McCain on Service: The 'Great Cause'
By Tom Shoop | Monday, April 07, 2008 | 12:07 PM
By Tom Shoop | Monday, April 07, 2008 | 12:07 PM
Before it fades into the mists of time, I wanted to take note of John McCain's speech last week at the Naval Academy. Here's what he had to say on the subject of government, public service and citizenship:
I'm a conservative, and I believe it is a very healthy thing for Americans to be skeptical about the purposes and practices of public officials. We shouldn't expect too much from government -- nor should it expect too much from us. Self-reliance -- not foisting our responsibilities off on others -- is the ethic that made America great.But when healthy skepticism sours into corrosive cynicism, our expectations of our government become reduced to the delivery of services. And to some people the expectations of liberty are reduced to the right to choose among competing brands of designer coffee.
What is lost is, in a word, citizenship. For too many Americans, the idea of good citizenship does not extend beyond walking into a voting booth every two or four years and pulling a lever. And too few Americans demand of themselves even that first obligation of self-government.
But citizenship properly understood is what Ronald Reagan was talking about when he said that Americans "are a nation that has a government -- not the other way around." Citizenship is not just the imposition of the mundane duties of democracy. Nor is it the unqualified entitlement to the protections and services of the state.
Citizenship thrives in the communal spaces where government is absent. Anywhere Americans come together to govern their lives and their communities -- in families, churches, synagogues, museums, symphonies, the Little League, the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the Salvation Army or the VFW -- they are exercising their citizenship.
Citizenship is defined by countless acts of love, kindness and courage that have no witness or heraldry and are especially commendable because they are unrecorded.
Although it exists apart from government, citizenship is the habits and institutions that preserve democracy. It is the ways, small and large, we come together to govern ourselves. Citizenship is the responsible exercise of freedom, and is indispensable to the proper functioning of a democracy. ...
Love of country, my friends, is another way of saying love of your fellow countrymen -- a truth I learned a long time ago in a country very different from ours.
That is the good cause that summons every American to service. If you find faults with our country, make it a better one. If you are disappointed with the mistakes of government, join its ranks and work to correct them. I hope more Americans would consider enlisting in our Armed Forces. I hope more would consider running for public office or working in federal, state and local governments. But there are many public causes where your service can make our country a stronger, better one than we inherited. Wherever there is a hungry child, a great cause exists. Where there is an illiterate adult, a great cause exists. Wherever there are people who are denied the basic rights of Man, a great cause exists. Wherever there is suffering, a great cause exists.
Comments
I can't believe that someone would be so superficial and shallow that they would post something so bizarre and "out there" as Mr. Rick below (I especially like the homophobic term "butt buffoon" - nice touch). Maybe that's my downfall - I'm naieve because I believe people are smarter than they actually are. I guess it is true that the average American voter is dumb as a fencepost and shallow as a sauce pan.
JT | Thursday, April 10, 2008 | 07:45 AMWhat a great speech...Yeah the Dems have it all together, why, look at you're faithful collection of great whiny butt buffoons...Nancy, were're going to change the world and be better for it...do nothing but sit on the side and whine...Harry, we've lost lets go home and hide under my bed. Hillary...I was for it before I was agin it...Oh wait... sniper fire. Or Barack....He's my preacher, a man of learning who's teaching me the path of the rightous. Yeah you're right it's the vast right wing conspiracy thats causing the Dems to be what they are....Boo Hooooooo
It's a shame that the understanding of the greatness of this country resides in those that have a vision that elivates it's citizenry rather than enslaves them. Free this and Free that....wait, why should I work and attempt to better myself when the Dems will give me everything....
We are the government.
We are the voice for the oppressed in the world.
We are Americans.
Government does work for us if we have the where with all to stand up and challenege the administration and the congress.
We elect them to serve with dignity and intelligence.
We as a people no longer care about local politics and don't go to local town hall meetings.
We do however complain when government infringes on our liberty and our pursuit of happiness.
We still follow what congress is spending our monies on, we leave it up to the media to report on this. Except the medic has it's own agenda.
We now have computers in almost every home and they are accessible in libraries everywhere.
We need to take the time to review what our congress is voting on and how our on representatives view the question.
If we disagree e-mail, call and or write a letter either pro or con.
Let them know we are not asleep or worse apathetic to our own plight.
Poor Teflon John, another speech delivered without the slightest connection to reality. He does not believe those words. That stuff was written by astute speech writers who read polls that confirm that although people love to bash civil servants, they want the services provided. What we deliver is highly regarded in spite of the constant belittlement by right wingnuts.
Look at his recent speech to the VFW praising the progress of Bush's war..while he was talking it up as a success, more American youth were dying. Who said it that old soldiers never die, young ones do?
He was blathering on about citizenship, love of country and fellow countrymen: how about showing that love by not supporting endless war!
Dream on Joe. The democrats are the party that think about their choices, rather than blindly follow any one person without question. They are patriots and citizens of the grandest kind. We believe in expecting the best out of our government that we pay for while actively participating in our personal and community lives and are also more inclined than republicans, including John McCain, of seeing the needs of people who are hurting and have no way on their own to meet those needs without help. But, trust me, the dems will come together in a mighty way when they resolve the current dilema of having to choose between two great candidates. The republicans, on the other hand, have had 7 years to show their effectiveness to govern and ability to serve all of the citizens and they squandered it and robbed from the masses to make sure the wealthiest got wealthier and the poor just increased in numbers while the middle class became slaves to the corporate robberbarons. Too bad, so sad. It will be a long while before the republicans win anything.
disgusted in PA | Tuesday, April 08, 2008 | 07:54 AMGreat - another presidential candidate that thinks the Government shouldn't do much for the people. Then what should the Government do - plan the next war?
JT | Tuesday, April 08, 2008 | 07:49 AMAnd while he gave this speech, the Democrats continued to sling mud at each other and squabble over Florda. The Republicans have pretty much already won.
Joe | Monday, April 07, 2008 | 01:55 PMABOUT THIS BLOG
Government Executive Editor Tom Shoop takes a look at news and events affecting the federal bureaucracy, from the perspective of a longtime observer of government.
feedARCHIVES
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
CATEGORIES
- Comings and Goings
- Congress
- Defense
- Factoid of the Day
- Fedblog
- General News
- Government Operations
- Headline of the Day
- Homeland Security
- Intelligence
- Management
- Oversight
- Pay and Benefits
- Photo of the Day
- Political Appointees
- Press Release of the Day
- Procurement
- Quote of the Day
- The White House
- The Workforce
- The Workplace