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…finally. Some of these have been languishing on my hard drive for an inexcusably long time.
Matt & Courtney, me and Nichole - a Club Vision Saturday night outing Me and Nichole’s afternoon trip to Woody Gap Mike, Preble, Nichole and I hit some good grub and some smoove beverages
Also: unrelated, but highly recommended are Preble’s photos from his annual LeConte lodge trip with his fambly, as documented on his blog.
http://www.nationalreview.com/hanson/hanson200410290825.asp
I know “excellent VDH column” is redundant, but I have to remember that there may be some of you out there who still don’t know who Victor Davis Hanson is :)
I would include a “really good part” or “my favorite snip” …but it’s all outstanding. Every last paragraph. Read the whole thing, then read it again. Then do your duty to your country …and forward it to one of your left-leaning acquaintances.
…of “perspective”, I offer this snip from James Lileks’ Bleat archives — from his 9/13/2001 post:
Do people realize just what is ahead? If, indeed, we’re serious about this. We’ve wasted ten years on “calibrated” responses “designed” to have a “measured” impact; for God’s sake, even the last time we had a ground war the Allied forces barely suffered a hangnail. I don’t fall into that trap about Americans being soft and squishy when it comes to war, that we shrink when we see the body bags - not true in 91, and damn sure not true today. I’ve never sensed this level of resolve. But we’re talking about large-scale multinational operations against nations, plural. Syria. Iraq. Iran. Afghanistan. I’ve heard a few people suggest that we shouldn’t stoop to retribution, that this somehow brings us down to their level. I’ve heard the Ghandi quote a dozen times: “an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind.”
With all due respect to Ben Kingsley, this is moral imbecility. Self-defense is not retribution. The day we impose a dictatorial theocracy, strip women of the most basic human rights, dynamite the art of other religions, train our children to hate Jews, and give aid, comfort and money to a man who exults in the deaths of innocent people, then we’re down at the Taliban’s level.
I have a small sign hanging in my office — I share it now as …much-needed perspective:
To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.
This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
