We many, we happy many, we band of Americans

Courtesy of Moody AFB

Ambassador Marie Yonavovitch's testimony before the House Intelligence Committee has ended. This is how she was sent out of the room:

The gathered spectators rose as one to send off a true patriot, a true public servant, with a hero's reward.

I'm an old softie. And I have a lover's quarrel with America. But I love this country.

When November 2016 happened, my first thought was "Screw you, California is going independent."

But that's just what enemies like Vladimir Putin want.

For all its myriad faults, America, the idea of America if not always its actuality, is what motivates the world to a better place.

Unlike other states, America is not a nation of blood and soil. It's not a nation of ethnic and tribal identity. It's a nation of an idea. The idea that all humans strive for perfection, even if they never reach it. That who you are is more important than what you are. That tribe and race don't matter; you are pledging fealty to an idea which transcends them.

Of course, for much of its history, this wasn't borne out in reality. But the idea was always there. It's the idea with motivated the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It's the idea which motivated the Chicano Moratorium. It's the idea which powered gay rights, women's rights, the rights of all the marginalized communities which make up our Commonwealth.

Our enemies have a blinkered view of our Republic. Our Republic isn't one of exclusion, but inclusion. Not one of fear, but of hope. That they live in vitriol and animus is their curse. They shall be cast out and forgotten, because for two centuries we have progressed, by fits and starts, towards a more perfect Union.

They are cowards and lickspittles in a nation of bravery and heroes. They live mean little lives among people who aspire towards the stars. They are people who aver "no we can't" in a nation of "Yes we can." They look for why we must fail, while we look for why we will succeed. They are the past, and we are the present and future.

I often post the St. Crispin's Day speech from Shakespeare's Henry V when we win a signal victory. But we are not few. We are many. We are not a small band of brothers. We are the collective will of this nation. We are not a pitiful number against a greater host. We are the host, and a victorious one. Never doubt that we will prevail. Our enemies are puny. As that great American poet said, we contain multitudes.