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“I can no longer remain in today’s Democratic Party that is now under the complete control of an elitist cabal of warmongers driven by cowardly wokeness, who divide us by racializing every issue and stoke anti-white racism. Who actively work to undermine our God-given freedoms that are enshrined in our constitution.” Gabbard, on Twitter, leaving the Democrat Party
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'Surly' originally meant lordly or majestic. Surly is an alteration of sirly, from sir, shortening of sire.
It is famously used in the poem “High Flight” by the fighter pilot John Gillespie Magee.
“Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth”
Magee was born in China to an American father and British mother. He joined Canadian Air Force and was posted in England. Inspiration for this poem came to him in 1941 while flying a Spitfire at 33,000 feet. The poem celebrates the joy of flying. “Surly bonds” can be seen as gravity, “surly” emphasizing its unrelenting nature.
Later that year his Spitfire collided with another plane in mid-air. Both pilots died. Both were 19.
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Magee was born in China to an American father and British mother. He joined Canadian Air Force and was posted in England. Inspiration for this poem came to him in 1941 while flying a Spitfire at 33,000 feet. The poem celebrates the joy of flying. “Surly bonds” can be seen as gravity, “surly” emphasizing its unrelenting nature.
Later that year his Spitfire collided with another plane in mid-air. Both pilots died. Both were 19.
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Was globalism a fad?
We are beyond platitudes. And are probably beyond grand self-sacrificing positions and theories. The free world has got to reboot with an emphasis on safety. Not international brotherhood and safety. Not low CO2 production and safety. Safety. We are too well-armed to go into the next decades fighting with each other for land. Or energy. But, if those adventures occur, the West must be safe.
This requires cynicism when dealing with others. And some assumptions when a nation supports a leader or country which has disdain for the health of the world. We cannot set aside common sense or risk-evaluation to advance the causes of dangerous people, ideas, and states. North Korea deserves no platform. China's main relationship with America is that of a thief. Russia has a strange slav(e)phile philosophy that allows it to roam and eat whatever country is historically tasty. Iran is locked in a murder-suicide pact. No free country should sacrifice itself to some uncertain--or malignant--whole. Joining with a bad apple will not improve it. And good intentions are neither a policy nor infective.
Integrity and safety, these should become the watchwords of the free world. That, and an assumption of evil. Budgets must be managed. The needs of the country should be internalized as much as possible. There should be no energy dependence upon Russia. Or Iran. Or Venezuela. Or the Saudis. And as little dependence on China as possible.
We are beyond platitudes. And are probably beyond grand self-sacrificing positions and theories. The free world has got to reboot with an emphasis on safety. Not international brotherhood and safety. Not low CO2 production and safety. Safety. We are too well-armed to go into the next decades fighting with each other for land. Or energy. But, if those adventures occur, the West must be safe.
This requires cynicism when dealing with others. And some assumptions when a nation supports a leader or country which has disdain for the health of the world. We cannot set aside common sense or risk-evaluation to advance the causes of dangerous people, ideas, and states. North Korea deserves no platform. China's main relationship with America is that of a thief. Russia has a strange slav(e)phile philosophy that allows it to roam and eat whatever country is historically tasty. Iran is locked in a murder-suicide pact. No free country should sacrifice itself to some uncertain--or malignant--whole. Joining with a bad apple will not improve it. And good intentions are neither a policy nor infective.
Integrity and safety, these should become the watchwords of the free world. That, and an assumption of evil. Budgets must be managed. The needs of the country should be internalized as much as possible. There should be no energy dependence upon Russia. Or Iran. Or Venezuela. Or the Saudis. And as little dependence on China as possible.
And the "Yes, but..." argument has got to be returned to the Hope Chest.
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