war famed for the charge of the light brigade

And the first bona fide requirement was religion.įar be it from me to suggest that religion is unimportant. It has devolved pretty much into a character test. Party affiliation counts for much, of course, even as most voters seem oblivious to the real policies that undergird each party. What is interesting this time around is that there is even less emphasis on hard facts than usual. Few respond as innocently to the convenient promises and easy solutions offered. Other nations may have greater voter turnout than the United States, but few can equal the unbridled enthusiasm that is applied to the process here. Of course, during a presidential election, that is exactly the expectation that seizes the voters and drives public discourse. We are rapidly approaching the moment and place where only a man on a white horse can save us. I hope so, because the pre-election maneuvering and primary hype is surely setting us up for something historic. Perhaps in academia they are discussing the historical analogs to our position. True, there is some debate about the effectiveness of giving a cash payment to taxpayers in order to stimulate the economy, but only the 'unlearned' on talkback radio call-ins wonder aloud how even more public debt can save us. I have read much analysis of the phenomenon, but have never read anyone willing to connect it in any way to lost treasure. The prospect of national financial collapse keeps investors selling and the Fed chairman busy adjusting expectations. Of late, the stock market has trembled and slipped. But few have really paused to adequately contextualize our position. Hundreds of billions of dollars in national treasure and thousands of lives litter the way.to what? Donald Rumsfeld spoke a truism when he opined that the effort would last our lifetimes. Nearly seven years after 9/11, we are still trotting toward the cannon in hopes of defeating terrorism. That too was an ill-defined war, far from home and hearth, on issues that even now bemuse historians. If you've read the famous poem of that event you'll appreciate the brave stupidity of Lord Raglan's order for the brigade to charge several miles up a narrow defile into the mouths of Russian cannons. Sort of like the ill-famed charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War. Time for the cavalry? Since 9/11 it seems we've been living out a darker model of action.

War famed for the charge of the light brigade