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Americans are living a failed national narrative. Our almost universal belief in our exceptional status as a providentially "chosen people" suspends us in a beguiling myth beyond the reality of history. On September 11, 2001, we reacted with an almost child-like innocence. President George Bush soared in the polls when he doubled down on the familiar troupe that America has the ability to remake the world in our own image through the force of arms. Rather than summon imagination, wisdom and courage to offer an alternative, Democratic presidential hopefuls fell over themselves to support Bush in invading a country that had nothing to do with 9/11.

In his most recent book Time No Longer, Patrick Lawrence movingly regrets the road not taken. The events of 2001 confronted us with choice. We could accept that our national narrative had failed and that the time had arrived to abandon our dreams of empire and dismantle our imperial presidency. Or we could resist change and remain in a state of denial that would compound our self-destructive conduct. The Republican and Democratic parties -- who purport to lead America -- choose wrongly. Instead of restoring separation of powers and embracing the constitutional exceptionalism of the American Republic, America would continue down the militarized path of telling the world what to do.

As Wolfgang Schivelbusch made eloquently clear in The Culture of Defeat, acknowledging failure opens the door to a different future. The American people have gone along with the two-party system that denies us the leadership we so desperately need. Patrick Lawrence hopes that America can transform itself from a nation with a manifest destiny back into a nation with liberty as our guiding purpose.

The Committee for the Republic is a citizen-based, non-partisan, nonprofit organization founded in 2003. The Committee sponsors speakers monthly on challenges to the American Republic, including the military-industrial complex, too-big-to-fail banks and U.S. competitiveness.
For questions or requests email events@committeefortherepublic.org

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