People on the street corners, they looked at this picture and they took hope. Don’t ask me why, I think it’s a crappy picture, myself. You can’t even see your faces! But it said we can win this war, are winning this war, we just need you to dig a little deeper. They want to give us that money. No, they want to give it to you.
Aw, that’s it, that’s beautiful. Yeah, that’s beautiful. Yeah, why tell me? I’m only the guy that has to explain it to a hundred and fifty million Americans. Who is in the goddamn picture? Are any of you guys in the goddamn picture?
Six guys raising a flag over Iwo Jima. Victory is ours. You’re three of them, right?
Well, what’d you do, raise a goddamn flag every time you stopped for lunch?
You know what they’re calling this bond drive? The Mighty Seventh. They might’ve called it the “We’re Flat Fucking Broke And Can’t Even Afford Bullets So We’re Begging For Your Pennies” bond drive, but it didn’t have quite the ring. They could’ve called it that, though, because the last four bond drives came up so short we just printed money instead. Ask any smart boy on Wall Street, he’ll tell you our dollar is next to worthless, we’ve borrowed so much. And nobody is lending any more. Ships aren’t being built, tanks aren’t being built, machine guns, bazookas, hand grenades, zip. You think this is a farce? You want to go back to your buddies? Well stuff some rocks in your pockets before you get on the plane, because that’s all we got left to throw at the Japanese. And don’t be surprised if your plane doesn’t make it off the runway, because the fuel dumps are empty. And our good friends, the Arabs, are only taking bullion. If we don’t raise $14 billion, and that’s million with a “B,” this war is over by the end of the month. We make a deal with the Japanese, we give whatever they want and we come home, because you’ve seen them fight, and they sure as shit ain’t giving up. $14 billion! The last three drives didn’t make that much all together.
Hey, it took a lot of talented folks a long time to make that thing. Just wait till tonight when it’s lit properly and there’s thousands of cheering people in the stands, it’s gonna look a lot better. So, stadium lights come down, spotlight comes up, you get your cue, you charge up this thing with the flag, you plant it at the top. You smile, you wave, you know the drill.
Hey, that’s showbiz. And try to stand how you stood the first time you planted it. Just, you know, pretend the other three guys are with you.
That’s what we’re calling the mothers of the dead flag-raisers. You present each mother with a flag, they say a few words, people will shit money. It’ll be so moving.
