Be of good cheer
Bookworm on Oct 08 2008 at 9:42 am | Filed under: Uncategorized
I have, myself, full confidence that if all do their duty, if nothing is neglected, and if the best arrangements are made, as they are being made, we shall prove ourselves once again able to defend our Island home, to ride out the storm of war, and to outlive the menace of tyranny, if necessary for years, if necessary alone. At any rate, that is what we are going to try to do. That is the resolve of His Majesty’s Government-every man of them. That is the will of Parliament and the nation. The British Empire and the French Republic, linked together in their cause and in their need, will defend to the death their native soil, aiding each other like good comrades to the utmost of their strength. Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.
–Winston Churchill, June 4, 1940, during Britain’s darkest hour
Today, October 7, 2008, is a dark hour for conservatives. Polls consistently show Obama holding a lead against McCain; yesterday’s debate was not a winner for McCain, so we consider it a loser; and we face a monolithic media with tentacles in every facet of American life that is declaring the race over and telling us to go home. I feel floating over myself, and I read in blogs and emails, a sense of despair that it’s over, that nothing can be done to keep America from shifting irrevocably to a cold, ugly Leftism that will rob us of our exceptionalism and drag us into the dreary statist fold.
To which I have this to say: Get over it! Stop letting the subtle meld of information and disinformation get you down. It ain’t over ’til it’s over. Twenty-nine days is a lifetime in modern politics. We must go on to the end, we must fight them in the newspapers, we must fight them on the internet, we must fight them on the radio, we must fight them at community rallies, and, most importantly, we must fight them at the voting booths. We cannot surrender. If we give up now, we deserve to lose. We will carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, or on November 4, a revitalized conservatism steps forth to rescue and liberate American politics.
Related posts:
- “It is better to look good than to feel good”
- Good news and fascinating reporting
- What’s good for the pot is not good for the kettle
Email This Post To A Friend
10 Responses to “Be of good cheer”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Thanks for the pep talk, BW!
I feel that overriding sense of, well, it’s hard to describe…
It’s the relentless slow pressure that kills. One of the local talk stations has a conservative line-up, but uses ABC network news for their national coverage. Every morning I get to hear George Stephanopoulos bloviate on Sen. Obama’s (always growing) lead in the polls, the way the battleground states are swinging inevitably toward the Democrat, etc. There is no accurate reporting of candidates’ positions on issues… it’s all opinion and conclusion based on polling and reported as newsworthy FACT.
Any classic Sci-Fi geeks out there? Remember in the Foundation Trilogy? I’m reminded of the Mule’s ability to project a feeling of depression and despair to the masses. It’s what the media is attempting, using selective reporting and screened polling as the lens to focus their intent.
I’m not sure there’s an effective shield or antidote. Even chocolate might fail.
Don’t get discouraged…..get mad!
Ask yourself why Clinton’s political aides are considered “journalists” and no one asks any questions about it….. Where are the Reagan aides in the legacy media, pontificating about the electoral race? Where are the Bush 41 aides, or even the guys who’ve left Bush 43′s administration? Why haven’t any conservative authors been asked to moderate a debate?
How come people who serve the left are suddenly able to cover partisan issues with even-handedness, but those who hold center-right opinions are always marked and can never be trusted?
If McCain is going to go down (and I’m not going to argue he doesn’t deserve it, only that it will be horrendous if he does), let’s make sure that he doesn’t go down without the very best fight that can be waged against the potential catastrophe of an Obama Presidency.
Gah!! That’s a terribly hard phrase to get out……fight, folks!
It would be crazy to give up on this particular Presidential Election before Election Day, no matter how bad the situation may appear to you.
If you know anything about the polls, you know that they weight them to change the results. Don’t trust them. How can three different national polls give us Obama leads of 2%, 7%, and 11%? Statistics on a bell curve would indicate that that might happen, I don’t know, once every 100,000 years? It’s a joke.
The shape of the race always changes over the last month. Sure, Obama is definitely in a better position… RIGHT NOW. This is not the primaries, where he built up an actual delegate lead that Hillary Clinton couldn’t break. If all states had voted the primaries in June, Obama would have lost to her.
The situation is highly volatile right now, and I don’t think anyone knows what our fellow Americans are going to do come Nov. 4th. So keep up the fight!
And if we wake up the morning of Nov 5th with “the wrong guy” heading for the White House, well, even then, there’d be no reason to allow yourself to get depressed about things for any long time. It would be time to begin working toward 2010 and 2012, and any lasting discouragement would be simply self-defeating then as well. There’s never a reason to dwell in a downer!
I especially agree with that last paragraph, Mike. I felt nothing but disdain for the theatrics of the Left when Bush won in 2004. (“I’ll move to Canada!” “I’ll move to France!” “I’ll commit suicide.”) That kind of drama is part of the problem with the Left. I don’t think McCain would be a great President, so a one term Obama presidency allows us to prepare a great President — maybe Palin/Steele, or Palin/Jindal. The upcoming years could be exciting and ideologically purifying.
Well, I feel better about things than I did this morning. And no matter what happens in November, I don’t want to be like those on the left after Bush won. They were just awful, bitter and nasty.
I had to laugh when I read your post, Bookworm. Just the other day I was thinking, “Palin/Jindal, Jindal/Palin, Palin/Cantor, Cantor/Jindal . . . “. I’m already starting to get very excited about what’s coming up!
Deana
I agree with everyone’s thoughts about not giving up – yesterday’s buzz word in the MSM was “capitulation”. Frankly, the idea of giving in to the media disgusts me. What kind of example would I be for my children if I threw my hands up in the air and said, “Who cares about the vote? It won’t change things anyway!”?
That being said, I am concerned about the first two years of an Obama/Reid/Pelosi triumvirate. My prediction? Before March 31, 2009 Justices Stevens and Ginsberg retire, and Sen. Clinton is nominated and overwhelmingly confirmed to fill one of their seats. I’m not enough of a SCOTUS wonk to guess who the second nominee will be – but given the Chicago-politic background of Sen. Obama, I’m not sanguine about the posibilities.
Justice Clinton. Now there’s an oxymoron for ya!
But I believe you’re right, Earl and Mike, now is the time to buck up and work to see that ‘Justice Clinton’ is merely a scary idea instead of a scary member of the Court.
I hesitate to comment on a Barack Obama Presidency because it ain’t happened yet! And to dwell on it *would* be self-defeating.
But BobK makes a crucial point about the Obama/Reid/Pelosi triumvirate, especially under a filibuster-proof Democrat Senate majority. Reid and Pelosi have already demonstrated uncommon incompetence. Along with extremist far-left positions. Add Obama to the mix, and look out.
They clearly would want to send the entire country far, far to the left. But if they were to do it quickly, 2009-2010, it would provoke an incredible backlash.
Americans want change, but they won’t want *that* change. They’re not really thinking about what kind of change they want, they’re just hollering “Change something! And make it work! Don’t bother me with any details! I don’t care! Just make it work!” Which is woefully immature if you think about it.
This means the Obama/Reid/Pelosi triumvirate would have to move very slowly or move very sneakily. (As always, you have to account for the obfuscation the mainstream media will throw up in front of the American public, but I suspect an out of control triumvirate would be too far-left for even the mainstream media to stomach.) If Republicans are energized about defending classical liberalism, freedom and responsibility for the individual, limited government, etc, and are ready to confront the Democrats with full guns blazing, it would get very interesting.
If Republicans continue to push the profoundly anti-conservative George W. Bush HUGE-government political ideology, then there’d be little hope. There’s absolutely nothing worth rallying around there.
I forgot about Cantor, Deanna. There are wonderful possibilities coming up in a few years. Maybe we need to wallow in the slough of despair for four years to purge ourselves for the coming neo-Reagan era! (Kind of like the Israelites having to wander through the desert for 40 years to shake off the chains of slavery before being ready for the Promised Land.)
BW,
I hate to spoil your analogy, but the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years because they refused to trust God and enter the land.
Maybe the analogy of the Israelites being sent into captivity in Babylon.
>>Before March 31, 2009 Justices Stevens and Ginsberg retire>>
Like maybe announcing their retirement January 10???