Wonderfully written as usual, Bill. Your articles are like a wake up call to action and always inspire me to keep up the good fight.

Thanks.

Deano

Bravo, Bill! Another inspiring examination of the truth.

I think McCain/Palin could use your talents. Been approached yet?

Thank you , my friend.

ScottB

This might be a good time to mention that a lot of nonalphanumeric characters in your earlier works don't show up properly in the browser.

Great article. One of the best written things I have read this year. By the way D&D is all about how you play it.

Beautiful essay - I was honestly disappointed that it was normal length, but the phrase "too long; didn't read" never did hold any weight for me.

(Tabletop gaming has grown genuinely heroic plots since the '70s, but I have no desire to see you fritter away precious screenplay-writing time on dice and Mountain Dew.)

Anyway: Forth Eorlingas!

nice piece

P.S. Go Gators!
:o)

Excellent description of the essentials, Bill. Thanks.

Outstanding piece! I linked to it from my blog and hope it gets a very wide reading. Keep up the great work.

OK, that was really good. It's inspiration and eloquence caught me by surprise. Fight On!!

i'm confused. you use several "" marks throughout your piece. these suggest that you are directly quoting someone who has said whatever is contained within said marks.

and yet you don't attribute any particular person or persons to the remarks that you put in "".

did in fact anyone say such things? further, did anyone associated with Santa Monica High School say such things in the context to which you apply them: e.g. in the act of actually teaching AT SM high?

because if the answer is no, then you have committed a couple of different kinds of fraud: the intellectual kind (you have intentionally misled your readers by using symbols to suggest one thing when in fact another is true) and the ethical kind (because of the above as well).

i'm assuming that no one has actually said any such thing in their official capacity at SM high school--the whole thing is redolent of a typical straw man argument. this arguing technique is extraordinarily weak--i suspect that JRR would not have been sympatico with such given his excellent education.

if i am wrong, and someone did specifically teach the WORDS in the quotes (i'll up the ante--if someone taught even something along those lines) i will happily remove this post.

Well said, Bill, as usual. With men like you, our city-state is quietly defended better than the lotus eaters would have us believe. God bless you.

As opposed to at least one person on this section, I thought your piece to be one of unmitigated inspiration. It reminded me of the "talks" my father used to have with me. He was on the other side of the generation of the 60's, and watched with utter amazement as the people made themselves crazy with self loathing and drugs. I derive my sense of patriotism from him and those like him - of which you are most definitely a part. Please continue to write about this subject which has disappeared from our society. It needs to be resurrected - desperately. I am raising my own children and I tell them daily the concepts that are iterated in your article. I am ready to stand with those that want to defend the city because I believe that it IS worth defending.

For the second time I read one of your posts that made it to National Review. Again I sat here with tears streaming down my face, grateful that I found this article to lift me up and give me strength to go on, knowing that I will print this out to read to my husband when he gets home. What you have is the glory in your heart. The Lord once told my daughter "I have given your mother my glory s that she can fight the dark ones." Yeah, you have it. It isn't just a gift of writing, it's the way you see the world, with such character, love, and courage. The soulless media of today have no clue. They give each other pulitzer's while they rot from the inside out. Thank you again.

Chris in TN

Bill, you never disappoint. That is why I check your blog everyday. I cannot begin to tell you how the sight of a new entry brightens my day. This one nearly brought me to tears. Words such as yours can break through the despair at the sickness all around, so that, even with the constant hissing of the corrupt press in our ears, even while we watch so many good and decent people succumb to lies and deceit, there are still many of us willing and able to man that wall in the face of any threat. We have only to be led to our posts.

NR Article "The Undefended City". Well done - very well done.

... against all this hypnotic power... stand these two.

And many more, as it cannot be otherwise. Let there be enough to hold the walls in November. Your inspiring piece, Bill, will help assure it.

That said, and I like a silver trumpet in the morning as well as anyone, let's hope our Maverick hears the tune the way it's played by the virtues of "the horse he rode in on" when he takes the chair.

(scare quotes, mixed reference, dangling participle, weak structure offered merely for amusement. Hey there!)

The ideology taught at Santa Monica and many other high schools is certainly destructive, if not evil.

But conservatives also have themselves to blame for the fall of the "Two Towers." Both the Clinton and Bush administrations pursued the insane open borders policies that allowed the 19 highjackers to enter the U.S. on valid visas. But the 19 had absolutely nothing to contribute to the nation and proper consular interviews would probably have resulted in denial of their visa applications.

It was both Democratic and Republican open border and multiculturalist policies that led to the coverup of the Phoenix memo and the failure to detain Atta during several encounters with government officials and law enforcement. As John McCain lectures to us about "God's Children" who demand preferential treatment because of their race and "heritage", we should remember that "conservatives" are also refusing to defend the city by rejecting our history of assmilation and controlled immigration.

Another great essay. I hope this one is widely read before November.

Keep up the good work!

i'm still confused. i grew up in SM on Rose Ave. i went to SM high school. i have many friends who joined various of the services there. we were definitely a left-leaning group as far as schools go i guess (though more apolitical and surf and sports obsessed) but that accurately reflected the community around us.

right now i know many SM grads are serving in iraq and afghanistan. it seems to me the author just at random chose to impugn an entire school and area because it was convenient, a synecdoche for his readership, something those of a right or far-right and/or authoritarian persuasion can just take to mean bad.

it's a crock. santa monica is a city filled with patriots and people who represent the best of america. it's a place the world comes to see what america is like (i know, being there on a saturday or sunday is like being at the UN).

to use the high school as a cheap shot is not at all "inspiring", it does not help with the "Sickness". it's just a lousy way to make a perfectly reasonable point about tolkein (one that i don't agree with but one that can at least be argued without the construction of strawmen). frankly, i think an apology to all the good people you so thoughtlessly impugned is in order.

I'm still skeptical on Sarah Palin (and indeed the entire "cult of the common man"), but the rest of the article was well-written, with one caveat-- is there a source on that Santa Monica High claim?

Also, you probably know this, but the TRINITY essay's formatting has been damaged in the migration.

Thanks for keeping up the writing!

Questioner,

Certainly there are many good and honorable people living in Santa Monica. People of both political persuasions who none-the-less love their country. However, the actions of certain teachers within the public school system in Santa Monica, and the policy that sanctions those actions, are indeed part of a surge of anti-Americanism that is running rampant across our country.

Teaching children to ask questions is one thing; teaching them to hate their country is quite another altogether. To defend your hometown is honorable, but to defend indefensible behavior simply because it emanates from your hometown (in this one instance) might be worth reconsidering. I suspect that is just the sort of blind-patriotism you likely detest (and perhaps correctly) in the 'far-right/ authoritarian persuasion.'

"And standing against all this hypnotic power — the power of the mythmakers in Hollywood, the power of the information peddlers in the media, the corrosive power of America-hating professors on every campus in America… against all that we find an old warrior — a paladin if ever there was one — an old, beat-up warhorse standing up in defense of his city one last time.

And beside him: a wonder.

A common person… just a regular mom who goes to work, does a difficult job with intelligence and energy and grace and every-day competence and then puts it away to go home and have dinner with the family."

Is it strange that I keep finding instances in which I am reminded of this Rosenberg passage?

Perhaps.

But, strange or no, I believe we would find ourselves in much more dire straits if I did not - so, one more time:
=================================

The dream is always the same: We're trying to make our escape from Hell, millions of us streaming down the endless rows of gym lockers, past the searing lava showers, toward the glowing Open sign, and safety.

Behind us, the demons come.

Some are clouds of acid fog, others are huge wolves or curiously mutated cats.

They're all chasing us, and they're all getting closer, and we're not all going to escape.

"We'll hold then here," Karl Cullinane shouts.
"Who stands with me?" The crowd rushes away leaving some of us behind...

Indeed.

I, John - I, Sarah.

I will stand with you.

- MuscleDaddy
(once Chaotic-Good, with Lawful tendencies)

That makes two. More, please.

From your lips to God's ears, Bill.

Just...wow.

A superb article.

MuscleDaddy, Monster, Otto,
I proudly stand with you, and offer what meager skills, talent, and blood is mine to give.

Bill,
Priceless. Simply. Priceless.

Ad Astra.
Paul A.

After a quick google, a couple of Santa Monica High School links for the likes of "questioner":

How I Changed My Left-Wing High School

Students Get Crash Course in Protest

Every day I wonder how I can keep up the good fight - how I can be a role model of positive behavior and responsibility to my children. I always knew that parenting would be an adventure, but I didn't know just how courageous and prayerful one needs to be as well. Thank you for your inspiring words that I plan on sharing with my children in this time of uncertainty and disllusionment with our culture and the current election season.

As usual, I had to re-read the essay to really be sure I had consumed it fully. And, as so often is the case, I find myself thinking that the core of the predicament in which we find ourselves is the indoctrination in which the minds of the electorate are forced to marinate.

The left holds overwhelming sway in the education and infotainment industries, so they get the advantage. Any institutions not under their control, (or individuals within those they do) capable of transmitting the core values of civilization, are attacked. That's why they go after churches (except for those that teach Liberation Theology), talk radio (except for the NPR stations that they control), and Fox News. And it's why they'll try to regulate web sites like this one out of existence (if they can figure out how to do it while allowing their digital brownshirts at dKos and Du to stay in business).

We have a really tough fight ahead of us, and I don't just mean the next election, because those leftist-controlled institutions just keep cranking out more confused people. We can try to enlighten them, but the question is whether we're able to do that fast enough to keep up.

ophidian-- ugh! Sounds like the clean-up crew has some work to do in that place! I do wonder how much of this disaster was a matter of policy and how much of it was the personal biases of individual faculty members coming to light.

This is a galvanizing piece, and we need more and more of them. . . . I have recently wondered why we do not change our mind around and view ourselves any longer as a resistance movement against Socialism? They seem to be in broad control of the "education" that comes out of media, academia and bueracracy. They seem to be growing more Socialist pods with ease. But the fact remains that Socialism is a social toxin; the more you spread on your society, the more it dies. . . . In finding your essays, Bill, I hope I am seeing a change in tenor in America. I want to be a part of America's and man's ascendance, not their decline. Thanks for being the voice that you are.

ophidian - thanks for the links. Steve Miller, wherever you are - rawk. on.

If your description of Samohi is accurate, it is very depressing. I went there once upon a time, and it didn't used to be like that.

Indeed, bravo. Yes, burn it on their leftist butts. Indelibly etch it on their useless keesters. Where did USA turn the corner to what we have become? Had to be sometime after my babyboomer generation began to come of age and thought we knew it ALL. Oh, the 60s. What a bunch of CRAP we made then. Thanks, Bill, for pressing the reset button on "perspective".

Roger

Thank you for that.

I think I may draw my sword and enter the battle with renewed vigor.

I've loved all your essays. However, this one is like a wooden stake in the vampire heart of the enemy. Sir, I have only three words, to you, as to the quality of this essay:

Jack. Bauer. Good.

B

P.S. JoshDavenport hits the nail on the head. We are sapped daily of our will to fight. We need words like this too remind us to never stop fighting till the fight is done.

Go Bill Go!!! Your writing is a breath of fresh air, just like Govenor Palin. Keep it coming.

Bill,

Once again, Thank You.

You seem to have a gift for putting Patriotism into words.

Please keep fighting the good fight!

Ed K.

Mr. Whittle,

Of John McCain and Sarah Palin you said "Against all of that stand these two".

I beg to differ with you, sir. Their supporters are legion.

Just one work...WOW.

There is nothing "common" about average Americans aside from our common belief that American exceptionalism is our greatest strength and virtue. "Exceptionalism in commonality" probably sounds better in Latin. If I can get a translation, I'll consider a tattoo for the first time in my life.

Many years ago I decided to ride a bicycle around Ausralia for reasons now that seem both obscure and foolish. After the first day out I cruised into the Banks Hotel in a town called Dungog. I was in the mood to replace a gallon of sweat with cool lager. I met there another Yank. He was headed south and I was headed north, but we shared a common thirst. The local boys were in a mood to fight (God love them); the Aussies are a feisty folk. Around 4-pint o'clock a bloke swaggers up to the bar and says, "I don't like Yanks; they think they can do anything."

Our response was totally spontaneous, in chorus, and from the gut: "WE CAN!" It took me three days to drink out the shout, but when you talk bold, you gotta drink bold, especially in the Land of Oz (God love them).

Attitude. Americans have attitude in spades, but it's not an idle brag. Consider this one from the Army Corp of Engineers: "The difficult we do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer." Aye.

Name me a culture in the history of humanity that values individual accomplishment based on liberty codified in law. Whooo! It just doesn't get any better.

wait, i clicked on the article about santa monica protest.

it says that the principal told students that anyone who went to a protest on the promenade (which is right by the school, a couple of blocks away) would face serious consequences, including detention. and the students defied the principal.

that is literally the opposite of what mr. whittle asserts in his post. and while i came here to be a respectful and serious interlocotur, it is impossible when such hideously bad faith arguments are foisted upon the readers of this blog. it's absolutely shameful of both mr. whittle and his commenter to do this sort of thing. i come away from this conversation believing more than ever that conservatism has become a synonym for authoritarianism, where anyone with a two-bit faux intellectual writing style can gin up some anger from a bunch of rubes.

i will now assert as fact, given that i am from and grew up in S Monica, that this article is entirely full of BS and written in bad faith.

I fell in love with my country when I was a prisoner in someone else's.
I loved it not just for the many comforts of life here: I loved it for its decency; for its faith in the wisdom, justice and goodness of its people.
I loved it because it was not just a place, but an idea, a cause worth fighting for. I was never the same again.
I wasn't my own man anymore. I was my country's.
-- John McCain

And standing against all this hypnotic power — the power of the mythmakers in Hollywood, the power of the information peddlers in the media, the corrosive power of America-hating professors on every campus in America… against all that we find an old warrior — a paladin if ever there was one — an old, beat-up warhorse standing up in defense of his city one last time. And beside him: a wonder. A common person… just a regular mom who goes to work, does a difficult job with intelligence and energy and grace and every-day competence and then puts it away to go home and have dinner with the family. Against all of that stand these two.
-- Bill Whittle

And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
-- Declaration of Independence

Bill, you reminded me that it's now my turn to fight--and pray--for this country as I've never fought and prayed before.

Pass the ammo.

You really have "arrived" Bill. The tell-tale sign is when trolls like questioner follow you home from NRO.

Beautiful. I am sending it along to anyone who might be willing to open the door, just a tiny crack, to see some light.

Bill, I stumbled across The Undefended City thanks to a tweet from a friend on Twitter. What a treasure. What a classic. As a former resident of the People's Republic of Santa Monica who escaped to San Diego for my sanity, I commend you for maintaining yours in the Dark Kingdom.

Hugh Hewitt compared the current darkness to Mordor, a few days after I had written this post. It's called "The long, dark battle between The Shire and Mordor"... http://tinyurl.com/3qprq6

Questioner's question is legitimate. I can not recall any criticism of my own work that did not include someone else putting words into my mouth -- words which I did not utter and are in fact antithetical to the point I was trying to make.

The quotes used in the piece are taken from a student at Santa Monica High, who says he wrote them down verbatim. Living in Santa Monica, I have no doubt whatsoever that they are an accurate representation of what goes on there.

Furthermore, I have become good friends with a man who has a child a SMHS, and it is he who put me in touch with his evidence. The evidence consisted of over 60 pages of news articles, inteviews, and background on some of the key players.

Additionally, I have seen taped interviews of Santa Monica City Council meetings where these issues and their remedies were discussed.

After his first comment, I thought questioner raised a legitimate issue. However, to make accusations that I acted in bad faith, "spouted BS" and libeled those responsible at SMHS indicates that he did not do a tenth of the homeworkon the issue that I did, and goes to reinforce my idea that those who whine the loudest are often those with the least information.

As a matter of fact, I plan to do an in-depth article on this specifically. THAT article will be something else entirely.

I don't appreciate beiong called a liar on my own property, questioner. If you wish to continue this I will be happy to do so -- my time permitting -- but if you think I will stand for being called a liar repeatedly you might have another think coming.

Well worth the wait, Bill.

Like Tolkien another Brit, Edward Gibbon well describes failures of civic virtue in his own trilogy, "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire".

You just made me go look up my copy of Silent America; so, when is volume II due out?

I read your NRO article. It was great. That's why I'm here.

I found your post on Freepers, and it touched me deeply. Lord of the Rings gave me similar feelings to what you felt, and at a time when I needed some insight. We need more people speaking out, we need to put on the whole armor, we need to roll up our sleeves, polish our rhetoric, and never stop fighting. Sarah Palin has sparked some of that LOTR feeling in me. I want the old warrior and Sarah to win - because then we all win.

As Mark Levin says, we need to push back the liberal hordes.

We have them in Canada too. In a matter of a few weeks, we will be fighting to gain conservative ground here, with a national election, and when we win -- and win we must -- we will take back the ground we lost, inch by painful inch.

Both of our countries need to win.

Thank you for your beautiful work.

Nice article, as usual.

There are some typos though:

"This, and more, what was what John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was trying to teach me,..."

The first "what" is superfluous.

"because the image as the ring of truth to it: "

as => has

Bill,

Thank you for this beautiful, and timely, piece. Just as the financial picture leads one to that bleak realization that we indeed are being destroyed from within, you provide a voice, and, dare I say it, hope, that those who love this country may yet find brothers in arms. May we prevail as more than the remnant.

Thank you.

This was such a beautiful piece. It is so true. I have been fighting this fight with my own daughter who is vaguely ashamed we vote Republican. The liberal ideology is like a siren song to our youth. It is acceptable, makes them seem intelligent and caring and is necessary to be accepted in a peer group. I often ask my daughter what this country would become if only one ideology prevailed. It stumps her.

So - I turned on the Ryder Cup. The last bastion of blatant love of country. The NBC commentators are trying hard to denigrate the enthusiasm of the KY crowd and make the USA a mean, rude, boorish nation compared to the lovely, correct Europeans, but it isn't working.

P.S. - what is amazing is how much the youth of today revere The Lord of the Rings...

Well done, Bill -- Thank You! I'm particularly impressed by how skillfully you've adapted your style to a more concise format. Once again, you make it look easy. Hope the movie project's going well! Can't wait to see it.

Paules: I'm confused by an apparent anachronism in your story. You seem to suggest that the concept of "We Can" somehow predated the New Hope of the Obama campaign. Please correct or clarify. Thanks.

Aussies -- God love 'em indeed! They've got their own nuts, to be sure, but have been some of our truest friends through thick and thin. (Which part would it be that we're in right now?) I will never forget that.

Sorry, Bill. It doesn't fly for me. You construct an ideal world which you claim to live in, and you make sweeping claims about what you claim to be historical fact, and you take pains to tell us how noble you've been since you saw the light as a high school student, but in the end -- under the rhetoric of unfailing high principle, what I see is a self-serving screed. Sorry. Adios.

Hi Bill, This was the perfect bit of positive that I've been looking for. I just pointed out your site to my dad 2 weeks ago and he's now as hooked as I am to your essays/articles. We're both look forward to the ones you mentioned were on their way.

Wow! Welcome to my mind! I will be looking for more of your stuff, friend. I hope everyone who reads you shares it with several friends. Colleen Bowen Denver CO

Unrepentant Kulak, thank you for the invitation to clarify. I shall. My research indicates the "Yes, We Can" theme predates the Obama campaign by a few years, about 3,000 by my reckoning. The historical record is rather thin, but it would seem that small tribes known as Dorians, Ionians, Aeolians and the like migrated into an obscure corner of south-eastern Europe where they settled in to build city-states. They were a people fanatically protective of their rights and prerogatives as free men, so they early on rejected the idea that all power both temporal and spiritual should be vested in a god-king. Men were free to think and do as they pleased. "Yes, I can" became an acceptable attitude because no one had the authority to say "no, you can't."

Once established, these so-called Hellens discovered time for "leisure" which translates in their language as license, indeed, a license to read, think, contemplate and debate. With free thought came also the freedom to inquire. The best minds among them soon decided that the gods were a convenient fiction, and that gnosis might arrive by the application of logic and deduction. In other words, the world was both knowable and explicable to a properly trained mind. The city-states soon began to excel in all sorts of new disciplines: philosophy, mathematics, architecture, navigation and astronomy to name a few.

The success of this amalgam of states soon began to irk their powerful neighbors where the word from the throne was usually "you can't because I said so." To which the stubborn Hellenes responded "yes, we can; just try to stop us." Time and again the emperor to the east tried to impose his will over the Hellenes, but he was eventually defeated. It turned out that an army of free men defending home turf was worth ten-to-one the value of a slave army.

Modernity might have been born there and then, but the city-states fell to squabbling and were eventually absorbed into a republic just to the west. The Latin men were great organizers and builders, but not the pure thinkers of their cousins in the Peloponnesian cities. Yet the first two pillars of Western civilization had by this time become firmly established in the culture: Greco-Roman philosophy and Judeo-Christian morality.

The third pillar would require some additional work and another thousand years of tinkering to get it right. Eventually, however, a gang of malcontents from Europe got tired of being told "no, you can't" so they just up and left for some new digs in a vast wilderness across the sea. They carried with them the same "yes, we can" attitude of their forbears and they were armed as well. By concensus they adopted the third leg of our triad, something known as Anglo-Saxon law, and in their new land they prospered beyond all expectations.

The people named their land America and began a great experiment to see if individual liberty combined with self-responsibility and personal initiative might recreate the glories of the past and perhaps even exceed them. It's a work in progress.

Lately, however, some citizens have begun to doubt the validity of the grand experiment. The citizenry has been posioned by the lies of malcontents and self-haters. But those who would tear down civilization didn't reckon on The Remnant. That would be us, brothers and sisters. Because "yes, we can" still resonates in our ears along with other archaic notions like truth, beauty, goodnesss, patriotism, hard work and self-sacrifice.

Yes, kulak, "yes, we can" predates a certain contemporary politician, sophist, and professional wormtongue. Decent people are starting to see him for what he is. And we are rising to the challenge.

Just another huge admirer or your work who rejoices when there's a new post.

Bill,

Another "Tour de Force" that hits all the right points, and, will draw the ire of every dedicated Socialist from Orange County to New York City.

It matches what I'm watching: a list of 20 "Markers of the End of Golden Ages." Trouble is, that list is no longer available, and, I've forgotten the correct sequence. I'm thrilled by McCains pick of Sarah Palin (He definitely got my vote with that pick), yet, at the same time, it is "Marker No. 1" on the List (about 150 years into the life of a Civilization Women, brandishing their Weapons of Genderbat, begin rising to positions of Great Power while pushing their 'primal, Biological Imperative' - Nest Building...think, Chief Cathy Lanier of DC, Nancy Pelosi, etc.). I'd explain that more, but, I'm gonna be in enough trouble with the Ladies, as is.

That List is found in a 20 Volume Set of Time/Life Books called, "Civilization," that has been banned from Libraries because Volume 20, "The End of Golden Ages," is (as you might guess) "Not Politically Correct." Some of the 'other' markers are: Hoarding of Gold by an ever smaller Aristocracy/Nobility; Imbalance of Trade; Flight of Capital and Industry; a Tsunami of Rules, Regulations, Policies, Proceedures, Edicts, Decrees, Taxes, Licenses, Laws making everything Illegal; denigration of local Crafts, trades/Skills/Artisans; denigration and pushing away of the Citizen Soldier; hirimg and training of Mercenaries who Masguerade as "Select Militias" (SWAT); and, the final Marker, "disarming of the Common Citizen"...as Alexander crosses the Bosphorus, or, Obama brings us Change that's old as Civilization...unbridled Tyranny.

Incidentally, all 20 Markers are in play, except the last, and, they are desperately working on disarming America.

Congratulation on hitting a note that resonates with the Soul of Conservatism (which is liberal in a truly Jeffersonian/Founding Fathers sense).

From the Heart of Baghdad,
Gordon DeSpain

Excellent, as always. You put into words the feelings I've had lo these may years. And fwiw, your phrase "..grind into metal shards the transaxle.." immediately took me back to Ellen Ripley, and while she may have been afraid, she would climb, and stand atop the walls, defending her city.

Good will always prevail. It is human nature. It's just that every generation or so needs to be reminded that evil indeed exists and the only way to defeat it is to remain ever vigilant to it. I will stand too. Not because of duty, because I am human and will not allow evil to win.

questioner wrote to Bill (September 19, 2008 11:18 AM):
i'm confused. you use several "" marks throughout your piece. these suggest that you are directly quoting someone who has said whatever is contained within said marks. ... did in fact anyone say such things? ... if i am wrong, and someone did specifically teach the WORDS in the quotes ... i will happily remove this post.

I thought that this was a pertinent question. So, I thought I'd check out Ophidian's links. (ophidian, September 19, 2008 2:47 PM).

This is what I found when I tried to match up Bill's quotes with those from one of Ophidian's two links, the one to Steve Miller's news article from 2003.

Bill's quote: “a terrorist nation”

Miller's quote: We were told that through America's history as a "terrorist nation,"

Check.

Bill's quote: “one of the worst regimes in history”

Miller's quote: Teachers compared this country to the worst regimes in world history

Check.

Bill's quote: “the son of the devil”

Miller's quote: One teacher even called George W. Bush "the son of the devil"

Check.

Bill's quote: “fascist” country

Miller's quote: Students (myself included) were informed that the U.S. could be termed a "fascist" country.

Check.

Okay then. Bill's Santa Monica High School quotes appear to be taken verbatim from a 2003 news article. So, then I checked to see if this guy/gal who posted under the name Questioner, after having a chance to look at Ophidian's links, let Bill off the hook. This is what I found.

questioner wrote (September 19, 2008 6:23 PM):
this article is entirely full of BS and written in bad faith.

Yep. That's the kind of apology that I expected to see.

Remember dear readers, Bill will be here all decade. Don't forget to tip your waiter. And, more especially, don't forget - a copy of Silent America makes a good Christmas/Hannukah present. Better yet give two; one for each eye.

Rob wrote: (September 20, 2008 11:05 AM)
Good will always prevail. It is human nature.

I admire your attitude. But things like the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising make me think that it goes more like "Good will always resurface, perhaps in another place and time."

That's why I believe Jefferson got it right with respect to always prevailing: "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."

Thanks for standing with us.

Bill:

Fine column and useful, too. Useful? Well, to me it is as I'm currently struggling with just those questions for some epigraphs and an afterword.

best,

Tom

Thank you again, Bill.

You construct an ideal world which you claim to live in

I will probably bore regular readers to tears with this, but it's exactly the mentality that Evan Sayet pointed out in his Heritage Foundation lecture

What I discovered is that the Modern Liberal looks back on 50,000 years, 100,000 years of human civilization, and knows only one thing for sure: that none of the ideas that mankind has come up with--none of the religions, none of the philos­ophies, none of the ideologies, none of the forms of government--have succeeded in creating a world devoid of war, poverty, crime, and injustice. So they're convinced that since all of these ideas of man have proved to be wrong, the real cause of war, pov­erty, crime, and injustice must be found--can only be found--in the attempt to be right.

If nobody ever thought they were right, what would we disagree about? If we didn't disagree, surely we wouldn't fight. If we didn't fight, of course we wouldn't go to war. Without war, there would be no poverty; without poverty, there would be no crime; without crime, there would be no injustice. It's a utopian vision, and all that's required to usher in this utopia is the rejection of all fact, reason, evi­dence, logic, truth, morality, and decency--all the tools that you and I use in our attempts to be better people, to make the world more right by trying to be right, by siding with right, by recognizing what is right and moving toward it.

And isn't that the essence of "hope-n-change?" If the economy isn't perfect, then it's exactly the same as the Great Depression, (except that Bush is apparently Hitler more than Hoover) and the only cure is (more cowbell, uh, government) to hand The One a blank-check "mandate" to fix it. We adults recognize that he is not a transcendant light-worker sent down from on high to save us from our imperfect selves; he's just another imperfect human, and his policies will necessarily fall short of perfection. That won't stop the leftists, though. They'll just blame any failures on "greedy" businessmen or play the race card (Bicycle will have to suspend production of Poker and Pinochle decks, just to keep up with the demand), and use it as evidence that further Change is necessary to restore Hope.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

an assist if I may Monster -

the link to the post with the Sayet lecture video at the Gazette:

http://www.e3gazette.com/2008/01/regurgitating-apple.html

the transcript at the Heritage Foundation:

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Thought/hl1020.cfm

Some of the same thoughts, also well said -

"The Drumbeat" by William Staneski in The American Thinker

http://www.americanthinker.com/2008/09/the_drumbeat.html

Damn you, Bill. And I mean that with the greatest affection. Here I am in lovely Northern Europe where evidence of their abjectly failed diversity experiment(s) is palatable in ways most Americans cannot begin to fathom. They gave up the fight long ago, but it’s a reminder of what lays in store for the greatest nation on earth should we all choose to sit in a big blissful circle, double espresso, cinnamon two-shot caffè latte in hand, singing Cum-Bay-Ah, lighting the candles of “Change”. The good news is that I’m en route from Afghanistan and will be home on the morrow. Please people, take it from somebody that’s been there and has the t-shirt: wake up. We are in the proverbial fight to end all fights. Dropping the ball here really is game over.

Regardless your political persuasion, Bill’s essay touches, yet again, on some fundamental truths we, citizens of the “City,” all hold deep in our hearts. They are “self-evident” (or at least should be) and in the off chance you might have missed that day in civics class, he offers these thoughts as a timely reminder. I, for one, would be honored to stand next to John, Sarah and Bill in the upcoming fight. Moose stew, baby. Daniel, Wax on, wax off. Don't forget to breathe, very important.

Bill, let’s go flying some day.

Bill,

Re: 'Questioner'

The rest of us had him pegged straight out of the gate and refused to feed.

Take a deep breath and walk away - he'll slide back to DU or whatever.

- MuscleDaddy

Beautifully written. Great to see another article for NRO - hope to see many more! Usually I get links to your pieces on Instapundit but this one was on RedState. All the good guys love you. :-)

This gave me goosebumps. I am an 18-year-old college student trying to make a difference in the way my generation perceives this great, beautiful country but it can be discouraging. This is what people need to hear. Thank you for this most eloquent rally cry.

Tracy

Great, great essay. I'm bookmarking this blog into my "First Things" folder.

I worked in the tv and film industry for several years, was in the peace corps and now teach in korea. All of these situations have found me surrounded by the types of people that are so ready to open the gates. Today we met some americans at a cafe and in the middle of pleasantries one guys casually remarked on the "police state" currently in existence in the US.

That kind of casual disdain for what is truly the greatest country in history is what I'm reminded of in your piece.

bravo.

I've liked much of Whittle's writings over the years, but wonder if he's going a little over the top these days? E.g., his bitter hit on Kimberley Pierce's film, Stop-Loss.

Did Whittle (who has Hollywood connections, as I recollect) actually see this film without prejudging it as more of the Redacted, etc., genre?

I'm a VN vet recently put in touch with quite a few of my former buddies in a line infantry unit in the field during the height of the war ('68-69, and I'm struck and surprised by how large percentage of us have fallen apart from PTSD (I don't think I'm one) or whatever, over the four decades since our war experience: some in the near term, some in the long term.

I thought Stop-Loss was a great film, in the tradition of Pierce's only prior feature, "Boy's Don't Cry", which won a best actress Oscar for Hilary Swank.

I didn't think there was a single cheap shot in Stop-Loss, and I would recommend it unreservedly to open minded and morally discerning viewers across the ideological spectrum. See it again, Mr Whittle, and tell us your hit on the second viewing.

Too bad The Lord of the Rings was written in response to the destruction caused by the industrial revolution and not World War II, but don't let the facts get in the way.

As always Bill beautifully written. I left California years ago but can well believe what you say about SMHS. Please keep writing, you keep so many of us sane by articulating what we can only think.

"The Undefended City" was a wonderful essay but I too have a lot of garbage where the punctuation marks should located on your homepage.

Great article. First time I have seen your byline on NRO.
Pls contribute more.

"Hanoi paris hilton" wrote: September 21, 2008 1:25 AM
I didn't think there was a single cheap shot in Stop-Loss

For those interested in a reasonable review of Stop-Loss, I'd recommend Libertas "www. libertyfilmfestival.com/libertas/?p=9482".

My favorite line from the film review:
Actual line from the film: "F**K the President." A half-hour in, when absolutely nothing we’ve been told about this character prepares us for it, that’s what comes out of the mouth of our protagonist war hero, Brandon King (Ryan Phillipe). Like someone flipped a switch, King transforms from hoo-rah Army sergeant to Code Pink mouthpiece. "Wait a minute," he protests, to his commanding officer, "Stop-loss is only in effect during times of war, and the President said the war was over." That’s the logic our screenwriters came up with as motivation for desertion.

I find that another website for good film reviews is "dirtyharrysplace.com". It's part of my daily routine.

Excellently written!

Your line here -
Civilizations fall only because each citizen of the city comes to accept that nothing can be done to rally and rebuild broken walls; that ground lost may never be recovered; and that greatness lived in our grandparents but not our grandchildren - reminds me of a friend of mine.

Last summer she was completely absorbed in Nehemiah, an obscure little history book of the Old Testament. At this point, Jerusalem has been shattered, its defenses in ruin.

Nehemiah leaves comfort and privilege as a servant to the king to return to his people and rebuild the city.

As we see today, this provoked a hornet's nest of "how dare you" from without and "its not worth it" from within. Strength has never been so forgivable as victimhood, it would seem.

But in the end, the way to rebuild those walls?

Repair the wall in front of your house. Fix what you can, where you are, alongside your neighbors.

"The more things change...."

Thanks for the reminder, Nehemiah

The Undefended City is one of the greatest essays I have ever read.

I had to come here to see who wrote it.

I grew up in the 60's too - my father died in the Navy during Korea - I lived and worked as a Christian in Germany (Bitburg) during Reagan's start and the cold war - visited The Soviet Union many times during the 70's and 80's - contacting and supporting Christians who stood up there.

One thing that always inspired common people in every country I ever visited (even the USSR) - Their sense that Americans would stand up to evil. It was not just my opinion that they thought that. That was what they came and told me.

It never ceased to amaze me and send chills up my spine.

It is no accident that the author of The Lord of the Rings was the man who converted CS Lewis to Christianity.

It is time for the Riders of Rohan to mount up and ride once more.

What an amazing commentary on the essence of what is at stake here. My husband and I often discuss whether America has already seen its greatest days. He, being an eternal optimist, looks at our 3 children, and says no. We are giving them the kind of traditional family that both of us yearned for but neither of us had growing up. Still, I worry for our son, age 3, who has the unfortunate status of being a white male, and I am apprehensive about his future in this country which seems to reward individuals based on the ability to claim victim status.

I am cheering for Sarah Palin. She is a professional woman just like me who has not lost sight of who she is--a wife and a mother, too! The feminists hate her for it, and I am laughing at them.

I would like to print out the NR article and give it to everyone I know--including some of those who are presently drinking the Kool-Aid.

You must be reading what I write to my friends and for the web. But you have expressed my thoughts better than I have.

Keep it up -- and please give us more.

With respect to the disdain elitists hold for those who actually run things, consider this quote from John W. Gardner:

"The society which scorns excellence in plumbing because it is a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy; neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water."

Superb essay, Mr. Whittle, as always.

Yes, Melanie, you should worry for your son. White males have virtually no chance in America these days- why, just look at their absence amongst the candidates for President this year, or their vastly depleted ranks as CEO's or executives. Unless you win the lottery, there's a good chance he'll wind up having to rake the yard of some snooty, whinging, victim-baby black bank president, or cleaning the pool of some uppity latino lawyer; heck, he might even have to be seen serving coffee to some hopped-up Korean fembot university president. Just think, he might actually end up removing stains for a living from some uberrich moslem's burqa! My finger's are crossed that he'll never be forced to drive a hack and tool around some elitist east indian who wipes his nose with hundred dollar bills.

Let's hope that somehow, someway, against all the odds, he'll overcome the ridiculously unfair obstacles placed before him and manage to make something of his poor, underprivileged white self.

Good luck with all that.

Well. Done!

And standing against all this hypnotic power … against all that we find an old warrior — a paladin if ever there was one — an old, beat-up warhorse standing up in defense of his city one last time. And beside him: a wonder. A common person… just a regular mom who goes to work, does a difficult job with intelligence and energy and grace and every-day competence and then puts it away to go home and have dinner with the family.

Against all of that stand these two….


Like many of us, I first encountered Tolkien’s Hobbit and Lord of the RIngs in college, later read them aloud to my children, returned to dip in occasionally over the years, and then finally escaped wholeheartedly into Peter Jackson’s glorious and horrific recreation. In the aftermath of 9/11/2001, I have often been struck by the prescient relevance of Tolkien’s allegory to the terrors of our modern world.

Perhaps the sight of Gandalf the White and Eowyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan, standing forth on the ramparts will once again encourage the hearts of the Men (and Women) of the West to the defense of their City.

And remember that it is Eowyn who slays the Witch-King Angmar, Lord of the Nazgul…

Posted by: Tyrone Slothrop | September 21, 2008 7:23 PM

My, a little snarky today, are we?

I find your remarks uncivil, and uncalled for. Such a personal attack on a commentor completely unknown to you, for comments which she made expressing appreciation for an essay, is far out of line.

This "personal dinner party" is not your special dumping ground.

With due respect. Not.

"...we may laugh in the face of despair and mock those people that think a man with an MBA from Harvard knows more about running a gas station than the man that actually runs the gas station."

How dare Mr. Whittle mock our Commander in Chief, George W. Bush (MBA Harvard)!

Lord of the Rings analogies need to be used more in our politics, because they are incredibly appropriate to what we are going through now, and I"ve seen that myself for years.

Tolkien was truly a visionary and a great man.

Great article, great read.

Great article. At first read I was sure that the author was one of the few remaining old right-leaning Brits. You know, actual writers. Not the more recent products of our domestic journalist schools where they only teach Leftism and don't bother to teach expository writing anymore. A pleasant surprise indeed to discover the author is home-grown, relatively young, and practically in my backyard.

A small nit to pick. BHO did not earn an MBA from Harvard, merely a law degree. I'm not sure what his undergraduate major was at Columbia, but it most assuredly was not business.

This article made me think of a piece of dialog early in the movie "A Few Good Men". When Tom Cruise asked his female associate why she felt these two marines were worth defending, she says, "Because they stand on a wall. And they say to us 'Nothing is going to happen to you tonight...not on my watch'."

Sir:

I have never posted a comment on any article I have read on the internet.

I belong to one philosophy forum and no blogs.

This article was exquisite. As fine a piece of writing as I have seen on the internet recently.

I studied with Ayn Rand some 43 years ago, she would have enjoyed the way you write.

Adam

Wow. I do think being reminded of great works like "The Lord of the Rings" last election cycle (when it won 11 oscars) helped rally Americans to decide they didn't want surrender in Iraq. Bush's performance at the debates was awkward, but he won with a single jab when he asked John Kerry why Americans should believe that he would lead us to victory in a contest that he didn't believe was necessary.

Lord of the Rings was not a direct allegory as many folks assert. It seems prescient in many of the same ways that great classical works of literature and the Bible do because the author shows such a thorough grasp of human nature and the nature of good and evil. It is an understanding shared by many of the Christian and Jewish faithful.

"Lord of the Rings analogies need to be used more in our politics, because they are incredibly appropriate to what we are going through now, and I"ve seen that myself for years."

I also see comparisons within the Harry Potter series. A craven officialdom in denial, a corrupt and biased press, and a brave few who recognize evil and are willing to confront it - are all there.

It's Monday morning and have just completed my browse through the blogs from both sides. When I came upon my favorite, I read his synopsis of your essay. After reading it in it's entirety, all I can say is "Thank You" for reinforcing my strong belief in the strength of America and it's people.

We will always have those who believe we have become a monster, feeding on our young but that is far from the truth. We make mistakes, yes, but we also go to extraordinary lengths to make things right when we do.

Thanks for "making my day" Mr. Whittle.

Posted by: Paul A. | September 22, 2008 1:24 AM

I don't really see Tyrone's comment as a "personal attack" at all. Dr. Melanie raised the subject of how her son is likely to be mistreated by a government preoccupied with righting inequalities of outcome. At no point did Tyrone call the good doctor or her son any names.

On the contrary, I found it to be a clever attempt at refuting Melanie's concerns by ridiculing unstated straw men. As such, it is sophistry entirely devoid of rational argument, intended to appeal to emotions and prejudices rather than the intellect.

So let's not just declare Tyrone a troll, and refuse to debate him. Instead, let us examine his comment and demonstrate exactly why it's bereft of value.

He uses heavily loaded language, some of which reinforces racist language ("uppity", "hopped-up") while superficially appearing to mock them by placing a white man in occupations sterotypically occupied by minorities (lawn and garden service, pool cleaning, food service, laundry/dry cleaning, taxi driver). We're not supposed to think of the white men who already do those jobs, only the stereotypes, and thereby find the notion of a white man doing those jobs ridiculous. But perhaps the ultimate irony is that Dr. Melanie's son is not likely to be pushed to the bottom of the economic ladder by Affirmative Action. It is, in fact, more insidious than that. (A full treatment will require, not a comment here, but a full post, which I'll do over at e3gazette.com, probably this week.)

The whole thing is nicely summed up by the final words:

poor, underprivileged white self.

When observing that statistically, whites do better economically compared to other ethnic groups, and males better than females, (despite the fact that there are members of every ethnic group and both genders at every point on the economic spectrum), they are unable to consider the possibility that the members of those demographic groups disproportionately practice various behaviors, which in turn are more or less likely to result in monetary gains vs. losses.
Being blind to that possibility, they are left with no other explanation for economic disparity other than systemic racism and sexism.

And if Senator Obama loses the upcoming election, they won't be able to consider that it is his behavior (as a student of Marxist thinking and political thuggery, a "community organizer", state senate committee chairman killing the Born Alive bill, the furthest left voting record in the US Senate, platform of redistributionism at home, and moral equivalence abroad) that brought about the defeat. There will be no other possibility than that racists preferred to vote for a white guy with a Scottish name over a black guy with an African/Arabic name.

Damn fine piece of work, lad.

of course this is a beautifully worded essay BUT if the activities in that HS are TRUE,and "you"are aware of this,you're no better than anyone cited in this essay due to YOUR LACK OF ACTION.
IF we ever got word that an American flag was dragged across the floor in a classroom full of students by anyone,there would be a strong reaction leading to ACTION.
And believe it or not,we're here in nyc and have never tolerated any antiAmerican indoctrination of our children.

Underlying your soaring language is the not so unspoken assumption that Sen. Obama is anti-American - even though he wants to focus on going after Bin Laden and Al-Queda and finish the job that Bush has not. He wants to confront Pakistan's unwillingness to help us route out Al-Queda from the mountains, while McCain wants to respect Pakistan and talk with them more. I think this whole piece is based on the right-wing arrogance that only conservatives are "true americans" - I heartily disagree. By the way, I'm not familiar with your claims about Santa Monica High - but I agree that defending freedom gets too short shrift from many people and we have spent way too much time apologizing. However, my conclusion in this regard extends to my outrage at so-called conservatives that defend the Bush administration's liberal interpretation (i.e., abuse) of executive powers. Strict constructionists, it seems, are not so strict about applying express constitutional limits on executive power (such as a need for warrants, the writ of habeas corpus and other limits on the power of the government over the individual). Instead, you march out such strident garbage as this essay that tries to idealize patriotism as the ultimate, over-arching ideal above all others. I believe the ultimate ideal is a "liberal" (in the traditional 19th century sense) representative democratic government properly burdened with TRUE LIMITS on what that government can do to individuals - and I think that ideal is truly threatened by the precedents set by Bush-Cheney over the last 7 years. A basic requirement for protecting individuals from the "tyranny of the majority" is a respect for the rule of law, something which the Republicans repeatedly reject whenever it is inconvenient to their desired results. Since I believe it is so fundamental to our freedom, I have become a "one issue" voter - with that issue being the restoration of the rule of law and respect of constitutional limits on all branches of government - not just the judiciary (at least when you don't like with the judiciary is doing). Do you know how it pains a libertarian like me to vote for a candidate that wants to meddle with many things that I think the government should leave alone? But I cannot vote for those who continue to hide behind their new ultimate ideal of patriotism when ripping up our constitution. My priority has to be restoration of the rule of law - to all branches of our government.