And this, Sarge, is why I believe we are in the situation we find ourselves today...
This Country needs more Paladins. On Sep 26, 3:02 pm, Gaar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=OGVlY2RhOGM0MWE5MjNmMGM2ZjY0Nzcx... > > By Bill Whittle > > When I first got to college, back in the last few weeks of the > Seventies, I finally got a chance to see an ordinary game of Dungeons > and Dragons. My immediate inclination was to play as a Paladin: the > pinnacle of Lawful Good, a character required to dash in and fight > overwhelmingly powerful evil forces anywhere and at whatever odds. > These contests were short, depressing and hilarious, but all D&D > really came down to in the end was slaying small monsters, taking > their gold, buying slightly better gear and then slaying slightly > larger monsters. Why not just save some time and become a Vorpal Sword > distributor? Then you get the weapons and the gold, and people bring > them both to you. And so a larval conservative was born. And I never > played again. > > That was the attitude I took into The Lord of the Rings when the first > of the trilogy appeared in 2001, just a few months after the Two > Towers actually did fall and the idea of good and evil suddenly became > — to me and no doubt to you too — a great deal less ironic and a great > deal more real. > > And there, in the darkness, staring up at that screen, I marveled at > this monumental font of deep and eternal ideas: the aversion to facing > danger, even when it is right in front of us; the value of old and > true allies; the corrosive force of addiction; responsibility > forsaken, then reclaimed… and through it all the fear that we may be > lesser sons of greater fathers, and that we may no longer have the > courage or the will to defend the City entrusted to our care. > > This, and more, what was what John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was trying to > teach me, down that dark river of the future — and he ought to know. > The Lord of the Rings was written between 1937 through 1949… years of > dark waters, indeed. > > A few years before Tolkien put pen to paper, an event took place that > a man of his education would have undoubtedly been aware. On February > 9th, 1933, the ruling elite of the world’s great Civilization held a > debate in the Oxford Union. With thunderclouds growing dark across the > English Channel, at a time when resolute action could still have > averted the worst catastrophe the world has ever known, these elites > resolved that “This House will in no circumstances fight for its King > and Country.” > > The Resolution passed by a vote of 275 to 153. Needless to say, this > vote did not avert the fight. It guaranteed it. > > How much of the weight of that, I wonder, sat along side him as he > penned page after page about the decline of the Men of the West. For > taken in its entirety, The Lord of the Rings is about the collective > regeneration of the will and courage of a previous age, and ends with > the hope that the greatest days of the City lie yet ahead. > > I live a few miles from Santa Monica High School, in California. > There, young men and women are taught that America is “a terrorist > nation,” “one of the worst regimes in history,” that it’s twice- > elected leader is “the son of the devil,” and dictator of this > “fascist” country. Further, “patriotism” is taught by dragging an > American flag across the classroom floor, because the nation’s truest > patriots, as we should know by now, are those who are most able to > despise it. > > This is only high school, remember: in college things get much, much > worse. > > Two generations, now, are being raised on this poison, and the reason > for that is this: the enemies of this city cannot come out and simply > say, “Do not defend the city.” Even the smartest among us can see that > is simple treason. But they can say, “The City is not worth > defending.” So they say that, and they say that all the time and in as > many different ways as they are able. > > If you step far enough back to look at the whole of human history, you > will begin to see a very plain rhythm: a heartbeat of civilization. > Steep climbs out of disease and ignorance into the light of medicine > and learning — and then a sudden collapse back into darkness. And it > is in that darkness that most humans have lived their lives: poor, > nasty, brutish, and short. > > The pattern is always the same: at the height of a civilization’s > powers something catastrophic seems to occur — a loss of will, a > failure of nerve, and above all an unwillingness to identify with the > values and customs that have produced such wonders. > > The Russians say a fish rots from the head down. They ought to know. > It may not be factually true that Nero fiddled while Rome burned, the > saying has passed into common usage because the image as the ring of > truth to it: time and time again, the good and decent common people > have manned the walls of the city, and have been ready to give their > lives in its defense, only to discover too late that some silk-robed > son of a bitch has snuck out of the palace at midnight and thrown open > the gates to the barbarians outside. > > And how is this done, this “throwing open of the gates?” How are > defenders taken off the walls? > > Well, most of what I learned about Vietnam I learned from men like > Oliver Stone. This self-loathing narcissist has repeatedly tried to > inculcate in me a sense of despair and outrage at my own government, > my own culture, my own people and ultimately myself. He tried to > convince me — and he is a skillfull man — that my own government > murdered my own President for political gain. I am told daily in those > darkened temples that rogue CIA elements run a puppet government, that > the real threat to the nation comes from the generals that defend it, > or from the businessmen that provide the prosperity we take for > granted. > > I sit with others in darkened rooms, watching films like Redacted, > Stop-Loss, and In the Valley of Elah, and see our brave young soldiers > depicted as murderers, rapists, broken psychotics or ignorant dupes – > visions foisted upon me by bitter and isolated millionaires such as > Brian de Palma and Paul Haggis and all the rest. > > I’ve been told this story in some form or another, every day of every > week of the past 30 years of my life. It wasn’t always so. > > But it is certainly so today. And standing against all this hypnotic > power — the power of the mythmakers in Hollywood, the power of the > information peddlers in the media, the corrosive power of America- > hating professors on every campus in America… against all that we find > an old warrior — a paladin if ever there was one — an old, beat-up > warhorse standing up in defense of his city one last time. And beside > him: a wonder. A common person… just a regular mom who goes to work, > does a difficult job with intelligence and energy and grace and every- > day competence and then puts it away to go home and have dinner with > the family. > > Against all of that stand these two. > > No wonder they must be destroyed. Because — Sarah Palin especially — > presents a mortal threat to these people who have determined over > cocktails who the next President should be and who now clearly mean to > grind into metal shards the transaxle of their credibility in order to > get the result they must have. Truly, they are before our eyes > destroying the machine they have built in order to get their victory. > What the hell is so threatening to be worth that? > > Only this: the living proof that they are not needed. Not needed to > govern, not needed to influence and guide, not needed to lecture us on > our intellectual and moral failings which are visible only from the > heights of Manhattan skyscrapers or the palaces up on Mulholland > Drive. Not needed. We can do it — and do it better — without all of > them. > > When all is said and done, Civilizations do not fall because of the > barbarians at the gates. Nor does a great city fall from the death > wish of bored and morally bankrupt stewards presumably sworn to its > defense. Civilizations fall only because each citizen of the city > comes to accept that nothing can be done to rally and rebuild broken > walls; that ground lost may never be recovered; and that greatness > lived in our grandparents but not our grandchildren. Yes, our betters > tell us these things daily. But that doesn’t mean we have to believe > it. > > Ask the common people of all politics and persuasions aboard Flight 93 > whether greatness and courage has deserted America. Through this > magical crystal ball — the one we are using right now — we common > people can speak to one another. And by reminding ourselves and those > around us of who we are, where we came from, what we have achieved > together and of the marvels we have yet to achieve, we may laugh in > the face of despair and mock those people that think a man with an MBA > from Harvard knows more about running a gas station than the man that > actually runs the gas station. > > It is the small-town virtues of self-reliance, hard work, personal > responsibility, and common-sense ingenuity — and not those of the > preening cosmopolitans that gape at them in mixed contempt and > bafflement — that have made us the inheritors of the most magnificent, > noble, decent and free society ever to appear on this earth. This > Western Civilization… this American City… has earned the right to > greet each sunrise with a blast of silver trumpets that can bring down > mountains. > > And what, really, is a Legion of Narcissists and a Confederacy of > Despair against that? > > — Bill Whittle lives and works in Los Angeles. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
