Posted on 05/03/2005 9:14:38 PM PDT by CHARLITE
It's always risky to celebrate good times, especially in an age when there is no way to rule out that along with the usual perils of life, we will suffer another terrorist attack. But this spring, more than 3 1/2 years after Sept. 11, it does seem that since that day America has weathered a rough passage awfully well. That, and with the cherry trees just done blooming in Washington and New York's Central Park full of flowers (and, in the grand old tradition, amateur baseball teams), it feels worth a moment to stand back and observe that for all the usual idiocies of such institutions as Hollywood, academia and the imploding United Nations in our midst, rarely in recent decades has there been more sanity and self-respect abroad in this land.
In keeping with the doctrine of democratization that Mr. Bush put forward three years ago, the focus has switched to what we appreciate about our own values. With that comes a degree of integrity that the silent majority of the unfree world can appreciate far more than any cloying efforts by Washington to win friends by wooing despots who claim illegitimately to speak for their people.
As happened when Reagan stood fast in the 1980s about the "evil empire," places deemed lost to the free world have been waking up. Not only are we seeing a huge movement for democracy in Lebanon, along with stirrings in Egypt and even Syria and Saudi Arabia. In Washington, a North Korean defector announced the founding in this country of a group of North Korean dissidents-in-exile, dedicated to replacing what is probably the worst tyranny on the planet with a free society. It is a small beginning, but it is one more sign of a world changing for the better.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Tough for me to celebrate when Americans are being killed overseas.
These WSJ snobs don't have that aversion. It's a class thing to them.
BTTT
WSJ snobs? Class thing? What's wrong with the sentiments above?
Yeah, we've accomplished a lot, but there's still a lot left to be finished. Far, far too early to be declaring it "Miller Time." Folks at the WSJ need to put down the rose-colored glasses and pour themselves a strong cuppa.
"Tough for me to celebrate when Americans are being killed overseas.
These WSJ snobs don't have that aversion. It's a class thing to them."
I don't think the WSJ intended to try to claim we don't have a care in the world and all is peachy. If you read the entire piece, they are celebrating how well the nation weathered some tough times we seem to be emerging from. Don't get caught up in the doom and gloom portrayed by the MSM. Let Al Zarqawi and his fellow fiends be the ones who are demoralized as the recently intercepted letter indicates they are. Let's be positive and optimistic (as Ronald Reagan would have us be.) Let our enemies be the ones wilting under the pressure.
Of course any American killed in Iraq is a tragedy and depressing, but let's not act like the whole world is coming apart because of it. That we've suffered so few casualties relatively speaking in a huge, global effort to knock the legs out from terrorism is something to be grateful for. I was certain the week of 9-11 that by this point in the war on terror we would have suffered 15,000 KIA. Instead we've suffered around 1800. Again, I don't diminish the tragedy of any loss of life, but let's not allow it to cause us to lose sight of the bigger picture that our country really is faring well, perhaps better than any of us dreamed, after the quadruple blows of 9-11, a recession, the corporate scandals and war in Iraq. The WSJ is correct to point that out without diminishing the problems that still remain. I have NO idea what that has to do with class or snobbishness.
You shouldn't be so quick to dismiss the Wall Street Journal. Its editorial page is the most intelligent by far of any newspaper in the nation, and covers the broadest range of topics and points of view. When compared to the utterly ludicrious and intellectually dishonest New York Times, it particularly shines. Pick up a copy sometime. I've been reading it for years and continue to grow in my affection and respect for the amazing writing that comes out of the WSJ's opinion page. I've learned amazing amounts about an amazing range of topics by reading it. Far from being snobbish, it's incredibly thought-provoking, insightful and even fair-minded. Give it a try before dismissing it so cavalierly.
They're not talking about about a VJ Day style celebration. More like a celebration of what has been accomplished so far, which is considerable.
BTTT
Ageed.
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