Mitt Romney is a symbol, a convenient shorthand for freedom of expression, enterprise and faith. Whether or not he embodies these values is a secondary concern. As Obama became a vehicle for the left to express its identity, Romney has become a vehicle for traditional Americans to express theirs. If Romney wins, then he will become a politician and if he loses, then the symbolic identity, which transcends him, will go on, because it is an expression, not of one man, but of the values of a country.
Resistance is grounded in values. It is grounded in the greater identity of who we are and how we want to live. That refusal to abandon who we are, to resist the political, cultural and religious assaults on our way of life is what determines the potency of a resistance. And though refusal is a negative word, it comes from a positive vision, an inner fire, the glow and light of the values that make us who we are.
The occupation does not have these values. It is a disruptive force that can borrow and mimic warped versions of these values, but it cannot put them forth except as a mockery of the values it has displaced. It urges its followers to vote for another four years of repression as a form of revenge against us because it has no inner light, no goodness and no truth. Inside it is a heart of darkness with no hope, only a ceaseless turmoil of change for the sake of change and destruction for the sake of destruction, power for the sake of power, and revenge for the sake of revenge.
Our resistance is a form of love, love for our country, our communities, our families and our values. That love has motivated us to spend the last four years fighting to preserve these things that we love. It will take us into the voting booth and whatever the outcome, it will keep us warm even in the coldest winter, as we go on fighting through our own Valley Forge for the redemption of our nation.
Originally published at Sultan Knish.
