Contributed by: filbert Friday, August 07 2009 @ 11:37 AM CST
He blogs at the Belmont Club[*1] , and lived (and fought) in the Philippines during the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship, has words of counsel and wisdom as we enter what I’m very afraid will be dark days for this Republic:
They are calculating past Obama to what happens when the bloom is off the rose; they don’t love him. They are using him. It’s a mistake to believe that the only opportunities which existed occurred around November 2008. No. That was the smaller opportunity. There’s another round of opportunity that may take place around 2010.
This is at the root of my unease about an uncritical “bring it on” mentality. The Constitution is there, the frameworks are there to keep the really nasty opportunists at bay. In the heat of argument it’s tempting to forget that. In the days ahead strengthening the foundations will play as much a role as shaking them. The really dangerous guys know that a crisis will also sweep away restraint. That must always be borne in mind or they will make an appearance. Keeping things together and successfully navigating a crisis means knowing which restraints must never be allowed to weaken as much as knowing which must be challenged. “Revolution” is a game that opportunists play; it can mean simply smashing things. “Some men just want to watch the world burn.” Any parasite can do that. But restoring democracy, or getting it to function is much harder task. It’s like surgery. You want the patient to live, because you are the patient, whether you realize it or not.
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