Captain's Quarters -

No, there are faceless stick-in-the-muds, the ones who will never make it on the East Hamptons social A-list that are willing to make that long term committment. It is these same people who won the cold war much to the derision of the bi-costal elite.

That should be the Philadelphia Daily News, not the Inquirer.

Bykofsky mistakes the disease for the symptom.

The "lack of unity" arises from the absence of civility.

We no longer simply disagree. Dissenters have to be beaten into submission. Lying to further one's cause is admired. Words like "Nazi" and "torture" have become bludgeons, losing their historical impact in the process. Language is just another weapon...unless, of course, that language has been banned by the "other side".

And I have no idea what we can do about it.

Bykofsky seems to be on the same page, as another guy, who asked his readers for good ideas for AQ attacks on US in his blog (yeasterday's foxnews.com) and gets HUNDREDS of them.
But then, there are always some sick people around.

Jihadi terrorists are somewhat unreliable and I don't think we can count on them to provide us with a proper unifying event. But maybe we can get the Japanese to bomb Pearl Harbor again.

Another 9/11 wouldn't unify Americans for any longer than the first one did, which was about a month or so. After that, Democrats and their allies in the MSM started trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. In Iraq, they've almost managed to do so.

In order for the American people to REALLY unify against our enemies, the way we were unified in World War II, with the unconditional surrender of our enemies the only permissible goal, it will take something two or three orders of magnitude greater than 9/11. If Al Qaeda does something to kill 300,000 or 3,000,000 Americans, then we'll get serious and give them the Hiroshima treatment, and anyone who griped about civil liberties for terrorists would end up decorating a lamp post.

Typical drivel from a Philadelphia lib. He longs for the "unity" of shared sorrow and shared victimhood. This is not new. We've heard liberals pining away since 2003 for the good ol' days of 9/12, when we were unified in our grief and the whole world felt sorry for us.

No thanks, Mr. Bykofsky. I want no part of that sappy "unity" in tears stuff. Unity in commitment, unity in victory, that would work for many of us, but that real unity simply is not in the cards for the USA, what with one of the country's two major parties openly pulling for the nation's defeat on the battlefield.

I should add that I do agree with Mr. Bykofsky and disagree with our host on one important point. America *is* disunified. That understates the case, in fact. America is not, in my view, a functioning political union at this point. Again, with one of only two parties openly pulling for the defeat of the nation's troops in battle, and nominating the original Winter Soldier as its candidate for Commander in Chief, it is apparent that a de facto divorce has occurred. While the two Americas remain partners in a very successful economic endeavor, it is this and only this, not a commitment to political union, that holds the two groups together.

Clyde made the point: another 9/11 is unlikely to unify the U.S., seeing as to how the first one didn't. The problem as I see it isn't lack of resolve or attention; the problem is that there are a significant number of people among our political and social elites who, to put it bluntly, are on the other side. And what Bykofsky fails to appreciate is that, with the context-free criticisms he levied as his obligatory apologia at the beginning of his piece, he is aiding and abetting.

Sadly, I agree that it will take some major attack to wake the people up to what we are facing.

The average 'joe' is very malleable. If we had a press in this country that was pro America we could get people to be enthused about the long fight. Absent a supportive media, though...it will take another hit. Americans as a whole are too distant from the fight...

I remember seeing a picture from a base in Iraq that said something like "We are at war, America is at the mall"....sadly, so true.

I am 100% in agreement with you, Captain. Another 9/11 will not create unity. Rather, we would get more division that would make our current scuffle over the Iraq war look like a lovefest.

On the other hand, I am no fan of "bipartisanship" - at least as it is currently defined by the MSM. "Bipartisanship" in the MSM lexicon almost always involves demands that Republicans agree chapter-and-verse with Democrat positions. And when was the last time you heard the MSM lament the takeover of the Democrat Party by extremist left-wing groups?

For those who dare to dissent from the MSM/Democrat axis the pattern is familiar by now – instead of a debate you get smeared. If you oppose affirmative action you are labeled a racist, if you oppose legalizing illegals you are xenophobic and a nativist, if you support tax cuts and spending restraints you are accused of hating the poor, if you question the shaky science behind global-warming theory you are a “denier” – the list goes on and on. As long as the MSM continues to protect the Democrat Party, we can expect no meaningful dialogue on any important issues.

I am 100% in agreement with you, Captain. Another 9/11 will not create unity. Rather, we would get more division that would make our current scuffle over the Iraq war look like a lovefest.

On the other hand, I am no fan of "bipartisanship" - at least as it is currently defined by the MSM. "Bipartisanship" in the MSM lexicon almost always involves demands that Republicans agree chapter-and-verse with Democrat positions. And when was the last time you heard the MSM lament the takeover of the Democrat Party by extremist left-wing groups?

For those who dare to dissent from the MSM/Democrat axis the pattern is familiar by now – instead of a debate you get smeared. If you oppose affirmative action you are labeled a racist, if you oppose legalizing illegals you are xenophobic and a nativist, if you support tax cuts and spending restraints you are accused of hating the poor, if you question the shaky science behind global-warming theory you are a “denier” – the list goes on and on. As long as the MSM continues to protect the Democrat Party, we can expect no meaningful dialogue on any important issues.

He longs for the "unity" of shared sorrow and shared victimhood.

I think James has nailed it. That is the only kind of national unity that much of the "progressives" can join. The further Left can't even do that, some of them were justifying the terrorist attack before the 9/11 was over.

And then there are the Transnationalists, may of whom no longer identify enough with the US to feel unity under any conditions.

Republicans need visible, tangible enemies against whom they can demonstrate their "toughness." Democrats just can't help believing those enemies are people, too, and should be treated humanely. As a result, war will always be somewhat divisve.

Unfortunately we seem to be stuck in a one-track mindset (you could call it a "lack of imagination") that sees other people as our only threat.

What will ultimately unite the country is an enemy that's invisible, intangible, and inhuman. A sudden, vicious outbreak of avian flu, killing millions and decimating the economy... now, that would bring folks together in a hurry to come up with some defensive strategies.

Our Founding Fathers believed in unity - a unity borne of the community of like-faith - not of denominationalism - but of Christian faith - and the unity borne of the community striving to promote higher virtue - of people striving together for a higher moral accountability towards each other for the good of the individuals, through the best environment they could help eachother provide each family.

Stalin and other enemies of America have long known the greatest weapon against America is to destory THAT kind of unity - and they have done what a false prophet once did to Israel - helped destroy the nation from the inside by introducing an infection from contaminating forces of delinquency and degeneration - an attitude that each person has a moral right to ignore the responsibilities and accountability of their rightful duties towards the community they each depend upon for basic life-giving forces, food, jobs, making a living, education, pool for spouses for family members, who are trustworthy and dependable family members, medical care, and shelter, and an environment of people willing to work together to help eachother fend off the ravages of damaging attacks of natural forces of weather, predatory animals, natural disasters and thieves, etc.

We are being destroyed because about half of us no longer even comprehend the concept of "getting eachothers' backs", for protections - we are so busy ravaging eachother, an enemy doesn't know where to got to get into the fray.

A HOUSE DIVIDED AGAINST ITSELF CANNOT STAND.

In other, slightly less absurd news, Captain's Quarters blames TV for the country's lack of commitment to the Iraq War. Or did I miss the point entirely?

Islamic hordes or dirty tricks or bombs...?

Naw...what is uniting and will unite Americans is our stupid, hatful congressvarmits.

They are doing a bang up job right now and getting better at pissing us off every day.

Of course, Bush jr and his stupid advisors are not doing much better.

No, it won't be an outside force that unites Americans, it will be our own stupid, out of touch government that does the trick.

Papa Ray
West Texas
USA

What can begin to get America together, somewhat, would be for the MSM to begin to treat news in a balanced way. It has taken nearly 60 years for the MSM to be shown and proven as biased left because today we have the Internet and those of us who care about honesty and decency will do our research into the varying opinions, facts and research and make our decisions. Not only the MSM, but also the television and movie people...if you pay close attention, and I do, small bits of anti American or BDS slip into dialogue throughout everything on the airwaves. I just don't know if we have enough time to reverse what's been done quickly enough to avoid another, more horrible event or events.

"we needed to resolve the Iraq standoff, which had tens of thousands of our military pinned down in a failing sanctions regime"

The war in Iraq didn't free up troops. We now have 150,000+ troops pinned downed in Iraq, far more than were tied up enforces the sanction regime. Plus no US troops died enforcing sactions, but now we are losing 2-3 a day occupying Iraq.

Let's paint a big bull's eye on Stu's house and invite Al Q. over... I'm sure that would be a case of NIMBY!!!

Another 9/11 would not unify us, no matter how big the attack was. It would do just the opposite. It would create even more disunity.

We are`nt even united on Afghanistan. According to a CNN poll, a majority of Americans oppose our being there.

http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/index.cfm/fuseaction/viewItem/itemID/14497

Not only is Stu Bykofsky out of touch, he didn't spend much time on his target list. Is this nation really going to get worked up about a tourist trap in South Dakota? Fortunately for Stu the New York Times is compiling a target list for Al Q.