In a recent blog posting from the Washington Post’s Al Kamen, we find an interesting, slightly tongue-in-cheek debate going on about who actually takes credit for the SEAL Operation that took down bin Laden. Obama, Bush, or as Kamen writes:

Some folks tried to give Bill Clinton credit as well, since he launched that missile attack against bin Laden in 1998 and the early CIA operation tracking him. Others note that John F. Kennedy, in 1962, set up the SEAL teams that carried out the operation. And FDR set up the precursor to the CIA.

We’re pretty sure Millard Fillmore had a hand in all this, too, but still checking that out.

The most important moment in American history involved . . . Bush?

Sure, all perhaps played a part, but does it really matter at this point? I think it’s time we move past partisan rhetoric, and discuss a much deeper issue here: Apparently, our nation is already beginning to forget its own history!

When you look back across the annals of American History, what sticks out in your mind as the most significant moment? Yes, the United States is a much younger nation when compared to others around the world, but we still have a very rich history, rife with compelling events, good and bad.

On the other hand, there most surely have been a number of events in recent history that have altered the way we live both domestically and globally. But what about the other 230+ years? I in no way doubt the significance of events such as the death of bin Laden, the war against terror, or even the attacks of 9/11, but it just seems unwise to forget the sacrifices and significant events of the past and how they led us to where we are today as a nation. Kamen writes again:

The “most important moment maybe in American history?” It [Bush’s speech at Ground Zero] was a dramatic and moving call to action, pretty much perfect, but a more “important moment” than, say, Washington crossing the Delaware? Lee’s surrender to Grant at Appomattox? Lincoln’s assassination? Pearl Harbor? D-Day? Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall”? Bush I’s “Read my lips, no new taxes”? “Ask not what your country can do for you”? The pilgrims’ landing at Plymouth Rock?

So what is it? What, in your opinion, is the most important event in American History? Is it a specific person, perhaps a president? An event or a battle? Maybe for you it is an event of recent history? Let us know what you think in the comments below!

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