If you saw the movie 300, you essentially know the computer-generated and highly-stylized story of the Battle of Thermopylae. However, it is the real story of the Battle of Thermopylae that is far more inspiring.
It has been argued that, were it not for this battle and, ultimately, the defeat of the hordes of the Persian Empire at Salamis and, later, at Marathon, the nation-states of Greece would not have united as one nation. As a consequence, Western Civilization and all that Greece gave birth to (including the democratic principles of representative government, the western philosophy of Aristotle and others, as well as the United States itself) might never have occurred.
On November 2, 2010, America's Battle of Thermopylae will take place. This time, however, it is not the birth of Western Civilization that is at stake but, rather, whether we live as a free people, or succumb to the yoke of a government that does not care about the liberties that so many have fought and died for.
Over time, our nation's children and the simple-minded have been brainwashed into believing that enslaving freedom is "social justice," that the taking of liberty is "leveling the playing field," and that individual rights are inferior to the will of the masses.
While the last 18 months have been an awakening to many, our nation's fall has been long in the making.
Today, though, we see the evidence all around us that America may be at the end of her rope.
It is not one set of politicians or the other set of politicians. It is the addiction to power and control over a free people that has driven our nation to the brink of destruction. Whether by malice or asininity no longer matters.
Our nation will either live free, or it will perish. There, what so many have thought and many have uttered has now been stated...openly and publicly. 2010. This is our Thermopylae.
- Our nation's treasury has been looted by those entrusted with it;
- Our nation's debt is over $13 trillion and rising;
- Our children's future has been reduced to become nothing more than servants to the State in order to pay our nation's debt;
- We have been asked to bail out banks and auto companies;
- Labor union bosses control two branches of our federal government and a multitude of the states and municipalities;
- Union pensions are causing many states to teeter on the brink of bankruptcy, and we are being told we must loot our children's future even further by paying out another $165 billion to bail them out;
- We have thugs storming private property while the police stand idly by;
- Politicians refuse to secure our borders from terrorists or invaders from other nations
- Democrats want to eviscerate the First and Second Amendments of our Constitution and have taken over the health of our bodies; and
- Our nation's gulf shore lines are being ruined due to ineptness of our nation's leader.
America is near the end of its rope and we, as a people, will either use that rope to pull our nation up, or we will hang by the rope we give to our nation's rulers. It is an either-or alternative. There is no other alternative. And, it will be decided on November 2nd. America will either live to fight another day, or it is finished.
Like the allies at Thermopylae, the forces marshaled against the American citizenry are vast.
- Labor unions have vowed to spend more of their members' money on the 2010 mid-term elections than they did in 2008.
- Moveon.org boasts of 5 million members
- The Democratic National Committee's Organizing for America, with its 13-million member e-mail list, is spending $50 million on getting out the vote (GOTV) for November 2nd.
Raise Your Vote is part of a one-two punch on the part of Organizing for America and the Democratic National Committee. The first, of course, is using technology to get useful voters registered and to the polls. Other groups, notably Rock the Vote and the League of Women Voters, have done similar work in the past, though OFA has demonstrated a quiet competence in pulling together those efforts in this graceful a package.
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The second punch, though, is applying some of that Obama '08 organizing magic to the new and newish voters who flow through the site. "After we have that information," says Stewart when asked, "we're going to treat them like any first time voter." A 'chase program' includes following up with people who filled out a registration form on the site to make sure that they actually folded, stamped, and mailed their papers. (The Republican National Committee hasn't rolled out any comparable voter registration or information project.) And registering to vote includes the option of signing up to stay in contact with the DNC and OFA.
The Republican Party, by its abject failure to keep up with the machine that is the OFA, has been derelict in a core, fundamental principle in politics: GOTV.
This means, we, as Americans, we must do it ourselves if the nation is to survive to fight another day. This is our Thermopylae.
What you should be doing now...
- Forge alliances: Set aside petty differences and turf battles and vow to work together. Be you a Libertarian, Conservative, Independent or Moderate, save the bickering over individual policies or candidates until the nation is steady again. There is no difference between Libertarian, Conservative, Independent or Moderate if there is not a nation in which those debates cannot occur. Work together or perish.
- Embark on outreach: Ask friends and family alike, do you like the way our nation is headed? If they answer in the negative, then have them commit to you they will vote and, just as importantly, will help Get Out The Vote (GOTV). Then, fan out from there. Do you belong to a bowling league, a rifle club, a church or a synagogue? Get to work and do it now. The Marxist hordes have already begun their march to finish this war.
- Repeat numbers 1 and 2
- Follow up and follow through, develop lists including telephone numbers and e-mails
- Get Out the Vote on November 2nd.
America, this is it. While control of the federal apparatchik will not be wrested from the hands of the hordes, at least the destruction can be slowed. But only if you begin working now.
If we fail, America fails and a nation borne from the blood of patriots 234 years ago—who were inspired by warriors who died nearly 2500 years ago—will fall.
2010 is America's Thermopylae.
Cross-posted.
