Cattail Swamp-Red Fox - Michael Sieve Diversity of Animal World
The Swamp Fox. Smithsonian Magazine’s story “Elusive and crafty, Gen. Francis Marion outwitted British troops during the American Revolution”
“Marion, known as the "Swamp Fox," invited the British soldier to share breakfast. According to a legend that grew out of the much-repeated anecdote, the British officer was so inspired by the Americans' resourcefulness and dedication to the cause—despite their lack of adequate provisions, supplies or proper uniforms—that he promptly switched sides and supported American independence.”
“Although Francis Marion led surprise attacks against the British, and was known for his cunning and resourcefulness, Mel Gibson played The Patriot's Marion-inspired protagonist as an action hero.”
“Because the British never knew where Marion was or where he might strike, they had to divide their forces, weakening them. By needling the enemy and inspiring patriotism among the locals, Busick says, Marion "helped make South Carolina an inhospitable place for the British. Marion and his followers played the role of David to the British Goliath.""
“Francis Marion never commanded a large army or led a major battle. Histories of the Revolutionary War tend to focus on George Washington and his straightforward campaigns in the North, rather than small skirmishes in the South. Nevertheless, the Swamp Fox is one of the war's most enduring characters. "His reputation is certainly well deserved," says Busick. Though things looked bad for the Americans after Charleston fell, Marion's cunning, resourcefulness and determination helped keep the cause of American independence alive in the South.”
As we see our the United States descend from a nation of laws to a nation of men, arbitrary and capricious applications of the law as a weapon against political opponents and dissent, the grips of totalitarianism growing stronger around us writ large, with widespread surveillance systems, propaganda, censorship of ideas considered subversive, labeled “dangerous dis/misinformation, and many of our friends, family, neighbors and colleagues oblivious or complicit in the destruction of American ideals the War of Independence was fought for, it’s easy to despair.
As threats from abusive overlords governing The Swamp are set on We, The People, many are bullied and intimidated in silence and obedience.
Make no mistake, the information gathering and databases being compiled have already noted who’s been naughty and who’s been nice. Even many of us here on Substack have been flagged as potential domestic enemies of the state. You (and I) are likely already on lists of enemies, or of friends, and of criminals, or of those above the law, and of those to reward incrementally, or of those to crush opportunistically. A nation of men, not laws. Lady Liberty’s blindfold is off.
There is a way to protect ourselves and defeat this enemy that may seem counterintuitive. That enemy's list. Filled with names of those who seek wrong ideas, express ideas of defiance, go wrong places. That list we see allies pulled from and targeted for persecution and prosecution. The injustices that are intended to intimidate us and drive our resistance to despair or deeper underground.
That list mustn’t frighten us from sharing our truths and trying to help others find them. That’s the sure-fire way freedom loses. We must add to it, not allow it to shrink. We must grow it. We must not hide our strength in numbers in fear of suffering the wrath of our overlords. We must resist the natural urge to duck into self-preservation mode.
Land of the free. Home of the brave. That is what bravery looks like in this new war. Wherever they say go we go the opposite direction. Wherever they say don't go we go to. When they declare something "dangerous dis/misinformation" conspiracy sources we turn to them first for information. When they say an organization is a hate organization we ask how to join it. When someone is declared persona non grata and cancelled we embrace them. Even if we think they are distasteful and offensive ourselves.
We don't shrink our numbers and cower in fear as they want us to do. We grow them. Our resolve grows to do that which they say we cannot or ought not do.
The law of the Serengeti applies. We must grow the size of our herd to protect us from the predators. Yes, some will be picked off and lose everything. But the herd survives. Even lions stand aside for a herd of gazelles. There are more of us. Herd protection is a real thing. Not just for infectious disease.
It requires bravery. Doing what we know to be right. It doesn't mean commit crimes of violence or other naturally unsympathetic acts that violate the morals and conscience of natural law. But violating man's law, a positive law system of man's administrative fancy isn't naturally unsympathetic or immoral. Walking against the arrows in a supermarket might anger the Karen's. But nobody else, it is not immoral, others may only get annoyed.
Even associating with the truly distasteful and offensive may seem odious for our personal tastes. The ACLU sent Jewish lawyers out to defend Nazi's for the longest time (before they went woke) to protect and defend the American principles and values of free speech, free ideas, free expression.
This. This is how we reclaim our birthright and the blessings bequeathed upon us by our nation's forefathers, by God Almighty himself. Our national cemeteries are filled with those who gave their all, their last final measure to protect our values of liberty and justice for all.
Freedom truly isn't free. It's not just a saying once paid for forever paid for. It must be paid by all generations that wish to be free. For now, the cost of freedom is primarily a cancel culture penalty. We might lose our jobs, friends, family members. We might wake up to lasers on our chests from armed DOJ goons at 5am and sent to a gulag in a faraway hostile district to be judged by non-peers in a show trial and sentenced to hard time.
But we fight for our freedom as I've described anyways. And when one falls to the fire of our overlords we pick up their fight and continue the attack. In wars of old the flagbearer led the attacks. And all in the army followed it into fire. Enemies aimed their fire at the flagbearer until he dropped. And then the closest to the flag picked it up, continuing the charge until he too was felled. Over and over. Each who picked up the flag knew they had about 30 seconds of life left in this world. And they picked it up anyways. True bravery.
If the army was filled with brave souls it would become the fiercest, most feared army of all. Those armies that let the flag lie on the ground were routed. A flag running to the rear was an army retreating, suffering a defeat.
What is our army of freedom and liberty made of? These are the times that try our souls. Do we want freedom enough to suffer the harms and indignities meted out by this adversarial government and commerce system? Are we made of the right stuff that those who came before us were?
We must grow our herd of the brave and find safety in our numbers. This doesn’t mean we are foolhardy, take unnecessary risks. We have to be clever and crafty, recruit even those currently positioned against us, like Gen. Francis Marion did. We don’t go away. We don’t let them forget we are here. We divide their resources so they aren’t able to concentrate against other bastion’s of freedom.
We must not allow our herd to shrink with each of us cowering in the night, afraid of the door bursting in at night. Censoring ourselves, obeying in hopes the predators pass us by. One path is thought risky, one path is thought safe. But only the risky path leads to freedom. The safe path leads to slavery. Or a slow, passive death. Of body and soul. The Swamp Fox. An American Revolutionary War hero. An inspiration for those of us standing with David against Goliath.
Happy Independence Day! Let's earn it!