all manner of insulting rhetoric is exchanged in legislative chambers and on cable television talk shows. Depending upon whose ox is being gored at the moment, half of the population wants to throw the bums out for their stand on the war, while the other half high-fives anyone within high-fiving distance.

. An attempt to create a constitutional amendment banning the burning of the U.S. flag is promoted as paying homage to American troops who have defended the flag with their lives. Opponents argue that the amendment would violate free-speech rights, and they characterize the ploy as a cynical exploitation of people’s patriotism for political advantage in mid-term elections. The proposed amendment dies aborning, but the resulting sound bites and bumper stickers for the campaign ads in the upcoming elections live on. Mission accomplished.

And so it goes. Letters to the editors of newspapers reflect the politics of both sides of each controversy du jour, and a November election campaign that once didn’t get serious until Labor Day now appears to be revving up before the Fourth of July.

In our increasingly vigorous and crotchety debate we are not unlike the inhabitants of some of the world’s other free-speech zones, including our good neighbors to the north, who are celebrating Canada Day and their own precious freedoms today, even as we speak. In their feisty political debate, Canadians take a back seat to no one.

On this extended weekend of significance for both countries, citizens of each will surely pause to think of the homegrown patriots off fighting – and dying – to preserve, as FDR put it in 1942, “the liberties and decencies of modern civilization.”

Columnist Kent Ward’s e-mail address is olddawg@bangordailynews.net.