George Will and TV ‘War’ Series

Will demonstrates his typical method of argumentation: Attack the messenger when the message cannot be refuted. Engaging in this “George William” style may make great copy, but it avoids the heart of the matter. What a shame!

As I understand it, the point of the “War” series is that the advent of nuclear weapons has rendered war, and the warlike mentality, obsolete. Unfortunately, the thinking of most of us, including “intellectuals” such as Will, has not caught up with this reality.

The problem is not nuclear weapons, communist expansionism, Western imperialism nor any other “ism.” The problem is that human beings have refused to give up their adolescent tendencies and continue to devote our precious resources and creative energies to develop ways of killing each other.

When I read “George William” articles and hear our present Administration argue for continued military spending, I long for the leadership with vision that looks forward rather than backward. As Abraham Lincoln stated in 1862, “The dogmas of the quiet past are inadequate to the stormy present. The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves . . . . “

Humanity is at a crossroads: We can choose to continue on the road to “omnicide” or we can disenthrall ourselves from the “Rambo” mentality and work to resolve our differences without violence. The choice is ours, and now is the time to choose.

TIM LATTIMER

Fullerton