THERE’S A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT

by

Emily Dickinson

There’s a certain slant of light,

On winter afternoons,

That oppresses, like the weight

Of cathedral tunes.

Heavenly hurt it gives us;

We can find no scar,

But internal difference

Where the meanings are.

None may teach it anything,

‘T is the seal, despair, –

An imperial affliction

Sent us of the air.

When it comes, the landscape listens,

Shadows hold their breath;

When it goes, ‘t is like the distance

On the look of death.

QUOTATIONS

At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined, with all the treasure of the earth … in their military chest; with a Bonaparte for a commander, could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point, then, is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us it must spring amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.

-Abraham Lincoln-

There is not in all America a more dangerous trait than the deification of mere smartness unaccompanied by any sense of moral responsibility.

-Teddy Roosevelt-

A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.

-Winston Churchill-

My choice early in life was either to be a piano-player in a whorehouse or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference.

-Harry Truman-

The government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: if it moves, tax it; if it keeps moving, regulate it; and if it stops moving, subsidize it.

-Ronald Reagan-

I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him.

-Mark Twain-

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This Internet Web site (i.e., this “site” or “blog”) - A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT or “ACSOL” — is owned and operated by your host, Bernard, who reserves the right to alter or amend the site’s layout and content, as he sees fit and at his sole discretion, including its Terms of Use as referenced under “Policies.”

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I welcome e-mails from both regular readers of and first-time visitors to my blog.

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COMMENT POLICY

Comments from readers of ACSOL are welcome and encouraged and may include divergent viewpoints provided that they are constructive.

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Thanks!

A CERTAIN SLANT OF LIGHT

(Genesis of my Blog)

The name of my blog, which I launched in December, 2004, is taken from the New England poet Emily Dickinson’s lyric poem, “There’s a certain Slant of Light,” written in 1861. It is among her most popular and well-crafted works and it is published in countless anthologies of American poetry.

For me, the title of Dickinson’s poem, which points to the special aspects of light falling on the landscape, is apropos to the fascination I have with current events and all things political. The lens of conservative-traditionalist values through which I form my opinions casts a decided right-of-center perspective.

Accordingly, my blog and the thoughts I memorialize in it will mirror the prism – the set of optics – through which I see and comprehend those things of infinite interest and value to me: my family, my country, my spirituality, and the politics and current events (and their historical antecedents) that either shape and buttress or threaten them.

This blog is dedicated to my grandchildren; and its inception coincided with the birth of my second grandson, Austin – my namesake and a leader of tomorrow.

Welcome to ACSOL.

ABOUT ME, YOUR HOST
(Profile)

I am a conservative, a traditionalist, a family man, and, proudly, a Reagan Republican. But, and as you will glean from my writing, I am not a “my Party, right or wrong” Republican and, indeed, I think the GOP and the current president (Bush ’43) have abandoned, in some measure, the tenets of the Conservative Movement to which “the base,” as it has come to be known and of which I am a part, adheres.

I have always had a keen interest in current events, history, and politics. I majored in Political Science in college. As with most polibloggers, I devour the news and feel compelled to write about it, usually in the context of the woof and warp of politics.

Reading and writing are my passions.

I am a proud American and feel blessed to live in this country.

I look forward to sharing my viewpoints with you.

Welcome to ACSOL.