RAMANAM
In the Name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit, Amen.
Countrymen,
Something is in the air and the soul of our nation that was not present in the 1960s and that makes all efforts based on 1960s typologies simply obsolete nostalgia.
It is a new era, one not precedented, I would say, anywhere in world history since at least 3800 BC.
Its nature is better than we had ever hoped to see. We are unable to predict its lineaments by extrapolating from our experiences. To grasp what is happening we must be open to the absolutely fresh and the radically paradoxical (unexpected).
The power of the constellation of such conditions is determining the destiny and serving as the substance of the freedom of our young people. This is my feeling.
The conceptual structures that have served our academic and journalistic combinations are irrelevant, specifically the metaphor of levels or layers. The metaphor now is dimensions, taken abstractly, and trees, taken pragmatically. Only the botanical metaphor (Goethe, Schiller, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jerome) suffices to indicate and allow man to relate with the multi-dimensional unity of life and the telos of history.
The Times Have Changed
The President is right morally and teleologically. A genuine, authentic moment of transcendent unambiguity in the murk of history.
A new era is upon us, not just of the President’s making, it has a transcendent component, same one that brought down the Soviet and the Berlin Wall. Also grasping the spirit of the thing is this.
For long, some words of Arthur MacArthur, Douglas’ father, while in the Philippines have been going through my mind, spoken while the Aguinaldo/Quezon insurgency was still active: “The Filipinos need democracy pinned to their backs with a bayonet.” Highly unacceptable language and sentiment today, at least if verbalized, and certainly inappropriate for a policy statement, but captures the spirit of the occasion in the broadest possible terms.
The President’s biggest challenge will be keeping Putin from feeling like a caged bear. I think he can do that since, at least previously, they have gotten along well personally. Also will bring in India more prominently. India, USA, Russia — the three brothers efficiently determining the course of history now and for centuries to come. Germany and Japan at second level, also brothers of the same family. We are seeing this happen. History has few unambiguous moments, but we are seeing one now very near the surface of ordinary perception. Very, very rare. Lots of work ahead!
He lost an old family friend, Peggy Noonan.
She is Roman Catholic, has been smug about it, now worried because of it. Should be. She accepts the RC doctrine of the immutability of the church’s teachings from era to era. As long as the President appeared to be following those teachings, she was happy.
He is a Protestant and believes, especially with Calvin — his true background — but also with Luther that the Holy Spirit creates new conditions in history while always trending it God-ward and that these new conditions demand new doctrine (learning) and new expression in all cultural forms, to include government policies …. which do NOT have to wait for their creation on the Vatican because all believers are on equal footing before God and none needs an intermediary (a clerical hierarchy).
Thus Peggy is repulsed by suggestion of anything not already contemplated by extant RC doctrine or that will come when the Vatican is ready to issue it. Reason for the Reformation, in a nutshell.
Update 1: Richard Fernandez: Leadership Qualities Needed Now
AMDG – VICTORY
