Whatever happened to national honor?

President Biden, who said in his inaugural address, “this is a great nation, and we are a good people,” signaled a return to national honor. He was, if unintentionally, paraphrasing an erroneous quotation of de Tocqueville (erroneous because he never said it, not because it is false) which previous presidents have repeated: “America is great because America is good.” This, for the United States, if not for all countries, is a key element of national honor rightly defined.

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Yet Biden’s actions seem to have been driven by a different understanding. Even if the withdrawal from Afghanistan were necessary, even if it were overdue, there was nothing good about its execution. There is nothing good about the fact that, weeks after the last American forces and diplomats departed, Americans are still fleeing Afghanistan on Qatari flights(except the mere fact that they got out). There is nothing good about the fact that unknown patriotic and loyal Afghans and their families will now be at the mercy of the merciless Taliban…

During his inaugural address, Joe Biden said, “to overcome these challenges—to restore the soul and to secure the future of America—requires more than words.” He was right. It requires honor. It requires the courage and commitment to act in accordance with principles, rather than just to speak them. How long can we keep dishonoring ourselves before we become dishonorable?

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