Thursday, February 28, 2008

Terrorists or Americans: Who Would Democrats Prefer to Die

"Democrats" in the above title refers, of ccourse, to Democrats of the MoveOn.org type rather than to probably the majority of rank and file Democrats--although that majority is letting the extreme leftists take over their party.

I have referred to the incomparable George McDonald (not ashamed of his middle name, he) Fraser) before. Fraser is the writer of numerous fictional, but historically darn accurate, novels of the 19th Century British Empire (spilling over to America)--novels involving a womanizing, cowardly anti-hero named Bill Clinton.  Sorry, I keep making that Freudian slip.  Although it is possible that the character is modeled on early contact Fraser had with Bill Clinton during Clinton's days at Oxford (total specualtion here), Fraser's anti-hero is actually Harry Flashman--supposedly the bully from fmaous 19th Century book about British prep schools:  "Tom Brown's Schooldays".  Flashman manages to get involved in almost every military disaster/triumph of the 19th Century British Empire, along with some American ones--such as Custer's last stand.  "Flashman and the Mountain of Light" is the novel of the Flashman series dealing with the First Sikh War in India, as the Punjab Sikhs invaded British India (in an effort by their own rulers to take the Sikh army down a few pegs--I kid you not).  In the book, Fraser puts the follwing word's in Flashman's mouth, referring to the slaughter of the Sikh army at the Battle of Sobraon--many of them slaughtered in the river as they tried to run away:

"But the best reason for muerdering the Khalsa (Sikh army) was that if enough of the brutes had escaped, the whole beastly business would have been to do again, with consequtent loss of British and Sepoy lives.  That's something the moralists overlook (or more likely don't give a dam' about) when they cry:  "Pity the beaten foe!"  What they're saying, in effect, is:  "Kill our fellows tomorrow rather than the enemy today."  But they don't care to have it put to them like that;; they want their wars won clean and comfortable, with a clear conscience.   (Their consciences much more precious than their own soldiers' lives; you understand.)  Well, that's fine if you're sitting in the Liberal Club with a bellyful of port on top of your dinner, but if you rang the bell and it was answered not by a steward with a napkin but an Akali (Sikh fanatic) with a tulwar (Sikh curved sword), you might change your mind.  Distance always lends enlightenment to the view, I've noticed."

The application above to the way leftists are approaching the War on Terror and Iraq should be obvious.  I will let you contemplate it, as an exercise for the reader, before coming back and laing it out for you.

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