Loyalist Army, the Rebel Alliance, or Trench-Dwelling Dogfaces

Being that I owe my Americanism to the loosing side (my family has that habit in civil wars – but that is a subject for another day), I have always been a fan of the English Civil War – Roundheads – Cavaliers – Parliament – Puritans - Charles I & II and all that.

Right now, I feel like a mid-grade Captain of a Navy Royal (not Royal Navy yet, natch) warship. Worried about the Spanish, Dutch, French, well everyone - and how to keep my little bit of England, say the HMS Unicorn, squared away – when troubling words start to come around. Where are my loyalties? Being a good subject, why the King, of course. But in my cabin, with my trusted brother-in-law, I discuss where I will stand when the questions is asked. Who are you with?

Well, lucky for me, I don’t have a warship or a cabin right now. And as for my brother-in-laws…..lets just say nothing. Most of all, it is best that I avoid national politics as much as practical. It is difficult though to just sit at anchor watching the once loyal regiments ashore line up against each their countrymen. CAPT Ed outlines it well in his piece in the WaPo.

Three camps.

The Loyalist Army. Those supporting the Miers nomination, while definitely in the minority, are betting that their high opinion of George Bush and his talent for selecting judges is still justified. Chief among the Loyalists is radio talk-show host and blogger Hugh Hewitt. A former White House attorney and constitutional law professor, Hewitt has a broad following and a reputation for good-humored but devastating debating skills. Many bloggers on the right owe much of their success to his support -- including me.
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The Rebel Alliance. The bloggers who join rightist icons such as Ann Coulter, Pat Buchanan, Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol in opposing Miers's nomination refuse to trust Bush. Many already felt betrayed by this president on a number of issues, including his lack of initiative in securing the Southern border against illegal immigration and his signing of the McCain-Feingold campaign-finance bill even after he noted its lack of constitutional merit. These rebels don't have a plan for taking over the galaxy, but they would like to stop what they see as another Bush foul-up before it winds up like the last few "trust me" Republican Supreme Court nominees, a string starting with John Paul Stevens and ending with Souter.
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The Trench-Dwelling Dogfaces. Those of us who find ourselves torn between the unconvincing, unrelenting positivism of the Loyalists and the potentially destructive Rebel Alliance occupy a no-man's land of political tiptoeing. We spend our blogging time raising our heads out of the foxholes to note the inbound missiles coming from both sides, and wishing the war would stop -- really soon.

A sailor can rarely go wrong if he puts himself aside the enemy, but I am getting distracted by whose colors I will run up next time I get underway. His Lordship, The Commissar who I greatly admire - has already joined with The Rebel Alliance. I cannot abide that with all that Roundhead demands of ideological purity, but I cannot ignore the abuses of the throne and the Privy Court. In the end, I am just a Scurvy Mouthed Sailor. About as close to a Trench-Dwelling Dogface as you can get.

I hope against hope the war will stop, but I am afraid that before long we will be turning our guns on each other. The bridges of London will be festooned with heads and the French (you know who) will stand across the channel, letting us destroy ourselves in a fratricidal, selfish, and ultimatly (for the Roundheads) pointless bloodletting - laughing and waiting for the time to strike. The realm is in danger. Only the Crown can stop this, but the King does not take well to disloyalty, is poorly advised, and rarely ventures to talk to the people outside Whitehall. Ohhh, the butcher’s bill to pay!!

Will we see a Lord Protector from the Rebel Alliance? A Roundhead Republic by one of their leaders? Where will be find our House of Orange? Sigh. I hope for orders to the West Indies squadron soon, and just wait for this to blow over.