Of Mice and Minutemen
April 21st, 2006




Minutemen -- ready for battle in a minute's notice; enthusiastic, reliable, strong. Not too many nations can boast of such a term, such a legend, or such a reality. There are a few, but none so much as America, where the citizen-soldier is the embodiment of Independence and resolve.



There is a remarkable difference between a subject and a citizen, between one dependent upon one's government and one dependent upon no one.



Two recent examples:



On September 11th, 2001, thousands were killed while millions helplessly watched. But beyond the spectators, and among some survivors and some victims, were seen glorious acts of self-sacrifice and, thereby, the greatest act of love -- laying down one's life for a friend, in a moment when even a perfect stranger becomes that dear and worthy friend.



Many of these acts were seen only by God, who saw them all, but some were witnessed, and some have become the stuff of legends. Legends are good when they can be used to refresh and reinspire those who were far away from the original moment. Or who have forgotten. Legends can unify and point the visions of many into one focused direction.



One week from today, Americans will get an opportunity to, for a couple of hours, immerse themselves in the retelling of such a legend. On April 28th, in (thus far) 1700 theaters around the country, Paul Greengrass via Universal Pictures will present United 93, an (according to The Hollywood Reporter) "emphatic political document, a movie about defiance against tyranny and terrorism." A story from that horrific September day of collective and individual civilian, no-chance-to-survive-make-your-time defiance.



Everyday, men and women and, really, boys and girls, volunteer themselves to take up that mantle, to willingly don the uniform of that defiance, even at the risk of never seeing the fruit of that labor. As President George W. Bush has said, "We exercise power without conquest, and we sacrifice for the liberty of strangers."



But Minutemen do not only summon up that courage when the danger is foreign, sometimes the danger is more subtle, not flaring up in an instant but rather in a slow smoking that will burn brightly eventually nonetheless.



What is perhaps the cheekiest component of the Minuteman persona is the defiance towards the domestic danger, even if only cloaked in the banal banner of bureaucracy, and thus we arrive at the second example: Chris Simcox and his band of undocumented border patrollers, who have made a gesture of such true American spirit, one can really only stand up and cheer, or, at the very least, chuckle.



From yesterday's Associated Press: "Minuteman border watch leader Chris Simcox has a message for President Bush: Build new security fencing along the border with Mexico or private citizens will."



Regardless of how one feels about a fence, it's hard not to love the bravura. This is really the defining of the American attitude -- if something has to be done, and the government is blathering and dithering and doing meanwhile nothing, this does not in any way mean that it will not get done.



If more folks around the world took upon themselves this courage and determination, we'd have a lot less sacrificing to do on their behalf.



If illegal immigrants, instead of marching through the streets of America with demands, marched through their native streets with such passion, we might not need a fence.



If subjects of tyranny collectively realized that death was preferable to tacitly accepting barbarity, we'd need less uniforms.



And if the folks in charge find it easier to succumb to the mob than honor the law-abiding, they needn't be surprised when the law is taken back into the People's hands, from where it was taken. That ain't vigilantism, it's the American way.




Thread posted here.