Be Determined to Change the Hopeless

“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.  One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.”  F. Scott Fitzgerald.

This is truly the essence of the American spirit.  Wasn't it hopeless that this backwater outpost of Europe, populated by outcasts and misfits, would throw off the yoke of tyranny and establish a republic?  Wasn't it hopeless to take on imperial Japan and NAZI Germany when the rest of the world was crumbling?  Wasn't it hopeless to stare down the USSR when communism was clearly the destiny of the world?

Today we are confronting a seemingly overwhelming number of challenges - terror, stagflation, institutional collapse, corrupt and ineffective government, gridlock, a loss of faith, and others.  Hopeless indeed.  But we have proven we can overcome the challenges, so long as we are determined to do so.

For more on the spirit of America, visit Patriot Week and Americas Survival Guide.

Avoid the Siren Song...

Mr.  President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be the number of those who having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it. - Patrick Henry (1775)

How little do men change.  Henry's admonition was made over 2 and a quarter centuries ago, and yet here we are, still apt to follow the siren, and to avoid the arduous struggle

of liberty.  For the last several decades we have been disarming ourselves by forgetting our founding First Principles, our roots, who we are.  The electronica bliss is dulling our senses. We do not hear, we do not see.  The siren's song is getting stronger.  Resist it.  Understand the worst, and change it.

Duty to Heaven and Country

"Should I keep back my opinions at such a time [as this] through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty as treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty toward the Majesty of Heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings." Patrick Henry (1775)

Henry's words are wise counsel.  We have a duty, even when we are reluctant, even at great personal risk, to share our opinions on important matters.   Our liberty, our country, and our Creator, deserve it.

Do Not Hold Back!

"This is no time for ceremony.... For my own part, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at the truth, and fulfill the great responsibility to God and our country." Patrick Henry (March 23, 1775)

Patrick Henry's sentiments capture perfectly the duty of men and women to step forward in times of crisis.  Like his time, today we face many issues that require men and women of good will to shed their natural reluctance to become involved and, instead, to passionately join the debate.

In fact, Henry did much more, he literally put his life on the line for the cause of liberty.  We have a duty to the Creator and to our country to engage and not be quiet - to let our opinions be known.

Let us then, the heirs of his courage and those of generations of men and women who have sacrificed for our freedom, not be unworthy of their efforts.

For more, visit Patriot Week and America's Survival Guide.

Top 50 Core American Documents

Roger Beckett, the new Executive Director of the Ashbrook Center, has provided a most interesting list of what he considers the 50 Core American Documents.  Although one can have passionate arguments about the composition of the list, it is a wonderful starting point to understand why America is the greatest nation in world history.  Check it out at 50 Core American Documents.

For more about America's key foundational documents, visit Patriot Week and Americas Survival Guide.

"Happy" Memorial Day? That Butchers the Point.

In the first week of this month, seven US soldiers were killed in combat, and another four were killed the next week.  They join a huge list of soldiers who have laid down their lives for our country since its birth.  

Memorial Day is intended to honor our sacred dead.  Instead, for most people not personally touched by the sacrifices of our brave military, it is an empty excuse for a 3 day weekend, sales, and to break out white outfits.  Over the past week I had a least a dozen people personally tell me “Happy Memorial Day.”  That butchers the point.

On May 5, 1868, General John Logan, national commander of the Grand

Army of the Republic, promulgated General Order No. 11, which was the

first official promulgation of Memorial Day. General Order No. 11 provided

 that flowers would be placed on the graves of Union and Confederate

soldiers on May 30, 1868. (Order No. 11 is below.) In the Order, General

Logan reflected he hoped it would become an annual tradition, and it did.

With World War I, that tradition expanded to include all war dead; eventually it became a recognized holiday.  All too soon, it became commercialized.

General Logan's Order stated, "Let no neglect, no ravages of time, testify

to the present or to the coming generations that we have forgotten as a people

the cost of a free and undivided republic." Indeed.

That Memorial Day will ever entirely recover its nature is a hopeless cause - the commercialization and habits of generations have undermined it too much.  That is why my daughter Leah and I created Patriot Week - with hope of establishing a new civic calendar to renew the spirit of America.  

Still, it is worth the effort to embrace the spirit of Memorial Day.  Its fine to do the barbecue and wear white, so long as your heart is in the right place, and you impress upon your family that we are free only because of the sacrifices of generations of Americans.

God bless you, the sacred dead, and America.

Very truly yours,

Hon. Michael Warren

For more, visit www.PatriotWeek.org and www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com.

Liberty! For Our Ancestors and Posterity? Really!

"Stain not the glory of your worthy ancestors, but like them resolve never to part with your birthright; be wise in your deliberations, and determined in your exertions for the preservations of your liberties. Follow not the dictates of passion, but enlist yourselves under the sacred banner of reason; use every method in your power to secure your rights; at least prevent the curses of posterity from being heaped on your memories." Joseph Warren (1772).

Joseph Warren was part of the Sons of Liberty in colonial Massachusetts who rebelled against British oppression.  In league with Samuel Adams, John Adams, and John Hancock, he was a leading light of the American Revolution.  His admonitions may seem somewhat quaint today - harkening to past and future generations as a rallying cry for liberty?  Really?

Really. Warren tapped into an eternal truth that is too often overlooked today.  We owe our freedom to the sacrifices of generations before us, and we - in just a few years - can lose it all.  If so, following generations will look back at our era and scorn what we did. In the twitter world (and yes, I'm tweeting this blog), we often forget that there is more than the present and 140 characters.  There are enduring values and struggles that deserve "every method in" our power to preserve liberty.  

Warren was not kidding.  He was killed at the Battle of Bunker Hill.  Honor his legacy, and your children's, and "resolve never to party with your birthright" of the First Principles of the rule of law, unalienable rights, limited government, equality, the Social Compact, and revolution.

For more, visit www.PatriotWeek.org and www.AmericasSurvivalGuide.com.