In “Casablanca,” we find this exchange between Rick Blaine (Humphrey Bogart), the jaded owner of a nightclub, and Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid), a courageous leader of the Resistance on the run from the Nazis:
Rick Blaine: “Don’t you sometimes wonder if it’s worth all this? I mean, what you’re fighting for.”
Victor Laszlo: “You might as well question why we breathe. If we stop breathing, we’ll die. If we stop fighting our enemies, the world will die.”
Rick Blaine: “Well, what of it? It’ll be out of its misery.”
Victor Laszlo: “You know how you sound, Mr. Blaine? Like a man who’s trying to convince himself of something he doesn’t believe in his heart.”
This brief exchange should speak volumes to all Americans who treasure liberty, whatever their political party.
Laszlo is an ideal hero: brave, sure of his cause, and unafraid to take a stand against tyranny. His own politics are unclear, but his opposition to fascism is never in doubt.
In contrast, Blaine is the quintessential cynic, disappointed by life and crushed by love for a woman who deserted him and who is, as we discover, Laszlo’s wife Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman). Blaine has become an embittered loner, saying at one point, “I stick my neck out for nobody.” Though he fought the fascists in Spain, Blaine tells Laszlo, “I’m not interested in politics. The problems of the world are not in my department. I’m a saloonkeeper.” On another occasion, when Major Strasser asks, “What is your nationality?” Blaine replies, “I’m a drunkard.”
By the movie’s end, Laszlo and Lund have escaped the Nazis, and Blaine his cynicism.
One turning point for Blaine occurs when Major Strasser and his men begin singing “Die Wacht am Rhein” (The Watch on the Rhine), a patriotic song directed against France. Hearing this, Laszlo leaves his conversation with Blaine, marches up to the café’s small orchestra, and commands them, “Play the Marseillaise! Play it!” The band leader looks at Blaine, who nods his approval. As the musicians break into the French national anthem, the entire café stands, sings, and drowns out the Germans. It’s an emotional scene, a brief moment of the triumph of freedom over a dictatorship.
Those who would strip away our freedoms today don’t come wearing jackboots and carrying cudgels. They come instead as officials using laws selectively applied, dragging citizens into court to serve as an example to others. They declare themselves promoters of social harmony, which means building fences around free speech. They cast out those with divergent viewpoints, scorn them in the press, and label them with tags like conspiracy theorists or racists.
To test this decline on a personal level, ask yourself some questions. Does the university that you attend or to which you give money practice and enforce a speech code? Do you feel oppressed at all by government? Do you find yourself maintaining silence regarding your politics or religion in your workplace? Can you walk without fear down the streets of your city or town? Can you pay for your groceries with a credit card, check out library books, or post on social media without wondering whether the federal government has access to these records or is tracking you?
How you answer such questions is a measure of the liberty you enjoy.
To those reading my words who are already participants in the ongoing battle to keep our freedoms and our First Amendment rights, I’ll thank you with this snippet from “Casablanca”:
Rick Blaine: “I congratulate you.”
Victor Laszlo: “What for?”
Rick Blaine: “Your work.”
Victor Laszlo: “I try.”
Rick Blaine: “We all try. You succeed.”
And for those who, like Blaine, have previously embraced cynicism and even despair regarding the maintenance of our American liberties, and who now want to re-enlist in the forces of restoration and liberation, I leave you with Laszlo’s last words to Blaine:
“Welcome back to the fight. This time I know our side will win.”
