Non Desistas, Non Exieris (Alt. title: Death, Dishonor, and Other Political Concepts)

Hitler greeting his child soldiers*

As I read Sarge’s Saturday post, I was struck by a thought brought on by the opening line-  

Unteroffizier Manfred Sauer looked at the new men in his platoon, the average age was seventeen. 

At that point in his story, the war wasn’t quite winding down, but the Germans were losing.  The allies had invaded France and pressing towards the German border.  The enemy had lost enough battles and enough men that they were using 17** year olds to replace the hardened soldiers that had been killed.  17!  Not even high school graduates.  The Germans had to know the war was lost when they turn to the nations boys to finish the fighting.  The Japanese did the same, younger and younger soldiers, fighter pilots, and at the very end of the war in the Pacific- Kamikaze pilots as a last-ditch effort.  There’s no honor in sacrificing their youth or saving face for an Emperor they’ve never even heard speak.*** 

Did they truly think they could win using children, that sacrificing their youth would turn the tide?  They refused to see that the loss was probably inevitable.   If they did know it was over, they still believed that continued fighting was far preferable to the loss of honor in giving up.

 The Germans probably knew the war was lost as early as the end of 1943.  They had shifted from committed loyalty to their Fuhrer, to fear of their government to keep soldiers fighting and the public supporting them.  Then again, the alternative wasn’t all that great.  

More than 20,000 German troops were executed by courts-martial during the war for varieties of defeatism. At home, people faced a similar escalation of terror from the Nazi party and the SS. Retreating into their private and family worlds, they began to focus increasingly on simply staying alive and waiting for the end.  Source

Inevitable defeat, yet they persist.  Where have we seen that before?  Wars we can’t win, or if we could, we don’t have the political will to do so.  How about the entire LCS shipbuilding program?  We heard the phrase “too big to fail” during the sub-prime mortgage crisis when Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley were bailed out by the taxpayer.  Again- a government worried more about some distorted idea of financial honor, over what’s right for the taxpayers on the front lines, never mind the fact that Bear Stearns failed in 2008 despite the infusion of our cash. 

Any other groups facing likely, if not inevitable defeat?  What about Biden and the entire left? Yes, I’m making a bold prediction, but one that really shouldn’t be that far off considering what I’m being offered.  I think the left lost the middle a long time ago, some of the left this past summer, and any Trump naysayers on the right around the same time.  But it’s been happening for years.   This past year is definitely one for the ages, between COVID and race riots, we’re fighting on all sorts of new battleground.  Racial tension isn’t new, but it seems to be being used more as a political cudgel than ever before.  COVID needed to be dealt with, which it was and continues to be, but it also continues to be politicized, sensationalized, and monetized, all of which are being used as additional cudgels against the current administration.

The hypocrisy from the left on various COVID responses is maddening.  The travel ban from Asia was countered as racist, but is now accepted as a vital defense against the virus, and yet they continue to claim Trump did nothing and/or had no national strategy.  The Defense Production Act was enacted to protect health and medical resources to prevent hoarding and price gouging.  It was also used to increase the number of ventilators available to the medical industry, however due to actual numbers being far less than predicted, those were never actually needed.  No national strategy is only an undefined and empty criticism of Trump.  A nationwide one-size fits all shutdown?  No, having the states direct their own response actions based on regional conditions is a far more equitable and fair decision that works.  A mask mandate by executive order might be the only action I’ve heard from the left that could possibly amount to a strategy.  

We see the same hypocrisy with regards to the administration’s position on border security.  Every high powered leftist is on record saying everything from the need for a fence, to upholding the rule of law with regards to immigration, to the unfairness of granting citizenship to those who are here illegally when the line of immigrants working through our system to become so is so long. 

As for the race riots and BLM efforts, those are based on an argument that doesn’t actually pan out.  From fantastic claims that blacks are being hunted on the streets by cops, to the rate at which unarmed blacks are killed in the act of being arrested, the statistics don’t support the narrative.  How about people stop resisting arrest?  That might help.  The left gave up the middle when they refused to acknowledge facts, that violence and destruction are wrong, essentially condoning it.  They lost when they turned a blind eye to rioting, looting, and burning federal buildings.  They lost when they demanded police departments be disbanded and defunded.  They lost when they unbelievably said the protests were peaceful, yet in the same breath, claimed any violence and looting was understandable and even excusable.  So are they peaceful or violent?

The Biden loss I believe is inevitable.  There’s nothing the left is offering other than continued propping up of the racial narrative, identity politics, perpetuating victimization- that you don't have to accept any personal responsibility for your lot in life.  They also only offer a path towards socialism and chaos.  So what is the left doing despite the inevitability of them losing?  I heard it called kitchen sink politics- they’re throwing out everything including the kitchen sink to attempt to stop Trump’s reelection.  Recently this has included unsubstantiated and debunked claims that Trump called vets losers, that he's trying to stop voting by mail by cutting USPS funding, and that he will not accept the results of the election.  Like the Nazis, they are leaning on fear.  Like the Soviets, they are using propaganda and censorship to hide the truth.  This election cycle have you heard a reporter ask any liberal tough questions about the destruction of businesses, about the shooting statistics, or how they can offer a counter to Trump’s economic numbers?  They can't, because there is no opposing viewpoint to the low unemployment (pre-covid) numbers for women and minorities.  So they flip the script, claiming what’s good is actually bad, that what you’re seeing isn't how it really is.  They are using a tactic called gaslighting.  I had heard the term, but didn't quite understand it until I read the following:

“Have you ever asked yourself, ‘am I crazy?’ If you have ever asked yourself that, you’re not crazy. You’re most likely being gaslighted. Gaslighting is a form of psychological abuse aimed at controlling a person by altering reality to the point where the person will doubt their own sanity.

The term “gaslighting” comes from a 1930’s play called Gas Light. The main character in the play literally tries to drive his wife crazy by gradually dimming the gas-powered lights in their home. When she notices the lights dimming, her husband not only denies that the lights are dimming, he convinces her that she is imagining it to the point where she questions her own sanity.

We are living in a perpetual state of gaslighting.

The reality that we are being told by the media is at complete odds with what we are seeing with our own two eyes. And when we question the false reality that we are being presented, or we claim that what we see is that actual reality, we are vilified as racist or bigots or just plain crazy. You’re not racist. You’re not crazy. You’re being gaslighted.

We see mobs of people looting stores, smashing windows, setting cars on fire and burning down buildings, but we are told that these demonstrations are peaceful protests. And when we call this destruction of our cities, riots, we are called racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

We see the major problem destroying many inner-cities is crime; murder, gang violence, drug dealing, drive-by shootings, armed robbery, but we are told that it is not crime, but the police that are the problem in the inner-cities. We are told we must defund the police and remove law enforcement from crime-riddled cities to make them safer. But if we advocate for more policing in cities overrun by crime, we are accused of being white supremacists and racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

The United States of America accepts more immigrants than any other country in the world. The vast majority of the immigrants are “people of color”, and these immigrants are enjoying freedom and economic opportunity not available to them in their country of origin, but we are told that the United States is the most racist and oppressive country on the planet, and if we disagree, we are called racist and xenophobic. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

Capitalist countries are the most prosperous countries in the world. The standard of living is the highest in capitalist countries. We see more poor people move up the economic ladder to the middle and even the wealthy class through their effort and ability in capitalist countries than any other economic system in the world, but we are told capitalism is an oppressive system designed to keep people down. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

Communist countries killed over 100 million people in the 20th century. Communist countries strip their citizens of basic human rights, dictate every aspect of their lives, treat their citizens like slaves, and drive their economies into the ground, but we are told that Communism is the fairest, most equitable, freest and most prosperous economic system in the world. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

The most egregious example of gaslighting is the concept of “white fragility”. You spend your life trying to be a good person, trying to treat people fairly and with respect. You disavow racism and bigotry in all its forms. You judge people solely on the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. You don’t discriminate based on race or ethnicity. But you are told you are a racist, not because of something you did or said, but solely because of the color of your skin. You know instinctively that charging someone with racism because of their skin color is itself racist. You know that you are not racist, so you defend yourself and your character, but you are told that your defense of yourself is proof of your racism. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you’re being gaslighted.

Gaslighting has become one of the most pervasive and destructive tactics in American politics. It is the exact opposite of what our political system was meant to be. It deals in lies and psychological coercion, and not the truth and intellectual discourse. If you ever ask yourself if you’re crazy, you are not. Crazy people aren’t sane enough to ask themselves if they’re crazy.

So, trust yourself, believe what’s in your heart. Trust our eyes over what we are told. Never listen to the people who tell you that you are crazy, because you are not, you’re being gas-lighted.”

They may have lost the middle ground, but there still is a middle ground.  Nothing is perfectly black and white, but there are perfectly valid differing opinions that don’t align consistently to one party or another.  Unfortunately, their hatred of Trump has attempted to force everyone into a either a “deplorable” bin or a “woke liberal” bin.  You don’t have to like Trump to vote for him, and doing so isn’t a vote for accepting his flaws, but the game of politics has been so polarizing, much of the rhetoric coming from the left, that they demand a lock-step viewpoint.  They claim that any positive take on anything from the right is an immediate litmus test failure.  I was told by an old high school friend that I was "too smart" to vote for Trump, and by another- called a traitor to my country for supporting him, and that a condition of my retirement pay should an acceptance of liberal ideals.  I didn’t “unfriend” this supposed friend of mine for the Ad hominem attack, but only because I once read Sun-Tzu and realize the value of knowing my enemy.

 

I don’t know who wrote this but someone finally put into words what many of us have been thinking and I couldn't agree more.

I’m sick of Covid-19.

I’m sick of blacks vs. whites.

I’m sick of Democrats vs. Republicans.

I’m REALLY sick of the media.

I’m really sick of the wearing a mask debate.

I’m sick of no one being allowed to think what they want & feel how they do without offending someone.

I am sick of the people who are out there jumping on the bandwagon just to spread hatred. And start riots, looting & destroying others properties.

I am sick of blaming the world for the sins of a few.

You want to support Trump? You do it! It’s your choice!

You want to support Biden? You do it! It's your choice!

You want to believe in God? You do it! It's your choice.

You want to believe in magical creatures that fly around & sprinkle fairy dust to make life better? Awesome... you do it!!

BUT how about being MATURE enough to be able to deal with the fact that everyone doesn’t have the same exact mind-set as you. Having our own mind-set is what makes us all individuals and beautiful. If you can’t handle that fact....oh well!

I don’t have to agree with everything you believe in & YOU don’t have to agree with me.

It's your choice! It's our own choice!

So be a decent human being.

Have some respect.

You don't have to like it or agree. It's your choice!

*Alternate caption:  DNC greeting Antifa                                                                                                                                      **Even younger boys were used, pulled from the Hitler Youth.                                                                                    **Hirohito only spoke to the common people on the eve of their surrender