"Radicals" in Augusta County? We're in good company....

Virginian Patrick Henry

Are the Augusta County Republicans being too radical, as some may have whispered throughout the state? Is it "radical" to stand up for what you believe in ... or is it better to "go along to get along"?

From U.S. History we learn:

"Radical," is a title that few men can wear with ease. The name Patrick Henry, during the revolution and for some time after, was synonymous with that word in the minds of colonists and Empire alike. Henry's reputation as a passionate and fiery orator exceeded even that of Samuel Adams. His Stamp Act Resolutions were, arguably, the first shot fired in the Revolutionary War.

Patrick Henry's personality was a curious antidote to the stern honor of Washington, the refined logic of Jefferson, and the well-tempered industry of Franklin.

Patrick Henry's famous "Give Me Liberty of Give Me Death" speech was given at St. John's Church in Richmond. The last paragraph, the one most famously remembered by the public and memorized by countless school children throughout the years, is stirring in his courageous rallying cry to his fellow Virginians:

Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace-- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!

Perhaps I studied history too well ... perhaps I took it to heart more than others. Perhaps I am just too ... Virginian. But Patrick Henry comes to mind as we go through the political turmoil in Augusta and other areas of Virginia and the U.S.