Etaoin
08-17-2005, 07:44 PM
Since I received this via the E-Mail, I am posting it in its entirety. I think it is great!!!!
Clarence Page's Feelings
Clarence Page (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0508140321aug14,1,6945586.column?coll=chi-news-col&ctrack=1&cset=true) is angry. Watching Cindy Sheehan camp out in Crawford, Texas, he feels he and other doubters are being stifled. He feels for the 30% of Americans who now feel we should withdraw all troops from Iraq.
There seems to be a bumper crop of feeling going on lately. A lot of feeling, and not much thinking. The title of Mr. Page's editorial is: Mr. President, can we talk about the war too?
Just who has been preventing you from talking about the war, Mr. Page? You and the hundreds of annoying, ankle-biting pundits who occupy the bully pulpit in America, who don't have to live with the consequences of your sniping and your thoughtless criticisms, who have done nothing but talk, talk, talk since we went into Iraq and Afghanistan? One can't help but wonder if all your talk doesn't have something to do with those poll results you so conveniently cite.
You talk, while the military fight, and die, and continue to slog onward in an uphill battle you undermine with every word you publish.
You snark away, while they bleed.
It seems to me that if anyone is having trouble getting a word in edgewise in this debate, it's the administration and the military. They don't control the cameras. They don't control the newspapers. When the President wants to address the nation, he has to fight to get an hour of prime-time airspace. The major networks, more often than not, don't carry the speeches he makes all over this country. His words don't get out to the general public, or if they do they are often twisted beyond all recognition.
And any good news from the military side of the house is ruthlessly strangled before it ever sees the light of day, while bad news is promoted 24/7 on the airwaves and in our newspapers by a media who are relentlessly anti-war and anti-administration.
Who was Cindy Sheehan's son? Casey - that was his name, wasn't it? I'll bet he was a good man. But was he a hero? Did he perform feats of honor and bravery on the battlefield? We all know her name - we hear about it everywhere we go. Yet the names of great Americans who have served this nation with honor and distinction are not considered newsworthy. When our troops succeed on the battlefield, when they earn medals, this news does not make it into the mainstream media.
And so I have a question for you, Mr. Page: you've had your say.
When do we get to talk about the war? The parents of the fallen who are not bitter and angry? Americans who support the administration? 9/11 families who don't blame President Bush?
Those who have served or died in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why are these voices not allowed to speak? Or doesn't the Bill of Rights apply to those who spend their lives defending it? Perhaps it is not President Bush who needs to listen.
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/124rafaelperalta.jpg Sgt. Rafael Peralta (http://www.danzfamily.com/archives/heroes/index.php) didn't have to become a United States Marine. And he didn't have to go to war. That's just the kind of man he was.
He joined the Marine Corps the day after he received his green card. On the walls of his bedroom, there were only three items: the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and his boot camp graduation certificate. You can see the mind of this hero in his letters he diligently wrote home to his younger brother and sister. Before he left America, he wrote his 14-year old brother Ricardo,
"be proud of me, bro...and be proud of being an American."Ricardo and his sister would receive another letter (http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2005/01/sgt_peralta_a_m.html) from their brother:
"I was just doing my homework and there was a knock on the door," said Ricardo Peralta, 14. "The moment I saw them, I knew." In his letter to Ricardo, Rafael said he was doing something he had always wanted to do. He asked Ricardo to be proud of him because the Marines were making history in Iraq.
Rafael had been killed during an assault on Fallujah.
His body took most of the blast. One Marine was seriously injured, but the rest sustained only minor shrapnel wounds. Cpl. Brannon Dyer told a reporter from the Army Times, "He saved half my fire team."Most Americans have never heard of Rafael Peralta, and they never will.
In past wars, he would have been a hero. His name would have been a household word, his deeds an inspiration to small boys, their eyes growing wide with amazement at his sacrifice. The chests of old men would have puffed out in pride. Crusty veterans would have stood a bit taller, remembering their own service. Women would have grown misty-eyed, and young girls would have laid flowers on his grave, wiping away a tear as they dreamed of handsome heroes.
But they will never hear of him - his voice has been silenced. The mainstream media does not consider the sacrifices of men like Sgt. Rafael Peralta "newsworthy". The mainstream media do not seem interested in talking to Sgt. Peralta's family. Instead, we get to hear about Cindy Sheehan all day, every day.
Search results:
Chicago Tribune: Rafael Peralta: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 10
Washington Post: Rafael Peralta: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 27
NY Times: Rafael Peralta: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 20
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/rubble.jpg I'll bet unless you happened to catch the single story in the Washington Post, you never heard about the heroics of three young Marines who single-handedly stopped a suicide bombing attack consisting of not one, but TWO trucks - a dump truck and a fire engine - full of explosives.
That, too, was not considered newsworthy by most of the mainstream media - since none of our forces were killed and the camp was saved from certain destruction due to the heroics of three men barely old enough to be out of high school. Contradicting the constant stream of stories about disgruntled troops on the verge of mutiny, their CO wrote home:
Once again the good Lord looked upon us, and the Marines executed flawlessly, which were the reasons for the enemy paying dearly for their decisions. The Marines are fine. I am so unbelievably proud to be here with them. Motivation and dedication to each other, our families, and our mission couldn't be higher. As a unit, as a company, we continue to grow each day, understanding and appreciating each individual effort to protect, serve, and strengthen the company as a whole. The Marines are at times tired yet tireless in their duties, enduring hardships yet hardened against weak mindedness, and exposed to tough conditions but have toughened in mind, body, and soul.http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/dunham.jpg Marine LCpl. Jason L. Dunham (http://joatmoaf.typepad.com/i_love_jet_noise/files/corporal_dunham.html): greater love hath no man...
Lance Cpl. Dean told those assembled about a trip to Las Vegas the two men and Becky Jo Dean had taken in January, not long before the battalion left for the Persian Gulf. Chatting in a hotel room, the corporal told his friends he was planning to extend his enlistment and stay in Iraq for the battalion's entire tour. "You're crazy for extending," Lance Cpl. Dean recalls saying. "Why?" He says Cpl. Dunham responded: "I want to make sure everyone makes it home alive. I want to be sure you go home to your wife alive."
Mission accomplished, Corporal Dunham. Semper Fidelis.
Jason Dunham was killed when a grenade exploded. What is unusual is that he placed his helmet on top of it and then rolled on top of the grenade to protect his fellow Marines:
"I deeply believe that given the facts and evidence presented he clearly understood the situation and attempted to block the blast of the grenade from his squad members," Lt. Col. Lopez wrote in a May 13 letter recommending Cpl. Dunham for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor. "His personal action was far beyond the call of duty and saved the lives of his fellow Marines."Chicago Tribune: Jason Dunham: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 10
Washington Post: Jason Dunham: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 27
NY Times: Jason Dunham (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srcht=s&srchst=nyt&vendor=&query=%22jason+dunham%22&date_select=full&submit.x=63&submit.y=8): 0
Cindy Sheehan: 20
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/Robert_Whisenant.jpg Taking a licking and keepin' on ticking. Staff Sgt. Robert D. Whisenant (http://www.army.com/news/articles/article_061204_05.html) racked up two Purple Hearts in two weeks.
NY Times... oh, forget it.
Pfc. Eric Paul Woods (http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2005/07/sometimes_even_1.html) was killed by an explosion overnight when he stopped to help a wounded soldier on the side of a road in Iraq, according to his father, Charles Woods of Urbandale, Iowa... He said his son relayed in a phone call that he had turned down an offer to be moved from the front lines of the war."He wanted to stay and help his fellow soldiers," Woods said...
He is survived by his wife, Jamie, of seven years, and his 3-year-old son.
Chicago Tribune: Pfc. Eric Paul Woods: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 10
Washington Post: Pfc. Eric Paul Woods: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 27
NY Times: Pfc. Eric Paul Woods: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 20
Although the media shows no interest in them unless they have an axe to grind, President talks regularly with the families of the fallen (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8941525/site/newsweek/page/2/print/1/displaymode/1098/):
The most telling—and moving—picture of Bush grieving with the families of the dead was provided by Rachel Ascione, who met with him last summer. Her older brother, Ron Payne, was a Marine who had been killed in Afghanistan only a few weeks before Ascione was invited to meet with Bush at MacDill Air Force Base, near Tampa, Fla. Ascione wasn't sure she could restrain herself with the president. She was feeling "raw." "I wanted him to look me in the eye and tell me why my brother was never coming back, and I wanted him to know it was his fault that my heart was broken," she recalls. The president was coming to Florida, a key swing state, in the middle of his re-election campaign. Ascione was worried that her family would be "exploited" by a "phony effort to make good with people in order to get votes."
Ascione and her family were gathered with 18 other families in a large room on the air base. The president entered with some Secret Service agents, a military entourage and a White House photographer "I'm here for you, and I will take as much time as you need," Bush said. He began moving from family to family. Ascione watched as mothers confronted him: "How could you let this happen? Why is my son gone?" one asked. Ascione couldn't hear his answer, but soon "she began to sob, and he began crying, too. And then he just hugged her tight, and they cried together for what seemed like forever."
Ascione's family was one of the last Bush approached Ascione still planned to confront him, but Bush disarmed her in an almost uncanny way. Ascione is just over five feet; her late brother was 6 feet 7 "My whole life, he used to put his hand on the top of my head and just hold it there, and it drove me crazy," she says. When Bush saw that she was crying, he leaned over and put his hand on the top of her head and drew her to him. "It was just like my brother used to do," she says, beginning to cry at the memory.
Before Bush left the meeting, he paused in the middle of the room and said to the families, "I will never feel the same level of pain and loss you do. I didn't lose anyone close to me, a member of my family or someone that I love. But I want you to know that I didn't go into this lightly. This was a decision that I struggle with every day."
As he spoke, Ascione could see the grief rising through the president's body. His shoulder slumped and his face turned ashen. He began to cry and his voice choked. He paused, tried to regain his composure and looked around the room. "I am sorry, I'm so sorry," he said.
And I believe he is sorry. But I am a military wife and daughter, and you don't run a great nation based on your feelings. I don't want my President to behave that way, and neither do the men and women who serve him in the armed forces. They want a strong leader who will focus on what is best for the future of this nation.
But some people can't see that. Like Cindy Sheehan, Clarence Page wants to talk to President Bush about his "feelings". How incredibly special - we all have feelings. Maybe we can have a sharing circle sometime and emote together. I'm sure we'll all be better people for the experience.
But for the moment, we are at war. There are more important things to do than sit around focusing on our emotions.
In his little screed, Mr. Page acknowledges all the reasons we can't leave Iraq right now. Apparently he is well aware of the difficulties, but right now his "feelings" seem to be holding the upper hand. He is "worried" that the President doesn't "have a plan".
It never seems to occur to people like Clarence Page that we are in a difficult and unpredictable situation. That grownup people (this means Mommies and Daddies) have to face the unpleasant fact that life is full of unknown quantities. That you cannot always plan everything in advance, especially when you are in a partnership with a sovreign nation that must be allowed to develop independently. But if we never take risks, then we also never have the opportunity to change the world for the better: to offer our grandchildren a world that is as much a better place as the world our grandparents offered to us.
How on earth does he think the America of today was created? By people who sat on their hands and never ventured anything? No - American history is full of bold risk-takers - full of pain and suffering and bad decisions and debacles and disasters and triumphs in equal measure. Full of Antietams where tens of thousands were slain in a single day - this is unimaginable to milquetoasts like Mr. Page - and yet, men rose up the next morning and pressed on. Full of routs like the disastrous Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. These are part of our glorious and, at times, miserable, history But there has been one constant that has made this nation what it is today: no matter what obstacles stood in our way, we have pressed on.
How is it that we have suffered not a single bloody day like Antietam in the War on Terror - on the contrary, we have had nothing but military success - and yet men like Clarence Page are constantly whining that we are on the brink of disaster? How far we have fallen.
If we are defeated, it will be by our own weakness, our strength sapped from within by the cancer of our own self-hatred. We will be beaten by men like Clarence Page who do not recognize greatness, and would tear it down if they were capable of recognizing it.
Posted by Cassandra at August 16, 2005 07:32 AM
http://www.villainouscompany.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/904 (http://www.villainouscompany.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/904)
Clarence Page's Feelings
Clarence Page (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-0508140321aug14,1,6945586.column?coll=chi-news-col&ctrack=1&cset=true) is angry. Watching Cindy Sheehan camp out in Crawford, Texas, he feels he and other doubters are being stifled. He feels for the 30% of Americans who now feel we should withdraw all troops from Iraq.
There seems to be a bumper crop of feeling going on lately. A lot of feeling, and not much thinking. The title of Mr. Page's editorial is: Mr. President, can we talk about the war too?
Just who has been preventing you from talking about the war, Mr. Page? You and the hundreds of annoying, ankle-biting pundits who occupy the bully pulpit in America, who don't have to live with the consequences of your sniping and your thoughtless criticisms, who have done nothing but talk, talk, talk since we went into Iraq and Afghanistan? One can't help but wonder if all your talk doesn't have something to do with those poll results you so conveniently cite.
You talk, while the military fight, and die, and continue to slog onward in an uphill battle you undermine with every word you publish.
You snark away, while they bleed.
It seems to me that if anyone is having trouble getting a word in edgewise in this debate, it's the administration and the military. They don't control the cameras. They don't control the newspapers. When the President wants to address the nation, he has to fight to get an hour of prime-time airspace. The major networks, more often than not, don't carry the speeches he makes all over this country. His words don't get out to the general public, or if they do they are often twisted beyond all recognition.
And any good news from the military side of the house is ruthlessly strangled before it ever sees the light of day, while bad news is promoted 24/7 on the airwaves and in our newspapers by a media who are relentlessly anti-war and anti-administration.
Who was Cindy Sheehan's son? Casey - that was his name, wasn't it? I'll bet he was a good man. But was he a hero? Did he perform feats of honor and bravery on the battlefield? We all know her name - we hear about it everywhere we go. Yet the names of great Americans who have served this nation with honor and distinction are not considered newsworthy. When our troops succeed on the battlefield, when they earn medals, this news does not make it into the mainstream media.
And so I have a question for you, Mr. Page: you've had your say.
When do we get to talk about the war? The parents of the fallen who are not bitter and angry? Americans who support the administration? 9/11 families who don't blame President Bush?
Those who have served or died in Iraq and Afghanistan? Why are these voices not allowed to speak? Or doesn't the Bill of Rights apply to those who spend their lives defending it? Perhaps it is not President Bush who needs to listen.
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/124rafaelperalta.jpg Sgt. Rafael Peralta (http://www.danzfamily.com/archives/heroes/index.php) didn't have to become a United States Marine. And he didn't have to go to war. That's just the kind of man he was.
He joined the Marine Corps the day after he received his green card. On the walls of his bedroom, there were only three items: the United States Constitution, the Bill of Rights and his boot camp graduation certificate. You can see the mind of this hero in his letters he diligently wrote home to his younger brother and sister. Before he left America, he wrote his 14-year old brother Ricardo,
"be proud of me, bro...and be proud of being an American."Ricardo and his sister would receive another letter (http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2005/01/sgt_peralta_a_m.html) from their brother:
"I was just doing my homework and there was a knock on the door," said Ricardo Peralta, 14. "The moment I saw them, I knew." In his letter to Ricardo, Rafael said he was doing something he had always wanted to do. He asked Ricardo to be proud of him because the Marines were making history in Iraq.
Rafael had been killed during an assault on Fallujah.
His body took most of the blast. One Marine was seriously injured, but the rest sustained only minor shrapnel wounds. Cpl. Brannon Dyer told a reporter from the Army Times, "He saved half my fire team."Most Americans have never heard of Rafael Peralta, and they never will.
In past wars, he would have been a hero. His name would have been a household word, his deeds an inspiration to small boys, their eyes growing wide with amazement at his sacrifice. The chests of old men would have puffed out in pride. Crusty veterans would have stood a bit taller, remembering their own service. Women would have grown misty-eyed, and young girls would have laid flowers on his grave, wiping away a tear as they dreamed of handsome heroes.
But they will never hear of him - his voice has been silenced. The mainstream media does not consider the sacrifices of men like Sgt. Rafael Peralta "newsworthy". The mainstream media do not seem interested in talking to Sgt. Peralta's family. Instead, we get to hear about Cindy Sheehan all day, every day.
Search results:
Chicago Tribune: Rafael Peralta: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 10
Washington Post: Rafael Peralta: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 27
NY Times: Rafael Peralta: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 20
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/rubble.jpg I'll bet unless you happened to catch the single story in the Washington Post, you never heard about the heroics of three young Marines who single-handedly stopped a suicide bombing attack consisting of not one, but TWO trucks - a dump truck and a fire engine - full of explosives.
That, too, was not considered newsworthy by most of the mainstream media - since none of our forces were killed and the camp was saved from certain destruction due to the heroics of three men barely old enough to be out of high school. Contradicting the constant stream of stories about disgruntled troops on the verge of mutiny, their CO wrote home:
Once again the good Lord looked upon us, and the Marines executed flawlessly, which were the reasons for the enemy paying dearly for their decisions. The Marines are fine. I am so unbelievably proud to be here with them. Motivation and dedication to each other, our families, and our mission couldn't be higher. As a unit, as a company, we continue to grow each day, understanding and appreciating each individual effort to protect, serve, and strengthen the company as a whole. The Marines are at times tired yet tireless in their duties, enduring hardships yet hardened against weak mindedness, and exposed to tough conditions but have toughened in mind, body, and soul.http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/dunham.jpg Marine LCpl. Jason L. Dunham (http://joatmoaf.typepad.com/i_love_jet_noise/files/corporal_dunham.html): greater love hath no man...
Lance Cpl. Dean told those assembled about a trip to Las Vegas the two men and Becky Jo Dean had taken in January, not long before the battalion left for the Persian Gulf. Chatting in a hotel room, the corporal told his friends he was planning to extend his enlistment and stay in Iraq for the battalion's entire tour. "You're crazy for extending," Lance Cpl. Dean recalls saying. "Why?" He says Cpl. Dunham responded: "I want to make sure everyone makes it home alive. I want to be sure you go home to your wife alive."
Mission accomplished, Corporal Dunham. Semper Fidelis.
Jason Dunham was killed when a grenade exploded. What is unusual is that he placed his helmet on top of it and then rolled on top of the grenade to protect his fellow Marines:
"I deeply believe that given the facts and evidence presented he clearly understood the situation and attempted to block the blast of the grenade from his squad members," Lt. Col. Lopez wrote in a May 13 letter recommending Cpl. Dunham for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for military valor. "His personal action was far beyond the call of duty and saved the lives of his fellow Marines."Chicago Tribune: Jason Dunham: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 10
Washington Post: Jason Dunham: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 27
NY Times: Jason Dunham (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?srcht=s&srchst=nyt&vendor=&query=%22jason+dunham%22&date_select=full&submit.x=63&submit.y=8): 0
Cindy Sheehan: 20
http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/home/cassandr/public_html/vcblog/mt/images/Robert_Whisenant.jpg Taking a licking and keepin' on ticking. Staff Sgt. Robert D. Whisenant (http://www.army.com/news/articles/article_061204_05.html) racked up two Purple Hearts in two weeks.
NY Times... oh, forget it.
Pfc. Eric Paul Woods (http://www.villainouscompany.com/vcblog/archives/2005/07/sometimes_even_1.html) was killed by an explosion overnight when he stopped to help a wounded soldier on the side of a road in Iraq, according to his father, Charles Woods of Urbandale, Iowa... He said his son relayed in a phone call that he had turned down an offer to be moved from the front lines of the war."He wanted to stay and help his fellow soldiers," Woods said...
He is survived by his wife, Jamie, of seven years, and his 3-year-old son.
Chicago Tribune: Pfc. Eric Paul Woods: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 10
Washington Post: Pfc. Eric Paul Woods: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 27
NY Times: Pfc. Eric Paul Woods: 0
Cindy Sheehan: 20
Although the media shows no interest in them unless they have an axe to grind, President talks regularly with the families of the fallen (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8941525/site/newsweek/page/2/print/1/displaymode/1098/):
The most telling—and moving—picture of Bush grieving with the families of the dead was provided by Rachel Ascione, who met with him last summer. Her older brother, Ron Payne, was a Marine who had been killed in Afghanistan only a few weeks before Ascione was invited to meet with Bush at MacDill Air Force Base, near Tampa, Fla. Ascione wasn't sure she could restrain herself with the president. She was feeling "raw." "I wanted him to look me in the eye and tell me why my brother was never coming back, and I wanted him to know it was his fault that my heart was broken," she recalls. The president was coming to Florida, a key swing state, in the middle of his re-election campaign. Ascione was worried that her family would be "exploited" by a "phony effort to make good with people in order to get votes."
Ascione and her family were gathered with 18 other families in a large room on the air base. The president entered with some Secret Service agents, a military entourage and a White House photographer "I'm here for you, and I will take as much time as you need," Bush said. He began moving from family to family. Ascione watched as mothers confronted him: "How could you let this happen? Why is my son gone?" one asked. Ascione couldn't hear his answer, but soon "she began to sob, and he began crying, too. And then he just hugged her tight, and they cried together for what seemed like forever."
Ascione's family was one of the last Bush approached Ascione still planned to confront him, but Bush disarmed her in an almost uncanny way. Ascione is just over five feet; her late brother was 6 feet 7 "My whole life, he used to put his hand on the top of my head and just hold it there, and it drove me crazy," she says. When Bush saw that she was crying, he leaned over and put his hand on the top of her head and drew her to him. "It was just like my brother used to do," she says, beginning to cry at the memory.
Before Bush left the meeting, he paused in the middle of the room and said to the families, "I will never feel the same level of pain and loss you do. I didn't lose anyone close to me, a member of my family or someone that I love. But I want you to know that I didn't go into this lightly. This was a decision that I struggle with every day."
As he spoke, Ascione could see the grief rising through the president's body. His shoulder slumped and his face turned ashen. He began to cry and his voice choked. He paused, tried to regain his composure and looked around the room. "I am sorry, I'm so sorry," he said.
And I believe he is sorry. But I am a military wife and daughter, and you don't run a great nation based on your feelings. I don't want my President to behave that way, and neither do the men and women who serve him in the armed forces. They want a strong leader who will focus on what is best for the future of this nation.
But some people can't see that. Like Cindy Sheehan, Clarence Page wants to talk to President Bush about his "feelings". How incredibly special - we all have feelings. Maybe we can have a sharing circle sometime and emote together. I'm sure we'll all be better people for the experience.
But for the moment, we are at war. There are more important things to do than sit around focusing on our emotions.
In his little screed, Mr. Page acknowledges all the reasons we can't leave Iraq right now. Apparently he is well aware of the difficulties, but right now his "feelings" seem to be holding the upper hand. He is "worried" that the President doesn't "have a plan".
It never seems to occur to people like Clarence Page that we are in a difficult and unpredictable situation. That grownup people (this means Mommies and Daddies) have to face the unpleasant fact that life is full of unknown quantities. That you cannot always plan everything in advance, especially when you are in a partnership with a sovreign nation that must be allowed to develop independently. But if we never take risks, then we also never have the opportunity to change the world for the better: to offer our grandchildren a world that is as much a better place as the world our grandparents offered to us.
How on earth does he think the America of today was created? By people who sat on their hands and never ventured anything? No - American history is full of bold risk-takers - full of pain and suffering and bad decisions and debacles and disasters and triumphs in equal measure. Full of Antietams where tens of thousands were slain in a single day - this is unimaginable to milquetoasts like Mr. Page - and yet, men rose up the next morning and pressed on. Full of routs like the disastrous Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg. These are part of our glorious and, at times, miserable, history But there has been one constant that has made this nation what it is today: no matter what obstacles stood in our way, we have pressed on.
How is it that we have suffered not a single bloody day like Antietam in the War on Terror - on the contrary, we have had nothing but military success - and yet men like Clarence Page are constantly whining that we are on the brink of disaster? How far we have fallen.
If we are defeated, it will be by our own weakness, our strength sapped from within by the cancer of our own self-hatred. We will be beaten by men like Clarence Page who do not recognize greatness, and would tear it down if they were capable of recognizing it.
Posted by Cassandra at August 16, 2005 07:32 AM
http://www.villainouscompany.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/904 (http://www.villainouscompany.com/mt/mt-tb.cgi/904)