Can our collective strength overcome the divisive squabbles that threaten to tear us apart? This week’s NHC GOP Podcast illuminates an allegory of unity with chilling relevance to today’s political landscape. As the clock ticks down to the pivotal moment on November 5th, 2024, we’re reminded that the true battle lies beyond petty disagreements, in the voting booths where our united front against high taxes, energy dependence, and the erosion of American values must hold strong.
They forgot who the real enemy was, so they lost the battle and they lost the war.
Welcome to the NHC GOP Podcast Friday Update, I’m Reuel Sample.
A long time ago a county in a far away place faced the oncoming assault of a powerful chief. All the greatest strategists of the era knew that he and his army would arrive in 199 days – but none of them knew how to defeat him. Until one day they realized their greatest strength was in their archers – men and women who could put arrows on target from a great distance away.
And so they trained, and trained others – until they raised a massive army of archers who could defeat the enemy. When the enemy spies saw this, they reported back to their chief with great fear. Yet their leader simply smiled and said “Just wait.”
The archers continued to train until one day a great dispute arose. It seemed that some archers drew their bows with their right hand, while others drew with their left. Furthermore, some bows were made with yew, others with ash, and still others with hickory.
No matter the hand used to draw the bow, nor the wood used in the make of the bow affected the accuracy, yet these differences caused great divisions within the ranks of the esteemed archers. The left-hand bowman thought the right-hand bowman were too rigid in their views, while the right-hand bowman thought the left-handed bowman were not truly archers. The hickory bows were thought to be too old, the ash bows were thought to be too new, and the yew bows seemed to only be used by the wealthy. It quickly got to the point that each set and and subset of the archers – previously united in their marksmanship and skill – kept to themselves and did very little with the others. Thus, while the yew bowman sometimes stayed together, they further had issues with which hand draw with and so they were divided – and so on.
These arguments spilled out into the very strategy itself – as the left-handed bowman refused to follow any one who thought right-handed bowman were archers. The right-handed bowman themselves started creating their own chain of command – and looked with disdain on any who drew with their left.
The people of the nation did not know what to do. They wanted the archers and realized they were the best answer to the oncoming invasion, but were very hesitant to support them because of their infighting.
Then one day they decided to solve the issue with a massive show of marksmanship. Outside the city, the leaders put a target. They amassed the right-handed bowman on one hill – sub-sectioned by bow wood of course – with purple arrows – and the left-handed archers on the other hill with green arrows. When given the signal, each group of archers was to launch a barrage at the target. The group of archers with the most arrows in the target area would be deemed The Archers of the Land and given honor and glory throughout the realm. The losers – of course – would become second class archers and subject to the whims of the winners.
The great day arrived, the target was set, the archers were arrayed, and the signal was given. The sky was filled with a host of arrows. Yet none of them landed on the target. It seems that each group – not wanting to be second class at all and filled with great disdain for the opposite-handed archers – chose not to fire at the target but instead drew and fired at their fellow archers. Their aim was true, and a great many of the archers fell that day or simply ran away.
Shortly afterward, the chief and his army marched in to the country and took it over with very little resistance. In the midst of their distrust of each other, the archers failed their task to defend their country. They chose to fight and destroy themselves, instead of remembering who the enemy was.
At the time of broadcast of this podcast, there are 199 days until November 5, 2024. On that day, Republicans have the massive task of defending this country against the continued onslaught of the Leftist ideals of the Democrats. From their failed domestic policies of high taxes, energy dependence and their outright attacks on the family and American values to the absolute mess that President Biden has made of his foreign policy leading to evil to runnng rampant in the world – the object is clear – defeat the Democrats at the voting booths. While every election is important, this election will have generational consequences that we can only begin to grasp.
We must elect Donald Trump as the President of the United States. We must elect Mark Robinson as Governor of North Carolina. We must enlarge our Republican legislative majorities at all levels of government. Here in New Hanover we must further strengthen our school board and increase our majority on our county commission. The object is clear – and the enemy is only 199 days away.
Yet Republicans – much like those archers – are spending their time and resources fighting each other. This Republican is not conservative enough, this Republican is too conservative. One fully supports this issue, another is not so definitive on that issue. Some think we need to go only so far, others think we have not gone far enough. And so on. And instead of focusing on that big target, we create chaos in our party, distrust among our voters who know that we are the answer, and the Democrats just sit back, smile, and say “Just wait.”
In the days and weeks ahead, you will hear from many in the party who are running for office with whom you may have disagreements. They might not be everything you want – they probably won’t be everything you want – no person can. The perfect Republican does not exist. Pure Republican idealism cannot be put into place because we do not live in an ideal world.
What I can say, is that we have a better chance of seeing our Republican ideals put into place if we elect Republicans. President Eisenhower once said that the Liberal Left will always point out problems – but it must be the Right that puts the answers into place. We have a lot of problems and issues that need to be addressed. They can only be addressed by Republicans if we put Republicans into office. At no other time has it been so critical that we make this election not about the individual – but about electing Republicans.
199 days to go.
For the NHC GOP Podcast, I’m Reuel Sample. Thanks for listening.