I never shot a commie or a Nazi
In ’66, but this is what I did:
Field-stripped an M1 when I was in ROTC.
There were a lot of metal things that slid,
And springs and clips and T-shaped bits galore.
Clip latches, swivels, trigger guard, and trigger
All fell apart. I never went to war.
I think it would have asked for far more rigor
Disassembling my first carburetor.
I learned you never call your piece a gun.
I learned there’d be no sacrifice much greater
Than two semesters’ drill with that M1
To get me out of Michigan’s PE
Requirement. By April, I was free.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
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But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
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