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Home The Art of Being a Happy Warrior

The Art of Being a Happy Warrior

When we celebrate Thanksgiving in a little over a week, after being thankful for family and friends, for health and comfort, for food and shelter; it may be time to be thankful for the left.

I have seen far too much despair and defeatism, too many comments that suggest there is no hope for America and the only thing left to do is pour a glass of wine and watch the sun go down. I understand the place of despair and pain that such words come from. But they also testify to how sheltered Americans are from the cold winds outside.

Eight years of Obama is bad, no doubt. But try sixty-nine years of Communism on for size. That's what generations of Russians had to live through. Ask some of the conservative activists in Europe who have never had any of the freedoms that we still take for granted whether they've given up hope. Ask people from countries where criticism of Islam can mean a jail sentence and homeschooling is illegal, whether they've given up hope.

There are countless tales of courage over the last century of men and women who did not stop fighting, who did not stop teaching their children so that they would not stop resisting. And those stories have not ended. They are taking place today in Europe. They are taking place in South America. And those people would envy the conditions under which we fight, where we can protest without being shot or sent to prison, where we can at least have a shot at winning elections if we try hard enough. Where we are, compared to 100 percent of the rest of the world, still free.

We face a hard fight, not only for our freedom, but the freedom of the world. The international left has made America its special project. It knows that if it can extinguish the hope of liberty in this land then it will drive the rest of those who hope for freedom across the ocean deeper into despair. And it wants your despair. It wants you to give up so that the rest of the world gives up too and bows under its chains.

And yet this fight is a glorious one. This fight is our birthright. And we should be thankful for the fight.

It would be more pleasant if there were no Obama or Axelord. If Alinsky had never been born and Marx had never been whelped. It would be nice if we lived in a world where red were just a color and the Democratic Party were a rural movement suspicious of the Federal government and dreaming of an agrarian utopia. But then so would never having to work for a living or getting up out of bed.

Life is challenge and we face all kinds of different challenges. We get up early out of bed in the morning and drive to work. We rise in the middle of the night when the baby cries and we go to the hospital when our loved ones need us there. We do dreary things and terrible things that seem so different from the life we imagined as children. And we do them not only because they are duty, but because these challenges make us who we are.

Besides these prosaic challenges, the daily routines and the occasional tragedies, there are uncommon challenges that we face when the foe comes to our gate and demands that we bow and become slaves. This is the challenge that we face as a society, a nation and a people. It calls to more of us and in that it also ennobles us. It makes us a great people and a great nation, rather than only another people who seek to live in comfort with no thought for anything else.

Good emerges in response to evil. We need our enemies to remind us of who we are and what we can do when our backs are against the wall. We need evil to remind us of the good that we are capable of. As a whetstone sharpens a sword, so evil sharpens us into a weapon against it. It makes us morally stronger and teaches us the stark truths that we cannot take refuge from evil; we must confront it.

If there were no left, would there be nearly as much patriotism among true Americans as there is now? And if there were no left, how many of us would really contemplate the core principles of freedom and free enterprise? If there were no left, how many of us would ponder what we truly believe and what compromises we are willing and unwilling to make? If there were no left, would we be the same people that we are today?

For those of us who believe in the Bible, the Lord created both darkness and light. And if it were not for the darkness, would the light be nearly as precious to us? Imagine a world without sunrise or sunset, where the sight of rays of light clearing away the darkness would have no meaning? And then remember that things are treasured to the extent that they can be taken away from us.

Would we value freedom as much if we did not have to defend it? Would we hold it as dear if we did not fear that it would be taken away? Would we even be aware of what freedom is and what a free people must be if not for the dark hand of those who wish to strip us of those freedoms?

It is the left's opposition that has added urgency to a hundred issues, from the national debt to the War on Terror to freedom of speech and of religion. It has made us think about those issues, to take them out of the back of our minds and hold them up to the light as a reminder of how important they are and what must be done about them.

The left's corruptions remind us of the need for purification. As it gathers the worst of all around it, we find ourselves called to be better than we are. As the left works to doom our country, and as we suffer defeat after defeat, these defeats only serve to remind us that we must be better, that we must do more, learn more and become more in order to save our country.

War is the great teacher and this is a political war, short on bodies and heavy on minds, it is a war in which casualties are not taken in the chest or the arm, but in the mind, in reason and emotion, and against these weaknesses, we can and will prevail.

As we fight the left, we become stronger, more dedicated and more purposeful. We become the men and women that we were meant to be.

As you sit around your tables, thinking of all that you have gained and lost this year, remember and be thankful for the left, for though the winter ice gives way to the summer sun and bitter defeat gives way to sweet victory, it is defeat and hardship that teaches better than comfort and ease. We can learn more from our defeats than we ever could from our victories. Our defeats teach us endurance and fortitude, they teach us that defeat can be borne and that its sting can be turned into the weapon that unseats the foe. And our foes make us who we are.

Their evil teaches us to find the good within ourselves. Their strength teaches us to find our own strength. And their plots against what we have teach us how many treasures we have, not least of these being the full value of our freedom and our happiness that they wish to take from us. Their war on America is teaching us to be better Americans.

It may not feel that way right now, but we are privileged to have this opportunity and this fight. 

We should be thankful for the left, its assaults on us are teaching us how to fight and its plots against our freedom are teaching us how to be free.

Comments

  1. Anonymous15/11/12

    Well said.

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  2. It is nice that you believe in America so religiously. At the same time, as a Jew who came to Israel from America, it is a bit sad to see how thoroughly you have 'crossed the waters.' It is also a sign of how subjective most perceptions are - in your writings about Israel, you seem to write the country off based on the Left's degree of control (which is excessive, to be sure). With regard to the US, the same phenomenon does not have the same effect on your soul.

    There are many things to admire about the US, and a lot of things I miss. But, in the end, 'reality' often comes down to what makes us feel warm and homey.

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  3. So many good points here. Thank you.

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  4. Yes, well said and all true. The positive is more productive than the negative. But for the grounded citizen to explore and discover the positive within this environment, the Republican Party and Conservative Inc. must first be seen negatively.It is a holding tank for the runoff of toxic leftist waste. We thank them for their service, but the tank is full.

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  5. Daniel,

    You have greatly boosted my morale. I am now ready to wade back into the fight for our country. Things looked grim to me after the election, but you're right, we need to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and get back into the fray. They've won a battle, they have most assuredly NOT won the war. Thanks!

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  6. Anonymous15/11/12

    Thank you for this - it is sorely needed to boost our spirits!!!!

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  7. VA_Rancher15/11/12

    Dan,

    While I basically agree with you, I MUST admit that part of me does not want "Happy Warriors" I want highly skilled and P!SSED OFF Special Operators to roll in and...

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  8. Earlybird15/11/12

    Inspirational. Thank you Daniel.
    -
    He with faith who fights is doubly armed. ~Earl

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  9. Anonymous15/11/12

    Well, it's certainly working for you, Daniel. You've been on a serious roll ever since 11/7.

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  10. Anonymous15/11/12

    Thank you! Great stuff, needed these words to get back in the game. Time to Cowboy the (blank) up!

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  11. You keep posting like this and I promise never to give up. I must repost this with all due credit to you.

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  12. Steve D15/11/12

    'But try sixty-nine years of Communism on for size.'

    But they had America as a shining beacon. What do we have?

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  13. Shruly Keller15/11/12

    Steve D. What do we have?
    Some of us look forward to the kingdom G-d himself will establish on earth.

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  14. Jewish supporter15/11/12

    Daniel

    We need to replicate their propaganda system. It's not that difficult, but you need dedicated feet on the ground: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2233709/Sir-David-Bell-public-s-right-know.html

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  15. Jewish supporter16/11/12

    And this: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2233716/Dark-arts-links-Masters-Spin-.html. Look at the interlocking organisations. And note the quote regarding how to sideline opposition to their "cause".

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  16. Excellent piece as usual, Daniel. But for me, if one is to fight at all then it should be with the values and principles of the enemy, with sleeves rolled up and talons drawn.

    Never mind the moral high ground. There is nothing moral about sacrificing the freedoms of future generations piecemeal, and in the case of Islam garnished with random batches of lives, whilst mitigating our cowardice with the resolve to cling to the moral high ground.

    To paraphrase Churchill on Chamberlane, he had the choice of war or dishonour, and chose dishonour, and got war.

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  17. thatsitivehadenough16/11/12

    David, this was just what the doctor ordered for me. I've been feeling defeated and lost, and nearly hopeless. But your words shined the light on something greater than my own misery. And I see the light of a candle in the darkness.

    Thank you, again!

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  18. There is a difference of retreating from a battle and withdraawing from the war. I still maintain Republicans should retreat for the time being and let America see first hand the destruction of Liberalism. Rather than sticking around and suppling the Progressives with a willing scapegoat. As long as the current Republicans fight to keep the Constitution completely intact, we can reverse anything that happens in the next 4 years, and after the vast majority of Americans see what the Progressives have been striving to Progress towards first hand, we will end up with a large volume of David Horowitzs (former Liberals who recieved a wake up call).

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  19. In this case the end result will be the same.

    And if there is no one out there representing an alternative, then there will be no place for anyone who wakes up to go.

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  20. This was beautiful, Daniel:) Thank you

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  21. It's interesting--one of the chief reasons I vowed to myself that I would not vote for Obama was his indifference to the sufferings and protests of the Iranian students. Students/young people angry over a rigged election. Not that it's what they were fighting for but the rigged election was what got them to the streets.

    The same with the protests in Russia. Right now Russians are protesting under crimson banners, black and yellow banners and even red/white/blue ones. Who can say what the final banner will be? For now, they simply want Putin out. It's a place to start.

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  22. Anonymous16/11/12

    I came to the (ink)well
    for a replenishing drink
    I read about finding good and
    it gave me pause, made me think
    I remember the great men pictured here
    and realize their link
    to us who live on after them
    remains in the Happy Warriors fight

    ~ arasina ~

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  23. Anonymous16/11/12

    inspiring.
    inspiring.
    inspiring.

    Encouragement when we need it most.
    thank you.

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  24. Daniel, I needed to read your post and I have also struggled with this bleakness and decided to fight these bastards. I must tell you that the outlook is grim. Russians went through over 70 years of this hell and when they came out, they went into another hell. They did have USA to look towards, and as you said so do we. Most young Russian women viewed prostitution as a reasonable lifestyle in 1990's. I don't know if you have children or nieces, but this is frightening. These bastards want to create a state of slaves. Do achieve their goals, they need a helpless, immoral, and thoughtless population. It exists. I don't want to drown along with them.

    I will continue to fight.

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  25. I am grateful for your message, it's much needed now. Thank you for the great gift of "perspective." Not being a Jew, I am confused by the message that Larrhal posted here. I can't explain it correctly because I don't understand it, but it feels unsettling and somehow demeaning. It's as if he finds it disgusting that you value freedom in the context of our constitution and declaration...wish I could explain why I find it upsets me so much.

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  26. Now it Gets Ugly
    http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/51130 Great article by Erik Rush

    ==================================================================
    The last 24-48 hours I have been reflective on reconciling four to five years of a fictitious undocumented Obama.
    Our runaway explosion in government that has become lying, murderous, and full blown outright tyranny.
    An election that I have personally invested 70 to 80 hours posting into spreadsheets ballets counted, uncounted, official, unofficial, recorded, unrecorded, lost, found from counties and states that are adjusted or updated on a daily bases from many different sources. Just to discover like Obama facts and truth are under-seal and just not available.
    With over 70,000 reports of voter fraud in the first 8 hours my hope was Romney would step up in the next few days or week and protest the theft of an election from over 330 millions Americans.
    Each and everyone one of us has criminally and fraudulently been violated and disenfranchised of our rights under the constitutional republic which we live.
    Again like many times in the past few years hopes vanish into disappointment as Romney did not speaks out in protest on massive fraud, and how he personally is going to oppose this injustice perpetrated on the American people. Instead he spoke of reasons why he lost. I am not going to judge but just maybe this criminal cartel that has usurped our government has threatened his beautiful family his greatest strength and possibly his biggest weakness.
    Through the fog of Benghazi, Petraeus, Syria, Israel, Iran, Egypt, Hummas, Kadaffi, Mubarak, Saddam Hussein, Arab spring, TSA, CIA, FBI, EPA, IRS, FEMA, FDA, GSA, NSA, EEOC, DEA, DIA, CDC, CBO, ATF, fast and furious, fiscal cliff, trillions, trillions, trillions and yet more trillions only God could make a greater fog,
    Yet my mind and heart think and feel clearly passionately about my true birthright. My father fought in WW2 wounded 3 times yet survived to gift me life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
    With this clarity of mind if It be, I am the last person that understands the concepts and principles of this constitutional republic, then it is with the passion in my heart, I know the truth, and everyone does not.
    As long as I continue to think and feel, I know that there are others like me. We are never alone we
    will never loose the TRUTH.

    No Matter How Ugly, They Make It.
    Sandy

    ReplyDelete

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