Fight All the Enemies

From Francis Porretto, Liberty's Torch, regarding the true nature of the "DEMS":

And I, in the special clarity I seem to be able to achieve at 4 AM, replied thus:

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for.” – Howard Dean.

You are the enemy.
You are not benevolent.
Your first goal is to disarm us.
Your second goal is to eliminate privacy.
Your third goal is to criminalize our opinions.
You want power for yourselves, and nothing else.
You believe yourselves entitled to rule us absolutely.
You routinely wish for the deaths of conservative figures.
You would have us forcibly “re-educated,” if you could pull it off.
You are trying to destroy all remaining restraints on the federal government.
You’re doing everything you can to criminalize disagreement with your agenda.
You accuse your political opponents of every foul crime and motivation in the book.
And you do it with a contemptuous smirk that says “You can’t stop us no matter what you do."

I tried to grant you the presumption of integrity.
I can’t.You’ve forfeited all claim to decency or benign purpose.
The only difference between you and the Communists of North Korea is your skin tone.
From here to the end of my life, I will do all in my power to have you seen for what you really are. Not decent people with different opinions about what’s best, or what means are acceptable.
Not persons agonized over America’s residuum of violence, or poverty, or racism.
Not neighbors peacefully willing to agree to disagree with other Americans.
You are none of those things.
You are the enemy.
You are villains.
Traitors.

Yep.

More Busy

Okay, sure, it's a crowded theatre.  Nothing to worry about here, though, Ethel.  Just keep watching the picture show with your 3-D glasses.

Best not to even let your eyes look around the paper frames of those glasses.  Whatever you'd see will only detract from your picture show experience.  Even if Bracken is whispering in your ear about some trouble that he is keenly aware of, and even if you smell smoke (I smell it, too), don't look away from the picture.  A snippet from Alas, Brave New Babylon, the short story I referenced earlier.

And that FEMA and National Guard fiasco was the last I saw of the official United States government. I dove into the forests and have kept within them, or at least kept them on my flank, ever since. What I know I only know from word of mouth, rumor stacked on rumor. The worst rumors came from travelers who claimed to have escaped from the cities. They invariably reported complete social breakdown: anarchy, madness, race war, mass rape, torture, widespread arson, and wholesale murder. Hunger and hatred squared, madness and murder cubed, the blood fevered by fear, desperation, and the long-simmering racial hatred finally boiling over.


The consistent theme that every city survivor repeated was the utter callousness of average, ordinary people. Shoot on sight at the effective range of your weapon became the only rule of engagement. The further away, the better. Before their faces were clear. And within a month, food took on a different meaning—predator and prey within the same species.

The few city folk who found their way to the Appalachian Trail stuck slavishly to the paths marked by trees with painted blaze marks. I avoided the marked trails; they were studded with trolls waiting in ambush for the unwary traveler. The greatest danger in the forests came from hunters and other armed woodsmen, and there were plenty of them out there, especially at the beginning. If you were seen first, you might be shot without ever seeing your killer. Or you might walk into a snare, a deadfall, a tiger pit, or some other kind of trap. One of those hunters had carried a top-grade compound bow before he took a fatal tumble. I found his camouflage-clad skeleton at the bottom of a ravine, his bow hooked on the stub of a pine limb above him as if he’d left it there for me.

I spent the first winter in a little place between Greenville and Asheville, population a couple hundred in a few clusters of homes and roadside businesses spread out over a mile or two of twisting mountain roads. No name, not officially a town. Trailers, cabins, retirement homes. I was welcomed because I’d befriended a pair of brothers on the trails who later vouched for me. They were bugging out to a retired aunt and uncle’s vacation cabin. We were heading in the same direction, away from crowds and up into the mountains. They had a place to stay, maybe, and I had maps and trail skills. Even back in that early time there was strength in numbers: everybody has to sleep sometime.

If there was real trouble, someone you know and trust would interrupt the program and tell you all about it.  Someone other than Bracken, or that Livermush fellow.

There's nothing you can do about it, anyway.  Right?

Stick your head in the sand, Ethel.

Alas, Brave New Babylon in its entirety (reprinted with the author's permission), after the jump...

Busy

If anybody comes looking for me, I'll be over at Western Rifle Shooters Association reading Matt Bracken's latest.  Short fiction, in its entirety (I think).

Join me, please?

Burr, Senator

I sent my Senator, Richard Burr (the only Senator from NC that I recognize as being "my" anything) an email via his online form the other day.  It in, I told him that I'm a registered Republican and two-time cancer survivor, and that I'm disappointed that he hasn't pledged to defund Obamacare.

I also mentioned that I'd heard his statement regarding those efforts to defund it, "the dumbest idea I've ever heard," and asked him if he hadn't, in fact, heard the "we've got to pass it, to find out what's in it" statement.

Seriously, Senator, which concept is the dumber of the two?  What do you think voters of North Carolina think is dumber, an elected representative who exhausts every last effort to fight against exploding Statism, or one who carefully cultivates his own political future.

His website claims he wants to "repeal & replace" the Affordable Care Act.  I think that's because, in the end, he still wants State control of my life and yours, but just doesn't like who gets the credit/blame for it.

He has my number and my email addy.  I've yet to hear back from him.

You can let him hear from you, though: Don't Fund Obamacare

Defund It

It's Congress' obligation to control the purse strings of government.  They could fund the armed forces and border security, then prioritize other programs accordingly, with the great monstrosity, Obamacare, being last, and effectively shut out for funding.

I think that many, if not most, other programs should experience scaled-down funding also.  But, if there's a (OMG!) government shut-down, let it be that part (or those parts) that are least palatable and most onerous.



Pretending that the cost of the political capital is extreme, is just a head-fake.  Because, the decision to either accept the budget without OBC funding or "shut down government" would fall to the Oval Office.  It's a win/win for Republicans this way, unless you're a big-government Republican.

The folks who want to keep it "funded" are those that also want to tinker with it, and keep Washington DC's thumb on it.  Why?

Power.

That's why.

I Believe, Part II

I believe that hard work is its own reward, and that it takes no special talent to hustle, that is, to try.

I believe that you almost never get what you want, but you usually get what you need.  Especially, if you're hustling.

I believe that there is no such thing as "the common good."  There is no universal goodness, except for that which comes from the Creator.  Every other imagined collective good is a farce.

I believe in the Oath Keepers.

I believe that the response time to a 911 call is, on average, about 23 minutes.  And the response time of a .357 Magnum is about 1400 feet per second.

I believe that the DNC nominating Hillary (when that is bound to happen) is them telling us that the lives of Ambassador Chris Stevens, Sean Smith, Tyrone Woods, and Glen Doherty were of little consequence to them.  And, I believe that any media personality/pundit or delegate (or voter) that endorses her campaign holds those lives in similar disregard.

I believe that not paying taxes defunding Leviathan is less like stealing from your neighbor, and more like stealing from Tony Soprano.

I believe that Duramax makes a damn fine engine, and Allison a damn fine transmission, but that I'll probably never again buy anything from Government Motors.

I believe that Bill Whittle and Judge Andrew Napolitano would make great 3rd party candidates for President.  Matter of fact, I think we'd be better off if they were the only two choices, and the loser got the Veep slot, as in years past.

I believe that each State should consider Levin's Liberty Amendments, and that only those States that amend their own Constitutions thusly, should be allowed to continue belonging to the Union.  Reverse-secession, maybe.

I believe that Ranya Bardiwell, is the modern-day Dagny Taggart.  That is not intended to disparage either author, but to honor both.  And, I believe the EFAD trilogy should be made into a movie.

I believe the sport of American football is being ruined by the NFL, and I predict tackling will be altogether against the rules within the next 5 years.

I believe that Coach Smith should not accept the Congressional Medal of Freedom, until it's presented by someone with America's best interests at heart.

I believe the sweetest sound I know is a spirit-filled congregation singing How Great Thou Art.

I believe that no matter how many people are crowded atop this marble, abortion is wrong.

I believe that replenishing the Tree of Liberty with the blood of Patriots and tyrants alike will happen in our lifetime.  And I'm okay with that.

I believe that my dog is waiting for me on the other side of the bridge.

I Believe

I apologize for the incoherence, but that doesn't mean that you can consider yourself blameless.  Some feedback would be nice, if only for a toehold or steadying purchase.

I am a fan of Mark Levin.  And I believe that he is correct that we need (or more accurately, from my perspective, will need) to amend the constitution to further limit the federal government.  But, I do not concur that fixing the Constitution will fix the Leviathan.  For one thing, the Leviathan will not allow it.

Fixing the Constitution and/or fixing the government...It's nearly like a chicken/egg equation, but not quite.  It's more like a chicken and some eggs, and a hatchet.  And a Dutch oven.

A point to consider, friends: even if some organic mass-uprising cited Levin's list for guidance in securing a Constitutional Convention, which group of Congress-critters do you trust to actually write those amendments?  Name ten "representatives" who are that trustworthy, even if you got to pick them.  And guess what.  I doubt you'll get to pick them.  It's only a great idea if they actually do what you sent them there to do in the first place.  How's that worked out so far?  That system is how we get Arkansas pork in a Hurricane Sandy-relief bill.

Even if a Constitutional Convention came to pass, and those Amendments were ratified just as Levin outlines, we currently have a government which chooses to not abide by the law and/or enforces only those laws convenient to its own well-being.

Here's an outrageous supposition for you.  I submit that we've seen the last legitimate national election (even if the 2012 presidential election was truly legitimate, and I am highly skeptical).  I do not believe that there will be another.  I suspect that, true to form, the Socialists will manufacture a crisis so profound that time and energy spent on campaigns and elections will be deemed wasteful and risky.  If the administration said, "Hey, things are just too fragile right now.  Let's just suspend the election cycle for a few months, and ride this thing out",  could we trust the traditional media to kick up much fuss in opposition?

As much as I hope for political debate to somehow cure our national bleeding ulcer, I sadly cannot convince myself that there is a political solution to be had.  I don't think 50% of the populace will ever vote against Santa.  Even if notable atrocities (read: Benghazi, Fast & Furious, NSA, IRS) continue piling up, the traditional media will continue refusing to give a damn.  For every major news outlet, the raging wildfires around the city-state only merit Nero's fiddle-tune as report-worthy.

When I'm out on the road, I listen mostly to talk radio, as signal permits.  And, I have some apps on the old smart phone for this, too.  Most areas, I can get Rush & Hannity, though I find their respective "shticks" a bit predictable and stale.  As mentioned before, Mark Levin is generally worth a listen, but he's too big a fan of "Honest" Abe for my liking.  That's about my only complaint with him, but Glenn Beck's unbridled infatuation with the North and disdain for the South has earned him a permanent "no thanks" from me.  Bad mouth Jefferson Davis, Glenn, and this is what you get: Buh-bye.

My smart-apps aren't very reliable, but the best listening by far is Town Hall Radio, led by Dr. Bill Bennett's Morning In America.  Also very worthwhile are TH's Dennis Prager and Mike Gallagher.

Another of my sketchy smart-apps is the one that dials up some Jason Lewis.  Generally very good, but last week he belabored the point that we need to abandon opposition to Obamacare, just so the peoples can experience the full effect of that monstrosity.  I'm not down with that, as they say.  And I'm certainly not down with his repeated nonsense that this administration's foreign policy isn't fundamentally different than Republicans (for some reason, he pretended this somehow made his case on a parallel level).

Sorry, Jason.  What previous administration can you cite that has been so antagonistic to America's friends, warm to America's enemies, derelict in its duty, and criminal in its devices?  Which one bowed to a Chinaman?  Who else made an apology tour?  Yes, other GOP admins had deplorable behavior, too.  But, I don't agree that we've ever seen such inept or egregious foreign policy.

And that brings me to this latest unpleasantness: my Senator is listed as one who won't pledge to defund the "Affordable Care Act".  Don't know why, but I'll surely try to find out.  In the meantime, if you're reading this, Richard Burr, there are no longer any worthwhile GOP victories.  Either you're steadfastly opposed to the single most un-American piece of legislation ever conceived, or you're helping to facilitate it.

And back to the so-called "Liberty Amendments".  Good idea Mark, but what do you say to the Con-Con scenario in Bracken's Foreign Enemies & Traitors?

"Well, we didn't just 'give up' our rights. It wasn't like that. Not at all. It's more like they were stolen in broad daylight, at the constitutional convention."

Carson asked, "How did that happen? I was down in the Caribbean then. American news wasn't so big down there. Panama was going through its own troubles, and I was keeping a low profile. I didn't have cable TV, that's for sure."

"I'll tell you what happened--I watched it happen. When the convention was over, that's when we knew that the old America was gone. It was over. Finished."

Those of you who haven't, please follow the link above to the rest of a long excerpt from FEAT, and from there to reading the entire EFAD Trilogy.  Bracken told you what was going to happen, and it is happening.  Wishing it weren't is no solution.

Again, I'll say that I believe placing hope in any political solution is ultimately misplaced, but that shouldn't stop Mr. Burr, et al, from doing the right thing.  I'll be defunding it in my own way, from where I stand.  And that will make me a target for a vengeful regime.  But, since I've already/previously contributed to GOP candidates, have "NoBama" and "I Am John Galt" stickers on my truck, subscribe to TownHall.com, the Heritage Foundation, and PajamasMedia.com, have ordered items from Cheaper Than Dirt and Jebadiah Fisher, contributed American folding dollars to Mike Vanderboegh and the Reese Defense Fund, not to mention my unwaveringly uncooperative ST&L rants, I am pretty sure the NSA and IRS (and who knows how many alphabet-others) have long ago flagged my behavior as attention-worthy.

I'm currently reading Whittaker Chambers' Witness, and I know how he felt, sticking out as a sore thumb and knowing it's not a matter of "whether" that vengeance will come, but "how & when."

Ex-Republic

If this is your government...



Then, you and I are not citizens, but subjects.

Time to cast off the yoke of oppression, no?