THE BATTLE PLAN TO TAKE BACK AMERICA.
By Rick Staggenborg

When single payer advocates fret that we are losing the battle to bring a sustainable system of health care to America, it is all I can do not to curl my lip in disgust. As a former Army officer, I know that in combat, such a display cannot be tolerated. It is bad for unit morale and thus compromises the mission. When lives are at stake, this is a luxury the soldier cannot afford. Although I was in the medical corps during peacetime, the lesson of my training was the same as the grunts. They learn to use their anger at the senseless loss of life to motivate them to fight harder, and in a triage situation medical officers cannot afford to be distracted by the pain of those who have fallen around them, lest they miss a chance to save the next life. Such reckless self indulgence would not be tolerated in this man’s Army.

We must never lose sight of the fact that the battle for single payer is not our last fight. It is only the first of many in the war on corporate domination of the American government. We must win to demonstrate that the people understand that the government belongs to them, not soulless corporate interests who believe in their divine right to rule over us. Our objective in this war is to recapture democracy in America. This is why this first battle is crucial. As at Bunker Hill, we are encountering an organized force which is much better equipped and trained. It uses mercenaries to invade our shores and assert its domination. Fortunately, we share one advantage of these brave American patriots: We occupy the high ground. Our Army must use this advantage to gain time, using short term strategies to take advantage of this position, striking as Washington did at the weakest flank of the invading forces. At the same time, we build an army and train it to fight the coming war. While there is a possibility of a long winter ahead, we must fight as if we intend to win now. We must be aware that sunshine patriots who fight in this battle may put self interest above the cause when their personal sacrifice becomes too great. If all goes according to plan, we can go back to our homes by Christmas and leave policing of the restored Republic to the professional peacekeepers.

You may rightly ask how we can build an Army out of the ragtag militias assembled in haste to defend their respective states from the invader. To find the answer, we must look to our own history. At the time we fought to establish democracy on the American continent, there emerged leaders who understood that we could not afford to lose this opportunity to free ourselves from the shackles of their oppressors. Drawn from the ranks of the educated, they pledged their lives fortune, and sacred honor to the cause. Knowing that they risked property and position in the old order, they recognized that defeat meant the loss of something more precious to them: the opportunity for freedom. These leaders became the officers in the new Continental Army. At this point in our history, these leaders will be our physicians.

Others of the early American elite took up the task of forming a confederation of the colonies, chosen to coordinate efforts and to allocate scarce resources in fighting the war. Eventually they chose from among this body a leader with the vision to lead the Army to victory. He chose the strategy of staging diversionary battles and taking the opportunity to win small victories when the opportunity presented itself. God seemed to smile on this inexperienced commander, giving him unexpected chances to strike at the invader at key times and sustaining the morale of the troops and civilian onlookers alike. In like manner, he managed to escape what appeared to be certain defeat at various times early in the war, through his cunning and a certain amount of luck.

Will Americans now rally to this cause? Will one arise from the common people, one who understands their experience and knows how to choose the words that will stir our frightened populace and discouraged citizens into a determined people who understand the import of this fight for freedom and inspires them to support the effort in any way that they can? Let him speak now, before the war is lost while victory is still possible.