There is a reason that in some parts of the world, they call it "Remembrance Day.":
Such would become the pattern in the 20th Century. Winston Churchill
privately rejoiced over Pearl Harbor, because he knew that it meant that
Americans would bring our fighting men and women to the rescue of the
free nations of Europe and Asia, who were on the verge of needing to
arrange some kind of truce with the Nazis and with Japan by mid-1941 in
order to avoid being completely overrun by them.
In Korea, Americans intervened to keep all of that then-isolated
Asian country from falling under a Communist regime that many people
there did not want. That regime still exists in one-half of Kora, as the
" starving baffling hermit kingdom" of the world. The other half
remains free, prosperous, and an emerging economic powerhouse thanks in
no small part to the American soldiers and Marines standing guard at the
38th Parallel.
This column is brought to you by the men and women, past and present, of the United States Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, National Guard, Reserves, and Merchant Marine. If you enjoy reading it regularly, thank a few of them for it. If you are a veteran, thank you for your service to all of us.
I don't know that celebrating a major victory in war-and it is a war we are engaged in-is a bad thing. The death of Osama bin Laden is by far the most significant event-and the result of the firefight that killed bin Laden is the clearest victory yet-in the war that began on September 11th, 2001. However, this writer is compelled to admit that Mrs. O does have a point (and yes, she is as pleased as any of the rest of us that Osama is out of the picture). If we bask not in the military and strategic victory we have achieved through Osama bin Laden's death (and the positive outcomes it has generated and will generate), and instead gloat on bin Laden's death for its own sake, then we are no better than the terrorists that we seek to defeat. In our commemorations of the momentous event of May 1st, perhaps we should remember that.
The freedom to publish in this space was thankfully paid for by a Veteran:
Marching in the streets didn't bring us this freedom, but someone else who was willing to pay the price for that freedom did their part to keep the flame of liberty burning. The new Jefferson County Veterans' Memorial has been erected in White Pine, and it might be worth a few minutes of your time to pay your respects to the local men and women who paid the cost for you and I to go about our business in peace, freedom, and security.
Because of spilled blood and the making of the supreme sacrifice by countless thousands of Tennesseans from the Overmountain Men to those who landed on Omaha and Utah beaches, and those who presently serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, our Legislature is free to have a budget fight. In no small part because of the efforts of these noble souls we are able to enjoy a freely elected government in this State and throughout the United States.
As of yet, I can't be locked away forbeing openly criticalof the President, or of Governor Bredesen, or of our Members of Congress or the General Assembly. While I am well aware that there are many people both inside and outside of government who wish that I were locked away in a closet somewhere to be shut up, I am not because a soldier, sailor, airman, or Marine took a bullet that paid for my right to speak out.
Most people are aware of the "tea party" protests around the country, and the President would love the partiers to go away. You don't have to because some boys at Lexington and Concord were so tired of a government that tried to shut them up that they opened fire on its soldiers and faced the wrath of what in those days was the most awesomepower on earth so we could freely choose not to have the will of government imposed on us.
Our current Democratic President says we are not a Christian nation, but would be one of the largest Muslim nations if there weren't so many Christians. We are a secular nation, the President says (but President B. Hussein Obama says we would be one of the largest Muslim nations).
There are no atheists and secularists in foxholes or in beach minefields, or in forests filled with enemy infantry.
There was no secularism 65 years ago today, least of all from the Democratic President who led our country on that day and in that hour.
A conservative journal of social, cultural, and ecclesiatical affairs grounded in a realistic Catholic Christian worldview. It is my hope that this site will be a reflection of Christ,the teachings of His Holy Church, and of the basic vision of a Christian social morality.
