Cowardice is being afraid and running from what you fear - or perhaps ignoring what you fear and hoping it will go away. Cowardice can be manifested in many ways. Dr. Sanity has some great information on that topic - so go there if you want to explore that more thoroughly. Cowards look at the short term. Perhaps by ignoring or running from the threat, they can buy a little time. In the interim, though, whoever or whatever is threatening them gets stronger and bolder. The next time they threaten, they are more capable of victory and can do more damage. Cowardice is generally a short-term response that only serves to make the situation worse. The aggressor becomes stronger. The coward becomes weaker.
On the other hand, bravery is acknowledging the fear, and then moving ahead to face and deal with the fear. It is looking at the long term and knowing that enemies don't just give up because you don't want to fight them. You may not WANT to fight, but because your enemy is determined to fight you, you must fight. Not fighting means giving up your freedoms. You don't back down, make concessions or apologize for your freedoms.
An analogy - It's a little long - so bear with me:
In a school playground a bully goes up to another child (let's call him Sam) and takes Sam's lunch money. Sam sulks but figures the bully got what he wanted, and that's the end of it. However, the next day the bully does it again. This time he's bolder because now he knows he can get away with it. So this time he not only takes Sam's
lunch money, he also grabs the Twinkie Sam had for a snack. Sam is upset. He cries, talks it over with a friend who tells him that if Sam is nice to the bully, then the bully will be nice to him. The next day Sam holds out a Twinkie when he sees the bully headed his way. "Here," he says, "I brought one for you." The bully laughs,
grabs the Twinkie and then also grabs the lunch money and the Twinkie Sam had for himself. Another friend tells Sam that he has to fight the bully. So the next time Sam swings at the bully and catches him by surprise and gives him a bloody nose. After that first swing, though, the bully is ready, and he blocks swing after swing. Sam's friends tell him it's no use - the bully is blocking his swings. Soon Sam
gives up. The bully laughs again, takes the lunch money and Twinkies, along with Sam's juice box. Then, for good measure, he gives Sam a bloody nose. Some of Sam's friends tell him to fight, and one of him teaches him how to fight well. Another of those friends tells the bully ahead of time exactly when and how Sam is planning to fight him. After all, it's a free country and the bully should know what he's up against. Other friends tell him that he needs to give up and give the bully what he wants. Other friends tell Sam that the whole situation is HIS fault for not being nicer to the bully to begin with. Soon the friends are arguing among themselves about what Sam should do. Sam is left to handle the bully by himself.
From then on, each time Sam tries to appease the bully or win the bully over with kindsness, the bully just gets greedier and bolder. The only thing that will stop the bully is for Sam to be stronger and for the bully to know unequivocably that Sam WILL NOT let the bully continue bullying. Sam can't give in - even a little bit. There are no gray areas - no exceptions. It IS a black and white issue. NO bullying will be tolerated. No appeasement whatsoever will be made. It will take a fight and a show of strength on Sam's part for the bully to get the message. Sam will most likely need his friends to help him.
The point of the analogy is obvious. The Muslim terrorist bullies have bombed the World Trade Center, the U.S.S. Cole, and finally they were emboldened enough for 9/11. Since 9/11, they've terrorized the people of the world with car bombs, suicide bombers, beheadings and other attacks. The bullies are getting bolder and stronger. They even produce videotapes bragging about their plans to cause even further damage to our country. They videotape beheadings and captured civilians begging for their lives. They openly swear that their plans include killing as many of us as possible. And rather than all Americans standing up and saying "We will not be bullied!" and supporting our country and our servicemen who are fighting the bullies, we have Americans who are telling us it's OUR fault the terrorists are killing people, it's OUR fault that we haven't appeased them enough. The poor terrorists have a bad home life. It's society's fault they must turn to bullying to get what they want.
The next part of this post has to do with honor. I grew up in the South - one of seven children of a Methodist minister. We children had our squabbles, but one of the basic principles of integrity and honor that we learned early in life is that you respect and support your family. If you disagree, you do it in private. You don't go outside the family and disrespect a family member to others. A brother and sister may bicker and fight at home, but when they're elsewhere, they stick up for each other. The same principle holds true for organizations you belong to or for your political leaders. You support your elected officials and your country. If you don't agree with your mayor, governor, senator, representative or president, then you go through the appropriate channels to get someone elected that you DO agree with. If you vote to support something, then you continue to support it until the mission is accomplished. To the world you present a united front. You stick up for each other.
Islamic terrorists have declared war on the United States, Great Britain, Denmark and other countries that prize freedom. We have freedoms that the Islamic terrorists don't have, and for that they hate us and want to deny us those freedoms. In fact they're working to take away those freedoms. We MUST be united in our fight against them, and we MUST fight them. They aren't going to stop going after us if we pack up our soldiers and go home. They will just be bolder and stronger and more determined because we've shown our weaknesses through our bickering, leaking of information, and public disrespect for each other.
Elected officials have responsibilities, too. They are leaders and they set examples. When these leaders stand in public and disrespect the nation's president and the course of action that they themselves voted for, they undermine the whole country - not just the president. When they use the honor of speaking at a funeral to get in some political digs, they demean themselves. While there a few people who agree with what former President Carter did at Coretta Scott King's funeral, most Americans see it for what it is. Carter dishonored himself in that moment and demonstrated his stupidity. When people justify their words and actions by saying it's their DUTY to protest, they are showing a pettiness that is mind-boggling. They are putting their own political agenda ahead of the welfare of the nation.
There have been Democrats who have accused Republicans of acting out of fear. It seems clear to me that the ones who are fearful are the Democrats. So fearful that when it comes to dealing with Muslim terrorists, they're covering their ears, eyes and mouths - hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil - and believing if they do that, then there won't be any evil.
Meanwhile the Muslim terrorists are continuing their killings, bombings, beheadings, and and other terrorist activities - ever mindful that this open and hostile dissent from within is weakening their enemy. From my viewpoint, the terrorists' best friends are many Democrats, the ACLU, the MSM, along with such malcontents as Michael Moore, Cindy Sheehan, and Jimmy Carter.
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