Editor, Times-Union: America was greatest when it was a can-do nation. The Supreme Court building was built during the 1890s for less than budgeted. The Empire State Building took around a year to build. It took less than a decade to go from sending a chimp into space to landing men on the moon. We won the first Gulf War in a matter of days despite Sen. Ted Kennedy’s belief we’d need over 50,000 body bags. Today we seem to be a can’t-do nation. You can’t do many things if the government says you can’t do them. Politicians say you can’t do certain things without their help. We are expected to believe lies because they are more acceptable than the truth. You can’t speak your mind on college campuses if your thoughts are considered unacceptable or dangerous. I can’t go to Harvard and use a loud speaker to say the only way to go to Heaven is through faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior and expect to remain on campus. I can’t go to a mosque and tell Muslims Islam, that is followed by ISIS, honors Satan and Islamic terrorists are going to hell and expect the people to agree with me. I can tell a person who supports abortion that they support the death penalty for innocent lives in the womb and that most abortions are performed on selfish people who think having sex shouldn’t have consequences like children. But that doesn’t mean they will agree with me. We need this nation to once again be a can-do nation. I believe cancer, AIDS and many physical ailments are treatable. But as long as the medical community is raking in billions and convincing most people what I believe is possible is impossible, medical research will continue crawling when it should be running. We can modify the weather, lower sea levels and a hotter climate with underground reservoirs and the Sahara Reservoir, and some day travel to the stars. Applied capitalism might let loose the genius of multitudes of Americans and make the citizens and government economic partners for success instead of adversaries. But as long as most think this is a can’t-do nation, we’ll keep following those that offer empty promises or raise our hopes before letting reality dash them. We limit ourselves or let others limit us. Think of this nation like a car. Many have ideas to bring true progress and floor the accelerator. But the government has put the car on blocks without wheels. We should be doing highway speed. Instead, we are in an endless traffic jam and told we are making great progress. And not every supposed short cut will get you to your destination quicker than the way you know best. This nation and its people can do great things. They shouldn’t let those who stand in their way succeed. Rick Badman Warsaw
