This American Moment
This American Moment is Susan Eisenhower's blog written exclusively for SusanEisenhower.com.
A This American Moment Classic
Blackout!!
by Susan Eisenhower
August 22, 2003
Some of memories’ most vivid stamps are those pressed by personal experience in times of big moment—occasions when one feels a part of history in some distant but intimate way. I still keep a newspaper I picked up on a trash strewn New York street last Friday. It is a reminder that in twenty hours I learned some things about others, as well as myself. “Black Out!” reads the headline from New York Sun, a new free tabloid circulated on the street corners of the Big Apple. The front page depicts a serene New York completely without light, the setting sun dipping behind the famous skyline. By the time I laid hands on a copy we were sixteen hours into the crisis and were only just beginning to understand fully what happened to us. Stores were closed, water was in relatively short supply and progressively fewer and fewer cabs had enough gas to ferry passengers around town. New York, usually the center of most major things, was only beginning to fathom that it had been home to only a percentage of the victims of the largest blackout in history.
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This American Moment by Susan Eisenhower
The Demons in Our Midst:
Political Fear Mongering and the Coming Election
By Susan Eisenhower
Washington D.C.—It gets dark earlier these late October days, and signs of the season are everywhere. In my neighborhood, inflatable Halloween witches and ghosts can be found dotting the yards as if lying in wait for little ghouls and goblins who will soon demand a “trick or treat.” Children, we know, love to be frightened, which makes October 31st one of their favorite and most anticipated holiday events.
As if taking this cue, at least one of the presidential campaigns and their supporters have gotten into the spirit of things. Dark forebodings about “the real” Barack Obama hover over the conservative blogosphere and airwaves like a thick brooding fog–and the McCain campaign itself has engaged in incendiary “robo” calls and misleading brochures. If you were to believe even half of what these outlets say you’d think a ravenous hound is about to emerge and rip still-beating hearts from the chests of Innocents. Their characterization of Barack Obama as a “closet terrorist,” a pedophile sympathizer and a would-be Marxist might inspire sheer amusement if the power of this primitive emotion called “fear” weren’t so powerful, and so deeply imbedded in our psyches from childhood.
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The Consequences of No Consequences
Susan Eisenhower’s newest article originally appeared as “No Consequences Government” at The National Interest:
The Consequences of No Consequences
by Susan Eisenhower
The nation held its collective breath these last weeks as the country waited to see if Congress would finally act on the emergency measures to “rescue” our economy, and what the impact would be. While it was understandable that ordinary Americans were skeptical of what the media termed initially a “bailout,” the majority of their representatives took this one step further. They refused to vote for legislation deemed, by their own party leaderships, critical for avoiding a global financial meltdown.
The reasons for this revolt have been analyzed extensively in the last week, and I am in agreement that ideology, poor communication and the complexity of the issues played a role. However, an erosion of trust—within the system and between the American people and their government—has become evident. Years of zero-sum partisan politics has taken its toll and for one spellbinding week, one could see this in all its transparent horror. “The [no] vote is a reflection of a lack of political capital, not financial capital,” New York University professor Mitchell Moss told the Washington Post on September 30. This week the market brought the problems we are facing into even sharper relief.
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This American Moment by Susan Eisenhower
The Fierce Urgency of Reflection
By Susan Eisenhower
Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. — The rolling hills and orchards of Southern Pennsylvania are especially lush this year. Farmers’ road-side stands burst with some of the late summer’s most succulent picks. The still, heavy air and the rattle of cicadas and occasional bees add a sense of timeless tranquility. At night there is a fresh sharp snap of cooler air, hinting at the change of season still to come.
Amid the neat stone farmhouses and open fields of soy beans and corn, one must remind oneself that the Battle of Gettysburg was one of the bloodiest and most significant battles of the Civil War. It was the turning point of a conflict that split our nation in two. Lee, Meade, and Pickett left their historical mark on this land. And just less than one hundred years later, Eisenhower chose this place as his home and brought many visitors to his farm, including Khrushchev, de Gaulle, Nehru and Montgomery.
I grew up here. It is where I go for reflection.
Engaging one’s deepest self does not come easily these days. Tethered to cell phones and Blackberries, we lurch from one demand to another with scarcely a moment to think. Our impulses are reactive, not considered. They are short-term, rather than based on strategic goals or on building the future. This era of immediate gratification, as well as the twenty-four hour news cycle and the quarterly earnings report, have prompted us to keep our heads down with barely a glance at the horizon. We have become a nation of tacticians, with few strategists worthy of the name. The consequences of this are captured in the old adage: “If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there.” Given our national historical ignorance– and our refusal to look ahead– we risk becoming a nation of lost Hansel and Gretels with no clear way back after embarking on our dangerous, yet directionless journey.
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