History Matters (4/22/02)
by Dean Hartwell
Recently, my wife,
Lori, and I had dinner with a friend and the conversation turned toward the
controversial 2000 Presidential Election. Lori and I lamented the fact that the
election no longer makes the news anymore.
But, our friend said that it was "old news." We agreed that most
people probably see it that way, but wondered why.
In other words, when does an event no longer matter?
To the Bush Administration, the sooner people forget how he used the federal
courts to subvert a lawful recount, the better. To the Democrats, the time to
forget the way the last election ended is never.
But what about us, the people?
Wednesday, April 24th marks the eighty-seventh anniversary of the Armenian
Genocide. In cities with high Armenian populations, there will be speeches
about the horror the Turks inflicted upon their people at the beginning of the
last century.
Though this issue is dear to many Armenians, its effects linger on to this day.
Henry Morgenthau, then-U.S. Ambassador to Turkey, asked the Turkish leaders why
they killed Armenians. They replied that since the killings went on within
Turkey, it was not the business of the rest of the world.
Funny how history repeats itself. When the Chinese government ran tanks over
thousands of students who demonstrated for democracy, their leaders said the
exact same thing. So did Saddam Hussein when confronted about using chemical
weapons against his own people. Serbian dictator
Slobodan Milosevic still does not believe his policy of "ethnic
cleansing" should concern the rest of the world.
The list goes on. Even though these events took place out of our sight, we
won't forget them. Leaders who believe themselves to be superior than others
within their weapons' reach are firmly planted into our view of the world.
So, too, with our friend's point about how many people have put the last
election behind them. Now we know that the Supreme Court is willing to decide a
presidential election. It may be out of our sight, but whether we like it or
not, it will never escape our minds.