Melanie Phillips has a very thought provoking piece on the Spectator Blog entitled “Freedom Now Stands Alone.” I thought the title to be rather fortuitous, but not in the way she means it.
Melanie points out:
“Those of us who have looked on appalled during this most frightening of presidential elections – at the suspension of reason and its replacement by thuggery -- can only hope that the way this man governs will be very different from the profile provided by his influences, associations and record to date. It’s a faint hope – the enemies of America, freedom and the west will certainly be rejoicing today.”
Ah…but will they be rejoicing tomorrow? For example, Israel may consider the new leadership less of an ally and require that certain elementary and necessary actions be taken without input, participation or resources provided by the United States in the past. Were I an Iranian living within driving distance of their nuclear facilities I would not be rejoicing. I would be moving.
So yes, Melanie. Freedom stands alone in each sovereign nation that has the brass ones to grasp on to the concept. Perhaps it is about time that the purveyors of Freedom break up the franchise and concentrate on their own ‘mom & pop’ establishment. Perhaps the removal of guaranteed influence of the US will require individual nations to propagate their own personal claim of Freedom and strengthen what already exists. After all, the very concept is nothing definitive and is based on the values of those in the search. We live in a snow globe. If you want to see the pretty scene of swirling flakes, you have to shake the globe a bit.
How will Poland respond to Russia’s latest dominance flex? Surely, they’d feel much more comfortable knowing that the United States would step in at a moment’s notice should boundaries be challenged. However, can a pacifist president so ignorant to foreign policy be counted on when that time comes? Poland is preparing in event that the answer is ‘no.’ They were well aware of Obama’s failure to recognize Georgia as a true ally to the US when Russia visited that country. The President-Elect was forced to re-categorize his public comments after the fact (with the help of the media). So Poland stands alone, in theory. Their Freedom stands alone, as a result. I cannot help believing that such straights actually strengthen the nationalism and sovereignty of a nation. The by-product, and clearly the most important cog in the wheel is then the growing importance of Freedom to the Polish populace. Suddenly, what is truly important to a man or a woman takes precedence over what was important just yesterday.
“What this election tells us is that America voted for change because America is in the process of changing – not just demographically by becoming less white and more diverse, but as the result of a culture war in which western civilisation is losing out to a far-left agenda which has become mainstream, teaching American children to despise the founding values of their country and hijacking discourse by the minority power-grab of victim-culture.”
It seems to me that far too many people are intellectually lazy. They are too indolent to understand the concept of repercussions. The ‘immediate gratification’ generations have been shaped by the media. Yet, at this writing, the print media and broadcast media are on their last legs. They might just be a memory in four years. Even during the most exciting political contest in recent history the papers of record were downsizing their staffs, annihilating their studio teams, and consequentially lowering their advertising rates to reflect the absolutely horrid circulation figures as well as downcast viewer ratings.
I don’t think you can call it a culture war unless you consider ignorance & apathy to be a culture in and of itself. The failure of those in the Conservative Right is that of communication. Ronald Reagan (The Great Communicator) and Margaret Thatcher (Iron Lady; Attila the Hen) would not reach across the aisle as our ‘leaders’ do today. Instead, they would present the facts in layman’s terms to the general populace encouraging them to join up in their cause. Today's current (so-called) conservative leadership cowers while over-generalized nonsense such as the concept of “change” is grasped by a lazy constituency. Who can blame them? There is no offered alternative.
How poor is a campaign that uses the same catch phrase (“change”) rather than truly resonating with the people they are trying to influence. McCain would have been far more successful had he stared into the camera and said…”I’m smarter than that kid running for president against me.” Instead, he tried to hoodwink everyone with some abstract references to “real change.” At the same time, he called his little band of politically correct idiots the “straight talk express.” The motto of your candidate should not make you cringe and question the hypocrisy created by these opposing two staples.
“Millions of Americans remain lion-hearted, decent, rational and sturdy. They find themselves today abandoned, horrified, deeply apprehensive for the future of their country and the free world. No longer the land of the free and the home of the brave; they must now look elsewhere.”
Abandoned? I don’t feel that way, personally. I’m sure there are some. But, Melanie, that’s when we truly shine. The contrarian nature of an American is not something to take lightly. This is a country built on rugged individualism. Freedom now stands alone in each individual with the fortitude to make it a priority…a necessity. There is nothing quite as strong as that. And, there is an advantage in that concept. Freedom is not something that has to be wrapped up in a pretty box to be appetizing. Obama’s “change” is a chimera. It is an abstract of flim-flam reflecting a wealth of non-descript perceptions. Freedom, however, is a rally point, a goal, a means and an end all at once. I am not one prone to cheerleading and flowery words, but do not doubt Freedom’s call. Millions of American do, indeed, remain lion-hearted, decent, rational and sturdy. There is no need for us to re-invent ourselves in pursuit of consensus.
We need only rediscover our voice.
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