The Trend

I admit it; There are times when I look out of my double screened, computerized window on the world, and despair at what I see.
Michelle Malkin:

Whatever happened to “Let’s Roll?”

Answer: It became “Let’s Roll Over.”

Dean Barnett compares the United 93 revolt and the British Royal Navy rollover:

What a strange and dismal trip it has been for the Western world, going from “Let’s Roll” to “Fighting Back Was Not An Option” in scarcely more than five years. One can only hope that when the history of our era is written, the former will turn out to be the immortal quote, not the latter.

Barnett’s point about the trend involved, here, seems valid to me, though I wonder about the specific quotes he uses as examples. “Let’s Roll” seems an unusually brave statement, even in context, and “Fighting back was not an option” seems unusual in the opposite direction.

That point covered however, it must be said that the general direction in the western world has been against bravery, brave actions, individual fortitude, and as Billy Beck has pointed out several times, freedom.

I think that we need look no further for proof that the west is in decline than eight years of Bill Clinton, and the consequences of that, and the current politics of the democratic party, as well.  To my mind, these are instrumental in the downfall of the west.  As a solid indicator of this, I would look no further than the subject of Nancy Pelosi and her butt-kissing visit to Syria just recently.

And yes, certainly, America is but a part of the western world, but, much as this is going to annoy the un-American left, America has a leadership role to play in it. The Brits, The Australians, the Spanish… hell, even the French, more so than they’d like to admit, follow our lead.  the world is watching Washington these days, I’m coming to the realization that a goodly chunk of America would like to duck and cover.  To abdicate our leadership role and responsibility. Make no mistake; the resistance movements in Syria, in Pakistan, and in Iran, and in many other places in the world, see us backing away from our staunch support of freedom .  And they wonder, if America is the stalwart friend of freedom that they had always been led to believe.  Make no mistake, my friends, Americans are starting to question it, as well.
If we are unwilling to hold our western values high, (And I think the recent moves by the Democrats in Congress show that reluctance quite clearly) who else is likely to pick up the banner?

The trend is not encouraging.  The American spirit is still strong in some quarters, and has been historically known to overcome a great many obstacles.  The Reagan years, are a good example of the resurgence of the American spirit. Look at the number of things that we survived in order to obtain that resurgence of American spirit during those years.  But survive, and thrive, we did.

Like Barnett, I would rather that the former event, not the letter, be what history judges us by.  But I’m not sure.  I just wonder if the Democratic party is one of the things it can overcome, anymore. I’m becoming increasingly skeptical.

I don’t propose to give up on us, not yet, perhaps not ever.  But I’ve always been honest with you in these spaces, and there are times…. this being one of them, that I can’t help but be concerned about our outlook in the near term.