How We Collapse

National Review Online ^ | 8-11-03 | Victor Davis Hanson

[Let's Roll]

"If one were to collate the recent news reports about the Mosul shootout, the lessons would be as follows: Read two mass killers their Miranda rights; duck their bullets when they shoot first; capture them alive; let Europeans cross-examine them in the Hague; lose no friendlies in the operation; do not disturb the residents next door; protect the Husseins' victims from such oppressors (but without cracking their plaster) — and in general remember that the entire scene will be filmed and then broadcast as Cops rather than as Hell is for Heroes." That about covers it.

[dennisw]

bttttttttttttttt

[Noumenon]

"That trapped mass murderers do not always understand the logic of jurisprudence was apparently left unmentioned. "

Liberals, having long abandoned reason and logic, are the first to demand it from everyone else.

[Kozak]

The Romans knew better:

"LET THEM HATE, SO LONG AS THEY FEAR"
Lucius Accinus

[wayoverontheright]

What does all this mean? Western societies from ancient Athens to imperial Rome to the French republic rarely collapsed because of a shortage of resources or because foreign enemies proved too numerous or formidable in arms — even when those enemies were grim Macedonians or Germans. Rather, in times of peace and prosperity there arose an unreal view of the world beyond their borders, one that was the product of insularity brought about by success, and an intellectual arrogance that for some can be the unfortunate byproduct of an enlightened society.

This is a warning we had better heed from a great historian.

[trebb]

Had Mr. Atta and his fellow killers been arrested on probable cause, their Islamic haunts raided, and assorted charities and fundraisers shut down on September 10, 2001 — cries of racism, profiling, and McCarthyism would have drowned out the purportedly farfetched excuses that such preemptory FBI raids had in fact saved thousands in Manhattan.

That's probably one of the biggest problems - The Dims claim to care and are only too willing to cripple us to prove it. They almost never offer solutions or other hard data because they spend all their time waiting for something to happen that can be exploited by their howls. Damned if you do, damned if you don't, and they could care less about the damage to the Nation.

[Cicero]

Oderint, dum meterunt,

as I recall. Just so.

[eyespysomething]

"A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly against the city. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor; he speaks in the accents familiar to his victim, and he wears their face and their garments and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation; he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city; he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared. The traitor is the plague."

- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Orator - 106-43 B.C.

[Let's Roll]

I know - they live for "gotcha" situations. They hope we are hit again so that despite their many obstructions/objections to serious homeland security, they can blame GWB when it happens.

[BartMan1]

"If one were to collate the recent news reports about the Mosul shootout, the lessons would be as follows: Read two mass killers their Miranda rights; duck their bullets when they shoot first; capture them alive; let Europeans cross-examine them in the Hague; lose no friendlies in the operation; do not disturb the residents next door; protect the Husseins' victims from such oppressors (but without cracking their plaster) — and in general remember that the entire scene will be filmed and then broadcast as Cops rather than as Hell is for Heroes." That about covers it.


Yeah, about covers it.

Jeezz.

Is there any hope short of a huge loss of life in the US proper that these folks are going to begin to get it ?

[Dialup Llama]

>After explaining to Western journalists that they mysteriously knew nothing of either the Husseins' nearby presence or the Baathist sympathies of the sheik next door, residents complained of shattered windows and pockmarked walls from collateral fire...

These gawkers in their oversized nightshirts know exactly what to say to the western media and well buy their BS.

[Dialup Llama]

>After explaining to Western journalists that they mysteriously knew nothing of either the Husseins' nearby presence or the Baathist sympathies of the sheik next door, residents complained of shattered windows and pockmarked walls from collateral fire...

These gawkers in their oversized nightshirts know exactly what to say to the western media and well buy their BS.

[wcbtinman]

"Is there any hope short of a huge loss of life in the US proper that these forlks are going to begin to get it?"

None. The socialists have demonstrated that they are willinbg to go to the wall and use any tactic to gain and remain in power. And we conservatives allow it to happen.

We eat, work and play with these traitors everyday. We treat them with respect when they deserve none. We allow them to hold their rallies, and spout their lies with impunity. This must change. It's time to realize that liberal/socialits don't use the same thought processes that we do, and as such cannot be reasoned with. They only understand force.

Without any real consequences for their traitorous behavior, they are simply emboldened. Conservatives must become actively and loudly intolerant of liberal/socialists. Concede them nothing. They must be publicly scorned, ridiculed and shunned. Do not associate with them socially. Don't play with their children. Refuse to do business with them. Refuse to hire or work with them. Ignore their pleas for sustenance.

Continuance on the current path of "tolerance" will result in bloodshed.

[CGVet58]

excellent analysis...

[Rockitz]

"A nation can survive its fools and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly against the city. But the traitor moves among those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears no traitor; he speaks in the accents familiar to his victim, and he wears their face and their garments and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation; he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city; he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared. The traitor is the plague."

- Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Orator - 106-43 B.C.

Great quote! Pretty much personifies the Demoncrats. Does Ann Coulter quote this in her book?

[eyespysomething]

I do not know if she does or not, but she sure could!

I got it from the Commandant of Students at the school I work at, who included it in his explanation quotes for his Word of the Week. I can't even remember what word he used it for. Probably loyalty, but I HTML'd so many to the archives, I lost track. Ha ha ha.

http://www.gmc.cc.ga.us/character/word_of_the_week/index.html

He only had the first 2 lines, and when I looked the whole quote up, I was amazed at how well it fit the situation today.

Thanks.

[B-bone]

BTTT

[faithincowboys]

Hanson is brilliant and all the professional critics in the liberal media should read this.

[Utah Girl]

How soon we forget. Victor Davis Hanson hits it on the head again.