A GOP Leonidas

Ah, spring, a time when people’s minds turn to activities outdoors. A time when the flowers bloom and leaves gather on the trees. A time when young men’s fancies turn to, ah, turn to…Well I guess I forgot that one. No I didn’t forget it, I have just been distracted by all of the hot wind blowing in Washington, DC.

The Cherry Blossom Parade was almost cancelled in DC over the weekend because of the, dat dat daaaaa “IMPENDING GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN”. Oh the horror!!! Oh, the humanity!!! Oh what a big pile of malarkey. Now that these knuckleheads and DC have announced an agreement, do you feel better or do you feel like you need a shower again?

During the week that these people wasted our time and TV by giving us up to the minute lines of bull, they were negotiating over $61 billion dollars, our nation’s debt increased by $51.4 billion dollars. When all was said and done, at least for now, they agreed to $38.5 billion in cuts. Dang, that was a close one. We almost went over the edge.

It’s good to know that the week really cost conservatives $73.9 billion dollars. And by the way, didn’t the House Speaker and the Republican Party promise us a $100 billion dollars? Hummmn? That’s what we all thought.

With such outstanding work done by the Republican Party again, it begs the question. How are the Republicans going to get any real cuts or reforms accomplished for those American voters that gave them the control of the House of Representatives? Average, everyday, conservative American’s are getting to the point with the GOP that they almost wish the GOP would just come out and say to conservatives and Tea Party people, “just shut up and stay out of it. We know what is best for you now just vote for us and get out of the way.” That at least, would be honest.

Maybe conservatives are being too hard on the GOP? Maybe they're doing the best they can? This is probably true. Maybe House Republican’s see the trees in the forest and their voter base can just see the forest fire. The GOP may be correct in using picks, shovels and axes to methodically cut a fire line through the woods in an effort to stop this economic Armageddon. Maybe, maybe not. From the outside, their conservative base just sees the same old thing out of Washington. Republican’s doing whatever the Democrats want them to do in an effort to “just get along”.

The thing is this, sometimes the buyer just wants a little satisfaction with its purchase. Maybe the conservatives and the Tea Party just want a moment, even just a small Alamo moment, a Custer’s Last Stand moment, so to speak from the GOP. The Republican would do itself a huge and I mean HUGE favor if it just once, for its Tea Party base would find a hill, even a tiny hill and fight to the end on it.

The far right and the conservative right of center are looking for their own version of our Founding Fathers. “Give me liberty or give me death” or at least a taste of “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor”. They are not only looking for someone to stand as our Founding Fathers but also someone, symbolically at least, with the courage to be their modern day Leonidas I.

In August 480 BC, Leonidas set out to meet Xerxes' army at Thermopylae with a small force of 300 Spartan warriors. Eventually the Persians brought upwards of 200,000 fighters against the Spartan warrior king. History records their heroic feats. Conservatives are just looking for a Republican with that kind of courage to face the impeding onslaught of the Democrats and their progressive lap dogs in the main stream media. A true conservative will have to have that courage to face down the enemy in the coming two years leading up to the next elections.

To quote George William Curtis quotes (American social reformer, author and editor, 1824-1892) “Every great crisis of human history is a pass of Thermopylae, and there is always a Leonidas and his three hundred to die in it, if they can not conquer.”

Conservatives know that republicans can not win every battle. They know that Democrats control the Senate and the White House and that they will have to compromise with them. It is a fact of life, like it or not. But the important thing here for the GOP to remember is this. When it comes to the freedoms and rights that our nation was built on, the conservative right of the party along with its Tea Party brothers and sisters has chosen to borrow the words of Leonidas. The Spartan king’s two word response to Xerxes, the king of Persia, when he demanded that the Spartans lay down their arms. One of the most famous military quotes ever. Μολών λαβέ ! (Molon labe : Come and get them!)

Just a small showing of true American patriot hood by the Grand Old Party would endear them to their base. A victory, a true victory, however small that shows their willingness to persevere in the fight could become a new battle cry for the republic. “Come and get them” and “Remember the Alamo”. Come on Speaker Boehner, Time to stand and deliver you Republican warrior and the right will stand with you. “Up the Irons” and “Damn the torpedos, full speed ahead”.

Photo Credit: “Leonidas. The Spartan king” statue, GNU Free Documentation License