Conscience, conflict, and a call for unity

During our recent Buffalo Commons festival, the Norris House hosted a garden party that proved both charming and unsettling in its resonance with current events. Beneath the shade of a few old trees, we were treated to a Chautauqua-style presentation of Senator George W. Norris, portrayed with insight and warmth by Pastor Clark Bates. The performance offered the audience more than just a look at the life of McCook’s most distinguished political figure; it offered a mirror in which we might see glimpses of our current circumstances.

Among the anecdotes shared was Norris’s lonely stand against the tide of war in 1917. One of only six senators to vote against entering World War I, Norris believed that economic interests—arms dealers and financiers—had helped propel the nation into the conflict. He worried aloud about what war might do to the fragile scaffolding of democratic life. His speech, as delivered by Bates, did not flinch from the cost of such dissent.

Bates described how Norris’s unpopular stance may have caused his political fortunes to fall for a time, if only briefly.

What followed, however, was the more striking lesson. Norris, having cast his vote against the war, did not seek to sabotage the nation’s efforts once the decision was made. Instead, he worked to ensure that the soldiers—many of them Nebraskans—were well supplied, well treated, and properly honored. He voted for wartime appropriations. He pushed for veterans’ rehabilitation programs. He even stood against the Espionage and Sedition Acts, resisting the erosion of civil liberties during wartime, insisting that American freedom was not some fragile luxury to be suspended under strain, but the very thing that gave the war its moral standing.

His lesson—of principled opposition followed by practical support—feels remarkably relevant as American military activity once again stretches across continents and headlines. Our attention is understandably drawn to the horror and scale of conflict in Ukraine and Gaza, and now to the dangerous escalation between Israel and Iran following actions against nuclear sites. These are high-stakes theaters where American interests, allies, and influence are deeply entwined.

Yet beyond those headlines, the United States remains engaged in lesser-known but persistent conflicts around the globe. In Somalia and across the Sahel, our forces conduct counterterrorism missions. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, our support takes the form of aid and peacekeeping logistics. We train and assist in Colombia and watch Venezuela through the lens of diplomacy and sanctions. In the Middle East, we remain entangled in Yemen and Iraq. In the Pacific, we support Taiwan and bolster the Philippines against an increasingly assertive China. These are not front-page wars, but they are real and consequential.

One cannot help but note the irony of our government, amid all this, preparing a military parade along Pennsylvania Avenue. Whether that timing is tone-deaf or deliberate, it underscores the importance of public discernment.

Against that backdrop, it speaks well of our community that we pause to reflect on the legacy of George Norris, a man who combined conscience with commitment. May our current legislators prove equally able to speak their minds when it matters—and to act with unity and resolve when duty calls.