We won. Take a moment to survey the landscape.
Yesterday, almost 55 million Americans got up, formed part of record lines, and voted to replace the President of the United States. Many of them felt passionately about doing so. Many had donated money to political campaigns for the first time. Many people heretofore uninterested in politics joined grassroots organizations aimed at removing George Bush from office, and to try to pry any part of the Federal government back to their political party.
This morning, the results must look to them like the carnage of a battlefield. Despite everything they did, George Bush was reelected. The Republicans, far from losing the House or the Senate, secured and increased their majorities. The highest ranking Democrat in the government, Senate Minority Leader Daschle, was turned out by voters. For social liberals, the sweeping victory of amendments forbidding gay marriage -- every one offered passed handily -- must be depressing. There is nothing for them to feel good about in the results, except the election of Mr. Obama and the well-deserved defeat of Mr. Keyes in IL.
They were defeated only because more than 58 million Americans stood up to vote for the opposite things.
In medieval battles, often forces coming into contact with each other were nearly evenly matched. The forces fight -- Vikings and Saxons clashing at each other behind their shield walls -- until that small difference in strength breaks one of the lines. Then, pouring through the breach, the victors tear apart the shield wall and rout the enemy. Few of the losers escaped from such battles, when any did. Though the foe may have been of nearly equal size and strength, at the last that small difference led to a complete victory for one side, and complete destruction for the other.
Democracy works in a similar way. We have had a giant clash of peaceful armies, and in spite of the completeness of the rout, we must remember that their force was nearly as powerful as our own.
For those of you readers who were part of the defeated army, I salute you. You have every reason to be proud of how hard you fought, and of the dedication and steadfastness with which you struck for your cause. You can hold your heads high, knowing that you did absolutely everything that could be done.
In the next years, we must remember the 55 million. It may be that some of them can be won over, through argument or through example, or even -- on matters not of principle -- through compromise. Even when not, we must remember that they showed that America is their country too: no one can ever again claim to be backed by the "silent majority." That majority has now spoken, but it spoke on both sides.
We should remember that they felt all the passion and concern that we did ourselves, and found that doing everything they could only led to the defeat of their cause. That kind of defeat can weaken the Republic, which many of us are sworn to uphold. It weakens it by undermining faith and confidence in the institutions. We must take care to be sure they find fair hearing of their concerns in the institutions that conservatives now control. The government must serve them as well. We should take care to observe the tenets of Federalism, and not use the power of the Federal government to try and influence liberal states according to a general will. We should erect new walls in that regard, so that our disappointed neighbors can still live the lives they want to live in what is also their country.
Those same walls will protect us, should we ever someday lose.
Congratulations to the victor.
Nov 2
Voting
Grim's Hall enjoyed 100% turnout in our private "Get Out The Vote" efforts, with 100% of us voting for Bush. The election comes down to really just two things, which are tightly related: the war, and character. Bush has proven he'll fight the war emphatically; Kerry says he would, when he isn't saying he'll have the troops "home where they belong." Troops brought home can't win the war.
As to character: in spite of the constant assaults on Bush's character, I've developed some mild admiration for the man. He's far from perfect, but I believe he is decent and brave. I remember how he flew into Baghdad by night, to visit his troops on Thanksgiving. I remember how he took time out of his day to climb up on a plane of soldiers deploying to Iraq. I thought "Ashley's story" was very revealing, because it was her family that went to the trouble of getting it out, making sure we knew about it. I remember Bush going to run with Sergeant McNaughton, who lost his leg.
We know, by now, what I think of Kerry's character, so I won't belabor it. To put it short: I've seen nothing from him to indicate that he is a decent man.
Mistakes are made in war, and to be honest, there have been no mistakes in Iraq to rival some of the ones made in the planning for the war in France, following Operation Overlord. Victor Hanson, a man whose writing I don't normally enjoy, wrote an excellent account of the brutality that followed D-Day, most of it due to poor Allied planning, which cost 2,500 Allied lives every day. Iraq has seen its share of blunders and mistakes, imperfect planning and sometimes even absent planning. But all wars do; most of them, worse.
What matters is boldness and commitment, and the certainty of heart. Bush has that.
Too, I must acknowledge that some of our institutions have broken down. Neither the traditional separation of powers, nor the rule of law, can any longer restrain the most powerful men and women in this country. If the law cannot bind them, oaths must. Character is the only guarantee we have, the last one that can function.
Would Kerry keep his oath? I can't see why, when he broke his oath as a Naval officer. Will he choose to obey the law when the court can't restrain him? I can't see why, when he's continued to collect his Senate pay in open defiance of the US Code.
No, this election is an election of no choice. Bush is the only candidate to support. He is a decent man "with a spine of tempered steel," as Zell Miller put it. His opponent has neither quality, and both are needed.
Sgt Hook - This We'll Defend � Sergeant Major Hook
Congratulations are due to Sergeant Major Hook. One of our own, done good.
K-Disch
A few weeks ago, I introduced you to an old friend of mine, Tiny Robinson, who in 1971 was a Navy SEAL. AuthentiSEAL, a research organization which investigates false claims to military glory, has been looking into Kerry's discharge status for months.
Today there are new stories about this. You've probably seen the first one, in the New York Sun. It is an interview with Captain Mark Sullivan, USN Ret, one of a pair of Naval attorneys who have separately been researching the question. As a JAG officer, he is intimitely familiar with what the paperwork should look like. What Kerry has posted isn't it, he says.
Kerry spokesman David Wade did not reply when asked if Mr. Kerry was other than honorably discharged before he was honorably discharged.The Sun piece is an interview, as I said. The actual testimony of these two Naval JAG officers is posted at Vets For Bush (.PDF warning). PoliPundit, who has also been following this story, has more.
"Mr. Meehan may well be right and all Mr. Kerry's military records are on his Web site," Mr. Sullivan said. "Unlike en listed members, officers do not receive other than honorable, or dishonorable, certificates of discharge. To the contrary, the rule is that no certificate will be awarded to an officer separated wherever the circumstances prompting separation are not deemed consonant with traditional naval concepts of honor. The absence of an honorable discharge certificate for a separated naval officer is, therefore, a harsh and severe sanction and is, in fact, the treatment given officers who are dismissed after a general court-martial."
Channelnewsasia.com
What to make of this story?
"The US Department of State wishes to alert US citizens, either resident in or traveling through the Nordic/Baltic region, that it has received threat information and urges all US citizens in the Nordic and Baltic countries to be vigilant as to their surroundings," the embassy in Helsinki said.But how can this be? Didn't Osama just tell us that Sweden was safe, as we would be too if only we'd lay down arms?
It said the warning should be heeded "especially in centers of ground-based mass transit" and called on Americans "to report any unusual or suspicious persons, incidents or circumstances to the nearest police authorities."
Why, I feel betrayed.
deuddersun says...
Deuddersun has a tribute up to our fallen brothers of this week:
Go now, and take your places at the Table of Warriors with the Blessings of The All Father, Odin, One-eye, for you have, by your blood and steel, earned nothing less than Eternal Honor amongst the Heroes of Valhalla.There's a Christian poem, too. Someday I'll write a long piece on the US Marines and the old heathen religion.
For today, though, I heft my mead horn in salute. May I drink in Valhalla with you, when the day comes.
deuddersun says...
Deuddersun has a tribute to the eight Marines killed in Iraq this weekend. In it, he invokes both Odin and the Christian God.
I have noticed that this is not uncommon among Marines. I do it myself.
The thing everybody knows about St. George is that he killed a dragon. The "Golden Legend" about him is all you need to know:
Several stories have been attached to Saint George, the best known of which is the Golden Legend. In it, a dragon lived in a lake near Silena, Libya. Whole armies had gone up against this fearce creature, and had gone down in painful defeat. The monster ate two sheep each day; when mutton was scarce, lots were drawn in local villages, and maidens were substituted for sheep. Into this country came Saint George. Hearing the story on a day when a princess was to be eaten, he crossed himself, rode to battle against the serpent, and killed it with a single blow with his lance. George then held forth with a magnificent sermon, and converted the locals. Given a large reward by the king, George distributed it to the poor, then rode away.The actual St. George was tortured and beheaded about AD 304.
Due to his chivalrous behavior (protecting women, fighting evil, dependence on faith and might of arms, largesse to the poor), devotion to Saint George became popular in the Europe after the 10th century. In the 15th century his feast day was as popular and important as Christmas. Many of his areas of patronage have to do with life as a knight on horseback. The celebrated Knights of the Garter are actually Knights of the Order of Saint George.
This is one way in which the old heathen traditions have survived in the Christian faith. The great legend of St. George has its roots in the heroic tradition of the North, traditions made better by the Christian influence. Those traditions took generosity and courage, and added chivalry and gentleness with the weak.
In a great but largely unknown piece of Western literature, Fritz Leiber's Lean Times in Lankhmar, this process is playfully but insightfully laid bare:
As delivered over and over by [northern barbarian] Fafhrd, the History of Issek of the Jug gradually altered... into something considerably more like the saga of a Northern hero, though toned down in some respects. Issek had not slain dragons and other monsters as a child -- that would have been against hi Creed -- he had only sported with them.... Issek had expired quite quickly, though with some kindly parting admonitions, after being disjointed on the rack. Fafhrd's Issek (now the Issek) had broken seven racks before he began seriously to weaken.Is this something a good Christian should be bothered by? I don't think so.
There are generations of precedent. The good monks and friars of old had to deal with these heroic figures of old. Were they real? If they were, what was their nature? Only a few argued that they were demons (although Odin-as-demon makes an appearance in St. Olav's Saga -- ironic, since no saint has inherited more old divine stories than has St. Olav, whose legends sound very much like Thor's).
More of these sages argued that the old gods were kings, or heroes, who had been endowed by time and imagination with great stories until they were regarded as something like gods. (This approach is called euhemerism, after Euhemerus, a Greek philosopher who favored it for his own gods.) People carried on sacrificing to the old kings and heroes, in the belief that those great ones wielded power in this world and the next.
Fine... but what are saints, except kings and heroes, who wield power to aid in this world and the next?
Step forward now, O' Devil-Dog,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?
The Marine squared his shoulders,
said, No, Lord, I guess I ain't,
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint.
Anticipatory Retaliation: Iraqi Endorsement Roundup
Remember all those pubic jokes about Bush and Cheney's names? Well, apparently the humor works in Kurdistan too, only the other way:
Old Man: KIRI is a name ? It is the end of the world.Who knew? These things happen now and then (see the comments to that post, too).
Reverend Horton Heat
Best American Band of 2004. Hey, you've gotta pick somebody. These are my boys. "Liquor, Beer and Wine" remains a classic.
Doc in the Box
You'll recall "Clausewitz & The Triangle," in which I argued that the traditional mode of victory -- what von Clauzewitz called "the culminating point of victory" -- was not available to the Iraqi insurgents.
Doc in the Box, mourning a vicious slaughter of friends he had while in the sandbox, makes the point in personal terms:
The insurgences, whom I believe are foreign nationals mostly, aren't doing anyone over there any good. They're installing fear in everybody, they're not only attacking us, they're attacking the very people that are trying to raise the country out of post war barbarism that seems to be running rampant. These people don't have the good of the Iraqi people at heart, they don't worship Allah, they worship Chaos.That is why they cannot win. That is why we will, and it is why we must. Only we ourselves can lose, by talking ourselves out of fighting it through to the end. The good folk of Iraq are counting on us.
This is the true terrorism, when you're trying to change a country by taking out anybody that can make a difference. Relief workers, people that help the poor? Doctors, Teachers, potential Leaders?
After such attacks, who is ever going to take these people seriously?
The State | 10/30/2004 | On election results, it�s still the economy
You've probably heard about the Labor Dept. Memo predicting a sure Bush win. It says that 'nearly every model' shows Bush carrying the election by much larger margins than the polls show.
"What models?" you might reasonably ask. After all, everything we've seen in the press indicates a very tight race.
Well, here's a primer on some of them. Here is another. CNN had some back in August. here is one from Yale. And here are some based on political science rather than economic theory.
Most of these predict a sizable Bush victory, between 54 and 60 percent.
Are they accurate? Eh, who knows? :) But the smart money for a gambler is on Bush.
Wives of U.S. Troops Share Pain -- and Often Politics (washingtonpost.com)
Don't miss today's page-one story from the Washington Post, on the wives of front-line soldiers.
Greyhawk, one such soldier deployed in Iraq, says this about the story: "Three years into the war on terror and this is the first honest reporting on military families I have ever seen in a major daily."
Grim's Hall
I took a little time today to sight in my "new" rifle. It's only new to me; it was manufactured in 1966, based on a design that was already quite old at the time. It's a Winchester Model 94, in .30-30.
The local rifle range is set up with twenty-five yard, sixty yard, and hundred yard target holders. I was planning on using the twenty-five yard targets, as this thing has only the original iron sights on it. Since my primary reason to have it is home defense, I plan on replacing them with a ghost ring, but for today I just wanted to get the feel of the rifle.
However, deer season is on us, so I didn't end up getting my choice of ranges. Unless I wanted to wait a long time to shoot, the sixty yard targets were all there was. Too, all the people sighting in for deer season meant that I could shoot for only one thirty-minute segment. Taking time to get to know the rifle, that means I only spent fifteen rounds before it was time to leave.
I had two other difficulties at the range. The first was that the staple gun jammed up, so I only got the top of the target stapled to the target holders. This meant that the steady breeze was flapping my target around a bit at the bottom. The other problem was that I hadn't thought to dig out my field glasses, so I couldn't tell how accurate my shooting was -- at sixty yards, a hole .3 inches wide is invisible to me unless you get one of those splash targets, and all I had was basic white paper with black rings.
All that said, I put all fifteen rounds on paper, but it sights very high at sixty yards. I can only assume the previous owner sighted it in for longer distances, as I was fairly well trained in the basics of riflery and I'm sure my part of it was right. I didn't get anything within two inches of the X ring, although it was otherwise grouped pretty well.
No doubt I just need to apply some Kentucky windage, until I get around to replacing the sights.
EMPIRE
This flier is one of several being posted around D.C. They all say, "No matter who wins, the system is rotten," and promise a massive "loud" and "unpermitted" demonstration -- that is, a pre-planned riot that you are invited to join -- on 3 November, regardless of the outcome of the election.
There are, as I said, several fliers, but this one is special.
I apologize for the poor quality of the photograph, which is from my camera phone. Still, as you can probably make out, the image is of the word "EMPIRE," with a mountain of skulls piled atop it. At the summit, there is a mockery of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima.
There is much to be said about this image, and what it represents. These are American citizens putting this stuff out, and this is what they believe: that America is an empire, built on a mountain of skulls. That Iwo Jima was fought against an actual empire does not enter their minds. That the mountains of skulls are to be found in Saddam's mass graves, not in the wake of US troop movements, likewise never comes to their mind.
But there is one part of the image that is true. The flag on Mt. Surabachi was raised atop a mountain of skulls. The skulls belonged to the United States Marines.
There they fought up Iwo Jima's hillThe dead deserve better from the living than this.
Two hundred and fifty men,
But only twenty-seven lived
To fight back down again.
Scotsman.com News - News Archive - Documentary reveals Albanian arms dealer donated cash to the Kerry campaign
Thanks to reader TxRascal for this link. The Scotsman is a famously sober voice in news journalism. Here is what they say:
JOHN Kerry has acquired a financial backer likely to provide him with more problems than support in his battle for the White House: the Kosovo Liberation Army.
A documentary produced by a Dutch television crew alleges Florin Krasniqi, an Albanian arms dealer, is buying weapons in the US and sending them to Kosovo - while perfecting contacts with the Democratic Party in the United States.
Mr Krasniqi is filmed at a Kerry fundraising event handing over a cheque, then chatting and joking with senior Democrats including Wesley Clark, the former NATO commander and Richard Holbrooke, Mr Kerry's senior foreign policy adviser.
The documentary, broadcast last month in The Netherlands and seen by The Scotsman, follows Mr Krasniqi from his home in Brooklyn in New York to his Albanian base where he distributes arms to mercenaries on the Kosovo border.
Showing remarkable candour, Mr Krasniqi says the KLA has "unfinished business" with the Serbs and predicts that war will break out again in "about a year and a half" if the UN does grant Kosovo independence from Serbia and Montenegro.
The Kerry fundraising event is shown making a direct pitch for Albanian money. Mr Holbrooke warns in a speech that Mr Bush is planning to pull troops out of Kosovo - the implication being the Serbs would be unconstrained.
John Belushi, the Albanian-American actor, then appears in a video soliciting donations. "If you care about the fate of Albanians in the Balkans, I hope you'll do anything to can to make sure John Kerry is elected as our next President," he says.
The documentary goes on to show Mr Krasniqi buying guns from a dealer in St Mary's, Pennsylvania.
With frankness bordering on the brazen, he explains to the film crew how easy it is to smuggle arms. "We had set up a hunting club in Albania," he says - and simply tell anyone who asks they are planning an excursion to Tasmania.
He admits being "caught twice" - by Italian and Swiss authorities - but allowed to proceed after saying the Albanian hunting club was preparing for an expedition to hunt elephants in Tasmania. Other arms are smuggled under humanitarian aid, he says.
While there is no suggestion that Mr Kerry had knowledge about the funds being donated by Mr Krasniqi, the video will be deeply embarrassing for the Massachusetts senator as he combats accusations of being soft on terror.
Mr Krasniqi is named in the Federal Election Commission returns as a registered donor to the Kerry campaign at his Brooklyn address. The sum is dollars 1,000. The Kerry-Edwards campaign was asked to comment, but did not return calls to The Scotsman yesterday.
Oktoberfest on National Review Online
Depending on where you are, it may be late enough in the day for one. The pundits at National Review Online are running a feature on their favorite beers, just in case any of you were curious.
My favorite beer to drink at the pub is Guinness, without question, although when one can get it, Murphy's is as good -- slightly sweeter, but equally rich. If I'm drinking at home, where you can't get a proper draft beer, I'll take Fosters' bitter or my grandfather's favorite, Pabst Blue Ribbon beer.
Yahoo! Mail - grimbeornr@yahoo.com
There is an interview on how we are winning the war on terror here. It is with the author of a new book, Shadow War, which I have not read. It may be worth a look.
Serbianna.com | Columns | Boba Borojevic
The former Canadian Ambassador to Yugoslavia, James Bissett, agrees with yesterday's story about the KLA & the DNC. Once again, this is an article that is not aimed at the American market. These charges are being raised by the Ambassador as a warning to Serbs about the outcome of the election, not to influence the election in America.
The Ambassador says:
In addition, it seems clear to me that if the Democrats get back into power in the next election, we are going to find the same old "Serb-hating" gang in power. That is: Madlene Albright, Richard Holbrooke, Wesley Clark and a number of others. These are all people who are very much anti - Serb. Holbrooke's book and his remarks about the Serbs are clearly racist. All these individuals are committed to a Greater Albania in the Balkans. The Kerry election campaign is also getting a tremendous amount of funding by the Albanians.And if not, according to the interview, more of that KLA money was going to buy weapons to be used against American soldiers.
Dutch Television showed a documentary produced by KLA, with KLA members in a room in New York City giving cheques to Richard Holbrooke and Wesley Clark. It showed Richard Holbrooke phoning a man by the name Philips, telling him they collected great amount of money. The figure of US $ 500,000 was mentioned. It is very clear that if they are in power, the Democrats will demand the independence for Kosovo.