American Anthem - OpEd

Three years after Professor Turner declared the American frontier closed, a young professor from Wellesley College teaching a summer course at Colorado College took the time to join her colleagues on a trip to Pikes Peak and was so overcome she commented “… [W]hen I saw the view, I felt great joy. All the wonder of America seemed displayed there, with the sea-like expanse.”

The young teacher was Katherine Lee Bates, and when she returned from her experience, she was inspired to write these words as well, “Oh beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea.” In Stanza two she pleads “God mend thy every flaw, Confirm thy soul in self control….” We are an anthem loving people with such a rich tradition that her words aren’t the only ones that inspire reflection on our failures to hold precious the democratic legacy our ancestors secured for our safe keeping.

As I write this, Lee Greenwood’s lyrics also come melodically to mind, “I am proud to be an American where at least I know I am free. And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me.” Lest we forget, young men and women are putting their lives on the line for us every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our national politicians, particularly the “loyal opposition,” need to reflect on that reality before choosing to trash the Administration’s efforts to keep terror away from our shores by finishing the job begun with almost universal bi-partisan support following the attack on the Twin Towers. While hardly unprecedented in our history, gutter sniping attacks serve the public interest poorly by deflecting the discussion from the substantial issues that deserve debate. I don’t know any thoughtful observer of the Administration who actually believes that George Bush or anyone of responsibility lied to get us into Iraq; everyone was reading the same intelligence gathered not only by our intelligence services but also those of our allies. It appears they were all sadly mistaken, yes, but a recent review I have made of the Annenberg Foundation’s fact check service leads me to conclude they did not lie.

Yet politicians, who have a strong public record of support for taking the action we did, today lead the wolf pack trying to prove the Administration’s dishonesty. Knowing this President, I am confident of his integrity as are most Americans. That integrity is a national resource; do they really want to drag him down? Beyond the seaminess of these attacks, the loyal opposition is missing the opportunity to debate the real issues. Is the war being fought competently? Are we putting as much into it as we should? We seem to have stumbled into this war, but it would also be legitimate to question what our future position should be in undertaking wars of liberation. Could the loyal opposition have no thoughts on these issues? Are they driven to sling mud by the emptiness of their policy alternatives? Do they, for instance, really want us now to pack our bags in Iraq? Afghanistan? What if we leave the fledgling democracies we have helped create to succumb to the dark forces born of the medieval world view of the Ottoman Empire? Will our effort have been in vain? Is that what we want?

In pillorying Democrats, I don’t mean to leave Republicans unscathed. After all we’re in charge here. The President has convinced most of our citizens we should be there, but as to tactics and size and application of applied resources, he needs to do a better job. He has also, nobly but unsuccessfully, led the party into major fights on Social Security, and now appears headed towards a battle on tax reform that if fought poorly will end up with the same result. To be successful as the majority party, we need to show the public we can deliver. We certainly haven’t delivered a smaller more efficient Executive Branch; we have spent like Democrats, and in the face of problems like Katrina, need to give serious attention to our position on federalism. The information age makes what happens in Louisiana as close to us as what happens on our local street corner. In the wake of all the noise on local issues receiving constant national attention, Congress is overwhelming our federal courts by federalizing local crime best handled by state and local courts. Federal paperwork and conflicting requirements are stifling the ability of the states to innovate. We both provide too much money and not enough. We are extending our federal jurisdiction through money bills with mandates attached that make the states in many instances dependent extensions of federal authority. What are we doing?

My sources tell me the Administration has good defenses for much of what is being hurled at it but has chosen a passive posture to face most of it. Well, maybe that should be rethought. There is a federal election a year away; let’s have at it in a civil but thought provoking way .The public deserves no less, and the nation will be well served by debates designed “to mend its flaws”. We need new ideas. I am told that Henry Kissinger once said that “… intellectual capital is not created during your term in office. It is only expended”. I fear ours may be near exhaustion. The “Think Tank” revolution in DC should provide the tools to see we have well thought out national policy alternatives throughout an Administration—not just at its beginning. Well, gin up those word processors and let’s see what comes forth. Let’s not engage in personal attacks. It is becoming tiresome. The times in which we live are too challenging and whatever our differences, we need to have that serious debate not a food fight. Whatever the outcome, if we pursue freedom’s responsibility with honesty and self control, I am confident we will assure that, “our flag {is} still there o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave”.

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Robert E. Freer, Jr., an attorney, former general counsel of Kimberly-Clark Corporation and sometimes federal government official is President and CEO of The Free Enterprise Foundation, a tax-exempt think tank located at The Citadel dedicated to the study of Ethics, Civic Responsibility, Leadership and Enterprise Best Practice. Mr. Freer is also a visiting professor and The John S. Grinalds Leader in Residence at The Citadel’s School of Business Administration.

Charleston Mercury November 22, 2005. Page 16.

Let Their Voices be Heard - OpEd

Let Their Voices be Heard

The history of the United States offers a map for democracy’s often slow, often emotionally explosive progress towards citizen enfranchisement consistent with the broad declarations of our Constitution. In the two hundred eighteen years since its birth, our republic has confronted slavery’s transgressions against human rights, embraced women’s suffrage, and exposed the cruel violence of Jim Crow. In addition, our democratic process has survived the impeachment of two presidents and the disputed Presidential elections of Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876 and George W. Bush in 2000. Perhaps it is because of our democracy’s history of increasing inclusiveness that citizens feel generally self-assured about the accuracy of our polling system. Yet, in our pride of accomplishment, we overlook the shabby story of how we treat those who have sacrificed most to keep us free.

In 2004, approximately 25% of overseas citizens and military personnel who tried to vote were unable to do so because they received their absentee ballots too late or not at all, and while recent complaints about naturalized citizens’ voting rights have incited the United States Department of Justice to sue the city of Boston, our soldiers in Iraq have to cope with antiquated state laws that all but make it impossible for most of them to reflect their will at the ballot box back home. Ironically, while Iraqis raise violet-stained fingers to establish legitimacy and solidarity in their burgeoning democracy, the soldiers who have fought to bring them that right stand unable to effectively vote back home. It is high time to re-evaluate the electoral process that we champion and do what is necessary to turn it into the global model that it should be. The Carter-Baker Commission on Federal Election Reform, led by former President Jimmy Carter, recently suggested voting reforms including provisions for centralized ballot processing stations, but otherwise offered rather tame modifications like making sure that absentee ballots are mailed out 45 days in advance of an election and requiring that defense officials provide postcard applications to troops during federal election years. That simply is not good enough.

Currently, there are 7,838 local election offices—this means 7,838 County Clerks, County Auditors, County Boards of Elections, County Election Supervisors, etcetera—that administer absentee voting for Federal elections. Aware of this bureaucratic labyrinth, Congress recommended that the processing of military and overseas absentee ballots be centralized for every state, but no states have implemented that recommendation. Only Alaska and the District of Columbia conduct absentee voting on a centralized basis. The military voter in the global War on Terror seldom stays in one place long enough for normal postal and certification procedures to coincide with local franchise requirements. How are the thousands of local election offices supposed to coordinate the back and forth of paper ballots with individual servicemen when the federal government can’t accurately predict whether they will be in Iraq, Afghanistan, or Fort Bragg in the months before an election? Instead of obsessing about postage and airmail, we need to move our global electoral system into the global electronic age. The military transmits classified information electronically, and every day businesses safely conduct major financial transactions electronically. If such networks are protected enough for national secrets and corporate fortunes, then there should be a way for deployed military personnel to vote by secure electronic means. The men and women of our armed services sacrifice for us everyday. 2,000 of them have now paid the ultimate price to protect us in Iraq. We must assure that each of them enjoys the fundamental right that is the basis of our democracy.

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Robert E. Freer, Jr., an attorney, former general counsel of Kimberly-Clark Corporation and sometimes federal government official is President and CEO of The Free Enterprise Foundation, a tax-exempt think tank located at The Citadel dedicated to the study of ethics, civic responsibility, leadership and enterprise best practice. Mr. Freer is also a visiting professor and The John S. Grinalds Leader in Residence at The Citadel’s School of Business Administration.

Charleston Mercury November 10, 2005. Page 16.