Vanity - Churchill: "Their Finest Hour" and Other Great Speeches

Self

[ConorMacNessa]

The words of this speech have resonated with me since the first time I heard them over a half-century ago. They are most relevant at this crucial time in our History, when all of the manifest Evil of totalitarianism is unleashed upon us. And look at our putative "leaders!" They are nothing more than a cadre of appeasers, Quislings, and apparatchiks!

You may well differ with me – I say God bless Ted Cruz, Sarah Palin, Trey Gowdy and others of their ilk! They stand for America as I have stood and most here have stood! It is indeed time for a change – a change back to the values and morals that have made this Nation great and preserved it through two and a half centuries of adversity!

I want my country back, and I mean to have it back!

Godspeed our valiant Military and God Bless the United States of America!

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS!


Sir Winston S. Churchill
KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA
(30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)



Rule Britannia
HM Royal Marines
(Click)

"WHAT GENERAL WEYGAND has called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us. Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be freed and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands.

BUT IF WE FAIL, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new dark age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

LET US THEREFORE brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves, that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say,

THIS WAS THEIR FINEST HOUR."

In the House of Commons, 16 June 1940


"With Mind And Hand"



Coronet Winston S. Churchill
4th Queen's Own Hussars
1895

[ConorMacNessa]

His eloquence stands in stark contrast to the rehearsed and teleprompted drivel that issues from the mouths of most - but thankfully not all - politicians of the present day.

[Sasparilla]

And, our Chief Executive is a continuous embarrassment.

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS!



Sir Winston S. Churchill
KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA
(30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)



Rule Britannia
HM Royal Marines
(Click)

“Never Give In”

“Never give in, never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to a force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy.”

29 October 1941 to the boys at Harrow School


"With Mind And Hand"



Coronet Winston S. Churchill
4th Queen's Own Hussars, 1895

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

I do not think that many people realize that Sir Winston was an American citizen. ;-)

[SgtBob]

God Bless, Happy New Year, and Semper Fidelis, ConorMacNessa!.....But boyo did I giggle...”Speeces”!

AdminMod, fix him up, ASAP!

[ClearCase_guy]

Only Churchill could put such heart into people.

[ConorMacNessa]

Speeches, speeces, what's the diff? I think I need another dram!

Semper Fi, Brother!

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS!



Sir Winston S. Churchill
KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA
(30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)



Rule Britannia
HM Royal Marines
(Click)

"The Defence of Freedom and Peace"
(The Lights are Going Out)

"But arms - instrumentalities, as President Wilson called them - are not sufficient by themselves. We must add to them the power of ideas. People say we ought not to allow ourselves to be drawn into a theoretical antagonism between Nazidom and democracy; but the antagonism is here now. It is this very conflict of spiritual and moral ideas which gives the free countries a great part of their strength. You see these dictators on their pedestals, surrounded by the bayonets of their soldiers and the truncheons of their police. On all sides they are guarded by masses of armed men, cannons, aeroplanes, fortifications, and the like - they boast and vaunt themselves before the world, yet in their hearts there is unspoken fear. They are afraid of words and thoughts; words spoken abroad, thoughts stirring at home - all the more powerful because forbidden - terrify them. A little mouse of thought appears in the room, and even the mightiest potentates are thrown into panic. They make frantic efforts to bar our thoughts and words; they are afraid of the workings of the human mind. Cannons, airplanes, they can manufacture in large quantities; but how are they to quell the natural promptings of human nature, which after all these centuries of trial and progress has inherited a whole armoury of potent and indestructible knowledge?

Dictatorship - the fetish worship of one man - is a passing phase. A state of society where men may not speak their minds, where children denounce their parents to the police, where a business man or small shopkeeper ruins his competitor by telling tales about his private opinions; such a state of society cannot long endure if brought into contact with the healthy outside world. The light of civilised progress with its tolerances and co-operation, with its dignities and joys, has often in the past been blotted out. But I hold the belief that we have now at last got far enough ahead of barbarism to control it, and to avert it, if only we realise what is afoot and make up our minds in time. We shall do it in the end. But how much harder our toil for every day's delay!

Is this a call to war? Does anyone pretend that preparation for resistance to aggression is unleashing war? I declare it to be the sole guarantee of peace. We need the swift gathering of forces to confront not only military but moral aggression; the resolute and sober acceptance of their duty by the English-speaking peoples and by all the nations, great and small, who wish to walk with them. Their faithful and zealous comradeship would almost between night and morning clear the path of progress and banish from all our lives the fear which already darkens the sunlight to hundreds of millions of men."
Radio Broadcast to the United States and London – 16 October 1938

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"With Mind And Hand"



Coronet Winston S. Churchill
4th Queen's Own Hussars, 1895

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS!



Sir Winston S. Churchill
KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA
(30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)



Rule Britannia
HM Royal Marines
(Click)

"Having received His Majesty's commission, I have formed an administration of men and women of every party and of almost every point of view. We have differed and quarreled in the past; but now one bond unites us all - to wage war until victory is won, and never to surrender ourselves to servitude and shame, whatever the cost and agony may be. This is one of the most awe-striking periods in the long history of France and Britain. It is also beyond doubt the most sublime. Side by side, unaided except by their kith and kin in the great Dominions and by the wide Empires which rest beneath their shield, the British and French peoples have advanced to rescue not only Europe, but mankind from the foulest and most soul-destroying tyranny which has ever darkened and stained the pages of history. Behind them - behind us - behind the armies and fleets of Britain and France - gather a group of shattered States and bludgeoned races: the Czechs, the Poles, the Norwegians, the Danes, the Dutch, the Belgians - upon all of whom the long night of barbarism will descend, unbroken even by a star of hope, unless we conquer, as conquer we must; as conquer we shall.

TODAY IS TRINITY SUNDAY.
Centuries ago words were written to be a call and a spur to the faithful servants of Truth and Justice:

'Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be.' (1 Maccabees 3:58–60)"

First Radio Broadcast As Prime Minister
19May1940


"With Mind And Hand"



Coronet Winston S. Churchill
4th Queen's Own Hussars
1895

[ConorMacNessa]

Indeed - he described himself as an "Anglo-American Alliance."

[SgtBob]

Virtual Hand Salute to Admin Mod!

Doc, I’ll raise yer dram by two fingers....of 12 year old Glenlivet.

Good evening, Sir!

[rlmorel]

His mother was an American.

[ConorMacNessa]

I raise my glass to you as well, Sir - Lagavulin 16 y/o - my all time fave among the magnificent distillations from Scotland!

[spel_grammer_an_punct_polise]

“His mother was an American.”

Yes, and that makes him an American citizen by default whether he liked it or not! ;-)

[ConorMacNessa]

GOD BLESS AND PROTECT OUR TROOPS!


Sir Winston S. Churchill, KG, OM, CH, TD, PC, DL, FRS, Hon. RA
(30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965)



Rule Britannia
HM Royal Marines
(Click)

"I WOULD SAY to the House as I said to those who have joined this government: I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering.

YOU ASK, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: Victory. Victory at all costs — Victory in spite of all terror — Victory, however long and hard the road may be, for without victory there is no survival."

In the House of Commons, 13May1940


"With Mind And Hand"



Coronet Winston S. Churchill
4th Queen's Own Hussars, 1895

[SgtBob]

Doc, if 16 year old Lagavulin is your prescription, I will get it filled, and give you a full report.

In reference to your post, well spoken...is it not time to form a Battalion of Men?

[ConorMacNessa]

Clearly it is time to something more than sit on our kiesters quaffing Single Malt Scotch. It is time to stand up for America. I don't want to sound melodramatic, but I have to wonder whether Obama will turn over power at the end of his term or whether we will have the equivalent of the Burning of the Reichstag.

He and his henchmen are cut from the same cloth as the Nazis who took over in Germany in 1933 and the Bolsheviks who seized power in Russia in 1918.

[AmericanVictory]

Yes, I too can still hear the words as he said them so long ago in that inimitable voice:

"That if the British empire should last for a thousand years, men would still say: `This was their finest hour.'"

[ConorMacNessa]

I remember it as well - he knew how to rally a people to their values, to their heritage, to what made them a great Nation.

We could use a guy like him now.

[rlmorel]

I think he liked being half-American...

I have always been a huge fan of Churchill. One of my heroes of the 20th Century. He had no problem with drawing things in black and white, because he knew that shades of gray gave people an out.

Two years ago, I had just finished a crazy stretch of work, and had to take time off to unwind. I had a lot of vacation time, my wife had far less than me, so I took a road trip. No plan, just packed a bunch of things, jumped in my car, and took off for a week with no destination.

How rare and wonderful is that? I went to do some horseback riding in the Shenandoah mountains, but it poured rain for the two days I was there, even the people who ran the place went off and left me there all by myself!

After two days, I was bored out of my gourd, no horseback riding, no phone, no Internet, and it was pouring rain constantly and I was all alone. So I got out a map, and picked the Four Corners Monument in Utah as my destination, and started out at 0400 the next morning. I got as far a Louisville, KY, and when I sat down to have dinner, I realized there was no way I could make it to Four Corners and get back home again. I only had a four more days. So I pulled out a map, and said "Where do I want to go? Hey...I've never been to Nebraska!" I put my finger down on the state and landed on Falls City, NE. But as I read more, the small town looked like it was best known for a murder of a transsexual there. The article I read said it was a destination for some in that part of society (oddly enough) so I figured I might take another stab at a different small town. When my finger came down, it was on Tecumseh, NE. Population 1,677. That is where I was going to go.

I tried to drive straight through from Louisville to Tecumseh, but at around 0100, I could see that wasn't going to happen, so I stopped about 20 miles north of St. Louis for the night.

Early the next morning, I left around 0700 to drive north, and as I drove north, I saw the sign for the National Churchill Museum! I didn't even know there was such a thing, and with the freedom that being on the road with no destination has, I veered off the exit to make that my destination. I may never get a chance to be that free in my life again...:)

It was just the coolest thing! Great museum and beautiful church.

I made it up to Tecumseh the next day, and it was Small Town USA, said as a compliment. (The town was originally named Frances who was the mistress of a married Army Officer who fought Tecumseh, and the town changed the name to Tecumseh a few decades later after they had a spat with the same old Colonel whose mistress the town was named after...there is some interesting small town bitter politics in THAT name change! (The official story was that Frances was his wife, but the historic record is...muddled!

It was great. I just stayed there two nights at the Super 7 Inn, and the morning I left, I had breakfast with the Mayor of the town who I just struck up a conversation with (didn't know he was the mayor) in a dinky little breakfast place!