Congratulations, Bill.

And let me second the kudos for Trinity. I'm wearing the print out in that chapter of the book.

Hello, Bill!

I was reading the NRO and thinking to myself, "I wonder if it's the same Bill Whittle?" Read until the end, where there was a little bio that said you worked in Los Angeles, and when I rolled over, there was "EjectEjectEject.com." BINGO!

I've been a fan since a Russian Engineer friend of mine turned me on to a column about a University Professor who did "exactly the right thing," and saved the Union. That was three or four years ago, and I've been avidly reading everything since!
Congrats, and keep up the GREAT work!

Dan sends...

Bill--

Awesome! Well written article there on NRO today--glad to see that you've got a payin' gig!

Keep up the excellent work.

Your "mystic chords of memory" line made me tear up in Starbucks this morning.

You got the Palin feeling down pat. I'm proud to be voting Republican now, and I was afraid that it would never happen.

Mr. Whittle,

My most sincere congratulations, and my "Favorites List" has just expanded...

I will follow your writing wherever it may be found, and support you in any way possible!

(And McCain's use of OODA and Maneuver Warfare this past week has been simply brilliant, IMnsHO).)

My very best to you, Sir!
Paul A.

It's always good to be famous for something good like your views on politics and society. Not by being able to parrot lines or sing on stage.

I've been referring people to "Tribes" lately, as here in Savannah there's been a lot of hurricane talk.

Congratulations, Bill. I wish the 'Noles could claim you instead of the hated Gators.

Best,
Mr. Parx

Congrats, Bill!

It's nice to hear from you again. I've read through your essays a dozen times and I am absolutely salivating for those essays you spoke of in June.

Mr. Whittle,

Welcome to NRO! Long time reader of your work and I too was scrolling down The Corner and your name popped out.

CONGRATULATIONS! Yes, welcome to the house that WFB built. Truly awesome days for our side.

Best regards.

Congratulations, Bill! I'm looking forward to your upcoming essay!

Something I found out last night.

We all know John McCain was a fighter (actually, light bomber) pilot.

Cindy's a Pilot too, she has a Cirrus.

Sara Palin is a pilot. Todd Palin is a pilot. They own a Supercub on floats.

Good to have you back, Bill.

Congratulations, Bill. Just read the NRO piece- as always, excellent work.

For what it's worth, I love the Forty Second Boyd piece. It's an absolutely fascinating article.

Can't wait to read more!

Fabulous; it's thrilling to see you at NRO. As so often happens, you've expressed my thoughts and feelings far more elegantly than I could myself.

Congrats on the new venue, Bill. I look forward to reading more of your work.

(For the record, COURAGE is the essay I read again and again. It's a thing of beauty.)

Bill, oh thank God you're back! And that NRO essay was perfect, particularly the last quarter: you spoke the words I couldn't find.

Now, you magnificent bastard (yeah, channeling Patton *snicker*), unsheathe that ink-filled sword and continue to regularly eviscerate the looney, America-hating left...

PLEASE!

Good to see you making the bigs ;)

My feelings exactly. I have like Sarah Palin, since the first time I heard about her. I have been trying hard not to get my hopes up, expecting McCain to go with someone else. I couldn't be happier. I will now get the opportunity to vote for my SECOND female vice president.

And another thing that folks seem to be missing; the Dems are running some conservative in the South, that just may win. They no doubt think it will be great to have a majority. The thing is that these are exactly the kind of folks McCain/Palin can work with. And it means a step away from the Pelosi crowd. I am just amazed at how this has turned around in one short week.

All I can say is, It's about damn time. How dare you have an actual life and leave us coming back daily, hoping for something new from you. Congratulations Bill. May this lead to much, much more. See, hard work and talent do pay off!

Congrats, Bill. You've been indispensable the last several years, and it's great to see you get the exposure you deserve. Looking forward to the new piece!

Heartiest congratulations from this lurking archer. I just left a post at Adam Brickley's blog (who has been pushing Sarah Palin since Feb 26, 2007), directing folks over here. Keep up the excellent work, and let us know how we might help.

Its always good to see you put up a post/article, especially on a site like NRO. You said in that article exactly what Ive been thinking. I am still not ENTIRELY enthused by McCain...his actions as Congresscritter have soured any admiration I have for him as a soldier. I am indeed baffled as to why he would be so brave and staunch in standing up for our country, and then in Congress turn around and advocate and put through legislation that, in effect, p*sses on the Constitution he swore to uphold.

But you know what? I am not a crusty old paleocon...(at least I hope I dont look like one...Im a SAHM who can look fairly decent when she wants to)...but my response was EXACTLY theirs: "he's FINALLY LISTENING!!!!" That is SO EXCITING to me!

is it 2012 yet? I wanna vote Palin For President!!

ACK! I pushed the button before I finished!

CONGRATULATIONS BILL on making it to the NRO...NRO was my sanity saving magazine back in the 90s before I knew about blogs and forums and such, and I have a new reason to continue to make it my favorite site! Im glad they finally saw the light and included you!

Way to go, pal! Great piece!

Thanks to you

I remember seeing that in Machado's column. I was thinking at the time of e-mailing you about it, but I realized you had to have known.

Awesome. And inspired, as usual. Since I usually read Rachel Lucas before hitting NRO, she pointed the way. Actually, her "Whittle! Whittle! Whittle!" made me jump here before reading another word and THEN I went to NRO, but still. Credit all around and particular kudos to you. Hope to see you writing more often!

Oh, how goes the screenplay, by the way?

- J.T. Hollen

Well it wasn't really a surprise for me to see your recent post because after seeing Sara Palin's speech, I thought......this will bring Bill Whittle out of his cupboard.
I think the McCain, Palin, Whittle ticket can win this thing.
Cheers,
Bob

I knew the introduction of Governor Palin would bring you out of the back room. NRO! Nicely done, my friend!
I look forward to your next article and essay.
It's been three years since we last talked. Next time I'm in L.A., I owe you dinner.
Regards,
ScottB

Mr. Whittle:

Thank you for that thoughtful perspective on an almost surreal week for this conservative. I have been critical in the past of McCain, but mostly because I didn't get him.

It seems that this wise old man has truly taken his party under his wing-- admonishing it for bad behavior while giving it the most wonderful gift imaginable: a future.

Regards,

Mark

Talk about an out of body experience. Everyday I stop by the site, and every day I ponder deleting the site from my favorites, as there is something new ONLY a couple days of the year. It gets depressing. Is Whittle dead? Has he been lost to the dark side? Is he sneaking around the planet with Steve Fossey?

Then, one day, out of the blue, you click on the link and something doesn't look right. You don't know if you accidently scrolled down the page, or clicked the wrong link. Something went horribly wrong. Then you realize, Holy Crap, Whittle posted something new. It's very exciting, until you come to the undeniable conclustion, that this day will pass, and you're back to doing E3 drive-bys and wondering, where the hell did Whittle go.

(BTW, this post was praise)

Craig said it for me.
Congrats!

I read it, I knew it was you, was so happy to see it, and sent the article (on Sarah Palin) to my friend in Germany with the subject line, "your guy on your girl." Love to see you doing well.

Welcome back, Bill. We've missed you.

After Sarah was announced as McCain's VP pick, my first thought was, "We will have one of The Remnant in the White House. God Willing. Amen!"

I think it's time to get to work ...

Hi, This is an awesome read. Thanks a lot. I really enjoyed reading it.I feel so proud to be a Republican again. I loved John McCain's speech yesterday. I could careless about the style-substance is what that matters.
Also, having his mom there reminded me of Barbara Bush, which means he is almost same age as GWB.

Bill made the Big League! Woo. And furthermore, Hoo.

Before the convention, I posted this over at the Gazette:

The electorate is sick of the Me-Too Republicans who campaigned as small-government reformers, that would cut government spending, only to outspend the Democrats once they got in power. I'd say they've acted like drunken sailors, but that would be unfair to drunken sailors, who generally only blow their own money, not billions of others'. By bringing in the SP ("Shore Patrol" or "Sarah Palin"), he's making it clear that having an (R) next to your name won't keep you out of the brig; he's campaigning against those corrupt Republicans as much as he is against the Democrats.

Welcome back Bill
Excellent piece on NRO. I feel (and felt) much the same way. I picked up on Sarah from a few conservative blogs and couldn't believe it when McCain picked her.

And what Craig said. Sadly I've moved your E3 site to the bunch I check weekly. Always coming back to see more.

Looking forward to more no matter the venue.
Magy

Bill,

As I watched Gov. Palin's speech, I keep hearing in my head the phrase "God looks after fools, drunks, and the United States of America".

First, the kudos. Well done, Bill Whittle. A place at NRO is quite the summit. And well deserved. You're a brilliant essayist, and you have a loyal following.

Now listen closely, laddie. You have a bad habit of fizzling into vapor like a drop of water on a hot griddle. Speaking as one writer to another I know the instant flash of insight when the muse arrives unbidden. I want no excuses from you this time.

You're drawing a new audience from NRO. A serious audience. The best minds in the conservative movement are reading your prose. Can you appreciate the irony? The conservative ticket has been given a second chance. As you say, and I agree, not at all deserved. But you, sir, have been given the same second chance. Time to double down.

Ejectia was a bust. Fine. You got not one word of criticism for your choice to abandon the project in favor of personal goals. Speaks well, I think, of your loyal audience, and more so of those willing to serve in the new cyber-republic. It just didn't happen. We're adults. We move on.

You have become a voice for a reinvigorated conservative movement. Well, not actually a voice. Rather too bad that when you open your mouth near a microphone we hear oboes and clarinets. But you have the power of words, and that's something. It's time you used your gift to serve a greater national purpose.

Second chances don't come often. You probably know this quote from the movies: "There is iron in your words, Josie Whales." See you to it, Bill Whittle.

Stand and deliver! If you fail this time, I will personally look you up, hunt you down, and put a toe of leather UP YOUR ASS.

Perseverence. It's a beautiful virtue. See you to it.

INSTALANCH!!!!!

Hi Bill,

Just read your NRO article (link from Ace) and that exactly sums up my feelings. It feels pretty good to be proud to be a Republican again.

I, too, have a severe case of Palin Fever - check out my blog: The Palin Report

Thanks!

Congratulations Bill, that's awesome.

Hi Bill!
Holy smokes it's good to see you truly are still alive! Congratulations on NRO. What a great topper to a great week. I've gotta tell you Bill, I am thrilled. I just ordered a McCain/Palin yard sign and bumper stickers and made a donation. I have NEVER done that before except for giving Fred! a few bucks.
I am so very happy for your success Bill. Can't wait for your new essay.

BTW: What kind of airplane is that over there on the side bar anyways?

Well done, Sir. And count me among those that miss your words on a regular basis.

Excellent article Bill!

Those of us who have been trying to keep the lamp alight over at The Gazette appreciate the love.

Congratulations!! Outstanding work, Bill.

We were absolutely tuned in to the same frequency on this. VORs are aligning, well, everywhere.

This one was for you.

Well, just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean I haven't been thinking.

I've got a lot ready to go. And when I get a chance to finally talk about the stuff that's really been keeping me away, I hope that will be worth the wait as well.

Congrats Bill, great article, though I wouldn't expect any less from you. I want to look forward to more, but also don't want you to face too many distractions at once. Nevertheless, congrats again.

Congratulations Bill, it's well deserved. I haven't read the article yet, I'm looking forward to it, but I just wanted to express my sentiments and say WRITE MORE!!!

(ahem)

National Review Online should be congratulated for landing the Big Fish. I should write their editors and congratulate them on featuring another fantastic writer. Hope NRO editors heads don't get too big now that you have penned a column for them.

..."Over on the corner there's a happy noise.
People come from all around to watch the magic boy.

Down On The Corner, out in the street,
Willy and the Poorboys are playin';
Bring a nickel; tap your feet.

Bill, you made the big time a long time ago, as far as I'm concerned. I was told about you from an old Air Force buddy living Oregon some years ago. I've, in turn, told many friends about "EjectEjectEject" and they breathlessly wait for your infrequent essays. You didn't need to show up on NRO for us to feel you were big time. Thanks for all the great writing.

It's when I saw your recent comment at Ace's that I sensed this new Change in the Force.

Delighted to have found it at NRO, bringing me back here to an old friend, as it were.

I've lost count of the times I've introduced your essay "Courage" to initiates to our tribe.

And did so again, only yesterday.

So, it's with special pleasure that I offer my humble but heartfelt Congratulations to you, sir.

Absolutely no one deserves to be drafted by NRO more than you.

No. One.

Keep up the awesome work!

To you sir, fair skies, and ever-present tailwinds.

Jim
Sloop New Dawn
Galveston, TX

I have missed reading you so much!

Congratulations on the new gig. No one deserves it more.

Couldn't have been more delighted to have found you at NRO! They made a smart move.

It was a very fine article, Bill. Thanks.

A fitting venue for you, Bill. As everyone else has said, congrats! And hoping to hear much more from you over the closing days of this campaign.

Nice to see you back Bill. I'll wait for the meat and potatos that you always deliver. Thanks for all your effort.

So good to see your work again, Bill. You totally nailed the two things about McCain's speech that really caught my attention: his admissions of both corporate failure on behalf of the party (for the last 8 years) and his life-defining personal failure (breaking under torture). THAT is what true humility looks like, a rare dish indeed in politics in general, and Washington in particular.

As I've told others . . . I have worked for elected officials my whole professional life, yet cared not a whit to get actively involved in the politics itself. Until Wednesday, that is. About 2/3 of the way through Gov. Palin's speech, I was logged on and purchasing bumper stickers and yard signs for McCain-Palin. Unbelievable.

And one last thing: Mr. Paules' thoughts on the matter are as accurate as they are eloquent. Bill: read that comment again, and then once more for good measure. :)

Great article Bill. Our pal Wachel clued me in you had new work online, but NRO?! Kudos.

Bill, I've been reading you since you started out as a commenter at Rachel Lucas's blog, and she combined your comments into a single, coherent, and particularly powerful post.

NRO should be BEGGING YOU to be a regular contributor.

Well, actually, they ought to offer you pay. WE beg you, to apparently little effect! ;-)

I watched Palin's speech, but I skipped McCain's. I think I'll have to look it up now.

TimB52, it's a Sky Arrow.

I was having a much harder time voting for McCain than Bill. But yesterday I made the largest contribution I have ever made to a campaign.

If a Palin (without McCain) lawn sign becomes available, I'll buy one.

It seems somehow surreal to have come here on a link from somewhere else...

I was making a pest of myself all over the place, calling it for Palin for weeks before the announcement - nice to be right about one of these things.
(for a change)

GOD! It feels good to feel good about voting again...

Congrats on NRO, Bill - now gettaworkwillya!!

- MuscleDaddy

Once again Bill, you (admittedly this time with a bit of help from Palin's, McCain's and Carly and Rudy's speeches these past days) have lifted me up from the depths of worry and the near-despair of feeling utterly and completely alone. My words cannot thank you enough for the glow I feel in my heart. (Is this what the audacity of hope feels like? I think I finally get it!!!)

Everything you so eloquently expressed goes double for me. May this magnificent Union of ours endure. I am tickled red, white, and blue.

Bill - I've been checking back every few days since your "Proof of life" entry. Thrilled you'll be doing pieces for NRO. And, love the essays; I've read them all, many times.

Congratulations, Bill, on the larger megaphone. As Mr. Paules indicated above, please, please use it!
I have greatly feared that the liberties lost under an Obama administration would not be easily regained. And while I now have hope, I do not delude myself that this election season is over. We will need our very best talent to stand against a media which has given up any pretense of objectivity. And our very best talent? That would be you.

Congrats Bill!

As usual, you wraped all of my thoughts and feelings on a subject in a nice little bundle. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that I print out your essays and hand them to family and friends to read (I only wish I were as well-spoken as you are well-written), hoping that they will understand me a little bit better.

You mentioned in your article: "That, my long-suffering and now giddy and sleepless friends — that is the smell of victory."

Was that intuitive on your part or have you been skimming through the blogs seeing how many people literally cannot sleep over Governor Palin's nomination? I haven't been this giddy and sleepless since right after the birth of my daughter 14 years ago. It is currently 2:30 a.m. here in Las Vegas, and I have to be up to work at 6:00. I. Just. Can't. Sleep.

Your writings simply amaze me.

Thank you for that.

Great, great column on NRO, Bill. Well-written and spot-on. Welcome to your new career! WFB would be proud...

Bill, welcome back! Your article (with a little help from John McCain and Sarah Palin), hehehe, has inspired me to come back out of my self-imposed retirement to blog again. It's truly amazing to me how well you say the words that are in my heart. Like Karyn, I share your writings with my family and friends as well!

Congratulations! It's about time that your audience grew - I can't imagine them not wanting you to write more.

Not much to add to what's already been said, congrats and all that. Your eloquence and razor-sharp analysis will now reach a much greater audience.
Regardless of the results on 4 November, the future looks better than it did two weeks ago, thanks McCain/Palin. To paraphrase a certain Mr. Clemens, reports of the conservative movement's demise have been greatly exaggerated. The folks at NRO have chosen wisely.

Bill,
Congratulations! I read your piece over at NRO and came here to explore more. What a gem!

The most enjoyable read I've had at NRO in a long time.

That part "...the sense that we personally know five people in our immediate circle who would make a better president..."
Finally, someone in a professional publication captures Palin's appeal exactly as I saw it!

Thanks

Bill,

Great to read more of your work. And I agree about the candidates - I was getting ready to sit this one out, but all of a sudden I'm smiling again. Can't wait to hear her next big talk. Talk about the fate of western civilization resting on one person's shoulders....

Congratulations. I actually read your editorial from the Bidinotto link, and then remembered the name bill whittle and my RSS feed... seeing that you have 71 comments ALREADY, you have an awesome following, even though you have not posted since june. and i'm from australia, so you have an international following!

keep up the good work.

That part "...the sense that we personally know five people in our immediate circle who would make a better president..." Finally, someone in a professional publication captures Palin's appeal exactly as I saw it!

The national media thinks I'm special, because they don't find people like me where they hang out. I'm not. Around this great country, there are thousands of mayors and councils (even in the small towns they mock), governors, state legislators and executive department employees, school boards... as well as non-governmental volunteers who have the vision and energy to make their communities better. But the centralized thinking of our nation's capital undercuts them at every turn. We have to free those people from reliance on decisions made inside the beltway, and unleash them upon problems that can only be solved by people with local knowledge.

I know how hard it is to resist "free money". As a mayor and Governor, I've succumbed to the temptation to seek money from the national treasury, with the strings that are inevitably attached. That's why I'm happy to be running with a man who has consistently fought against the insidious, dependency-inducing, practice of earmarks.

WAY TO GO, WHITTLE!!!!

And evidence that the editorial standards of that publication are improving.

The SMSMAS will have to gather to celebrate this event!! An email with the details will be coming your way, SOON!!

Bill: you have a gift and I join all the others in thanking you for using it to speak to us, but more importantly for us. After Sarah's speech, and I joined the giddy sleepless legions, I laughed at the joke that McCain should just walk out and say to the convention, "What she said," and be done. He didn't and I was glad: like you I was left stunned and weeping by his admission of weakness, and how it transformed his life in service of this, our nation.. Unlike you, I didn't find the words to show how McCain's speech, and choice of Sarah, have allowed us all to transform our lives in like service. That you could find those words, and give them to us, is your gift. Please keep using it.

And when people ask me what this election has become, and why I care as never before, I plan to give them your essay and say: "What he said."

Thanks so much.

Just finished reading it.

Damn you, Whittle!! Damn you psionic powers and magic keyboard!!! Damn your ability to put my exact, but inchoate, thoughts into prose that doesn't "soar" (take THAT, Obambi!) but COMMUNICATES and INSPIRES.

You said what I was feeling, better than my meager skills could accomplish. The cynical, hate-filled trolls of the Left can mock and belittle all they want - we have two GENUINE patriots, two REAL people, who have WALKED THE WALK.

And they have a manufactured politician who can do a good job of reading a speech off of a teleprompter.

We have too much history of having flashy, cotton-candy crap successfully sold to America to be cocky. But, for the first time, I AM OPTIMISTIC.

I am a Palimaniac - she IS my wife (excellent mother, professional par excellence, tough-minded, smart, caring), she is the girlfriend I wish I had in High School, she is the person I would WANT at my side when the shit started getting deep. She is, as Bill pointed out, US.

And, FOR THE FIRST TIME, John McCain has reached a chord in me and caused me to RESPECT him, deeply and honestly. Yes, he is an arrogant little shit; yes, he sometimes seems to TRY to find ways to DELIBERATELY flaunt conservative principles - but this man is a PATRIOT, and he has sacrificed more for us that any I can think of. I will follow him, like Bill, with a smile on my face. We can argue specifics later.

ON TO NOVEMBER!!!

Outstanding article, Mr. Whittle! You helped me build a much better foundation under my own similar observations. I had become so disillusioned with the conservative wing of the GOP. We did shoot ourselves in the foot. I believe your analysis in the NRO article is spot on. Keep up the outstanding work! I look forward to reading more Whittle in the days to come.

Oh, and it SHOULD go without saying, but JUST IN CASE . . .

email Bill's article to EVERYONE YOU KNOW. Carry copies with you at all times. If we can make everyone in the country read this before November, we win. GET ON IT!!

your column in NRO was fabulous ..just fablous..brought tears to my eyes....loved your use of tectonic because... I live in Napa Valley. Betty Lou Graffagnino

Great to see you at NRO but one got one thing wrong: Sarah Palin is not an ordinary person and I should know; I am an ordinary person and I have never killed and eaten a moose.

Personally, my favorite Silent America essay is Courage - "...and that's when the sound hit. And that was about all she wrote for little Billy. I was pretty much done after that." Gives me goosebumps.

Bill,
Congratulations on finally being recognized as big-time. I'm like you and thousands of others; finally I'm fired up about being a Republican, and have loads of hope for the future.

It's like following a perenially-bad baseball team, and hearing they've got great talent in the minor leagues. You try not to hope too much, but you never really know.

And then one of the big prospects gets called up, and is everything she's been promised to be, and so very much more.

We are witnessing the harvest of the seeds of the Reagan Revolution, fertilized by the idea-chamber of the Rush and Newt Revolutions. Happy days are here again.

And, as Richard R noted far above, my long-held dream of *pilots* in the White House may really come true. Better them than lawyers to actually know how to make informed, intelligent, mature, life-or-death decisions rather than simply obfuscate.

Hallelujah!

Jon

I hadn't read (or even thought about) you since the days after 9/11, when I had decided you must be the nation's best spokesman for liberty and common sense. And now this piece. Wow! I'd say you take the words right out of my mouth, but I could never be so articulate. I'd say you take the words right out of my head, but I could never be so deep, thoughtful and well organized. But you do speak for me! Great, great piece, the best thing I've read this election cycle. Thanks again.

Congratulations Mr. Whittle!
National Review was diminished with the passing of the great William F. Buckley Jr. Now, momentously, another Bill arrives to help restore the lofty vision that animated the original endeavour. We need you now as never before. This is a moment of truth. There may not be another chance.
My mind is still haunted by visions of "The Lost Republic of Ejectia". Let not this same fate befall our actual republic.
Carpe Diem Mr. Whittle.
Carpe Diem!
Svin

Bill, great to have you back again! Thought you must have gotten lost out in the ethers somewhere and been "spindlefwapping" around some dust covered Heisenberg Compensator.

Yes, ditto the abundant kudos above. Your NRO piece should be required reading for ALL citizens, but especially Republicans. I, too, have been troubled by the many on our side who have been all too willing to throw the baby out with the bath water "just to teach them RINOs a lesson!". As you said (and I many times tried to in comments on many blogs, but was shouted down), what the hell sense would it make to burn granny and her house down just to teach her a lesson about smoking in bed? The results would be catastrophic to US and not necessarily recoverable...in our lifetimes. An Obama presidency would have the potential of making a chunk of this continent a smoking ruin. Yes, the whole space time continuum changed in a short blink of time Thursday night. Now, we have to, somehow, see to it that the Repubs running this ship don't manage to 'bleep' it up and destroy what they've gained. There's hope, at last. Thank God. Great to have you visible again, Bill! And along with everyone else, here, I'm waiting anxiously for your "rumored" essays in the pipeline. They will, OF COURSE, be well worth our wait.

Bill, after I found your article on NRO, I rushed over to "Violet's house" and recommended to her that she might want to go over there and check it out, 'cuz you said some nice things about HRC supporters.

I also wrote you a note in the middle of my post to her.

Congratulations, and hope I see your stuff here on a regular basis.

YZ

Congratulations! I was skimming down The Corner, and glanced at the "New on NRO" and saw the name "Bill Whittle"

Hey! thought I, I have to read that one

Keep up the good work!

"...and then I said to myself, Holy crap! There's another guy named Bill Whittle out there writing about airplanes!"

I checked. It's three pages long.

Has to be you. ;)

Welcome back, Mr. Whittle. Read your article on NRO and it's perfect. As usual, you've managed to coalesce the emotions and beliefs of so many of us 'regular' people, flesh them out with some insights of your own, and express it all with clarity and eloquence. Thank you.

Something uncanny has happened. It's like an electric vibe flowing through the ether. What the hell is it? Wait a second. It's starting to take form. I can see it now. There's a will-o-the-wisp sitting on my computer. And it's smiling at me!

This makes no rational sense, but I knew it the instant I heard the Palin announcement. It was a sudden flash of insight that screamed brilliant! I had no reason to think so. After all, I didn't know even one fact about the lady except that she hails from Alaska. Yet my intuition struck me like a blinding flash of light. Undeniable. Was I hallucinating?

I hit my co-worker at school with the news and the old mugwump positively beamed. We actually started laughing out loud together. He saw it, too. When I got home, I hit the Internet. The news was everywhere, and it was universally positive. Comment threads that normally pulled in a few dozen responses were suddenly drawing hundreds of comments. The conservative base was on fire. Most people couldn't articulate a reason for the sudden outpouring of emotion, but that didn't seem to make the raw energy any less real. Something very strange was happening.

Then Sarah Palin stepped forward at the convention and nailed it. I was in a chatroom with D4 at the time. (And a lonely chatroom it has become, but that's about to change. You're all invited to the Chase Lounge.) I stated that Sarah was obviously a "natural." D4 agreed. Over the next 24 hours I must have heard my comment repeated two-dozen times. The great mass of the conservative base saw it just as clearly as I did. The sudden recognition began to take on energy; it was alive!

Then Bill Whittle emerged from hibernation, at NRO no less. (Sorry, Bill, about the tone of my last comment, but en vino veritas as the Romans used to say.) And then he hit it out of the park. The home team was suddenly in full rally mode.

It still hasn't stopped. My brain is percolating like a mad coffee pot. I suddenly see liberalism like a picture of Dorian Gray yanked from the attic. You see, liberalism is like rape. In order to succeed, it has to violate you first. You are evil, you are racist, you are greedy, you are vile, you are guilty, you are worthless. Now prostrate yourself before the altar and prepare for absolution. Liberalism has to strip you of your confidence, rob you of your self-worth, belittle your achievements, cast aspersions on your character, and fill you with doubt. There's no room for anything positive. Liberalism must break your spirit before it can succeed. Submit, you miserable cur!

Well, bullshit on that noise! I suddenly feel like Borgvar recovered from the witch queen's poison just in time to enter the fray with my broadsword in hand. Anyone in the mood for a rant?

You bastards on the left, how dare you question my accomplishments and my self-worth? Well, let me tell you something, assholes, the sword of liberty has gotten a little rusty, but she still carries a keen edge. Liberty is the idea you fear most. Because liberty challenges every citizen everyday to be the best he can be on his own merits, and then liberty awards the achievers. And you hate that. I'm here to inform you that my accomplishments are mine, and you have no claim to my labor. You are thieves. I tell you to your face that my confidence was forged in a furnace of genuine accomplishment. I don't need your seal of approval. My victories are fairly won; I have played by the rules of the game and prospered thereby. You had nothing to do with it.

You see, I know the enemy. He's the hypocrite who has stolen the souls of the poor and put them on plantations that grow votes instead of cotton. The enemy is a vampire that sucks the life out of a nation so that the the undead might live on the blood of the living. Only a prosperous society can support parasites at the top of the food chain. You see, if life were only marginal, the villagers would have evicted you long ago, and driven you from the ranks of society with a hail of stones. Oh, you're good all right, good at what you do, but I have your number now. You know the problem with Congress? It's full of lawyers too lazy to find honest work.

The conservative base is back with a warrior queen leading the charge. To entrenched interests I say, "be afraid, be very afraid." A free people is slow to act, but when the time comes, we move with the power of a tsunami.

It's been so long that I've forgotten what it's like to feel good. And it does feel good.

Don't hold back, MWP. Tell us how you really feel.

I'll tell you what is "uncanny". When Barry Goldwater was the GOP nominee, Ronald Reagan gave a speech on his behalf. This was before he was elected anything other than union boss. The people were so hungry for what he was saying that he became Governor of California, and eventually, President.

Four years ago, Barack Obama gave one good speech. I remember that speech, because he said some things you don't often hear Democrats or minorities say (although I do remember Jesse Jackson saying some similar things before he became a professional race hustler). Some of what he said gets people like Bill Cosby called an Uncle Tom, and I even remember Obama catching some similar flak not too long ago. That speech resonated with people who had grown up believing in certain principles, and had placed their faith in the Democratic Party to uphold those principles, but instead had abandoned them. Some of those people had already changed their affiliation to (R), like Reagan and a bunch of conservative Democrats, but there were still some who stubbornly refused to join the "plutocrat party", believing that Democrats "fight for the little guy".

Well, the last few years, we've felt that our own party has betrayed the Reagan Revolution. How could we be excited about the prospects of choosing between Democrats and Me-Too Republicans? Then something damn near miraculous happened. Just as we all are drawn to Bill's ability to enunciate the principles we espouse, we are also drawn to Gov. Palin's demonstrated ability to govern by those principles.

That is what Obama lacks. Despite occasional rhetorical outbursts about personal responsibility, his actual record in the Senate puts him on the far left, and his own running mate third from the left, even further to the left than literal Soci‍alist Bernie Sanders. He has surrendered to the nutroots, lest he suffer excommunication as befell Joe Lieberman.

On the other hand, Palin went after crooked officials and an incumbent governor in her own party, and whupped them. By making her his running mate, Maverick is promising to renew the covenant, and rebuild the Reagan coalition. He whacked a tuning fork, and every one of us started to resonate to it like we do when we read Bill's essays.

Damn right it feels good.

Well, what the Palin vice-presidential pick proves, of course, is that the Republicans, after dripping scorn on the Democrats (rightly so, at times) for their starry-eyed beatification of Obama (who had done little) were merely waiting the drop of a hat to bestow the same instant-sainthood on the Alaskan Governor (who has done less). Mayor of a village and Governor of a welfare state notwithstanding, this embrace of a paucity of experience on both sides really shows how desperate Americans are for _any_ hint of change from the corruption, the rot, the endless secrecy and rampant bouts of hypocrisy that have emanated from Washington (in escalating fashion) since Papa Bush was denied a second term. There are _so_ many problems facing America, and _so_ little mention of it, in any form or substance in the MSM that the soul cannot help but curdle. The US is a debtor nation. Those bemoaning the costs of the Iraq War probably have no idea of the monstrous magnitude of debt the US is incurring as the government frantically spends and spends and spends in an attempt to hold down inflation. Unemployment is rising quickly. 1 in 10 Americans has missed a mortgage payment and/or had the latter foreclosed. Government bonds are selling in the low hundreds of millions as the debt obligation approaches the trillion mark. Unfunded liabilities are just one of the elephants in the room. Although nobody can know, peak oil is a certainty at some point, and the odds are quite good that the amount of crude that is taken from Mother Earth will be a declining number from here on out. Pakistan is a mess, and Afghanistan, where fundamentalist Islam is not on the rise, continues to provide enough opium base to keep a metropolitan population high. Oil-rich Russia, oil-rich Iran and resource-hungry China are certainly aware of the debt-ridden realm betwixt the Atlantic and the Pacific. Millions of Americans have lost there homes and/or savings paying for quality, but expensive, health care. There are _countless_ serious problems that urgently need to be addressed, and all I see on television, and hear on the radio, is the same old ephemeral bulldiddy and frivolous, ridiculous gossamer tripe that has dominated political discourse in this country for a distastefully long period of time. Whatever hope I have is being ground under the iron tracks of indifference and laziness and lack of care. Troops are going for their umpteenth tour of duty whilst no a _whit_ of sacrifice is demanded from the general population. It's obscene. Please, pray tell, what in the _world_ Governor Palin brings to this beyond the same raving, starry-eyed, absurdly over-hyped expectations that it was deridingly, scornfully declared Obama did? I fear that the rough beast is slouching towards Bethlehem to be born even as I write.

However, I truly enjoy reading your essays Bill - and congratulations on being published in NR.

Spectacular essay and absolutely perfect.

Chris Sastre,
Man, you got a whole bucket of negative going on there. If you read Bill's stuff, you might see that he is a pretty positive guy, even when he addresses issues that some might find unpleasant. Take a deep breath and maybe seek philosophical validation in a venue that mirrors your thought more precisely. Good grades for language skills. Maybe not so good grades for philosophy. Not to worry. If you hang here for awhile you may like what you hear.
Best Regards~Svin
Svin

Bill,

I want to thank you so much for this article. What you wrote is EXACTLY HOW I FELT.

Every person I talked to who saw the speech was absolutely blown away when McCain said, "And they broke me." It was stunning and I'm a person who has been a political junkie for the last 16 years. One can only imagine how people who really don't know McCain reacted.

Excellent piece Bill. Thanks.

Just read it. One of your best, rollicking good. The strains of Gary Owen playing in the background come to mind. Thank you.

Absolutely wonderful article and totally agree. Congratulations and thank you!!

Welcome back, Bill. I knew you would eventually come back! We look forward to your next essay.

Svinrod: I've taken a deep breath :). But with all due respect, I cannot help but watch the rise of the Madonna of Anchorage with a cynical despondency. I've read that she is "the new Thatcher". I'm sorry, but as of this moment Governor Palin is not fit to tie Maggie's shoes. Thatcher was a great lady. We know _nothing_ about Palin. She's an evangelical conservative with a mixed record of cutting and spending who has expressed nothing beyond the platitudes written for her by a McCain speechwriter, mixing in outright falsehoods (aka the Executive Method) with her inspirational rhetoric. She's a politician, like McCain, like Obama, like Biden; and regardless of their innate strength of character they will go to Washington, get mired in the political game there where the shells are shuffled a little bit but nothing ever changes, and they will conclude that the American electorate is principally composed of easily deluded rubes and insanely naive chumps who can be emotionally manipulated so easily it's a running joke. I am so fed up with this "meet the new boss, same as the old boss" garbage that I felt I just had to vent. No matter how much you may admire what McCain has given for his country or believe in his wisdom and good intentions, the simple fact is he has changed his positions in the blink of an eye as a political expedient. He will do anything to get elected, as will Obama, and as would Biden and Palin.

Look, one thing I know from reading Bill's essays and all the comments, on them and the concept of "Ejectia", is how passionately you all believe in a particular ideal of America. The hope and decency and goodness I find here is inspirational and a tonic - to a degree. However, the more I have attempted to peek behind the curtains, and try to ascertain as much as I can about what is truly going on, the more I feel a terrible powerlessness as events seem to be hurtling towards a catastrophe at breakneck - and breaksoul - speeds.

I am principally a lurker by trade, and I shan't, in all likelihood, darken this board with many of my despairing musings. However, I do not think that doses of verbose doomsday predictions is necessarily such a bad thing in these times! :)

As for seeking darker boards more in tune with my current black view of things - well, every now and then I like to see a glimpse of sun peaking through the leaden, overhanging storm clouds that obscure the future. I am also looking forward to reading Bill's observations, analysis and insights about the current election.

Cheers.

Chris Sastre, Dude lighten up. No politician is going to fix all the world's problems. Your happiness is up to you. But electing Conservatives make it more likely that you will have the opportunity to pursue your dreams.

As for energy -- there's plenty of it; the sun is enormous. We just need to figure out how to harness it.

Solar panels are expensive and only 12% efficient. But with the light speed at which ideas are now exchanged on the internet, it will probably not be long until solar energy becomes more efficient.

We just need to get the Liberals out of positions of authority, and put Gingrich Republicans in their place.

Then we explore and develop oil, natural gas, coal, oil and gas shale, nuclear, fusion, wind, methane, ethanol, solar, geothermal, hydro ... and other sources we don't even know about yet.

Stay optimistic. Don't underestimate the ability of a free people to innovate and achieve miracles.

Reject the party which would have us become victims and workers in an ant colony.

Vote for the party which will allow us to self-actualize to realize our full potential as human beings.

I sure hope you did not mean to dis Tom Delay, because he is a great man. Better than anyone on this here blog for sure.

BTW Bill,
Excerpts from your Trinity part I essay were being celebrated on one of Canada's most popular political blogs, SmallDeadAnimals.com, after your appearance on the Charles Adler show.

Your understanding, of the disease of political correctness, can only be described as brilliant and prescient. Kudos my friend.

Chris Sastre,

Wow.

C'mon, fess-up... you've been polishing that one over at the Kos, haven't you?

It's got that "open-the-Word-doc-CtrlA-CtrlC-CtrlV" feel to it.

I'm not even going to bother with suggesting that you define "quickly", or explain how "2% foreclosure overall = 1-in-10" - instead, let's jump right to:

"Please, pray tell, what in the _world_ Governor Palin brings to this beyond the same raving, starry-eyed, absurdly over-hyped expectations that it was deridingly, scornfully declared Obama did?"

Let's see...

- Executive experience,
(Obama has none)

- A proven willingness to buck the system and Do The Right Thing - even when "The System" means her own party,
(had Obama ever tried that, the Daly Machine would have made him a statistic, rather than a candidate),

- Example after example of her willingness to Walk The Talk, even when doing so is more difficult,
(do I even have to visit Obama on that one?)

- A conspicuous lack of lifelong associations with criminals, terrorists, race-hustlers, America-haters, pulpit-thumping-racist-conspiracy-theorists or Marxist-mentors,
(in the words of the Bard -Joe Walsh-
"On the bottom words are shallow, On the surface talk is cheap,You can only judge the distance by the company you keep")

- An obvious, radiating love of our country and its people,
(even the "bitter", "mean-spirited" ones, "kkklinging to their guns and religion" with the temerity to not follow the price of Arugula)

And ...let's see... oh yes, of course -

- A proven record of outstanding achievement throughout her time in public service!
(By all means, feel free to tick off the list of accomplishments and achievements that sets Barack Obama apart from all of the other one-term, no-legislation, present-voting, Daly-protege senators out there... no, it's okay - I'll wait...)

In all, pretty-friggin'-heartening.

- MuscleDaddy

P.S. - In case you're wondering, it was the "papa-Bush" that gave you away... you can toddle on back to HuffinGlue Post now...

Well said, MuscleDaddy. Check out this fine review:

A Star Is Born:

Middle America has found its champion: someone who embodies its values and makes it proud to hold them. She has pulled off something that the left assumed was as likely a development as the sun rising in the west: she makes conservatism attractive, optimistic and fun. She is totally authentic, the real deal: she turns the values of small-town America that she so proudly embodies into a lethal boomerang against the sneering elitists who scorn them.

Excellent. Read it all.

Very proud of you, Bill! Your article made me cry just like the speech did.

See you soon,

Nick

Hmm. Try this link to the above: A Star Is Born

Congrats, Mr. Whittle. We've been waiting for your voice of reason on NRO (or anywhere in "public" for that matter).
Kudos and keep up the good work.

Leilani

When McCain said they broke him...something inside me said I'm VOTING FOR THIS HONEST MAN.

Dear Mr. Bill Whittle and community:

Thank you for your article on NRO. As said by many others, you expressed my own feelings watching McCain's acceptance speech. I was gasping for breath and stunned at the conclusion. The moment when Mccain looked into the camera and pleaded: 'fight WITH me' he was speaking to me. When his voice rose above the roar of the crowd that did not cease he was riding a wave that lifted us all: 'stand up... stand up for freedom and liberty ... stand up to fight for goodness ...' I am still stirred just recalling that moment.

The man is real. His humility and compassion is real. And he reminds me that love of freedom and American patriotism is a real and virtuous force. Ominously, the wars ahead are also real, and I think McCain senses that as well. We need a tough warrior for the months ahead, and a standard bearer for the virtues and values of American conservatism for the years ahead. With McCain-Palin, we have both. May G-d guide and protect them, and may G-d bless America and her mission in the world.

Congratulations on joining the ranks at NRO, and welcome back.

Best regards, Peter Warner.

Greetings, ALL!

It has been mentioned above that there is a site for chatting that was born out of the group assembled by the earlier interest in a community we called, "Ejectia."

That chat site is called "The Chase Lounge," and may be found at:

http://thechaselounge.blogspot.com/

While "available" 24/7 since it is a web site, (brilliant, eh?),