Maybe That Day Has Come

by

A day may come when the courage of men fails,
when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day.
An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down,
but it is not this day!
This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth,
I bid you stand, Men of the West! Aragorn’s speech, before the Black Gates

It always comes back to Tolkien, doesn’t it? A man who lived through the hell of the WWI trenches, who recalled from first hand a time when you could use the term ‘Great Britain’ without ironical quotes around it, a time when there were very real social issues and pathologies to criticize and to try and deal fairly with but also a time when the common people took enormous pride and confidence in what they were, in their country, in themselves, in their institutions and in turn, the various institutions looked toward the general welfare of the commonality. I like the 19th century for that very reason, both the British and American versions. It’s a kind of mental refuge to me, these days. For all its pathologies and shortcomings citizens of both countries had cultural self-confidence. In the main, a self-confidence based on real accomplishment is a hell of a lot more attractive than a pitiful, helpless and apologetic bleating about ones’ societal and cultural shortcomings.

Really, whom would you look to; someone like Isaac Kingdom Brunel, or Lord Gordon (just to pluck two examples at random) … or a cringing and eternally self-abasing creature like Uriah Heep? Never mind that the first two are real, the third a literary creation; there are plenty of vicious, ostentatiously humble Uriah Heeps now active in political life, and plenty of them a sufficiency of them, actually infiltrated into academia and in the media. They’ve been doing their destructive work for decades, always with the best intentions, and ostentatiously for the good of us all. They preen themselves on this, and make good careers out of it.

Only, somehow and mysteriously, it has had such malign results as the vicious and very well documented murder of a British soldier by Islamic jihadi muppets in front of a large crowd, in the capital city of what was once a proud empire. Wrap your mind about that. A public street adjacent to a military base; they bash him with a car first, and then carve him up with knives, swagger about the street declaiming on their purpose, shouting Islamic slogans … and wait for the armed officers of the law to appear. Who did arrive, twenty minutes later, when the victim had doubtless bled out the news reports have it that his head was cut off, which would certainly remove any urgency in responding with medical aid. Meanwhile the murderers, with bloody hands swagger about, explaining why they did it. Three women come forward to protest this act, and I accept that this took enormous courage on their part given that this horrible event took place out of the clear blue. I also accept that the initial witnesses to this atrocity were shocked, disbelieving … and that any impulse on the part of members of the public to intervene in any meaningfully effective way was likely squelched on the instant of being considered. The duty of any good British citizen these days, or so I have gathered, is to to be passive, and never to resist being robbed, raped or murdered, since such resistance is likely to injure or inconvenience the robber, rapist or murderer. This precept of non-resistance has been enforced over the last few decades by prosecution and convictions obtained against those who actually did resist outrages against their own or others’ property and persons. The end result was what we saw this week in Woolwich; no resistance, no rescue. Thus are a free people reduced to serfitude. Pity, that but I am certain that the ruling classes like it very much that way.

30 thoughts on “Maybe That Day Has Come”

  1. British subjects have been arrested for chasing away hooligans who were throwing stones through windows. Self defense is banned.

  4. You seem to be labouring under the delusion that the “Great” in “Great Britain” is a claim to be a great power. It isn’t. Its historical origin is in the distinction between Grand Bretagne and Bretagne – i.e. it’s to distinguish Britain from Brittany; in Latin, Britannia Major vs Britannia Minor.

  6. England is just part of Great Britain. I was born there and until this day had never considered the possibility that it meant “wonderful”. It is Greater Britain with all the bits included, not just England.

    It does reveal a lot about American insecurity that anyone would conceive that it might be a term of worth evaluation. America is not too sure how ‘great’ it really is these days I guess.

  7. PenGun is always helpful. No doubt he/she/it can explain this.


    Eleven people across UK arrested for making ‘racist or anti-religious’ comments on Facebook and Twitter about British soldier’s death

    The best comment is at the end of the article.

    “Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.”

    You aren’t allowed to defend yourself or to comment on a violent murder.

  10. So beautifully constructed and played are your words.

    And so true.

    The Sun never set upon the British Empire …

    … but was eclipsed and went dark some time back.

    By a black and murderous malignancy called Islam.

  11. They marched on the Black Gates.

    I’m really glad I’m not English now. I admire them, but they’re going to have to remember who they are.

    I’m still proud to be an American. They still get attacked when someone does this…

    We suffer this way because we are weak in will. Stop looking to politicians. For Gods sake they are Grima Wormtongues all.

    If however we continue to let the Left march through our institutions we’ll eventually be as enervated as the British.

    The Left are the worms in our guts. We need to shit them out, or die.

    It’s that simple.

  13. Something that got to me about this as a retired Peace Officer. The first police arrived 4 minutes after the killing. They fell back, calling for armed back up, which arrived about 15 minutes later. Sounds, in British terms [not our terms, but PC British terms] reasonable on first reading. But the Brit police left the three civilian women to deal with the terrorist murderers, alone, while they watched from safety.

    Rules of the game when you pin on the badge, or whatever the Pommy poofters do. It is a lesser version of the check the military writes when they swear the Oath. Your life is on the line to protect the civilians.

    I don’t know what the [series of expletives deleted out of respect for SGT. Mom] they are, but they sure aren’t cops.

    Then there is the matter of them energetically going through all public comments so that they can arrest anyone who points out that the killers were Muslim and openly stated that they did it in the name of Islam. After all, wouldn’t want to offend the next killers by telling the truth.

    Mike K Says:
    May 25th, 2013 at 6:05 pm

    Eleven people across UK arrested for making ‘racist or anti-religious’ comments on Facebook and Twitter about British soldier’s death

    It is noted that eleven people have been arrested so far. From other news reports, it seems that at least one is being held without bail. It seems thoughtcrime is poorly thought of by HMG.

    “If ye love wealth better than liberty,
    the tranquility of servitude
    better than the animating contest of freedom,
    go home from us in peace.
    We ask not your counsels or your arms.
    Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you.
    May your chains set lightly upon you,
    and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”
    —- Samuel Adams

    Subotai Bahadur

  14. It’s a Whiteface Minstrel Show, as the Left is more feared [!!!] than the people.

    This entire “war” has been waged with the primary goal of not offending Progressives.  As if that’s even possible.  Their livelihood is being offended and gaining status by Peacocking Signalling of their great offense and how it makes them Holier than Thou.  THAT’S THEIR LIVELIHOOD.   They’ve got departments in every organization in the West whose existence is justified based on being offended and grieved.    It’s a College Major.  It’s how we got Obama.   It’s the mission statement of MSNBC.  It’s the bread and butter for millions.  It’s Obama’s electorate and more important to him than welfare.  

    Now our problem is that the Amos and Andy’s of the world are more afraid of the professionally grieved than..US.   
    When the Professionally Grieved in the UK for instance are less fearsome to the unfortunate and castrated British Bobby than the English proper – I’m reliably informed the British Bobby these days takes for instance beatings in far better humor than his American counterparts – when and only when the English proper are feared more than the English Left then this bizarre minstrel show in White-face ends.  

    The Left are the worms in our guts, we shit them out or die.

  16. Mom and I talked about what would happen if a Soldier/Airman/Marine were attacked like that here in SA, I don’t think that passersby would leave enough of the attackers for the police to arrest. I reached out to my friends in the UK to make sure that they were okay(they are, one however does live 10 minutes away from Woolwich, but she said the that area is really rough so she and her boys avoid it).

  17. “Eleven people across UK arrested for making ‘racist or anti-religious’ comments on Facebook and Twitter about British soldier’s death

    The best comment is at the end of the article.

    “Sorry we are unable to accept comments for legal reasons.”

    You aren’t allowed to defend yourself or to comment on a violent murder.”

    No problem to explain. As in Canada there are hate speech laws and contravening them is a crime.

    You are certainly allowed to defend yourself, within the law, and any comment that is not hate speech, as defined by the law, is just fine.

    Many of us have different attitudes and mores and do not see the USA as anything to emulate, surprising as that may seem.

  18. “…any comment that is not hate speech, as defined by the law, is just fine.”

    Sometimes, Penn-Gunn (“ohh, look, my words are as powerful as a gun, ohh I’m so smart”), your cravenness leads me to believe that you must really be a right-winger posing as progressive exemplar.

  19. Nazi Germany had laws too. The USA once had laws that allowed slavery and mandated the punishment of individuals who assisted escaped slaves. Calling something a crime doesn’t make it wrong and calling something a law doesn’t make it right. It is sad that Britain, which created the most successful and moral system of laws in the world, now promotes injustice by refusing to enforce its own laws against politically privileged minorities and by imposing unjust new laws on its own subjects, and does all of this for reasons of craven and shortsighted expediency.

  20. It occurs to me while reading America 3.0 that they have turned their back on their Anglo-Saxon heritage. After all Tolkien’s elves and dwarves and wizards were derived from Norse and Anglo-Saxon myths.

    and now there is this whole pagan/druid/wiccan revival.

    It’s ironic and sad that Tolkien, Lewis, et al turned to fantasy to confront challenges while contemporary Britain is turning to it in order to shrink from conflict.

  21. Just for the record, J.R.R. Tolkein did not write those words, as inspiring as they are. They are not in the book, but from the Peter Jackson movie, which did not usually inspire when it deviates from JRRT.

  22. Jezzy – to me that is incredulous what happened in the UK – more accurately the reaction to it. Societal rot, codified. I think the British people are not satisfied with this – we shall see.

  23. “You are certainly allowed to defend yourself, within the law, and any comment that is not hate speech, as defined by the law, is just fine.”

    That does not, however, include any action more violent than calling the police and waiting for them.

    I am pleased that your “attitudes and mores” differ from ours.

    It is more than 50 years since Britain and Canada defended themselves. Too bad they, and you, have lost that tradition.

  24. Yes…in Canada they have a day they strangely celebrate or perhaps commiserate from 1987, when a “youth” entered a college classroom with guns, told the men to leave – and they did – explained that he hated women, then proceeded to shoot the women one by one. The “Men” waited meekly in the Hall and did nothing. NOTHING. they didn’t even run to call the Mounties or get help.

    THEY JUST STOOD THERE. Outside the classroom until the killer was finished.

    That doesn’t happen in America Penny. It’s been shown again and again we’ll do SOMETHING. At least shield the women and kids.

    I don’t know what you are, but you’re not men. Not human. Good thing no matter what happens you certainly won’t make it.

  25. “You are certainly allowed to defend yourself, within the law”

    Technically, this is still true, but only technically.

    A British couple recently prevailed in court over the home invaders whom the husband had shot at with a shotgun as they attempted to rob and assault them – but not before the couple had been arrested and charged with the British equivalent of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/sep/05/couple-shooting-burglary-home-released?newsfeed=true

    Note that the couple was charged *first* before the criminals who attacked them in their home were charged with various felonies.

    So, PenGun is correct that the right of self-defense nominally still exists in Britain, the couple was eventually cleared by a judge with common sense, but you can expect that the Crown’s prosecutors will make it a top priority to drag you through the mill and go the extra mile to find some way to imprison or fine you if you dare exercise your rights and fight back. They have done so many times to crime victims who resisted or even came to the aid of police being overpowered by criminal assailants. If only they had such zeal for prosecuting the habitual criminals for whom the Crown seems to have remarkable solicitude (provided they are not committing “hate crimes”)

    Pretty much the norm that ppl like Michael Bloomberg, Eric Holder, Rahm Emanuel etc. would like to see prevail here.

  26. There was also a case in which a homeowner was prosecuted for chasing teenaged thugs away with a piece of lumber after they had been throwing rocks through the windows of his house.

  27. In England, the State really does has a monopoly on violence. English citizens (who seem to exist solely to give the government someone to bother) are not to physically defend themselves, ever.

  28. 1Kgs.19
    [1] Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
    [2] Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by this time tomorrow.”
    [3] Then he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.
    [4] But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree; and he asked that he might die, saying, “It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am no better than my fathers.”

  30. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not men. Not human. Good thing no matter what happens you certainly won’t make it.”

    You sir are a rich resource. Don’t ever change.

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