Category: Commentaries

Ed Hudgins, TOC Washington Director, writes in his latest Report from the Front on the first U.S. President’s political and moral legacy:

Washington?s achievements reflected his outstanding moral character. He set for himself the highest standards in everything he did and thus became exemplar for his associates and his fellow countrymen. Indeed, when he presided over the Constitutional Convention, he spoke little. It was his example — the fact that the other delegates were in the presence of Washington — that kept those delegates on their best behavior and inspired them to look to the good of the country.
But Washington was not some ever-frowning moralist; he enjoyed life, whether at a dance or dinner party or just riding through his beloved Mt. Vernon estate.

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ARI op-ed columnist John Ridpath has written a moving tribute to the first of American presidents, titled “America Needs a Leader Like George Washington.”

On Presidents’ Day, Americans have an opportunity to reflect on its Presidents?past and present?and particularly on those who have been great leaders. History is replete with examples of charismatic power-lusting “leaders” directing mindless and obedient legions on campaigns of suppression and destruction. But America’s great leaders have been different.
America has often been blessed, in times of crisis, with principled, moral leaders, directing this nation against history’s tyrants and in pursuit of freedom and the rights of man.
Now, once again facing a crisis, America searches for great leadership. Awash in a morass of moral compromise, poll-taking, and hesitation to offend world opinion, Americans desperately seize on any hint of strength, of moral certainty, of a refusal to swim with others in the swamp of compromise, empty rhetoric and threats that now passes for “leadership” in Washington, D.C.
Where can Americans turn, to witness the spectacle of great leadership?
On Presidents’ Day, this country should look, for inspiration and conviction, to America’s greatest leader, George Washington.
Washington, in company with the other Founding Fathers of America, was a son of the 18th century Enlightenment. His vision of America was one of responsible, independent, free, and hard-working citizens, prospering in a system of political and economic freedom. He believed that America would become a beacon of liberty and justice to men everywhere.

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ARI op-ed columnist Gary Hull has written an editorial exploring the nature of love from an Objectivist viewpoint. From his column:

The nature of love places certain demands on those who wish to enjoy it. You must regard yourself as worthy of being loved. Those who expect to be loved, not because they offer some positive value, but because they don’t ? i.e., those who demand love as altruistic duty ? are parasites. Someone who says “Love me just because I need it” seeks an unearned spiritual value ? in the same way that a thief seeks unearned wealth. To quote a famous line from The Fountainhead: “To say ‘I love you,’ one must know first how to say the ‘I.'”
Valentine’s Day ? with its colorful cards, mouth-watering chocolates and silky lingerie ? gives material form to this spiritual value. It is a moment for you to pause, to ignore the trivialities of life ? and to celebrate the selfish pleasure of being worthy of someone’s love and of having found someone worthy of yours.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Bob Garmong has written a moving tribute to last year’s Columbia disaster for the ARI MediaLink:

The space program is the condensed essence of this American soul. While most cultures through history have gazed with uncomprehending awe at the vast mysteries of space, NASA brings one mystery after another into the realm of human understanding. While others see only an impossibly long list of insurmountable problems, NASA solves them, one by one. While others dwell in humility at man’s smallness in the face of the universe, NASA proudly extends our command of that universe. While others see heavens filled with jealous gods, NASA sees a source of solutions to earthly problems.
What was lost over the southwestern skies a year ago was more than a single vehicle and its crew, more than a handful of scientific experiments. It was the grandest visible expression of the best within us: the intensely purposeful, heroically disciplined application of the rational mind in the service of man’s life.
To appreciate the deepest meaning of the space program, one need not support any particular approach to space exploration?such as the choice of manned versus unmanned flights, nor even the existence of NASA itself: one can argue, as I do, that space exploration should be run by private companies. But the memory of the fallen astronauts requires of us to remember, and revere, the spirit of Columbia, which is the essence of human greatness.

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