In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I've been on the road the last few days--the day after the election was the first time in my life I was happy to spend ten hours in cars and on airplanes, because I could, more or less, pretend for one more day that, when the votes were finally counted, Romney might still carry Virginia, Florida and Ohio--and even now, in my New Hampshire hotel room, I have only a moment. So here, briefly, is what I'd like to say:
1) I love you guys on Ricochet--just love you. Of all the places I've spent catching up on the web, Ricochet proved by far the most gratifying and informative. By following links posted here, I could read what really mattered. And even when I had only a few moments to skim posts and comments, I could see what my friends--and after this past campaign, we really are friends--were thinking and feeling. Put it this way. After a catastrophe like this, I wouldn't want to be stuck in this hotel room all alone.
2) I've gone back and forth on the central question, which is--let's face it--whether the country is doomed.
When I was at Dartmouth as an undergrad, I interviewed the great British journalist Malcolm Muggeridge. Americans and Englishmen, he suggested, found themselves in the position of Romans in the fifth century, living as the world they cherished slowly crumbled. "Aside from Alaric's sack," Muggeridge said, "all the events would have been slow, nearly imperceptible. You can imagine two pink senators being toweled down in the baths, one saying to the other, 'Things aren't what they used to be, are they?'"
Muggeridge was mistaken. Things weren't about to get even worse; they were about to get better. Later that very year, John Paul II would visit Poland, Margaret Thatcher would move into Number Ten Downing Street, and Ronald Reagan would announce his candidacy.
After this week's election, though, I've begun to suspect that maybe Maybe Muggeridge was only off by few decades.
You know what, though? It doesn't damn well matter--it's taken me 48 hours to realize that, but now I see it. I have children--one will graduate from Dartmouth this coming June full of hope and expectancy, eager to enter American life with the same eagerness I myself felt thirty-some years ago. Even if the country is slowly descending--maybe it is, and maybe it isn't-- I intend to join millions of my countrymen, and all my friends right here at Ricochet, in doing my best to do my simple duty.
I intend to fight.
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Comments:
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Exactly so. Onward, Christian soldiers!
We don't know what the future brings. We only know we have to be faithful to the light we've been given, for the sake of what we love.
Aug '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Great post! And fight. Keep fighting.
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
katievs: Exactly so. Onward, Christian soldiers!
We don't know what the future brings. We only know we have to be faithful to the light we've been given, for the sake of what we love. · 0 minutes ago
Beautifully put, Kate. As Archbishop Chaput put it somewhere or other, "We don't know what America will become. We only know it will be the America that God gives us."
Jun '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
3 cheers for Peter. The fight goes on.
Mar '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Still absorbing it Peter, perhaps this coming week with you and the NR gang on the boat will be the lift I need. If not it's time to do some shopping for land in Idaho.,
Sep '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Peter Robinson
katievs: Exactly so. Onward, Christian soldiers!
We don't know what the future brings. We only know we have to be faithful to the light we've been given, for the sake of what we love. · 0 minutes ago
Beautifully put, Kate. As Archbishop Chaput put it somewhere or other, "We don't know what America will become. We only know it will be the America that God gives us." · 4 minutes ago
If they want to shut me up they can do it the old fashioned way: they'll have to kill me.
Mar '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Mar '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I think the best thing we can do now is elect Republican governors. They seem to be the best examples of what our ideas can do to make life better. Maybe if there's enough distance between how red and blue states are faring, people will have to take notice.
And maybe start moving to red states.
Sep '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
“The road to hell is paved with the skulls of erring priests, with bishops as their signposts.”
St. John Chrysostom
Sep '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I have already begun my wing of the fight on Facebook, starting to document the failures of the healthcare law that is about to engulf us all. My fight includes fighting for my family to receive better care than the new government standard. We should start our own economy, athwart the approaching tide. Give the IRS their pittance, and opt-out of the crumbling healthcare economy. I assume we can find a sufficient number of doctors who share our philosophy to care for our productive souls.
Nov '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Bravo!
Jul '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I feel like a drunk in a barroom brawl with a bloody nose and lip. I'm up and ready to hit something with a chair. Just point me in right direction so I don't hit an ally.
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Starting with breaking the media habit. Don't turn on ABC, NBC, CBC, CNN, MSNBC. Don't buy the NYT, WaPo, and all the pernicious little wannabes. Starve them.
And as the best and brightest among us come up with alternatives, pay and join.
Richochet Leads The Way (with apologies to the US Army Rangers for adapting their motto)
Nov '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I'm with you!
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Exactly how my wife and I felt, Peter. Whether we are or are not doomed is entirely moot -- because of two kids, 17 and 15. We plug away on the assumption that we are not doomed, come what may.
Oct '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
God works in His own way. Personally, Tuesdays's election has caused me to seek Him more. When I consider this, I realize that what I will find when I lean on Him will benefit my family more than a Romnry presidency would.
Dec '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
My sentiments exactly.
Feb '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I'm feeling bruised, tired & I'm still a little in shock. Some of us just need a little more time to absorb what happened before we contemplate where to go from here. I am certain this country is still worth fighting for.
And I spend more of each day listening to Gregorian chants and finding inspiration in simple truth from joyful lives:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZSZQceNbZLA
TY for Ricochet. We will remain strong.
Apr '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Thank you, Peter, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Ricochet has been the deeply-dreamed-of oasis in the desert of "progressivism." In these difficult times, you have been the gentleman's voice of perseverance touched by a cheery optimism - truly a buoying element.