A bright, clear morning

What did I do this AM? Same thing I did yesterday morning and last evening; I sat alone in the middle of my woods with a crossbow waiting for deer that rarely come.

It is always a good time to think, ponder, and generally clear the mind. The kids are scattered with their own things, the wife had stuff to take care of at the home base, so it is just me and the dogs in my country retreat away from it all.

I usually post a video on 911 of the news as it happened - I've told the story many times before about being ONSTA in Bahrain when it all went down, so this year I may give it a pass.

What crossed my mind this AM as I watched the woods wake up was something I mentioned to my buddy Herb over on Twitter; my children - one who is an adult now - have known nothing but the Global War on Terror, or whatever we are calling it this week. I prefer The Long War, but history will figure it out.

As such, the meaning of Orwell's;

"We've always been at war with Eastasia"

...just doesn't have the same meaning to them. For them, "We've always been at war with Islamic terrorists." is reality.

How does this impact their world view? Hard to tell. My entire life up to their age was bounded by the Cold War - but that is a very different game than what we are playing now, a decade and a half after the attack of 911.

What have we accomplished? Both parties have had the Executive Branch for about the same amount of time during this war, and from an objective point of view - I don't think we are winning all that much. The threat of Islamic Terrorism is as great if not greater than it was on 911, they continue to grow.

Due to mindless feelgoodism related to immigration, The West expanded the pond of non-assimilation for the terrorists to swim in, and as a result they have been and will continue to attack us in our homes, businesses, and social gatherings - not to mention the various skirmishes inside Dar al-Islam as it works against modern Islam and what they consider heretics, and on the bleeding edge of where it meets Dar al-Harb.

At home, we've become accustomed to what would have been thought previously as un-Constitutional and un-American intrusions in to our personal freedoms, all for "security." Was it worth the trade? Do you feel safer?

That is what a few hours 15' up a tree with nothing but Cardinals, rabbits, crows, various songbirds and the slow hiss of a Thermocell will bring to mind.

At the decade and a half remembrance of the attack, what is clear to me is that there is much more work that needs to be done. In The West and in our nation specifically, we need to rededicate ourselves to this Long War. We have an enemy more dedicated than we are. Their motivating philosophy is stronger than ours. Their demographics are stronger than ours. We have made progress in some areas, but so have they.

Much more work needs to be done.