‘Now, Théoden son of Thengel, will you hearken to me?’ said Gandalf. … ‘I bid you come out before your doors and look abroad. Too long have you sat in shadows and trusted to twisted tales and crooked promptings.
‘It is not so dark here’ said Théoden. … ‘Dark have been my dreams of late,’ he said, ‘but I feel as one new-awakened.’ … ‘What is to be done?’
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings; The King of the Golden Hall
Lots of friends and relatives on our side of the fence (meaning the non-leftists) criticize me for being too optimistic. They acknowledge that Donald Trump has altered the landscape in a revolutionary way. They admit that progress has been made. But they stress that things are still almost hopeless. They stress the lopsided progressive advantage among millennials and immigrants. They remind me just how razor thin were the margins in the 2016 elections and the election fraud that is sure to be unleashed in 2020. And on and on and on. And all these things are true.
But there is one change that is not a matter of degrees but rather a binary change from unknown to known. And that is the knowledge of why we always lost.
I’ve been a fan of the Lord of the Rings for about half a century. Because of this I often find myself using analogies from that book to explain and illuminate logical points I want to make. Admittedly, from a strictly logical perspective, it’s an unjustifiable practice. And when viewed by those unfamiliar with Tolkien’s work it’s a counterproductive practice. But you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.
Thinking about our situation currently I am drawn to the scene in the Lord of the Rings where Gandalf enters Meduseld and is confronted by Théoden, the King of Rohan and Grima Wormtongue. Grima is the king’s chief counsellor and an agent of Saruman the Evil Wizard. Grima has poisoned Théoden’s mind against his own family and provides counsel to the king that flatters him but always leads to the worsening of Rohan’s position. The king is bowed down by despair. His only son has recently been killed in battle and the enemies of his people are attacking his country at will from all sides. His own kinsman is disobeying his orders and his chief counsellor, Grima advises him to accept the diminution of his power and the necessity of capitulating to his foes in order to survive.
Through the counsel of this traitor Théoden has mistaken his friends for foes and enemies for allies. And in such a state he is constantly dismayed to see all his efforts fail. Trusting Grima implicitly, he doesn’t realize that all his plans are known to his enemies and all the actions he is told to follow always make his enemies stronger and him weaker.
Then Gandalf comes along and reveals the truth to Théoden. And once he understands Grima’s status his own situation and the experiences of the past make sense. Now, that is not to say that Théoden isn’t indeed in an almost hopeless position. He is. But at least now it all makes sense and he can choose how he wants to make a stand without his enemy knowing his plans in advance. Once the confusion of the false assumption about Grima is eliminated Théoden can see clearly where he is and which way he should head. Without the misinformation being fed to him he has a better chance of correctly choosing a path forward. And to complete the metaphor Gandalf leads Théoden out of the dark hall of Meduseld into the bright light of day.
So, that’s the analogy. We handed the Republican Establishment victory after victory. We gave them what they said they needed in money, votes and loyalty and in return they sold us out time after time. They accomplished nothing and conserved nothing. Their slow-motion capitulation to every Leftist demand has finally left us virtually strangers in our own land.
But that day, at least for me, is over. Anyone who tells me that the only way to survive is through capitulation is working for the enemy. Anyone who supports leftist social policies is by definition a Leftist. Wall Street needs cheap labor so their Republican Establishment puppets tell us that even trying to enforce immigration laws will make us a minority party that will never win another election. Then Donald Trump wins on that very platform. We may be defeated in the future because of demographic change but allowing the fear of it to prevent us from pursuing our own interests is rank stupidity. Cowardice and stupidity are not the qualities needed when you are in a tight spot. Intelligence and courage are. And with the world as degraded as it has become it will not be a short or easy job to return life to a normal state. It will take years and it will involve hard work and even then, we may be beaten in the end. So be it. At least you go down to defeat swinging not just walking passively to the slaughter house.
So, my point is it is time to stop listening to the defeatists. Even the ones who truly are on our side. When some well-meaning Republican tells me that the only way to win the woman vote is to nominate Nikki Haley for vice president, I politely say that is a terrible idea. Haley is a RINO who will fold under any pressure from the left. She would be just as bad as a Bush. The idea that we should nominate someone just because she’s a woman is the same bad thinking that has gotten us in trouble time after time. Find someone who knows how to make the system work for us and back him.
Allow yourself to dream big and then try to do something positive yourself. Red-pill a friend or a family member or an acquaintance. Back a candidate that you think is good. Build a platform where people on our side can share ideas and encouragement.
For those who don’t know the Lord of the Rings I can give a different pop culture reference.
“Well I won’t back down
No I won’t back down
You can stand me up at the gates of Hell
But I won’t back down
…
Hey baby
There ain’t no easy way out (I won’t back down)
Hey I, will stand my ground
And I won’t back down”
I Won’t Back Down by Tom Petty
