The Great State of Ohio has been crushed under the boot heel of ruthlessly useless Richard Michael DeWine for three hundred days now.
Deb and I are well, as angry about this shit as every other Buckeye (with a brain) is. We continue to take care of ourselves, but we will not comply with illegal and unconstitutional orders.
Recognize that header image? I’ve been saving it for Day 300 — it’s from a poster for the 2006 feature film that centered on King Leonidas leading 300 Spartans against 300,000 Persians in the Battle of Thermopylae. While that sort of plot may not excite some of you, what Leonidas did in 480 BC is familiar to lovers of Liberty, most especially armed citizens.
Plutarch records that on the eve of the battle, Persian God-King Xerxes offered to spare the lives of the outnumbered Spartans if they surrendered their arms. Leonidas responded, tersely, “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ” — translated, “Come and take (them).”
The next day, all 300 Spartans perished in that battle — but they died on their feet, not on their knees.
The phrase “ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ,” like the story, is an inspiration to many of us. We wear it on our chests. We say it out loud, in Greek — moh-LOHN lah-BEH — as well as in our American English. We can tell tales of other heroic refusals through the years.
“When pressed to trade Liberty for safety, there’s but one proper reply: Go to hell.”
The Gonzales Flag, emblazoned with the Texas Star and a cannon, its words taunting “COME AND TAKE IT.” U.S. Army Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe at Bastogne in the Battle of the Bulge, who replied to an offer from the Germans, similar to the one Leonidas declined, with a single word: “NUTS.”
People of principle tend to admire defiance, damn the odds, and on our best days we emulate it. When pressed to trade Liberty for safety, there’s but one proper reply: “Go to hell.”
The historical account of the Battle of Thermopylae leaves us another, less familiar quotation. Plutarch attributes the line to Leonidas, while Herodotus gives it to Dienekes, acclaimed as the bravest of all Spartan warriors.
A Spartan soldier is said to have complained, “Because of the arrows of the barbarians, it is impossible to see the sun!” Leonidas (Plutarch) replied, “Won’t it be nice, then, if we shall have shade in which to fight them?”
According to Herodotus, Dienekes responded, “Good, then we shall have our battle in the shade!”
Whichever Greek historian you believe, no matter which Spartan hero you favor, the point is the same: Face the enemy. No excuses. Today we fight.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath