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Americans have always admired grit, determination, and persistence in the face of hazard or potential defeat. We remember hero Admiral David Farragut's bold Civil War command to "Damn the torpedoes! Full speed ahead!" When German forces called on Gen. McAuliffe's outnumbered and surrounded troops to surrender at the Battle of the Bulge, the General's response of "NUTS!" has gone into legend. And history books record the story (or used to, anyway), of the winter sufferings of George Washington's army at Valley Forge, from which they arose to final victory in the Revolutionary War.
Of course, those incidents of stick-to-it-iveness eventually resulted in victory which makes them easy to honor. But America also has respect for some of those whose persistence nevertheless led to failure.
We have disgust and contempt for the political actions of the Nazis and Japanese militarists during World War II, but as soldiers we respected their dedication and courage. Early Americans were horrified by the barbaric atrocities of the Indians, but again had the keenest of respect for their skill as soldiers and their honor as individuals, which we remember with honor to this day by using so many of their names and symbols in association with our sports teams.
There's an interesting twist to these honorable losers: they all knew when the game was up. The Germans fought with all their might, and for the cause of evil, but when the war was over, they stopped. The Japanese had intended to fight to the last man. woman, and child, but when the power of two atomic bombs showed their objective was hopeless, the Emperor surrendered and that was that. A handful of isolated soldiers, unaware that the war was over, fought on for decades, but even they, when finally contacted by official Japanese authorities and ordered to stand down, immediately returned to peaceful life.
The same is true for American Indians. Chief Black Hawk, after whom the Chicago hockey team and an American military helicopter are named, fought against American troops taking his land, but after he surrendered, President Andrew Jackson ordered his release, invited him on a tour of American cities in the East, and they even attended the theater together.
The bottom line appears to be: Americans respect those who fight for their sides, right or wrong, as long as there is any hope of honorable victory. When all hope is gone, though, we expect people to know when to give up, or at least to adopt another approach, as the Indians have done by substituting casinos and native corporations for the warpath. As the old saying has it, "Ya gotta know when to hold 'em, and when to fold 'em."
Hence, most Americans have little patience for the protracted depraved violence of the Palestinians. When Israel was declared a nation in 1948, the furious Muslim world immediately declared war on them - and lost. They tried again, and lost again, in the Six Day War of 1967, then yet again in the Yom Kippur War of 1973. These were all proper wars, fought between uniformed armies, that ended in proper armistices, very much in Israel's favor in each case.
Egypt, being led by a secular military government, was able to recognize reality and attempt a different approach at the bargaining table. This was successful: the Camp David Accords on 1978 gave the Sinai back to Egypt, Israel having conquered it in the previous round. Since then, Egypt has recognized Israel and the two nations have remained at peace, though not always on the best of terms. Both Egypt and Israel have reaped vast rewards of American dollars in return for their participation in peaceful activities.
The Palestinians, however, have never won a war, and while they've signed several treaties, they've refused to abide by them or to teach their children anything other than the most visceral hatred for Jews.
This isn't because they haven't been given opportunities to do otherwise. In 2005, as part of the ongoing supposed peace process, Israel evacuated Jewish settlements from Gaza - over strong political and, occasionally, armed opposition. Many of the ex-settlers destroyed what had been their property, but a good deal of useful infrastructure remained, including many greenhouses which had been used to generate millions of dollars worth of exportable vegetables and flowers.
Instead of turning Gaza into a profitable, prosperous enclave, the Palestinians chose not to take advantage of this bounty:
After IDF troops had left the Strip, thousands flocked to the abandoned settlements, shooting in the air and raising flags. In some places, synagogues were torched, destroyed and looted, as were the greenhouses that were left behind. The day after the pullout was completed, Palestinian police blocked off the settlements in an attempt to impose order, but the forces were overwhelmed and the looting continued.
Yes, that's right - the erstwhile Jewish highly-profitable greenhouses, having been built by Jewish "occupiers" and then purchased with American money as a gift to the Palestinians, were destroyed by those same Palestinians without ever generating a dime of income. We're unable to comprehend why so many still advocate a "Two-state solution" or "Land for peace" to this day, when that's so obviously not something the Palestinians are willing to accept even when it's handed to them on a silver platter.
Whenever the Palestinians are given a chance to improve their lives by some means other than violence, they violently reject the opportunity. They've repurposed sewer pipes to build rockets to fire against Israeli civilians, leading to their own streets flowing with sewage. Is it any wonder that most of middle America has no sympathy or admiration for the obstinate and self-destructive Palestinians?
This doesn't have to be a religious issue, though the Palestinians' barbarically self-destructive homicidal mania fits right in with entirely too many of their fellow Muslims. The United Arab Emirates is, if anything, even more thoroughly Muslim than the Palestinians, yet they've become a world-class example of how it's done. Anyone transiting through the vast, bustling, glistening Dubai terminal of Emirates Airlines should keep an eye out for the historic photographs of the beginnings of the airport - a mere shack surrounded by barren sand, and a handful of old leased planes.
Today, Dubai is a glimmering city of the future boasting the world's tallest buildings, biggest malls, largest fleet of the world's biggest passenger planes, and soon, largest airport. Countless billions of dollars have been made, invested, and made again by Muslims out of a desert oasis, leading to the respect and admiration of the world. The Palestinians could have done the same but chose not to.
Which brings us to Hillary Clinton, the loser - yes, the YUUUGE LOSER!!! of the 2016 presidential election.
Oh, there are plenty of possible explanations and excuses. She claims that she was cheated - but Richard Nixon really was cheated by JFK, and chose to concede anyway and try to do better next time rather than whine. She says that the DNC did a lousy job of providing her with political data, though the actual workers say they told her the unpleasant truth that she was in trouble and she chose to ignore their warnings. She says that the media gifted Trump with an avalanche of coverage and ignoring her, a whine which is so blatantly the opposite of the truth that it isn't even worthy of a derisive snort.
In other words, she still, to this day, refuses to accept responsibility for the consequences of her own choices, her own leadership, or her own failure. What sort of President would that make? As we've learned from watching the Obama administration, you can't learn from your mistakes if you don't acknowledge that you've ever made any.
Psychologists tell us that, to move on from a great loss, humans must pass through the Seven Stages of Grief:
Hillary doesn't seem to have even made it cleanly past #1! She's still in shock, still in denial, and very much angry - though she's clearly been angry for many decades so this is nothing new. We haven't even seen any signs of "bargaining" - such as, trying to find a new role for herself using the unaccountable goodwill of her remaining hordes of feminist donors and supporters.
No, like a child, she is making petulant demands that reality conform to her expectations. Donald Trump is the President of the United States whether she likes it or not, and the more she denies it the more delusional she appears.
There's nothing wrong with losing; the most successful people of history have had to endure, and learn from, great losses. The problem arises when you're stuck in your loss and keep on doing the same things that led to your loss - famously one definition of insanity.
Buoyed by an adoring media and a worshipful education system, Hillary Clinton has been ranked as the "Most Admired Woman" for decades on end. How can anyone respect someone or her adoring crowds so much at war with reality?
The declining years of an arrogant, abrasive corruptocrat are, in the final analysis, of no great concern to anyone save her family. What matters much more is: how long will it be before the Democrats are able to move on from her? Right now, analysts still seem to think that, come 2020, a 73-year-old Hillary Clinton will drive her scooter out of her posh nursing home and back onto the campaign trail.
In a nation of hundreds of millions of people, and with complete leftist control over the commanding heights of media, education, government bureaucracy, and large chunks even of private business, surely the Democrats can do better than that? If not, it won't belong before "Democrat" bears the permanent stamp of "Hopeless Sore Loser," which is the kiss of death for any political organization.