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:
Aug '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
"Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more, or fill the wall up with our English dead." Wait, that didn't quite go where I wanted it to.
"In the center they will break." No, that was Monday night's bad omen.
"Half a League, Half a League, Half a League and onward rode the six hundred...Into the Valley of Death" Hrmm... This isn't improving.
"Forward Men! For God's Sake Forward!" Wait, that ends about as well as "They couldn't hit an elephant from this distance."
"There's only two kinds of men on this beach, those who are dead and those who are gonna die." Darn it, still depressing.
"Nuts!" Is that CoC compliant?
Ah! "Damn the torpedos! Full Speed Ahead!"
I think that sums it up nicely.
Jun '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
My dear friend, Peter Robinson, rest assured no one has given up. I am nearly over my fit of melancholy. I know that none of my brothers and sisters here would begrudge me my despond after such an awful shock. It's been a somewhat manic ride, but my emotions will cool and a rational mind return. Then shall we plan. In fact, great things are already afoot. A third wave approaches. Trust me, you're about to see something truly remarkable. Harry Seldon has arrived. No, it's not me. Be patient and you will see.
Nov '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Thank you, Peter, for reminding us of our duty and of the pointlessness of surrender.
I do understand better how my conservative ancestors felt when they lived under FDR and suffered three re-elections.
Jul '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Yer bestest post ever, Peter. I got chills, truly.
Aug '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
We'll be right there with you.
Oct '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Peter, what a beautiful column. Thank you.
After two days of listening to my co-workers gloat over the election, your thoughts remind me of what my husband and I hope to foster in our boys is separate from the governing party.
So, we will continue our goal of raising future men that have a relationship with Jesus, are honest and hard-working, and don't treat women like a commodity.
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
And Republican Secretaries of State and Attorneys General.
Matthew Bartle: 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. · 43 minutes ago
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Speaking of Thatcher, wasn't it she who said, "The facts of life are conservative"?
Well they are, even today. Especially today: Our unsustainable government is unsustainable. What can't go on forever won't. Etc. As Krauthammer says today, our case for smaller government will become unassailable.
In the meantime (and a point made by JPod in Commentary a couple months ago) the US will be the one-eyed king in the world of the blind -- since as screwed up as we are, the rest of the world is even more screwed up. Which is not a completely terrible place to be, if you think about it.
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
It's interesting to note that the ones—like Peter and Casey and Scott—who were pessimistic all along about Romney's chances, and who, for their pains, got castigated by the rest of us for doom-mongering, are now out in front cheering us up.
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
It's a pleasure to share the trenches with you, Scott.
Aug '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Peter Robinson:
After this week's election, though, I've begun to suspect that maybe Maybe Muggeridge was only off by few decades.
That word "decades" was rather Muggeridge's point, wasn't it? These are not changes that can be perceived in mere 4 year cycles. Depending on how you measure it, the Roman Empire lasted another 150 years after Rome was first sacked, and it took ~200 years of decline to lead to that first sack.
The shape of the United States democracy is generally considered to have three distinct phases:
Modern conservatives often declare the New Deal was the big turning point, the beginning of some as-yet unrealized The End. Hyperbole? Perhaps. But it has only been 79 years since that period began. If the timetable holds, we're scheduled for a sacking in the near future.
Nov '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Glad to hear it, Peter...Ricochet is ever a feast for heart, mind and spirit. I'm with you in the fight with Missal, Breviary and Rosary as weapons. Thank you!
Mar '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I am amused that the punditocracy has taken less than 48 hours to decide what went wrong, and what we must now do. Bunk.
We should all take a deep breath, rest up, and rejuvenate -- don't fall for quick prescriptions, and hold fast to your principles.
Be in it for the long haul.
Jul '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
To lost causes, and going down with the ship.
Mar '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Peter Robinson:
1) I love you guys on Ricochet--just love you.
Starting the NR cruise "atmosphere" a little early, are we?
But seriously, this website is something truly unique - a place where people actively seek out, and then listen to, other opinions. Where dissenting points are valued and taken seriously.
That it is such a rarity also makes it more valuable - I predict that, in the coming years, Ricochet will make a more meaningful (if not loud) contribution to discussions on the right than some of the biggest names today will. So a big thank you to Peter.
Jan '11
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Peter, your post reminds me of something a local talk show host in Minnesota, Joe Soucheray, pointed out about traveling after 9/11; something I had noticed myself. In those uncertain days, when we all were feeling wounded and many felt the need to defend the nation — somehow, in whatever way our daily lives allowed — there was a connection that would form between men when boarding a plane. Maybe it was just a glance, a meeting of the eyes, but there was that unspoken question, "Are you in?" If some jihadi starts attacking people or storming the cabin, "Are you in?" I'm not meaning to compare Democrats to terrorists (though analogies could be made, considering the destructiveness of their policies), but I feel like that kind of camaraderie is alive and well here on Ricochet. We won't go down without a fight.
Sep '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I think Martin Luther said "Pray as if it all depends on God, and work as if it all depends on you." That will be my motto in the coming days.
Sep '12
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Peter,
I'm a little more pessimistic than you, our chances are not good. However, I'm not one to lie down and die without a fight. Eventually, we may have to figuratively fix bayonets and charge (Yes, Mr President the military still uses bayonets, I was trained to use one and I'm in the Air Force!). If we end up dead on a pile of spent brass, at least we did our best. Our prime objective in this war needs to be the Culture. Our society is sick; we won't win in the political or fiscal arena until we win the 'hearts and minds'. The enemy is smart, highly motivated, well funded, numerous (by evidence of the election) and has the initiative. Like I said, the odds are not on our side, but we have one thing they don't, the truth.
St Michael & St Jude.....Pray for Us!!!
Oct '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
Nail the colors to the mast! If we are doomed to defeat, let us meet our end with defiance in our hearts and a smile on our face! We do not go gentle into that good night, but rage, RAGE against the dying of the light!My morale is restored. The Paladin soldiers on.
May '10
Re: In Haste on a Snowy Night in New Hampshire, Or, Duty
I, for one, believe America's government is already doomed. But I don't fret about it. We can handle it. We can start again, if given the chance. And the light of this world cannot be purged.
Any Christian knows the great war between Good and Evil has already been won, yet we are called to fight the battles. We need to fight the battles, for ourselves — not to end the struggle, but to live the struggle. The end is less important than the fight itself, because that is what makes us who we are.
Don't defend American ideals only when they are within our grasp. Defend them always because they are good, and because in defending them we become Americans.
Conversion must be chosen anew every day, every moment. It's not only true of faith in God. Every day, remind yourself who you hope to be. Choose to be American.