"We've wandered too far away from the founding principles of the country," McGovern said in an interview in advance of his speech. "We do so many things that, if not unconstitutional, have wandered from the spirit of the founders."
McGovern was a Democratic U.S. senator from South Dakota from 1963 to 1981 and ran for president against Richard Nixon in 1972. He was a staunch opponent of the Vietnam War. In the Senate, he crafted - with Sen. Bob Dole - the legislation that created the Special Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC, and the national reduced-cost and free school lunch program.
McGovern's new book, his ninth, is "The Essential America: Our Founders and the Liberal Tradition," published this month by Simon & Schuster.
McGovern's remarks will draw from his book, he said, which defends the American liberal tradition and clearly criticizes the current administration for what he sees as its arrogance and go-it-alone approach.
The United States initiated a war in Iraq despite the disapproval of most of the rest of the world except Great Britain, which dismays McGovern.
"It's this sort of go-it-alone, bullying tactic that bothers me," he said. "We've become the most unpopular country in the world."
The Bush administration draws attention away from the domestic crises that are real by creating emergencies that are not real, he said. For instance, there is no crisis in Social Security.
"The truth is Social Security is the only part of the government that's solvent," he said. "Every other branch of the government is borrowing, except for Social Security, which pays its own way."
The real crises are, for instance, the high number of Americans without health insurance. They are citizens of the only industrialized country in the world without centralized health insurance.
"I don't know how those
45 million people without health insurance get along," McGovern said.
McGovern will also talk about the "irresponsible unilateralism" that leads the administration to spurn the Kyoto Treaty, bypass the United Nations' opinion on war in Iraq and reject a ban on land mines that are killing children in the world.
McGovern and his wife, Eleanor, have a home in Stevensville where they spend four or five months a year; they spend the winter months in their home state of South Dakota.
When inviting speakers for City Club's monthly forums, its program committee looks for a mix of local issues and topics that are food for thought and discussion on a larger scale, said program committee chairwoman Linda Tracy.
"One of the things we come back to is having speakers that are thought-provoking," Tracy said in an interview. "Having George McGovern in our backyard is, we realize, a gift."
Listening to statesman McGovern draw on his decades of experience can help us think about the issues of today in a fuller context, she said.
"This is having the opportunity to hear from this man who has had this incredible experience as a citizen of the world," she said.
Those who attend the City Club meeting will discuss the following pertinent questions during lunch. The framing statement is McGovern's key point: that our nation's Founding Fathers based our democracy on the principles of liberty, justice, equality, truthfulness and compassion for all God's creatures everywhere.
What do these moral and political principles mean in our nation and community today?
How well do they seem to guide our political leadership?
How well do they guide our own political participation?
City Club Missoula formed last fall on the nationwide model of city clubs that encourage civic discussion and participation. Everyone in greater Missoula is welcome to attend its monthly forums. City Club is nonpartisan and nonprofit, and is run by a board of trustees.
It can be reached by e-mail at cityclubmissoula@aol.com or by calling 721-9620.
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