MISFITS: Name worn with pride

The misfits of America through the forgotten ages include such greats as Samuel Adams, Ethan Allen, Benjamin Franklin, Nathanael Greene, Thomas Paine, Paul Revere, Greg (Pappy) Boyington, George Patton, and countless others.  They all had one thing in common … they proudly stepped forward to stand up for that which was right.  The misfits of the American Revolutionary era took a stand against autocracy of the classes and the masses, while fulfilling their individual obligations to fight for the freedom and democracy of a new nation. Misfits through the millennia have stood up in the name of democracy and human rights to such self styled tyrannical leaders in history as George William Frederick, Napoleon Bonaparte, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, Kaiser Wilhelm II, Emperor Hirohito, and Adolph Hitler.  Misfits have stepped forward when most continued to quake in their boots or actively supported tyranny because of new gained wealth and power.  Most of America’s finest misfits looked oppression in the face and said enough is enough with little or no thought of the consequences that faced them.

So, what do the faces of today’s misfits look like? They are unchanged; they are the men and women who have stepped forward and said enough is enough.  They are the people who held their heads high and said we will no longer accept secret trials of innocent people without due course; we will no longer blindly give our money to unknown recipients without proper accounting; we will no longer be treated like second class citizens, bearing the brunt of ridicule and public embarrassment; we will no longer be denied our right to free speech or democratic choice; and most of all, we will no longer follow a leader who, in our opinion, has turned his back on the meaning of Americanism.  

We thank you Mr. Rekow for applying the respected name of misfit to those of us who proudly and openly stepped forward to oppose a once proud and decent man who, in our opinion, has become so totally consumed with autocratic power that he has lost sight of a little thing called democracy. We will not be swayed; we will neither be intimidated nor coerced; and we will not be stopped because we are the misfits of democracy.

BUD GREER, DEE SASSE,

STEVE DuGON and more

The Misfits of VFW Post 143

Post Falls