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December 15, 2010

GOP smitten by its willingness to compromise

As Steven Fielding points out today in his piece at WND, while Republicans are willing to compromise, Democrats ... now under control of the far-Left, are driven by dreams of victory - only, with no interest in compromise. And in its willingness to compromise, the GOP is at a decisive disadvantage - putting it in a position of nothing less than a lose-lose situation from the get-go:

History illuminates why, despite a long period of Republican ascendancy in Washington, America continues to drift left in all aspects of society. The reason: Republicans have lost their will to victory and instead seek a series of corrosive compromises with goal-driven Democrats.

During the Second Punic War, at the battle of Cannae, Hannibal annihilated a Roman army of 87,000, delivering it the severest defeat in Roman history. But Hannibal could do nothing with this defeat because he expected the Romans to sue for peace â€â€Å" in essence to compromise. This was the way Carthaginians made war. But it was not the Roman way. Their way was to seek victory. Hannibal won almost every battle. Rome won the war.

Early in our war of independence, Gen. Howe defeated the American forces under Washington at the battle of Brooklyn Heights. Howe, like Hannibal, did not understand his adversary. He wished not to annihilate the Americans but to give them a sound thrashing until they sued for peace. But just as Rome was an idea as well as a republic, so the American revolutionaries were informed by an idea, one summed up by Patrick Henry -- "Give me liberty or give me death." Given that idea, compromise was impossible. The choice for these "old Americans" was stark -- victory or defeat. The British won many battles, but America won the war.

Israel has won every battle against its Arab enemies. After each, the Israelis have sought peace, seeking compromise with their adversaries. Yet the war continues. Why? Because their Muslim adversaries are not interested in compromise. They still seek what they have always sought -- victory. And who can say that they are not closer to their goal now than they were a generation ago?

All people who seek compromise with implacable foes determined to emerge victorious are at a decisive disadvantage, in part because their belief in the virtue of compromise makes it difficult for them to confront the fact their adversary is interested not in compromise but in victory, and in part because the conviction that compromise is a virtue fills them with inhibitions that prevent them from taking the harsh steps required to devastate their adversaries until they relinquish their goal of victory.

Given contemporary America's strong belief in the virtue of compromise, "new Americans" are disoriented and cognitively incapacitated when confronting implacable ideological foes like leftists and Islamists. They simply cannot confront the fact their adversaries are implacable. To do so would force them to confront dreadful, soul-searing choices. Conversely, their faith that compromise is a strength leads "new Americans" to believe the gracious thing to do after victory is to act magnanimously -- that is, to throw away the victory and compromise.

Republicans are particularly prone to this "new American" predisposition.

Posted by Richard at December 15, 2010 4:47 PM

• GOP smitten by its willingness to compromise - Dec 15, 2010