{"id":120,"date":"2017-01-22T21:53:21","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T02:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/?p=120"},"modified":"2017-01-22T21:53:21","modified_gmt":"2017-01-23T02:53:21","slug":"the-die-is-cast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/2017\/01\/22\/the-die-is-cast\/","title":{"rendered":"The Die is cast!!!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last Friday I found myself driving through Lexington to run an errand on my way to work. A stone-grey January day, the Presidential inauguration was just commencing. I passed by the Battle Green in the center of town as I returned. Less than four miles from home, I had never really stopped to wander around. \u00a0I pulled the car over and parked.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Revolutionary Monument, 1779<\/p><\/div>\n

Lexington is normally a busy suburb on a weekday, but by 10am, the rush hour traffic had abated. \u00a0Maybe it was the impending rain.<\/p>\n

On the edge of the Battle Green is a monument to the Militiamen who were killed in the initial volleys of the Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775. \u00a0The monument was erected in 1799 – long before the Battle Green was established as a national historical landmark.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Revolutionary Monument, 1779<\/p><\/div>\n

The Die was cast!!!<\/p>\n

The Blood of these Martyr\u2019s, in the cause of God & their Country, was the cement of the Union of these States\u00a0then colonies & gave the spring to the spirit, firmness, and resolution of their fellow citizens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

More than a monument, this is a modest tomb for the soldiers killed in battle. \u00a0Their resting place is inside the small fence surrounding the obelisk. \u00a0A few small coins mark tourist’s visits.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I walked across the park — the only other person sharing the space was a woman walking her dog. \u00a0She traversed the wintry park without stopping.<\/p>\n

A bronze Minuteman statue stands guard at the edge of the park, looking for any threat that might approach from the southeast.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>

A statue of a Minuteman, Lexington Battle Green<\/p><\/div>\n

The Minutemen did not know what was to come after their brief skirmish. \u00a0Their leader, John Parker, died a few short months later. \u00a0Some of them must have survived to the end of the war, and even to see\u00a0Washington’s inauguration 14 years later.<\/p>\n

Wars are always mile markers in the history of a nation, and regular touchstones for citizens to measure their identities against. \u00a0The Revolutionary War is the strongest of these, with World War II close behind. \u00a0One of the most compelling – the Civil War – whose conflict echoes\u00a0unto this very today – is rarely regarded, and the repercussions of 9\/11 are still to be seen. \u00a0Yet we always look back at the Revolutionary War, an event a now quarter of a millennia in the past – as our guiding star.<\/p>\n

What would those Minutemen have thought about the election of 2016, and the inauguration that was taking place at that very moment? \u00a0That they had founded a nation and established freedom. \u00a0A later generation would fight against fascism and the far right in an even more epic conflict,\u00a0and a generation beyond that stood to embrace it once again, spurning the progress made in 242 years. \u00a0At its best, a manic kleptocracy who will loot the people’s democracy established by the citizens on the Battle Green. \u00a0At worst – a drastic pivot to fascism that will shift the balance of power in the world, and shred progress that the Greeks could only dream of.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/a>

John Parker’s quote, Lexington Battle Green<\/p><\/div>\n

The inauguration went as planned. \u00a0At least in theory, it was a swearing in and not a coronation. \u00a0What next? \u00a0What next? \u00a0What’s that? \u00a0Robert Munroe, Jonas Parker, Samuel Masey, Caleb Harrington, John Brown, Ishael Porter, and John Parker were whispering:<\/p>\n

The Die is cast!<\/p>\n

Stand your ground!<\/p>\n

 <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"The<\/a>

The Revolutionary Monument and First Parish Church<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last Friday I found myself driving through Lexington to run an errand on my way to work. A stone-grey January day, the Presidential inauguration was just commencing. I passed by the Battle Green in the center of town as I … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-personal"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2INfJ-1W","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":135,"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120\/revisions\/135"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.xyzzy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}