Here's what I'd really like to hear a presidential candidate say about "keeping Americans safe" [View all]

[Ken Burch]

"As president, I will work to keep the people of this country safe.

And I will work to keep the rest of the human race safe as well.

While I will defend our territory from external military attack, I will NOT equate 'keeping Americans safe' with the use of force for force's sake, nor will I regard true negotiations and genuine compromise as weakness or equate them to the extinct concept of 'appeasement'.

We are past the days when a Hitler could emerge...past the days when a Stalin or a Mao might appear. And we are past the days when it could ever be useful to automatically label other countries as 'enemies' or 'threats'.

In the world we now inhabit, there are simply nations...each of which has positive and negative traits, none of which are totally right or totally wrong.

I will protect the safety of the American people not through foreign wars, not through drone attacks, not through surveillance, infiltration or internal intervention but by joining forces with all who devote their lives to fighting the true threats to that safety:

Poverty, ignorance, disease, inequality, hatred, nationalism and the unjust concentration of the wealth created by the many in the hands of the few.

I will work for a safe and secure nation and world by peacefully combatting all of those threats, and by making sure that this country will not stand in the way of those who seek to cast off oppressive rulers, dominance by foreign corporations, religious fundamentalists of all faiths, and corruption at all levels.

I will make it clear that 'the national interest' of the United States shall no longer be tied to the short-term interests of American and multinational corporations, but rather to the right, possessed by every child of this Earth, to a decent life and a real future, a future in which there shall be work for all, respect for all, dignity for all, free expression for all, and creativity, magic and joy for all.

And in standing for all of this, I will give this country the greatest number of allies possible...all the peoples of every nation".

Not expecting anyone to say that anytime soon, but it's MY idea of a sane, acceptable version of "whatever it takes".