Keller @ Large: George Washington's Lesson For Us

BOSTON (CBS) - It's too bad that Monday's commemoration of Washington's birthday falls at the start of school vacation week. Schoolkids could learn a lot if this was a teachable moment about what Washington stood for.

For a taste of that, it's worth carving out ten minutes to read Washington's farewell address to the nation, a 329-year-old letter to the editor that still has plenty to teach us about how our country should work.

You'll see Washington extolling the "just pride of Patriotism," not as a buggy bumper-sticker or cheap political weapon but as a reminder of our common denominators and the collective strength of the union. Although – or maybe because – he was a military man, Washington didn't see that "just pride" as a blank check for the military. "Avoid the necessity of those overgrown military establishments, which, under any form of government, are inauspicious to liberty," he warned.

Washington was always highly skeptical of political partisans and their relentless focus on demonizing other partisans. "You cannot shield yourselves too much against the jealousies and heart-burnings which spring from these misrepresentations," he wrote.

He preached caution toward tinkering with the constitution and radical political change, which would please today's conservatives. But while Washington also was conservative about government spending, modern-day liberals would love his message that the public should "cooperate" with taxation, that "towards the payment of debts there must be Revenue; that to have Revenue there must be taxes; that no taxes can be devised, which are not more or less inconvenient and unpleasant."

There's much more in there that the students of today should know about.

And, come to think of it, their elders, too.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.