The Freedom and Sovereignty Caucus is dedicated, of course, to preserving American Freedom and Sovereignty, but we all acknowledge our historic cultural debt to England. And furthermore, the FSC admires the patriots of England--and the authentic patriots of any country--who wish to defend their land's honorable traditions and history.
Indeed, one of the greatest ever evocations of patriotism was written--of course!--by William Shakespeare, in his 1595 play, Richard II. Here, in a renowned soliloquy, John of Gaunt lets fly with his poetic devotion to his homeland, England:
This royal throne of kings, this scepter’d isle,
This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
This other Eden, demi-paradise,
This fortress built by Nature for herself
Against infection and the hand of war,
This happy breed of men, this little world,
This precious stone set in the silver sea,
Which serves it in the office of a wall,
Or as a moat defensive to a house,
Against the envy of less happier lands,
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England,
This nurse, this teeming womb of royal kings,
Fear’d by their breed and famous by their birth,
Renowned for their deeds as far from home,
For Christian service and true chivalry,
As is the sepulchre in stubborn Jewry,
Of the world’s ransom, blessed Mary’s Son,
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land,
Dear for her reputation through the world,
Is now leased out, I die pronouncing it,
Like to a tenement or pelting farm:
England, bound in with the triumphant sea
Whose rocky shore beats back the envious siege
All countries should have great lyricism on their behalf. In fact, most do--but this passage is surely one of the best, in English or any other language.
Once again, the point is not necessarily that England is so great. Instead, the point is that every country is great to the people who were born there, who grew up there, and who live there now.
And so in that spirit, I extend my admiration to a British patriot Peter Hitchens, a columnist/blogger for The Mail on Sunday--not to be confused with his neocon brother, Christopher Hitchens--who devoted most of his recent blog to defending Britain and its history.
Should Oxford be dominated by Islamic religion--specifically, the call to prayer? Some say yes, Hitchens says no. (Those are the "dreaming spires" of Oxford in the picture above; no doubt some will think that those towers would make great minarets, but let's hope that never happens.
Should a woman who courageously stood up to hooligans desecrating patriot graves be prosecuted by the police? While the hooligans, who were not harmed, are free to desecrate again? Some say yes, Hitchens says no.
I love my country, and wish to defend it. Hitchens loves his, and wishes to defend it. And that's the way it should be.
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori -- It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country. Those are the words of Horace, two thousand years ago, and they are still true today.
Let's remember that, even if, in our lives we are never called to make such a sacrfice ourselves.
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