Much to Think About; Much to be Grateful For
THE DIPLOMAD
diplomadic.blogspot.com
This post-election day in the Far Abroad has produced so much to reflect upon and be grateful for. Starting with the last, we at The Diplomad want to thank all those Americans, living and dead, who have made our wonderful country and its vibrant democracy possible. We thank our soldiers, sailors and marines; we thank our immigrants, inventors, businessmen and hard-working common folk; and, yes, we even want to thank our politicians. We know it's cool, hip and smart to ridicule them, they're always good for a cheap laugh or a snide comment on the Tonight Show. In fact, however, America has produced overall an amazing set of politicians. What country can match the politicians we had in 1776? Which one can match George Washington as its first leader? This man could have been a life-time king, a demigod, but insisted on being a democrat, and on leaving office after eight years. What country can match our Declaration of Independence and our Constitution with its Bill of Rights? Can the French Revolution boast somebody even remotely close to Jefferson, or Adams, or Franklin? What did the French Revolution produce besides empty slogans, anarchy, terror, war, and dictatorships? What about Germany? Russia? The whole slew of African and Asian states that have arisen since WWII?
What nation has produced a leader the match of Abraham Lincoln -- a man of simplicity, eloquence, courage, wisdom, grandeur, and devotion to country and freedom? And in more recent times, what other country has had a political "class" with the likes of Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, George Marshall, Ronald Reagan, and now -- yes -- George W. Bush. Even many of our "second tier" politicos stand head-and-shoulders above those of other countries: "Scoop" Jackson, Daniel P. Moynihan, Rudy Guilliani, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and, yes, the flawed but brilliant Richard Nixon. All of them politicians to be sure, but also men who saved civilization, who more often than not did what was right, not just what was expedient, and who willingly put their political fortunes on the line. We've had an amazing run. And long may it continue.
This day brings forth those happy thoughts. It also, however, reminds us of how squalid and minor and graceless a character is John Kerry. We thank God that, in the end, the majority - literally - of American voters saw through this vile charlatan, and declared him unworthy to follow in the footsteps of the great men listed above. As we have stated before, however, our joy at this is tempered by the thought that tens-of-millions of our fellow countrymen fell for this snake charmer; failed to detect his emptiness, his vapidity, his condescension and disdain for the American worker, soldier, and our long traditions; they failed to be repulsed by his acts of treason. We remain greatly troubled that it is only by the Grace of God that we once again (Remember Gore?) dodged the bullet. How long will His Grace be with us?
We all must do a better job of informing our fellow countrymen of the dangers out there, of the fact that evil still stalks globe and we are its number one target. We must push for W to clean out the State Department and rid it of the Kerryites who seek to frustrate our ability to defend ourselves without an OK from the UN or the Belgians. But, we'll do that tomorrow.
Today we celebrate. Today we revel in the fact that our country will continue to have a real President. And, we must confess, we are enjoying immensely the discomfort of Old Europe and the American left. Watching CNN, CBS, BBC, TV5, TVE, and DW we laugh heartily as the American MSM and the Euros try to explain how it is that Bush has won. Bush the Idiot. Bush the Fool. Bush the Divider. That very same Bush has outsmarted them all! How can it be? The Americans must be idots! The same Americans who take virtually all the Nobel Prizes and who have invented the modern era, well, they must be idiots! The Diplomad laughs and yells at the screen, "You Euro jerks haven't understood us in 225 years! You idiots at CBS are even worse! Go fake some memos!" The Diplomad has enjoyed tremendously making phone calls to stunned and distressed Euro dips, whom The Diplomad called solely for the purpose of gloating (Diplomad did likewise after the Howard victory in Australia). Those same foreign journalists, intellectuals and diplomats (with their American acolytes) who predicted our defeat at the gates of Kabul and Baghdad, had convinced themselves that the Americans would come to their senses (i.e., do what the Euros and the NY Times say) and elect the quasi-French Kerry. We enjoy their discomfort immensely and hope that W increases it exponentially over the next four years.
We also are enjoying the relief of those foreigners who live in the "hard" countries, who know that life is tough and raw, and that there is a real struggle to be won. They know that life is more than deciding which cheese to eat or novel to deconstruct. The author of this Diplomad article serves in a high-threat post, one with a very elevated terrorist risk. This Diplomad works daily with host nation cops and others deeply worried by a possible Kerry victory; they, our true allies, are now clearly relieved that W will be around for another four years.
So, today we gloat; we dance; we celebrate; we play the Star Spangled Banner at peak volume. This month, the same in which we celebrate the 229th birthday of the US Marine Corps, is off to a glorious start. We owe it to W and our country to make sure that the next four years are equally as glorious.
America has won another round. |
