'Courage gone,' saith the prophet

(By John Andrews) Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the prophetic voice who helped bring down Soviet communism, gave one of the most important warnings of our time in his address at Harvard, June 1978. It is required reading for anyone who cares about America's backbone. I was reminded of it last weekend on the radio when Dr. Jack Wheeler mentioned a lack of "civilizational confidence" among US elites, and when Nathan Chambers quoted Solzhenitsyn's "decline in courage" passage (part of the Harvard address) before a Tom Tancredo campaign speech in Aurora. With my urging that you read the address in full, here is that passage:

The decline in courage may be the most striking feature which an outside observer notices in the West in our days. The Western world has lost its civil courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, each government, each political party and of course in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the intellectual elite, causing an impression of loss of courage by the entire society.

Of course there are many courageous individuals but they have no determining influence on public life. Political and intellectual bureaucrats show depression, passivity and perplexity in their actions and in their statements and even more so in theoretical reflections to explain how realistic, reasonable as well as intellectually and even morally warranted it is to base state policies on weakness and cowardice.

And decline in courage is ironically emphasized by occasional explosions of anger and inflexibility on the part of the same bureaucrats when dealing with weak governments and weak countries, not supported by anyone, or with currents which cannot offer any resistance. But they get tongue-tied and paralyzed when they deal with powerful governments and threatening forces, with aggressors and international terrorists.

Should one point out that from ancient times decline in courage has been considered the beginning of the end?

So ends the excerpt from Alexander Solzhenitsyn's Harvard address, June 1978. Click here to read the address in full.

Would Tancredo pick McCain for VP?

Memo to Tom: Be a Street Fighter At the May 3 debate, imagine if Tom Tancredo had said: "When I am the Republican nominee for President, I will certainly consider choosing Senator McCain as my Vice President. The kind of running mate I'm looking for is a war hero like John McCain, or a crime-fighter like Rudy Giuliani, or a defender of traditional values like Mitt Romney."

Our Colorado Congressman, bidding for the White House with scant chance of winning but a good chance for leverage over the immigration issue if he stays aggressive, landed a few jabs Thursday but didn't hit his opponents with the kind of body blows it's going to take. Mike Littwin, though distastefully snide as usual, had a point in his May 8 column on this.

My fantasy comeback about McCain for VP was there for the taking after the senator curtly said no to a question about his accepting Tom for VP. The trick is to use any question or topic, no matter what, for a zinger on the immigration issue and America's "mortal danger," as Tancredo's book title has it. Even the organ donor question mentioned by Littwin could be flipped to: "We won't have a country at all to debate such questions unless..."

I urged Tom before his May 5 speech in Denver to load his iPod with "Street Fighting Man" by the Rolling Stones, and make that the campaign theme song from now on. We played some of the song on radio May 6. With apologies to Mick Jagger, here are the adapted lyrics:

Ev'rywhere I hear the sound of marching, charging feet, boy 'Cause summer's here and the time is right for fighting in the street, boy But what can a [border hawk] do Except to [barnstorm Iowa and New Hampshire] 'Cause in sleepy [DC] town There's just no place for a street fighting man No

Hey! Think the time is right for [an immigration] revolution But where I live the game to play is compromise solution Well, then what can a poor boy do Except to [shake up every debate] 'Cause in [sanctuary Denver] town There's no place for a street fighting man No

Hey! Said my name is called disturbance I'll shout and scream, I'll [zing the Prez], I'll rail at all his [allies], Well, what can a poor boy do Except to [gamble for all the marbles] 'Cause in sleepy [amnesty] town There's no place for a street fighting man No

Dems devoid of vision & leadership

By Dave Petteys (dpetteys@comcast.net) Throughout American history, strong leadership has saved the country: Washington at Valley Forge, Lincoln in the dark days of the Civil War. These leaders had a conviction of the right thing to do and stuck to it! But what about present leadership in the Democratic Party?

Representative Pelosi and Senator Reid continually say “The American people have spoken” as their signal to declare defeat in Iraq. They appear to dwell on the short term domestic political aspects, and seem completely unaware of the effect such a step would have on American standing in the world. What would Hugo Chavez, or the leaders of Iran, China, Russia and North Korea think and do if we shamefully abandon Iraq? Would American guarantees to any ally be worth the paper it’s printed on after this?

Evidently, the Democratic Party cannot tell the difference between right and wrong, good or evil: only what’s popular. This is why the Democrats are in such a moral quandary: the vote determines truth! But if you’d voted in the middle ages as to whether the earth was flat or not, what would the vote have been? And if Washington had taken a poll of his miserable troops in Valley Forge, would the American Revolution have succeeded? And do you not get mutually exclusive results relying on a focus group to determine your action? Does not everyone want more government services yet lower taxes? A stronger military but no draft?

The Democratic Party apparently has no vision for America: only polls and focus groups. “And with no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18).

Newt nails it

By Brian Ochsner (baochsner@aol.com) I agree with Newt Gingrich – it’s important for conservatives to stay in the political battle. But to regain the state and national majorities, every conservative Republican candidate, consultant and campaign manager should watch this video on Iraq by the former Speaker and this video with his analysis of GOP lessons to learn.

And more importantly, act to the letter on his advice (especially Newt’s take on negative campaign ads, which matches mine).

These are the most clear, accurate and realistic explanations for the Democratic landslide in 2006, where the Republican Party and America are today, and what lies ahead in the future. Even with all his personal problems and faults, Newt is still arguably the best historian and most far-sighted visionary in the GOP today. Republicans at all levels of campaigns and elected office will ignore Newt’s wisdom at their own peril.

Call to Action: much at stake in final days

Will legislative Dems go along with Gov. Ritter's property tax increase in these final days of the 2007 session? Will the raid on petition rights, HCR-1001, succeed? Will the Governor sign a stack of bills on fringy social issues belying his moderate campaign promises? Your voice could make the difference. Click here for our action links and contact directory -- and please do your part!