“There is Nothing Like the Sight of an Amputated Spirit”
This is for everyone who STOOD UP and PUSHED BACK in whatever ways they could these last three years.
If you’ve never seen the famous speech of Lieutenant Colonel Frank Slade (Al Pacino) in the movie Scent of a Woman(1992) defending Charlie Simms in front of the headmaster Trask and the school disciplinary board, it’s time to do so now.
“You’re building a rat ship here. A vessel for seagoing snitches, and if you think you’re preparing these minnows for manhood, you better think again, because I say you are killing the very spirit this institution proclaims it instills. What a sham. What kind of a show you guys are putting on here today? I mean, the only class in this act is sitting next to me, and I’m here to tell ya this boy’s soul is intact. It’s non-negotiable. You know how I know? Someone here, and I’m not gonna say who, offered to buy it. Only Charlie here wasn’t selling.”
Lt.Colonel Frank Slade(Al Pacino) from the movie,’Scent of a Woman’
Some of my fav quotes from the movie:
It's all right, Charlie. You break my heart, son. All my life I've stood up to everyone and everything, because it made me feel *important*. You do it... because you mean it. You've got integrity, Charlie. I don't know whether to shoot you or adopt ya.
“Out of order, I show you out of order! You don't know what out of order is, Mr. Trask. I'd show you, but I'm too old, I'm too tired, I'm too fuckin' blind. If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a FLAMETHROWER to this place!
Out of order? Who the hell do you think you're talkin' to? I've been around, you know? There was a time I could see. And I have seen. Boys like these, younger than these, their arms torn out, their legs ripped off. But there isn't nothin' like the sight of an amputated spirit. There is no prosthetic for that.
You think you're merely sending this splendid foot soldier back home to Oregon with his tail between his legs, but I say you are... executin' his soul! And why? Because he's not a Bairdman. Bairdmen. You hurt this boy, you're gonna be Baird bums, the lot of ya. And Harry, Jimmy, Trent, wherever you are out there, FUCK YOU TOO!
Mr. Trask : [yells; hits the gavel three times] Stand down, Mr. Slade!
Lt. Col. Frank Slade : I'm not finished! As I came in here, I heard those words, "Cradle of Leadership". Well, when the bough breaks, the cradle will fall. And it has fallen here. It has fallen. Makers of men, Creators of leaders. Be careful what kind of leaders you're producing here. I don't know if Charlie's silence here today is right or wrong. I'm not a judge or jury, but I can tell you this: He won't sell anybody out to buy his future! And that, my friends, is called integrity. That's called courage. Now that's the stuff leaders should be made of. Now I have come to the crossroads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew. But I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the crossroads. He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey. You hold this boy's future in your hands, committee. It's a valuable future. Believe me. Don't destroy it. Protect it. Embrace it. It's gonna make you proud one day, I promise you.
Lt. Col. Frank Slade : [Lt. Col. Frank Slade is speaking in defense of Charlie Simms at meeting at the Baird School] Now I have come to the cross-roads in my life. I always knew what the right path was. Without exception, I knew, but I never took it. You know why? It was too damn hard. Now here's Charlie. He's come to the cross-roads. He has chosen a path. It's the right path. It's a path made of principle that leads to character. Let him continue on his journey.
The COVID vaccine is killing people in huge numbers, and the vaccine leaves a “fingerprint” when it kills:
In plain English, “the damage pattern in the shoulder (injection site) was the same as in the heart.”
Why hasn't NPR shared this "driveway moment" with us yet?
https://stevekirsch.substack.com/p/the-schwab-study-proves-the-covid
Pacino himself was pro-vax, but his character here would have told mandates where to go