Posted on 10/12/2004 10:17:05 AM PDT by yoe
One of the best dissertation on the importance of this election. A must read! written by Mathew Manweller... Central Washington University political science professor...
"In that this will be my last column before the presidential election, there will be no sarcasm, no attempts at witty repartee. The topic is too serious, and the stakes are too high.
This November we will vote in the only election during our lifetime that will truly matter. Because America is at a once-in-a-generation crossroads, more than an election hangs in the balance. Down one path lies retreat, abdication and a reign of ambivalence. Down the other lies a nation that is aware of its past and accepts the daunting obligation its future demands. If we choose poorly, the consequences will echo through the next 50 years of history. If we, in a spasm of frustration, turn out the current occupant of the White House, the message to the world and ourselves will be two-fold.
First, we will reject the notion that America can do big things.
Once a nation that tamed a frontier, stood down the Nazis and stood upon the moon, we will announce to the world that bringing democracy to the Middle East is too big of a task for us. But more significantly, we will signal to future presidents that as voters, we are unwilling to tackle difficult challenges, preferring caution to boldness, embracing the mediocrity that has characterized other civilizations. The defeat of President Bush will send a chilling message to future presidents who may need to make difficult, yet unpopular decisions. America has always been a nation that rises to the demands of history regardless of the costs or appeal. If we turn away from that legacy, we turn away from who we are.
Second, we inform every terrorist organization on the globe that the lesson of Somalia was well learned. In Somalia we showed terrorists that you don't need to defeat America on the battlefield when you can defeat them in the newsroom. They learned that a wounded America can become a defeated America.
Twenty-four-hour news stations and daily tracing polls will do the heavy lifting, turning a cut into a fatal blow. Except that Iraq is Somalia times 10. The election of John Kerry will serve notice to every terrorist in every cave that the soft underbelly of American power is the timidity of American voters. Terrorists will know that a steady stream of grizzly photos for CNN is all you need to break the will of the American people. Our own self-doubt will take it from there. Bin Laden will recognize that he can topple any American administration without setting foot on the homeland.
It is said that America's W.W.II generation is its 'greatest generation'. But my greatest fear is that it will become known as America's 'last generation.' Born in the bleakness of the Great Depression and hardened in the fire of WW II, they may be the last American generation that understands the meaning of duty, honor and sacrifice. It is difficult to admit, but I know these terms are spoken with only hollow detachment by many (but not all) in my generation. Too many citizens today mistake 'living in America' as 'being an American.' But America has always been more of an idea than a place. When you sign on, you do more than buy real estate. You accept a set of values and responsibilities.
This November, my generation, which has been absent too long, must grasp the obligation that comes with being an American, or fade into the oblivion they may deserve.
I believe that 100 years from now historians will look back at the election of 2004 and see it as the decisive election of our century. Depending on the outcome, they will describe it as the moment America joined the ranks of ordinary nations; or they will describe it as the moment the prodigal sons and daughters of the greatest generation accepted their burden as caretakers of the City on the Hill."
Mathew Manweller
Omg.
The vitriol there is palpable.
Thanks for the link. I needed that :-)
Skerry wants tax payer money to fund more LE, which he will federalize (for security). Federal police, army of the left.
Sounds like the Turner Diaries scenario without the racist and anti-jewish slant.
I think it will be over gun confiscation.
I'd say it's about 1860.
It's looking grim admittedly. We will go off if they continue after guns etc.
They are angry period that Amerika may not stay on that 60s path they envisioned once.
We are better armed but they have most of the urban areas and a big chunk of some government forces etc.
"Teach Your Children Well"....I'm getting a newfound appreciation for deer camp...lol
PS: We shall prevail...if not in our lifetimes then one day but I fear fury shall pass first. Time for some Kipling.
CWII, if it happens, will be between those who want to preserve the Union and the Constitution, and those who want to destroy it and replace it with a new "progressive" order.
The way the world is alligning against us, all Americans with a shred of sense will understand that we must all hang together, or we will hang seperately. If the nation splits, we are doomed.
Therefore, I suspect that most of us Southerners, Conservatives, old fashioned Rebels, and so forth, will be fighting under Old Glory.
:)
For some reason, the word tribulation sticks in my mind.
Arm yourselves and your loved ones ping.
***
The Dems will try to get the guns first and that is probably what will trigger the battle. I believe their weapon of choice to date is a "sharpie magic marker".
What it all boils down to ping.
A truly great letter, prairie. Thanks for the ping. I just sent it around to my e-mail list.
Thanks prairie. A great letter, and one I will pass on.
I think I'll see a Civil War in my lifetime, unfortunately.
BTTT
Professor Manweller was interviewed by Laura Ingraham this a.m. What a breath of fresh air. An actual conservative academic!!!
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