Thoughts Aloud

Archive for April, 2009

I just reread my “Dark Ages II” essay, where I make the case that we are inexorably sliding into another dark and uncivilized era, and that there is absolutely nothing we can do – that we would permit ourselves to do – to prevent it. Someday I should get around to tightening it up, as it is a bit of a wide ranging rant. It was actually just a lengthy post to a Freethinker group I was engaged with over two years ago. Most were ACLU type atheists, who had unwittingly adopted anti-Christian activism as their creed, and Progressivism as their dogma. Although I am a freethinking godless heathen, I was an enigma to them as a conservative leaning libertarian, who valued traditional American principles and values, and considers Marxism and Islam to be greater threats to America and my Liberty, than their preferred fear of a Christian theocracy.

My primary antagonist was a decidedly Marxist retired college professor, who was proud of his active participation in the ZPG movement back in the ’70s, which he had never outgrown. He saw politics as a purely Left/Right duopoly and considered anyone to the right of Ted Kennedy a reactionary Troglodyte. He was always trying to bait me into an off-topic political debate, by painting me as a mindless “Ditto-Head” for challenging PC orthodoxy. “Dark Ages II,” was the point when I finally unloaded – through the muzzle.

It had the intended effect of throwing the group into dismay and even shocked disarray for a time; but they soon regrouped and typically demanded cites to peer reviewed scientific papers to back up my assertions. I simply referred them to Google and Mark Steyn’s book, “America Alone”; but I sure wish I had this video clip I stumbled across last night available at the time:

Watching it is sobering. I note with some chagrin that once again of late, I have allowed my disdain for the Progressive movement to drag me back into paying attention to politics and rather passionate if feeble efforts to combat the scourge. As I occasionally point out in my posts here and elsewhere, I am a realist and deal with the world as I find it. I engage in my duty as a Patriot, not out of any false hope that I could make a difference to posterity; but for the sheer sport of it.

I do what little I can simply for the pleasure of throwing sand in the gears, and irritating over-schooled and under-educated Progressive fools. I do it out of the utter contempt I harbor for the altruistic Utopian dreamers, who have destroyed Western civilization in general, and are feverishly engaged in the final destruction of my country. Since I don’t believe in Hell, I yearn to make the pathetic leeches as uncomfortable as possible while they live. That most of them I encounter on the net are so bitter and angry pleases me, and I love to twist their tails.

It is as good a hobby as any for my retirement years; and as sad as reality is, in a way it is easier to indulge it knowing that it won’t make a damn bit of difference in the end. At least the Progressives won’t have the place very long before the Mexicans take over. Then the Mexicans will lose it to the Muslims. Just think, our great great… grandchildren will be saying their devotions to Allah five times a day in Spanish, and the oh so righteous altruists will still be spinning… in their graves.    ◄Dave►

Addendum:

Gabe’s link below in the comment section to J. R. Nyquist’s column, “The Investment Climate in 2059” is well worth the read. The concluding paragraph begs to be added here:

I am amazed by those who think the U.S. economy is going to recover, that global peace is attainable, that American liberties are going to survive American barbarism. Look at our culture today: men are no longer men, and women are no longer women; capitalists no longer uphold free market principles; constitutional government no longer adheres to the Constitution; enemies are treated as friends. Nobody reads the signs. Nobody sees what is coming. Look at the birthrate among Europeans. Look at the abandonment of European culture. Look at the Muslim birthrate. Europe will be Islamic in fifty years. Long before that, the Russians and Chinese will achieve nuclear dominance of the globe. What do you think the investment climate will be in 2059?

Here is an interesting item that I find amazing hasn’t been in the news. I just received a phone call from my upset sister in North Carolina, asking me if I knew anything about the Census bureau gathering the GPS coordinates of everyone’s front door. She had just had an altercation with a purported Census worker at her front door keying her address into a GPS device. She thought it was some sort of scam and tried to take the person’s picture; but was told she was not permitted to do so. Then to her amazement, the Sheriff was called on her for interfering with a Census worker!

My sister is very aware of what is going on, reads the newspapers, watches cable news, listens to talk radio, etc.; and she just couldn’t believe this was for real, because she had heard nothing about any such survey. I had seen a report on a Patriot forum of a similar encounter in another State about ten days ago, so I Googled “GPS Census.” The only thing close to a MSM news report was something from NPR, which I didn’t bother to check out. The most prominent entry was a piece yesterday on “American Daily Review” entitled, “Big Brother GPS Doorway Census” by Douglas V. Gibbs:

The Decennial Census in 2010 is around the corner, and technology promises to be of great assistance to the process of counting the number of Americans residing in this great nation. Instead of using paper-based lists, surveys, and the like, however, the United States Government has developed a paperless method to achieve their census goals. Efficiency and accuracy are the promised bi-products of these new technology-based programs, which includes creating Global Positioning System (GPS) coordinates for the front doors of American homes. This way, in addition to the current satellite location and picture of your property from the roof, the government will now have a GPS coordinate for your front door.

GPS coordinates of your front door will make it easier for the government to monitor you. The U.S. Census Bureau is simply an excuse – a harmless looking means of obtaining the front door coordinates. The creation of GPS coordinates for front doors has nothing to do with the Census, in all honesty, no matter how much the United States Government tries to convince you that it does.

Why would the U.S. government desire the exact location of your front door to be entered into their GPS data base when they already have the location of your home in the system?

Read the rest of it for his speculation and several references for his piece. Going to the belly of the beast, the Census Bureau’s PIO back on 3/25/09 released, “Census Workers to Verify Addresses in the U.S. - First Major 2010 Census Operation to Employ 140,000.” Here it is in its entirety:

The Census Bureau will launch a massive operation on March 30 to verify and update more than 145 million addresses as it prepares to conduct the 2010 Census.

Nationwide, more than 140,000 census workers will participate in the address canvassing operation, a critically important first step in assuring that every housing unit receives a census questionnaire in March 2010. All information is kept confidential. The countdown to the 2010 Census is officially one year out on April 1.

“A complete and accurate address list is the cornerstone of a successful census,” said Tom Mesenbourg, acting director of the U.S. Census Bureau. “Building on the achievements of the 2000 Census, we have been testing and preparing for the 2010 count all decade, and we’re ready to fulfill our constitutional mandate to count everyone living in the United States.”

The first publicly visible activity of the 2010 Census is ahead of schedule. Address canvassing kicks off a week earlier than originally planned and should conclude by mid-July. The operation will use new hand-held computers equipped with GPS to increase geographic accuracy. The ability to capture GPS coordinates for most of the nation’s housing units will greatly reduce the number of geographic coding errors caused by using paper maps in previous counts.

“The primary goal of the census is to count everyone once, only once, and in the right place,” Mesenbourg said. “Because the census is used for reapportioning seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the distribution of more than $300 billion in federal dollars every year to state and local governments, it’s essential to get this first step right.”

Over the last several years, the Census Bureau has been actively working on updating its geographic databases and master address files. From implementing the Local Update of Census Address program where more than 11,500 tribal, state and local governments participated in a review of the Census Bureau’s address list for their area, to increasing the precision of the GPS mapping, many advances have been made to compile the most comprehensive listing of addresses in the nation.

The address canvassing operation will be conducted out of 151 local census offices across the U.S, with most offices beginning on April 6. In most cases, census workers will knock on doors to verify addresses and inquire about additional living quarters on the premises. This is the first census to include group quarters (such as dormitories, group homes, prisons and homeless shelters) in the address canvassing operation, which should improve both the accuracy and coverage of the final count.

There will be one final opportunity to add new home construction in early 2010 prior to the mailing of the census questionnaires.

Census workers can be identified by the official Census Bureau badge they carry. During the address canvassing operation, census workers may ask to verify a housing structure’s address and whether there are additional living quarters on the property.

2010 Census workers will never ask for bank or social security information. All census information collected, including addresses, are confidential and protected by law. By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with the FBI, the IRS, CIA, Welfare, Immigration, or any other government agency. No court of law or law enforcement agency can find out respondents’ answers. All Census Bureau employees — including temporary employees — take an oath for life to keep census information confidential. Any violation of that oath is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and five years in prison.

Somehow, that last paragraph isn’t all that reassuring. I suspect the intrusive questions they will ask next year are insignificant compared to the data they are collecting right now. The very fact that there is a deafening silence from the news media over what is going on is ominous. My sister can’t be the only Patriot who has had a confrontation with them over this (although she did make her big brother proud).

Why aren’t there news stories about them? One would think that it would be in the best interest of the Census bureau itself to make sure people aren’t freaked out by these “legal” trespassers, just to protect their own employees from the risks of being mistaken for some scam artist, as my sister suspected. Do read Gibbs’ speculation, and I am sure you can think of a couple of concerns of your own. Big Brother indeed… ◄Dave►

After explaining why, “There Will Never Be a Middle Ground,” Bruce Bialosky asks four very cogent questions:

We deserve answers to four questions from the Democrats who continue pursuing this issue:

1) The Democrats kept asserting that use of “torture” techniques has been a major recruiting tool for Al Qaeda. They repeat this mantra at every opportunity. If so, please let us know how they know this. How many terrorists that have been recruited attribute their joining the cause to our “torture” of other terrorists? Do they have a Gallup Poll on this? Do they have in-depth studies of the terrorists and their motivations? We deserve to see this material so we can make an educated analysis of the situation. Without such information it is reasonable to suppose that someone spouted this out once and now it has been repeated a thousand times with no substantiation.

2) The point that the techniques that have been used do not produce results. After the mantra about the recruiting tool, this comes out of their mouths next. Whether you believe the techniques used should be used or not, to purport that torture does not work defies hundreds of years of use of torture. Surely some torture was done just because the people involved were sadistic. But please don’t foist some study by a PhD upon us and ask us to buy that. In fact, it is clear that the CIA personnel involved have disclosed that vital information was derived from the prisoners. Tell us you are against it for moral reasons, but don’t create a lie that it does not work. That is insulting to our common sense.

3) Please explain why the Bush Administration is responsible when leading members of Congress from both parties were fully aware of what was being done and condoned the actions?

4) Please define what you are going to do to extract information from high-level prisoners of war. If you don’t like the techniques used then what are you going to do? We were not putting these people on the rack or cutting off fingers. In the realm of techniques of information extraction, these are relatively mild and people of good conscience can disagree whether they were actually torture. But now that these procedures have been taken out of our playbook, what are we going to do when we have a legitimate suspect and a plot to blow-up O’Hare has been discovered? We deserve to know how you are going to save thousands of innocent lives.

Until we have a clarification on these points we cannot take these people seriously. It appears they are against military action and just drowning in their hatred of whatever Bush-Cheney did during their term. Real matters of grave seriousness are at stake here and from all appearances we cannot take the current administration and their cohorts seriously. That, folks, is scary.

Personally, I quit taking any of them seriously long ago. If they weren’t screwing up my country so badly, I would just ignore all of these clowns as irrelevant to my pursuit of happiness. ◄Dave►

If Texas governor Rick Perry doesn’t stop speaking sweet nothings in our ears…

“I got asked, and I said … Texas is a very unique place. America is a great union. And I see absolutely no reason for Texas to leave. But if Washington continues to disregard the states and continues to try to force states to change the way that they govern, who knows what may happen?” he said Thursday. “I refer people to the first part of the Declaration of Independence.”

…Texas is going to have to secure all of its borders to keep from being overrun by Patriots wishing to live once again in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Where does one apply for immigration papers for the Republic of Texas? ◄Dave►

This is chilling to watch. As you go through minute six, please keep in mind that this was recorded 24 years ago. Normalization? ◄Dave►

The sagacious George Carlin understood “Earth Day” for what it was, and explained environmentalism as only he could. His unique species may now be extinct; but thanks to YouTube, his work remains immortal. If you are offended by Politically Incorrect thoughts, Piously Incorrect words, or Common Sense – viewer discretion is advised. ◄Dave►

According to the AP, Californians are seriously considering a Constitutional Convention. I am still unclear what I think of such a notion:

“If the purpose is to make it easier to raise taxes, there will never be an agreement,” Runner said, adding he was concerned about who would be chosen as delegates to the convention.

“California is a very diverse state,” he said. “I can’t think of anything more emotional or controversial than choosing who the delegates would be to rewrite the state’s constitution.”

Organizers are proposing that 200 people serve as delegates, including 80 elected officials from across the state.

In addition to budget reform, backers want to change the constitution to allow nonpartisan or “open” primaries in hopes that more moderates will be elected to the Legislature. They’re also proposing that the constitution allow local governments to collect and spend tax revenues, rather than have them centrally controlled by the state.

Of course, the thing they are trying to achieve – reducing the 2/3 vote of the legislature to approve a budget – I am solidly against. The risk of opening this can of worms seems great; but if CA did it, it would probably start a trend that could end in a national version, which just might be the only thing that could save our nation from itself. The big question, as suggested, is who gets a seat at the table. I would want to eliminate all politicians; but then again I would want to eliminate all moralizers and anyone with an agenda to use the law to impose their own model of utopia on freemen. It is a tricky issue for sure. ◄Dave►

This ruling from the 9th Circuit gives me cognitive dissonance:

BELLEVUE, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Second Amendment Foundation today applauded the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco for ruling that the Second Amendment is incorporated against the states and local governments.

The majority opinion was written by Judge Diarmuid F. O’Scannlain, with a concurring opinion from Judge Ronald M. Gould, who wrote, “The right to bear arms is a bulwark against external invasion…That we have a lawfully armed populace adds a measure of security for all of us and makes it less likely that a band of terrorists could make headway in an attack on any community before more professional forces arrived.”

Although the court found against the plaintiffs in the case of Nordyke v. King – Russell and Sallie Nordyke, operators of a gun show in Alameda County, CA – the court acknowledged that its earlier position that the Second Amendment protected only a collective right of states has been overruled by the Supreme Court’s 2008 historic ruling in District of Columbia v. Dick Anthony Heller. That was the case in which the high court ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual civil right to keep and bear arms.

“This is a great victory for advancement of the fundamental individual right of American citizens to own firearms,” said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. “The Ninth Circuit panel has acknowledged that the Heller ruling abrogated its earlier position on the Second Amendment, and it further clarified that the Second Amendment is incorporated to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment through the due process clause.”

Did I awaken in an alternative universe, or did the Ninth Circuit not only acknowledge, but actually expanded on the Heller ruling? Wow! ◄Dave►

The Orders We Oath Keepers Will Not Obey:

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.

2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people

3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.

4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a state.

5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any state that asserts its sovereignty.

6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.

7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.

8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”

9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.

10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

I wish I could have been there. ◄Dave►

At least two of our domestic spies, recently tasked to keep a close eye on potential Right-Wing Extremists, found a whole nest of them in a dressing room for teenage girls. In “FBI workers accused of spying on dressing room” the AP reports:

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – Two FBI workers are accused of using surveillance equipment to spy on teenage girls as they undressed and tried on prom gowns at a charity event at a West Virginia mall.

The FBI employees have been charged with conspiracy and committing criminal invasion of privacy. They were working in an FBI satellite control room at the mall when they positioned a camera on temporary changing rooms and zoomed in for at least 90 minutes on girls dressing for the Cinderella Project fashion show, Marion County Prosecutor Pat Wilson said Monday.

Gary Sutton Jr., 40, of New Milton and Charles Hommema of Buckhannon have been charged with the misdemeanors and face fines and up to a year in jail on each charge if convicted. Sutton has been released on bond, Wilson said, and Hommema is to be arraigned later this week. Wilson did not know Hommema’s age.

The workers were described in a complaint as “police officers,” but prosecutors did not say whether the men were agents or describe what kind of work they did.

One question for these Federal perverts: What is a FBI satellite control room at a mall? I don’t think I like the sound of that. Somehow it just doesn’t sound like a Constitutional endeavor. ◄Dave►

I noted with interest when the Captain that had been rescued from the pirates stepped to the microphone upon arrival back in America, he thanked everybody involved except Obama. I haven’t heard of any photo ops planned with him either. Now World Net Daily reveals why:

WASHINGTON – While Barack Obama is basking in praise for his “decisive” handling of the Somali pirate attack on a merchant ship in the India Ocean, reliable military sources close to the scene are painting a much different picture of the incident – accusing the president of employing restrictive rules of engagement that actually hampered the rescue of Capt. Richard Phillips and extended the drama at sea for days.

Multiple opportunities to free the captain of the Maersk Alabama from three young pirates were missed, these sources say – all because a Navy SEAL team was not immediately ordered to the scene and then forced to operate under strict, non-lethal rules of engagement.

They say the response duty office at the Pentagon was initially unwilling to grant an order to use lethal force to rescue Phillips. They also report the White House refused to authorize deployment of a Navy SEAL team to the location for 36 hours, despite the recommendation of the on-scene commander.

The White House also turned down two rescue plans offered up by the Seal commander on the scene and the captain of the USS Bainbridge.

The SEAL team operated under rules of engagement that required them to do nothing unless the hostage’s life was in “imminent’ danger.

In fact, when the USS Bainbridge dispatched a rigid-hull inflatable boat to bring supplies to the Maersk Alabama, it came under fire that could not be returned even though the SEAL team had the pirates in their sights.

Many hours before the fatal shots were fired, taking out the three young pirates, Phillips jumped into the Indian Ocean with the idea of giving the snipers a clear target. However, the SEAL team was still under orders not to shoot.

Hours later, frustrated by the missed opportunities to resolve the standoff, the commander of the Bainbridge and the captain of the Navy SEAL team determined they had operational authority to evaluate the risk to the hostage, and took out the pirates at the first opportunity – finally freeing Phillips.

The G2 Bulletin report was authored by Joseph Farah, founder and editor of WND, and a veteran newsman with extensive military sources developed over the last 30 years.

The full report is available now exclusively at Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.

This story could get juicy. It will be interesting to see if he gets the traditional invite to the White House… and if he accepts it. If this story is true, I would recommend against it. You just know a book is coming and it will sell ten times more copies if he snubs the Obamessiah. ◄Dave►

I am proud to be an Oath Keeper!

I would ask a few questions of Janet’s Jackboots in DHS or the FBI, who should be watching me by now. I warned Ms. Napolitano to only put committed Leftists on my case, lest I recruit them for the dark side (from her Marxist perspective). What part of the oath you took when we hired you did you not understand? When did you decide that that oath didn’t mean anything? What made you decide that the Progressives / Socialists / Communists / Fascists / United Workers / Community Organizers / UN / NWO / Globalists / Environmentalists / Collectivists / Leftists / Compassionate Conservatives/ Altruists / Social Democrats / Incumbrepublocrats - pick a convenient name for the proponents of the same insidious Marxist ideology that has been steadily undermining our Constitution and our American way of life for over 100 years – were your masters, who must be loyally obeyed no matter what; and that your oath to defend that Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, was just a meaningless ritual?

How can the actions shown in this video, by people in uniform at New Orleans during Katrina, not make you sick to your stomach? Are you really convinced that you are watching the right people? Can’t you see that we are on defense and just trying to preserve our country and culture, and you are the instrument of power crazed politicians, who are trying to preserve and enhance their power? The Federal government has become our nemesis, and we the people (at least the productive ones) are becoming theirs.

All we Patriots ask of them is that they leave us alone to live our lives as we choose to live them. They can’t stand the idea of sovereign individuals who don’t want or need their assistance, because it weakens their control. Which side do you belong on? Think carefully before answering; it is not too late to become an Oath Keeper. ◄Dave►

Now the Wall Street Journal reveals that the FBI has been focused on investigating veterans:

WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation earlier this year launched a nationwide operation targeting white supremacists and “militia/sovereign-citizen extremist groups,” including a focus on veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to memos sent from bureau headquarters to field offices.

The initiative, dubbed Operation Vigilant Eagle, was outlined in February, two months before a memo giving a similar warning was issued on April 7 by the Department of Homeland Security.

When are the civil libertarians on the Left and the Right going to awaken to the fact that it is the Federal beast itself that is the problem, and not just a matter of which wing of the Incumbrepublocrat Party that has the helm? We simply cannot empower it to spy on or harass our ideological opponents, without risk that such power will be turned upon ourselves at some point. Then, if we start to awaken and try to rein it in, it will turn on all of us to preserve its power and privilege. We need to start thinking like Americans again, who once cherished our individual Liberty, instead of donkeys and elephants striving for control over each other’s behavior. ◄Dave►

In the spirit of John Hancock, I wish to make sure the agents of tyranny making a list of contumacious American Patriots do not miss my name. I have carefully studied the Department of Homeland Security’s 4/7/09 Office of Intelligence Analysis Assessment:

Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment

This is a remarkable document. Nothing in my upbringing as a patriotic American could have ever prepared me to read such an official publication from a department of the United States of America. My Junior High civics teacher, who taught us the Constitution clause by clause, would have been scandalized; and had it been published in the 1950′s, it would have undoubtedly earned the authors a starring role before the House Un-American Activities committee.

When I volunteered for the US Army at the age of seventeen in 1963, had anyone suggested that a day would come when my oath to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States might land me on a watch list for “domestic terrorists,” I would have laughed in their face. All my training and deployments in the Army stressed that we were engaged in an existential battle for freedom, against the very Marxist ideology that has now captured the levers of our own government to publish such bilge.

When I again took that oath in 1966, upon being sworn in as a peace officer in California, had someone suggested that one day my department would be receiving such communiqués from the Federal government, warning that veterans and patriotic Americans who revered the Constitution should be watched closely as dangerous subversives, I would have thought them mad. Yet, here it is in full color on a Federal government website. The hubris behind the indictment is breathtaking.

I had hoped that this was just some overzealous bureaucrat’s handiwork; but I note with interest this morning that the Washington Times is carrying a report that Janet Napolitano stands by her department’s report in the face of mounting outrage, and actually approved it before publishing and disseminating it to local law enforcement agencies. This is simply unacceptable to this veteran. Therefore:

It has been my experience that the Federal government, and particularly those parts of it engaged in intelligence and its analysis, is not very efficient. I am an honest citizen who has always done his civic duty. I’ve never been arrested and haven’t even gotten a speeding ticket since 1979. Therefore, there is a good chance it may have escaped our domestic spies’ notice that, according to this turgid document, I qualify on multiple accounts for a position on their watch list. Allow me to make my case for that honor and distinction; so that these pathetic bureaucrats will waste their resources watching this dangerous old man, and leave some of the brave kids returning from their duty in Iraq alone.

True, I am a committed libertarian at dead center of the political spectrum, rather than out on its right wing; but one shouldn’t expect career bureaucrats, who consider anyone to the Right of Ted Kennedy a radical redneck, to comprehend such distinctions. No, I am not a racist; but it has reached the point that bureaucratically, a racist is defined simply as a white man. Discounting the significant measure of Cherokee DNA in my heritage, I admit that I am guilty of being white.

I could care less what color Barak Obama is; but he is an obvious usurper, who is ineligible to hold the office of POTUS. By his own admission, he was born a subject of the Queen of England, which means by definition that he is not a Natural Born Citizen, regardless where he was born. Since he is so arrogant that he refuses to even address the question, much less submit evidence to the contrary, I document my refusal to acknowledge his legitimacy in the office he has usurped here:

Not My Day

Although I attend no meetings, own no telltale camo gear, and haven’t drilled for about 45 years, I assert my membership in the Citizen’s Militia that has Janet’s knickers in such a twist here:

The Citizen’s Militia

I not only think the individual States have sovereignty over the Federal government, I assert that I have Individual Sovereignty over the States: I rather thoroughly make my case here:

Sovereign Rights

I not only am concerned that the current crop of Progressives riding roughshod in Washington DC have stated their intention to further restrict American’s inalienable right to keep and bear arms, at the breathtaking pace they are dismantling our Constitution, I seriously fear that they will actually try to disarm us over some false flag pretense in the near future. Their Progressive Public Schools have so dumbed down the sheeple who empower them, that I am afraid our young warriors and law enforcement officers might actually follow unconstitutional orders to confiscate civilian weapons.
This is such a volatile issue, that I have taken the trouble to attempt to defuse it before some fool starts another Civil War. Instead of sending out threat assessments demonizing veterans and Patriots, if DHS really wanted to cool the growing tension in America, they would disseminate my essay to all the cop shops and military barracks across America:

Gun Collecting Can Be Treason

Besides the fact that the Second Amendment makes ALL gun control laws patently unconstitutional, I document how utterly stupid the attempt to disarm honest citizens is here:

Urban Varmints

I acknowledge that I am an incorrigible criminal, and make the case that there are so many onerous laws, rules, and regulations that it is impossible for any American to live a normal life for 24 hours without violating one of them here:

Civil Disobedience

I am totally immune to the Progressives’ class warfare strategy, because I understand who really pays all the taxes, and it isn’t the fat cats. It is the average productive private sector citizen, in his role as consumer, who ultimately finances all of the out of control spending by politicians. If all Americans could read and understand just this one essay, the Progressives would lose enough of their constituency that they would never win another election. It is found here:

Who Really Pays Most Taxes

There, that should keep a few domestic spies, analysts, and watch list makers busy for awhile. One caution, Ms. Napolitano, lest I be accused of recruiting from your own shop: When assigning my case, it would be wise to choose agents who are thoroughly drenched in Progressive Kool-Aid. Otherwise, you might lose them to the dark side.

For, unless they are dumb as a box of rocks, if they have even a lick of common sense, a scintilla of respect for our Constitution, and a smidgen of love for America – there is just no way they could absorb these essays without awakening to what is so very wrong with the way you and your ilk are dragging this once great nation into the abyss of totalitarianism.

Color me proud to be on your list, and utterly undaunted by your attempt to intimidate true American Patriots. We surround you, lady; and we will not be cowed into silence by the threat of Brown Shirts watching our every move. This is America – and we the people employ you. The very notion of you referring to us as potential terrorists, when you will no longer apply that term to the Islamic Jihadists who actually are, exposes you as a hopeless partisan fool unworthy of your office. I and millions of other Patriots are sick and tired of partisan games and both wings of the Incumbrepublocrat Party. Go to hell. ◄Dave►

My local Tea Party was held at the Pismo Beach pier at 6:30 PM. For a small generally Progressive town, I was surprised that about 150 people showed up. For what it is worth, organizer Gail Lightfoot, local resident and frequent LP candidate for Governor of California, was ecstatic at the turnout; because she had never seen so many people angry at the R’s and D’s at one event in all the years she has campaigned locally. She happily pronounced conditions finally ripe for a third party. ◄Dave►

Drudge Flash:

WAKE UP CALL: TEXAS GOV. BACK RESOLUTION AFFIRMING SOVEREIGNTY
Tue Apr 14 2009 08:44:54 ET

AUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry joined state Rep. Brandon Creighton and sponsors of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

“I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state,” Gov. Perry said. “That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.”

Perry continued: “Millions of Texans are tired of Washington, DC trying to come down here to tell us how to run Texas.”

[VIDEO]

A number of recent federal proposals are not within the scope of the federal government’s constitutionally designated powers and impede the states’ right to govern themselves. HCR 50 affirms that Texas claims sovereignty under the 10th Amendment over all powers not otherwise granted to the federal government.

It also designates that all compulsory federal legislation that requires states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties, or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding, be prohibited or repealed.

Developing…

Now if they will just secede and get this show on the road…◄Dave►

“Homeland Security on guard for ‘right-wing extremists’- Returning U.S. military veterans singled out as particular threats”:

WASHINGTON – A newly unclassified Department of Homeland Security report warns against the possibility of violence by unnamed “right-wing extremists” concerned about illegal immigration, increasing federal power, restrictions on firearms, abortion and the loss of U.S. sovereignty and singles out returning war veterans as particular threats.

The report, titled “Right-wing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment,” dated April 7, states that “threats from white supremacist and violent anti-government groups during 2009 have been largely rhetorical and have not indicated plans to carry out violent acts.”

However, the document, first reported by talk-radio host and WND columnist Roger Hedgecock, goes on to suggest worsening economic woes, potential new legislative restrictions on firearms and “the return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks.”

The report from DHS’ Office of Intelligence and Analysis defines right-wing extremism in the U.S. as “divided into those groups, movements and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups) and those that are mainly anti-government, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.”

“[T]he consequences of a prolonged economic downturn – including real estate foreclosures, unemployment and an inability to obtain credit – could create a fertile recruiting environment for right-wing extremists and even result in confrontations between such groups and government authorities similar to those in the past,” the report says.

Read the whole thing… and pick a side. I know which side I am on. ◄Dave►

My cyber-buddy Troy has started a new forum that I have agreed to help him with. We spent an enjoyable year together on a forum with a small group of other rational thinkers, before we burned out and broke up to start our blogs. Some of our old friends dislike the blog format for discussion and debate, so Troy has started one of the Ning.com social networking sites at:

berational.ning.com

I hope many of the regular commenters here will check us out and join in our discussions there. Any other readers who might be interested in reasonable discourse are invited as well. If you already have a Ning.com identity, you can just log in using the same user name and password. If not, you will need to register with them first. Once registered as a member of the Be Rational site, you will have your own home page and blog and have access to the common BBS type forum, where most of the debate will happen. I hope to see you there. ◄Dave►

I have been following a thread on the 9/12 Project with interest. A courageous poster calling himself “mcdonsco” has been engaged in a fool’s mission of trying to get the Piously Correct (PC) Christians to notice the PR disaster their insistence on interjecting their piety into the political arena has been and continues to be. He correctly points out that the purpose for that forum is to champion the cause of individual Liberty and a return to the limited government our Founders enshrined in our Constitution, which, after all, is a secular document establishing a secular government. By his lights (and mine), one’s religious beliefs and moral preferences are private matters, which should not enter into public debate over politics. He has tried every way imaginable to explain how the Christian Right’s PC agenda is a turnoff to so many who would otherwise find affinity with the conservative principles of less governmental interference in our daily lives. Among the PC, it falls on deaf ears, and no matter how often he protests to the contrary, he is perceived as attacking their cherished beliefs.

Since I have wasted untold time and effort on similar efforts among dogmatic ideologues on both the Left and the Right, it pains me to have to tell him that he is wasting his time. The problem is that he is thinking while his intended audience is feeling, and they just can’t understand each other. Alas, while some people prefer logic and critical thinking to evaluate an idea, the majority’s first sort is, “How does this make me feel?” Not that feelers can’t think, or thinkers can’t feel, when enticed to do so; but we each have a default preference, and the feelers are in the majority.

Another interesting factor is that thinkers tend to prefer to rely on their own wits, live an independent existence, take entrepreneurial risks, and accept responsibility for the consequences of their failures. They tend not to seek or rely on leaders for direction, and do not generally find causes or identity politics compelling. They can be good neighbors when permitted to interact on a value for value exchange basis; but they will logically place the survival of self and family above that of any group.

Feelers are more sociable, prefer the security of groups of simpatico friends, and readily follow the direction of group leaders. Their need to belong makes them vulnerable to groupthink, and susceptible to the notion that the group is more important than any individual. Thus, they are easily persuaded to accept the ideology of altruism – that they must be their brother’s keeper, that they must share alike, and that selfish thoughts are sinful. They readily join causes and accept the premise that it is OK to compel the cooperation and behavioral conformity of any individual, for the good of their notion of “society.”

When viewing the American political spectrum as a Left/Right line, one finds the altruists at both extremes. On the Left are the Politically Correct (PC) followers of Marx et al, who buy the “from each according to his ability; to each according to his need” dogma. On the Right are the Piously Correct (PC) followers of Christ et al, who buy the dogma that they are their brother’s keeper. While they disagree with each other over acceptable moral behavior and the nature of “sin,” they both see government as the instrument that must be used to compel proper behavior of all citizens, to achieve their notion of a proper cooperative society organized around their PC principles.

Naturally, the individualist “selfish” thinkers are arrayed in the middle of the spectrum, and disdained by both PC camps, who find them impossible to shame into their “selfless” altruistic mindsets. While they are sworn enemies of each other’s group, the rogue rugged individualist who eschews both camps, is almost a worse threat to the ordered society they both prefer. Neither is willing to concede that our Founders were correct to establish a minimal secular government, designed to free individuals from the tyranny of the state and/or the tyranny of the church, so we might live our lives as we choose to live them.

The epic battle between the moralizing PC Left and PC Right is tearing our country asunder over personal morality matters that have no place in politics and discussions of matters of state. The only hope we have is for the thinkers to somehow get through to the feelers that we are a secular nation of free individuals, willing to cooperate with each other in a capitalistic economic system, which rejects the notion that a mythical Robin Hood was a hero or that any guru has a lock on morality. John Galt is my hero, and he was the most moral character ever penned: “I swear by my life and my love for it – that I shall never live for the needs of another man – nor expect another man to live for mine.” ◄Dave►