OPENING

I speak today as the Soapbox Patriot —

in defense of the Republic.

I ask not for money, nor do I seek acclaim. 

I sell nothing but the truth as I see it, 

and I offer it freely — as one citizen to another — 

in the hope that our Republic may yet be kept. 

We stand here as citizens of a free Republic — 

heirs to a nation born of liberty and bound by law, 

kept alive only by the vigilance of its people. 

As Jefferson warned, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. 

But vigilance is not the idle reading of headlines 

in the safety of the home or the coffeehouse; 

it is the act of standing, of speaking, of resisting — here and now — 

the slow erosion of what is sacred. 

When asked what kind of government had been secured, 

Franklin replied: “A Republic — if you can keep it.” 

Those who signed the charter pledged their lives and fortunes 

to the radical idea that no man is above the law 

and no people beneath it. 

That charge is now ours. 

But before we look to the future, 

we must reckon with the present. 

We must take honest account of how far we have drifted 

from the principles we claim to cherish. 

And so, in the spirit of our forebears, 

let us lay bare the offenses that now threaten 

the foundations of our Republic. 

 

THE GRIEVANCES

Our President has attacked the free press — 

calling truth falsehood and falsehood truth — 

seeking not to persuade a free people, 

but to command their silence, 

in violation of the First Amendment. 

He has presumed to dissolve or defund 

the very offices established by the people’s representatives, 

setting his own will above the law 

and in contempt of Congress’s authority. 

He has loosed masked agents upon our streets, 

without badge or name, 

to seize men and women by appearance alone — 

detaining them without charge, 

and vanishing them from public view, 

in flouting the Fourth Amendment. 

He has treated peaceful assembly as rebellion, 

protest as disorder, 

and dissent as treason — 

forgetting that in a Republic, 

the people are sovereign 

and their speech the first line of defense. 

These are not missteps, nor errors of policy. 

They are deliberate violations of the solemn oath sworn 

by every officer of the Executive branch — 

to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States. 

And if you believe yourself safe 

because you live in the right neighborhood, 

or because your name is easy to pronounce, 

or because you have never needed the protection of due process — 

know this: 

a government unchecked by law is no respecter of categories. 

They will come first for others. 

Then they will come for you. 

 

THE CALL

So what, then, shall we do?

Shall we wait, and hope, and whisper, 

trusting that power unchecked might restrain itself? 

Shall we tell ourselves it is not yet time to stand — 

that someone else, somewhere else, will do it for us?

Shall we guard our comfort and call that patriotism?

No, my friends. 

The time for watching has passed. 

The time for waiting has expired. 

The question before us is no longer 

whether the foundations of our Republic are being shaken — 

the question is whether we still have the courage 

to shore them up.

If this moment does not stir you to speak, 

then what moment will? 

If this threat does not summon your voice, 

then what threat must come? 

If the memory of those who gave all to found this great nation 

does not move you — then what will? 

For the sake of all that is good and proper, 

look in your heart, 

examine your conscience, 

and give freely and fully — 

your time, your talents, your treasure — 

in opposition to this wretched regime. 

 

THE PLEDGE

So now, together,

as citizens of this Republic

and heirs to the courage of our forebears,

let us resolve — before one another and before history — to act:

Let us gather here as often as liberty requires,

in defiance of indifference —

standing in the open air

to affirm that the spirit of freedom lives,

and that the people will not be silenced.

Let us write, call, and visit those who claim to represent us,

reminding them that power is held in trust, not in perpetuity,

and that the governed possess by right

the final voice in their own affairs.

Let us join with one another in common cause,

to preserve the fellowship of citizens

that sustains the Republic,

and to renew the local bonds of service, honesty, and mutual aid

upon which all free nations stand.

For tyranny thrives on isolation,

but freedom grows where citizens stand together.

Let this be our pledge — and our beginning.

 

THE TRIAL OF COURAGE

Know this:

these vows are not light, nor their keeping easy.

They will call upon our patience,

our courage, and our constancy.

So when you feel afraid, or tired, or tempted to look away —

remember: liberty is not the default state of man.

It is the prize of those who fight for it,

of those who hear her call and take their place in her defense.

The battle, my friends, is not to the strong alone.

It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.

Ask yourselves, then:

Is life so dear, or peace so sweet,

as to be purchased at the price of chains and servitude?

I say no — a thousand times, no.

For the man who trades his freedom for comfort

keeps his body — but buries his soul.

 

THE CHARGE TO HISTORY

Let it not be said that we were the generation

who watched the fire catch and spread and did nothing;

who bartered away liberty for convenience,

and surrendered the Republic not to force,

but to fear and indifference.

Let it not be written that we chose the easy silence

over the hard truth —

and left our children to wonder

why no one stood for them.

The ancient Greeks had a word

for the man who stayed silent when liberty was threatened.

They called him an idiōtēs —

a man concerned only with himself,

unwilling to act for the common good.

Let us not be counted among such men.

No — let your children say: in the moment of testing, you stood.

Let your neighbors say: you did not yield.

Let history say: you were worthy of her care,

and faithful to her promise.

Thank you, and God bless these United States.