Comments: "Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop,"
Everybody noticed his warning about the influence of the "military-industrial complex" from that speech, but this part sailed right over their heads.
AGW, anyone?
Posted by rickl at June 14, 2012 3:33 PM
Re-reading this was a tiptoe through the tulips. I had the great good fortune to work with a man who knew Eisenhower up close and personal. His public image was that of a kindly grandfather with a big, radiant smile. That was an act. He was a very tough, no-nonsense manager who could rebuke men with his steely looks and curt replies whenever he got less than well thought out planning and reasoned argument. He was a man who knew how to get big things done and to think in practical terms. Compared to many who followed him as President, he was a giant.
His warning about the military industrial complex was certainly taken to heart by the progressives who have managed to grind it down to 20% or less of its original size and influence. As rickl mentioned they paid less attention to his warning about governmment grants to laboratories to pursue
His remarks about the Cold War could very well apply to the new War with Islamism. "We face a hostile ideology global in scope, atheistic in character, ruthless in purpose, and insidious in method. Unhappily the danger it poses promises to be of indefinite duration. To meet it successfully, there is called for, not so much the emotional and transitory sacrifices of crisis, but rather those which enable us to carry forward steadily, surely, and without complaint the burdens of a prolonged and complex struggle – with liberty the stake. Only thus shall we remain, despite every provocation, on our charted course toward permanent peace and human betterment."
I particularly liked his warning about maintaining balance in our affairs. Doing only those things we could afford and that made sense in relation progress and freedom. As he said, "Good judgment seeks balance and progress; lack of it eventually finds imbalance and frustration." Which is what we have found with the War on Poverty, the War on Drugs, the war on 32 oz sodas, and the fight to save Gaia from CO2.
Posted by Jimmy J. at June 14, 2012 8:21 PM