Pennsylvania and Beyond-- A Call For BOLD SYMBOLIC ACTION

BRIDGE-- Strategy of Tactics in the Coming Primaries …..BOLD, SYMBOLIC ACTION

There are times in a campaign to resist the temptation to throw limited forces in a rash, desperate charge. Even retreat in the face of a strong enemy is not always weakness if you use the time to recover, to think, to gain perspective. Nevertheless, I do not agree that the lack of support from the Ron Paul Presidential Campaign Headquarters resigns the upcoming primaries to a sort of nonengagement strategy where the grassroots now become diverted to sundry ancillary projects. In my view, there will be time enough for these side projects . By all means let’s keep stage III in mind while we continue to network with eachother and aim for the long haul. But I urge we keep our respective attentions focused on the task at hand during stage II where the grassroots take on the responsibility to both spread and consolidate the Message and its supporters.
Of course, I understand frustration over the clumsy transition from RP2008 to this supporter centered stage II of the r3VO_Iution. Exasperation is natural in any struggle. Walk it off…..cowboy up and let’s get R’ done…. Why lament that the grassroots must now pick up the gauntlet? No one thinks the campaign HQ was very effective in achieving this past year’s accomplishments, so isn’t it nice to have them out of the way ? Real progress will inevitably require the personal responsibility of decentralized efforts, any way. No matter what….every single alternative priority…..delegates,resolutions, issue activism,candidates, education,outreach,new media,new organizations,web sites,marches , caucuses, conferences or summits…..will all require effective artillery fire and air support broadcasting the message to make these hand to hand ground battles and trench warfare more than isolated or marginal efforts. By artillery and air support, I mean big noise and big impact—In other words, the clarity, consistency and power of the Message needs to be part of the plan and execution of every component of the Movement going forward.
I was inspired by a prominent DaddyWarBucks post on DailyPaul 2 weeks ago where most of those responding endorsed the acknowledgement that this new phase of the r3VO_lution is an ocassion to clean house and find who is really with us. Imagine if this movement was dominated by an efficient cadre of propaganda professionals, headed by an ambitious demagogue…. We wouldn’t be able to find eachother in the crowds of starry-eyed followers chanting “ yes, we can ! “…..So be happy at this moment the ranks have thinned somewhat. Aside from the paid trolls , who continue their attempts to subvert, but mainly just divert—those who remain in uniform in this fight generally belong….but there still remains a measure of irresolution about whether we advance to the sound of gunfire, or proceed with a controlled advance to the rear. Again, I can understand and respect those who embrace this latter view , I simply believe we need to press on to the front, by forced march if necessary, quickly reform, pick the battles to pitch , lock and load, then let’em have it with both barrels. I am convinced those who have stepped out of the column have not taken permanent leave and will not be difficult to remuster once they hear the sound of guns. So by all means , let’s first see if we can resolve this confusion in the ranks, but let’s not dither. Huddle up; decide the battle plan; understand the war will not be over near term…. but what we do in the next 30 days will have an effect ….so, take up our positions and take aim. It’s a great time to further build our battle brotherhood.
The broken lines of communication from HQ should mean nothing to those of us who understand our mission. Again, it is endemic to our individualistic cause that we carry on the resistance emerging from the swamps and wilderness to pick our scirmishes in small arms fire until we can be part of larger coordinated manuevers. In my view, nothing is more emblematic of what this NXTFAZE needs to be accomplishing than the HIGH TIDE Promo which last week lit up the blogs like a bright beacon on a mount….shining to light the way for those of the remnant still stumbling in the desert and mumbling confusion that the campaign was “ winding down “ since victory in the “ conventional sense” was no longer available. It was symbolic that RP’s message, like his wax museum image in this video was reconstituted ( and thereby more monumental in its portrayal ). Certainly, the HIGH TIDE revolutionary collaborators anticipated the challenge and took their personal responsibility to carry on seriously. Likewise, let’s accept the challenge to use these remaining primaries, and the drama of current events in the context of this election , to “ SPREAD THE MESSAGE “.
There are those who say this simply invites martyrdom for those tired winter soldiers in this campaign who are now thrown back into a battle without sufficient plans, supplies or commitments from HQ, and no guarantee of reinforcments. Yes, these grassroots brigades may well spend themselves in this worthy fight before we have time to entirely get our act together. If that makes them martyrs, let’s make the most of it. Martyrdom, too, is a stategy, and one of ancient standing: martyrdom makes you a symbol, a rallying point for the future. Besides, this r3VO_lution needs more symbolic meaning. ( But more about this in a separate installment. I believe the PA primary affords a unique opportunity to brand the emerging folklore of this movement with positive symbolic significance. I think we need to begin this process in earnest, inviting those creatively inclined to inspire this movement with their heroic poetry of truth and high ideals. )
The circumstances of all our symbolic gestures must work to highlight the rightness of our cause and the ugliness of the enemy’s. A well designed and focused symbolic campaign, brought on by Ron Paul’s grass roots supporters themselves, with no coordination from a central campaign HQ, is a very useful way to distill the urgency of a message and keep up morale. ( witness: HIGH TIDE Promo ). Martyrdom at this juncture can be used to show that our side’s fighting spirit has not been extinguished. So remember, martyrs don’t whine.
For those who like historical analogies, how about this:
[ As an aside: I know most of us patriots like to reference American Revolutionary comparisons, and for that we don’t need to look much beyond Washington’s impetuous, but brilliantly executed attack at Trenton, conceived as a way to revive the discouraged patriots who found themselves despairing during the ‘times that try men’s souls’, about which Thomas Paine wrote in The Crisis. But Washington’s generalship was engaged in a long war of attrition, not usually cited as the best illustration of grand strategy…..unless integrity, faith and sheer determination, while you hold out for fortuitous events, is enough of a plan. Well, proof is in the pudding, isn’t it. My reference to the inspirational pamphleteer Thomas Paine was also not incidental. His well timed contributions to the sentiments and sensibilities of the colonists in both The Crisis and Common Sense are considered to have been indispensible to the success of our original revolution of ideas. ( The message was nothing new….these ideas communicated so effectively by Paine just had never be so cogently and popularly expressed) Similarly, this Restoration cries out for no less powerful responses to our crisis.]
Anyway, how about this historical example of the critical actions of a famous strategist , who was usually reknowned for his deliberate preparations and plans:
In the spring of 1796, a young and inexperienced Napoleon Bonaparte began to lead the French forces fighting against the Austrians in Italy. ( For the sake of this example, try, if you will, to imagine the Austrians as the bad guys ). His soldiers were underpaid, unsupplied, and increasingly disillusioned with the cause they were fighting for, the French Revolution. Despite his uphill struggle with his own troops, Napoleon and his weary forces pushed their adversary to a faceoff at the Bridge of Lodi, over the river Adda. The enemy held the bridge, manned with well-placed artillery. Taking the bridge would be costly. (History would record that Napoleon was probably the finest master of Grand Strategy, but on this occasion he displayed a classic tactic indispensible for any achievement requiring group action. ) Suddenly, the French soldiers saw Napoleon ride up in front of his troops to direct the attack in a position of extreme personal risk. He reminded them what they were fighting for and then launched his grenadiers at the enemy lines to cries of “ Vive la Re’publique !” Caught up in the spirit, his senior officers led the charge.
The French took the bridge, and now, after this relatively minor operation, Napoleon’s troops saw themselves differently. The story of the Bridge of Lodi passed through the ranks. As the campaign wore on, and Napoleon’s forces won victory after victory, a bond increasingly developed that made Napoleon’s Army the force to be reckoned with.
As someone on the Daily Paul forum likes to remind us, “ fortune favors the bold.” OK, that’s a big part of the moral of this story ( let’s call it the morale of this story ). But perhaps the bigger part is the need for action combined with symbolic meaning. In contrast to this story, the first story about our American revolution is the more telling guide as to what’s needed here. Thomas Paine’s spin not only helped galvinize our forefather’s resolve, it implanted the seed of real change in that it turned the Crisis into the more lasting foundation of making the Sense Common.
The HIGH TIDE Promo similarly refined and reinterpreted not just Ron Paul’s message, but RP himself—proving by its impact, this is not about a man campaigning in a particular election. This isn’t about policy initiatives either ( eliminating the IRS, the FED, secure our borders, etc )…these will be debated, as they have been, once we win the attention of hearts and minds. ( I am reminded of the words of the prison camp warden in the Paul Newman classic , Cool Hand Luke, “…..what we have here,is a failure to communicate…..Boy, you got to git you’re mind riiight. “ Well, I believe we need to focus on trying to get John Q Public’s “ mind right”….. open them up to endorsing this Restoration .
[ The prison camp allusion is not accidental either: remember Bridge Over The River Kwai ; Shawshanks Redemption, and the list goes on, of inspiring stories and images for those who doubt the merits of bold, symbolic action as the way to lift the human spirit in the face of oppressive obstacles. It’s a glorious circle: If we want to open minds and lift the spirit, we take bold symbolic action. If we want bold, symbolic action—we lift the spirit, and thereby open the minds. ] This ongoing, however scaled back, campaign is still one of the most unifying opportunities before us to stimulate fundamental, achetypal appreciation of freedom, and as a consequence, open minds. We can then focus on motivating people to take individual and concerted action in furtherance of this enhanced understanding. [ Notice: I do not recommend that we just pound at the citadel of closed minds, nor do I advise we dig in for a long siege ]. If we relax from our opportunities to harrass the enemy while they withdraw, miss ocassions for ambush, or fail to seize the high ground we leave the field to those who would confound our principles. Obama is tapping into some primal, core stirrings of the American unconscious as he incants about change. I believe it is incumbent on those of us of the remnant who are aware,to shore up the banks of these consciousness streams lest they inundate and then mire our nation in such dark sludge it will make the Katrina catastrophe look like April showers. Let’s drive our Chevy’s to the levies in these remaining primaries to keep these consciousness stirrings firmly within the course of our traditional American values deliniated by the frame of our constitutional republic!
I am heartened by the recent example exhibited by the Pennsylvania activists in announcing the opening of a campaign office and otherwise demonstrating they need not fall back any more to regroup.’ We form our lines here,’ their enthusiasm and commitment in effect tells us. ‘Pick up your muskets, get back to the front, and fill the battlements!’
Our enemies are not an overwhelming force. I predict events unfolding will prove this estmate correct. Accordingly, I count myself among those who propose we engage ourselves directly and wholeheartedly in the upcoming primaries…..most immediately Pennsylvania on April 22.
Where do you stand ?

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