- "By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world."
-------------- Ralph Waldo Emerson
Although the days of the minutemen who fought at Concord are long gone, on this anniversary of their fateful decision to stand and fight, I have a great hope that some of their spirit lives on in their descendents.
The minutemen found themselves thrust into a position of ultimate decision at a turning point in history. They chose to stand and defend what they believed was right, even if it meant their lives, their welfare, their homes and their futures would be at risk.
Today we face a similar turning point in America. Our choices are perhaps not as simple, but they still boil down to the the essential choice between submission to tyranny and standing firm for the freedom of the individual.
Our modern society is complex, and it challenges our liberty and our resolve day by day in little ways. We have an ever growing government which spends more and more money and demands more and more taxes. We have would-be leaders who are eager to dictate to us how we should learn, how we should live, how we should love, how we should die and how we should think. We have a population crippled by self-indulgence and dependence on government and our social institutions, unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives and sucking the marrow from the bones of our nation to feed their weakness. Our borders are assailed, our troops embattled on foreign soil, and in the bosom of our own land we harbor vipers who work every day against the values which built our nation. The truth has become their plaything to twist to serve their extremist agendas, the media answers their call like a loyal dog, and the rule of the day has become the rule of unreason - fearmongering, pandering, demagoguery and opportunism.
Article comments
1 - Temple Stark
Everybody says to speak out - until they become the tyrants.
2 - Bennett Dawson
Post this everywhere, every year, and to every one of your state reps.
I couldn't agree more with the thoughts and emotions contained in this essay.
Great writing Dave. Keep it up.
3 - gonzo marx
once agani..ya were going really well until i came across this..
Dave sez..
*For our nation to survive as what it was intended to be and not slide into a statist morass of European-style socialism*
that was the only sentence i could find fault in..seemed like ya just couldn't resist...
i just don't see how the Agenda of the current regime could be, in any way, described as a "statist morass of European style socialism"...
the new Bankruptcy law that leaves th eloopholes for folks like Ken Lay but screws working folks to the benefits of the Credit Card corporations?..nah..that ain't it..
how about the new "Class Action" legislation with it's windfall to big Business so that now all risk can be managed by actuarial tables with none of that silly paying the consequences for knowingly fucking up?
nope..not socialist there...
just a Thought...
why not just come out and say it..that the New Deal and the Great Society are one of the things you hate and want destroyed so we can go back to unregulated business fucking up what it likes for the handfull of robber barons, screw the rest...
but i digress...
except for that one bit...i really do like the rest of the Post, Mr. Nalle..
go with it..
Excelsior!
4 - Temple Stark
To be a little less cynical, something that is fearmongering to one person is comforting to another.
>>Your act of rebellion doesn't have to be flashy.
In fact in today's world that has proved to be so - anger rules the airwaves and Ann Coulter is on the cover of Time. The Minuteman Project, good or bad, has been self-admitted by it's leaders, the best at drawing attention to themselves and the problem more than anything else.
Clearly politicians do respond and need to respond more to those they represent - but for them to do so, they need to be attacked less by everyone - from party leaders to the blogosphere.
Also, the following means something entirely different for almost each person:
It's enough if you just resolve to stand up for truth and self-reliance wherever you can, to not let the lies in the media and in the halls of government and in our school classrooms stand unchallenged, and to take responsibility for every aspect of your life. Reject the gilded hand of government, because the other hand holds the iron shackles of oppression.
People will find different lies; people's views of opression at the hands of governent are not the same.
In short we will be shooting in different directions. We need to stand up, but first we need to fight for compromise. I agree with the over-all sentiment. The devil is in the details.
5 - Dave Nalle
The Great Gonzo:
"*For our nation to survive as what it was intended to be and not slide into a statist morass of European-style socialism*
that was the only sentence i could find fault in..seemed like ya just couldn't resist...
i just don't see how the Agenda of the current regime could be, in any way, described as a "statist morass of European style socialism"..."
I included that one to balance out the earlier "how we should die, how we should love" - which was clearly pointed at extremist Republicans. The point being that we shouldn't get sucked into the pitfalls of either of those mentalities.
Dave
6 - Dave Nalle
Temple Stark:
>>Clearly politicians do respond and need to respond more to those they represent - but for them to do so, they need to be attacked less by everyone - from party leaders to the blogosphere.<<
I'd actually like to see them attacked more, to the point where they live in fear of their constituencies.
>>Also, the following means something entirely different for almost each person:...People will find different lies; people's views of opression at the hands of governent are not the same.<<
And that's exactly how I intended it to be taken. The general things which people on both the right and the left should be concerned about are basically the same. It may be different people trying to push society in different directions, but whoever it is and whatever their agenda is, you should watch them and oppose them when they aren't doing good.
>>In short we will be shooting in different directions. We need to stand up, but first we need to fight for compromise. I agree with the over-all sentiment. The devil is in the details.<<
IMO the standing up seems to be the hard part and needs to be tackled first, the compromise can come later.
Dave
7 - RJ
In democratic politics, there is ALWAYS one group that gets its way, and another that gets shit upon.
That's just the nature of the beast.
So, there will be not "rising up" of the masses to form a new government that all can agree upon.
Hell, even during the War for American Independence, something like 30% of "Americans" were rooting for the Brits! And another 30% didn't lift a finger, one way or another.
8 - WTF
Oh comment 4!! Temple
Nice job of Monday morning quarterbackin'.... 20/20 hindsight, and all the stuff that sez... you talk it, but don't walk it, so your credibility is really zilch.
"The Minuteman Project, good or bad, has been self-admitted by it's leaders, the best at drawing attention to themselves and the problem more than anything else." -- Temple Stark
Don't you think the press might have had a hand in this?
and unless you have lived close to the border... you really wouldn't understand. I have, I moved, my insurance wanted to hold me liable for trespassers who hurt themselves on my property (and that’s just a snippit of a harbinger of things in store for the uninitiated down on the southern “choke point”
9 - Temple Stark
With all due respect there's nothing 20/20 about it. Have you not read or listened to the DIRECT quotes from the Minutemen themselves?
Try this one for just one example
Did you not read where I said "for good or bad." Of course the press had a part in it - but my point was that "flashy" works to get not only the press' attention but people's to. I didn't say that was a good thing either. However, when's the last time someone in NY even thought about the border?
The further point, especially related to this thread, is that a lot of people are glad there's attention on the matter.
I live 80 miles from the border in Casa Grande, AZ. I taked to people who love the Minuteman Project and everything they're doing. I have reported on it myself
I respect that you may not have known all this, but you might at least query more before jumping to conclusions.
If you're in that situation, I'll interview you. E-mail me. Everytime I ask this of someone here, they don't respond.
10 - Dave Nalle
I'm a bit mystified here. As I understand it the whole point of the Minuteman Project was to get press, public and government attention on the problem of illegal immigration. Seems like they've done a pretty good job of that, so where's the problem?
Dave
11 - Deano
Not to quibble, but the "Shot Heard Round the World" was at Lexington, not Concord.
Post polemics if you will, but try to make them historically accurate polemics...
12 - RJ
"when's the last time someone in NY even thought about the border?"
I dunno, but they should. NY has a rather long border with a foreign country...
13 - Dave Nalle
>>Not to quibble, but the "Shot Heard Round the World" was at Lexington, not Concord.<<
Actually, you're wrong. The battle of Lexington lasted for 15 minutes and consisted of a line of militiament on the village common who attempted to disperse when ordered to by the British, and then accidentally fired a gun and were then fired on as they ran away. The British troops then proceeded to Concord where they faced minutemen defending a bridge - the event referenced in the Emerson poem which was written for the dedication of a monument to the battle in Concord.
>>Post polemics if you will, but try to make them historically accurate polemics...<<
After 20 years teaching US History you can count on me to get the facts straight. Here's a link to a military history course text if you won't take my word for it: battle.
Dave
14 - Shark
With this messy, convoluted "speech" full of BLOWHARD JINGOISMS, Professor of History Dave Nalle -- aka The King of Hysterical Hyperbole -- also sets a new indoor record for cliches per square inch!
And check out this "call to arms":
Herr Nalle: "Brace yourself for the possibility that we may have to tear it all down and start again... and people like you are going to have to step up and do the work of forming a new political consensus."
Hey, Dave, I'll volunteer to rent the U-Haul...
if you bring the *fertilizer!
*and I don't mean more scripts from your "speeches".
15 - deano
Dave,
I think where we differ on this was that the poem places it at the bridge in Concord while the actual opening shots of the war were at Lexington, including the one shot (source unidentified) that triggered the exchange of gunfire and set off the revolutionary war (not that it wouldn't have started anyway another five minutes down the road). The site you linked to manifestly notes that first shots were at Lexington Green - not Concord. I've quoted the relevant passage below:
"At dawn Smith's advanced parties under the command of Major Pitcairn, arrived at Lexington Green to see a group of armed Militia in formation across the Green. Pitcairn ordered the militia, led by John Parker, to be surrounded and disarmed. In response Parker ordered his men to disperse. Then a shot rang out. No one really knows who fired first, but the British, hearing the shot, fired upon the small group of militia, killing 8, and wounding 10 more. The militia then retreated into the woods to avoid the British fire. So started the first battle in the American Revolutionary War."
However you do appear to be correct in that Emerson identifies the "Shot Heard Round the World" as the shots fired by the Minutemen at Concord. Poetic license I suppose...
16 - Deano
One more brief-follow-up:
According to that great historical source - Schoolhoouse Rock:
"{The British are comin'! The British are comin'!}
Now the ride of Paul Revere
Set the nation on its ear,
And the shot at Lexington
Heard round the world.
When the British fired
In the early dawn,
The War of Independence had begun,
The die was cast, the rebel flag unfurled.
And on to Concord marched the foe,
To seize the arsenal there you know,
Waking folks, searching all around.
Till our militia stopped them in their tracks,
At the Old North Bridge, we turned them back
And chased those Redcoats back to Boston town.
And the shot heard round the world
Was the start of the revolution.
The minutemen were ready, on the move.
Take your powder, take your gun,
Report to General Washington,
Hurry men, there's not an hour to lose.
Now at famous Bunker Hill,
Even though we lost, it was quite a thrill.
The rebel Colonel Prescott proved he was wise.
Outnumbered and low on ammunition,
As the British stormed his position,
He said, "Hold your fire till you see the whites of their eyes."
Though the next few years were rough,
General Washington's men proved they were tough.
Those hungry, ragged boys would not be beat.
One night they crossed the Delaware,
Surprised the Hessians in their lair,
And at Valley Forge they just bundled up their feet.
Now the shot heard round the world
Was the start of the revolution.
The minutemen were ready, on the move.
Take your blanket, take your son,
Report to General Washington.
We've got our rights and now it's time to prove.
Well, they showed such determination
That they won the admiration
Of countries 'cross the sea like France and Spain.
Who loaned the colonies ships and guns
And put the British on the run,
And the Continental Army on its feet again.
And though they lost some battles too,
The Americans swore they'd see it through.
Their raiding parties %shut up, hit and run.%
At Yorktown the British could not retreat,
Bottled up by Washington and the French Fleet,
Cornwallis surrendered and finally we had won.
}} {The winner!}
}} {Hurray!}
From the shot heard round the world,
To the end of the revolution,
The continental rabble took the day.
And the father of our country
beat the British there at Yorktown,
and brought freedom to you and me and the U.S.A.
God bless America!
Let freedom ring!"
And we all know that Schoolhouse Rock is a DEFINATIVE Source!
17 - Dave Nalle
Deano, I think the key thing is that it was at Concord that the minutement at that bridge actually stood their ground and fought - at least briefly. The 'battle' of Lexington doesn't earn the same historical consideration, because it was so brief and so meaningless. It wasn't even a skirmish. It was basically 75 colonists running and hiding as fast as they could without getting shot. They barely returned fire at all. The image of the minutemen standing their ground at Concord is a lot more memorable than the image of them turning tail and running at Lexington. Plus Concord was the actual target of the mini-campaign because it was where the militia had been storing their armory and that was why the British were headed there. Lexington was just a brief stop on the way.
Dave