Don’t Sit Down, John! – Bill Reader

Posted on by Sarah A. Hoyt

It is a tradition that I got from my friend Sarah that I watch 1776: The Musical on Independence Day. It’s a flawed gem, unquestionably. It’s brilliant where it isn’t terrible. But I watch it less for its cohesion and thorough historical accuracy than I do for a yearly reminder.

I appreciate that yearly reminders are lame. I’m not yet so old I don’t remember thinking that. Especially because life seems like nothing but a long string of them. And yet, we keep forgetting, and so we need reminding. The whole film/play, every inch of it, is summed up and embodied by Benjamin Franklin near the end.

“…what will posterity think we were–demigods? We’re men–no more, no less–trying to get a nation started against greater odds than a more generous God would have allowed.”
It’s something that, almost two and a half centuries hence, we still can’t quite get our head around. The founding fathers are viewed as a kind of amorphous hive-mind of freedom, and as a unit the founding fathers (TM) are credited with almost saintly selflessness and superhuman ability. And doubtless they were, many of them, quite accomplished men. But it is important to remember that they were men. Brave, mostly, quite successful, mostly.

But they felt, as much as any of us, the burdens, grinds, and fears of daily life. Moreso, in fact, living in a less technologically advanced time and having fewer resources to salve their pains.

So the next time you think about the revolution, think instead of this. Imagine you, your most talented friends, plus an array of equally talented friends-of-friends you didn’t necessarily like, got together in your garage and planned a revolution. That’s perhaps a bit strong. After all, the continental congress was convened somewhat more formally. But it’s a lot closer to the truth than a brain-storming session on mount Olympus.

I want you to remember that, the next time you think you can’t stand up to this or that power structure. Yes, Obama has the IRS, FBI, NSA… the whole can of alphabet soup. But you have a G*d-given right to stand when others tell you to kneel. It’s a lot more powerful than it looks, as better tyrants have learned before him.

Now I have always included this caveat: you are not required to be stupid. I understand the problem. But the economy looks to me to be well and truly cratering. The job market is a not-very-funny joke. The punch line is either “part-time” or “Obamacare”. And regulations are being piled on at a rate of knots. The EPA regulations alone are going to bleed us dry.

Maybe the time has already come for you. Maybe it hasn’t. Maybe it won’t, though if this goes on long enough I can almost guarantee you it will. You might look around you and realize you have very little left to lose.

If you’ve been knocked down by this mess, believe me, I sympathize. But if you can spare a moment from trying to make ends meet, we need you. Your country needs you. Maybe you’ve been quiet for a long time because the ruthless partisans across the aisle tend to have problems with non-compliance. That’s how a lot of jobs work these days. But if they’ve knocked you down and out, ask yourself how much worse it can actually get before you let habit dictate your choice in whether to speak. Freedom is granted, ultimately, by no one except yourself.

And if your instinctive reaction is that you are too uninteresting, ordinary, or humble to assert your beliefs, remember that the men who walked before you cast a shadow no taller than your own. They were brave, but to downplay the weaknesses they fought cheapens the victory they won. And like them, you don’t need to wait for a savior, or hope someone comes to fix things. The revolutionary the country needs… the person who will stand up for our principles and assert their correctness against bitter opposition… will be found not in a history book. There, sadly, you will find mostly saints, and they are all long gone. You and I have only our mirror.

110 thoughts on “Don’t Sit Down, John! – Bill Reader”

  1. Talking about saints vs. humans, something seemingly “heretical” I was told once about Jesus Christ applies to what you just said. The Bible says He is the God-Man, both fully man, and fully God, and so people downplay what He did — he could resist sin because he was God, etc. But if you look closely at the scriptures, everything He did, even the miracles, He did in His strength as a man, not as God — He only acted as the Father directed. He did this so we would know that we, too, could do all He did, by reliance on the Father.

    Why do I mention that? Because it is the same model you mention with the Founding Fathers, where we see demi-gods and deny their humanity. In both cases it gives us an excuse not to act with the power and potential we have been given.

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    1. “Because it is the same model you mention with the Founding Fathers, where we see demi-gods and deny their humanity. In both cases it gives us an excuse not to act with the power and potential we have been given.”

      Seconded.

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  2. The ONLY person we have to look to is that person we see in the mirror every morning. It is up to us to be what we can be. Dale Wimbrow’s poem from 1934 says it all…
    When you get all you want and you struggle for pelf,
    and the world makes you king for a day,
    then go to the mirror and look at yourself
    and see what that man has to say.
    For it isn’t your mother, your father or wife
    whose judgment upon you must pass,
    but the man, whose verdict counts most in your life
    is the one staring back from the glass.
    He’s the fellow to please,
    never mind all the rest.
    For he’s with you right to the end,
    and you’ve passed your most difficult test
    if the man in the glass is your friend.
    You may be like Jack Horner and “chisel” a plum,
    And think you’re a wonderful guy,
    But the man in the glass says you’re only a bum
    If you can’t look him straight in the eye.
    You can fool the whole world,
    down the highway of years,
    and take pats on the back as you pass.
    But your final reward will be heartache and tears
    if you’ve cheated the man in the glass.

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    1. Nice sentiment, and one which I share, but … Does anybody think Bill Clinton or Barack Obama has any problem meeting the gaze of the man in their mirror?

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              1. No improvement. If you start to count irony points – okay, depends on whether you prefer the blatant or a touch more subtle version of irony. The muscle boys teeter on the brink of looking as if they are pretending to be ironic in order to be able to show off without being called show offs, the others seem to try hard to look as bad as possible. :D

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        1. He reminds me of the dalmatian in the pet-food commercial that would not stop looking at himself in the mirror after the food made his coat look so good.

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          1. The usual explanation is the silver content, but yes, the aversion to mirrors and crosses may be the awareness they bring of the vampire’s terrible situation.

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          2. Someone at counter asking for John Ringo’s “The Last Ceturion,” but unfortunately we don’t have it.

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            1. Didn’t have Pournelle’s Mercenary series either, but they were satisfied with about $100 worth of World War II non-fiction and obscure stuff like “Malevil” by Merle. Told him, that would have been $25 if we had noticed it and sent it to Trillion Books.com ( internet sales) but we didn’t notice, so, two dollars.

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                1. Well, I felt old when I saw “Winds Of Wars” by Wouk classified as a *classic*. [Frown]

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    2. I’m partial to The Quitter
      by Robert W. Service

      When you’re lost in the Wild, and you’re scared as a child,
      And Death looks you bang in the eye,
      And you’re sore as a boil, it’s according to Hoyle
      To cock your revolver and . . . die.
      But the Code of a Man says: “Fight all you can,”
      And self-dissolution is barred.
      In hunger and woe, oh, it’s easy to blow . . .
      It’s the hell-served-for-breakfast that’s hard.

      “You’re sick of the game!” Well, now, that’s a shame.
      You’re young and you’re brave and you’re bright.
      “You’ve had a raw deal!” I know-but don’t squeal,
      Buck up, do your damnedest, and fight.
      It’s the plugging away that will win you the day,
      So don’t be a piker, old pard!
      Just draw on your grit; it’s so easy to quit:
      It’s the keeping-your-chin-up that’s hard.

      It’s easy to cry that you’re beaten-and die;
      It’s easy to crawfish and crawl;
      But to fight and to fight when hope’s out of sight-
      Why, that’s the best game of them all!
      And though you come out of each grueling bout,
      All broken and beaten and scarred,
      Just have one more try-it’s dead easy to die,
      It’s the keeping-on-living that’s hard.

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        1. Seconded, though I haven’t read enough if his stuff.

          But every now and then I remind myself that there are strange things done in the midnight sun, by the men who moil for gold…

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    1. Do you ever comment to the person behind you at the grocery check-out “I sure am glad there’s no inflation; I couldn’t afford gas and food”?

      Sometimes all it takes is a few people observing that the King’s knees are knobby.

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    1. I’ve got my own can of alphabet soup, with MYOB, STFU, BYOBC and many others, right up to LOL.

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          1. They will comprehend when the bill is presented. Then they’ll demand:

            1. We pay for it.
            2. Call us evil for not warning them it would come due.

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            1. 0care is bringing that lesson home painfully for some of them… “I’m all for universal coverage … I just didn’t think I was going to be the one paying for it!” (to paraphrase one of the suckers)

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              1. Like the gal in Austin who voted for all the property tax increases but never thought she’d have to cough up the money to pay for school improvements, social welfare programs, infrastructure improvements, et cetera.

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          1. Just what is the ideal twist rate for a two pound carp?
            At arm pitch velocities I’m thinking about 1 in 4.

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            1. Ever seen a Lacrosse stick? Carp sticks are similar, but the final velocity is a bit faster. That’s why few people can duck Sarah’s carp.

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              1. As jai alai seems to be in decline in the USA, perhaps a second-hand cesta could be adapted for carp launching?

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            2. Well, the longer the projectile for its weight, the faster the twist needed, but 1 in 4 may over stabilize …

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              1. The faster the twist, the more likely the projectile is to come apart at higher velocities. And carp are rather deep for their length, so…

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              1. Planting them here started during the 70’s and 80’s. Catching one that big is pretty fortunate considering that this country is supposed to be a bit too cold for them to really thrive. That one was released back into the lake after they had taken that picture, but this summer somebody got an even bigger one (not the same lake) which ended in the fisherman’s freezer.

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                1. I don’t eat carp. I usually give the ones I catch in this one lake to the osprey that watch me fish. Or at least, I used to. Haven’t been back up there in a number of years.

                  A friend of mine in California (on a facebook group I belong to) had a photo of a six-foot sturgeon he caught in the Sacramento River. Sturgeon and catfish are the only two bottom-feeders I’ll usually eat.

                  There’s a fish that is sometimes confused with carp called a buffalo that we used to catch in Louisiana. A SMALL one will run three or four pounds, and my dad said he used to catch and sell 30-50 lb fish when he was a teen. Here’s a link to pictures — https://www.google.com/search?q=buffalo+fish+pictures&client=opera&hs=MEI&biw=1600&bih=756&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=w9q5U-PLOYiryATR3oAg&ved=0CBwQsAQ

                  And here’s one to the Louisiana Sportsman page for buffalo.
                  http://www.louisianasportsman.com/details.php?id=4698

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                  1. Carp are considered a sport fish in Europe, and were imported here because of that. Of course they are like your average European’s (present company excepted, by being part of this group they obviously display their superior taste ;) ) taste in everything else; they may be acceptable over there, but compared with all our other choices here in the land of the free… they taste like crap.

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                    1. :) The most common big native fish here is pike, which is a bit dry but okay, and the smaller ones usually seem to taste better than the big ones. Salmon was once common, but nowadays the only good salmon rivers are in Lapland.

                      Most commercially sold wild salmon comes from the Baltic Sea and the Gulf of Bothnia, and they are said to be badly enough contaminated (Soviet Union was not big on environmentalism, and while Russia is a bit better most of the local pollution seems to still originate from the direction of St. Petersburg) that it’s supposedly safer to buy raised salmon, at least if you eat a lot.

                      Several imported species in our lakes now too, rainbow trout and those carps being the biggest group. I think the carps were first introduced not as something to catch, but as something which might help clean lakes. Finland has lots of lakes, but most of them are both shallow and muddy, and many would be busily turning into swamps if left on their own, but since most people prefer lakes over swamps…

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                    2. Pike (at least ours, and I assume yours are similar) are excellent rolled in batter and deep fried. I’m not a big fan of pink meated fish like salmon and trout, but really like most white fish, with sturgeon heading the list; closely followed by halibut and catfish.

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                    3. At least our pikes look the same. They are valued more in the south, in Lapland they are called something which more or less translates as ‘swampdogs’ and thought to be junk. Laplanders very much prefer their salmons, graylings and trouts.

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                    6. Possibly you could throw musky, they are related. I believe they get even muskier, with age.

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            2. we in the USA need an Asian Carp Cannon. plenty of ammo, and like the Cane Toad in Aussieland, an invasive species needing a use.
              Smoothbore, black powder, and it is not covered by most firearms laws.

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              1. Madame, would you draw me a very surprised Carp being launched from a cannon? For two t-shirts, one saying “Carpe the Carp” and the other “I’ve been Carped at According to Hoyt”?

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                    2. No pun — merely an illustration consideration.

                      Although if the wood of the sabot is properly selected you would be simultaneously delivering the carp and the plank on which to to roast it.

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                4. I see a great possibility for a fundraiser: bids to carp other Huns/Hoydens, with the “winner” getting a special tee shift showing a pile-o-carp with just a pair of legs sticking out of the bottom (i.e. flattened individual under the carp mound.) Sort of being “red scaled,” as it were.

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        3. Y’know, I had something devastatingly funny in mind when I typed that this morning, but the day has been long and my mind has lost its grip on what that was. BYO is properly translated, but as for the BC … book cover? … bantam cock? … body count? … boob covers? … bloody clown? … banal comments? …

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          1. brain cells? … b-tches’ coven? … bouncing casabas? … beach cabana? … bacon & cheddar? … blanched carrots? … birch canoe? … banana cognac? …

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              1. … brain cells? … bean counters? … bloomin’ coconuts? … brass cartridges? … bullet casings? … beanie copter? … trust me, when I remember what it is y’all will be falling all over yourselves laughing! … blessed cross? … benighted chum? … brilliant cliche? … bison carriage? … bit coin? … bristol cities? …

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  5. The first step toward improvement is recognizing that there is a problem. The second step is deciding to not wait for somebody else to rectify it. The Founders acted because they lived in a country where people expected to solve their own d**n problems. They were far from perfect and did not write a Constitution for perfect people, they wrote a Constitution for people who were expected to take self-governance seriously and not sit down because people called them rude names.

    Thanks for the well-written reminder.

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  6. Conincidentally, watched 1776 myself last night, for the first time in 30 years or so. Still powerful, especially the scene where Adams is alone in the deserted hall, doubting himself, and yet going on regardless.j

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    1. I just watched it again for the nᵗʰ time, but it was the first time for my wife. It’s flawed (Eeeevil Conservatives!!1!) but I’ll agree with Mr Reader—where it isn’t terrible it’s great.

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  7. There’s a new miniseries out called John Adams. It chronicles his life. It is a drama based on a biography of Adams. It is a bit grimmer than 1776 not being a musical, but it conveys the reality of his life and times. It is 10 episodes that cover his entire life.

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  8. John Adams; “I have come to the conclusion that one USELESS man is called a disgrace, that two are called a law firm, and they there or more become a congress…”

    –

    John Adams “Franklin did this, Franklin did that, Franklin did some other damned thing. Franklin smote the ground with his cane and out jumped George Washington, fully grown and on his horse. Franklin then electrified him with his miraculous lightning rod, and the three of them – Franklin, Washington, AND the horse – conducted the entire Revolution together.”

    *pause*

    Ben Franklin “I like it.”

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      1. I disagree. The Congress of 1775 actually took a vote with real risk to themselves, The Declaration. This Congress can’t even risk voting on “soy milk week” out of fear of offending the diary lobby and almond milk drinkers.

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        1. Sadly you are right. But to quote Adams, ” Piddle Dittle and Resolve, but not one Damn thing do we solve,”

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  9. I was reminded this holiday weekend just how exceptional the first “Mr. President” really had to have been. Not only an outstanding military commander, but when offered the position of King of America he refused and after only two terms of office as President stepped down for someone else to have a turn.
    It is my thought as well that the concept of career politician would have been foreign to the founding fathers. By their actions and writings it looks to me that they believed political office was a duty that a successful citizen took on for a brief period as a way to pay this country back for the opportunity to work and earn that success. Today we have politicians who have literally never worked an honest job in their entire lives, not even in the practice of law, though one can hardly list such in the ranks of honest jobs.

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  10. Here’s a book on someone who I think has been unfairly neglected. James Madison: A Life Reconsidered by Lynne Cheney.

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      1. I just clicked on the link (put the book on my wish list) and say that a leftie gave one of those “intelligent” reviews that we expect from the left. [Evil Grin]

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        1. I loved the first one-star comment. I barely got to the second line and “Bingo!” I’d filled my buzzword card.

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          1. “As part of the fascist oligarchy Cheney doesn’t speak much on Mr Madison and how he FOUGHT for freedom FROM religion.”

            At least that makes more sense than the two word one star review that states simply, “No problem.” Does that mean the book would have gotten more stars if they had a problem?

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            1. I’m not going to give my opinion of anybody who talks about “Freedom *From* Religion”. [Frown]

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              1. I always like it when a person poses so clear a quandry as to whether he is ignorant, dishonest or both.

                It ain’t as if the text is unclear:

                Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof – See more at: http://constitution.findlaw.com/amendment1/amendment.html#sthash.Gc11eXFZ.dpuf

                I have been waiting fifty years for an interpretation of “no law” that allows Congress to infringe on religious practice.

                Just as I await an explanation of how Congress can grant freedom “from” religion without prohibiting the free exercise thereof.

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                1. Well obviously Congress can’t do it but the Supreme Court could. [Sarcastic Grin]

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                2. Well obviously it says they can make no law RESPECTING an establishment of religion, there should me no problem with them making laws disrespecting a religion.

                  And it very clearly specifies laws, it has no prohibitions against rules and regulations.

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                3. don’t know how many times now I have typed to one of these ‘geniuses’ “High, I am atheist, the First established freedom of religion, not freedom FROM religion, and your demands to remove all religion are a religion in itself so stop forcing your religious beliefs on others.”
                  They also really don’t like my asking them “if you too don’t believe in any god, then why does someone’s ‘silly superstition’ cause you to want every reference to it removed from everything? Should we remove all references to Triskaidekaphobia and demand renaming of the floors in those buildings that have no 13th level?” Then they tend to go on about theocracies and nonsense (well, even more nonsense).

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    2. I had been delaying, hoping to see the price drop, but after this year’s watching of the Historic Documents (with music) I broke down and ordered William Murchison’s biography of John Dickinson. It is well and good to sit through the show and note that it does Dickinson an injustice (check his, or Judge Wilson’s, for that matter, Wiki page. Heck, look up Roger Sherman, the Reverend Witherspoon and everybody else — good reading thar) but it would be even better to be able to express his position.

      Now I will have to fight Beloved Spouse for the first reading if it.

      Have you noticed that 1776 actually gives the better arguments to Dickinson? And that Adams’ retorts are less persuasive than Franklin’s?

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      1. Don’t look to Hollywood to get history right. They were developing a drama facts be damned. However, the underling tensions were correctly portrayed if exaggerated. Yes Dickinson was unfairly portrayed as was all of the rest.

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  13. And if your instinctive reaction is that you are too uninteresting, ordinary, or humble to assert your beliefs, remember that the men who walked before you cast a shadow no taller than your own.

    Actually, my instinctive reaction is this nation and society have told me what I have to offer isn’t worth preserving. At nearly 50 I have had to accept my unfulfilled desire for children will always be unfulfilled. If my drive, talents, intelligence, wealth, dreams, hopes, imagination, genes, ect aren’t worth sending into the future how valuable can they be in creating that future.

    I gave up nine years of life defending this country and more and more than how I see it: I gave it up. A civilian employer would have at least been required to fully vest me in their retirement plan (military retirement is 100% vested at 20 years but 0% vested at 19 year, 364 days). Instead I stood the line against the Soviets (when I did my first missile deterrent patrol there were still Soviets with nuclear weapons aimed at us) only to have a spoiled, “where is my handout” population throw away the peace we bought with hours of boredom and the occasional moment of terror. Now, having decided men like me are exactly what we don’t want as fathers, they have their hand out for over a third of my income all the while complaining I don’t pay my fair share.

    Why should I stand up and risk for the freedom of the children of those trying to bleed me dry when I have no children of my own who need protecting?

    More and more I listen to the news less and follow politics less as it’s all joke, smoke to get people like me worked up and sacrificing for the new nobility and their serfs (whose only in kind contribution and labor requirements are votes and ‘outrage’). Why risk setting up what I want to preserve our heritage for their children, the children of those who have openly rejected that heritage as unfair and oppressive.

    I hate to say it but I’m slowly joining the “let it burn” crowd. If most Americans don’t want Americans why should I not let them burn it down. I can’t help thinking that Rorschach’s opening monologue (comic and movie) ends correctly.

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  14. ” If most Americans don’t want Americans why should I not let them burn it down.”
    So that we can rebuild, what else.

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  15. Another read John Quincy Adams: American Visionary by Fred Kaplan. Talk about a person who was unfairly impugned.

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