Tom Brokaw authored The Greatest Generation, an excellent book memorializing the best qualities of the vast majority of Americans during, and in the aftermath of, WWII.

I was born into that generation, not as a participant, but as a child who bore witness to the power of the people, who, when challenged, rose together to save the nation from German armies to the east that threatened our allies and Japanese armies to the west that attacked us. My parents, aunts and uncles all contributed to the war effort and I never heard them begrudge the inconveniences thrust upon them, even after the Great Depression had sapped their meager finances.

• Gasoline was rationed
• Meat and cheese were rationed
• Travel was restricted
• Educations were interrupted to fill the armed services
• Auto manufacturers stopped making cars in order to build military trucks and tanks
• Women filled many manufacturing jobs (Remember, Rosie the Riveter?)
• Airplanes were conscripted to transport troops instead of vacationers
• Electricity was conserved through programmed black-outs.

The nation’s common purpose defeated those foreign enemies. Having survived the forties and its war ravages, the country entered the 1950s to face a Cold War with Russia and the challenge of building bomb shelters. Thanks to a strong President Reagan, that threat was diminished. Through it all, the nation continued to coalesce around the flag to defeat foreign entities that threatened our way of life and challenged our common purpose.  Now we feature flag denigration at sports stadiums and on the front page of liberal newspapers.

America is a nation of shared values and recognized laws that have long served to make it the most revered nation in the world – and the most sought after refuge for immigrants fleeing persecution elsewhere.

With the presumed wisdom of age and the luxury of retirement that enables reflection, I now recognize the value of common purpose in opposing the current threats to America’s existence.

Sadly, common purpose has become an apparition, no longer supported by a younger, integrated population that is inured to, and ungrateful for, the sacrifices made by our forebears. But America still faces numerous threats, some palpable; others, minor reflections of the perceived rights of privileged groups sheltered by the conventions they resist.

The business world taught me that problem solving involves establishing priorities and crafting a detailed plan with defined objectives and timelines. The country must once again re-align its priorities while making the populace aware and supportive. I believe President Trump understands that responsibility.

George W. Bush, a failed president, rarely spoke or wrote clearly; but he had one memorable moment after 9/11 – when he declared war on the “evil-doers of the world”. He knew a problem when it smacked him in the face – but he didn’t know how to fix it – and we may never recover from his mistakes in the Muslim world.

Threat Levels and Evil Doers:

• Radical Islam and the leader of North Korea are today’s evil-doers and imminent dangers. They must be eliminated or made irrelevant. I sleep better knowing President Trump, and his military leaders, have the enemy in sight – and the courage to stop them. (You’ve got to love a Defense Secretary nick-named `Mad Dog’.)
• Next on the threat list are the nation’s education and health care institutions; both out of control and neither governed by common purpose. The health care industry is distorted by greed, indifferent to patient outcomes and enabled by governmental ineptitude. (Affordable Care Act: a joke). The education industry is hobbled by incompetence and self preservation enabled by unions. Both are in thrall of the “too-big-to-fail” banks that continue to ride rough-shod across the economy. Banks will be the topic of a subsequent blog: stay tuned.
• Date rape, transgender bathrooms, same-sex marriage, birth control, creating safe spaces on college campuses and women in the military front-guard are low level issues, not problems that demand governmental intervention. They are societal issues that society will either accept or reject over time. In any event they are issues for the Supreme Court, not the Presidency. Sorry, New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC and CNN: Time to look elsewhere to recover your dwindling number of subscribers.

With luck, I will soon enter my eighth decade with a smile, believing that we finally have a strong president who will persevere over the forces of evil-doers and weeping nay-sayers who will never find peace in a competitive world with a common purpose.

Meanwhile, I suggest Brokaw’s book be required reading in every Civics class. Ooops, they no longer exist either. So, there you go.

You are welcome.

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