year to double down

This is a post by Adam Kinzinger, the Illinois Republican who served with Liz Cheney as the only 2 Republicans on the January 6 Committee.  For that, both of them were drummed out of the GOP. You could say they were the only 2 Republicans with actual integrity.

2024: The Year to Double Down

By Adam Kinzinger

There has been a reality that has existed probably since the beginning of humanity, but has been evident in recent years in American politics. The forces of chaos are exhausting, depressing, and can drive us to a feeling of helplessness. We try to talk logic and truth into a portion of the population which feels threatened by such things, and our temptation is to throw up our hands, and give up.

This is exactly what the forces of chaos are counting on. You see, the chaos that drains us- energizes them.

I often think back to my Grandfathers service in World War 2. Joining the Army Air Corps at the old age of 24, he trained over a year stateside before entering Europe to operate behind German lines after Normandy. My grandpa could never talk about the war, the one time her tried with me he broke down in tears. Many of his stories died with him, but we have recently begun knitting together the snippets of what he told various kids, and now we have a better picture. His story is his, but I know that in the vigor of battle he operated heroically, often taking missions himself because he felt an affection for the guys he led, and worried about their lives. But we also know he hit a wall, and his letters after the war revealed a man ready to come home, and somewhat disillusioned with his country leaving him to occupy Europe into 1946. Regardless, I know when he returned he was proud of his service even if he could not revisit it in his mind.

When I was in Iraq, we were proud of our missions, but a significant amount of time was spent complaining about missed birthdays, holidays, 120 degree heat, etc. Complaining is a soldier’s favorite past time, how else can you defeat shear boredom (besides turning curse words into verbs and adjectives). We wanted to be home.

In those moments, my grandpa, my men in Iraq and I, felt exhausted. Yet when we think back to those moments, we don’t remember that. We miss those days. The complaining seems trivial now, and in my discussions with my guys we often revisit those days with humor and a sense of longing.

Such is human nature. And this is the moment we find ourselves in today. Granted, our lives are not on the line, we aren’t surrounded by (much) danger, but we are tired. We feel like we can’t make a difference, but we can, we are, and we will.

This year will bring many days where we feel defeated and like the fight for America’s soul isn’t worth the cost. But it is. In a decade or two we will tell our kids and grandkids about this moment and how we stepped up to be the bulwark against the forces of evil in the nation seeking to tear us down.

We will prevail, I am confident of that. Not because of polls, or anything that can shift on a daily basis. I am confident because I know and have seen that in this time, Americans of all background and philosophies have put aside their differences in defense of what we hold close…freedom, and self-governance. We are not whiners, complainers, and victims, as the former President wants us to be. We are strivers, innovators, and self-sufficient winners.

This will be the year of the winner, and the year the whiner finally goes away forever.

So, buckle up. Sign up to join me in this battle. We are going to have quite a few days where we shake our head, and wonder if it’s time to give up. It isn’t, and the rewards will be great when we hold the line, and retake ground for our nation. More importantly, we will be able to tell our kids and grandkids about how WE were part of the battle to take our nation back.

And we won!

Happy new year! Let’s get ready for battle, there is no other fight I’d rather engage in together!

Original.