Pogo’s Observation
We have met the enemy and it is us.
This comment by Walt Kelly’s immortal possum in the ‘Pogo’ cartoon strip has been recorded in various forms. On the 1971 Earth Day poster it was rendered as “We have met the enemy and he is us.” What apparently is the Ur version of text comes from the foreword to The Pogo Papers (1953)
Resolve then that on this very ground with small flags waving and tinny blasts on tiny trumpets we shall meet the enemy and not only may he be ours, he may be us
Ultimately, of course, the observation whatever the precise wording derives from Oliver Hazard Perry’s dispatch following the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812: “We have met the enemy and they are ours - two ships two brigs one schooner.”
Discussion of Pogo’s Observation
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