Why won鈥檛 there be a country?
The call for Americans to come forward and unselfishly mobilize in the interest of the common good was the hallmark of John F. Kennedy鈥檚 new presidency in 1961.
鈥淎sk not, what this country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,鈥� was a simple request for Americans to look beyond themselves in an ever-complicated world.
Thus came the Peace Corps, which was founded just 40 days after Kennedy鈥檚 inaugural address.
So far, 240,000 Americans have served in the Peace Corps. They鈥檝e taken their efforts to 142 countries.
Kennedy had inspired young Americans for decades with his call to service.
Not every president could be so inspirational.
I can think of one president, off the top of my head, who apparently thinks about getting placed on a pedestal 鈥� before the common good gets done.
鈥淒on鈥檛 ask what you might do for your country,鈥� he might say. 鈥淎sk what you can do for me.鈥�
Our most recently non-reelected president, Donald J. Trump, would rather cling to the misguided fairy tale of his spectacular non-reelection than inspire anybody to do anything, except bow in his presence.
Most former presidents avoid such unseemliness. Not our most recent one, though.
He runs from rally to rally, telling his audiences, 鈥淚f we don鈥檛 fight like hell, there won鈥檛 be an America anymore.鈥�
Those words, by the way, were used at that Jan. 6 rally that served as the prelude to Mr. Trump鈥檚 very own insurrection.
He鈥檚 used words similar to those ever since.
He likes to imply how, if things don鈥檛 go the way he wants them to go, America will go straight to hell in a hand basket.
鈥淲ithout borders,鈥� he鈥檒l tell his convulsing rally-goers, 鈥淲e don鈥檛 have a country.鈥�
Oh, yes we will.
If this country could survive a Civil War, a Great Depression, a couple of World Wars, and, an attempt to toss out a free and fair presidential election, I鈥檇 say this is a pretty durable country.
Countries don鈥檛 generally vaporize based on the aspirations of a childish, belligerent, would-be tyrant.
In April of last year, Trump decided he鈥檇 endorse Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks, in his run for the U.S. Senate.
Rep. Brooks had been a strong Trump supporter.
In fact, during the prelude to that Jan. 6 insurrection, it was Brooks who famously said, 鈥淭oday is the day American patriots start taking down names and kicking ass.鈥�
All of that 鈥渒icking鈥� didn鈥檛 seem to help Brooks stay in Mr. Trump鈥檚 good graces.
Brooks hadn鈥檛 been able to convince enough people that Joe Biden had stolen the 2020 presidential election from Trump.
(I don鈥檛 know what scale of allegiance Brooks failed to live up to in this regard. All I know is that it didn鈥檛 quite meet Mr. Trump鈥檚 expectations.)
In March of this year, Trump claimed, 鈥淚 am hereby withdrawing my endorsement of Mo Brooks for the Senate.鈥� Then he got more specific. 鈥淓lection fraud must be captured and stopped, or (and here he goes) we won鈥檛 have a country anymore,鈥� said Trump.
I still don鈥檛 know why it鈥檚 such a great political strategy to claim that if people don鈥檛 follow your dictates, the country will disintegrate.
For some reason, Republicans are way better at doomsday rhetoric than Democrats.
With the upcoming mid-term elections ahead, you can expect to see nonstop Republican TV ads warning us: about the rampant socialism, induced by Democrats, that they鈥檙e preventing; the unimpeded lawlessness (but only in cities controlled by Democrats); that migrants from all over the southern hemisphere are about to take everybody鈥檚 jobs unless Republicans are elected or reelected; that Democrats are preparing to force-feed the supposed scourge of Critical Race Theory to the nation鈥檚 preschoolers if Republicans don鈥檛 prevail; and, of course, there鈥檚 a plan by Democrats to confiscate every single weapon in America 鈥� except peashooters.
America is destined to unravel. And the only hope is a Republican-controlled everything, they鈥檒l say.
That鈥檚 not true.
Want proof of that?
The United States of America survived Donald Trump!
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 40-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.