At high noon on January 20th in the 2025th year of our Lord, a bell rang, and the newly installed president, Donald J. Trump, came out of his corner swinging like a prize fighter. As the progressive left swamp creature came out of its corner, it never expected the flurry of blows that were thrown in rapid-fire succession by The Donald. As the bell rang once again, signaling the end of Round 1, the swamp creature staggered back to its corner, nose dripping blood, one eye swollen shut, and stars spinning around its head. The crowd erupted in wild cheers as The Donald pumped his gloved fists over his head, but they both celebrated victory prematurely. The battered swamp creature is no stranger to the ring. Its current demise is due more to the fact that, until now, it had not faced a credible opponent, and thus, it had become lax and complacent.

History has shown, though, that the swamp creature can be a credible opponent and will fight viciously to the death. As such, we need to steel ourselves for a long and hard fight. There will be no Round 2 knockout punch. A battle has been won, but the war is far from over. The enemy will not surrender and capitulate after one battle. We will need to fight for every inch of terrain, all the way to the enemy’s capital, and place our boots on their necks before they will accept defeat.

Sadly, Republicans typically don’t put up a good fight. Sometimes, they don’t even put up a fight at all. That will have to change if we expect to win this war. Otherwise, the battles that we win will be for naught.

I like to describe our political parties in nautical terms. The Democrat Party is like a Spanish galleon or a British man o’ war. It is a single, powerful vessel designed for battle, and it sails a single course with purpose and mission. When you board that ship, you become part of the crew, and that crew obeys the captain’s orders without question. If you question the captain’s orders, or if your efforts do not support the mission of the ship, you will be tied to the mast and whipped with a cat o’ nine tails or keel-hauled. Should you be mutinous, you will be hung from the highest yard arm or forced to walk the plank.

On the other hand, the Republican Party is like a sailing regatta, each person the captain of their own yacht. They all know the racecourse, but each captain comes up with his own plan to sail it. Some race fast, aggressively, and well. Others have a hard time just getting their boat across the start line, more focused on being seen in their beautiful yacht, sailing with their yacht club jacket and ascot on and sipping a glass of wine. The boats sail hither and yon. Eventually, they all finish the race and retire to the post-race party.

That swamp creature, whose clock The Donald cleaned in Round 1, is clearing its head and refocusing on how to really fight when the bell rings to start Round 2. That Spanish galleon, which was battered by a severe squall that popped up, apparently out of nowhere, will trim her sails and resume on course with her cannons ready to fire a broadside. We need to steel ourselves for that next fight, and the one after that, and the one after that, and the one after that. This is not the time for a regatta and a post-race party. It is time for anyone who believes that we can make America great again to board a single ship and work together as a crew to fight and defeat the progressive left. There is no other option.

Winston Churchill said it best in his speech to the Harrow School on October 29, 1941:

You cannot tell from appearances how things will go. Sometimes imagination makes things out far worse than they are; yet without imagination, not much can be done. Those people who are imaginative see many more dangers than perhaps exist — certainly many more than will happen — but then they must also pray to be given that extra courage to carry this far-reaching imagination. But for everyone, surely, what we have gone through in this period — I am addressing myself to the School — surely from this period of 10 months this is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty — never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. We stood all alone a year ago, and to many countries, it seemed that our account was closed, we were finished. All this tradition of ours, our songs, our School history, this part of the history of this country, were gone and finished and liquidated. Very different is the mood today. Britain, other nations thought, had drawn a sponge across her slate. But instead, our country stood in the gap. There was no flinching and no thought of giving in; and by what seemed almost a miracle to those outside these Islands, though we ourselves never doubted it, we now find ourselves in a position where I say that we can be sure that we have only to persevere to conquer.

We on the right — on the right side of history, on the right side of good, and on the right side of truth — have but one mission: Never give in, never, never, never, never — in nothing, great or small, large or petty!

About the author: Mike McGinn is a retired U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18 pilot, a conservative Christian, and a soldier in the battle for what is good, honorable, and true.