Israel's Shooting Down Of A Civilian Airplane

There Are Two Americas. One Is The America Of Lincoln And Adlai Stevenson; The Other Is The America Of Teddy Roosevelt And The Modern Superpatriots. One Is Generous And Humane, The Other Narrowly Egotistical; One Is Self-critical, The Other Self-righteous; One Is Sensible, The Other Romantic; One Is Good-humored, The Other Solemn; One Is Inquiring, The Other Pontificating; One Is Moderate, The Other Filled With Passionate Intensity; One Is Judicious And The Other Arrogant In The Use Of Great Power.

We Are Inclined To Confuse Freedom And Democracy, Which We Regard As Moral Principles, With The Way In Which They Are Practiced In America With Capitalism, Federalism, And The Two-party System, Which Are Not Moral Principles But Simply The Preferred And Accepted Practices Of The American People.

Insofar As It Represents A Genuine Reconciliation Of Differences, A Consensus Is A Fine Thing; Insofar As It Represents A Concealment Of Differences, It Is A Miscarriage Of Democratic Procedure.

In A Democracy Dissent Is An Act Of Faith. Like Medicine, The Test Of Its Value Is Not In Its Taste, But In Its Effects.

There Are Many Respects In Which America, If It Can Bring Itself To Act With The Magnanimity And The Empathy Appropriate To Its Size And Power, Can Be An Intelligent Example To The World.