As a metaphor, it's hard to beat,
Comparing us to ancient Crete;
Like the Aegean society,
Unaware of its apogee.
© F.W. Heaton May, 2017
Apogee? Due to unprecedented political polarization, it may not be seen by at least half of the current U.S. population that we may be at our nation’s apogee regarding caring for all peoples of the world and for our natural and cultural heritage—a condition from which we might not recover. Mary & I are neither Republican nor Democrat; we are registered as Independents and work toward governance from the center with strong moral values. We feel there is good reason so many are upset from both the left and the right and that the situation demands intelligent bipartisanship. We feel the U.S. should continue to be a beacon for freedom in the world and a shining example in world leadership on global issues. We see the current situation as an issue of moral values vs. politics. We are, thus, striving with our writing, traveling, speaking to make a difference, to promote caring for all people, to encourage the sensitivity of poets, to encourage protection, conservation and education for our natural and cultural heritage. We approach this life purpose with a sense of urgency before our nation slides over the apogee into irretrievable catastrophe.
Current Administration. The current administration led by Donald J. Trump, 45th U.S. President and the Republican majority in the U.S. House and Senate, took office slightly more than 100 days ago, January 20, 2017. The administration’s first 100-days boasts include: Administration/Congress/special interest groups joining to dismantle the laws protecting National Park locations, overturning the ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling, the Environmental Protection Agency (now led by an arch-opponent of the agency) purging its website of scientifically-supported climate change information, an all-out effort to dismantle the Clean Power Plan, a House-passed bill that would have made it easier for states to take over public lands, a House bill introduced in February that would have sold off 3.3 million acres of public land in 10 western states, an executive order paving the way for stripping protections for any of America’s national monuments designated since 1996. This list will go on until the U.S. House and Senate members feel these positions may cause them to lose their jobs in the next election(s).
Theodore Roosevelt. In contrast, the administration of Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), 26th President of the U.S., with the assistance of the U.S. House and Senate, achieved the establishment of federal protection for 230 million acres of land and the creation of 150 national forests, 51 federal bird reservations, 5 national parks, and 18 national monuments. This quote well-summarizes Roosevelt’s prescient approach to national leadership: "Of all of the questions which can come before this nation, short of the actual preservation of its existence in a great war, there is none which compares in importance with the great central task of leaving this land even a better land for our descendants than it is for us."