"They tell us, sir, that we are weak; unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance by lying supinely on our backs and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot? Sir, we are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. The millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable—and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come."

— Patrick Henry to the Virginia Convention - March 23, 1775

8:14 am  •  4 July 2009

"I hate congress - I hate the army - I hate the world - I hate myself. The whole is a mass of fools and knaves."

— Alexander Hamilton, 1780. While known publicly as a charming and confidant man, Hamilton also carried an awful sense of personal inadequacy about which he told only his most trusted confidants. As one biographer notes, “However loaded with superabundant talent, Hamilton was a mass of insecurities that he usually kept well hidden. He always had to fight the residual sadness of the driven man, the unspoken melancholy of the prodigy, the wounds left by his accursed boyhood.”

10:37 pm  •  1 July 2009

GPOYW - “Things I Made In Kindergarten” Edition

While digging through a closet today I found a book that I made during my first year of school. Entitled “The World,” it had apparently been my assignment to detail all of the various things I liked about my life. The first few pages consist of a picture of a tornado about to suck in a helpless stick figure (above), two dinosaurs cornering a fleeing individual, and an underwater scene depicting the sinking Titanic breaking apart into two pieces. This may explain the soon-following visit by the school’s child psychologist, who likely concluded that I was not anything but a rather young nerd.

5:22 pm  •  1 July 2009

"[T]here is something about practicing what one preaches, and living it, that makes for serenity. Of course, who knows for sure that what one preaches is right? That is why, in my opinion, only a saint can practice nonviolence in isolation; the rest of us have to do it in gangs."

— William T. Vollmann, Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts On Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means

5:22 pm  •  28 June 2009

"No… scenic helicopter ride companies do not own helicopters like that. That was a Chinook. The military uses them."

—

A disbelieving coworker, to a customer who thought the Army helicopter flying overhead was from a tour company.

At first, as I watched this exchange take place, I laughed silently in mockery of the customer’s mistake. Yet as I thought through the situation longer I realized that the majority of  Americans have no reason to be familiar with the armed forces. The rarity with which the military is present in public life is rather surprising. It seems that the most exposure people have, unless they live near a base or know someone in the military, is seeing a flyover at a sporting event or a veterans’ parade on Memorial Day.  Many, it seems, remain completely unaware. While there are downsides to this, it seems as if it - not having to constantly display your power over your own citizens - is one of the signs of the success of a nation.

1:49 pm  •  26 June 2009

“…The morning after the firefight, the Taliban roadside bomb exploded, killing the 9-year-old girl. After the girl’s father left the base, [Captain Michael] Harrison pulled his cellphone from his sleeve pocket and asked his interpreter to call the sub-governor for southeastern Konar province, an area that includes the girl’s village of Barabat. ‘Tell him I’d like to have a shura tomorrow at 9 a.m. with the Barabat elders to discuss security in the area,’ Harrison instructed. ‘I want him to come.’

The men arrived at the front gate of the American base the next morning for the meeting. The oldest members of the group had wispy white beards and wore elaborate turbans with tails that snaked down their backs. Holding hands with the sub-governor, Harrison led the group to a meeting room that he had built to resemble the ones he had seen in Afghan villages. Pillows lined the wall. The Army captain and his guests sat cross-legged on the floor.

‘All of you please call me Michael,’ he began. ‘I am the commander of this area.’

Harrison told the elders that he didn’t expect them to fight the Taliban. ‘I am just asking you to tell us if you see someone who doesn’t belong in your village,’ he said, passing out a business card with his cellphone number. ‘There is no reason for children to be killed by bombs.’

The Barabat elders seemed reluctant to place their trust in Harrison. A year earlier, a U.S. airstrike had killed three Afghans living about a mile from Barabat. Village residents insisted the people who were killed weren’t involved in the insurgency. Six months ago U.S. soldiers shot a man across the river from Barabat. Neither incident occurred while Harrison was in the province. But they were his problems now.

‘Michael is different from the other Americans. He behaves like an Afghan,’ said Shah Jan, the provincial sub-governor, coming to Harrison’s defense. ‘We are very happy with him.’”

10:18 pm  •  22 June 2009

"Don’t bother. It isn’t important."

—

A friend from my old college, after I said that I would drive to see her once more before she moved out of the country.

One thing I have learned over the past several years is that friendships rarely end loudly or quickly. Rather, they disintegrate slowly - almost unnoticeably - over months or even years. Eventually it becomes clear that what once was is no more.

For the first two years of college I studied at a small Bible college in northeastern Canada. Despite my growing frustration about and anger towards religion while attending, some of my fondest memories involve the people I met there and the various experiences we shared. In fact, when I hear the college mentioned my thoughts immediately turn to laughter and good conversation. Yet as I drove away to return to the United States following the end of my fourth semester, watching a crowd of friends waving goodbye in my rearview mirror, I had a strong feeling that the relationships that had become such a beautiful part of my life would not last.

I left the school because I came the freeing realization that I did not believe nor did I care to believe. Without religion, my life was no longer burdened by the cycle of guilt, anxiety, and brief exhilaration. I became less melancholy, found confidence in my own personality, and - after transferring to a new college - began studying the history that I always loved. What seems like it should have been one of the best times of my life, though, quickly became one of the loneliest.

When many of my friends found out about the atheism I claimed, the dynamics of our relationship changed immediately. We had met at a college intent on educating would-be pastors and suddenly I was one of the ones they were supposed to convert. Personal conversations, already strained by distance, became more difficult. There was little to talk about when they were working diligently at studying the Bible and I - for the first year or so after leaving - was trying to have nothing to do with it whatsoever. We could no longer relate to each other about the most meaningful portions of our lives; there existed respect, but not - as one truly craves - understanding. It was not the fault of anyone; it was just different.

It has been two years since I left and during that time I have been in contact less and less with even those who were the closest of friends while in Canada. Recently I attended the wedding of two of those friends. Before I left for the church I sat wrapping their present and, while signing the accompanying card, I realized that I simply had nothing to say to them. Uncomfortable with and saddened by that sudden truth, I hastily scribbled a “Congratulations” and sealed the card in the envelope. Somehow, quietly and without notice, what was once a strong friendship was more a memory than a reality.

12:08 am  •  20 June 2009

"I will participate in the demonstrations tomorrow.  Maybe they will turn violent.  Maybe I will be one of the people who is going to get killed.  I’m listening to all my favorite music.  I even want to dance to a few songs.  I always wanted to have very narrow eyebrows.  Yes, maybe I will go to the salon before I go tomorrow! There are a few great movie scenes that I also have to see.  I should drop by the library, too.  It’s worth to read the poems of Forough and Shamloo again.  All family pictures have to be reviewed, too.  I have to call my friends as well to say goodbye.  All I have are two bookshelves which I told my family who should receive them.  I’m two units away from getting my bachelors degree but who cares about that.  My mind is very chaotic.  I wrote these random sentences for the next generation so they know we were not just emotional and under peer pressure.  So they know that we did everything we could to create a better future for them.  So they know that our ancestors surrendered to Arabs and Mongols but did not surrender to despotism.  This note is dedicated to tomorrow’s children…"

— An Iranian blogger (via Andrew Sullivan).

10:37 pm  •  19 June 2009

"My ambition is prevalent, so that I contemn the grovelling condition of a clerk or the like, to which my fortune condemns me, and would willingly risk my life, though not my character, to exalt my station… I wish there was a war."

—

Alexander Hamilton, 1769. Though young when this was written, Hamilton’s ambition seems not to have ebbed between that year while still in his birthplace of St. Croix and 1772, when he was sent to New York to be educated. He attended King’s College (now Columbia University) for some time, though was distracted by and soon involved in the beginnings of what would become the American Revolution. In 1775 he joined a volunteer militia comprised of other King’s College students which, following a successful raid on a British post to seize cannon, was incorporated into the Continental Army as an artillery company. Hamilton proved himself to be a brilliant leader, rising to the position of captain of the artillery and eventually a colonel on General Washington’s staff. He remained in the military until 1781.

Following the end of the Revolution, Hamilton was admitted into the New York Bar and began to work in law. He earned a living, in general not involving himself in public affairs. Then, in 1787, he was chosen as New York’s delegate to the Constitutional Convention. A key figure in the drafting of the constitution, he was even more important for his lobbying for its ratification. Most notably, it was Hamilton who was the primary author of the articles which are now collectively known as The Federalist Papers. To this day the essays are often used as the primary source for the interpretation of the constitution.

Perhaps his most important contribution, however, came during the years of 1789 - 1795, while he was serving as Secretary of the Treasury. It was during this time that the economic direction of the United States was set. Hamilton was responsible for the founding of the United States Mint, which was essentially a national bank created for the purpose of instilling unity and greater confidence in the emerging nation. Among many other astounding accomplishments, it was Hamilton who directed the United States towards economic power based on manufacturing and industry rather than agriculture. By the end of his time in office, the United States was both fiscally sound and ready to become a major financial power.

That Hamilton had an enormous influence on the United States, his country not by birth but by choice, is easily seen in the words of his contemporaries. George Washington, in 1798, described Hamilton as follows: “He is enterprising, quick in his perceptions, and his judgement is intuitively great.” Albert Gallatin, while reviewing the work done by Hamilton for newly-elected president Thomas Jefferson, wrote that he had “found the most perfect system ever formed… Hamilton made no blunders, committed no frauds. He did nothing wrong.” Even John Adams, who was not particularly fond of Hamilton, writes of him in a condemning way that nonetheless compliments: “[He was] the most restless, impatient, artful, indefatigable, and unprincipled intriguer in the United States, if not the world.”

Hamilton died in 1804 following a duel with Aaron Burr. Despite this early death, he accomplished in a little over forty years what many people only hope to achieve in a lifetime. From a young age his ambition and desire for lasting influence pushed him onwards, and remained directing forces throughout his life.

5:29 pm  •  17 June 2009

Most people have never questioned the necessity of the United States entering World War II. It is often seen as the “last good war,” and it remains to many a battle of good versus evil. Yet within academia there is a lively debate about the necessity of the United States becoming involved in the conflict. Those who oppose involvement claim that the war was of concern for Europeans only and assert that the United States should have remained neutral. Yet this is not a realistic assessment; entering the war was both a necessary step as well as a likely inevitability as Hitler’s eventual goal to invade the United States.

Upon the outbreak of the war in Europe, most Americans felt that the U.S. should stay out of the war while nonetheless believing that they should support the Allied powers of Britain and France. There were, however, great doubts as to the ability of these two countries to win the battle against Germany. President Roosevelt assumed that the best way for the United States to avoid major involvement in the European struggle – and in doing so stave off the German threat - was to assist in the armament of the Allies. In order to do so Roosevelt fought with Congress over the issue of  isolationism, with the dispute eventually ending with the passage of a revision the Neutrality Acts that allowed for a “cash and carry” weapons agreement with the Allies.

Hitler, meanwhile, was making assessments of the United States and concluding that, due to the country’s mixed race population, it was weak and therefore not a significant threat to German interests. Yet he also had taken steps to prepare for the eventual invasion of the United States, including having work done on an airplane that would have the range to cross the Atlantic. In May of 1940, the war was going well for Germany in Western Europe and Hitler believed dealing with the Soviet Union would not be a difficult task. Therefore, the preparations made for war across the Atlantic and against the United States were legitimate and an actual threat.

Not all went as planned for the Germans, however, as the British chose to fight on despite lacking the assistance of the French. This caused a series of delays and postponements, including of the attack on the East. This also caused a problem in regard to the United States. Hitler felt that an invasion of the Soviet Union would push Japan to attack the United States, an action that would free him to do as he would in Europe without American intervention. Therefore, while the United States was doing all that was necessary to stay out of the war, Hitler was plotting various means to pull the nation into the fight. Due to the delay in the push East, Japan would have to be convinced to attack.

Roosevelt sensed that the time for all-out war was approaching as the “quasi-war”-like conflict that defined American intervention to that point could not last. In 1940, for instance, the president remarked that it was likely that either the Germans or the Japanese would act in a way that would force the United State’s hand. This was exactly the case. As a result of Roosevelt’s theorizing further action was taken in attempt to support the allies from afar, as seen in the Lend-Lease program and the process of America’s own rearmament. All these things were done by the president with the conscious knowledge that such actions could only hold off the enemy for so long and that war was inevitable.

Besides the tactics of providing the Allies military supplies, the United States also tried to reach a peace agreement with the Japanese. While the Japanese ambassador to the United States was genuine in his desire for peace and worked to achieve such an end, the promises made by those higher up within the Japanese government regarding the situation were largely lies. At the same time as they were speaking profusely of their desire for peace, they were in communication with Hitler about possible Asian expansion and war with the United States.

The discussion with the Germans about hostilities with the United States was a long one, as the Japanese wished to act with caution – a fact that did not help the German cause; the Nazi regime desired to attack and destroy its only remaining strong European enemy, Britain, but to do so with the United States still outside of the war was a decidedly bad strategy.  Japanese support was therefore key and their actions could not wait until the anticipated 1946 departure of the United States from the Philippines. Japan’s navy would provide a formidable enough opponent to the United States to provide for Hitler a window of time in which to finish off its European opponents, whereupon he could then deal with the United States.

In June of 1941 the decision was made and Japan determined to make war with the United States. They began by creating an extensive propaganda campaign for the Japanese people to turn the popular opinion toward war. This moves were kept secret from their own diplomats in Washington so that preparations could be made while still under the cover of peace negotiations. In December, the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was the first major move against the United States, and an aid to Hitler with his European war and eventual plan to take the American region.

The result was an eventual assured defeat at the hands of the irate American populace – though that was not then known. War was immediately declared by the United States. Whether or not the Japanese had attacked, however, there was nonetheless a definitive threat to the United States in the form of Hitler’s eventual plan to invade the country — a plan that relied on the first attack by the Japanese on the United States. The problem was not only of concern for Europeans. Entry into the war both inevitable and necessary.

10:04 pm  •  16 June 2009