War and Warriors

 [Ypres 1914]

(The Doctor helps the Captain back down the slope to his position opposite the frightened German.)

 

CAPTAIN: 

Thank you. Thank you all. 

You've all been most gracious in the unfortunate circumstances.
 

Old Grandfather : 

I regret, Captain, that The Universe generally fails to be a fairy tale.

GLASS WOMAN: 

When time resumes, you will not remember this. 

A perception filter will also render us invisible.
 

CAPTAIN: 

Yes. One imagines some of those words were attached to actual meanings of some sort. 

One thing you could possibly do for me, 

if you were very kind?
 

Dr. Disco : 

Oh, anything. 

Name it.
 

CAPTAIN: 

My Family. 

Perhaps you could look in on them, from time to time?

Old Grandfather :

We should be delighted. 

What's the name?
 

CAPTAIN: 

Lethbridge-Stewart. 

Captain Archibald Hamish Lethbridge-Stewart.

Old Grandfather : 

I shall make it my business.

Dr. Disco : 

You can trust him on that.

CAPTAIN: 

Thank you so much. 

I believe I am now ready.

(He sits and points his pistol at the German. The Glass Woman vanishes and Time restarts.)

GERMAN SOLDIER: 

Das ist verruckt. Ich will dir nicht wehtun.
(That's crazy. I don't want to hurt you.)

CAPTAIN: 

Cold, isn't it? 

It's about to get colder, I suppose, for one of us.
 

(Fingers tighten on triggers, then -)
 

GERMANS: 

♫ Stille Nacht, heilige Nacht. 

Alles schlaft, einsam wacht. ♫
 

CAPTAIN: 

I say, is that singing?
 

GERMANS: 

♫ hochheilige Paar Holder Knabe im lockigen Haar. 

Schlaf in himmlischer Ruh! 

Schlaf in himmlischer ♫
 

CAPTAIN: 

Is that Christmas carols?
 

BRITISH: 

♫ Silent night, holy night. 

All is calm, all is bright. 

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child. ♫

CAPTAIN: 

You know, I could swear it's coming from both sides.
 

Dr. Disco : 

If I've got my timings right, and clearly I have, then we should be right at the beginning.
 

(Soldiers come out of their trenches with white flags, still singing.)

Dr. Disco : 

I adjusted the time frame, only by a couple of hours. 

Any other day it wouldn't make any difference, 

but this is Christmas 1914, and a human miracle is about to happen. 

The Christmas Armistice.
 

(The Captain puts his pistol away.)

CAPTAIN: 

Wounded man here!
 

(He blows his whistle and stands up.)
 

CAPTAIN: 

Wounded man here! Wounded man!
 

Dr. Disco : 

It never happened again, any war, anywhere.
 

CAPTAIN: 

I say, wounded man here. 

Wounded man!
 

(Stretcher bearers from both sides go out into no-man's-land.)
 

Dr. Disco : 

But for one day, one Christmas, a very long time ago, 

everyone just put down their weapons, and started to sing. 

Everybody just stopped. 

Everyone was just kind.
 

Old Grandfather : 

You've saved him.
 

Dr. Disco : 

Both of them. 

Never hurts, a couple fewer dead people on the battlefield.
 

Old Grandfather : 

So that's what it means to be a 

Doctor of War.

Dr. Disco : 

You were right, you know. 

The Universe generally fails to be a fairy tale. 

But that's where we come in. 

(The famous football kick-about has started.)
 

SOLDIERS: 

♫ For auld lang syne, my dear. 

For auld lang syne. 

We'll take a cup of kindness yet, 

for auld lang syne. 

For auld lang syne, my dear. 

For auld lang syne. 

We'll take a cup of kindness yet, 

For auld lang syne. ♫

X. War and Warriors 

By our best enemies we do not want to be spared, nor by those either whom we love from the very heart. 

So let me tell you The Truth! 

My brethren in war! I love you from the very heart. 

I am, and was ever, your counterpart. 

And I am also your Best Enemy. 

So let me tell you The Truth! 

I know the hatred and envy of your hearts. 

Ye are not great enough not to know of hatred and envy. 

Then be great enough not to be ashamed of them! 

And if ye cannot be saints of knowledge, then, I pray you, be at least its warriors. 

They are the companions and forerunners of such saintship. 

I see many soldiers; could I but see many warriors! 

“Uniform” one calleth what they wear; may it not be uniform what they therewith hide! 

Ye shall be those whose eyes ever seek for an enemy—for YOUR enemy. 

And with some of you there is hatred at first sight. 

Your Enemy shall ye seek; your war shall ye wage, and for the sake of your thoughts! 

And if your thoughts succumb, your uprightness shall still shout triumph thereby! 

Ye shall love peace as a means to new wars—and the short peace more than the long. 

You I advise not to work, but to fight. 

You I advise not to peace, but to victory. 

Let your work be a fight, let your peace be a victory! 

One can only be silent and sit peacefully when one hath arrow and bow; otherwise one prateth and quarrelleth. 

Let your peace be a victory! 

Ye say it is the good cause which halloweth even war? 

I say unto you: it is the good war which halloweth every cause. 

War and courage have done more great things than charity. 

Not your sympathy, but your bravery hath hitherto saved the victims. 

“What is good?” ye ask. 

To be brave is good. 

Let the little girls say: “To be good is what is pretty, and at the same time touching.” 

They call you heartless: but your heart is True, and I love the bashfulness of your goodwill. 

Ye are ashamed of your flow, and others are ashamed of their ebb. 

Ye are ugly? 

Well then, my brethren, take the sublime about you, the mantle of the ugly! 

And when your soul becometh great, then doth it become haughty, and in your sublimity there is wickedness. 

I know you. 

In wickedness the haughty man and the weakling meet. 

But they misunderstand one another. 

I know you. 

Ye shall only have enemies to be hated, but not enemies to be despised. 

Ye must be proud of your enemies; then, the successes of your enemies are also your successes. 

Resistance—that is the distinction of The Slave. 

Let your distinction be obedience. 

Let your commanding itself be obeying! 

To the good warrior soundeth “thou shalt” pleasanter than “I will.” 

And all that is dear unto you, ye shall first have it commanded unto you. 

Let your love to life be love to your highest hope; and let your highest hope be the highest thought of life! 

Your highest thought, however, ye shall have it commanded unto you by me—and it is this: Man is something that is to be surpassed. 

So live your life of obedience and of war! 

What matter about long life! 

What warrior wisheth to be spared! 

I spare you not, I love you from my very heart, my brethren in war!

—Thus Spake Zarathustra.

The Origin of Captain Marvel

Force-Captain Adora

HAIR

I don't advise a haircut, man - all hairdressers are in the employment of The Government. 

Hair are your aerials. They pick up signals from The Cosmos, and transmit them directly into The Brain. 

This is the reason bald-headed men are uptight. 

SHE THE DEVIL

Anita Sarkisian relaxing at Home With Family 

— She Shits The Brood

Come with Me if You Want to Live

Come with Me if You Want to Live

It is said that the death of any one person is The Death of an Entire World.

Certainly for parents, the death of a child is nothing less than a Holocaust.

In the case of My Son, these words are literally True.

And even though we've traveled through time, bent The Rules of Nature, They will keep coming for him.

Keep trying to kill him.

But until that day — 

it's gonna be one hell of a dogfight.

UNCLE

In some cultures and families, children may refer to the cousins of their parents as “aunt” or “uncle”. 

It is also a title of respect for elders (for example older cousins, neighbors, acquaintances, close family friends, and even sometimes total strangers). 

Using the term in this way is a form of fictive kinship.

Textbook Joseph Campbell.

The way Campbell explained it, 

Young Men need a Secondary Father to finish raising them.

Beyond their Biological Father, they need a surrogate, traditionally a minister or a coach or a military officer.

The floatsam and jetsam of a generation washed up on the beach of last resort.

That's why street gangs are so appealing. 

They send you men out, like Knights on Quests to hone their skills and improve themselves.

And all the TRADITIONAL Mentors -- 

forget it.

Men are presumptive predators. They're leaving Teaching in droves.

Religious Leaders are pariahs.

Sports Coaches are stigmatized as odds-on pedophiles.

Even The Military is sketchy with sexual goings-on.

A Generation of Apprentices 

Without Masters.

https://spikethenews.blogspot.com/2018/07/the-secondary-father.html

MEN

“Men men men men, manly men men men!"
"Men men men men, manly men men men!"
"Men men men men, manly men, oo hoo hoo, hoo hoo, oo
"Men men men men, manly men men men!"
"Men men men men, manly men men men!"
"Men ..."

Take My Hand

INT. MAZ'S CASTLE - TABLE - DAY

 Maz is putting together some FOOD as she says:

 MAZ A map to Skywalker himself? You're right back in the mess.

 HAN Maz, I need you to get this droid to Leia.

 

 

 MAZ 

Hmm. No. You've been running away from this fight for too long. 

Han, nyakee nago wadda. Go home!

 HAN 

Leia doesn't want to see me.

 FINN 

Please, we came here for your help.

 REY 

What fight?

 MAZ 

The only fight: against the dark side. Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms. 

The Sith. 

The Empire. 

Today, it is the First Order. 

Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. 

We must face them. 

Fight them. 

All of us.

 FINN 

There is no fight against the First Order! Not one we can win. Look around. There's no chance we haven't been recognized already. I bet you the First Order is on their way right-- 

Finn stops, seeing Maz adjusting her goggles, scrutinizing him -- her eyes get HUGE.

 FINN (CONT'D) 

What's this? What are you doing? 

Maz adjusts the goggles again. 

Her eyes get impossibly BIGGER. 

She grunts recognition. She hoists herself on the tabletop, knocking over food and plates, crawling towards Finn.

 FINN (CONT'D) 

Solo, what is she doing?

 HAN 

I don't know, but it ain't good.

 MAZ 

If you live long enough you see the same eyes in different people. 

I'm looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run.

 FINN (eyes on Maz) 

You don't know a thing about me. 

Where I'm from. What I've seen.

 (MORE)

 

 

 (CONTINUED)

 CONTINUED:

 FINN (CONT'D) 

You don't know the First Order like I do. 

They'll slaughter us. 

We all need to run. 

Rey is stunned. Maz, not so much. She crawls back to her chair. She points to some pirates in the corner.

 MAZ You see those two? They'll trade work for transportation to the Outer Rim. There, you can disappear. Finn sees them. Considers.

 REY Finn!

 FINN Come with me.

 REY What about BB-8? We're not done yet. We have to get him back to your base.

 FINN I can't. Finn stands to leave. He offers the gun back to Han.

 HAN Keep it, kid. Finn heads off. Rey gets up to follow. Maz dials her lenses back to normal, and turns to Han.

 MAZ Who's the girl?

 ON FINN Who has arrived at the table with the ALIEN SMUGGLERS.

 FINN I was told you could get me to the Outer Rim. Rey barges into the conversation, interrupting.

 REY What are you doing? Finn gets up to talk to her.

 FINN (to Big Head) Don't leave without me.

 

 

 (CONTINUED)

 CONTINUED: Embarrassed, Finn moves her away.

 REY You can't just go. I won't let you.

 FINN I'm not who you think I am.

 REY Finn, what are you talking about?

 FINN I'm not Resistance. I'm not a hero. I'm a Stormtrooper.

 (STOPS HER) Like all of them, I was taken from a family I'll never know. And raised to do one thing...

 (EMOTIONAL) But my first battle, I made a choice. I wasn't going to kill for them. So I ran.

 FINN (CONT'D) Right into you. And you looked at me like no one ever had. I was ashamed of what I was. But I'm done with the First Order. I'm never going back. Rey, come with me.

 REY Don't go.

 FINN Take care of yourself. Please. Rey looks at him, crushed. With quiet resignation, Rey watches Finn return to the aliens... And all three head off. He gets to the front door and walks through it. Rey is heartsick, but she turns as she hears the sound of a young girl in anguish, crying. She follows the sound into the castle, turning so she can't see that Finn has looked back at her one last time.

IDENTITY GRIFTERS

I'm Me, 

He's Him, 

You're You!

The Conscience of The King

FADE IN: INT. THE SITUATION ROOM - DAY

Leo and Fitzwallace are sitting across from each other.

LEO

This is always when you say something.

FITZWALLACE

Nah. Have you changed shampoo? 
You have, I can tell.

LEO

I like to look good for you.

FITZWALLACE

Well, I appreciate it. 
Can you tell when its Peacetime and Wartime anymore?

LEO

No.

FITZWALLCE

I don't know who The World's leading expert on warfare is, but any list of The Top 10 has got to include me, and I can't tell when it's Peacetime and Wartime anymore.

LEO

Look, International Law has always recognized certain protected person's who you couldn't attack. 
It's been this way since the Romans.

FITZWALLACE

In peacetime.

LEO

Yes.

FITZWALLACE

At the Battle of Agincourt, this was The French fighting against The British archers, this was like a polo match. 

The battles were observed by heralds 
and they picked the winners.

And if a soldier laid down his arms, he was treated humanely.

LEO

Yeah.

FITZWALLACE

And the International Laws that you're talking about, 
this is when a lot of them were written. 

At a time and in a place, 
where a person could tell between peacetime and wartime.

The idea of targeting one person was ridiculous. 

It wouldn't have occurred to The French 
to try to kill William Pitt.

That is absolute  bollocks, Sorkin, 
because the American Transatlantic Merchant Shipping Lobby did in-actual-fact, have
and I am compelled and 

That all changed after Pearl Harbor.

LEO

I don't like where this conversation's going.

FITZWALLACE

Leo.

LEO

In the Situation Room, Fitz?

FITZWALLACE

We killed Yamamoto. 
We shot down his plane.

LEO

We declared war.

FITZWALLACE

If Dietrich Bonhoeffer had been successful...

LEO

And the plot to kill Hitler was an internal rebellion.

FITZWALLACE

...there would've been statues built of an assassin. 
We'd have to explain that to our kids.

LEO

I'm going to get back to the office.

FITZWALLACE

We measure the success of a mission by two things: 
Was it successful? 
and 
How few civilians did we hurt? 

They measure success by how many. 

Pregnant women are delivering bombs. 

You're talking to me about International Laws? 

The Laws of Nature don't even apply here. 

I've been a soldier for 38 years. 
And I found an Enemy I can Kill. 

He can't cancel Shareef's trip, Leo.

You've got to tell him he can't cancel it.

CUT TO: INT. THE PRESIDENT'S PRIVATE STUDY - DAY

Bartlet is in another session with the psychiatrist, Dr. Stanley Keyworth.

BARTLET

It's "The War of the Roses." 
All the Henrys, and all the Richards, for that matter.

STANLEY

In some kind of condensed form?

BARTLET

Yeah.

STANLEY

'Cause you'd be there for weeks, right, if...?

BARTLET

Yeah. 
There's also singing.

STANLEY

Oh, it's a musical?

BARTLET

No, but they're gonna sing from time to time, 
and one of the songs is a song I love. 

I can't think of the name now, 
but it's an Edwardian... 
It always reminds me... 

It makes me think of college, like, I don't know, 
like they should be singing it in the dining 

hall at Christ College at Cambridge. 

The chorus is, 
"And victorious in war shall be made 

glorious in peace."

I was just singing it this morning.

A moment of silence.

STANLEY

How have you been sleeping?

BARTLET

Good. Yeah.
 Let me ask you something. 
Is there a crime, which if it wasn't illegal, you would do?

STANLEY

I'd park anywhere I want.

BARTLET

Right, but you wouldn't rob a bank?

STANLEY

No.

BARTLET

Connecticut had a law prohibiting the use of contraceptives. 
It was written out of rage against adultery. 

But in the age of AIDS, don't Connecticut residents do more for The General Welfare by flagrantly breaking the law?

STANLEY

There was a law against... contraceptives?

BARTLET

Yeah.

STANLEY

Can I ask, sir, how somebody used to get caught?

BARTLET

Stanley...

STANLEY

What's on your mind, Mr. President?

BARTLET

I can't tell you.

STANLEY

Yeah, but you can.

Bartlet pauses, looks away and thinks.

BARTLET

No, I really can't. It's high security. 
To say nothing of... [sighs heavily]

STANLEY

To say nothing of what?

BARTLET

If I tell you I intend to commit a crime, you're required by law to report it. [beat] 

I have a strange meeting coming up. [beat] 

I'm gonna go. It's good seeing you.

Bartlet stands, grabs his jacket, and leaves Stanley inside.

FADE OUT.

END ACT ONE

* * *

This shows the ending sequence of West Wing season 3 finale, Posse Comitatus, where Sorkin's fictional War of the Roses play performs the Patriotic Song (written by composer Stephen Oliver) against the backdrop of the assassination of Abdul Shareef. You will then see the rare version of the song, performed by the RSC, from a 1982 production of the Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. For those fellow West Wing fans/nerds, the actor Roger Rees (who also played Lord John Marbury) leads the cast....

What was the music that the Shakespeare company was singing at the end in "Posse Comitatus"?

Mel Kirby tells us "the song sung by the supposed Shakespeare Company at the end of the segment of the 'Wars of the Roses' being watched on Broadway by Pres. Bartlett is called 'Patriotic Chorus' by Stephen Oliver. 

It was originally composed as the Finale of the mock-Victorian revisionist 'Romeo and Juliet' which closes Part One of the 9 hour-long, 1983 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Dickens 'The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickelby' which was an actual hit in London's West End and on Broadway in the early 80's. 

One would assume that the RSC and 'endlessly long', high-brow nature of both plays would have created the intellectual resonance for Sorkin. 

And the originally tongue-in-cheek words and tune, a send-up of typical Victorian xenophobia, have a certain irony as played over the assassination of the Qumari defense minister."

Mel Kirby also sent us the following Lyrics:

"England arise! Join in the chorus!
It is a new made song you should be singing.
See in the skies, flutt'ring before us
what the bright bird of peace is bringing!  

Chorus:
    See upon our smiling land
    where the wealths of nations stand
    where prosperity and industry walk
    ever hand in hand.
    Where so many blessings crowd,
     'tis our duty to be proud.
    Up and answer, English Yeoman,
    sing it joyfully aloud.  

    Evermore upon our country
    God will pour his rich increase,
    And victorious in war shall be made glorious in peace,
    And victorious in war shall be made glorious in peace.

this verse omitted on West Wing

[ See each one do what he can to further God's almighty plan.
The benificence of heaven help the skilfulness of man.
Ev'ry garner fill'd with grain, Ev'ry meadow blest with rain:
Rich and fertile is the golden corn that bear and bears again.]

Where so many blessings crowd,
'Tis our duty to be proud.
Up and answer, fellow Britons,
sing it joyfully aloud.

Evermore upon our country
God will pour his rich increase...etc."p

Jordan Peterson - Solitude and Epiphanies

Long Ago and Far Away

Well, it was Long Ago,

And it was Far Away,

And “it” was so-much Better 

than “it” is, Today....

DAPHNE, WITH HER head tied up in Mary Poppins’ bandanna handkerchief, was in bed with earache. 

“What does it feel like?” Michael wanted to know. 

“Like guns going off inside my head,” said Daphne. 

“Cannons?” 

“No, pop-guns.” 

“Oh,” said Michael. And he almost wished he could have earache, too. It sounded so exciting. 

“Shall I tell you a story out of one of the books?” said Michael, going to the bookshelf. 

“No. I just couldn’t bear it,” said Daphne, holding her ear with her hand. 

“Well, shall I sit at the window and tell you what is happening outside?” 

“Yes, do,” said Daphne. 

So Michael sat all the afternoon on the window seat telling her everything that occurred in the Lane. And sometimes his accounts were very dull and sometimes very exciting. 

“There’s Admiral Boom!” he said once. “He has come out of his gate and is hurrying down the Lane. Here he comes. His nose is redder than ever and he’s wearing a top hat. Now he is passing Next Door—” 

“Is he saying ‘Blast my gizzard!’?” enquired Daphne. 

“I can’t hear. I expect so. There’s Miss Lark’s second housemaid in Miss Lark’s garden. 

And Robertson Ay is in our garden, sweeping up the leaves and looking at her over the fence. He is sitting down now, having a rest.” 

“He has a weak heart,” said Daphne. 

“How do you know?” 

“He told me. He said his doctor said he was to do as little as possible. And I heard Daddy say if Robertson Ay does what his doctor told him to he’ll sack him. Oh, how it bangs and bangs!” said Daphne, clutching her ear again. 

“Hulloh!” said Michael excitedly from the window. 

“What is it?” cried Daphne, sitting up. “Do tell me.” 

“A very extraordinary thing. There’s a cow down in the Lane,” said Michael, jumping up and down on the window seat. 

“A cow? A real cow – right in the middle of a town? How funny! Mary Poppins,” said Daphne, “there’s a cow in the Lane, Michael says.” 

“Yes, and it’s walking very slowly, putting its head over every gate and looking round as though it had lost something.” 

“I wish I could see it,” said Daphne mournfully. 

“Look!” said Michael, pointing downwards as Mary Poppins came to the window. “A cow. Isn’t that funny?” 

Mary Poppins gave a quick, sharp glance down into the Lane. 

She started with surprise. 

“Certainly not,” she said, turning to Daphne and Michael. “It’s not funny at all. I know that cow. She was a great friend of my Mother’s and I’ll thank you to speak politely to her.” 

She smoothed her apron and looked at them both very severely. 

“Have you known her long?” enquired Michael gently, hoping that if he was particularly polite he would hear something more about the cow. 

“Since before she saw the King,” said Mary Poppins. 

“And when was that?” asked Daphne, in a soft encouraging voice. 

Mary Poppins stared into space, her eyes fixed upon something that they could not see. 

Daphne and Michael held their breath, waiting. 

“It was long ago,” said Mary Poppins, in a brooding story-telling voice. 

She paused, as though she were remembering events that happened hundreds of years before that time. 

Then she went on dreamily, still gazing into the middle of the room, but without seeing anything.

Never Felt So Good,

Never Felt So Right —