Noonan's Words of Wisdom
I've disagreed with some of the things that Peggy Noonan has written recently, but she's dead on here:
One day in the future either New York or Washington or both will be hit again, hard. It will be more deadly than 9/11. And on that day, those who experience it, who see the flash or hear the alarms, will try to help each other . . .
Make believe it's already happened. That's the only attitude that will help us get through it when it does. I do not mean think like Rodney King. We can't all get along, not on this earth. But we can know what time it is. We can be serious, and humane. We can realize that we're all in this together and owe each other an assumption of good faith.
No doubt Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and most of the rest love their country as much as I do. It's just that they're wrong -- and they see the world in a way that I believe makes America less safe, and less great.
That doesn't make them evil. But it does make them wrong -- and makes their actions worthy of close, careful and constant scrutiny.
One day in the future either New York or Washington or both will be hit again, hard. It will be more deadly than 9/11. And on that day, those who experience it, who see the flash or hear the alarms, will try to help each other . . .
Make believe it's already happened. That's the only attitude that will help us get through it when it does. I do not mean think like Rodney King. We can't all get along, not on this earth. But we can know what time it is. We can be serious, and humane. We can realize that we're all in this together and owe each other an assumption of good faith.
No doubt Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and most of the rest love their country as much as I do. It's just that they're wrong -- and they see the world in a way that I believe makes America less safe, and less great.
That doesn't make them evil. But it does make them wrong -- and makes their actions worthy of close, careful and constant scrutiny.
posted by LadybugUSA at 7:35 AM
8 Comments:
Depends on what the definition of "is" is. Or "evil" is. Don't forget the great deceiver is great at deceiving. Many of them might seem to love America, but there are also many that would love to see a single global village, with one idiot in charge of redistributing the wealth.
I really wonder about some of the left especially those that would put party above country. Pelosi is a lightweight and Reid is corrupt it's just that he has managed to get away with it since he was a rising star in Nevada. Check him out, Mr. clean, uh! The trouble with being wrong in this day and age is that consequences are something most of us don't want to think about. The American public for the most part is politically in lala land.
Carol, 9/11 occurred like Pearl Harbor because the US had people who "see the world in a way that I believe makes America less safe, and less great."
You say, "No doubt Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and most of the rest love their country as much as I do. It's just that they're wrong -- and they see the world in a way that I believe makes America less safe, and less great."
I'm with you on the first part. Pelosi and Reid surely love their country. I part ways with you slightly on the second part. They do see the world differently than you do, and you -- like every American -- is entitled to have and voice your opinion. But before I declare that they're automatically wrong, I prefer to see what impact their worldview has on the next two years.
Personally, while I love my country as much as anyone, I see pretty clearly that our reputation has been severely tarnished in recent years; we're no longer perceived to be a shining beacon of freedom; rather, many non-Americans think us to be warmongering tyrants. It will be interesting to see if our image has changed significantly come 2008.
Our image has been that we're a land of opportunity. Despite the asinine attitudes held by some, we're the first place people from around the world think of coming when they want cash and the freedom to make it. Beyond that, world opinion, a valueless commodity, is that we're dirt when we're too great, and deserving when we suffer. Just like our own, the smart ones acknowledge both our shortcomings and greatness and they're always damn glad we're around when they need us. Don't get too worked up over the envy our greatness has generated among those who's differing ideologies have failed them.
And also, Red7Eric,
As is true with the Republicans, it is easy enough to suppose what the policies of the new majority is likely to be, and we've already tasted that stuff. I'd prefer we didn't go through it again.
"Time" magazine is reporting that Germany will prosecute the following for war crimes:
Actually it is a private entity that is attempting to persuade a prosecutor in Germany to do this.
The organization in question was founded by William Kunstler, noted defender of the Chicago 7.
"Don't get too worked up over the envy our greatness has generated among those who's differing ideologies have failed them."
~~~~~
I grew up a child of the U.S. Navy, living all over the world. My life experience taught me that world opinion does matter. I believe that often those outside of the U.S. have a clearer picture of America than those on the inside.
Lest you think I'm a liberal pushover, I'll add that during the Reagan years, the world loved us. I wasn't a huge fan of Reagan at the time, but I could nonetheless appreciate his mastery of foreign affairs.
With Bush II in office, we're as hated overseas as we've ever been. And I would advise you not to take too much comfort in your greatness nor look too far down your nose at those who carry a different passport. Such attitudes are isolationist, and dangerous. We're all on the same planet, and it would behoove us to get along.
I definitely am not one to look down my nose at anyone, eddy-boy excepted. What I won't do, however, is take to heart any misperceptions of my country, most of which are based on the same distortions and lies that a Cindy Sheehan would make book on. There is also a difference between the opinion of foreigners and the opinions of their leaders. Depending on the country in question, there may be no difference, but my point is that I'm not about to take an trash talk that doesn't have support of evidence. Most against the USA hasn't any.
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