Failure... is an option

We are all watching the debates. They take place in large forums and small, in front of the cameras and behind the keyboards. Incessant polls hawk who is incrementally up... and who is trending downwards. But there is a innate tendency in this media-defined, media-controlled arena, to lose track of larger issues. This is not accidental- this is part and parcel of the debate parameters as structured by the "mainstream" media. The debates are controlled in this manner to serve the same purposes that military men learn early, and that virtuoso politicians master even before their first controlled bowel movement.

The purpose is to shape the questions for maximum advantage to the questioners; to prep the battlefield by sighting in their guns and registering their fire before the enemy even knows what terrain he is being drawn into. He who controls the place and manner of engagement has trebled his strength before the contest even begins. In the arena of public opinion, the guns are registered by firing off assumptions that the public will hear before the debate even begins, and will therefore anticipate the defense thereto. A defense to charges, made by the "useless idiots", (who couldn't even make the cut into Mona Charen's new book), exclusively and exhaustively trumpeted by the looped-tape media- the Alan Comb-overs, who serve as comic foils to the Sean Hannity's of the industry, but yet who seem to have exclusive intro-time to the upcoming event.

"Tonight we will hear the Administration attempt to recover from the economic disaster that is bringing their favorability to the lowest levels ever measured. The opposition will work to expose the Administration's plan to atone for it- by unmasking it as the cynical act of a desparate failure..."

... usually sets a much more effective stage than, for instance, opening the debates with,

"...Now that this Administration has fended off and won in court a final end to the unprecedented, six-month-long legal challenges, from the extreme left-wing, (or Democratic mainstream), which have effectively prevented the new President's cabinet officers and nominees from being allowed to get to work; what steps can they take to convince you, the voter, of what will be necessary in order to undo the unforseen and damaging consequences arising from the opposition's policies over the last 8 years?"

Obviously the second question puts you the questioner at a severe disadvantage, if you have previously abandoned all pretense of journalistic integrity, and openly declared your fealty to the previous administration, in that the listener, on hearing the second question, will likely reflect on the root causes of the economic pain, and make the mental correlation to those policies in effect in previous years, which actually caused the pain!

Yet years ago, however, a superior Third Approach had been copyrighted by the New Soviet Man, a media-worshipped demi-god, who learned to shape the battlefield and accomplish his bowel movements at one and the same time. This Third Approach, meriting a continuous - FLASH UPI/API ! - alert, consisted simply of a brief video of the master politician biting his lip and murmuring soulfully, "...I kin feel yore pain..."

This was and is effective on many fronts. First, .. in deference to the regiments of those marginally-conscious voters who weren't aware that they had any pain, it helps them to suddenly realize what has been uppermost, and seared- yes, seared- into their minds in the last few [ years/ months/ days/ sandwiches, select one or more ], without coming as too abrupt of a surprise, thus causing them to spill their slurpee.

Second, since any one with the depth of empathy necessary to connect with the median adult voter on such a pre-training-pants-level, must certainly be the one they could safely stake their birthright and retirement funds on, they can then breathe a sigh of relief, and usefully avoid any of those difficult and awkward questions remaining about loathing the military, raping the defenseless, and selling the military secrets which have shielded the country from catastrophic reverses for several generations, to the very rival which seeks to overcome us economically, politically, and militarily.

And third, as a staple in the arsenal of the opposition party, (though regretfully because it doesn't rhyme), it is simple enough to be painted on signs by public school apologists, communicable to even feminists, and is quite as impossible as the odor of a bowel movement to defend against. This is because that which means nothing cannot be logically refuted, and that which means nothing can be shaped, in the manner of the infant delightfully exploring the contents of their Huggies, into practically anything. And, finally, as the expression goes, when hurled against the fan, most often sticks.

And finally, "the moment" serves as an unending get-out-of-jail-free card, excusing the lack of response to probing attacks upon our embassies, warships, consuls overseas, and even practice runs against our World Trade Center. The stark failure to retaliate against a gathering enemy, while allowing another enemy to loot the cream of our military technology, is more than offset by a media-haloed dance on a beach, with the adoring eyes of the forgiving wife shifting attention from the real delinquencies, to the delicious foulness of the priaptic President. The victims- the Asians who had enjoyed the protection of the American military guarantee of self-determination, and who were in a uncaring heartbeat sold into future servitude to the Sino Master, have only slowly begun to realize what was done to them.

The stains are far too large to be confined to a blue cocktail dress. They cover the lost sovereignty of countless yet-unborn Malasians, Filipinos, Koreans and others who live, in the self-damning words of the malignant University elites, on "fly-over" islands. The American umbrella has been vandalized, and now guarantees nothing. The thirty year lead in technology which guaranteed hundreds of millions of souls, has been sold, and all of the ramifications thereof are only now beginning to descend onto a terrified Pacific Rim.

Yet the mastery of the craven embargo on truth, as enforced by the mainstream media, trumps all, even now. The public has been push-polled to "yearn for the return to 'prewar' America", still blissfully ignorant of the war which was being lost around them for more than a decade before the towers dropped. This promise of a mainlined fix- a dime bag of Clinton obliviousness- strains the blood vessels in their temples, as they want mommy to make it all go away. The media dangles the hope that if only the American military can be removed from their free-wheeling prepared battlefields of Iraq, and can be confined to the barracks in American cities, that all will be better. Then, those awful images of reality, where the cream of our youth go to fight our enemies, will fade away.

And you can't argue with them. You can repeat that "Failure... is not an option..."; but you will be wrong.

"Failure... is not a problem..." in the words of those who prevented the civil rights of black Americans for generations,- then, once defeated, managed to rebuild the plantations by colluding with the media to re-invent the blame, and place it on the opposition party! The party which offered aid and comfort to the Soviets, the Vietnamese, the Sandanistas... then, once it was known how many victims these "worker's paradises" murdered, successfully blamed the President in the 1980's for daring to offer assistance to the Contras, and for the unspeakable crime of naming the Evil Empire.

"Failure...is not a problem..." when properly managed. When those persons, those conservatives, who understand and practice reverence, whether it be reverence to God, reverence to duty to country, or reverence and respect for principles, for that matter, can be isolated from the levers of power by disinformation, treachery and the other such tools hung in the belts of the liberals' enforcers, the problem of consequences dwindles to insignificance.

This was one of the major rewards of the thwarted impeachment proceedings. When the consequences for the vilest behaviours in office consist of speaking engagements paid in 5 figures, rather than suicide in the Reichsbunker, failure loses it's meaning. The loss of the ability of the citizenry of the United States to determine their own destiny without orders from Berlin, Tokyo or Mecca, seem a small price to pay for protecting the right to kill any unborn child under any circumstances, and to guarantee the norming of whatever the foulest behaviors of the entertainment industry.

The loss of generations of black youth to the eschewment of education, the loss of priceless parenting skills, all seem a pittance to pay for the continued right of submission of the government supplicant to the liberal master. The culture, independence and birthright of the generation which fought for equal education backlights the "Failure...is not a problem..." sign which blinks forlornly on the ones left behind by the opportunity train. In the station, the consolation prize is that they can abort the future with impunity, or avoid the question entirely as Wally weds Willy, and Tina ties the knot with Tanya. Crushingly they have made common cause with agendas they don't support, in order to thwart those who wished to sever their chains. What a card trick- what a clever con.

The debate will air on time, as the bills must be paid, and entertainment- the lifeblood of the industry-, rents out more conflict.

Fortunately, technology enables it to be broadcast throughout the world, so that at least some folks are learning. As they learn that they were fools to take the original American bait, and trap all of their most dedicated suiciders into the quagmire of Iraq, they will breathe a sigh of relief. They too learn from failure, and the liberation of their human bombs to attack outside of the clever box Rumsfeld had them politically trapped into will no doubt produce a few campaign contributions to the Democrats... before they blow up their constituents. C'est la vie. There's more born every minute.

Without Iraq, where will the Americans battle them? After having the legs cut out from under the military, will President Hillary then commit them to attacking Syria after the next trade center attack, for having trained the next terrorists? Will Iran be invaded for arming them? China for protecting them? France for admiring them? Harvard for defending them? Will 130,000 troops be committed by helicopter load after helicopter load into Iran, ala the Bay of Pigs disaster, as seconded by Jimmy Carter's foray after the hostages?

What will a massive 400 page war plan, of liberal pipe dreams that document each step of the invasion be worth... on D+1? Isn't it odd that each infantryman coming ashore on Normandy didn't carry his own telephone book detailing each step he would carry out for the assigned 117 days, 6 hours and 16 minutes budgeted for the war? For heaven's sake, were adults running that war??!!

How delighted will the dupes be, when they realize that a dispirited military will require a draft to re-populate it with involuntary warm bodies after those who believed in, and who counted on, at least the moral support from back home, face their final disillusionment. How much time will a selective service notice detract from the necessary work of saving the environment from capitalism?

How crushed will those who believed in duty, honor and country be, when they realize that not only is failure an option... but that creatures exist who have made it a rewarding way of life. The master may have owned the plantation... but the whips were in the hands of the "realists".

Yes, failure is an option because it is meaningless to most and most times the culprits, as you say, get off Scot free. There are no consequences, which is a consequence of grave consequence... Nobody is tried for treason for their slanderous remarks about the war. The MSM is not held to account and Bill Clinton, who should be in jail, is not and parades around like a paragon of virtue. This is both how we reward and our punishment at the same time. Perhaps times are not bad enough to seriously debate any question...

"..Excellent. Do you mind if I e-mail this to some friends?..

Not at all. Perhaps after a good nights sleep, we will all shake off the pessimism, and try once again to warn... before the tipping point where any warning becomes a moot point. Or else the military will gently chide us pessimists with, "Ahhh, you guys overestimated how much the frenchmen in Washington could inhibit us from doing our jobs."

All I want for Christmas... is for that to be true. Have a good holiday season, guy.

Thank you. I have sent it, as posted, to people I know around the country, who will probably forward it along. (with credit to you and FR as well, naturally.)

I hope our fine folks in uniform can some day chide us for being pessimistic, and the more people who are reminded of what the MSM and the 'pundits' in Washington and elsewhere are up to, the better.

I have been acutely aware of how scrolling banners, lead in stories and comments, even question phraseology have been used to frame the debate and effectively keep the seminal issues from being discused while placing other parties on the defensive from the start. It is a slick propaganda technique especially suited to what passes for news in the sound byte/video clip era.

Back in the early '70s, a roomate in college who was taking communication arts showed me how camera angles could be used to change a person's perception of the size of a crowd, and since then I have always been watching for the gimmick. It is almost always there, in this day and age, whether verbal, a trick of lighting, camera angle, or so simple as the quality of the make-up (what helped Kennedy beat Nixon).

Thanks again.

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