How We Fight: Engage

Or… not. A big part of the trick is to determine who is, and is not, The Enemy.

Warning… this is not going to be an altogether serious essay, and it’s pretty much off the cuff. It is Sunday after all. And I’m in a quotey mood.

Ministry o’ Truth recently posted a good essay titled Why I Fight. Many in the leftosphere discuss all this stuff daily. Why. Who. What. Where. And quite often, there is at least an undercurrent of How. As if there’s only One Way.

Sigh.

The only rules that really matter are these: what a man can do and what a man can’t do. For instance, you can accept that your father was a pirate and a good man or you can’t. But pirate is in your blood, boy, so you’ll have to square with that some day. And me, for example, I can let you drown, but I can’t bring this ship into Tortuga all by me onesies, savvy? So, can you sail under the command of a pirate, or can you not? ~CJS

So… for those of you on GOS Watch, you might be interested to know (although I admit  I’m reluctant to mention this here, but oh what the heck)…

Note: I’m not posting this here for debate on the Where or Why, thats a personal choice. Just a heads up in the event IF these venues happen to be on Your List. Meh, okay, its more than a heads up… it’s also, mmmm, a plea to any who do go there, that you try to be civil and keep your head in the game! lol

Coming up on Sunday DKos: Meteor Blades will discuss why progressive activism, both the idealistic and pragmatic kind, is essential for transformative change and always has been.

Wizard: “Hearts will never be practical, until they are made unbreakable.  Wizard of Oz, 1939

“The universe is a machine where you have been placed, and like a machine the outcome can be known. Every battle has already been won or lost. All that is left is for you to choose your side.”

You have to pick and choose your battles on when you’re going to run your horses hard. We have to abuse some of our better guys in the big meets. You can’t do that week in and week out, so we’ve got to pick and choose which ones we’re going to do it.” John Miner

If you must fight, pick only worthy adversaries.”  C. W. Barron

Ill go look for some more.

Crap. I could quote POTC all day…lol.

Jack Sparrow: [after Will draws his sword] Put it away, son. It’s not worth you getting beat again.

Will Turner: You didn’t beat me. You ignored the rules of engagement. In a fair fight, I’d kill you.

Jack Sparrow: That’s not much incentive for me to fight fair, then, is it?

Okay here’s from a movie I have yet to see, Fight Club:

Tyler Durden: It’s only after we’ve lost everything that we’re free to do anything.

and

Narrator: I got in everyone’s hostile little face. Yes, these are bruises from fighting. Yes, I’m comfortable with that. I am enlightened.

This is a good one, from the author who wrote Fight Club:

“We all die. The goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.” Chuck Palahniuk

Alright, Im just having fun now. Silly me. Whatever you do, do NOT borrow from here. Here’s a juicy example:

God damn your god damned old hellfired god damned soul to hell god damn you and god damn your god damned family’s god damned hellfired god damned soul to hell and good damnation god damn them and god damn your god damned friends to hell.

Peter Muggins, American citizen, letter to President Abraham Lincoln (1809-65)

or the Captain (unless you’re talkin about Cheney):

Jack Sparrow: Send this pestilent, traitorous, cow-hearted, yeasty codpiece to the brig.

x

Meanwhile, if you prefer to just be a spectator you can just wait til Monday. For any of you who are fans of Jon Walker at FDL, they’ve announced a Monday Showdown (live) debate between him and Nate Silver. That should be interesting. On the topic of Health Care Reform of course.

x

Well. So much for me trying to have a serious exploration of this matter. Oh well. Sorry bout that. Dang it’s noon already. OKay here’s a final little tidbit from the Khmer:

Do not lie waiting for death or sit waiting to become rich; embarrassment of stupidity will bring knowledge, embarrassment of poverty will bring riches; knowing yourself as ignorant will make you wise; do not act as if dead before you have lived, live your life then die; associate with the learned, do not imitate those who are ignorant/evil.

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The last word in this proverb (“peal”) means ignorant, immature, as well as evil. The word likely has a triple meaning because the Khmer associate ignorance and immaturity with inappropriate/evil conduct.

Or… as buhdy said himself, the other day…

So what is to be done?

After months of studying the phenomenon I have reached the only possible conclusion. The only thing that can be done is to ignore the worst of these folks. You simply cannot honestly debate them. They cannot be convinced because they are possessed of unchallengeable and unassailable “higher facts.”

It is a waste of time and energy, and only pointless conflict can come of it.

But it takes discipline to ignore them, discipline to not jump in and destroy their assumptions and illusions masquerading as facts, reason, and argument.

It takes the kind of discipline that the Left must develop to overcome the “reality” that they, like Bushco and Fox, wish to create.

It takes the kind of discipline, both individual and collective, that will be necessary to move the conversation and the country back to REAL reality, instead of created reality.

And we all know that REAL reality has a well known Liberal Bias.

Fin. I changed my gos sig to:

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever does.” ~Margaret Mead