Rudyard Kipling"
“When you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldier”
General Douglas MacArthur"
“We are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.”
“It is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.” “Old soldiers never die; they just fade away.
“The soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.”
“May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .” “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
“Nobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
You know why they do not want to contest in the Penanti by-election, look at the title of this post. They know that the so called Pop Star has lost his shine, he is a liability for them. In the Bukit Gantang and Bukit Selambau by-election, Najib had simply chosen the wrong pop star to align himself with, a has been ! Their days of buying elections, is history, they know that.
The real truth behind Najib's unwillingness to engage BN in another electoral tussle with the PR coalition is simply that he is afraid to lose another by-election to the opposition, thereby giving steam to the opposition machinery in a long-running precarious war for the hearts and minds of Malaysians. Having been nurtured in a political greenhouse, perhaps the second generation of any political family dynasty can never display the kind of iron in the soul as shown by the first generation of political leaders. That kind of fighting spirit cannot be transmitted through the biological genes.
If Najib goes along with Mahathir that Umno should indeed face down the opposition challenge in Penanti, he will just entrench the perception among many netizens that he is just a stooge PM to his puppet master. His prestige and glamour as the newly minted premier of 26 million Malaysians will be vastly diminished. In full from Malaysiakini
