I want you to watch the YouTube video, below. Twice. Savor every word. It is the greatest locker room speech of all time. You may already know it, but watch it anyway, for you’ll see things this time you never saw before. You’ll notice that our old friend at RS is mentioned twice, first at the beginning, “he who has no stomach for this fight”, and near the end, “all men now abed will hold their manhoods cheap that they were not with us on this day”.
And you’ll see yourselves mentioned, “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers…We are but warriors for the working day…but our hearts are in the trim.”
And finally, you will hear our commission to insure this lesson is never lost again, “This story shall the good man teach his children” .
Watch it and listen.
The Common Man’s Commission
The Founders never intended that the common men and women of America should have to do what we are called upon to do this week.
Of course, we are supposed to vote, but the grand blueprint of the Constitution was always that our daily contribution to the Republic would be to simply pursue life, liberty and happiness and keep our elected officials on a short leash. It was not designed that we should rescue the Republic, for it was not designed that our protectors would abandon their posts.
But for over fifty years or more, they failed, first in drips and drabs, then in larger doses; bribed, cajoled, prodded, force-fed and sated in their own vanities and appetites, while we fell asleep in our duty to maintain a tight rein. We neglected the very foundations of our House.
So perhaps this commission is our just penance.
But now you must save the Republic. Only mind you, only you can save it.
It does not end here. It begins here. No longer can we allow liars, thieves, mountebanks and pettifoggers to steal our purse, our futures and our sacred honor, while corrupting us with rewards for indolence, seducing us to stop thinking like free men and women.
At the end of that Battle of Agincourt in Henry V, King Hal told his bloodied troops “God fought for us.” Indeed, God chose sides in this fight at the beginning of Time, waiting only to see if we have chosen His side this time, instead of waiting for Him to choose ours.
‘And How thous pleaseth God, Dispose the day”
He will choose us again if we prove we merit His renewed Trust.