Another year closes and the world is in more turmoil then I have seen in my thirty plus years on this spinning rock. Now more then ever we need to seize this time of renewal for both personal and political growth and dedicate this year to keeping the torches lit and the powder dry. I have used this phrase frequently of late so I feel now would be a good time to explain it to those who might have any questions.
Keeping the torches lit as I use it has two meanings; the first is awareness the second is courage. When your torch is lit against the darkness you can see what approaches but also it can see you. You make yourself a beacon drawing the attention of your foes in the hopes of inspiring your allies. Tyranny flourishes in apathetic and uninformed societies. I cannot pretend that I do not view this once proud nation as such a society, but I have hope and my words and actions and those are my torches.
Keeping the powder dry is a little more direct and obvious; as the saying goes hope for the best and prepare for the worst. If your torch is lit you better be ready to draw fire. After all this could be the year that we take back democracy from those who have bought, sold, and violated that sacred institution; or it could be the year we face martial law and suspended elections in the name of ‘peace and security’. If it should be the year of the latter I would rather we enter Twenty Oh Nine in greater strife then in chains.
The Cavalry’s message, to all those who would hear it, is vigilance. Don’t be afraid to lose what you have to protect your freedoms because without those freedoms all you have; your job, your family, your friends, your home, your possessions, your life, are illusions. Keep the torches lit and the powder dry my Freedom Loving Americans; whether this is the year we end the grip of corruption around the throat of liberty or the year we begin our battle to restore a fallen nation we all have a responsibility to fulfill to future generations of Freedom Loving Americans.
"Have you any idea how much tyrants fear the people they oppress? All of them realize that, one day, amongst their many victims, there is sure to be one who rises against them and strikes back!"
Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince