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That's me, a few years ago. It was a memorable visit. One of the high points was seeing for myself our nation's documents at the National Archives and thinking about the forging of our nation, how far we have come, and what it means to be an American. I don't mind admitting it was a moving experience, seeing tangible objects-- mere inches away-- the actual documents outlining our freedoms and responsibilities, drafted and signed by people much wiser than we are.
That's me, a few years ago. It was a memorable visit. One of the high points was seeing for myself our nation's documents at the National Archives and thinking about the forging of our nation, how far we have come, and what it means to be an American. I don't mind admitting it was a moving experience, seeing tangible objects-- mere inches away-- the actual documents outlining our freedoms and responsibilities, drafted and signed by people much wiser than we are.
For most of my life, I assumed that my gratitude, along with thoughtful voting, was enough; I never took my good fortune at living in this great, free country for granted, but I certainly didn't think I would need to defend America to my fellow Americans to the extent it is now necessary.
As I've stated here before, I'm a relative newcomer to this fight, scrambling to fill in my knowledge gaps in these dangerous times, and help spread the word in my own small way.
We have so much to be thankful for, so much to lose.
In keeping with the week's Thanksgiving state of mind, I want to encourage any visitors passing through this blog to stop by the various blogs and sites whose links I've included here.
These, and countless others, are the real heroes of online media and the blogosphere. These are the folks who do the heavy lifting, the Generals in the culture war leading us foot soldiers, the leaders of the frustrated, the insightful commentators, talented satirists, passionate civilians, professional and amateur journalists of high repute, esteemed analysts. There are literally hundreds of amazing conservative blogs out there, everything from back-fence rants to elaborately sophisticated news sites. I had to limit the number of links, but if you want more destinations you can check the blog links on those blogs, and so on, and keep yourself busily reading for days.
Last night, I watched Flight 93, the story of brave citizens who "did something". Thoughtful people can't watch this film without thinking about what it means to step up and do what's necessary in unspeakable situations.
In a sense, the free world is presently being hijacked. Many people-- too many-- are in denial of this.
One thing we can do at the grassroots level is to gently encourage the good people around us to see how bad things really are. This takes some tact; you don't want to sound shrill and scare people away from the message, even though the alarm we feel is all too appropriate. Many people still rely on television and newspaper news coverage for the information shaping their frame of mind. They know bad things are happening without necessarily seeing the implications of the big picture.
I've been encouraging people I know to at least be familiar with Bloomberg, National Review Online, Michelle Malkin, and other online services. If your friends and relatives are skeptical you can start with some of the more well-established sites to ease them in, and go from there. Or perhaps they'd be curious about a specific Thomas Sowell essay, or the viewpoint of someone in the millitary. What's important is to gently open the door and give them a peek.
Thank heaven there are some heavy lifters out there in the online world who are doing what needs to be done. Their strength is inspirational; their insights and information are essential.
Light and Liberty,
brenda
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3 comments:
You're spot on about those sites. There's a helluva lot of misinformation in the blogosphere, so it's important for people to know which well to drink from.
Hi, neighbor. You're right, and I didn't make that point clear in my quick post, but should have-- I've been pleased to find quite a bit of responsible journalism and commentary out there, but its by no means a sure thing. I shudder to think about readers being turned off because they've decided-- based on some random rightblog sampling that proved to be wacky-- that we're all nutjobs with nothing valid to say...and then go back to their New York Times and CNN.
Visited DC as a kid, and drove through a few years ago, but never explored much.
And you're right.. there's a fine line between informing, educating, fighting for our freedoms and turning someone off. Sadly, most liberals are already "turned off"
through their breathtaking ignorance.
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