I also have concerns about keeping the hope of a bright future alive in a time when the press and many of our politicians seem embarrased to be Americans. Still, I believe that we will find our way, as we always have. I can't say that I know how, or who will lead, but, I guess I still like our chances.

I read a quote to the boys, when we were studying for their Citizenship in the Nation merit badge. (That was part of this whole hike into the "primitive area" idea last weekend). It was the end of a major address back in 1974, a time when many American's were not feeling very good about our country or it's institutions, much like today. The situations weren't exactly the same, but, they rhyme. (I took the quote from one of Bill Bennett's books on American History.)
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We are not a sick society. A sick society could not produce the men that set foot on the moon, or who are now circling the Earth above us in the Skylab. A sick society bereft of morality and courage did not produce the men who went through those years of torture and captivity in Vietnam. Where did we find such men? They are typical of this land as the Founding Fathers were typical. We found them in out streets, in the offices, the shops and the working places of our country and on the farms.

We cannot escape out destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, "The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind."

We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on Earth.
Ronald Reagan 1974