God Save the Flag

Washed in the blood of the brave and the blooming, 

Snatched from the altars of insolent foes, 

Burning with star-fires, but never consuming, 

Flash its broad ribbons of lily and rose.

 

Vainly the prophets of Baal would rend it, 

Vainly his worshippers pray for its fall; 

Thousands have died for it, millions defend it, 

Emblem of justice and mercy to all;

 

Justice that reddens the sky with her terrors, 

Mercy that comes with her white-handed train, 

Soothing all passions, redeeming all errors, 

Sheathing the sabre and breaking the chain.

 

Borne on the deluge of all usurpations, 

Drifted our Ark o’er the desolate seas, 

Bearing the rainbow of hope to the nations, 

Torn from the storm-cloud and flung to the breeze!

 

God bless the Flag and its loyal defenders, 

While its broad folds o’er the battle-field wave, 

Till the dim star-wreath rekindle its splendors, 

Washed from its stains in the blood of the brave!

Flash its broad ribbons of lily and rose.



 

—Oliver Wendell Holmes

Status Update

Things have been slow this last week, both on this blog and in the world of American politics. There are two reasons for this.

The first reason is that I moved to Hillsdale College this weekend, and spent most of last week in preparation for that. Things are going well here at Hillsdale, and I am excited to be part of such a unique institution. At the convocation today new students entered into a partnership with the school, that the school was responsible to teach and help us, and that we were responsible to learn and to seek knowledge.

The second reason is that August is also known as a “Dry Month” in political term. In the founding days, Washington D.C. was so unbearable in August that Congress had no choice but to vacate the city, a tradition that has continued to this today. With no Congress in session, and the Presidential campaigns getting rather boring, there simply isn’t much to report. The candidates are getting rather tiring to pretty much everyone by now, including the candidates. As things settle out here, and more begins to happen on the political scene, I will try to post more frequently. Thanks for reading,

Rebirth

My blogging past contains several scattered and ultimately unsuccessful attempts to consistently write about some subject or another. All have failed for a variety of factors, the chief of which is me. But now I am at it again. I have four reasons for starting up again.

1) I have for several years, and still want to, keep a blog. Why? Simply because (a) it makes me think about issues of importance and take the time to express them on paper, (b) because it seems to be the cool thing to do (all my friends are doing it….)

2) While it is “only” July 2007, the 2008 Presidential campaign is already in full swing. Politics is one of my main interest, both on this blog and in my regular life, and the advent of the upcoming election gives me a fresh and steady source of material to work with.

3) Circumstances in my life are about to change in ways that may open up whole new possibilities for blogging or make it even harder than before. That is, I am about to start attending college, far away from my family or anything that I am use to. Time will tell if this will allow me a new start or hinder my progress even further.

4) Finally, I have recently been reading a new book that has reminded me of questions that I had about conservatism, and has raised new ones. While the book is not radically changing my political views, it may be changing my focus and emphasis. The book will be introduced in the next post.

Until then (and may it not be long!),go ahead and add me to your RSS feeds or bookmarks and check back soon for the beginning of what I hope, pray and think will be an interesting journey into the realms of conservatism and politics.
Salvete!