on this day in history...

mainstream media today is focused almost entirely on the death of mlk, and that is understandable, it is a major 40-year milestone and the event played an integral part in the country dealing with it's internal issues and shortcomings.

but in the even greater scale of things, yesterday was a 60-year milestone of the beginning of a commitment of effort and resources that likely changed the course of the world, or even saved it...and us...from that which might have made the life and deeds of dr. king and all of us either moot or nonexistent.

the marshall plan invested in and saved most of europe from the communism and tyranny that metasticized and ultimately consumed that portion of the world which joined the soviet union's cancerous spread either voluntarily or by coercion.

without that investment in the interests of freedom and capitalism and self-interest, would the empire have successfully absorbed all of the continent and beyond...even beyond the seas? there is no way to know, but what is sure is that the quality of life and prosperity of that downtrodden section of the world was seeded and made possible by the effort, and quite likely ensured our own destiny as an imperfect but free people.

can it be that the crushing sacrifice being made in the arab world now is analagous to europe of the late 1940's? can it be that the effort to save peoples and nations from absorption into an empire of hate and ambition that would make the evil ambitions and intents of lenin, et al seem innocuous by comparison, is truly an exercise in self preservation, and therefore very much in line with the views of isolationists and conservatives that would confine military intervention to cases of direct threat to our nation and our selves?

one thing is sure: deciding if, when, where, and how to commit our children and treasure in the defense of our safety, freedom, and very existence will be the defining mission of government in the next ten years, and if the experience to make the right decisions is not in place, all of the domestic concerns and calls for hope and change will be of no need or consequence. jtc