Americans, welcome to the real world

Town Hall ^ | October 1, 2001 | Don Feder

[NYpeanut]

As a nation, we have been so complacent and fat that we twice elected a smug lying pig, content so long as our wallets were fat.

The condition upon which God hath given liberty to man is eternal vigilance; which condition if he break, servitude is at once the consequence of his crime and the punishment of his guilt.—John Philpot Curran

[Eagle74]

To those people out there, affaid of p***ing off the moslim world.

I say, what are they going to do? Bomb the Pentagon, Blow up the World Trade Center, Kill Thousands of innocents(sarcasm). At what point do you realize, that they can't do much worse to us than they already have, and their feelings are meaningless.

[Texas_Jarhead]

Nice one.

[NoControllingLegalAuthority]

We are all going to die, in large groups, if we try to remain "restrained." This war is not there. It is right here on your doorstep. We aren't being "lured" into a war. We are right in the middle of one.

[goldstategop]

But there was also the type of Roman celebrated by Thomas Babington Macaulay in his "Lays of Ancient Rome": "Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: 'To every man upon this earth, death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods!'"

"We are all fated to die. And if we must and it must needs be let it be defending the country we love and for the honor of heaven and the memory of our loved ones. Let us now charge and overcome the fearsome enemy who did us an offense so evil it cannot go unanswered and send him straight to the death he hath so richly merited. Thus do we pledge on our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to save the land that is a beacon of hope and freedom that is seen through the night by the light from above and in answer to the enemy's agression we here resolve to never tire, falter or fail as we answer our country's call to come to its rescue." GOD BLESS AMERICA

[BunnySlippers]

By our sacrifices, perhaps we can buy a measure of peace for our children or grandchildren.

•••

[gunnedah]

The time for playing and talking is over.As an American I would rather die than to live in fear. The CIA still has the ability to find where these radical leaders are and we must show them we are willing to kill them not just their followers. Our country has the ability and we must use it.We must if necessary nukes these bastards into eternity.Saddam is going to make life much more miserable along with the other Bin Ladens of the world we must strike and strike swiftly because the time is near to when we will lose this thing if we dont respond decisively.

[Schnucki]

The reality we need to awake to is that folks like Feder won't be the ones dying in the wars they lure us into.

Lure? You write as though we're not under siege already.

Feder's just saying that somebody else bought your freedom. He's also saying wake up, because we're already in a battle. Somebody's shooting at us and killing our family, friends and colleagues.

Since we're already under attack, Feder can only be accused of "luring" you into defending your country. If you have to be lured into defending your own country, then [bleepity-bleep-censor]!

[riley1992]

If we don't meet this head on we will all be dead. Cowardice will not spare your children or grandchildren.

[Quix]

For sure.

Have told my students for decades that there would come a day when it was neighborhood against neighborhood.

But it goes deeper than that. Each individual wars with himself. As St Paul said--the good he would do, he doesn't. The bad he'd avoid, he does.

Now we fight folk who have sold out to "the dark side." But so many of our nation have been so brain dead about deeper issues and values of life for so long that it's a wonder they have a clue to what "light" or "darkness" really are.

[Quix]

Supposedly, we had 30 years ago the capacity to find most anything as many as 10 floors below ground as long as we had some idea what we were looking for. . . . technologically. Don't know if it's true or not--just what a person who should have known told me.

At the very least, we should be well able to keep them running to exhaustion. . . . without working tooo hard ourselves.

[Neets]

Good read NYp..thanks.

[1rudeboy]

Tell us, O great one . . . what should we do?

[dighton]

The reality we need to awake to is that folks like Feder won't be the ones dying in the wars they lure us into.

-----

Free Republic: open season on Arabs, not a whisper about Jews. The editorial-page neocons scream for our sons' blood to defend their nation. Don't mention it on Free Republic -- that's the kind of thing we don't dare discuss here. Just bawl tall about 'camel jockeys' and you'll be fine.

-- You, this thread, #9.

Got it. You and your kind are more indignant about "neocons" than about 6,000 Americans murdered in one day.

[Neets]

Well I tell you what TABBY..I am a veteran..spent 10 1/2 years in the Army, and if my son decided NOT to defend his country right now..if he was afforded the opportunity...I would be very disappointed in him...BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE..he UNDERSTANDS many before him have died for the FREEDOMS SOME PEOPLE SO EASILY AND READILY TAKE ADVANTAGE OF..How about you?