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REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

10/14/2009

Behold a White Horse


“Perfect freedom has no existence. A grown man knows the world he lives in. And for the present, the world is Rome.” – Pontius Pilate

This time around I wasn’t going to do it. For the past couple of years, it seems there has been an avalanche of articles about death, disease and dying. Even though I find myself in the season of decay – let’s face it, it’s that time of life – I wasn’t taking the bait.

Innocent young girls dying of brain tumors, children dying in car accidents, greatest generation veterans dying suddenly in their sleep, Rangers who came home and Marines who didn’t. It’s all the same, and I had reached a point where I was done with it. No more. Not one more commentary about how a funeral was the focal point of the demise of the country.

And then I was alerted to yet another tragic passing of yet another vibrant young person, once again in the defense of his country. And once more, my interest was piqued.

I didn’t know Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan, USMC. I knew nothing of his life and had no vested interest in his death. And except for the recently concluded gathering of the Class of ’69, of which I am a member in good standing, PFC Hogan’s passing would have escaped my attention entirely.

It seems the last opinion peace I submitted to this forum contrasting my 40-year high school reunion with a similar gathering of my Vietnam unit earlier this year touched a nerve with several members of the aforementioned Class of ’69. Following its introduction on this site, I was astonished that the article was so evocative as to generate such profound insights among my fellow survivors of the 60s. I received a series of substantive emails regarding a wide variety of issues all of us were dealing with during those early years. Most were complimentary. Some were not.

One such exchange was from a woman who was among the most gracious at the Class of ’69 reunion. She was someone I hardly knew in high school, but could hardly fail to notice, then or now. And it was during just such an exchange, a few days after my commentary was posted, that she mentioned the passing of Lance Cpl. Hogan. It seems this woman is a professor at a local Orange County (California) university, and Donald Hogan was her student.

That alone would not have been enough for me to get up early on Labor Day morning to attend a funeral. It likewise would not have motivated me to drive upwards of sixty miles on the last holiday weekend of the summer to pay my respects to someone I never knew. Then she mentioned that Lance Cpl. Hogan had been recommended for a posthumous Medal of Honor.

That got my attention.

And so it came to pass that I found myself on the last three-day holiday of the summer, winding my way through the once-legendary California canyons, on a crystal clear day of brilliant sunshine, contrasted by razor sharp shadows – the harbinger of what passes for fall in Southern California – to bid a bittersweet adieu to a Marine I never knew.

The ceremony was to be held at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Laguna Hills, right smack in the heart of South Orange County. This was something of a novelty. It was primarily a military service – or at least one based on a Marine who died in the service of his country – but would be held at a civilian church. This was not unheard of, but it was unprecedented for me. Up to now, all services of this type have been held on military reservations. At least the ones I’ve attended.

To adequately describe the setting, one must have a clear picture of what life in South Orange County, (Calif.) is like. As one who has lived on its fringes for what amounts to forever, and worked there for close to twenty years, I have a hard time knowing where to start. It’s like the blind man who grabs the elephant by the trunk and then proceeds to draw the wrong conclusions about the beast.

First off, the South OC is the place winners go when they have won. Doesn’t matter what they’ve won, it’s simply a place of triumph. They don’t set up shop on their way up the mountainside to wealth and prosperity. They go there when they’ve pitched their tent at the summit. We’re talking about the 1%ers here. Yes, there are working stiffs in the South OC, but the further south you go in the county, the fewer they become.

To cite an example, years ago when I was living in Las Vegas, my significant other and I took off the entire month of August and spent it in Newport Beach. One morning we went to Sunday brunch at a place called The Arches on Pacific Coast Highway. Our waitress – a forty-something woman with the distinct attitude that she didn’t have to wait tables for a living – lived in Laguna Beach, not far from the Labor Day memorial service I was soon to attend. As it turned out, we were on our way to that very destination on that long-ago afternoon.

It had never been a favorite destination of mine as a dorky teen in the 60s. My beach hangouts were typical – Huntington Beach to cruise chicks and pretend I was cool, Newport Beach for The Wedge, and San Clemente because, well . . . San Clemente, in close proximity to Camp Pendleton, had Marines. And, young as I was, I envied and admired them, even then. Laguna Beach, while picturesque, was an artist’s colony, as it remains today. It also had something of a gay community, although back then they were operating well under the radar, unlike now. And it was pricey. Not the place a California teen – dorky or otherwise – would choose to hang out.

So I asked our waitress what people do in Laguna Beach. Her answer was blunt and to the point – “Do? Nothing.”

My companion figured it out before I did. If you had to work, you didn’t live in Laguna Beach, or anywhere else in South Orange County for that matter. As an aside, our waitress was the wife of one of the major psycho-therapists to the rich and neurotic of the South OC. And even in the olden, golden daze of 1984, he was billing at $115 an hour and getting rich doing it. She worked, because, as she put it, she got tired of sitting home alone, staring at the ocean from their hilltop estate and drinking $200 bottles of Dom Perignon. Oh well, it’s a dirty job, as they say.

But, that’s life in the South OC. The few working stiffs there are can mostly be counted in Santa Ana, Anaheim, Seal Beach, Fountain Valley, Tustin and Irvine. For the environs of Newport Beach on south, it’s the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Mostly. Laguna Hills is smack dab in the middle of this culture of wealth and comfort. And I’d been there many times, so I didn’t expect many surprises on this day. Not many.

It used to be Reagan country. And when I pulled into the church parking lot, it seemed like those times never went away. The trappings of opulence were everywhere. The immaculately-tailored men of all ages looked like they stepped off a GQ cover. The women would have been right at home in Beverly Hills, Park Avenue, or . . . well . . . the South OC. It could have been a fund-raiser for the RNC, were it not for the real reason all of them gathered together on that sun-drenched morning.

It was a mixed crowd – and by that I mean, civilians and Marines. And the contrast was stark, particularly among the age group that knew Lance Cpl. Hogan and loved him. His fellow Marines were magnificent in their dress blues. If there are more superbly attired fighting men anywhere in the world, I don’t know where you would find them. The Marines were immaculate, ramrod straight and intimately acquainted with the price of defending the country. On this day, they came to count that cost and mourn the loss of a brother. The women – little more than high school girls really, many of whom appeared to be college coeds, and, I assumed, grew up with Cpl. Hogan – were young, fresh, beautiful and possessed of that look of total, complete, absolute devastation that bespoke of an insular life, into which no senseless tragedy had ever intruded. Until now. In the picture-perfect world of the fresh and beautiful of the South OC, even those few who chose to go in harm’s way and defend the country came home unscathed and intact. Only this young man didn’t.

There was even a contingent of veterans from the Veterans of Vietnam International Bikers on hand. They were seated in the back of the church, off in a corner, isolated by one entirely empty pew in front of them and another behind. That’s typical. Even though they were appropriately attired, and came with the best of motives – to honor a fallen warrior – they had too hard an edge to them, and they put people off, particularly among the landed gentry of the South OC. That always happens. But they know who they are and so do I. So I took my place by their side and was seated among them.

The service was a mix of the Episcopalian liturgy – which I found vaguely familiar, being similar to the Methodist variety – and Marine green. Perhaps the most poignant moment occurred when Cpl. Hogan’s platoon sergeant addressed the assembled congregation. He spoke of how all freedom comes due in blood, and just as the blood of Cpl. Hogan bought the lives of his fellow Marines, so the blood of the Savior secures eternal life for all who choose to embrace Him. That’s one Marine who gets it. But then most of them do.

After his remarks, the memorial message by the priest was bland indeed. And after the call to colors, presentation of the Purple Heart, folding of the flag and the playing of Taps, we were done. I didn’t stay for the reception, and didn’t linger with the Vietnam biker brigade. After all, I didn’t know Cpl. Hogan, and was a stranger to the assembled congregation. So, it was off to the parking lot, and on to enjoy what remained of Labor Day 2009.

Then I saw them.

He was the epitome of success. I’ll call him Mr. Magnificent, because he truly was. Tall, tanned, with a full head of salt and pepper gray hair, brilliant white teeth, and a radiant smile you just knew closed many a multi-million-dollar deal across the length and breadth of the South OC. His charcoal gray suit fit perfectly, and he carried himself with an assurance that spoke simply and clearly that the world was his oyster. His wife – a high-maintenance blonde, with an attitude to match and tasteful but expensive gold jewelry – was clearly irritated about something. Could be memorial services for fallen Marines on Labor Day didn’t fit into her plans. And their nubile, teenage daughters – undoubtedly the next generation of hot blonde trophy wives to be kept in a style to which they have become accustomed – were bored and annoyed. I mean, school was starting up the next day and they had better things to do than go to “some stupid funeral” as they put it.

I followed them out to the parking lot where they all piled into a brand new Lexus. Nothing noteworthy there, the South OC boasted of such vehicles by the thousands. It was the bumper sticker that caught my attention. Partly because new vehicles of this stripe usually didn’t trumpet such trailer-trashy decorations. But mostly because it was a blast from the past, particularly the gray and dismal Jimmy Carter 1970s. As they drove off, I could read it.

HANG IN THERE AMERICA! THE REPUBLICANS ARE COMING!

And before I could suppress the thought, it flashed into my head. Before I could smile in support, a grimace crossed my face. Before I could embrace this simplistic notion that all we had to do was put a man with an “R” after his name into this or that office, I remembered with a sigh that this is not the 70s, and Ronald Reagan was not waiting in the wings to save us from a fate worse than.

Let me put it another way: Ronald Reagan is not coming back.

I marvel at what creatures of habit we all are. Could be it’s because we’ve been doing it so long, we don’t know any other way. Or maybe it’s just that we can’t bear to realize the landscape of power has changed profoundly and irrevocably. All we have to do is elect the right candidate with the right letter after his or her name, and everything will be fine.

The only problem is, the moving paradigm shifts, and having shifted, moves on. And anyone who believes the alphabet soup approach to leadership and power still holds better think again.

Since the late 80s – since Reagan left office, when you get right down to it – both political parties held basically the same orientation. Power and control focused in the hands of a few, and enough scraps from the master’s table to keep the serfs in line and the electorate voting for them. They just approached this end from different extremes of the political spectrum.

For the left, it was simple: Create a permanent underclass that is eternally oppressed, resentful, trapped and dependent on radical leftist policy-makers, not only for their well-being, but their very survival. As such, a global, borderless society of low-paid wage slaves, poorly educated, and bereft of any real skills is just what the doctor ordered. What better constituency to have? Eternally poverty-stricken paupers, frightened and hopeless, looking for whatever they can get from whoever will give it to them. It’s the perfect world for ultra-liberal office holders who gleefully confiscate the wealth they need (of all that remains) to distribute it to the peasants and keep them in line. Enough handouts and the voters will happily support the very politicos whose purpose in power is to keep them dependent and desperate.

But then this is old news. It’s been going on since the days of the Great Society. Liberal dogma is a slam dunk to figure out. However, the devil you know often beats the devil you don’t know.

Among the Republican faithful of the South OC – and for the rest of the country, for that matter – we’re all waiting for the next standard bearer. Failing that, we’ll settle for the next charismatic charmer who says all the right things about securing the borders, cutting taxes, fiscal responsibility, and growing American jobs.

My advice to all you GOPers out there – don’t hold your breath.

What you’ll get is some slick, fast talking hustler, who looks good on television, knows how to campaign to the right, hit all the appropriate talking points, and vote for every open-border amnesty, every offshoring measure, every unilateral free trade agreement, and in general every piece of legislation that concentrates power in the hands of a select few elitists while the very constituency who put him in power can go pound sand. Just like the left, only they approach the issues of power and control from the opposite direction.

Do any of you suppose Barack Obama would hold the unprecedented position of power he now commands without a betrayal of monumental proportions by the supposed conservative heart of the Republican Party? If not, it’s time to wake up and stop drinking the Kool-Aid ®.

It’s one thing to hit all the appropriate conservative talking points on the campaign trail. Republican politicos – as opposed to conservative, there is a difference, sad to say – have been doing that since the days of Barry Goldwater. The difference is, Goldwater had the courage of his convictions, unlike the current batch of so-called conservative Thespians who figure they can tap dance their way into office and throw their supporters on the grenade once they’ve gotten there. It’s called integrity, and it died with Ronald Reagan.

The electorate, while easily manipulated, isn’t that stupid. At least not yet. When they’ve been stabbed in the back by the latest version of Judas Iscariot masquerading as conservative officer holders, why should they vote for more of the same? Why shouldn’t they vote for a radical leftist like Obama? Sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, as they say. If the conservative candidate they vote for is going to spend money like a drunken sailor, overtly destroy the currency, abolish the borders and our national sovereignty along with it, why bother voting for a political chameleon when you can have the genuine article? There’s a reason Reagan won two elections by massive landslides. He was a true ideological conservative, and people knew it. Sad to say he was the last of his kind.

The inevitable question remains, if the two-party system is irrevocably broken, what then? I can tell you what won’t work. Forget about grass-roots activism. Don’t bother with local support of municipal and state-wide candidates. You’ll just run into the latest smooth-talking up-and-coming RINO politicians. They’re smart enough to know political sweet talk will get them into office. They’re not smart enough to realize it won’t keep them there. What they’re banking on is enough dissatisfaction with the current regime to garner sufficient support to put them over the top. And they just might get it. Then the politics of power will cycle again. Only the names will change, and, of course, the letter after those names.

No, there is no resolution to the void of leadership by doing the same old thing the same old way. What remains is adapt and survive. And the realization that, once and for all, a once great nation is a mockery of its former self. Mr. Magnificent and his prosperous South OC family on their out of the parking lot in their new Lexus is the new standard bearer for what passes for the citizenry of a once-sovereign nation. No matter which way the wind is blowing, cut a deal, take care of business, make sure the check clears the bank, and above all, to hell with everybody else.

After all, it’s every man for himself, these days.

But, you may ask, if things are so bleak, what about a contemporary revolution? I think I covered this point in a previous commentary. Bottom line is, don’t expect one while NFL Prime Ticket is on Sunday afternoon. A revolution would require a visionary leader, committed to the cause, and a sufficiently dedicated core of followers numerous enough to make a difference and willing to pay the requisite cost in blood. Not when the game’s on, I can tell you.

So, the naïve, gullible, and eternally optimistic patiently wait for the man on the white horse. They recount Reaganesque tales of glory of the giddy 1980s when the shining city on the hill was a tangible entity, with definable features. They wax nostalgic for a time when wages were high, taxes were low, and conservatism was the standard bearer for individual human dignity and defined by opportunity for all – big and small alike. They revel in the memory of a leader who not only loved the country, but valued it, and realized a strong nation was an absolute moral imperative in a world consumed by darkness and evil. Contrast that with the globalist paradigm in Washington today.

But don’t expect that conservative leader to appear. If the man on a white horse does come riding over the seven hills to the rescue, he is more likely to be Napoleon Bonaparte than Ronald Reagan. More Judas Iscariot than Pontius Pilate. And we’ll probably be so fed up by that time, that we’ll be willing to make a deal with the devil if it comes to that.

It’s what we’re used to, after all. And it’s what we deserve.

As a postscript, I could not help but inquire about the Medal of Honor recommendation for Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan, USMC. According to the few remaining contacts I have at Camp Pendleton, Cpl. Hogan was not recommended for the Medal of Honor as of Labor Day 2009. He still has not.

    “And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.” – Revelation 6:2.
by Euro-American Scum
(contributing Team Member of Allegiance and Duty Betrayed)

Euro-American Scum can be reached at euroamericanscum@gmail.com

27 comments:

Cal Brindisi said...

Glad to see the site up and running again. And glad to see you're still writing here, Scum.

I don't have time to read and post right now, but I'll be back soon.

Euro-American Scum said...

Cal Brindisi said...

Glad to see the site up and running again. And glad to see you're still writing here, Scum.


No more than I, Cal. And I don't know what kind of readership remains after the temporary disruption of the last few weeks.

But then, after the last offering, I figured I owed whoever is left a more traditional "dark and angry" contribution that is my typical of my mood these days.

Hope this one is dark and angry enough to suit whoever passes this way.

joanie said...

Scum, as you know, I am not certain how much writing I will be contributing to this site from now on, but I am glad to be able to re-ignite it, in part in order to provide you and others even a small forum on which to share your eloquence and insights.

There is not a word of opinion with which I disagree in this, your latest essay. And yes, its contents are indeed 'dark and angry enough' to suit my tastes.

As you know, I do not possess an innately 'dark and angry' nature, but, being a realist, it is difficult to embrace 'bright and cheerful' when contemplating the future of our beloved republic.

Integrity in government did indeed end with Ronald Reagan.

Most genuine conservatives have been searching for another Reagan for more than twenty years. The realists among us have given up that search, having examined virtually every corner of the political landscape.

Occasionally we have happened upon a bright and promising Reagan heir, only to discover that he/she was a pretender, or his/her Reaganesque qualities were so diluted as to be unworthy of further note.

Yet I am beginning to believe that our redemption may begin outisde of the political realm. As I described in the essay below this one ('The Power of an Ember'), I believe that the similarities between Glenn Beck and Thomas Paine are uncanny and Providential.

Although he held a few political offices, Paine was most powerful in his inspiring role as a pamphleteer, and a writer of passionate liberty-loving arguments. Most historians consider him to be the Father of the Revolution because he succeeded in instilling in enough of the populace a thirst for liberty and a loathing of those who were increasingly robbing them of that God-given treasure.

Beck is serving the same purpose. His passion and love of country are unquestionable, and his following is growing by the day.

That is not to say that I believe there will be a successful rebirth/revolution that will lead our beloved republic back onto the visionary path laid down by our Founders. Quite the contrary. I believe our ignorance and apathy have become so deep and entrenched (thanks to the biased media, indoctrinary public education, continuing illegal immigration, voter fraud, the financial power of special interests, the momentous and continuing growth of the entitlement class, etc.) as to be immovable.

But, if there is hope for a reclamation of our republic from the scoundrels in Washington who despise her very foundations, I believe the spark will be ignited by the likes of Glenn Beck, and others like him, who are attempting to explain to us the unequivocal need to return to believing that character in leadership is the most important assurance of peace and prosperity in a representative republic.

Once that message is received and absorbed, we will seek out such leaders ourselves.

As always, it is a privilege to include your writing here on AADB.

~ joanie

Arlene Albrecht said...

I'm so glad you're back Joanie!

E-A Scum, this is an excellent article. Like Joanie, I agree with all opinions expressed, especially the uniqueness of Reagan and the Reagan era.

We needed him desperately back in the 80's and we need somebody like him maybe even more now.

There are a handful of men with principles in the House and Senate but they are handcuffed by the Democrats who are ruling with iron fists. I don't know how the real patriots can stand working with the traitors!

TrustButVerify said...

Nice to see you up and running again, and EAS's latest column shows that the quality of this site hasn't deteriorated during its hiatus. ;)

Keep on keepin' on. We need voices of reason to counterbalance the confusing Alice in Wonderland crap coming out of Washington.

Lou Barakos said...

You know, I tried to think of some Republicans, or even non-Republicans, who could turn out to be another Reagan and couldn't come up with one.

Sarah Palin is a real conservative but she would need many years of maturing to fill Reagan's shoes, and I don't think the media will allow her those years.

Ron Paul is a Reagan in many ways, but a little flaky in other ways.

James Inhofe has the potential, but I think he's burned out after battling the corruption in D.C. for so long.

It's sad to admit, but I think you're both right about Reagan being the last leader with integrity.

Beck is everything you say, Joanie, but I'm afraid this administration is going to do something to silence him. They've already declared Fox News more of an enemy of America than Iran or N. Korea. I agree with the posted above. Everything that comes out of Washington these days makes me think I'm living in a black fairy tale.

DaveBurkett said...

HANG IN THERE AMERICA! THE REPUBLICANS ARE COMING!

Yeah, kinda like Bush's proclamation, 'Help is on the way!'

Well, I don't want the Republicans' "help" anymore. With friends like that, who needs enemies?

Great rant, Euro and great response, Joanie!

lori_gmeiner said...

Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan, USMC was only 20 years old when his life was snuffed out. He hadn't even begun to live. So sad. And for what? He was fighting in a country that our current President is going to abandon, if the political winds tell him to. And he was fighting for a country that has forgotten the real value of freedom. There's the real tragedy.

Euro-American Scum said...

joanie said . . .

I believe that the similarities between Glenn Beck and Thomas Paine are uncanny and Providential.


I just discovered Glenn Beck this fall. A good friend of mine just swears by him. I'll admit his passion is infectious, and his caustic, abrasive sense of humor certainly appeal to me. One wonders if Thomas Paine had television available to him back in 1775 if his demeanor would have been similar.

The difference is what lurked behind the activists. Tom Paine had sufficient numbers of disillusioned citizens who were willing to cast their fate with the burgeoning separatist revolution. They know full well that this roll of the dice could very well cost them everything, including as Jefferson so eloquently put it -- "our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

What we have now is a generation of couch potatoes, preceeded by an earlier generation of couch potatoes, initiated by a greatest generation that abandoned their role as leaders and initiated the practice in the 1950s. (That's right, the time honored tradition of falling asleep on the couch began with the veterans of the Great Crusade in the 1950s, I hate to break it to you.)

That hardly bodes well for a grass roots revolt -- and for the purposes of this rant, let's call it an electoral one, executed with activism and ballots rather than weapons and ammo.

I like Beck, like what he says, appreciate his plain-spoken style. Problem is, there's not much substance to those who tune in to listen. The tyranny of the remote control is the deciding factor here, particularly when Monday night football is on.

In every revolution there are always those hard core leaders who believe in the cause. But they must, and I mean absolutely must, have some element of substantial support behind them. Even if there was such leadership to be found today -- which there isn't -- the support is sadly lacking.

BTW, pass the chips. USC and Notre Dame are on television this Saturday.

Euro-American Scum said...

Lou Barakos said . . .

Beck is everything you say, Joanie, but I'm afraid this administration is going to do something to silence him. They've already declared Fox News more of an enemy of America than Iran or N. Korea.


Don't worry, Lou. Fox News thrives in this "Enemy of the People" environment. Ever notice how hard-edged their reporting is now that they have Obama to rage against?

Beats having do drink the Bush Kool-Aid, I can tell you.

Fox News will be fine. And Glen Beck will thrive. Problem is, I don't know if there's any foundation to build on.

In 1980, the entire country was fed up with Jimmy Carter. The rage against him was palpable. Reagan walked into a revolution just waiting to happen. I sense no such disaffection now.

Maybe in two years -- with unemployment still hovering around 10%, taxes through the roof to pay for national health care that no one qualifies for and those who do have to wait years to get -- there may develop a similar disaffection. But it hasn't happened yet.

Maybe Obama will be a one-and-done president, just like Carter. Still, he can do a lot of damage on the way down.

Euro-American Scum said...

lori_gmeiner said...

Lance Cpl. Donald Hogan, USMC was only 20 years old when his life was snuffed out. He hadn't even begun to live. So sad. And for what? He was fighting in a country that our current President is going to abandon, if the political winds tell him to. And he was fighting for a country that has forgotten the real value of freedom. There's the real tragedy.


That's the way it's been ever since Korea. Ever since the nation's leadership sent young men to spill their blood in causes the leadership had no commitment to win.

A very old and common tale, sad to say.

joanie said...

Euro-American Scum said:

I like Beck, like what he says, appreciate his plain-spoken style. Problem is, there's not much substance to those who tune in to listen. The tyranny of the remote control is the deciding factor here, particularly when Monday night football is on.


I have been a student of history all of my adult life, and a political activist most of that time as well.

Other than Ronald Reagan, I have never come cross a man, either inside or outside of politics, as dedicated to truth, as passionate about liberty, and as devoted to reclaiming America, as Glenn Beck.

Just one of his hour-long programs contains more valuable, fact-based, well-researched information than I believe most college or university students receive in weeks of sitting in any Political Science/American History class.

I have steered dozens of people to his program. I would estimate that half of them are now hooked on the truths he conveys. Most of the other half are victims of your 'tyranny of the remote control'.

I completely agree with your assertion that the fact that the large majority of the citizenry prefers apathetic, pablum-fed couch potato to informed status, and that does not bode well for an awakening ... which is precisely why I said, 'I believe our ignorance and apathy have become so deep and entrenched (thanks to the biased media, indoctrinary public education, continuing illegal immigration, voter fraud, the financial power of special interests, the momentous and continuing growth of the entitlement class, etc.) as to be immovable.

I pray every day that we are wrong.

~ joanie

Clark Kent said...

It’s an overused word but it’s vigilance that we have lost. Most of us don’t even know what the word means anymore, and when you have tyrants calling the shots it’s more necessary than ever.

It’s SO GOOD to see you back Joanie, and Scum too.

I’m looking forward to much good commentary again. ;)

Anonymous said...

We are in uncharted waters. Or at least in waters which haven't been navigated in a long, long time. I think all bets are off.

You do good work here.

Marc Drall said...

Anonymous said, "You do good work here."

I second that motion. I come here maybe once a week. It serves as a cool oasis and a refuge from the insane asylum that this country has become.

Anonymous said...

But don’t expect that conservative leader to appear. If the man on a white horse does come riding over the seven hills to the rescue, he is more likely to be Napoleon Bonaparte than Ronald Reagan. More Judas Iscariot than Pontius Pilate. And we’ll probably be so fed up by that time, that we’ll be willing to make a deal with the devil if it comes to that.

The rest of your essay, though well written, is superfluous. The bold above is all we need to know. Once all these socialist programs go into effect, once the bills come due, and once the terrorists realize we are now a 100% paper tiger, all hell is going to break loose.

Euro-American Scum said...

Anonymous said. . .

Once all these socialist programs go into effect, once the bills come due, and once the terrorists realize we are now a 100% paper tiger, all hell is going to break loose.


I'd like to think that's true. But the nation has been so apathetic, so sedentary, so passive for so long, that I wonder where the support for a Beck-like persona is going to come from.

Remember, in past generations, people knew they had a country, knew its value, and were prepared to go to extraordinary lengths to defend and preserve it.

Now, as Joanie so accurately points it, we have been diluted by a flood of illegal immigration, denigrated by outright hatred for everything the country stands for by the media, and dumbed-down by what passes for leadership in the public schools.

This certainly does not bode well for the future. Maybe the liberal pundits are right. The American century is over. What they don't mention is that it's over because they killed it.

Tony Gagliano said...

Beck and Brooks Agree: The Party's Over

Excerpt:

Though he would be loathe to admit it, David Brooks agrees with Glenn Beck. Consider the opening of his op-ed today, Brooks writes:

That which can’t continue doesn’t. A nation can spend and spend, pile debt upon debt, but eventually there comes a reality moment when some leader emerges to say enough is enough and when decent people, looking around at themselves and their own best nature, respond by demanding a return to responsibility.

The rest is worth reading, too.

Euro-American Scum said...

Tony Gagliano said...

That which can’t continue doesn’t. A nation can spend and spend, pile debt upon debt, but eventually there comes a reality moment when some leader emerges to say enough is enough and when decent people, looking around at themselves and their own best nature, respond by demanding a return to responsibility.


I would tend to agree, but for the fact that we're well into our second generation of citizens who are basically directionless lay-abouts, with no ambition, no vision, no sense of themselves, and no appreciation of the value for the country that nurtured them.

I agree that what cannot continue, will not. But I tend to believe this will result in an inevitable collapse of unprecedented proportions rather than a return to responsibility.

Look for that word "responsibility" to disappear from the dictionary before a return to normalcy occurs (whatever that means).

Anonymous said...

I said:

Once all these socialist programs go into effect, once the bills come due, and once the terrorists realize we are now a 100% paper tiger, all hell is going to break loose.

And Euro-American Scum said:

I'd like to think that's true. But the nation has been so apathetic, so sedentary, so passive for so long, that I wonder where the support for a Beck-like persona is going to come from.

You misunderstood what I meant by all hell breaking loose. I didn't mean that people would suddenly wake up and demand a restoration of integrity, etc. I meant that, because of the chickens coming home to roost after all the socialist programs go into effect, and we are up to our necks in debt and inflation, and we've experienced another terrorist attack (or a few more), all hell will break loose in the sense that we will be dealing with shortages of the necessities of life, living in near third world conditions, and facing possible anarchy.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for bringing this site back!

MontyPython2 said...

This Thursday's Beck show outpaced all other cable shows. His popularity is soaring.

Beck is almost becoming must see TV. Unlike Hannity who gets stuck on the same talking points for a long time, Beck keeps digging and digging and finding out more and more. It is always entertaining to see what kind of (true) crap he is going to dig up next.

Everytime the administration takes another swing at Glenn, his ratings do up. Whatta guy! I think your Tom Paine analogy is right on the money, Joanie.

Cheryl Flickinger said...

Hope this one is dark and angry enough to suit whoever passes this way.

There is no other way to be these days. Anyone wearing rose colored glasses will be run over with a steam roller. Actually, all of us are scheduled for that, but he'll be run over first only because he has no clue that it's coming.

Anonymous said...

Lou Barakos said "Beck is everything you say, Joanie, but I'm afraid this administration is going to do something to silence him. They've already declared Fox News more of an enemy of America than Iran or N. Korea."

For the first time in history, our government is targeting a group of private citizens, by name, who are merely reporting the news.

And they�re using OUR tax dollars to do it.

Talk about scary.

It goes without saying, EuroAmerican Scum, your column fired on all cylinders. Good work.

Euro-American Scum said...

Anonymous said . . .

You misunderstood what I meant by all hell breaking loose. I didn't mean that people would suddenly wake up and demand a restoration of integrity, etc. I meant that, because of the chickens coming home to roost after all the socialist programs go into effect, and we are up to our necks in debt and inflation, and we've experienced another terrorist attack (or a few more), all hell will break loose in the sense that we will be dealing with shortages of the necessities of life, living in near third world conditions, and facing possible anarchy.


Kind of like Atlas Shrugged gone mad. I get it. And it does make sense to me.

Anonymous said...

So glad to see the site up and running again!

Brad

0311 1/5 Alpha Co said...

I was one of the pallbearers for Donald. The next time you use a fallen serviceman as an emotional appeal during one of your rants, how about you do him the courtesy of getting his rank right? You screwed it up three times by my count. His family is computer savvy and has surely seen this. How do you think they feel about you dragging the memory of their son and brother into your political tirade? Seriously, think before you write.