The Laughing Wolf

The War: GW And Me

Over the course of this week, we have looked at the past, at what lies beneath it, at where we are, and at the choices for what happens now. As previously stated, this is simplified and really the subject for a book, but it does hit the high points and allow for the start of thought and dialog. Today is the day to begin discussions of the future.

What we truly face right now are two wars. The first is the root cause and the subject of much discussions, wailing, and gnashing of teeth. That war is the war on fantasy ideology, the war that was declared by bin Laden and those who think like him. Those that set in motion the attacks of 9-11, 3-11, and the so-called resistance movement in Iraq. It is the show and flash, but hides a second and more dangerous war.

That war is the one between the old way of politics and “doing business” and the new way. The old way was one of appeasement, greed, and thirst for power. It was and is nothing more than a continuation of medieval politics of nation states, but with dangerous new toys. The new way recognizes that the world has changed since the 1500s, and that most of all it has changed since 1776.

For the last two centuries, the Great Experiment that is America has played the international relations game by the old rules, despite the fact that America was a country of new rules. This makes sense when you think that America was a far cry from a power house in those early days. A powerful America did not really emerge until the late 1930s, and the full realization that we are a power, and indeed the last true superpower, has yet to sink into the psyche of most citizens. As a result, we have catered to the old boys club of international diplomacy, and accepted the idea that we were uncouth barbarians lucky, lucky mind you, to be allowed in the club at all given our appalling manners, lack of sophistication, un-appreciate of nuance, and the like.

For the last 60 or so years, the old members of the club have been hoping and praying that we would not wake up. That we could still be manipulated and controlled so that they would not have to give up those plush seats by the fire and all the other perks that came from being the bigwigs in the club. That they could regain faded glories and power, and once again earn those seats and perks. We have long catered to that fiction, comfortable with it and finding it something of a comfort given the mad world that was raging outside the windows.

To carry the analogy further, we have servants who function as staff and such, who take care of things at the club. They are the ones who arrange the parties, negotiate changes to the rules, and do all the things that allow the club to function. The servants, public servants as a matter of fact, are sworn to do what is best for the whole, yet they would be less than human if some self-gratification did not come from things. As with any such operation, there are ways to gain wealth and power, some legitimate and some not. The politics and alliances that allow this are complex, but the net result is that sometimes maintaining power means doing things that benefit that servant, and are not necessarily the best or right for the person sitting by the fire. When things get bad enough, it becomes obvious to those sitting around the fire, talking and drinking.

The gentleman in the chair has noticed. It has been clear for quite some time that some of the more elderly members have gone from being merely querulous to downright antagonistic. Only a blind man can’t tell that their servants are openly stealing and otherwise corrupt, and doing so in a way that puts him and his servant at a disadvantage. Worse yet, it is also clear that some of his servants care more about the goodwill of one or more of the other gentlemen, and the power and wealth that comes from maintaining the servant’s situation exactly as it is, rather than in doing what is right and best. For they are failing to deal with the barbarians trying to burn down the club. When the man tries to grab his sword and a bucket of water to take care of things, these other members scream at him, and actively prevent him from either putting out the fires or from killing the ones with the torches.

That is the situation we face. There are barbarians at the gate, and a second war within.

The choices this poses are not comfortable, and may pose a grave danger to The Republic and The Great Experiment it represents. The easy choice is to give up freedom, to go for an imperial leader and deal strictly by force of arms. Pax Americana. The opposite choice, and equally damning, is to give up freedom, and go for a socialist response that would maintain the illusion of power and control by the Old Powers, while adding a new and unchecked element in the form of Islamic fundamentalism. A third option exists, however, that threads the shoals and offers the chance of something truly new.

We take a page from the communists and socialists and export revolution.

Not just any revolution, but The Revolution. We export our ideas, our ideals, and our hope. The foundations of the Experiment go out to the world as seed.

This is no less than what is being done in Iraq as we speak. It is being done covertly in other areas and in a variety of ways. We don’t force our culture and choices on anyone, only the basic tools of freedom. What they do with those tools is then up to them. We can and should offer advice, assistance when needed and requested, and make sure that the Old don’t try to load the dice. The foreign drawback to this approach is that there will be failures, fixes, and wins by the Old. The foreign advantage to this is that there will be successes, and those successes will not only act as a beacon, but will export The Revolution to others as well. Success will breed success.

The domestic drawback is that we can, as we have always had the power to do, end our own Great Experiment and eliminate the freedoms that are its cornerstone. All will be done in the name of the greater good, of course, but it still is failure. It will still be letting the old ways win, by returning to the rule of the few instead of the Citizens. The domestic advantage is that we have the opportunity not merely to hold on to what we have, but to accelerate the process begun by the Founding Fathers. We can indeed bring individual liberty and responsibility to new heights, and prove the underlying postulates of The Great Experiment.

President Bush has not merely responded to the declaration of war by waging war, but he has also committed us to exporting The Revolution. In both wars, he has my support and in the export of The Revolution he has my full and unqualified support. On other fronts, that support is conditional and is subject to my concerns about maintaining and expanding the freedoms that we enjoy. I will not quietly sit by if we move to let the Old Ways win. I will not surrender my freedoms to any enemy, foreign or domestic.

Both of these are fights to the death, quite literally. The followers of fantasy ideology have made it clear that my physical death as well as the death of the culture and mores that I hold dear are their goal. The challenge is given and I accept it. If needs must, my life is a small price to pay to prevent them from achieving their goal.

As our Founding Fathers pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor to The Revolution, so too must I for I can do no less than they; and, indeed I and every other Citizen today must do more. For that challenge was made to us by them, to not merely maintain but to grow, to advance ourselves and the world in which we live. That is a challenge truly worth accepting and I long ago accepted it. I swore holy oaths to that effect, and I do so again today before you all:

I, C. Blake Powers, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office upon which I am about to enter, so help me God.

The duties I entered long ago are that as a Citizen, for this is what our forefathers committed us to, and what we must take up to discharge our duties to our nation and ourselves.

Are you prepared and willing to meet this challenge? Prove it.

Prove it by word, action, and deed. This is a heavy burden, and anyone who reads this oath and says they are not scared by it is either a fool or a liar. Meeting the challenges it poses is not an easy task, and will frequently cause a great deal of anguish and soul searching. It requires mental and physical agility, not rigidity, and the choices it presents are often painful, but the result is well worth the cost.

If you swear this oath, know that it requires you to truly think, as well as to act. The acts it requires are often onerous, and rarely are the do-or-die theatrics of the movies. It means that you have to vote, and most of all to be an informed voter. It means that you have to stay aware of much more than the latest hairdo of a given performer, but to be knowledgeable about the things that affect YOUR government, for that government and this nation are YOU. It means serving jury duty and giving fair and impartial consideration to the facts, rather than succumbing to emotionalism or self-interest. It means meeting the multitude of other duties that are required of a Citizen.

I made this choice long ago. I have made my choices on both wars, and openly and freely declare them in front of you. I will fight both wars tooth and nail, for both can destroy us, both can end our lives, and both can condemn us and our children to a future of slavery and servitude rather than to freedom.

So, who do you serve: the Old, or the New? The ideals of subjects and states, serfs and nobility, of cabbages and kings? Or, the idea that individuals are smart enough to rule themselves wisely? Of individual freedom and liberty for all?

What is your choice?

Choose wisely, for the future depends upon it.

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