BY JOHN HINDERAKER IN HISTORY
Cassius Marcellus Clay was, of course, Muhammad Ali’s name. If I ever knew who the original C. M. Clay was, I’d forgotten, until I got a package in the mail today that included a t-shirt. The shirt was accompanied by a letter from a reader who was recently discharged from the Army. Along with other ventures, he is selling this t-shirt on Amazon; you can buy it here for a mere $16.99. The company is called A.O. Courage, after the area where its owner fought for a year in Iraq:
On the back of the shirt is a quote attributed to Cassius Marcellus Clay, 1810-1903, Tennessee Duelist, Soldier, Abolitionist, Patriot:
When society fails to protect us, we are authorized by the laws of God and nature to defend ourselves; based upon this right, the pistol and Bowie knife are to us as sacred as the gown and pulpit.
Clay was a man who practiced what he preached. He was the son of a slaveholder; an abolitionist; a lawyer, farmer, and newspaper editor; one of the founders of the Republican Party; a friend of Abraham Lincoln; the man who organized the defense of the White House against Confederate attack when the Civil War broke out; ambassador to Russia; and, in the words of author Paul Kirchner, “one of the deadliest men who ever lived.” People kept trying to murder Clay because he was an abolitionist, but they fared poorly. His Wikipedia entry is here.
So if you want to celebrate a worthy American, show your support for the Second Amendment and patronize a vet who was recently discharged after 20 years in the Army, follow this link and pick up a t-shirt or two.
