Check out the Radtke 300 fundraising effort!
http://radtkeforsenate.com/Radtke300/
Obviously, a ploy on those famous men who stood at the Hot Gates and held back 2 million Persians…
Quick history question! How did those intrepid Spartans fare at Thermopylae? Did they:
A: Hold off the inevitable Persian hordes, force them back into Asia Minor, and return home as champions?
–or–
B: THEY ALL DIED.
I hate these comparisons. Loathe them. Evidence of an uneducated soul wandering God’s green earth.
Everyone wants to be the Spartans… but they don’t talk about how the Helots (the slaves of these freedom-loving Spartans) eventually overran their city, and they in turn were crushed by the Thebians before Macedon crushed them, and Rome after that, then the Turks, the Nazis, and now their own debt.
Or Braveheart. William Wallace? Died. Robert the Bruce? Crawled through the swamps and forests of Scotland for years waiting for Longshanks to die. Don’t worry — they don’t talk about all the Irish and Welsh and Scots that tried to rebel… AND LOST.
The Patriot? All well and good for the Americans (who lived)… sucked for the Irish, Indians, Kenyans, Nigerians, Boers, Native Americans, Aboriginals, Pakistanis, Egyptians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Arabs, Ugandans, Zulu, Iroquois, Huron, Quebecois, and other victims of the British Empire who tried to rebel and were mercilessly crushed.
For a movement that desires to be so reflective of history… these guys sure as hell miss the point that most “revolutions” end in an asskicking. Not small ones, either.
There’s a little scene in the movie Kingdom of Heaven that always impresses me. In it, one of the Islamic mullahs questions Saladin as to why he withdrew from Kerak after confronting King Baldwin IV:
Mullah: [the mullah pays a visit to Saladin in his tent after the battle at Kerak] Why did we retire? Why?
Saladin:God did not favor them.
Mullah: God alone determines the results of battles.
Saladin: The results of battles ARE determined by God, but also by preparation, numbers, the absence of disease, and the availability of water. One cannot maintain a siege with the enemy behind. How many battles did God win for the Muslims before I came… that is, before God determined that I should come?
Mullah: Few enough. That’s because we were sinful.
Saladin: It is because you were unprepared.
Mullah: If you think that way, you shall not be king for long.
Saladin: [Saladin rises to his feet] When I’m not king, I quake for Islam. Thank you for your visit.
[the mullah does not budge; Saladin takes a step forward and extends his hand]
Saladin: Thank you for your visit.
All of the greats who were able to rise above the mendacity of the existing order knew this — instinctively. It is what separates them from the forgotten.
Once again: amateurs talk tactics; professionals talk logistics. It’s the one lesson people learn and forget very quickly in this world… gimmicks such as someone’s “300”? These are simply that — empty shells.
(HINT): The Spartans died to a man — one man. He had to go back and tell a squabbling alliance of Greeks to unite or lose their freedom. Anyone else see much “unity” in the Greek camp today? Such leaders?
