Posted on 10/08/2004 8:46:49 PM PDT by quidnunc
Two months ago I was standing in front of the war memorial dedicated to the Royal Australian Regiment in Sydney. An RAR corporal had laid two wreaths, movingly inscribed with hand-written tributes, in memory of friends killed in action. He would be in his 60s or 70s today. His friends died 51 years ago in Korea fighting alongside Americans, Brits, and others in the U.N. force.
Korea is not the only war listed on the memorial. Among the others in which the RAR fought are Vietnam, Iraq, and World War II. Aussies were among the first soldiers to join the U.S. in Afghanistan. They are stationed today in Iraq.
Few of us honor the injunction "lest we forget" as faithfully as the RAR corporal. But Americans should know that Australia can claim to be their most reliable ally. The island-continent has fought alongside America in every U.S. war of the 20th and 21st centuries. And a firm American-Australian alliance has been in place since 1941, when Canberra transferred its primary loyalty from Britain to the U.S. following the shock of Pearl Harbor and the Japanese advance southwards through Asia.
That alliance has been the cornerstone of Australian policy since. It has had the consistent bi-partisan support of both Labor and (conservative) Coalition governments. And it has the broad support of most Australians — except for the kind of querulous anti-American Left that exists everywhere, even in the U.S. itself.
-snip-
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Thanks Australia!
Hope the election goes well.
Absolutely. Australia is the best.
They are teetering on the edge of a Spanish like collapse, hopefully that won't happen. They couldn't have been better so far.
God Bless Australia.
God Bless John Howard.
God Bless Australia with John Howard's re-election.
God Bless you all.
Any exit polls leaking out from Down Under yet?
This is a HUGE election in Australia, not only for Australians, but for the US, our troops and influence on our election.
God Bless Australia!
Yes, if any of you Aussies have election results, there are thousands of your friends in the US who are very interested.
Where'd you get that from?
++++ Earlier post re RAR. We often have RAR regs stop over in our transit lines; all of 'em look like front row forwards. I did my enlistment medical with some RAR commando wannabees. Big guys. The 'RAR' school is 50km away - they have a world class infantry museum there with arms from all conflicts (flags from defeated enemies and prison camp memories too). As an army -toughen up base- it is well situated. It freezes in winter an cooks in summer.
Re the election; talkback is the best evidence of what people think. Howard 'the eyebrows' will be safe. FYI the MSM is wayyy pro-left here as in the US and Canada and France... journos are in a closed union shop here. Very soviet our think on their feet elite.... Not to mention the sepid wellspring, our gramscian university system and the public broadcaster.
bump for later
Yeah, thanks to FR we've figured out you have the same problem with the Urinalists of the Lame Stream Media that we do. They and the "Effete Elite Intelligegensia" together do cause an awful commotion for both of us.
Since we both started out as British Crown Colonies for "undesirables" and "opportunists" a nice way back then to say scoundrels and flim-flam (con) man;
Tell me cousin, how did Howard fare in the election? Just how bad of a hissy fit over his win are the "Urinalists" and the "Effete Elite Intelligegensia" throwing?
I do like it,
re the eyebrows, the man, John Howard PM!
Fantastic: Howard has now won 4 elections in a row! Thats in 9 years. Factors are;
1. baby boomer demographic (an older an more mature electorate - diehard hippies and 'undergrads' are still there of course and its a fine balance but with each election - 3 year terms here- we get closer to having a natural conservative majority... same as the USA... the baby boomers are growing up and watching their mortgages)
2. incredible shrinking act that was Trade Unionism (funding foundation of the Labor Party (like DNC). Their union fees are high, their morality near criminal and hedonist... and their influence dwindling.
3. re the MSM reaction, its 'a shock' and 'unexpected'. This is to excuse their almost partisan blanket push for the left or to disguise their predicament; ie they believe their own propaganda.
Now this MSM reaction/crisis du jour is all very interesting...Someone did their homework re the Fox News growth in the USA. The CEO read the surveys and followed the money to the consumer's more balanced worldviews. Here, as in the USA, the post-grads and journo types are rabid pro-left since -by and large- the professers indoctrinate them as per Gramsci. A questionaire on current affairs/survey of employed news journos, editors and producers and an identical survey for the man-in-the-street revealed the wide ideological divide. Percentage wise, the pro-abortion, pro-recreational drug, pro-homosexual, pro UN, pro Kyoto, pro-Europe, pro-Palestinian (sic) support was near homogenous a people and a sub-culture all on their own for sure. Of course the man-in-the-street (and MSM consumer) was way more balanced and conservative. You could mirror the survey outcome surveying undergrads and the man-in-the-street just as easily and just as validly.
It all boils down to what PM Churchill is alledged to have said (I say that since I've yet to locate the exacte quote and be able to source it): "If you're not a Liberal by 20 years of age you have no heart, and if you're still a Liberal by the time you're 30 you have no brains."
I'll lift a Fosters to that!
I hope that they might be willing to put a little more troops on the ground. Please
I know but I just love those Aussie. And yes that operation in Sammara did happen.
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