I may have seen it.

Sound the alarm.

Scene: The hero, his back to a semicircle of six armed enemy men, rifles pointed at him as the center of the arc, stealthily removes five bullets from his pistol and drops them in his jacket pocket, raises the pistol above his head, both arms raised in surrender, turns slowly, presents the pistol, handle first, to the leader of the enemy.

The leader takes the pistol, says with vicious satisfaction, “How appropriate to be shot to death by your own weapon,” aims, and pulls the trigger.

Click. Nothing.

Trigger, click, nothing.

Three more in quick frustrated succession, click, click, click.

He turns the pistol and looks inquisitively down the barrel, pulls the trigger and shoots himself in the head.

The five armed men stand uncertainly, their rifles droop.

Our hero picks up his gun, pulls the five bullets from his pocket, loads, and shoots.

He shoots the enemy one by one in quick succession. Four men fall to the ground.

The fifth, a young boy, scared, drops his rifle, raises his hands, falls to his knees.

“Don’t shoot! I surrender!”

Our hero looks at him, sees the knife at his belt, gestures, “The knife too.”

The boy pulls the knife and lays it beside his rifle on the ground.

Our hero gestures the boy to stand, says, “Go home. Tell your family, your friends, your neighbors, what you saw here. I spare your life as my emissary of peace. When you have told your story, come back to join us as we fight the good fight.”

The boy turns and runs toward home.

Our hero holsters his gun, picks up his bandolier of bullets and slings it over his shoulder.

The camera closes in on a close up of the six empty spaces on the row of cartridges.

Scene.

Cut.

Print.

Even if I’ve seen it already in a movie, that doesn’t matter, because it’s relevant and relevance is always immediate.

People talk about “fighting fire with fire,” about “bringing a gun to a knife fight.”

They talk about “fighting to the last breath.”

They say, “Never give up your principles, right is right, go down with the ship.”

They talk about “the big picture” but don’t see it.

They assume because they are honorable and uphold the oaths they swore, that everyone else will do the same. They know liars lie, but don’t make the disconnection between word and deed.

They have forgotten or never knew how World War I broke all the rules forever.

They forget or never knew how “right minded” intellectuals siphoned off the votes of those in the insulated ivory tower who insisted that “truth” is the ultimate and final word, when the oppressive Power has abandoned truth and democratic value long ago. The loss of those spoiler votes turned the election and assured the win of the worse.

Power doesn’t play fair. If we fight for words without weapons, we guarantee a Reign of Tyranny and Terror.

Sixty years ago, we sang songs about “The Eve of Destruction.”

Now it’s midnight, and we’re already falling off the cliff.

Hope without action is just a word.

The Greater Good is being lost forever.

Life is not a movie.