Gaar, You'll be in San Marino counting your money.
On Nov 9, 8:20 am, Gaar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > http://www.ejectejecteject.com/ > > A FLAG, ON A HILL > > As Civil War battles went, it was a small and insignificant affair. > But in terms of story – and especially, in terms of lessons – it’s one > of my favorites. > > The war had not yet fully turned in October of 1864. And even though > Stonewall Jackson had been dead for well over a year – killed by > mistake by his own men at the Battle of Chancellorsville -- the > Shenandoah Valley still belonged if not to Jackson then to Jackson’s > ghost, for it was there that he and his “foot cavalry” had won their > eternal place in Valhalla. Jackson’s tactical brilliance and the > endless series of Union routs still hung like clouds of gunpowder in > the valleys and hollows of the Shenandoah. > > And so it came a no surprise to either the Union or the Confederate > soldiers on the banks of Cedar Creek to see, once again, a blue rout – > men throwing down rifles and knapsacks and running for their lives, > dodging perhaps the few hissing musket balls fired at their backs but > completely unable to escape the jeering and the insults and that high, > horrible Rebel yell, as that pack of feral wolves descended on their > camps, drank their coffee, ate their rations and sat going through > their personal effects, admiring photos and reading letters from their > sweethearts. Not a loss, but a rout. Another rout. The latest in an > ongoing series of routs without end, or so it must have seemed. > > The Union general was a young man, new to his command, and who in > point of fact had been back in Washington during the defeat. But as he > rode toward the sound of the guns that morning, curiosity turned to > apprehension, and apprehension to something worse, as he crossed Mill > Creek and came upon a low hill, to see before him “the appalling > spectacle of a panic-stricken Army.” > > Phillip Sheridan was his name, described by Shelby Foote as a man with > the face of a Mongol Warlord and a hair so short and dense it made his > head look like a bullet with a coat of black paint. > > Sheridan’s first instinct was to form a straggler line and prepare for > the final Rebel assault. But the Rebels were too busy celebrating. And > after he caught his breath, Little Phil noticed something surprising: > not a broken and routed army, fleeing for their lives, but small > groups of men boiling fresh coffee, speaking to one another calmly and > cheering him as he rode by. > > One of his aides described him at that moment: “As he galloped on, his > features grew gradually set, as those carved in stone, and the same > dull red glint I had seen in his piercing eyes when, on other > occasions, the battle was going against us, was there now.” > > You bet it was. > > The closer Sheridan came to the battle, the more cheerful and animated > his defeated men became. Encountering a small group of them, Little > Phil would stand in the saddle, and give a jaunty salute – as if to > congratulate them on a great victory, rather than another humiliating > defeat. > > The result was electric, if not universal. Amid the cheering, one > infantry colonel – whose descendents perhaps would go on to become > campaign advisors – stood in Sheridan’s path and begged him not to go > on. > > “The army’s whipped!” he cried. > > “You are, but the army isn’t,” growled Sheridan, who then put the > spurs to a horse who’s back was taller than he was and rode to the > scene of the disaster, shouting, “About face, boys! We are going back > to our camps! We are going to lick them out of their boots!” > > His men were not beaten. They just needed leadership. > > “We are going to get a twist on those fellows, men!” he shouted, > pounding down the pike. “We are going to lick them out of their > boots!” > > And that’s what he did, too. He and his routed army went back to that > field and licked those Rebels right out of their boots. > > “Run!” he shouted, standing in the stirrups. “Go after them! We’ve got > the God-damnedest twist on them you ever saw!” > > Battles don’t always go that way. But sometimes they do. It depends on > whether the individual soldier still has any fight in him. > > It has been a source of delight for me these past few days to see > nothing but evidence of this, all across our defeated lines. Nowhere > have I heard a shred of defeatism or despair. On the contrary. In > point of fact, the magnanimity and graciousness I have seen in defeat > in so many places on the right tells me that this is a eager and > seasoned army, one able to look defeat in the face and own up to the > errors in tactics and strategy that got us there. And nowhere do I see > a call to abandon our core principles and sue for terms, but rather > that our loss was caused precisely by our abandonment of the issues we > which hold dear and which have served us so well on battlefields > past. > > So consider this, my fellows in arms: > > On Tuesday, the Left – armed with the most attractive, eloquent, > young, hip and charismatic candidate I have seen with my adult eyes, a > candidate shielded by a media so overtly that it can never be such a > shield again, who appeared after eight years of a historically > unpopular President, in the midst of two undefended wars and at the > time of the worst financial crisis since the Depression and whose > praises were sung by every movie, television and musical icon without > pause or challenge for 20 months… who ran against the oldest nominee > in the country’s history, against a campaign rent with internal > disarray and determined not to attack in the one area where attack > could have succeeded and who was out-spent no less than seven-to-one > in a cycle where not a single debate question was unfavorable to his > opponent – that historic victory, that perfect storm of opportunity… > > Yielded a result of 53% > > Folks, we are going to lick these people out of their boots. > > There is much to do. That a man with such overt Marxist ideas and such > a history of association with virulent anti-Americans can be elected > President should make it crystal clear to each of us just how far we > have let fall the moral tone of this Republic. The great lesson from > Ronald Reagan was simply that we can and must gently educate as well > as campaign, and explain our ideas with smiles on our faces and real > joy in our hearts, for unlike the far-left radical who gained the > Presidency on Tuesday, we start with 150 million of the most free and > intelligent and hard-working people in the history of the Earth at our > backs, with a philosophy that -- unlike theirs, which has resulted in > 100 million dead in unmarked graves -- has liberated and enriched more > people and created more joy than any nation or combination of nations > in our history. > > How can we lose this greater fight, my friends? How can we lose, > unless we give up? --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ 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. -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
