SANCTUARY [must read article for every liberal (and conservative) you know]

ejectejecteject.com/ ^ | May 18,2005 | William Whittle

[HairOfTheDog]

What’s worse than crawling under your beloved house and seeing the foundations rotten with decades of termite damage?

NOT crawling under your beloved house and seeing the foundations rotten with decades of termite damage.

I’ve been away for a while, doing a little thinking. Usually, my thoughts for these past few years have started at home and then taken me to Iraq, and the war. Lately, though, I have been thinking about Iraq, and my thoughts turn more and more to home.

I started thinking along these lines six months ago, after a young Marine shot and killed a wounded Iraqi in a mosque in Fallujah

The ideas behind this little adventure we are about to embark upon have changed enormously since then. I have, quite frankly, been at a loss to know how to put so many wide-ranging snapshots together into this montage, this image, this idea of Sanctuary that I think holds the key to many of the problems we face today.

Stay with me -- our first stop is not our destination, but it is a necessary one. So let me first take you on that original journey, and show you how events in Iraq can show us how to fight and win a much wider and deeper conflict, right here at home.

[joanie-f]

Thank you, Tom, for directing me to this remarkable essay! (Yes, I am doing well, and of course will keep in touch. And your sentiments are reciprocated. :)

Whittle is an absolute genius at describing, in a single essay, all that ails us regarding our generally debased view of ourselves – our self-imposed defeatism, our minimized perception of the bloodthirst and barbarism of our foreign enemies, and the ruthlessness of our domestic ones. And he brilliantly illustrates how our perceptions, more often than not, are molded by dishonest media/academia/elitists. Yet he also shows us how easy it can be to see the overwhelmingly noble truths embodied in the real America, through a little common-sense introspection … and by isolating ourselves from those who have redefined common sense as radical.

He does not lie. It does indeed take close to an hour to read his essay. Yet he had me hooked after the first paragraph – and the hour flew by and left me wanting more. This man’s mental meanderings are priceless treasures, and this essay is far and away the most brilliant political commentary I may ever have read. Ever.

I enjoy offering my own insights, such as they are, on articles of interest that are pinged to my attention. But I can’t excerpt any of this one for comment. Believe me, I tried. Whittle’s observations simply can’t be dissected or parsed. Every single word is as indispensable as the next. Nor can I add my own comments. They would seem petty … trivial in comparison.

Any American patriot (most here on this forum qualify) who finds himself debating a left-leaning ideologue, on any topic of contemporary political relevance, needs simply to ask his opponent to read this essay before continuing the debate. If the opponent agrees to do so, and still holds fast to his leftist beliefs, he is either without the ability to comprehend elementary logic and simple analysis, or he is without a soul.

________________________________________

We, in our Sanctuary, who sleep in warm, dry, safe places without a second thought of the men and women who shiver in the cold to keep us free and secure, are getting very far away from the forces that have threatened us for millennia and threaten us still, as potent as the black rage of an incensed mob of religious lunatics killing people in response to some real or imagined slight.

And yet our elites – bored, pampered and without a glimmer of perspective – search the inside of our walls by night, looking for cracks to enlarge.

________________________________________

I’ll never hear or read the word ‘sanctuary’ again, without according it a newfound reverence. Nor can I recall an hour better spent. God bless the Bill Whittles of this world. There are damn too few of them left.

~ joanie

[Lurker]

"Civilizations fall because the people inside the Sanctuary throw open the gates."

I'll be back later joanie. Thanks for the ping.

L

[meadsjn]

Thanks for the ping, Joanie. You are right -- there's no way to summarize the essay or comment on its parts. It takes about an hour to read, but well worth the time.

[Badray]

Thanks for the ping, joanie. I'll be back later to read this.

[Tolik]

Over the weekend I finally got around to read a print copy of this article. Yes it is long, but worth every second.

Nailed It!
Moral Clarity BUMP !

    This ping list is not author-specific for articles I'd like to share. Some for perfect moral clarity, some for provocative thoughts; or simply interesting articles I'd hate to miss myself. (I don't have to agree with the author 100% to feel the need to share an article.) I will try not to abuse the ping list and not to annoy you too much, but on some days there is more of good stuff that is worthy attention. You can see the list of articles I pinged to lately on my page.

       Besides this one, I keep separate PING lists for my favorite authors Victor Davis Hanson, Lee Harris, David Warren, Orson Scott Card. You are welcome in or out, just freepmail me (and note which PING list you are talking about).

[FreedomPoster]

>> And our news... I despise them because this is what they think is news.

One of the best quotes I saw this weekend came from wretchard at The Belmont Club:

"We live in a strange world where the Beslan story vanishes in weeks while Abu Ghraib lives on for years."

That story you linked is just more "Abu Ghraib".

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

We've finally got the ball rolling. Finally. It used to be that only Freepers, NET, Alan Keyes, and a few radio hosts were impatient for change. Now it's expanding exponentially, snowballing. I'm feeling less useful all the time. And that's fine. I don't live for politics. Fregards....

[TexasTransplant]

Bump

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Hope you don't mind my butting in. =]

"But there is also the matter of objectives and morality to take into account. This is something the left can't see because they are so uncomfortable recognizing real evil and making moral judgments."

Absolutely. It's good vs. evil. Not the abstract of chaos vs. law, or the abstract of humanism vs. anti-humanism. Those are just pieces to the entire puzzle. I'll take what I can get. If someone starts to get it and falls short from full understanding, he's sometimes a useful ally.

"For example, the French resistance did not fight openly - they also didn't kill civilians (which seperates them from some of the more ghastly insurgencies). Nevertheless, their cause was righteous, so their methods were justified."

Theft and murder tainted the French Revolution. That has stunted France's social growth ever since.

"In my opinion one of their greatest failings is confusing morality with anti-sceptic war. Your cause can still be moral even if the difficult conditions force you to act harsh to achieve victory, World War II is the obvious example. What you are fighting for is as important, usually more important, than how you fight to get there."

What you say is often true, although hindsight being 20-20, we can always wonder "what if" long after it's over. With crude weapons, we felt that we had little choice but to fight with crude tactics, the same way they would have.

Frankly, I think our military in WWII was badly neglected. Those transport boats, for example, were a disaster. The Sherman Tank was called a zippo lighter. Many general positions, best I can tell, were more politically chosen than choesen for being the best tacticians and strategists available. And so, with US soldiers getting killed in large numbers, it made us callous toward the lives of our enemies.

Does anyone think for a minute that Japan or Germany wouldn't have used the A-Bomb if they had it? In the future, people may wonder about more psych-op tactics and propaganda warfare we could have attempted, but as the old saying goes, people die for lack of knowledge.

[EternalVigilance]

Very good!

[ForGod'sSake]

A very sincere thank you for alerting me to this piece. However, I feel cheated! WHY have I not even heard of William Whittle before? The man has an amazing gift. I've really gotta get out more ;^)

Now, every conservative, including Whittle, are asking what's wrong with the liberal maggots in our world. With his obvious gift of moral clarity, I would think he could and would have set his sights on identifying any underlying cause(s) of the left's worldview. Maybe he or others have addressed what they believe is/are the cause(s) and I missed it. If so, help me out here.

From the perspective this ol' east Texas country boy, it would appear, for all the world, these maggots are the ultimate rebellious teenagers. I'm sure you can remember when you were so much smarter than your folks and every value they stood for and tried to instill were so, well, pedestrian. Then, as your mind cleared you came to see the value, if not the wisdom, in their ideals. All part of growing up not older.

Like any culture, the best and highest values must be passed along from generation to generation to assure the survival of that culture. It's when a disconnect occurs that trouble begins.

We, as keepers of the flame, have got to get a handle on these rebellious teenagers so our culture doesn't fly off into oblivion. I desperately want my grandkids to be able to say, "Thanks grampa for fighting off the wolves".

I would like to ask a favor of you joanie, if you would apply your own wordsmithing skills to the subject of these "teenagers in suits"?

FGS

[ForGod'sSake]

Well, duh!

Let’s speak to the Perennially Outraged as if they were the fully grown, post-pubescent children they pride themselves on being.

He sideswipes the idea early on in his essay, but I would still like to read any thoughts you have ;^)

FGS

[TASMANIANRED]

This deserves another bump.

[RhoTheta]

Grat read ping!

Also, adding his book to my must reads.

[Countyline]

"The original religious impulse that started the Jewish people and sustained them for thousands of years has not died among Jews; it has simply been transformed into secular causes."

the above is an excerpt from an article by Dennis Prager ... on or about May 10. THE JEWS HAVE A MISSION: JUDEO CHRISTIAN VALUES It is a good article.

In regard to the moral issues of the left ... the left has also transformed into secular causes and given it their all. It is their 'religion' ... one of their own making.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for your additional comments and BTTTs!

[TASMANIANRED]

I've been recommending the site to everyone.

He is so poignant a writer that I'm working on reading every word.

[HairOfTheDog]

Same here :~D

[ForGod'sSake]

"The original religious impulse that started the Jewish people and sustained them for thousands of years has not died among Jews; it has simply been transformed into secular causes."

the above is an excerpt from an article by Dennis Prager ... on or about May 10. THE JEWS HAVE A MISSION: JUDEO CHRISTIAN VALUES It is a good article.

I'm not sure I follow or even agree with his premise. But maybe I'm just not making the connection. Perhaps a link to the article might help.

In regard to the moral issues of the left ... the left has also transformed into secular causes and given it their all. It is their 'religion' ... one of their own making.

Agreed. Immorality or anti-morality is their cause. Given Man's natural tendencies, it can be a winner for 'em. Unless we get back to the moral undepinnings on which our founders relied. A good ol' tent revival would do 'em a world of good ;^)

FGS

[ForGod'sSake]

Thanks for your additional comments and BTTTs!

Honored to even comment on an article of this caliber. Please excuse my lapse in manners by not including you in my first reply.

FGS