Some Americans Tell the Truth

Dwight Eisenhower Biography

Military Leader, President of the United States 1890-1969

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hope of its children…This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron.” (Speech delivered before the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Washington, D.C. April 16, 1953)

Eisenhower’s great personal popularity, epitomized by his famous wide and winning smile, won him the Republican nomination for the presidency in 1952 and swept him into office at a time when the country was mired in the Korean War. As President, he was able to keep his campaign promise to end that conflict in 1953. He served two terms and demonstrated that he preferred consensus to confrontation. His administration promoted the Atoms for Peace program and supported the extension of civil rights. Often quoted but too seldom remembered are these words from his farewell address to the nation on January 17, 1961: “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.” -- From Americans Who Tell The Truth

Does this sound like any of our recent presidents? No. Does it sound like any of our current presidential candidates? Not the ones anointed as "safe" by the main-stream media. It sounds a lot like Dennis Kucinich, who has been banned from the television "debates", and who also happens to be an American Who Tells The Truth.

Dennis Kucinich

Mr. Speaker, we make war with such certainty, yet we are befuddled how to create peace. This paradox requires reflection if we are to survive. Making and endorsing war requires a secret love of death, and a fearful desire to embrace annihilation. Creating peace requires compassion, putting ourselves in the other person's place, and all of their suffering and all of their hopes and to act from our heart's capacity to love, not fear. -- From Americans Who Tell The Truth

It would be nice if enough people could tell the truth and stand up to those who feel the only way to prosper and to maintain power is to tell lies. But too many people worry about what the odds are. Too many people worry about how many others will go along with them. Instead of deciding what is true and what is right and standing where they find themselves and telling the truth.

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Credits: the Paintings are by Robert Shetterly, the author of Americans Who Tell The Truth

The Opinions are mine.