By: Jim O’Neill
Gulag Bound

“There is no retreat but in submission and slavery!  Our chains are forged!
…The war is inevitable – and let it come!  I repeat it, sir, let it come.
…Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
Forbid it, Almighty God!  I know not what course others may take but as for me;
give me liberty or give me death.”
– Patrick Henry (1736-1799)

The “Restore the Constitution” rally on 11/11/11 had everything one could wish for — passion, power, and pumped-up patriotism — everything but people.  Nonetheless, the undiluted “Spirit of ’76” soon made me stop counting heads, and start counting blessings.

I flew into Reagan International from Tampa on the morning of Veterans Day, this past Friday.  I arrived a little after 9:00am and made my way by Metrorail to the Smithsonian, after which I walked the short distance to the National Mall, and the Washington Monument.

I should have brought my Daniel Boone coonskin cap with me, as my usually dependable inner-compass was on the fritz that day.  Not seeing signs of any rally after walking 180 degrees around the Washington Monument, I followed a small group of veterans who were walking toward the Lincoln Memorial.

A one-inch wide, four-foot long crack was spotted Wednesday in the Washington Monument's pyramidion, near the very top of the 555-foot obelisk. (U.S. Park Police Aviation)

It turned out that they were heading to the National WW II Memorial, so I found another group of veterans who looked like they knew where they were going, and followed them in turn.  They did indeed know where they were going — to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall.  This was, again, not where I wanted to go, so I started back-tracking my way to the Washington Monument.

(Sidebar: For those of you who may not know, the earthquake that hit the Washington DC area last summer left the Washington Monument in bad shape.  Also, the famous Reflecting Pool isn’t reflecting squat these days — it is closed for repairs and renovation until next spring, and is currently filled with dirt).  Link  Link

I made my way back to Washington’s Monument, and headed for the area that I had bypassed earlier, and soon found the “Restore the Constitution” rally — it was hard to miss actually, with Patrick Henry and George Washington impersonators dressed in period costumes, and a scattering of thirteen star, Gadsden, and present day American flags.  Link

Last Friday was a chilly and blustery day in DC, but I was “dressed for success” in flannel-lined blue jeans, turtle-neck, heavy shirt, hooded sweat-shirt, watch cap, and fleece vest.  I made my way to the stage and introduced myself to JB Williams who was introducing each speaker.  JB asked me if I would speak a few words to the gathering, and I said “Of course.”

I walked to the podium and started by saying that I had some good news, and some bad news.  The bad news was that I was a writer, not a speaker.  The good news was that my talk would be short — and so it was.

I said that we needed to have the same resolve as the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, who when told to surrender their weapons by the invading Persians replied “Molon labe!” — which basically means “Come and get ’em!”

(Sidebar: I researched how to pronounce molon labe, and several websites agreed that it is pronounced mo–lone lah-vay.  Shortly after I finished speaking a gentleman came up to me and said “I speak Greek — it’s mo-lone lah-bay.”  Oh well).

“We the people” need that Spartan resolve — but not their defensive attitude.  The time for drawing lines in the sand is past — saying “This far and no farther.”  That has been the scenario followed time and time again over the last century in America.

The Progressives slowly built up the structures of big government bit by bit, decade by decade, and each time conservatives got the reins of power back they would draw a line in the sand and say “No more!”  Then the Progressives would come into power again, and again increase the power, and scope, and control of government.  Until the conservatives came into office in their turn, and drew another line in the sand — always farther back than the one before.

This retreat, hold — retreat, hold — retreat, hold scenario has been replayed until there is now nowhere left to retreat to, and the status quo is no longer worthy of holding.  The America of today is barely worth defending.  The only way out is forward — attack!

“We the people” need to combine the resolve of the 300 Spartans, with the passion, patriotism, and spirit of 1776.  We must recover the ground that we have lost to duplicitous, unscrupulous, traitorous weasels, and we must retake America.   We must retake it, remake it, and reinvigorate it — it is our right, and it is our duty!  If “we the people” do not do it, it will not get done.

I pointed up at the cracked, damaged, but still standing Washington Monument rising above our heads.  Engraved on an aluminum capstone on the top of the obelisk’s pyramidion are the words “Laus Deo” — “Praise be to God.”  Those words are the first thing that the morning sun strikes each day in our nation’s capital.

I finished my short talk by saying that with the unwavering resolve of the 300 Spartan’s “molon labe,” coupled with the spirit of “Laus Deo” guiding us, “we the people” must make America once again into “one nation under God,” the “shining city on a hill.”  I then had the privilege of introducing Judi McLeod, the editor of “Canada Free Press” (CFP).

I met a number of people for the first time that day — Judy McLeod and Brian Thompson of CFP, JB Williams of Patriot’s Union, Col. Harry Riley of VDA (Veteran Defenders of America) and many others; forgive me if I do not mention all the names, as there were quite a few.  One lady gave me an apple “that came all the way with me from Michigan.”  Although I did not get to speak with Harry MacKay, who impersonated Patrick Henry, I did exchange a few words with James Manship, who impersonated George Washington.

I knew that each person who was there represented tens-of-thousands who, for various reasons, could not be at the rally in person — although I knew for sure that they would have liked to have been there, and were there in spirit.  I also knew that because word about the rally had been slow in getting out, and the venues promoting it were few, that I should not be surprised by a relatively sparse attendance, and I wasn’t.

My one regret is, because of my delayed arrival, I did not get to hear all of the speakers.  The ones that I did get to hear were inspiring and uplifting.  Perhaps it was the pure distilled patriotic spirit that surrounded me; perhaps it was the knowledge that small groups of similar patriots are busy taking back America, town by town, county by county, state by state, but as the rally wound down, and I prepared to make my way back to Florida, I stood in the fading fall sunlight and felt at peace.  Link  Link  Link  Link

I was at peace because I felt the “having done all, to stand” release that comes from having done your duty.  I did the footwork, and as always, left the results up to God.  America may or may not make it through the coming trials and tribulations.  If she falls, she will not be the first great country to do so.  It is a hard thing, but I have no Ozymandian hubris about America’s everlasting greatness.  God’s will be done.  Link  Link

I know that Wall Street and US government representatives are ripping off “we the people” and stealing all they can, while they can.  I know that our government is riddled with traitors, our military with Quislings, and our culture with perversion.  I know all this and more, and I stood with other patriots at the bottom of the hill that the Washington Monument stands on, and bore witness to the decay and depravity in America, and for a few hours at least, polished to a bright sheen her honored past and cherished traditions.

One way or another, probably from several different directions at once, the s–t is about to hit the fan.  There is a very real chance that the United States of America will end up splintered and balkanized into embattled regions, states, and enclaves.  I have done my duty as best I could see it, and stood tall for America in our nation’s capital.

The future is uncertain; hard facts and dire circumstances confront us, and the hard work of restoring liberty lies ahead of us (if God graces us with such an opportunity), but the “spirit of ’76” is alive and well — you just have to know where to look for it.  Last Friday I found it in Washington DC.  May God bless America, and may she long endure!

Laus Deo.

Born in June of 1951 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jim O’Neill proudly served in the U.S. Navy from 1970-1974 in both UDT-21 (Underwater Demolition Team) and SEAL Team Two. A member of MENSA, he worked as a commercial diver in the waters off Scotland, India, and the United States. In 1998 while attending the University of South Florida as a journalism student, O’Neill won “First Place” in the “Carol Burnett/University of Hawaii AEJMC Research in Journalism Ethics Award.” The annual contest was set up by Carol Burnett with the money she won from successfully suing the National Enquirer for libel. Over the last few years, Jim has regularly written for Canada Free Press and now has a personal blog, ConstitutionalWrites.com.

Graphics and video added by Gulag Bound

Gulag Note:

For more on this rally, see Judi McLeod’s “Restoring the Constitutional Republic Rally in DC” in Canada Free Press.