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From the Argus Leader:And a national defense analyst says the steps taken by the commission Wednesday are a good indication that Ellsworth has a strong chance of being removed from a closure list.I think the handwriting is on the wall,...

The draft Iraqi Constitution has been completed. The only step left is to submit it to the parliament once more Sunni support is garnered:Iraqi leaders finished their draft constitution Monday and prepared to submit it to parliament ? but withdrew...

Firstly, it should be noted that the Chief is a aficianado of science fiction - particularyly "hard" science fiction, as well as military science fiction. (No warlocks, dwarves or dragons PLEASE! Tolkien is good, but forget the rest.)

I just completed reading THE WATCH ON THE RHINE by John Ringo & Tom Kratman, with the setting of a sort of mass - horde invasion of the planet by some hungry and rapacious aliens who have us on the main menu. There are several books out there in this universe, of which this is the latest.

Without going into all the gory details (and are there EVER gory details that could be gone into) this latest effort is placed in Germany, and the surviving Waffen-SS, after galactic technological rejuvenation are brought back to join the fight. There are lots of interesting developments in this - for example a "Judas Maccabeus" Jewish SS Brigade (phew!) - but this is all just background for the purposes of this post.

The following part of an "Afterword" is the real substance I wanted to pass on (emphasis added):

Right now, Western Civilization, however much many of its members may refuse to admit it, is involved in a world war. No, it has seen no entire cities destroyed; no trenches have drawn their scars across entire continents. It is a world war all the same. Moreover, it is a world war that is putting to the test every notion of individual liberty, freedom of conscience, and rule of law that the West prizes. And should we lose we will see, or our grandchildren will, the erasure of all that is good in Western Civilization.

We cannot afford to lose. Yet winning will have its price, too. Just as the invasion John described is ordained to change humanity into something that one of Hitler's Waffen SS would recognize and call home, so too will this war change us. Because side by side with the virtues of Western Civilization are paired vices that may destroy us: a narrow legalistic mindset, an emphasis on form over substance, and an unwillingness to do the ruthless and violent things we must if we are to survive. This list is not exhaustive. Perhaps worse than these things, however, the West has nurtured at its own breast a set of execrable, vile, treacherous and treasonous villains that seem to seek at every opportunity to do all they can to ensure its destruction.

Yet there is hope. "Survival cancels out programming."

Indeed!

This half of August has been a fine traffic month, one of the best since clear back in November. Thanks for stopping by. Wish I could hit a high enough mark to start running BlogAds again... or, should I say,...

Instead of going with the obvious solution and moving along with the ANWR deal, Tim Johnson is suggesting a congressional hearing to understand why prices are rising at the pumps. The U.S. Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing in...

I meant to second Prof. Blanchard's argument for hate crimes legislation. A friend and I penned a chapter on hate crimes for this fine volume on moral policy. While researching and writing this book chapter I found my opinion change....

Chuck Hagel has been immensely quotable the last couple of days. Is he running for something? In an interview with Reuters during a trip across his home state on Wednesday, Hagel said the United States should greet the new Iranian...

Our Democratic colleagues in the regional blogsophere are being rather more generous in sharing the credit for today's good news than they were when Ellsworth was put on the BRAC list, which is probably what we at SDPolitics would have...

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