"We were soldiers once, and young."

This is a quote from Lee Rodgers' blog. He is a Conservative, former, long-time talk show host in San Francisco. Yes, they do exist! (His replacement is execrable, unfortunately. But we are grateful for having had Lee as long as we did. Sigh.)

His blog is here. I quote this in its entirety, because it is not a separate post, and therefore, I cannot link directly to this bit.

My friend Sheila, who knows the world, forwards the prescient words of the great man of the 20th Century, Winston Churchill, who saw the Islamic movement for what it was -- 112 years ago.
     "How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy. The effects are apparent in many countries, improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
    "A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement, the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
     "Individual Muslims may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
     "No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome."

Sir Winston Churchill; (Source: The River War, first edition, Vol. II, pages 248-50 London) - 1899 Unabridged, Two-Volume Edition

How is it our "leaders" and all those smarty-pants in government and academia can't see these obvious facts of history? It has played out exactly on these terms for close to a thousand years. You'd think someone might notice.

I guess it's up to us, eh? Just like every other Goddamned thing.

The Gunslinger