For my money, the highlight of last night’s debate came at the approximate halfway point of an otherwise total snooze-fest. Until that moment roughly 45 minutes of underwhelming and over-rehearsed talking points dulled my senses into submission. I was worn to the point where an outstanding question posed by moderator Tom Brokaw almost slipped by as completely innocuous.

The Question:

Should we fund a Manhattan-like project that develops a nuclear bomb to deal with global energy and alternative energy or should we fund 100,000 garages across America, the kind of industry and innovation that developed Silicon Valley?

Immediately my interest was piqued and my attention was completely diverted from the mindless drivel of campaign speak. My mind was running; this was a great question.

Tom Brokaw married together two seminal moments in United States history that represent everything that is Holy about our Nation. The nuance of the question captured everything that sets America apart as one thousand points of light unto our global brethren. It reflects the power of our innovation, cultivated in an environment that promotes focus, diligence, creativity, ingenuity and an virtuous ability to rally around a common cause.

The Purpose:

During World War II elite scientists, understanding the nefarious machinations of a strengthening Nazi regime, lead by the pen of Albert Einstein, beseeched Franklin D. Roosevelt to begin constructing an atomic bomb in an immediate and clandestine call to scientific arms. Under a veil of government secrecy, an unrivaled team of physicists made the tough choice to keep massive weapons of destruction solely in the hands of the just. Sometimes morality calls upon the worthy to make the toughest of choices.

After the fall out of World War II subsided and the boon of American prosperity and ingenuity spread, our country flourished; even weathering the storm of a divisive and controversial Vietnam conflict. Communication had stagnated and a need was inherently realized by a new generation of inspired techno-wizards. Young geniuses like Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Bill Gates uniquely executed the American dream from their own covert operation of sorts, hunkered down in their own garage. Like The Manhattan Project before it, enormous leaps in scientific and technological understanding were taking place while the rest of the country unknowingly went about its business.

The Meaning:

In the 1940s the world was saved. In the 1980s the world would come together to talk about it. The chord Tom Brokaw so saliently struck in my mind’s eye was that we, Americans, possess exactly what is needed to conquer the universal crises of both energy and environment. Let the Manhattan Project and the grassroots explosion of Silicon Valley remind us where the real power, strength and honor of this great Nation are forever granted safe harbor; in the will of its people. Only a decade removed from our Revolution, Thomas Jefferson lamented over where the spirit of 1776 had gone. Both these initiatives demonstrated it simply went to rest in the hearts of its people until such needs arise.

Isoroku Yamamoto was both prophetic and wise when he foretold of the Sleeping Giant.