"A Pitiful, Helpless Giant"

Nixon as prophet

Last hurrah for Tricky Dick, August 9, 1974.

On April 30, 1970, President Richard Nixon addressed the American people, telling them that he had decided to invade Cambodia, and that he had to do that because the alternative would be America's losing its position as leader of the free world. Today, as we are currently in the process of actually losing our position of world leadership, I decided to go back to Nixon's speech and see if it had anything to tell us. I think the answer is yes. 

Our basic dilemma is the same now as it was then. Are we an empire or are we a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.

Here's a useful extract from the speech:

"My fellow Americans, we live in an age of anarchy, both abroad and at home. We see mindless attacks on all the great institutions which have been created by free civilizations in the last 500 years. Even here in the United States, great universities are being systematically destroyed. Small nations all over the world find themselves under attack from within and from without.

"If, when the chips are down, the world's most powerful nation, the United States of America, acts like a pitiful, helpless giant, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy will threaten free nations and free institutions throughout the world.

"It is not our power but our will and character that is being tested tonight. The question all Americans must ask and answer tonight is this: Does the richest and strongest nation in the history of the world have the character to meet a direct challenge by a group which rejects every effort to win a just peace, ignores our warning, tramples on solemn agreements, violates the neutrality of an unarmed people, and uses our prisoners as hostages?

"If we fail to meet this challenge, all other nations will be on notice that despite its overwhelming power the United States, when a real crisis comes, will be found wanting." 

And so we did it Nixon's way. After a while he lost his job, but the war went on until 1975. And we lost.

Nixon seemed particularly annoyed that large parts of the American people were not willing to toe the line. In particular he didn't like what today's fascists call "the enemy within." And he just hated "anarchy," which was one of George Wallace's favorite words. What Wallace and Nixon called anarchy, others might call democracy.

The Students Revolt

The students were a particular target for his dissatisfaction, but the unrest on campuses across the country went to a new level the day after the speech, when a nationwide student anti-war strike erupted, eventually involving an estimated four million protesters. 

Some of these protesters were at Kent State on May 4, where the national guard, in its wisdom, decided to open fire on the students, killing four and wounding nine, one of whom was permanently paralyzed. The dead were all 19 and 20 years old. The fusillade from the defenders of law and order lasted approximately 13 seconds. So, two decades to make a few college students, 13 seconds to snuff them.

Time for an Attitude Adjustment

The thing about the speech that most strikes me is Nixon's absolute certainty that the United States was destined to rule the world, and had an obligation to rise to that challenge.

Now of course, the forces of totalitarianism and anarchy have names like Donald Trump and Elon Musk, so our world is a bit different from the world of 1970. And Trump and Musk and the others have turned the United States into "a pitiful, helpless giant."

Is it possible that they have actually done us a favor? It's certainly going to take a lot of work to get past all the damage they have done, but perhaps we can stumble onto a better plan. One where the United States is centered on the welfare of its people, and answers to them, and where instead of trying to control events that have so often proved themselves to be well beyond our control, we instead approach the problems of the world with a bit of humility, and approach our fellow nations seeking genuine partnership among equals. 

Call me a dreamer.

Photo: David Hume Kennerly. 

See also Fixing the Constitution, There's Got to Be a Better Way, Giacomo Matteotti (1885-1924).