“I don’t want to get any messages saying, ‘I am holding my position.’ We are not holding a goddamned thing. Let the Germans do that. We are advancing constantly and we are not interested in holding onto anything, except the enemy’s balls. We are going to twist his balls and kick the living shit out of him all of the time. Our basic plan of operation is to advance and to keep on advancing regardless of whether we have to go over, under, or through the enemy. We are going to go through him like crap through a goose; like shit through a tin horn!”
US Army Gen. George S. Patton, from a speech to the Third Army (1944)
I want to take a moment today to make an observation. You’re welcome to construe it as advice: Every action, every step we take, either takes us closer to what we want (or what we say we want), or it takes us farther away.
Stalemate and inaction are the enemies of advancement. There are no exceptions.
I understand that not everyone admires what Deb and I have done over the last two years. That’s to be expected. These are our dreams, however, no one else’s, and we’ve willed them into reality by evaluating everything we do in the context of what we truly want — either it gets us closer or it doesn’t.
If it seems like we’ve come a long way in a short time, that’s why.
We’ve steadfastly avoided excuses and contentment. We’ve done uncomfortable things. And perhaps most important, we’ve resisted the temptation to sabotage ourselves — that is, the tendency to act against our own interests, whether blissfully or inadvertently, or taking on obligations that bind us to the past.
In short, we’ve done what works, unromantically and with a clear understanding of our actions’ effects.
Why do I bring this up now? Politics.
The national Republican Party is a clown car. After squandering a once-in-a-century opportunity for a “red wave,” this week we’ve seen the House GOP muster a circular firing squad. The chamber can’t convene to conduct the People’s business — or begin to reverse atrocities wrought by progressives — until a speaker is elected, and a handful of principled firebrands are blocking the presumptive choice.
Let me be clear — I respect (and largely share) the values on which the mutineers stand. I have no wish to see an establishment RINO from the People’s Republic of California with the speaker’s gavel, putting the Uniparty third in line for the presidency.
But thrashing isn’t the same thing as acting. And the actions that true Americans seek will come from governing, not posturing. The time for grandstanding has passed.
This small group of far-right legislators — or legislators-elect, since they won’t be seated until this nonsense ends — is walking away from what they all say they want. If they don’t wise up, and soon, the House will have a Republican majority and a Democrat speaker.
Think back on the events of January 6th, 2020. I’m already on-record as having no problem whatsoever with the People storming the bastions of illegitimate or destructive power, and that I agree fundamentally with what brought those angry Americans to the steps of the Capitol. But what happened that day wasn’t an act of revolution — it was the convulsions of a mob. It was an act against interest. It moved America farther away from restoration.
Put another way: That’s not how this works. That’s not how any of this works.
The rabble of Republican reps either will figure that out or they won’t. They’ll either die on this hill, delaying (or sabotaging) the possible advancement of an agenda they claim to support, or they’ll realize that they’re there to govern and this theatrical Charlie Foxtrot will come to an end.
There’s another potential outcome here — in the face of insurmountable (albeit infinitesimal) opposition, the presumptive nominee withdraws. The problem with that scenario, at least for the mutineers, is that there are enough useless moderates in the House to virtually guarantee that a RINO will get the gavel anyway
A change of leadership is essential to saving our country. Government must be smaller and more accountable to the People. And it’s obvious, now more than ever before, that none of that will come from today’s national Republican Party.
It’ll have to come from us or it won’t come at all. It’s time to act and advance.
I’ll end with a couple of gratuitous images of last night’s dinner — chicken from Hutch’s.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB
One thought on “Act. Advance.”
Comments are closed.