Last Thursday was “Star Wars” Day and the 40th anniversary of George Lucas’ groundbreaking film. It was also the day that the empire struck back when Republicans in Congress voted to overturn the Affordable Care Act, and by doing so, further imperiling the health and safety of 100 million Americans.

As the Republicans voted to steal away health insurance from the sick, children, pregnant women, the poor, elderly, babies and people with pre-existing medical conditions in order to give millionaires and billionaires like themselves more money, they reportedly played the theme song to the movie “Rocky” and found inspirationfrom George C. Scott’s Oscar-winning performance as Gen. George S. Patton. On one hand, these are just curious details that help to paint a picture of what happened that day in Congress. But they also tell us a great deal about how the Republicans who voted to overturn the Affordable Care Act see themselves in history.

“Rocky” is the fictional story of a pugnacious Italian-American club boxer from Philadelphia who in “the greatest exhibition of guts and stamina in the history of the ring,” according to the movie, battles to a draw the heavyweight champion of the world, an African-American named Apollo Creed, on Independence Day in 1976.

Perhaps the Republican millionaires in Congress believe that they are underdogs? Or maybe they have fantasies of running up the stairs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, as Rocky does in that movie’s most iconic scene — although, based on their ages and physical appearance it is doubtful that most of the House Republicans could accomplish that feat without collapsing from exhaustion or a heart attack.

If their evocation of “Rocky” is pathetic and humorous, then Republicans’ need to draw inspiration from “Patton” is malicious and frightening.

Of course, the comparison is absurd. The real-life Patton commanded the American Third and Seventh Armies in World War II against the Nazis in Europe and North Africa. The Republicans are leading an Ayn Rand, gangster-capitalist, plutocratic-authoritarian crusade against the American people.

Nevertheless, what inspiring quotes did the Republican in Congress look to as they voted to take insurance away from the American people in the name of some perverse and twisted and backward Orwellian Newspeak version of “freedom”? Here are some possibilities.

In the 1970 movie, George C. Scott’s version of Patton says:

Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

Maybe the Republicans believe that they are fighting a war? If so, who is their enemy?

There’s also this contender:

Now there’s another thing I want you to remember. I don’t want to get any messages saying that “we are holding our position.” We’re not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we’re not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We’re going to hold onto him by the nose and we’re going to kick him in the ass. We’re going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we’re going to go through him like crap through a goose!