Monday - November 01, 2004

Crossroads

Pay attention, my fellow Americans. I have a tale of decisions and the perils of taking “the path less travelled ....

For the last four years, the President has been, for the most part, an extremely unpopular man. The country is split into two factions and one faction hates the President with an unbridled passion, a blinding hatred borne out of not only differences of opinion but in most cases, just an extreme distaste for the man, himself. We are approaching an election to decide if the President should remain in office or should be replaced. We find ourselves engaged in a great war to preserve the country and protect America from destruction. There are forces both within and without our shores who are doing everything they can to influence this election. On the one hand, we have a decidedly stubborn, honest, reliable, steadfast Republican President who has rallied the country in a time of great strife. Our military forces are struggling with a strong, determined enemy. On the other hand, also running for President, we have a distinguished, decorated Democrat war hero who has led a bitter campaign of mud-slinging and name-calling, who has accused the President of not knowing how to handle the war because the President never had to fight for this country as he, the war hero did. He has accused the President of misleading the American people, lying to the American people and fighting the wrong war. He has promised to bring the war to a conclusion, even if it means an armistice with the enemy to be brokered with the assistance of European countries.

The country is at a crossroads and a decision must be made tomorrow by the voters. We, the People must decide whether to stay the course and fight this enemy because we know what is right and the President is the right man for the job. Or else we can just vote for the other man, and back away from this war, letting the chips fall where they may. We can abrogate our duty to defend America and just let history decide whether we did the right thing. A hundred forty years from now, no one will care what we decided. We’ll all be dead and the world will have changed no matter what we decide. We are at the crossroads and must choose one way or the other. May God have mercy on all of us.

Doesn’t it sound familiar? You bet it does. Except we’re a hundred forty years distant from that citizen and his perilous decision and history has provided a clearer vision of the consequences of that decision. A decision that, thankfully, he and his fellow countrymen decided correctly. For the record, Lincoln was running against General George McClellan, a great hero of the Mexican War who proved to be incompetent in the Civil War. Lincoln fired him and McClellan sought revenge by running against Lincoln in 1864. The people of the United States, in the 1864 election, decided that it was a far, far better thing to do to fight the war to the bitter end in order to preserve the Union and abolish slavery. I think they chose wisely. I know all of you do too. Yes, I include Liberals and Democrats in that. No one would question whether Lincoln should have remained in office to finish the job he started in 1860. One hundred forty years down the trail, we can comfortably look back and say, “they did the right thing when the country came to the crossroads”.

Once again, my fellow Americans, we find ourselves at the same kind of crossroads. 1864 was not the last time we came up to this kind of fork in the road. It happened in 1916 and in 1944. Maybe one day, I’ll settle you all down in front of my fireplace and tell you all about them and how, when the chips were down, most Americans proved to be honest, thoughtful people who understood the enormity of the decision they were facing at their crossroads. Now, we find ourselves at another crossroads. The only difference is it is our crossroads this time. We do not have the advantage of being able to look back on 2004 from a hundred forty years in the future. We can only make the best decision for ourselves and our children that we can with our God-given sense of right and wrong and more than a little common sense.

It’s your decision .. and mine. You already know who I plan to vote for. I have an obligation to my children, their children, your children .... and all our grandchildren. We absolutely must get this one right, my friends. There is too much at stake here .... not least of which is what some citizen writing in 2144 will have to say about the world we left him. He may be at the next crossroads and need some help deciding. Shouldn’t we try to give him an example of patriotic, honorable men and women who had the intelligence to just do the right thing at the right time for all the right reasons?

For the record, in the 1864 election Lincoln won in a landslide by a 212-21 margin in the Electoral College. McClellan carried only Kentucky, Delaware and New Jersey. Within six months after the election, the Civil War was over, the slaves had been freed .... and the healing began.

Carry these thoughts to bed with you tonight and as you go to the polls tomorrow. The decision is up to you. Which path is the correct path .... here at the crossroads?

Posted by The Skipper     on 11/01/2004 at 05:29 PM   
Filed Under: • Patriotism •  
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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