once again, 'times that try men’s souls"

These are the times that try men’s souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country, but he that stands it now deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: — It is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to set a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. 

Thomas Paine . December 19, 1776

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 

https://americainclass.org/sources/makingrevolution/war/text2/painecrisis1776.pdf

red tie . unbelievable

 

red tie . stable genius *

* [Note . I’ve done a Red Tie series that features phrases, sentences, short paragraphs, the occasional paraphrase. This, on the other hand, is an unedited, direct quote of a single-paragraph Truth Social post, Tuesday night - December 09, 2025. The bubbles are meant to make it a bit more readable.]

 

red tie . pencils

 

american skin

penny for our thoughts

I don’t anticipate missing pennies the tiniest bit. Canada, for instance, has done just fine without. 

But Lincoln’s image on a coin? Yeh, I’ll miss that.

If we’re thinking about a new public coin, something with Lincoln on it strikes me as much better than the other idea I've heard recently ... if only because we know how Lincoln's story ends. 

this machine fights fascism, too

h/t Woody Guthrie 

 

this machine fights fascism

h/t Woody Guthrie

 

i'm the last to get this, right?

 

when America was great . garbage

when America was great . go fund yourself

red tie . oath