I have a friend who is brilliant, talented, highly creative.
We usually agree on most things even political issues.
He recently launched a Facebook page called Molon Labe.
Loosely translated as used by the NRA crowd and the Patriot Movement it means:
"Come and take them."
It comes from the Spartans' response to Xerxes' merciful offer to let them live if they laid down their weapons and surrendered.
They didn't.
They said: "Molon Labe!"
They all were then slaughtered by the Persians.
The last seems to be lost on my friend and his supporters.
They seem to think the Spartans were heroes for fighting for a lost cause and imagining they were fighting for a noble one.
updated to:
They seem to think they are like the Spartans.
They seem to think they too are fighting against all odds for a noble cause.
They seem to think they are fighting for Freedom and against Government Oppression and Totalitarianism.
When I told them they were enabling Fascism they thought I was crazy.
Here is what I wrote to him in response (straight off the top of my head):
“When Fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and waving a Bible.”
and shouting Molon Labe!
The current Fascists aka the Oligarchy of Militarists, Corporatists, Plutocrats, and Banksters want to overthrow our Legitimate Representative Democratic State in which the public still has an illusion of power and a voice, through voting, and thus still a tiny possibility of exerting some control and power and regulation over them and their profits.
They wish to instead install a totalitarian authoritarian Right Wing regime that would grossly favor their interests.
To accomplish this they need to first discredit our current system.
They do that by accusing it of exactly that which they intend to install.
And simultaneously corrupting it by every means possible...bribery, extortion, redistricting, voter suppression, fraud, etc.
They do it by creating an incessant drumbeat of propaganda and conspiracy theories that the current government is corrupt, is not serving the people, has been infiltrated by a mysterious and hard to identify “other” such as Communists, Socialists, Liberals, Progressives, ACORN, George Soros, New Black Panthers, Muslims, Terrorists, Unionists, welfare chiselers, the 47%, etc. etc.
The message is basically: “All of the previous are bound and determined to take away your rights and freedoms. This is going to happen any second now! Be Prepared! Fight Them! Protect YOUR Freedom and YOUR Guns!!!”
They create a massive media propaganda machine to deliver this message over and over no matter what actually happens or what the reality of events are.
They create deep division and outrage over “wedge issues” such as: abortion, gun control, welfare, collective bargaining, government bail outs, imaginary wars on Christmas and "Christian Values," etc. with “The Government” always held up as the target of all blame and evil.
"The Government" represented in this case by the scary black man with the funny foreign name, Barack Hussein Obama and backed by his secret hordes of socialist commie leftist fascists of course. They are everywhere! Be Afraid!!!
They then wait for a flashpoint event such as New Oppressive Gun Laws!!!
(In this case, lucky for them, ‘forced’ on the country by widespread popular demand in response to a national tragedy of epic proportions, the murder of 20 children, you know like Democracy is supposed to function.)
Horrors! It’s Oppression! Its Here! they scream far and wide, and this event is blamed once again on Obama and “The Government."
Then they point to the event and say “See we told you so, we told you’d they’d take your guns, now do you believe us? Go get 'em loyal Patriots! Fight, Fight, Fight For Freedom.” (Um, you don't mind if we just sit over here and watch do you? this suit cost a $1000 bucks, don't want to get any blood on it. I'm a job creator.)
(If such an event doesn't arrive as result of all the fear and rage they deliberately create through corrupting/obstructing the government from functioning and sabotaging the economy and increasing stress on the populace to the breaking point, they simply create one 'cough' Reichstag Fire).
They thus rally support around the cause in the name of Patriotism and Defense of Freedom! (this is where your Molon Labe! fits in) to support any possible violence or other action they have planned to seize control of the current legitimate government and depose it.
This will typically be a Military Coup (which is my guess this time if they’ve got enough support embedded among the top brass and ranks and are stupid and/or crazy enough to try it).
Other possibilities include getting the Red States controlled by Republican governments en masse refusing to enforce or allow Federal Authority and using the state and private militias to resist. Maybe even forming a new Confederacy...or some other means yet to be seen.
Once the Coup is successful they then hold mock trials for “Treason” and execute publicly any of the former government leaders they can get their hands on.
‘We Got The BAD Guys! Yeah for Us! We Are The Champions!’
They also start a purge and search for more hidden supporters of the “other” causing panic and fear and terror and unquestioning obedience among the populace, rounding up and incarcerating 100,000s in the process. (I will be in Canada I hope by this time.)
“Turn in your neighbor, your mom, your little sister, get a cool uniform and a free gun! Fun! Fun! Fun!”
This naturally results in both a longing for order and a strong and powerful police state as well as fervent allegiance to the new “Protector” State, aka “The Homeland” aka “The Fatherland” as it quickly takes total control of all aspects of society.
Voila! Fascism.
All in the name of Patriotism and Freedom.
History repeats itself for the umpteenth time.
The instruction manual is well worn and practiced.
The same guys who created Pinochet in Chile, D'Aubuisson in El Salvador, The Contras in Nicaraugua, The Shah’s Iran, so many more, have this down to a science.
Step by step.
Your ‘Molon Labe’ aka ‘Patriotic Revolution Against Authoritarian Oppression’ will get you just what you feared.
Have a nice Facism, my dear Friend.
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Now one hopes I'm wrong more than me. But this IS the playbook. Right?
I wrote this from memory of lived history.
Whether it will happen here or not is anyone's guess.
But I'm damn sure that playing Patriot and shouting "Moulon Labe!" at the Feds if they're crazy enough to try to disarm the militias is not going to help restore Freedom.
What do Kossacks think?
9:37 PM PT: correction: where I said "lost cause" above, I did not mean the war against Xerxes. a careless comment unclear and clouding the debate. I meant to suggest simply that they the Spartans who fought so valiantly were doomed, as a commmenter points out, it was a suicide mission. that was the lost cause I meant. they had no chance of coming out of it alive themselves. bad choice of words. I did not intend to refer to the overall war or what was at stake.
9:48 PM PT: correction part 2: looked at it again. was moving too fast and really messed this up completely: "They seem to think the Spartans were heroes for fighting for a lost cause and imagining they were fighting for a noble one."
looks like I accidentally conflated two ideas I had in my head or something. Just delete it from your mind.
I can't remember what I meant to say, but I do admit it was not a lost cause and they were noble to do what they did for their country.
but my point was: the Patriot militias bear no resemblance to Spartans or their cause, nor do any other modern day would be Patriots and co-opting the slogan is inappropriate misleading bullshit