Posted on 03/16/2008 4:05:58 AM PDT by MartinaMisc
ON THE eve of the Normandy invasion in 1944, General George S. Patton, addressing the men of the US Third Army, delivered a speech that would become legendary long before George C. Scott reenacted it on a Hollywood soundstage.
"Americans love a winner," Patton growled, "and will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win - all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. . . . The very thought of losing is hateful to an American."
Nowadays, the thought of losing a war isn't as hateful to some Americans as the thought of losing an election. Recall MoveOn.org's infamous "General Betray Us" ad last fall, which was intended to undercut the commander of US forces in Iraq. Think of Senate majority leader Harry Reid's insistence that "this war is lost and the surge is not accomplishing anything," or Barack Obama's unbudging claim that the "strategy is failed" and we must "get our troops out," or Hillary Clinton's vow that "starting on day one of my presidency, we will begin . . . to withdraw our troops within 60 days."
Were Patton alive today, his opinion of such defeatism would assuredly be unflattering - and unprintable. But his conviction that Americans have no patience for losers would be reinforced by the public's mounting confidence that the war in Iraq will be won.
(Excerpt) Read more at boston.com ...
“Nowadays, the thought of losing a war isn’t as hateful to some Americans as the thought of losing an election”
If losing the war is not hateful to some Nazi Americans then hopefully they will go to hell where they should be.
The article says that Americans have no patience for losers. That may have been the case in 1944, but it is certainly no longer a universal reality. I’d venture to say that about one half of Americans not only have patience for losers, but actively support them. For Europeans, that number rises from 50% to probably 75% - 80%.
The great news here is that if we are ultimately successful in Iraq, we will have defeated not only Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda, but our own Socialist party (Democrats, for those of you from Rio Linda) and their handmaidens in the media. I can’t think of a better tribute to our Viet Nam veterans than defeating those who fought against them on the home front during that war.
I’d venture to say that about one half of Americans not only have patience for losers, but actively support them.
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I’d think you’d be dead wrong on this.
What the leading Democrats want is for the Republicans to lose, that was the reason why their candidates were so anxious for President Bush to order a withdrawal from Iraq. So they would have something big against the Republicans in 08, the party that lost the war.
> What the leading Democrats want is for the Republicans to lose, that was the reason why their candidates were so anxious for President Bush to order a withdrawal from Iraq. So they would have something big against the Republicans in 08, the party that lost the war.
Yup. And that is the one thing that President Bush must not do.
To surrender Iraq at this point, or any point, would be not just a national catastrophe but a political one for whatever political party is responsible.
The democrats may not appreciate the impact of it on the country, but they certainly do on their party.
I would not be suprised to hear the tune the democrats are singing in regards to Iraq change pretty dramatically if they were to win the presidential election.
> I would not be suprised to hear the tune the democrats are singing in regards to Iraq change pretty dramatically if they were to win the presidential election.
I think you’ve read it exactly right. They will push even more resource into The Surge, then take credit for “winning the war that Bush couldn’t win.”
If for no other reason, that is why McCain needs to be President.
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