The America of my youth is being wasted, neglected, and mocked by an intellectually lazy electorate and a corrupt Chicago political machine. As my years advance, I now cry out to the Patriots and heroes who feel hopeless to rescue their country from the villains.
What Dylan Thomas wrote to his dying father, I repeat to those who are tempted to weakly witness the death of freedom in America with resignation...
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieve it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
21 comments:
Nick, thanks for putting this up. My, if you look at the last few posts here ... is there anything like N. Goomba on the internets? I think not.
Let me say this about the substance of what you have raised here. I don't feel helpless. I never have. Since I was a kid, I was talking my dad and granddad out of "we're going to hell in a handbasket" logic. I never saw it as productive or helpful. I still don't.
Plus, my dad created a monster. He taught me that we Americans could pretty much overcome anything. "So ... what anything are we facing today, daddy?" ... "Shut up, Rick. You just don't understand."
But seriously, I don't have patience for those among us who should be statesmen but who are giving up. America was born in great adversity and many of her shining moments have emerged out of crushing blows ... Valley Forge, the Civil War, Pearl Harbor, Iwo, 9/11, assassinations, the Great Depression, etc.
As long as there is a remnant who loves America and cherishes the ideal that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that govt. is instituted to preserve these rights ... to serve the people and not to be served ... we will be okay.
Yes, I realize that there are many dangers to that liberty prowling the American landscape today. Really, though, this is the way it goes.
America is an historical anomaly. We are those who tack against the wind of tyranny and human nature that says "Rule or be ruled." By definition, we will remain outnumbered. So we need to stay stronger to stay free. This is how we have done it in the past. This is how we will do it going forward.
Saddle up.
My God, man. You constantly remind me why you are my hero.
Tack against the wind. That is beautiful, DC.
Nickie, yes we must rage. They want us to go quietly into the night of their socialist/communist vision of utopia. I will not. I am not ready to give up on the America of my youth. I will not look my kids in the eye and tell them stories of how it was. And tell them I did nothing.
Ope, like you I don't want to look back in anger and regret. I choose to look forward to hope and change. Yeah, I said it.
BTW, thanks for a great evening.
Like I told the waitress, Nickie, I had the time of my life. Seriously, I don't think I have ever sat at a table with better dinner conversation. The worst part was when we realized that all the other tables had left and we had closed the place. Bummer. To be continued some day, I hope.
Damn ... damn ... I am jealous. Opie, you met the godfather? I have never met the godfather.
Nick, you met Opie? I have never met Opie. I feel like life is passing me by on the prairie out here.
Would y'all let me know next time?
Me and the flying bus are on good terms. I will be there in a heartbeat.
I feel a blog reunion coming on. Maybe after we sweep back to power in 2010 and I am elected "Spokesman for the New Conservative Majority"?
DC, I really do want to meet you. The only thing that gives me pause is whatever would I wear. So maybe you can help. Do you prefer the old-fashioned corset, a-la Scarlett O'Hara? Or perhaps the less-restrictive Victoria's Secret variety?
Opie,
Frankly my dear ...
But seriously, I understand. After spending an evening watching a guy work over pasta with his wood teeth like a wood-chipper ... it does leave one longing for real company.
Oh, I'm sorry. I thought Nick would have told you the story about the reason he had them put in was because George Washington is his hero.
Re: corsets, I just want to say that you and Nick have sent me into "Post-corset-overusage-syndrome." I thought it was a lighthearted way to talk about people who are too uptight. Now, I am a little gunshy about it.
Really, though, other than that thing that Nick wears under his trim sail, er shirt, to look sveldt, I wouldn't know a corset from a fan belt.
Maybe the fan belt would be cheaper. I'll have to look into it.
Opie, the wheels are turning and I am starting to wonder what stories Nickie told ... Hmmm ... Knowing that I am old-fashioned (he can somewhat relate, though he is just old) he tries to get me to blush or put others up to it.
In any event ... my pursuit of truth and justice (and those who can pay for them) may very well take me to California this fall. We'll see. If so, maybe I can try to track my favorite bloggers. Weird, but it seems that I know all the conservatives in Cal. (all 17 of you).
I am still super jealous.
DC, I wish I could put you at ease, but there is cause to be jealous. It was the most fun dinner of my life. LL was in fine form, and I think you would find him surprisingly stimulating. He's a tough, sharp man with more war stories (old and current) than most. And you know Nickie. He has wit and kindness of heart to rival the great figures of history. 3 hours was not enough time to finish the conversation. Whenever you're in town, just let me know.
Yes, it was as I feared! Sometimes, we shouldn't know.
All the blog wars that Nick and I have been through, stealing elections together, hack attacks (both of us) and everything ... and I've only talked to that ol' fart once, and it was over some minor blog etiquette deal, back in the day. He knows you for a month and takes you out to dinner. What am I ... chopped liver?! Maybe if I were a good-looking blonde it would help? Is it bad to think that Nick would think that way? Look at him look the other way ... Nick?!?
Of course, I am sure he didn't pay. (He didn't make you pay for his, did he?) But that doesn't help.
And LL, he seems like a cool guy, as well. Thus, "Cool J". I am not sure he likes it, but around here, if you get dubbed, well ...
I will keep you posted if/when I get out there. (Nick, I will let you know when I am "wheels up" heading home. Just kidding, ol' pal). I do have friends out there, including my scandalous liberal blogchild Julie. Oh, but that's a story for another time and another therapy session.
Nick, you want me to rattle Julie's cage and see if I can get her in here to straighten out this mess?
This is not a battle of ideologies, it's a moral struggle. Prog/liberalism is morally repulsive because it depletes our capacity for self-government, enervates the individual, ministers to fantasy, destroys the imagination and subverts the will to freedom. It's impossible to underestimate the danger it poses.
I've spent forty-plus years contemplating the issue because I was once sympathetic to the New Left, before appalling degenerates like Ayers and his demented skank took over.
Why do people clamor for a kingdom of rules rather than liberty? It doesn't make sense, but that's an answer in itself.
Apart from doctrinaire utopians who will accept the pain collar for reasons of self denial, there is always a servile multitude who think life must be friction-free and like herd animals, will sacrifice the members on the edges of the herd while the rest of them run away. It's Darwinian.
If you're a member of another species who hunts alone, nourishes your clan members with what you bring down with shear guts and guile, you can only think of grazing animals as food or obstructions to your view.
It's an old battle. We can never win it permanently.
DC, your smile muscles must be aching by now. I thought I knew you, but this Yes Man routine for the approval of the imperfect genius, Goomba, is embarrassing.
Opie, young and impressionable, LL., a guy who likes bomb-toting anarchists...I can understand it. But you, you have to renogotiate the reality of Goomba, Marine, and keep back. He's like a Claymore in a lightning storm.
...uh, that's "re-negotiate"...
Ope, what should give you pause is what DC might wear. Within his shady circle of comrades in Houston, semi-formal is considered having all one's flies buttoned.
Be very careful what you wish for.
DC... Me not pick up a check? I've picked up more tabs than you have clean t-shirts.
Luckily, LL is rolling in the stuff. He peeled of a couple a C notes for the waitress, playfully gave the cigarette gal a tweak on the nose, and led the room in a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise.
The stuff dreams are made of.
Rhod, I would expect no less vitriol from a New England upper-crust Kennedy wannabe.
I love you like a brother. Of course, my brother hasn't been seen since a rumored run-in with rogue industrial Hobart mixer in 1987.
My butler's name is Claymore.
And, DC, Julie would always be welcome here, if she could ever pry her lips from Obama's posterior long enough to type.
Thanks for the smiles, all. I keep giggling about "Claymore Goomba". And Rhod, I love you like a brother, too.
BTW, Rhod, thanks for that slap back to reality. You're the Moe Howard of this rag-tag outfit.
Nice blast at Julie, too, Nick. Man, no one is spared here. This is blog life at its finest. Blue on red ... red on red.
Hi Nickie:
That poem was a perfect choice for what is going on in America these days! We must fight and rail against the dimming of the light.
I hope all the dimwits that backed obummer will see what he's really about.
Also, that was such a nice story about your Blog romance...besides your biting political wit, you could also moonlight as a romance novelist! Opie, I bet you had a wonderful time with two such smart gentlemen entertaining you! I must say I wish I was you, sounds like a great fun time, and you deserve it.
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