In honor of those whose sacrifice will not be forgotten.

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So it turns out that K-blogger Jacob has a long lost twin brother, none other than Hollywood do-gooder Sean Penn.

They act alike, they think alike, at times they even talk alike, what a crazy pair!  (sorry Patty!)

Evidence?  You want evidence?  I’ll give you evidence: 

Jacob to those who don’t agree that AGW is settled science: “shut the hell up and get out of the way”

Sean Penn to those who call Hugo Chavez a dictator: “there should be a bar by which one goes to prison for these kinds of lies.”

And if anyone has the audacity to challenge these “progessive” thinkers?  Well, let’s hear how caring liberals respond to their critics–

Jacob: “I have zero respect for you people and I hope you all contract cancer and die painful and slow deaths.”

Sean Penn: “Do I hope that those people die screaming of rectal cancer? Yeah. You know, but I’m not going to spend a lot of energy on it.”

But wait, there’s more!  Note the similarities in whom they worship:

Sean Penn with Venezuelan dictator President for life socialist Hugo Chavez.

Jacob with The Messiah one term President socialist Barack Obama.

But the biggest thing they have in common of course is hatred.  Hatred for all those who do not share their world view.  Hatred of the freedoms and values that celebrate a diversity of opinion.  It is a scary thought to imagine a world where the Jacobs and Sean Penns actually held power.

Fortunately, their ignorance is transparent and easily mocked.  But shhhh! They think WE are the rubes.

Oh and one last thing.  I’ll give Sean Penn credit for at least standing behind what he believes with his name.  Jacob is a typical “keyboard warrior” who likes to spout off but has no conviction in his words, at least not enough to put his name to what he writes.  I won’t be a dick and call him a pussy, although an asshole would call him out as a coward.

Hmmm, well it turns out I’m a dick after all.  Go figure.  And what pray tell, are you?

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You know, there is nothing much to be said about the media frenzy over the Polanski arrest.  That the Hollywood elites would come to the defense of a child rapist is sadly not too surprising.  What has been gratifying is that they are being called out for it, even amongst their liberal counterparts.  Isn’t it great that libs and conservatives can find common ground on this issue?

But what prompted me to post on this disgusting matter was this report from France.  It seems that the “regular” folks there are not pleased that their intellectual betters have offered unqualified support for a man who drugged and then vaginally and anally raped a 13 year old girl.

Marie-Louise Fort, a French lawmaker in the Assembly who has sponsored anti-incest legislation, said in an interview that she was shocked that Mr. Polanski was attracting support from the political and artistic elite. “I don’t believe that public opinion is spontaneously supporting Mr. Polanski at all,” she said. “I believe that there is a distinction between the mediagenic class of artists and ordinary citizens that have a vision that is more simple.”

The mood was even more hostile in blogs and e-mails to newspapers and news magazines. Of the 30,000 participants in an online poll by the French daily Le Figaro, more than 70 percent said Mr. Polanski, 76, should face justice. And in the magazine Le Point, more than 400 letter writers were almost universal in their disdain for Mr. Polanski.

That contempt was not only directed at Mr. Polanski, but at the French class of celebrities — nicknamed Les People — who are part of Mr. Polanski’s rarefied Parisian world. Letter writers to Le Point scorned Les People as the “crypto-intelligentsia of our country” who deliver “eloquent phrases that defy common sense.”

You know, it is refreshing to see everyday American and French people on the same page.  It’s been a long time since that happened*.

Oh, and for the record, Polanski was 44 years old when he raped the girl, so it was not some “youthful indescretion”.

*I am aware that France to did not formally join with the Continentals until 1778 after the American success at Saratoga.  However, France was secretly supporting the revolutionaries even before war actually broke out.  That they did so more from hatred of the British than love of our cause is irrelevant to my point about my new found respect for the French.  Wow.  Respect for the French.  Who would have believed I’d ever type those words?

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You are in for a couple of surprises today.  Well, you already saw the first.  In nearly five years of blogging I’ve never used French in a blog title.  Don’t get me started about the French.

The second surprise is that I am a liberal.  A classic liberal. 

Liberty is not a means to a higher political end.  It is itself the highest political end.

–Lord Acton

Classic liberals have an inherent distrust of government, and especially unbridled government power.  From my days of political awakening as an anti-war protester in the 70s (misguided though I was) it has always been so.  The irony that I have spent a lifetime working for the government dosen’t change a thing either.  Respect, yes.  Trust, not so much.

Commenter Kevin asks why I think polls matter and cites the former President’s dismal poll numbers.  Well, polls only matter to the extent that the indicate something of how likely voters feel about the the performance of our elected leaders.  And clearly the majority of folks are not pleased.  It seems they must matter to those in power as well, otherwise the “healthcare” debate would not have evolved into “insurance reform”. 

Last I looked, Obama has Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress.  So, if polls don’t matter, why don’t our political betters get on with doing what’s best for us, whether we like it or not?

Frank Wilson notes that many Europeans “think that the U.S. Constitution confers certain rights on the nation’s citizens. As it happens, it does not. It simply acknowledges what the Declaration of Independence makes eminently clear, that those citizens “are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” and that government exists “to secure these rights.”

That’s exactly the point.  And what Obama and Congress fail to remember at their peril is this:

Americans regard themselves as citizens, not subjects. They may respect their government, but few feel servile toward it, and most are wary of it.

So, to answer Kevin, I’d say the polls are indicative of the fact that what we are witnessing in America today is not an angry mob of rightwing Nazi racists (as Pelosi and Reid would have you believe).  It is rather a reflection that when average Americans perceive a threat to their liberty, the rise up in protest.  It has been that way since the first tea party in Boston. 

We will not go quietly.

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There’s something happening here…

I encourage you to read this piece by Peggy Noonan in the WSJonline.  It is spot on.

You know, I’m really pretty excited to see the groundswell of opposition to Obamacare.  I was frankly despairing that perhaps that spark of distrust in government that is a natural part of the American character had been extinguished.  We’ve all been fat and happy so long it seems.  So, it appears I may have been wrong about that and it is nice to know that when our freedom is on the line, people will respond.

What is really interesting is how the government is responding.  The Speaker of the House calling the protesters “a mob”, likening them to Nazis, and saying such dissent is “unAmerican”.  I mean wow.  Fuel for the fire Ms. Pelosi.  Loved this cartoon:

You know, I came of age in the era of Vietnam war protests.  And I’m getting that kind of feeling again.  Could this be history in the making?  Who knows, but I’ll be damned if I can’t get that Buffalo Springfield ditty out of my head…

There’s battle lines being drawn

Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong

Young people speaking their minds

Are getting so much resistance from behind

–Stephen Stills

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I’ve got more to say on what’s going on in America these days, including a response to commenter Kevin (see post below).

These are definitely interesting times in the USA.  I’m heartened that so many folks seem to be getting in touch with their American heritage…

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Here dead we lie
Because we did not choose
To live and shame the land
From which we sprung.

Life, to be sure,
Is nothing much to lose,
But young men think it is,
And we were young.

–Alfred Edward Housman 

Today is the day Americans set aside to honor and remember the men and
women who gave their lives in defense of freedom and liberty.

From the days of fighting for independence from Great Britain, through the
Civil War, two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan–our best
and brightest have answered the call to service in the Armed Forces.  And
far too many made the ultimate sacrifice so that future generations could
live as a free people.

Memorial Day has an especially significant meaning for all of us here in
Korea.  In this great land, over 30,000 Americans died fighting side-by-side
with the Korean people defending freedom.  One need only look around this
modern vibrant country rebuilt from the ashes of that war to know that their
sacrifice was not in vain.  We stand today with our Korean brothers and
sisters, ever vigilant and ready, so that peace may always reign in The Land
of the Morning Calm.

Sadly, but not with upbraiding,
    The generous deed was done,
In the storm of the years that are fading
    No braver battle was won:
        Under the sod and the dew,
            Waiting the judgment-day;
        Under the blossoms, the Blue,
            Under the garlands, the Gray

No more shall the war cry sever,
    Or the winding rivers be red;
They banish our anger forever
    When they laurel the graves of our dead!
        Under the sod and the dew,
            Waiting the judgment-day,
        Love and tears for the Blue,
            Tears and love for the Gray.

–Francis Miles Finch

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Find the cost of freedom

Buried in the ground

Mother earth will swallow you

Lay your body down

              –Stephen Stills

That’s from an old CS&N anti-war ditty.  For some reason it came to mind this morning after reading this story.  The story reminded me of what’s at stake if we lack the will to defend Western values.  A chilling vision of what life will be like under the thumb of our Islamic overlords:

The head of the U.N. Children’s Fund has expressed concern over a Saudi judge’s refusal for a second time to annul a marriage between an 8-year-old girl and a 47-year-old man.

The most recent ruling, in which the judge upheld his original verdict, was handed down Saturday in the Saudi city of Onaiza, where late last year the same judge rejected a petition from the girl’s mother, seeking a divorce for her daughter.

The girl’s father, according to the lawyer, arranged the marriage in order to settle his debts with the man, who is a close friend of his. At the time of the initial verdict, the judge required the girl’s husband to sign a pledge that he would not have sex with her until she reaches puberty, al-Jutaili told CNN. The judge ruled that when the girl reaches puberty, she will have the right to request a divorce by filing a petition with the court, the lawyer said.

“It is incorrect to say that it’s not permitted to marry off girls who are 15 and younger,” Sheikh Abdul Aziz Al-Sheikh, the kingdom’s grand mufti, said in remarks last January, according to the regional Al-Hayat newspaper. “A girl aged 10 or 12 can be married. Those who think she’s too young are wrong, and they are being unfair to her.”

“We hear a lot in the media about the marriage of underage girls,” he said, according to the newspaper. “We should know that sharia law has not brought injustice to women.”

Does anyone truly believe that we can co-exist in a world dominated by Islam?  Already former bulwarks of freedom and liberty like Great Britain and Canada are cowtowing to their Islamic minorities, including considering allowing imposition of sharia law withn the muslim communities.  Make no mistake, Islamic domination of the world is the stated goal of our adversaries.  They have made no secret of this.  The hate us for our so-called decadence, but what they mean is that they despise our freedom.

We say that we are engaged in a Global War on Terror (or used to pre-Obama).  But this is really a clash of civilizations.  The question is do we still have the will to defend the values we hold most dear?

Truer words were never spoken and we forget them at our peril:

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace– but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

–Patrick Henry

Hat Tip: Althouse

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It was good to see a comment from my old bud and longtime reader Neil (Thirsty).  Surprised to see he is in Jakarta these days.  One of the things I dislike most about life in Korea is the transient nature of the relationships with people you meet.  Friends come and go with a regular frequency that takes some getting used to.  One purpose of this blog has been to stay connected with these folks who all too often scatter like the leaves from a Maple.  That was probably the most frustrating part of losing my domain name, because I (well, LTG) suddenly just disappeared and I had no means to get the word out on where I might be found.

Anyway, well met Neil.  Never had the chance to say a proper goodbye, but on your next visit to Korea we’ll raise a pint in Cheers!  Actually, I suspect it will be in Dolce Vita, but you get my meaning…

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Another example of the irreconcilable difference in values between Islam and the West is the teddy bear incident in Sudan. As you know, an English teacher from Great Britain has been convicted of insulting Muhammad when she permitted her young students to name a stuffed toy after the murderous Prophet. Of course, this injustice has angered many Muslims and the news reports indicate thousands marching in the streets of Khartoum in protest. Not of the conviction, but rather the sentence of 15 days in jail. Seems that nothing less than death is appropriate for an insult to the pedophile who bears the name Muhammad.

Just to be clear on where I stand, I’d like you to meet my new toy:

Ain’t he cute? Oh, and if any you Islamofascists don’t like it you can kiss my ass. I live right around the corner from the mosque in Seoul, so bring it on you cowardly sons of bitches.

Yeah, I am sick and tired of the apologists for Islam who claim only a small percentage of Muslims are extremists. Until I see the so-called moderates marching to denounce the daily atrocities committed in the name Islam, your faith and the pork eating Muhammad are not worthy of respect. Are we clear on that?

This editorial in the Investor’s Business Daily pretty much captures my thinking on this topic:

Is violence integral to Islam? It’s a valid question. When the pope raised it, Muslims proved him wrong by threatening to cut off his head. Message: Don’t call us intolerant or we’ll kill you.

If this sounds “Islamophobic,” a favorite retort of the Muslim-rights group CAIR, straighten us out. We looked for a condemnation of the Sudanese troglodytes on its Web site and came up short.

We did, however, find “Action Alerts” calling on Muslims to boycott radio host Michael Savage for intolerance. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and the Washington Times were also singled out for attack.

Meanwhile, CAIR is hosting a panel discussion at the National Press Club on “Islamophobia and the Political Cartoon.” Apparently CAIR, like other Muslim groups, condones violent reactions to free speech.

CAIR encourages Muslims in America to improve the coverage of Islam in the media. It says they should break the stereotype of Muslims as terrorists, and that of Islam as “archaic, barbaric, irrational” and a “religion of violence.”

Well, what are you waiting for? Condemn the Islamic court’s punishment of an innocent teacher. Certainly CAIR doesn’t agree that naming a toy animal after the Muslim prophet is a crime just because it could be considered by the most extremist hard-liner to be an insult. Or does it?

The vast majority of Americans would change their negative view of Islam if Muslims would strongly condemn such extremism. But for some reason, they won’t do it.

Until they do, they can’t complain about Islamophobia.

And until they do I will remain convinced that Islam is simply incompatible with the modern world.

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So I woke up feeling patriotic. Sue me.

Let martial note in triumph float
And liberty extend its mighty hand
A flag appears ‘mid thunderous cheers,
The banner of the Western land.
The emblem of the brave and true
Its folds protect no tyrant crew;
The red and white and starry blue
Is freedom’s shield and hope.

John Philip Sousa

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My daughters Renee and Avery have taken some umbrage at my negative reference to those silly girls who call themselves Dixie Chicks.

One of the things I liked about Team America: World Police was the way it lampooned entertainers who mindlessly mouth left wing talking points and expect their celebrity to somehow make what they say unassailably the truth. All it really proves is that you can be extraordinarily talented in one regard, and yet still be completely ignorant. The massive egos of these “stars” somehow leads them to believe that they are experts in matters of politics and foreign policy and the unwashed masses should unquestioningly heed the wisdom of their betters.

Bullshit.

And my issue with the Dixie Bitches has never been about free speech. Yes, I believe it is wrong to trash your country in front of an overseas audience. A nation is a family and while I’m fine with vehement disagreements within the family, you don’t bring your neighbors into the fight. But that’s just me. No question, Ms. Maines had every right to say what she said. Just as I have every right to criticize her for saying it. And I can choose not to listen to their music or buy their CDs. And if I owned a radio station I could decline to add them to my play list.

What pissed me off more than what she said is all her whining about “censorship”. The Constitution guarantees that the state will take no action to abridge freedom of speech. I am unaware of any arrests or government intervention to stop these ignorant women from saying foolish things. What Ms. Maines really desires is freedom to say what she wants without consequences. She is all courageous up on stage mouthing her idiocies but doesn’t think it fair when people react by exercising their freedom to speak against her or boycott her music. That is just pure chickenshit.

Sorry daughters, but Dad is sticking to his guns on this one.

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Novelist Dan Simmons recounts a rather chilling vision of the future as related to him by a time traveler he encountered on New Year’s Eve. Fascinating stuff. Go have a read, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

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Four years. Everyone has their story of that morning and how it impacted their life. Mine is not so significant, but it was still a life changing event. Beyond my political conversion, it caused me to rethink what it is that I value most. And that turned out to be freedom.

I’m not going to engage in a political rant on this day of days. I am going to remember what I saw and what I felt on that September morning as I watched smoke billow from the Penatgon from my office in DC. And I am going to honor our brave soldiers who are fighting those who would see us dead rather than living free.

If you don’t get that, words would be wasted anyway.

God bless America.

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A fascinating post over at Belmont Club on the decline of Europe is a recommended read, especially for the naysaying commenters on my earlier post on this subject.

Here’s a small sample:

Europe if not now then soon must accept that enlargement by itself can never fully compensate for the fundamental weakness of its demographics and economy. Even a ship as large as the Titanic eventually fills with water. French EU Foreign Minister Michel Barnier could not have spoken more eloquently of the dead-end French policy had become when he said the EU had no contingency plan in the event of a rejection [of the EU constitution]. “We have no plan B. You cannot have a plan B. It is ‘Yes’ and that’s the only way to discuss this item, so we go 100 percent for that outcome”. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.

After sixty years of retreat from its colonial heyday, Europe is an idea whose back is to the wall. What it needs now is a new vision and leadership, which with some American help, may address the core of its weakness: suicidal demographics; cultural self-loathing; its oppressive socialist economies. The hour is late and the ship captained by fools but hope still remains.

There are some outstanding comments on the Belmont Club post, don’t miss them. A couple of my favorites:

Other factors to look at in Europe are:

1. The demographic disaster is continent-wide, meaning the influx of Muslims is the crucial, defining political issue.

2. The best and brightest continue to try to escape to Australia or Canada, leaving the elites at home even more ossified, inflexible, and incompetent.

See “One-third of Dutch people want to emigrate”: “A survey has indicated that 32 percent of Dutch people want to emigrate abroad and that just 51 percent are proud of the Netherlands.”

****

Any colonization effort which involves the usage of the indigenous people as low-level work force will eventually fail. The colonizers may initially beat the native people with better arms and technology, but over time the native people will assimulate the technology and weapons knowledge of the colonizers and use it against them. The French discovered that in Algeria, in IndoChina, and elsewhere.

The mistake that France made in its colonization effort, is that it wanted to export a gentry class, who would make the natives do the work while the gentry lived in leisure.

Now France (and Europe) is being colonized by foreign powers. The immigrant gentry (who the French call welfare recipients) have little interest in work or in assimulating, and grow in numbers rapidly. The people who do the work to hold it all up are decreasing as childless people retire and are not replaced.

****

If I summarize Wretchard’s thesis as tersely as possible, it comes out as: “Goodbye Europe—Hello Eurabia”

****

I’m not sure exactly what the hope is here. I can imagine terrorist outrages producing a ferocious turn to the right in Europe, Muslims becoming the enemy that justifies rapid rearmament, strict immigration controls, and a radical reform of the social welfare system. But even if European economies boomed overnight, who would be manning those enterprises? The demographic problem cannot be solved in any short run, and meanwhile Europe’s choices are few and bad. Birth rates in the old East Bloc countries are even worse than in Western Europe, so East-West migration only rearranges the deck chairs. I have no doubt that Europe would dearly love to have a Mexico across its southern border, instead of what they do have.

****

As Wretchard notes, the French currently seem to fear the Polish plumber more than they fear the Arab wilders. The French pols pimping of the EU (always with a wink and a nod to let the proles know who really would be running things) is not overcoming the reality that half of every Frenchman’s potential income is going to support either a bureaucrat or a wastrel. Perhaps some Frenchmen are even realizing that taxing those nasty capitalistic companies results in higher prices.

Whether the EU constitution passes or fails is a matter of indifference to me. I doubt that passage will speed up or slow down the economic collapse that only a change in demographic trend can cure. In a democracy, the people fully deserve the government that they get. Europe has been eating seed corn for forty years, the granaries are empty and winter is coming.

****
And my favorite, which captures my sentiments on Europe exactly:

I am not at all persuaded that America should help in the coming European meltdown. It seems to me that since Europe — and especially France and Germany — have tried their damndest to implode twice in the past century, (taking the whole rest of the world lemming-like with them over the cliff), that from a Darwinian standpoint, that should be allowed this coming iteration.

If the European model is a failure, then it should be allowed to fail every bit as much a the Russian model is being allowed to fail. Granted there is that little Muslim problem they’re having, but it seems to me that we need to be focusing on Canada’s little Muslim problem first, and secondly, on Mexico’s desperate determination to over-run the United States and to take enough of our wealth to send back home to keep the home enchilada’s cooking.

We should support our allies the Brits, of course, always. And on an individual basis, any of the other countries that wake up and smell the coffee beans, such as Queen Margarethe in Denmark. But to support a “Europe” entity like we would support the nation of Australia just doesn’t make sense, neither from a psychological, a social, an evolutionary, nor an economic point of view.

Because quite frankly, saving them has not worked. We have spent enormous sums of both blood and money on saving and rebuilding Europe … twice. And have been rewarded for it with smug arrogance, uninformed stupidity, and backbiting perfidy. To me, this coming time will be three strikes, and it’s time to try something different.

****

So, I understand that I am just a backwoods American hick, too unsophisticated to have an opinion on issues of such great importance as those involving the superior and enlightened beings who reside on the European continent (and a federal employee to boot [have I no shame?]), but is it possible that just maybe their is a slight chance, that in their blind arrogance, our European betters have failed to see the wolf at their doorstep?

Nah, forget it. It couldn’t happen. Forget I said anything.

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Reading this speech from the great historian David McCullough was very moving. Sometimes we need to be reminded of just what it means to be an American. How we got here. What sets us apart. The legacy of our past is no less great than the challenges we face as nation to honor the spirit of our founders by continuing this “grand experiment” in the 21st century and beyond. Our freedom and liberty were not gifts bestowed upon us by providence, there were bought in blood and toil. To forget our obligations to those who went before, or to fail in upholding the values and traits that make us uniquely American, is the surest way to lose all that we cherish and revere.

As McCullough said so well:

We all know, in our own lives, who those people are who’ve opened a window, given us an idea, given us encouragement, given us a sense of direction, self-approval, self-worth, or who have straightened us out when we were on the wrong path. Most often they have been parents. Almost as often they have been teachers. Stop and think about those teachers who changed your life, maybe with one sentence, maybe with one lecture, maybe by just taking an interest in your struggle. Family, teachers, friends, rivals, competitors – they’ve all shaped us. And so too have people we’ve never met, never known, because they lived long before us. They have shaped us too – the people who composed the symphonies that move us, the painters, the poets, those who have written the great literature in our language. We walk around everyday, everyone of us, quoting Shakespeare, Cervantes, Pope. We don’t know it, but we are, all the time. We think this is our way of speaking. It isn’t our way of speaking – it’s what we have been given. The laws we live by, the freedoms we enjoy, the institutions that we take for granted – as we should never take for granted – are all the work of other people who went before us. And to be indifferent to that isn’t just to be ignorant, it’s to be rude. And ingratitude is a shabby failing. How can we not want to know about the people who have made it possible for us to live as we live, to have the freedoms we have, to be citizens of this greatest of countries in all time? It’s not just a birthright, it is something that others struggled for, strived for, often suffered for, often were defeated for and died for, for us, for the next generation.

Nothing fills me with as much pride and honor than to be called an American. I pray that I prove to be worthy.

Via PowerLine

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Cao has a great post on why it is so hard to kill Americans. Check it out.

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Michael Gove at The London Times gets it:

Who won the Iraqi elections? The formal counting won’t be over for days. But the result’s already clear. Iraq won.

And who lost? Well, a full list would take up all this column, but, for starters, I would say that the people who seemed a little glum yesterday morning include Saddam Hussein, Robin Cook, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, George Galloway, Osama bin Laden, Douglas Hurd, Bashar al-Assad, Menzies Campbell, Jacques Chirac, BBC News and Current Affairs, Robert Fisk and Sean Penn.

On Sunday Iraq enjoyed freedom. And enjoy seems to be the mot juste. Iraqis celebrated their chance to vote, revelled in it, embraced it. But for Robin, George, Douglas, Menzies, Jacques, Sean and those who joined them in opposition to the Iraq war there can’t be any great cause for celebration, can there? For none of this happened in their name.

Women in an Arab nation taking their place as free individuals alongside men, their voices and votes at last given equal weight. But not in your name, Robin. The Kurdish people, victims of chemical attack, ethnic cleansing, savage repression, at last voting to take their equal, respected, place in a new Iraq. But not in your name, George. The Shias of the south, after years in which their culture was marginalised, their lives held cheap, their faith mocked and their relatives tortured, now, at last, assuming a share of power in their own land, through the ballot box. But not in your name, Douglas. And an Arab nation, defying the racist stereotypes of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s camel corps, shows itself not just ready but enthusiatic for democracy. It is a victory for the principle that human rights can have a universal application. But not in your name, Menzies.

Just as the Spanish Civil War and the Cold War compelled people to take sides between democracy and oppression, so the Iraq war forced a choice on us. All of us. It was a choice that became inevitable after the events of September 11.

It was easy for most people to express their horror at the events of 9/11. It was natural for most, although not all, to feel sympathy for America. It was said that the world would never be the same again. But for all too many the world hadn’t really changed. As they proved by their opposition to the effort to change it for the better.

It has become a commonplace to assert that America squandered the world’s sympathy by going on to tackle Iraq after dealing with Afghanistan. But to wage war on Afghanistan without going farther would have been to squander something far more valuable, the moral high ground. Any old nation bent on revenge would have settled on Afghanistan. And left it there. But a nation determined to tackle the real root causes of terror had to go on. Because it is only by securing a decisive shift towards democracy across the region that the misery of the Middle East’s peoples can be relieved, and the threat to the rest of us brought to an end. Victory in the War on Terror depends not just on the elimination of regimes which sponsor terrorism, but on the nurturing of democracy’s roots in the hills of Kandahar, the banks of the Tigris and beyond.

For the past few months, whenever discussion has turned to the wisdom of the Iraq war, or the prospects for Iraq’s future, in our newspapers and on our airwaves, the critics’ voices have been dominant. And their opposition to what has been happening doom-laden.

But there are other voices who were not heard, indeed had not been heard for many years. On Sunday they spoke at last. The people of Iraq told Robin, Menzies, Douglas and George something I had been longing to hear. Their message was simple.

When you tell us that it was wrong to get rid of Saddam, foolish to press ahead with an election, naive to believe in Arab democracy, you exercise a valuable, cherishable freedom. But not in our name.

To be sure, some folks are beginning to acknowledge that maybe, just possibly, they were wrong and the President was right. And there should be no shame in that, because wherever you stood on the war the election in Iraq is a victory for us all.

Via Mudville Gazette

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A liberal columnist reflects on the ramifications of Sunday’s vote.

Via Instapundit

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In short, the flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776 have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of despotism; on the contrary, they will consume those engines and all who work them.

— Thomas Jefferson, 1821

Lots of photos and timeless quotes over at Citizen Smash. Worth the trip!

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