Last night I watched CNN and FoxNews for a while.  Both shows had panelists discussing the recent incident with the Nigerian terrorist on the Northwest/Delta flight to Detroit from Amsterdam.  Panelists discussed the fact that the terrorist’s father reported his concerns about his son’s radical activities to officials from Yemen, the U.S. embassy in Abuja, and the Central Intelligence Agency and yet, he did not land on a “do not fly” list.  I did not watch either of the shows to the end, primarily because the participants became engaged in partisan bickering that destroyed the sensibility of listening to both sides of the debate.  The failure of the intelligence agencies to engage in coordinated reporting for this incident led to the heated, partisan discussion.  Naturally, the discussion disintegrated when Republican participants stated that government workers are not disposed to working processes to perfection and that the same can be expected of the administration’s initiatives in healthcare and the cap and trade bill.  Panelists representing the administration and/or the Democrats resorted to blaming George Bush for the failure of the Department of Homeland Security and the moderators seemed to relish in the chaos rather than trying to rein in the discussion.

I was never a student of public policy, but because of its impact to my employer and myself, I have to be more than a bystander.  From my observations, it appears that healing and conciliation are no more than campaign promises from politicians on both sides of the aisle.  The breakdown appears to be more severe on a national level than a state and local government level, but that might be caused by the fact that state and local governments are required to balance their fiscal budgets and the federal government is the only entity allowed to print money to pay its bills.

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The 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall was a week ago on November 9.  I remember it well.  CNN was still in its infancy and yet its coverage of the emotion of the crowd was worth watching long into the night.

Precedents for the fall of the wall were the discussions between the West and Mikhail Gorbachev.  Because of those discussions, President Reagan made one of the most famous speeches of the time at the Brandenburg Gate on June 12, 1987.   The most famous line of President Reagan’s speech was:  “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”

I grew up during the Cold War.  In the 1960’s and 1970’s, all public schools held Air Raid drills.  We were taught where the fallout shelters were.  Our enemies were the Russians and Chinese.  As an undergraduate at Duke University, I was fascinated with American diplomacy and followed the policy of containment favored by George Kennan and the policy of arms superiority favored by Paul Nitze.  In the end, Kennan’s policy worked because of Nitze’s interpretation that the Soviets would only respect strength.

Twenty years after the fall of the wall, there’s now a generation of Americans who were born after the end of the Cold War.  Unfortunately, the world is not at peace.  The same technologies that have “flattened” the world (according to author Tom Friedman) have also provided terror groups with access to like-minded members around the world.  Fighting these groups will require a sophisticated alignment between domestic and international intelligence agencies as well as state and local law enforcement departments.  While this is not my area of expertise, I sense that this effort will require unprecedented cooperation and that some of the cooperation will be encumbered with political roadblocks.  Academic institutions can do our part by providing relevant courses and programs ranging from National Security and Diplomacy to Strategic Intelligence and Homeland Security.  I hope the era of terrorism falls sooner than it took for the wall to fall.

Charles Town, West Virginia, APUS’ headquarters, is replete with history.  As a history buff, I have found the history of this town fascinating.  For those of you who don’t know, Charles Town and Jefferson and Berkley County were part of the state of Virginia until 1863 when President Lincoln transferred them to West Virginia.  Some of the descendants of residents from the 1800’s still consider themselves Virginians.  During the War Between the States, the area was vital to both sides and the occupancy of the town changed hands numerous times.  Currently, the area is recognizing the 150th anniversary of John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry and his trial in Charles Town, Virginia.  Because these sesquicentennial events are occurring throughout 2009 and 2010, I thought I would provide a brief summary of John Brown, his life’s dedication to the abolition of slavery, the raid, and the trial. 

John Brown was an American abolitionist born in Connecticut.  After an unsuccessful attempt at becoming a Congregationalist minister, Brown married Dianthe Lusk and moved to New Richmond, Pennsylvania where he opened a tannery, a venture that became quite successful for the family.  In 1832, following complications from the birth of Brown’s seventh child, his wife, Dianthe, died.  Soon after, however, Brown married sixteen-year-old Mary Ann Day with whom he had an additional 13 children. 

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Tomorrow is the Fourth of July, the date on which Americans celebrate our nation’s independence.  Robert F. Kennedy once said, “It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope.”  The American revolutionaries certainly serve as support for this statement.  Without our forefathers’ courage to stand up for their own ideals, America as we know and enjoy it today might  not exist.  Our country’s all-volunteer armed forces protect and defend those same principles today and we salute their patriotism, professionalism, and commitment to serving our country.  Often, we lose track  that America’s precedence in its fight for independence and democracy  has served as encouragement for others around the world to  stand up for their ideals and force change even in the face of overwhelming odds and sacrifice.

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This Sunday, June 14, is Flag Day.  On June 14, 1777 Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes as the flag of the United States of America.  For more than 100 years after that date, however, there was no official holiday to commemorate the flag and its significance. 

Bernard J. Cigrand, a young teacher working at the Stoney Hill School near Fredonia, Wisconsin, began the process that eventually led to the recognition of June 14 as Flag Day.  In 1885, on the anniversary of the adoption of the flag, Cigrand placed a small (ten inches) flag with 38 stars in an inkwell on his desk and then assigned his students to write an essay explaining what the flag meant to them.  Upon the completion of the assignment, however, Cigrand continued to advocate for the adoption of a holiday to observe the significance of the flag. 

Others mimicked Cigrand’s sentiment in the late 1800s, perhaps as a means of assisting in the Americanization of the country’s immigrant children.  In 1889, for example, George Balch, a kindergarten teacher in New York City planned activities for his students to recognize the flag on June 14.  Soon after, the State Board of Education of New York adopted Flag Day as a holiday to be observed by all public schools in the state.  Two years later, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia held a Flag Day celebration and the following year the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution officially observed Flag Day.  In 1893, Dr. Edward Brooks, then Superintendent of Public Schools of Philadelphia endorsed a resolution that would allow school children in that city to celebrate Flag Day.

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Last year on Memorial Day, I posted an article providing some information on the history and significance of this holiday.  This year, I wanted to take an opportunity to recognize and honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.  Though the statement, “Freedom is not free” is a bit of a cliché, it certainly contains much truth. 

This Memorial Day, I encourage you to take a moment to consider the sacrifices that have been made in the name of America’s freedom.  Since our nation’s inception, the men and women of our armed forces have been willing to lay down their lives so that we as individual citizens can continue to enjoy the many freedoms that are such a hallmark of American life.  Our nation is facing challenges that may seem unprecedented and overwhelming at times.  Despite the challenges, the freedoms enjoyed by every American citizen are steadfast and unwavering thanks to the valiant sacrifices of our nation’s military, past and present.

Take a moment today to pause and reflect on our freedoms.  And thank those who made the ultimate sacrifice.