Americans Are Hungry for the Fight

 

Patton“Americans love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, the big-league ball players and the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time.”
— General George S. Patton, May 1944 in a speech constructed by soldiers and recorded by historian Terry Brighton.

Americans do love to fight. And when we fight, we fight to win. Right now we are in a war for the survival of a nation. And right now we are in this fight without the overt support of our elected leaders and public figures. America’s enemies are my enemies. We are in this fight against people who would rather destroy a statue of Frederick Douglass than listen to his words that became a defining moment in the fight to end slavery. This is a blatant example of erasing history to cast it in the darkness of evil from which there can be no comparison. The present is the oppressive. The past is privilege.

I will not mourn for America. This isn’t a nation of mourners; it’s a nation of fighters for freedom and liberty and the rule of law for everyone who seeks it. Democrats have fed the radical beast since the 1960s when it was useful to advance their agenda and ride a rising tide of youthful unrest and a war-weary nation. But then they realized what would happen if they stopped. Eventually the radicals would be at their doorstep, like rabid raccoons, angry when the garbage cans are locked away. The Democrats had no choice but to give in; the beasts they created were no longer content with waiting their chance at power. Now they want to take it and no amount of appeasement will spare their ire.

For most of the ‘leaders’ on the Right, the war is lost by fearing the fight. For decades, conservatives have been busy with white papers published by Washington, DC, think tanks that gladly take our donations and turn around and reduce our lives to statistics and economic numbers. Drug-riddled Middle America and gutted rust-belt cities are the cost of trade with China. The Cold Warriors who once sided with President Reagan and Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II against the Evil Empire turned silent at the Chinese Communist oppressive regime, slave labor, and anti-American propaganda. We are thirsting for leaders who will defend us against radicals who are storming the gates, setting fire to our history, and mocking the rule of law.

Our institutions and our leaders failed us. Our religious leaders unmoored the churches from moral objectivism, deciding to capitulate to a self-centered culture to gain popularity. Our culture, then our politics were sent adrift. Moral relativism and a consequence-free society opened the door to the destruction of the importance of the nuclear family, community cohesion, and common values. When anything goes, chaos follows. After decades of letting the left shape the narrative through radical feminism, identity warfare, and controlling higher education, the Right mostly retreated, choosing to engage in interparty skirmishes and pouring energy into think-tanks and policy papers. The left honed their skills at targeted character assassination and overtaking the news media as a means to advance their liberal progressive agenda. When conservatives finally made feeble attempts to fight back and reach main street conservatives, the left had an iron fist around academia, major media outlets, and pop culture.

We have seen this struggle session and white-flag waving before. In the aftermath of the counterculture of the 1960s, churches such as my own Evangelical Lutheran Church caved to the demands of liberal social-justice peddlers and virtue scolds who made inclusivity demands of Protestant churches. In a vain and cowardly attempt to try and win temporary favor, church leaders caved to the demands. It was the end of the ELCA’s reason for being. If it didn’t believe in its own beliefs and Gospels, why would anyone else? And the outcome was completely foreseeable. It did nothing to attract those lost sheep looking for leadership and moral stewardship within communities. Those social justice warriors ironically asking ‘What Would Jesus Do?’ were never going to be loyal church members. They could get the same inclusivity indoctrination sermons at their coffee shop, spin class, or drag queen story hour. Their demands of inclusivity was a ruse to force the dissolution of societal norms and erase objective moral truths.

What did end up happening to church attendance and fellowship was another win for progressives: faith in organized religion dropped. Churchgoers who were looking for a strong faith community upholding traditional values and Protestant ideals turned away from a weak, inclusive ‘spirituality’ representative church. Organized religion agreed to a suicide pact but the agreement was completely one-sided.

The same is happening with cancel culture. In an attempt to shield themselves from being labeled a bigot, fascist, sexist, homophobe, or generally a hatemonger, Republicans let liberals determine the social and cultural boundaries (or lack thereof) and disengaged from the fight over language and free speech. But as soon as our political leaders and corporate business executives capitulated on any one issue, the left kept marching on like ants over fresh meat. Conservatives are left undefended from the radical’s insatiable appetite and are ourselves starved for strong leadership to stop America’s unraveling. We are waiting to fight, but we cannot do it alone. We know America is good. We believe in our Founders’ vision and our standing as the world’s best hope for freedom and liberty. We are anxious for the battle against an upside-down narrative in which victimhood and identity politics have taken the place of patriotism, free expression, and the marketplace of ideas.

Conservatives need to take unconditional, unapologetic ownership of these American ideals. The left will never be satisfied with any concessions and will not make any apologies. Rather, for the progressive left and their propagandists in the media, the only ‘good’ Republican – let alone conservative – either is out of career politics, has a gig on CNN, or is dead. We have plenty of gutless wonders roaming the halls of Congress, making empty promises in the glare of television cameras. We need more Pattons. We need more J.K. Rowlings, more of our own Bethany Mandels. Americans love to fight and we will follow a strong leader into the fire of battle for a just cause. America and our Constitutional freedoms are worth that fight.

In that same 1944 speech, General Patton said, “Every single man in the army plays a role. So don’t ever let up. Don’t ever think that your job is unimportant.” We are all owners of America’s legacy. Let us be on the side of a legacy of virtue, goodness, and freedom.

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  1. Gossamer Cat Coolidge
    Gossamer Cat
    @GossamerCat

    Bravo!

    • #1
  2. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    Well done!

    • #2
  3. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    Jenna,

    This has nothing to do with Racism or Sexism or Transgenderism. All of those “identities” are to distract us from what is really going on. Marxism has been repackaged by the Woke and is being promoted through their direct dangerous actions. However, Marxism was a disaster and will always be a disaster and no sugar coating will change it.

    We are left with no choice but to fight because they are the aggressors. They may have caught us off guard but that won’t be the first time it happened. Americans scramble back and recover from a cheap shot very well. As Admiral Yamamoto said about the attack on Pearl, “I fear we have done nothing but wake a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #3
  4. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    Jenna,

    This has nothing to do with Racism or Sexism or Transgenderism. All of those “identities” are to distract us from what is really going on. Marxism has been repackaged by the Woke and is being promoted through their direct dangerous actions. However, Marxism was a disaster and will always be a disaster and no sugar coating will change it.

    We are left with no choice but to fight because they are the aggressors. They may have caught us off guard but that won’t be the first time it happened. Americans scramble back and recover from a cheap shot very well. As Admiral Yamamoto said about the attack on Pearl, “I fear we have done nothing but wake a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.”

    Regards,

    Jim

    That’s a great quote (and an excellent Patton clip!). There’s only so much pushing we can take before we see we’re at the edge of the cliff. We either fight back or jump off. The time to fight back was yesterday. We have a long, hard battle ahead – but not insurmountable.

    • #4
  5. James Gawron Inactive
    James Gawron
    @JamesGawron

    JennaStocker (View Comment):
    We have a long, hard battle ahead – but not insurmountable.

    Jenna,

    Why you are sounding like this gentleman.

    Regards,

    Jim

    • #5
  6. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    JennaStocker: Patton:  Americans play to win all the time.

    This remind me of Vince Lombardi’s “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” quote (paretial excerpt):

    “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

    There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.”

    I believe Trump embodies this spirit.  He may be brash, uncouth, and forward, but he wants to win.  And if he wins, we win . . .

    • #6
  7. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    Stad (View Comment):

    JennaStocker: Patton: Americans play to win all the time.

    This remind me of Vince Lombardi’s “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” quote (paretial excerpt):

    “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

    There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.”

    I believe Trump embodies this spirit. He may be brash, uncouth, and forward, but he wants to win. And if he wins, we win . . .

    Yes! Even this Minnesotan will acknowledge the winning spirit of a Packers legend. And to keep on the sports side, there’s this classic from Herm Edwards:

    • #7
  8. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    JennaStocker (View Comment):
    We have a long, hard battle ahead – but not insurmountable.

    Jenna,

    Why you are sounding like this gentleman.

    Regards,

    Jim

    I appreciate that. But I’m afraid I wouldn’t be qualified to shine Mr. Churchill’s shoes!

    • #8
  9. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Very impressive and energizing post @jennastocker. Thank you for the boost. I am not the only one who needs it. Could anyone here believe Republican Senators Ron Johnson, James Lankford, and John Cornyn (Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Texas ) introduced legislation to eliminate Columbus Day and REPLACE it with Juneteenth, whatever that is? The politicians we elected are abandoning us and running away in all directions.

    • #9
  10. Old Vines Thatcher
    Old Vines
    @OldVines

    Do we fight to win, really?  Stalemate in Korea, loss in Vietnam, win in Iraq 1, stalemate or something but definitely not a win in Iraq 2, 17 years without a decision in Afghanistan.  There may be good reasons for all of this but it is not the record of a nation that fights to win. 

    • #10
  11. Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… Member
    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio…
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Jenna, good post.  One follow up:

    JennaStocker: We need more J.K. Rowlings . . .

    I don’t think that Rowling is congenial to our cause.  I don’t know many details about her political beliefs, but my impression is that she’s a Lefty.  I think that she’s sort of a TERF (“trans-exclusionary radical feminist”).

    TERFs are not my allies.  They are radical feminists, though they are not so completely deranged as to support the trans nonsense.  Even here, they do not do so for a good reason.  Rather, they don’t want to let bizarre men, who claim to be trans women, to gain the special privileges that the radical feminists claim for themselves.

     

    • #11
  12. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    “When anything goes, chaos follows. After decades of letting the left shape the narrative through radical feminism, identity warfare, and controlling higher education, the Right mostly retreated, choosing to engage in interparty skirmishes and pouring energy into think-tanks and policy papers. “

    Semper Gumby.

    • #12
  13. Vince Guerra Inactive
    Vince Guerra
    @VinceGuerra

    JennaStocker (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    JennaStocker: Patton: Americans play to win all the time.

    This remind me of Vince Lombardi’s “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” quote (paretial excerpt):

    “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

    There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.”

    I believe Trump embodies this spirit. He may be brash, uncouth, and forward, but he wants to win. And if he wins, we win . . .

    Yes! Even this Minnesotan will acknowledge the winning spirit of a Packers legend. And to keep on the sports side, there’s this classic from Herm Edwards:

    An argument is rarely bolstered with Herm Edwards on your side. He’s kinda the football equivalent of Kanye West.

    • #13
  14. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    Old Vines (View Comment):

    Do we fight to win, really? Stalemate in Korea, loss in Vietnam, win in Iraq 1, stalemate or something but definitely not a win in Iraq 2, 17 years without a decision in Afghanistan. There may be good reasons for all of this but it is not the record of a nation that fights to win.

    I still think Americans do fight to win. In these examples I would argue political cowardice led to these outcomes. If it was up to average Americans looking to defend ourselves, there would be more bombs, less ‘negotiators’.

    • #14
  15. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    JennaStocker (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    JennaStocker: Patton: Americans play to win all the time.

    This remind me of Vince Lombardi’s “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” quote (paretial excerpt):

    “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

    There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.”

    I believe Trump embodies this spirit. He may be brash, uncouth, and forward, but he wants to win. And if he wins, we win . . .

    Yes! Even this Minnesotan will acknowledge the winning spirit of a Packers legend. And to keep on the sports side, there’s this classic from Herm Edwards:

    An argument is rarely bolstered with Herm Edwards on your side.

    It was for fun. And Herm makes a point. Play for the win, not the participation trophy.

    • #15
  16. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Jenna, good post. One follow up:

    JennaStocker: We need more J.K. Rowlings . . .

    I don’t think that Rowling is congenial to our cause. I don’t know many details about her political beliefs, but my impression is that she’s a Lefty. I think that she’s sort of a TERF (“trans-exclusionary radical feminist”).

    TERFs are not my allies. They are radical feminists, though they are not so completely deranged as to support the trans nonsense. Even here, they do not do so for a good reason. Rather, they don’t want to let bizarre men, who claim to be trans women, to gain the special privileges that the radical feminists claim for themselves.

     

    The point is she doesn’t give in to the mob. I liken this to a sort of ‘hierarchy of needs’. At this point in the war, we need to start moving the momentum away from capitulation and towards just saying ‘No. Not this time, not now, no apologies.’ Rowling not giving in helps turn the tide and makes it possible – in some small way – for the next person to do the same. Someone has to do it and survive to lead the way. And if it’s her, fine. But the Drew Brees third fourth whatever apologies is nonsense and the left is not satisfied. Everyone piled on. Now contrast that with the stunning silence from those same people about what DeSean Jackson said.

    • #16
  17. Dave Carter Podcaster
    Dave Carter
    @DaveCarter

    JennaStocker (View Comment):

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    JennaStocker (View Comment):
    We have a long, hard battle ahead – but not insurmountable.

    Jenna,

    Why you are sounding like this gentleman.

    Regards,

    Jim

    I appreciate that. But I’m afraid I wouldn’t be qualified to shine Mr. Churchill’s shoes!

    Sterling post! Invigorating on multiple levels. With respect to Winston Churchill, whom I adore, he once said that it was the British people who had the heart of a lion. His job, he said, was to provide the roar. I think you’ve done that and more, and you’ve done it with eloquence and force. 

    • #17
  18. JennaStocker Member
    JennaStocker
    @JennaStocker

    Dave Carter (View Comment):

    JennaStocker (View Comment):

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    JennaStocker (View Comment):
    We have a long, hard battle ahead – but not insurmountable.

    Jenna,

    Why you are sounding like this gentleman.

    Regards,

    Jim

    I appreciate that. But I’m afraid I wouldn’t be qualified to shine Mr. Churchill’s shoes!

    Sterling post! Invigorating on multiple levels. With respect to Winston Churchill, whom I adore, he once said that it was the British people who had the heart of a lion. His job, he said, was to provide the roar. I think you’ve done that and more, and you’ve done it with eloquence and force.

    @davecarter Thank you so much! I hope  we have more men and women in the Churchill mould to step into the fray. Courage in this time of fear is a scarce, but priceless commodity.

    • #18
  19. Old Vines Thatcher
    Old Vines
    @OldVines

    JennaStocker (View Comment):

    Old Vines (View Comment):

    Do we fight to win, really? Stalemate in Korea, loss in Vietnam, win in Iraq 1, stalemate or something but definitely not a win in Iraq 2, 17 years without a decision in Afghanistan. There may be good reasons for all of this but it is not the record of a nation that fights to win.

    I still think Americans do fight to win. In these examples I would argue political cowardice led to these outcomes. If it was up to average Americans looking to defend ourselves, there would be more bombs, less ‘negotiators’.

    Political cowardice is another way to say failure to build a political consensus behind the fight. Without clear objectives and a persuasive argument about why winning a conflict is in the national interest we drift and waste good men and women’s lives. The result is a poisonous political division and the kind of mess we find ourselves in now. 

    • #19
  20. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Jenna, good post. One follow up:

    JennaStocker: We need more J.K. Rowlings . . .

    I don’t think that Rowling is congenial to our cause. I don’t know many details about her political beliefs, but my impression is that she’s a Lefty. I think that she’s sort of a TERF (“trans-exclusionary radical feminist”).

    TERFs are not my allies. They are radical feminists, though they are not so completely deranged as to support the trans nonsense. Even here, they do not do so for a good reason. Rather, they don’t want to let bizarre men, who claim to be trans women, to gain the special privileges that the radical feminists claim for themselves.

     

    Rowling has a Baphomet “Solve et Coagula” tattoo on her left arm.

    • #20
  21. Cow Girl Thatcher
    Cow Girl
    @CowGirl

    cdor (View Comment):

    Very impressive and energizing post @jennastocker. Thank you for the boost. I am not the only one who needs it. Could anyone here believe Republican Senators Ron Johnson, James Lankford, and John Cornyn (Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Texas ) introduced legislation to eliminate Columbus Day and REPLACE it with Juneteenth, whatever that is? The politicians we elected are abandoning us and running away in all directions.

    We have got to get as many people as we can to write to these Senatorial Idiots to put a stop to this! Let them have a state holiday in Texas, sure, because this event happened in Texas. But leave the rest of the nation out of it. It isn’t a national holiday.

    @jennastocker This is an excellent post! We do need to step up and call a halt. “Conservatives need to take unconditional, unapologetic ownership of these American ideals.” Let us praise and support all those you’ve mentioned in their willingness to not stand down.

    • #21
  22. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Cow Girl (View Comment):

    cdor (View Comment):

    Very impressive and energizing post @jennastocker. Thank you for the boost. I am not the only one who needs it. Could anyone here believe Republican Senators Ron Johnson, James Lankford, and John Cornyn (Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Texas ) introduced legislation to eliminate Columbus Day and REPLACE it with Juneteenth, whatever that is? The politicians we elected are abandoning us and running away in all directions.

    We have got to get as many people as we can to write to these Senatorial Idiots to put a stop to this! Let them have a state holiday in Texas, sure, because this event happened in Texas. But leave the rest of the nation out of it. It isn’t a national holiday.

    @jennastocker This is an excellent post! We do need to step up and call a halt. “Conservatives need to take unconditional, unapologetic ownership of these American ideals.” Let us praise and support all those you’ve mentioned in their willingness to not stand down.

    It was the cave to the Chamber of Commerce, eliminating Columbus Day so there is not one extra day with holiday overtime, that was beyond clueless. By the way, Cornyn is running for his GOPe life in Texas this year. This was stunningly stupid. Add Emancipation Day on the weekend closest to June 19 so we have the Declaration and the fulfillment of the Declaration close to each other.

    AND. Keep Columbus Day, made a holiday after the mob mass murder “lynching” of Italian immigrants. Yes. Columbus Day, like Juneteenth, was elevated in response to concerns by an ethnic minority about lawless violence against them

    • #22
  23. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    JennaStocker (View Comment):

    James Gawron (View Comment):

    JennaStocker (View Comment):
    We have a long, hard battle ahead – but not insurmountable.

    Jenna,

    Why you are sounding like this gentleman.

    Regards,

    Jim

    I appreciate that. But I’m afraid I wouldn’t be qualified to shine Mr. Churchill’s shoes!

    Leave that to Chik-fil-A . . .

    • #23
  24. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Are we though? Are we “hungry for the fight?” It’s all well and good for conservatives to “take unconditional, unapologetic ownership of these American ideals,” but fighting involves consequences. Sacrifice. Are we ready to lose our jobs, our friends, even our extended family to stand up for the truth? Are we ready to take our kids out of public schools — permanently, or at least until there’s major reform, which could take a generation or more, and definitely wouldn’t be accomplished by the time they’re due to graduate? How about giving up Netflix, and Amazon, and Google — corporations who have proven inimical to our claimed values? 

    Sorry, but talk is cheap. I see Americans as being soft and accustomed to a certain rather comfortable lifestyle we’re unwilling to give up for the fight. I include myself in this assessment.  

    All things of this world are passing away. Sorry to be a downer. Try to have a nice day.

    • #24
  25. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Jerry Giordano (Arizona Patrio… (View Comment):

    Jenna, good post. One follow up:

    JennaStocker: We need more J.K. Rowlings . . .

    I don’t think that Rowling is congenial to our cause. I don’t know many details about her political beliefs, but my impression is that she’s a Lefty. I think that she’s sort of a TERF (“trans-exclusionary radical feminist”).

    TERFs are not my allies. They are radical feminists, though they are not so completely deranged as to support the trans nonsense. Even here, they do not do so for a good reason. Rather, they don’t want to let bizarre men, who claim to be trans women, to gain the special privileges that the radical feminists claim for themselves.

     

    She a TERF? Well, I’m thrilled there is a special category for her!

    • #25
  26. Henry Racette Member
    Henry Racette
    @HenryRacette

    Western Chauvinist (View Comment):

    Are we though? Are we “hungry for the fight?” It’s all well and good for conservatives to “take unconditional, unapologetic ownership of these American ideals,” but fighting involves consequences. Sacrifice. Are we ready to lose our jobs, our friends, even our extended family to stand up for the truth? Are we ready to take our kids out of public schools — permanently, or at least until there’s major reform, which could take a generation or more, and definitely wouldn’t be accomplished by the time they’re due to graduate? How about giving up Netflix, and Amazon, and Google — corporations who have proven inimical to our claimed values?

    Sorry, but talk is cheap. I see Americans as being soft and accustomed to a certain rather comfortable lifestyle we’re unwilling to give up for the fight. I include myself in this assessment.

    All things of this world are passing away. Sorry to be a downer. Try to have a nice day.

    You tell her, WC. And while we’re at it, we really aren’t going to fight them on the seas, and on the beaches, and in the fields, and in the roads, and never, never surrender. Right?

    There’s a time and a place for inspirational speech, and this seems a good one. Where’s that PSA I wrote? Hang on…

    “Those who feel compelled to throw in the towel are asked to do so quietly, so as not to distract those who wish to continue fighting.”

    • #26
  27. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Vince Guerra (View Comment):

    JennaStocker (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    JennaStocker: Patton: Americans play to win all the time.

    This remind me of Vince Lombardi’s “Winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing” quote (paretial excerpt):

    “Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all of the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

    There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game, and that’s first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay, and I don’t ever want to finish second again. There is a second place bowl game, but it is a game for losers played by losers. It is and always has been an American zeal to be first in anything we do, and to win, and to win, and to win.”

    I believe Trump embodies this spirit. He may be brash, uncouth, and forward, but he wants to win. And if he wins, we win . . .

    Yes! Even this Minnesotan will acknowledge the winning spirit of a Packers legend. And to keep on the sports side, there’s this classic from Herm Edwards:

    An argument is rarely bolstered with Herm Edwards on your side. He’s kinda the football equivalent of Kanye West.

    One Saturday morning I was doing some grocery shopping when I saw someone chest-deep in the dairy cooler, why I do not know. I recognized him as the, then, Chiefs football coach Herm Edwards. The Chiefs happened to have a bye that week. I went up to hin (he was still deep inside the cooler) slapped him on the back, and said “How ya doin’ Coach? I hope the team is ready for the game tomorrow. I’ve got a lot of money bet on them to win.” The look on his face was priceless as he popped out of the cooler. You could see his mind churning as if he was thinking he had forgotten his guys were playing the next day. He was confused. I laughed, and said, “Hey, I’m just kidding coach. I know this is a bye week.” His face immediately melted from confused/concerned to relieved. We both laughed and went our separate ways. Herm Edwards is a good guy and a solid individual. He’s not the brightest bulb on the tree.

    • #27
  28. ElGuapo Inactive
    ElGuapo
    @JimStocker

    Great Job, Jenna.  The fight is brewing.  To really fight hard to win you first have to feel real pain.  We’re getting there…it’s going to be miserable and painful for everyone, but it seems inevitable.

    • #28
  29. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    Henry Racette (View Comment):

    You tell her, WC. And while we’re at it, we really aren’t going to fight them on the seas, and on the beaches, and in the fields, and in the roads, and never, never surrender. Right?

    There’s a time and a place for inspirational speech, and this seems a good one. Where’s that PSA I wrote? Hang on…

    “Those who feel compelled to throw in the towel are asked to do so quietly, so as not to distract those who wish to continue fighting.”

    I wasn’t trying to tell anyone off, Henry, and it’s presumptuous of you to suggest that was my motivation. I’m questioning the premise, like any average conservative. Are we hungry for the fight? Where’s the evidence?

    But, since you brought it up, my criticism of Jenna’s post would be that she criticizes our leaders without making any call to sacrifice on our part. Now, maybe you differ, but I’m not inspired unless I’m called to sacrifice, which is exactly what Churchill did in his “fight them on beaches” speech. It wasn’t “our leaders” fighting on the beaches. . .

    A similar two-way critique has emerged between the Catholic bishops and the laity recently. What are you doing about it? No, what are you doing about it?? Well, frankly, I don’t see average conservatives doing much. Think what our forebears suffered in war and deprivation. We don’t even want to cancel our Amazon subscriptions. 

    The Christian message is that good (Good) comes of sacrifice (The Sacrifice). It’s how the immortal combat was won by Christ. We are called to participate in that battle, but it’s going to cost us. Are we ready for it? I’m not convinced.

    • #29
  30. Western Chauvinist Member
    Western Chauvinist
    @WesternChauvinist

    And, btw, Jenna is a fine writer and I agree with her description of everything that’s happened. It just didn’t convince me that we’re in the fight or inspire me to enter the arena. 

    • #30
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