Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz, is now days into his self-imposed two-week quarantine following last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, where he reportedly shook hands several times with an individual who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
The congressman, who ignited a terminology debate after calling the growing epidemic the “Wuhan Virus,” announced he would be closing his office and remaining at his Arizona residence for the duration of his seclusion.
“We are all asymptomatic and feel great,” Gosar tweeted. “But we are being proactive and cautious.”
Gosar’s proactiveness, as it turns out, includes not waiting around to be wiped out by the virus. Instead, the dentist-turned-congressman-turned-Spartan warrior tweeted Monday that he would rather die in battle.
“Been thinking about life and mortality today,” Gosar wrote. "I’d rather die gloriously in battle than from a virus. In a way it doesn’t matter. But it kinda does.”
In a way, that’s kinda deep.
The congressman did not specify in which conflict he would prefer to die gloriously, but did accompany his Shakespearean proclamation with a screenshot of a battle scene from the 2018 South Korean historical action film, “The Great Battle,” a chronicle of the valiant defense of the Ansi Fortress by heroic seventh century warrior, Yang Manchun, commander of the Korean kingdom of Goguryeo.
Much like Gosar, Yang Manchun existed.
Such striking similarities between the two warriors provide more than enough reasoning for the image’s use.
But the uncanny resemblance doesn’t end with being multicellular organisms. Gosar, like Yang, knows a thing or two about glorious combat.
As a former dentist, the congressman masterfully employed an arsenal that included mouth mirrors, sickle probes, and regional anesthesia in harrowing battles against enemies named Cavity, Plaque, and Gingi of House Vitis.
And like his patients’ gums, Gosar never retreated. His intrepid exploits would earn him the title of the Arizona Dental Association’s “Dentist of the Year” in 2001, a distinction remarkably similar to history’s recollection of Manchun, who will forever be remembered for defending a fortress against an enemy force that numbered nearly 500,000 strong.
Twitter users, however, have somehow not yet managed to grasp the Spartan warrior ethos that forms the very pillars of dentistry.
For glory, and good teeth.
J.D. Simkins is the executive editor of Military Times and Defense News, and a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq War.
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