When the "Best and Brightest" are neither

It is widely known that college campuses' and the surrounding towns are breeding grounds for future Left Wing activists. That has come to be a fact of life in America of of the 21st century.

These incubators of liberal politics have created an atmosphere where arrogance, self righteousness, and intolerance are part of the DNA of the residents. No place in America embraces the "progressive" world view so passionately as universities have.Ann Arbor, Michigan--my hometown--is notorious for being a particular fecund area for radical left wing politics.

Since I have grown up around such people I have come to really loath such people. It isn't so much their politics--I straddle the line between Left and Right ideologically--but the infuriating display of the aforementioned traits.

I came across an excellent example of this while reading about World War II Ace Gregory "Pappy" Boyington--whose exploits would inspire the television show Black Sheep Squadron as well as a host of books--on Wikipedia.(http://http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pappy_Boyington)

One quote got to me: "she didn't believe a member of the Marine Corps was an example of the sort of person UW wanted to produce." Yeah, who would want to produce people who were willing to sacrifice their own lives in order for others to remain safe?

Frankly, she is the type person no nation or university would want to produce. Arrogant, simple minded, naive...I could go on, but it would be a waste of words to point out this person's flaws.

What she represents is the typical leftist who imbides the sayings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr and applies it to the world at large. While I have much sympathy for those men,it is due to the exertions of men like Boyington that "peaceniks" can speak their mind so freely.

Could have either Gandhi or the dear Reverend been able to speak their mind in Nazi Germany?Judging by what happened to the Scholls, I don't think so.

How about the Soviet Union? China? Cuba? Perhaps we will see change in Iran because of the protests, but if history is any guide change will have depend on how infected the Iranian government is by malaise and incompetence moreso than the "moral power" of the masses.

Mass protests, sit ins, and non-violence work only in societies that are governed by laws that are strongly backed by force who willing submit to the law of the land themselves.The Marines and the armed forces as a whole are the guarantee of each American's right to speak their mind. A lawyer or activist group is helpless against armed persons who come with bad intentions.

For proof of the futility of groups like Amnesty International, one only need to see Rwanda. They spent much time broadcasting to the world of the terrible massaces of the Tutis' by the Hutus, that resulted in the accomplishment of nothing save the deaths of 800,000 persons. One could also point to the ongoing conflict in the Sudan and the Congo for more proof of the ineffectiveness of law and activist groups versus armed persons who are determined to fulfill their malicious goals.

War is an absolute waste of man, machine, and genius. It is destroys the bodies and souls of men, and desolates the land that they live upon. It strangles innocence and smothers love while fanning the flames of hatred.In short, it represents the worst of man's nature.

But that doesn't mean one should never pick up the sword when we are presented with a challenge to our lives. There is no spiritual gain by refusing to defend oneself or other's from people who intend to do harm. If someone kills you and/or your loved one what have you gained? Moral superiority over your assailant? Who cares? Your dead and the perpetrator is still free to kill others.

As awful as war is, there are worse things. Mindless pacificism is one of those. It is one thing to refuse to fight in a war that is not directly tied to the defense of the nation(Vietnam, both Iraq Wars). But it is altogether different when we are talking about the defense of the country.Pappy Boyington and others of his generation were willing to lay down their lives so young people like the girl at the University of Washington could have the chance to go to college.

An excellent and pithy summation of the reason for the exertions of men like Boyington and John Basilone can be found in an epitaph engraved in a memorial in British 2nd Division's cemetary in Kohima, India. It reads:

When You Go Home Tell Them Of Us and Say
For Your Tomorrow We Gave Our Today.