By Matt Rooney
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John F. Kennedy demanded that science bend to mankind’s aspirations.
He said “we CHOOSE to go to the Moon,” Save Jerseyans. Not when it’s safe. No when the experts say it’s safe. Not when the curve of risk is flattened. We’re going in ten years or less because it was the dream and destiny of the American people.
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While JFK’s Moon speech is arguably his greatest legacy, few remember (or ever knew) that it wasn’t a universally popular idea. Some said it was unrealistic. Others complained about the cost, the practicality, and the general value of a quest to land Americans on the Moon’s surface. The President didn’t care. He recognized not just the geopolitical importance of the endeavor but also the scientific AND spiritual value to an America that was grappling with the uncertainties of the Cold War and building unrest on the home front.
Of course, this episode is also one of many reasons why JFK would feel completely lost in the contemporary Democrat Party.
Today’s Democrat politicians (and plenty of GOP ones, too, if we’re being honest which we must) lack vision. They’re not bold. They think small. They’re taking the opposite approach to JFK with this virus. Today’s motto: “Wear a mask and hide until they tell us it’s safe, and even then get ready for a new normal.”
We’re not choosing anything. We’re being told to comply.
Donald Trump and Phil Murphy aren’t demanding that scientists get their asses in gear and innovate ways to return to normal. Our elected leadership expects us to accept the indefinite – or permanent in the case of Murphy and Fauci – contraction of our God-given liberties to accomodate a virus with a death rate as low as 0.3%… or even lower? We may never know because the medical community still doesn’t have a reliable idea of how many are infected.
Sorry… no. It’s unacceptable.
We, the people of the United States, choose to resume our lives.
We need to demand it.
Specifically, we need to demand more of our politicians and their advisors including the secularly-canonized white coats. The nation sets the goal, not the experts. That’s how it’s always been. That’s how it always should be. A free people can’t cede its authority to actualize its aspirations and expect to remain free. Our way of life is at stake and so we need to hold leaders accountable who refuse to think big.
Remember: the American way of life and our American dreams are worth fighting for “not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.” I couldn’t have said it better myself.
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Save Jersey’s Founder and Blogger-in-Chief, MATT ROONEY is a nationally-noted and respected New Jersey political commentator. When he’s not on-line, radio or television advocating for conservative reform and challenging N.J. power-brokers, Matt is a practicing attorney at the law firm of DeMichele & DeMichele in Haddon Heights (Camden County).
