Our Country 'Tis of Us

From the boys at Power Line comes this nugget:

One of the perceived benefits of being a sovereign nation is that we can do things the way we like. On this side of our borders, theoretically, we establish our own laws, enforce them, and participate in our representative government by voting. This is the beauty of a republic.

Occasionally we do things that our neighbors in the world do not appreciate. I can certainly understand this, because occasionally our neighbors do things that I'd much rather they didn't. Of course, being a freedom-loving people, this also means that we can both express (and receive) opinions regarding just about any topic you'd care to name. This can be incredibly annoying at times, but it is (we argue) a right ordained of natural law. We expressed this opinion to King George, oh, a couple hundred years ago. He expressed his disagreement, and we showed his redcoats the way home.

Earlier this month, one of our neighbors thought we could use some neighborly advice. We have become international bullies in their eyes, and our leaders are reprehensible monsters. They would like for us to elect John Kerry. Somehow, this will fix everything. We will no longer be bullies, and our esteem in the world will soar.

To this end, the British newspaper "The Guardian" encouraged its readers to send letters to Clark County, Ohio. Clark County was chosen because it had a high number of "undecided" voters, and the helpful Brits wanted to tell them how Great Britain would love for them to vote.

One problem: It won't work.

Whatever perceived benefit these helpful neighbors thought to bring, dissipated letter by letter. These so-called "undecided" voters have firmly decided one thing and one thing only: They don't want your advice. Period.

Oh, sure, you'll find a few Democrats who think it's a wonderful idea. These are the same people who feel the need to apologize profusely to Iraq for getting rid of Saddam for them and killing their innocent citizens. I haven't yet seen posters saying how stupid we were for having people in the World Trade Center when the planes hit, but I'm sure they're coming.

But the rest of Clark County would really rather the Brits kept their helpful advice to themselves. Thanks for the thoughts, folks, but we're fine over here. Really. We can decide this one for ourselves.

The Brits are likely to sniff and express their regrets that we refuse to see the light. Fine. We see a light, but it's a much brighter light than the Brits (at least, the letter-writing variety) are ever likely to see. It's the same light that persuaded us to secede from the mother country in the first place. It's the same light that enabled us to rebuild our nation after the bloodiest war in our history. It's the same light that has helped us realize where the real fight is, and take it to them. Terrorists. Not "insurgents;" not "dissidents;" but terrorists. The same ones that are just as capable of destroying Big Ben as they did the WTC.

Let's match lights, neighbor, then you can tell us how to vote.

Long live the Queen.