Shutdown theater, Concord edition

Daniel in Brookline files this report from Concord, Massachusetts, opening with a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Concord Hymn” (sung, according to the poem’s tag line, at the completion of the battle monument, July 4, 1837). Emerson’s poem was written for the dedication of the the Obelisk (partially at left), commemorating the Battle of Concord:

“By the rude bridge that arched the flood
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard ’round the world.”

Yes, that too is shut down… and, thanks to a comment left at Ed Driscoll, several of us were there [yesterday].

We didn’t bring a photographer, and it was raining, but we spent over an hour there, swapping stories and greeting the occasional tourists. You’ll probably get other photos from some of the other people there.

It was a special feeling, to stand on that “rude bridge,” imagining the Patriots gathering to stand against British regulars. The feeling was all the stronger, knowing that our own government — we fought a war, which started right here, to establish that government! — was telling us that we couldn’t visit here because it was necessary to require us to pay a Federal healthcare tax… and was trying to deprive us of our guns besides. The memory of the British tea tax, and of the British attempts to deprive the colonists of guns, has never been stronger.

FYI, I was wearing my RWVA.org shirt… it seemed appropriate!

Glenn Reynolds has posted apt comments by Duane Patterson here.

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