Opus 2018-244: Election 2018: History Lessons

At the end of the Civil War Abraham Lincoln called for reconciliation and forgiveness.  Most people have heard the famous finish to his second inaugural even if they don’t know the source.

“With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in; to bind up the nation’s wounds; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan — to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and a lasting peace, among ourselves, and with all nations.”

He made this statement after references to God, the Bible and our Christian tradition.  They are very noble and correct.

He relaxed, went to the theater and was murdered.

At the end of World War II we began to rebuild Germany and Japan.  In Europe it was called the Marshall Plan.  Japan was put under the control of General Douglas MacArthur who had a very high regard for the future of that country.  Do you get who we are.  We forgave our enemies and helped to rebuild their nations.

Of course we had totally defeated them with a no-holds barred approach to victory.  They were shattered.  We could afford to be magnanimous. 

The results are open to interpretation.  True, we did not have Germany rising again to bring us to World War III.  Japan did away with its military.  We have had peace on those fronts but the direction they are going today makes you wonder if it was the best approach.

With the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court we won a battle in the War for the Heart of America.  For the moment due process, the rule of law and presumption of innocence came out on top.  It ceased being an issue of who he was but instead what he represented.  Let’s take a moment to rejoice, but only a moment.  We need to keep digging the trenches, putting stakes around our castles and combing the countryside for the guerilla resistance.  We need to root out the traitors and by the careful use of law and due process show them what justice means.  They will be back and they are good at hitting us in places that we don’t think a person of integrity would strike.

That is because they are not people of integrity.  Morals for the socialist are whatever brings them victory.  The only high road is the one that destroys the opposition.

We are the opposition.  We have a duty to follow the rule of law and due process.  If you are a Christian or a believing Jew you have a responsibility to be kind to your enemies, but that comes after you win, not before. 

There will be many battles in the coming days to wear us down and get us to compromise.  We need to stay alert and remember to vote on November 6.  I will say vote early.  I would say also vote often but that is one of their techniques.  Our biggest danger is that we give up on how slow freedom works, throw in the towel and become like them.

Then we lose.

homo unius libri