At his first (of four!) inaugurations Franklin Roosevelt said "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." This phrase has become trite, it has been used so many times. Today we have "No fear!" T-Shirts and such as a modern distillation of this idea. Personally, I much prefer the way H.L. Mencken captured the paralysis of fear. For he said "People don't do things because they are either lazy or afraid." Wisdom or intelligence don't enter the inaction equation for him.
On the other hand, fear can be a great motivator. It can be a psychic canary in the mental coal mine squawking and therefore spurring an immediate response. Part of why I am typing this is fear of something I haven't ever seen before in America. As John Adams stated in such succinct fashion "America is a nation of laws, not men." So the arbitrary nature of party, sect, religion or other condition should play no role in how justice is found. The fear I have today is that those who charged with upholding the law are under constant open and subtle attack by those who hold high political office.
The Attorney General has decided to launch an investigation into the CIA and their treatment of guerrilla soldiers, like Khalid Sheik Mohammed. That people at the CIA will now have to fight a legal battle as well as catch and kill terrorists seems unimportant to this insipid individual. But then this is a man who called America "A nation of cowards." If the dead could rise from Bunker Hill, Antietam, Omaha Beach, the Chosin Reservoir, or Hue, I shudder to think what would happen to Eric Holder. At the very least, they would teach him to gaze into the mirror if he wished to see a coward.
Perhaps if he would like a living example he could read Lone Survivor and ask the author how someone from "a nation of cowards" gets to be a Navy Seal; how someone from "a nation of cowards" does his duty in the face of harsh terrain, an utterly fanatical enemy and with loved ones so very far away; and how someone from "a nation of cowards" fights for people who traffic in lies and willingly lays down life so those same people have the right to despise him.
I doubt the Attorney General will venture outside the rarefied circles of the anointed liberal elite, but as the crowds at the events of 9/12 have shown, the "nation of cowards" seems more than willing to come to Washington D.C. to engage him and his master. Why? Because they have a fear that America is irreversibly turning into a cesspool of lies, corruption and, yes, cowardice.
Article comments
1 - Glenn Contrarian
Of course, to most conservatives this article will be seen as being perfectly reasonable and completely free from fear-mongering hyperbole, baseless accusations, and sweeping assumptions about the Left in general, and in particular the American president who was lawfully elected by a significant majority of American voters.
I can't say I'm surprised at your choice of books to link to....
2 - zingzing
"Even the moronic decision to spark a trade war with China by slapping tariffs on tires... may have pleased Bill Ayes, Rev. Wright or Van Jones, but that just shows a president pandering to the fringe. Such pandering on this level is an invitation to a world of political hurt as most Americans are obviously not radical revolutionaries."
yeah! down with the tire non-tariff! radical! whatever. (look, i don't understand the idea behind the tire tariff, but shit...)
there's a lot of other junk in this, but this is the best part.
we're abandoning american law!!! what next? keeping the gays down!? torture!? dictatorship in times of "need?!?" WAR!?!!!!!
as for your 9/11 thing, he wasn't trying to DOWNPLAY the terrorist aspect, he was trying to remind us that we were all brought together on that day in the service to our country. you'd have to be partisan or moronic not to get that. i'll stick with partisan.
as for race, you guys are playing that up as much as we are. and don't try to deny it. because you are.
"One thing about Barrack Obama solidly on display is his ambition, It is absolutely ruthless. Trashing for political gain the men and women who serve and support the laws of this country proves it."
bull shit. you don't even believe that. what political gain did he have? he also called kanye west a "jackass." what you gonna do with that? a black man, calling a black man an ass! oh! because he humiliated (brilliantly) a white woman! oh! oh! it's RACE! rrrrraaaacccceeee!!!!! fuck you.
"I doubt the Attorney General will venture outside the rarefied circles of the anointed liberal elite, but as the crowds at the events of 9/12 have shown, the "nation of cowards" seems more than willing to come to Washington D.C. to engage him and his master."
yeah. they sure did. they went to dc, entering blue... and black... territory... and they went to the mall... with signs... some of them pretty fucking racist... and they showed up in numbers which the vastly under-estimated... and then they went out to dinner... and enjoyed the city life... and then they went to their hotels... and they gorged on the mini-bars...
"Because they have a fear that America is irreversibly turning into a cesspool of lies, corruption and, yes, cowardice."
you know what would be good for that? a fucking navy seal. bring that motherfucker out here and he can show them what a cesspool of lies, corruption and cowardice looks like. it looks like dinner.
3 - STM
What a load of bollocks
4 - Ruvy
When you have resonsibilities for the future (like kids you hope will marry and give you grandkids), you tend to worry. But when you see your leader taking irresponsible actions, actions you can do nothing about but that you know you will suffer the consequences for, you become filled with fear.
If I were living in the States, I would have sympathies similar to those of Dock Ellis.
5 - Glenn Contrarian
Ruvy, I think you just proved reply #1 above.