August 9, 2012
The Original Occupier
I mostly ignored the Occupy Wall Street phenomenon. I've seen enough ill-planned street hucksterism to last two lifetimes. Mostly deranged soapbox preachers. And I am normally loathe to speak ill of the dead, which the Occupiers are. At least to me. But as a distasteful coda I would like to remark upon the progenitor of their ilk, their pyschological godfather: the late John Brown.
Brown's final deeds were certainly not unexpected. He was right in the thick of some quite nasty stuff in Bleeding Kansas, and elsewhere. And like today's slackers disguised as revolutionaries, Brown believed the ends justified the means. It does not matter how noble your cause might be, or how noble you perceive it to be. If you Occupy a federal armory, you will be caught, tried, and hanged like a dog.
Personally, I consider Brown to be a man with a severe personality disorder, perhaps psychotic, who considered himself an avenging angel of God against the ignoble horrors of chattel slavery. And in that thought, perhaps I do him a disservice to equate him with the Occupiers. As far as I know he never raped anyone in one of his makeshift hidey-holes. Nor did he defecate upon a police interceptor, or sheriff's mule.
Nonetheless, and again, if you Occupy a federal armory, you will be caught, tried, and hanged like a dog. It's really too bad the hipsters never attempted an Occupy Fort Knox. Or Occupy Tiananmen Square. Or Red Square. Then we would surely all be singing in unison.
Here you go. A classic song, brought to you by the unrepentant Stalinist Pete Seeger. One of those moments where you realize if this guy is on my side, I need to be on the other one.
P.S. Who was it who captured Brown at Harpers Ferry? Oh, yeah. Bobby Lee. Colonel, United States Army. Dude was everywhere.
Yep. And among the troops hurriedly enlisted to assist in capturing Brown were the cadets of VMI, commanded by one Thomas J. Jackson.
Posted by: Robert at August 9, 2012 6:54 PMWhoops. Jackson and the cadets attended Brown's hanging, not the counterattack on the arsenal. That's what I get for relying on memory.
Posted by: Robert at August 9, 2012 6:57 PMBut J.E.B. Stuart (Lieutenant, United States Army) walked out to the Armory under white flag and promised Brown his life if he would surrender. Brown said Nope. Probably a wise move on Brown's part. When they promise they won't kill ya, they're usually lying. It's right there in Hostage Negotiation 101. Promise them anything. Then kill them.
Posted by: Velociman at August 9, 2012 7:24 PMAgain with this stuff? Give it a rest. We took away W. Va. from you rebs, and we can damn well give it back!
Posted by: Cappy at August 9, 2012 7:56 PMDamn, Cappy. I smell a little inferiority there. Who mentioned anything about West Virginia? Although Virginia did graciously allow the hillbilly rump section of their state to betray their brethren, I don't recall any Virginians ever regretting the decision to let it pass.
Posted by: Velociman at August 9, 2012 8:31 PMClearly you rebs have not yet learned your lesson. You're not superior to anyone.
Posted by: Casca at August 10, 2012 1:27 AMCasca - I dare you to come down here and say that. ;)
Cappy - No need to threaten us with West Virginia, that's just wrong.
Posted by: Cody at August 10, 2012 9:36 AMCappy, I went out of my way to make the point Lee and Stuart were United States Army officers at the time. Not confederates. You treat them like George III treated Washington. No respect, sonny.
Posted by: Velociman at August 10, 2012 9:02 PMAll right buddy. You were warned. Here it comes. A shipload of hilljacks comin' right at you. And that includes all those goddam Steelers fans in Wheeling.
Posted by: Cappy at August 12, 2012 3:22 PM"And in that thought, perhaps I do him a disservice to equate him with the Occupiers" Oh come on dude! Brown pulled 5 men out of their beds at night and hacked them to death (the Pottawatomie Massacre). I can't recall anything even close to that sort of thing from the Occupiers.
Posted by: SteveBrooklineMA at August 13, 2012 10:44 PMCol. Lee and a company of US Marines from the Washington Naval Yard.
Posted by: Lawrence Leveque at August 29, 2012 3:03 PM