This piece originally appeared on Democrats.com on November 2, 2002.
A young man wanted to join an elite unit of the Special Forces. The commander had his doubts.
"Son, do you know our motto?"
"No, sir."
"Victory or Death."
"Victory or Death? Victory...or...Death. Victory or Death. I think I will go with the Victory."
An old man who had served his country for many years was asked to save the realm when his career seemed to be near an end. Shortly after the King made him Prime Minister, he said:
I would say to the House, as I said to those who have joined this government: "I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat."
We have before us an ordeal of the most grievous kind. We have before us many, many long months of struggle and of suffering. You ask, what is our policy? I can say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us.... That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
The Alamo mentality is the ability to fight ferociously against overwhelming odds as the Grim Reaper leads the charge. It is a desire to spit in Death's face and to slit his throat.
The Alamo mentality is not limited to time and place. Instead, it is defined by a toughness of mind nourished by the spirit. Hemingway called it courage--grace under pressure. It is the certain knowledge that some things are more important than life, and it is the willingness to pay the price. For a life without freedom is existence, and nothing more.
There is one issue in this campaign which may be stated in different ways: Are we going to choose freedom or despotism? Will the United States remain a Republic, or will the nation become an Empire? Do we care to uphold the Constitution?
Do not be fooled. Despite all the blarney and bluster, the opposition is in a weak position. Fort Falsehood is ready to collapse.
The Texan thinks he is JOHN Arnold Schwarzenegger Bruce Willis Clint Eastwood Slyvester Stallone Tom Cruise WAYNE. We must disimbue him of that notion and disembowel him with the sword of truth.
Ann Richards said, "George Bush was born on third base and thinks he hit a triple." Well, George W. Bush was born in the owner's box and thinks he hit a home run--and awaits induction into the Hall of Fame. Are delusions of grandeur a family trait?
Let there be no misunderstanding. In my neighborhood, George the Lesser would have been described in one word: Sissy. Why? Has he ever fought his own battles?
Unlike Little Georgie Four Strikes, Paul Wellstone was not one of those "cold and timid souls" whom TR dismissed. When Senator Wellstone was asked the question, he replied, "I think I will go with the Victory."
He was short, but he stood tall when he voted against the war resolution. He grew in stature as the big men shrivelled. That day, as on so many others, conscience and courage were on display in defense of the Constitution. While Wellstone lived, we saw a patriot act.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch. After Ruffles and Flourishes heralds the gentleman from Texas, he enters to the accompaniment of The Great Pretender. Why? He cannot stand Dissent. Yet our country's birth certificate notes Dissent as the father. How can a man who "darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge" stand being an American?
The Texan is wrong. This is the Great Republic, not the Fourth Reich. Here, cowpoke, we sing The Star Spangled Banner, not H_ _ _land Uber Alles. By all means, take your ball and go home.
Thomas Jefferson taught us how to recognize and deal with tyrants:
Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.
The Texan heads a gang posing as a government. The corporate press aided and abetted his theft of the Florida election. Both the print and broadcast journalists of the self-styled mainstream press still tell tales and refer to him as the leader of the country, as if we need a good bedtime story before being lulled off to sleep. And too many so-called leaders of the Democratic Party are afraid to sound the alarm. How long must we endure these charades without the saving grace of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant?
This is intellectual urban warfare. The fighting is house to house. Our objective is regime change. And we have them! The Pretender and the Vice Pretender are flayed alive with facts by our rhetorical Bowie knives.
Alas, we had fallen asleep only to reawaken on Elm Street. But the nightmare can end by answering a single question. And then let us say, "What the enemies of our Constitution have started, we will finish."
(c) 2002 Marvin D. Jones. All rights reserved.
