Given yesterday's despicable terrorist attack on the people of London, I was struck by a commentary in today's Wall Street Journal [subscription required]. The commentary, entitled "London Pride", was authored by Andrew Roberts, an historian and author, inter alia, of "Hitler and Churchill" (Weidenfeld & Nicholson, 2003). His commentary begins:
"Will they never learn? Anyone who thinks that the bombing of London might bring about any kind of favorable political result whatever betrays a fantastic historical ignorance of the true nature of Britain's capital city. No one, absolutely no one, whom I have spoken to since yesterday morning's attacks has expressed anything other than what one of them called "disgusted resignation" at the way our city has been violated yet again."
The commentary ends with:
"... If the elderly lady I overheard in a small crowd watching the events on TV through the windows of an electrical goods store in the King's Road, Chelsea, is anything to go by, the general attitude is: 'It's ridiculous not being able to take trains home. If we didn't kowtow to Hitler, why should we to this lot?'
I must admit to an involuntary shudder of pride tingling down my spine when I heard her say those words. They reminded me of the wartime song "London Pride," in which Noel Coward pointed out how the Nazis' attacks simply strengthened Londoners' resolve. The final stanza goes: 'Every Blitz your resistance toughening/ From the Ritz to the Anchor and Crown/ Nothing ever could override the pride of London town.' That is how, through all the sadness and the sirens' wailing, London feels today."
Amen and God Bless the people of London.
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