Res Publica 2005

Let us not kowtow
to the forces
of those
who hate the dream
our forefathers pursued,
of standing tall
beneath the sun,
a people who knew the way
of self-determination,
of freedom,
and were willing to pay the cost.

Let us not kowtow
to those who believe
our dream is evil,
and we who cling to it
children of a benighted way,
and the good that we do
is bad,
and the truth that we proclaim
is flawed,
and the hope that we offer
is a chimera.

Let those who believe
that bad is good
and good is bad
be known for who they are,
and called down
for the darkness they would
plunge us into.
Stand firm,
and do not kowtow
to their craven ways,
for our dream,
purchased with blood
on the fields of Concord,
in the wilds of Kentucky,
at Gettysburg,
at St. Etienne,
on Omaha Beach,
on Iwo Jima,
and every other place
has been bought dearly,
and is worth passing down
no matter what they claim.

KAC