THESE are the times that try men's souls

 Those are the word's penned by Thomas Paine December 23, 1776 to introduce the first segment of   The Crisis

December 23, 1776

THESE are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. 

There have been other times to try men's souls during the History of the Republic. I would imagine there were grim faces and choked emotions upon the News of:

 The Burning of the Capital during the War of 1812

The Fall of Fort Sumter which sparked the Civil War

The first casualty reports when our troops entered the fray during World War I

The news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor

The Fall of Bataan

The casualty reports of the Normandy Invasion.

The Winter War of the Battle of the Bulge.

There have been many times to try the souls of men and women since the Dawn of our Republic

But I wish to ask the reader here has there ever been a time when one of our political leaders found they had to walk out of a report to Congress by the Military because they found it upsetting that the news from the front was

                  GOOD??????

The Good News is Bad News
By Cliff May
Thursday, August 2, 2007

Send an email to Cliff May

It’s tough being a member of Congress. Even if you’re in the majority, as is Rep. Nancy Boyda of Kansas, you never know when your ears may be assaulted by outrageous and offensive ideas.

Like what? At a recent hearing of the Armed Services Committee, retired Gen. Jack Keane said “progress is being made” by U.S. military forces in Iraq; “We are on the offensive and we have the momentum,” he added. The freshman congresswoman was so distressed by these remarks that

she got up and she walked out.

 There was “only so much” she could take, she explained, so she “had to leave the room … after so much of the frustration of having to listen to what we listened to.” She said she was worried, too, that General Keane’s remarks “will in fact show up in the media and further divide this country.”

 When you read those words, it is hard to know whether to laugh or cry

.

These are truly times to try our Souls

Trackposted to Outside the Beltway, The Virtuous Republic, The Random Yak, DeMediacratic Nation, Big Dog's Weblog, Shadowscope, The Pet Haven Blog, Webloggin, Stuck On Stupid, Leaning Straight Up, Conservative Cat, Conservative Thoughts, Allie Is Wired, The World According to Carl, Pirate's Cove, Planck's Constant, Wyvern Dreams, and Gone Hollywood, Outside the Beltway, Perri Nelson's Website, Rosemary's Thoughts, Big Dog's Weblog, Right Truth, Leaning Straight Up, The Amboy Times, Pursuing Holiness, third world county, Woman Honor Thyself, Pirate's Cove, Nuke's news and views, CommonSenseAmerica, Dumb Ox Daily News, Right Voices, Church and State, http://morewhat.com/wordpress/?p=2099, 123beta, DeMediacratic Nation, Nanotechnology Today, Adam's Blog, Webloggin, The Bullwinkle Blog, Cao's Blog, , Conservative Cat, Public Domain Clip Art, Conservative Thoughts, Diary of the Mad Pigeon, The World According to Carl, Blue Star Chronicles, Republican National Convention Blog, High Desert Wanderer, and The Yankee Sailor, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.

Technorati Tag: Rep. Nancy Boyda *** Iraq War; 

View blog reactions