World War II … on Facebook!

Bumped into the following on facebook. thanks to Charles Hill (yes, “that” Charles Hill). There are any number of bloggers out there who have, for equally as many reasons, hopped onto facebook. Although it has its problems, and some of the “applications” are dubious at best, it is a great little social tool in keeping track of family, friends (old and new), and various other people and groups of interest.

Anyhow! Getting back to the matter at hand, Charles (on his facebook “wall”, linked to an interesting blog called “I Am The Worst Blogger”. Specifically, he linked to this. Those of you who are passingly familiar with facebook, or are users of same, will “get it”, right off the bat. To the rest of you, share it with a family member or friend who is. They should be able to key you in on what is taking place (facebook speak, if you will).

Both my wife and I got a kick out of it, hope you will as well.

Thanks Charles for sharing!!

The Beginnings of our "Reichstag" Moment?

*Thanks to both Sondra K and “Melissa in Texas”, in particular, for the big heads up to the following:

Hmmmm … it would be so easy to claim this is but another example of the “heavy handedness” of government agencies allowed to run amok. And perhaps time will allow a clearer picture of the events over this weekend to be developed. But based purely on the information currently available (which is sketchy at best), could this, this, or this be the beginnings of our so called “Reichstag” moment?

In the case of the Michigan incident, the local FOX news affiliate is reporting, the individual(s) who were raided (and picked up) were supposedly selling pipe bombs! For crying out load!! Granted, these are not something to be taken lightly (and neither are ANY forms of arms/explosives), however, anyone with a bit of effort and access to a large library or google, can find any number of recipes for this kind of thing. “Selling pipe bombs” seems, on the face of it, pretty lame to me. (Though one should never underestimate the level of “stupid” out there … on both sides.)

*Continued after a seven hour “break” for work*

Okay, now it seems this “massive action by the feds” was against yet another “extremist Christian sect ™ ” .

” … the FBI targeted the Hutaree after its members made threats of violence against Islamic organizations.”

If these individuals were in fact trying to instigate violence against those who are law abiding citizens practicing their particular “faith” with no ties or advertised intent to bend this country or subvert it to “the will of Allah”, then yes they should be rounded up. That having been said, it strikes me as a bit disconcerting agents of our government would be acting so fast against a “Christian” group, when their record (across the board, not picking on the FBI here) is less than sterling, in dealing with those who instigate, advocate, and or promote (overt or covertly) either violence or eventual subjugation of the West (and by extension America) to Islamic rule and law.

This whole thing smells a bit too much of political correctness and diversity having a hand in things. Of the administration trying it’s damnedest to start something happening in order to advance it’s own agenda(s). Are they angling for their “Reichstag Fire”, in the form of an “alleged” incident involving people whose views are “right of center”, copious amounts of firearms and other items which may produce “a loud flash and bang”? Folks who tend not to “play nice” in this ever increasing politically divisive and politically correct world?

I kind of wonder. Even with this on going story, in just one day it has changed from the Michigan militia being raided, to pipe bombs, and now religious extremists targeting other “religious extremists” … err, followers of “Teh Religion of Peace ™ © ”

Perhaps this one needs a day or so to settle before reviewing it again. But my gut doesn’t feel quite right about what has transpired so far. What say ya’ll?

*UPDATE*

Well, the “sealed documents” have been “unsealed”, and the latest spin at this hour , via My Way/AP is :

Nine alleged members of a Christian militia group that was girding for battle with the Antichrist were charged Monday with plotting to kill a police officer and slaughter scores more by bombing the funeral – all in hopes of touching off an uprising against the U.S. government.

This makes the second or third variation on a theme. The theme being “What can we tag this group of people with, that will resonate with a significant number of people, so we can say we have acted with impunity.”

I say the above, with one caveat, if this group of “religious extremists/survivalists/militia joining/gun toting/separatists/islamiphobes/good old boys” (I think that about covers all the labels attached to them.), happens to be actually guilty of intending to … err wait, if they didn’t actually act on their threats, has a crime actually been committed? There is an interesting question. Seriously, if these folks are found to have been plotting to actively kill one or more LEO’s (along with families and friends of same), then have at em, and more power to you.

This having been said, the whole thing smells. There web site is hardly as strident as some I have seen that espouse extreme takes on the Christian theology/tenants. Even the AP story seems to be rather disjointed. Though they have been charged with all manner of crimes, there is little, if any indication on their site, as to them acting out in such a fashion.

Though it is still too early to make a hard and fast statement regarding this whole thing, I will toss this out:

If you are the Federal Government, and you want to address the “militia concern” (especially in the one state with a very large – and growing larger – Islamic presence), do you directly attack these fairly large, well armed, and (reasonably) well trained groups? No you do not. Rather, you either wait for smaller groups to “splinter off”, or failing that, instigate matters causing said smaller group(s) to “splinter off”, and when the time is right, attack them.

Just my guess. Read the link above, and see what you think. And as always, comments are welcome.

Watershed down.

If you are at all interested in what is going on in the hollowed halls of Congress, this should be worthy of note. The whole “three ringed circus” aka Congress, would be downright humorous, farcical in the extreme, if the underlying issues and consequences were not so dire.

Has there been corruption in politics, at all levels, since the human species “evolved” to the stage where such a dynamic was needed? Of course. Human nature being what it is, there will never be a perfect political state, or uncorrupted politicians. The best we can hope for is to have (and be willing to USE) the ability to hold the corruption at bay.

To that end, we already have such tools at our disposal:

• The first item would be the ability to elect such individuals into office, who are of (or at least, prior to their assuming office, give every appearance of) such good character, that corruptibility is not a major concern. Now not everyone is going to be a paragon of virtue, but we can try our best to select only those who will do their level best in upholding their respective oaths of office.
• The second item would be we make ourselves aware of what is going on in our government. Keep abreast of the news. Be an informed citizen as to what your elected representatives are (or are not) doing in office. Most importantly, remember their track record come next election cycle, and vote accordingly.
• Third, do not restrict yourself exclusively to one party or another.  If the best individual for any given office happens to be from “the other side of the aisle”, so be it.  At the end of the day, he or she who most closely abides by, and honors this nation’s charter between the government and the people, should be the one who gains the office they are running for.
• The last “tool”, and there is any number of justifiable reasons why it should be “the last tool”, is our right and responsibility to remove, by all means possible, any and all elected officials, their staff, organizations, departments, and agents, who(m) are in such gross violation of our countries charter, as to be a clear and present danger to the well being and continued viability of this nation to exist as formed and founded.  If we fall short in having the courage to use this last item, then we deserve whatever fate awaits.  It should not be taken lightly in is use or application, but to willingly shun or ignore it as a viable option, is to render the whole fabric of the Constitution to be of little more value than the “order(s) of protection” so often used by those seeking relief from various societal scum.

As noted at the beginning of this piece, we are witnessing a watershed event; the attempt by the legislative branch of our nation’s government, with deliberate intent, to bypass the formal process by which bills are adopted into law. This tactic has been used, in a more modified form, in the past by both parties. Never before has it been used on either such an all encompassing piece of legislation, or in such blatant fashion. If successful, it will signal the legitimate end of the peoples being “represented” by their elected officials. And it opens the door to the next step. That of these same opportunists, in all branches, finally figuring out, that if they are no longer “directly accountable to the people”, then they should not be “required” to bother with such trivial things as having to be elected (or more importantly, re-elected) to their station in life. After all, they know what is “best for us”, this being formally established by the “passage” of the HCR (and eventually Cap-n-Trade ™ , and other items of equal deviousness). So, let’s be done with the charade of having the population at large really having a say in what is being done to them and for them. After all we have our phony baloney jobs lifetime posts to think of here.

We shall see what happens. First on Sunday, than on Monday. In any case, it is a long eight months until November. Will we still have the ability to bring about change at that time? I wonder.

If Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and the Democrats have their way…

… our Representative Republic “dies” on March 21st, 2010.

Contrary to what is swirling around the net right now, “Deem and Pass” has not “officially passed”. We still have a Republic, even if it is comatose. However, due to the failure of the Republicans, along with 28 Democrats, to force an “up or down vote”, “Deem and Pass” has managed to jump what looks to be the final hurdle in it’s way to being enacted on this Sunday.

I am an emotional sort. Oft-times quick to anger, as I am quick to smile and laugh, should the situation warrant . Right about now I am near tears. And that doesn’t happen all that often.

As much as I remember how we used to have drills for “the atomic bombing of our cities and towns”. The (admittedly somewhat vague, do to the passing of the years) tension felt round the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, must be very much akin to what I am feeling right about now. For as goes the fate of this great nation, sooner or later, goes the rest of the free world.

Will all this come to pass bright and early on Monday morning (assuming the Statists have their sabbat, mockery of the sabbath, on Sunday (of all days)? Of course not. But the stage will have been set, and the actors will have played their parts. Come Monday their will be a new nation, where once the United States existed. The Representative Republic will be well and truly dead.

Resuscitation is possible. It will require a horrific amount of blood, sweat, and tears, from all corners of this land, and there is no guarantee of success. But there wasn’t a guarantee back in 1776 either.

Wonder if I can get a shortwave transceiver cheap, cause I don’t think this interweb thing is going to be round too much longer. At least not as accessible as it is now.

And on this month, the Republic died.

The Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler has been around for quite some time. Those who take electronic pen to electronic paper there, are some of the most passionate and elegant folks to be found anywhere. That they are anything but low-keyed in their responses to most topics open for discussion, on any given post, insures a lively give and take will take place, and it will never be dull. Sometimes fun, often times informative, and when occasion demands downright serious.

This is one of those downright serious moments.

Many have talked about the way this nation is, and has been heading. It has been suggested the current path we are on is one which was started almost since the inception of this great nation. We have been moving slowly away from the ideals and precepts put forth by the founding fathers, during the first hundred years or so, at a relative snails pace. And as such there was little, if anything done, to change the direction. Few, if any, noticed, and fewer really cared.

A generation later, the Presidency of Woodrow Wilson, would bring about change resulting in us moving along at a “brisker pace”. That was when the federal income tax system, the same one we have come to know and love today, was formally put into place (and law).

A generation still later, FDR would see this “brisk pace” increased even further. Now we were quite literally “off to the Socialist/Progressive races. Granted some of the massive expansion of (the federal) government could be excused on the Second World War, but much, much more must be laid at the feet of Roosevelt.

Little more than a generation after that, saw JFK, LBJ, and Richard Nixon, setting the final stage, keeping us at the brisk pace established by FDR, and setting us up for what would be “the home stetch”, and the last push to the “finish line”. Presidents Carter, Bush “41” and “43”, and Clinton set us up for the final “push”.

That “push”, the “sprint to the finish line”, came in two parts. Part one was the (for all real intent and purposes) total collapse of our legislative branch, in the sense of it being a real and true representative body of the American people. They are now little more then “lords and ladies” (apologies in advance to any real lords and ladies out there) of the court. No longer accountable to those who elected them to office. Morally, ethically, fiscally, as removed from “the common man” as any dark lord of Hell would be from the Heavenly Hosts.

Up until this point in time, they at least had the “courtesy” to vote on any given law placed before them. And if the pressure, for some reason known only to God, was far too great in allowing for it to be willingly (or at least begrudgingly) accepted by the people, said bill would be quietly left to die. The battle left to be fought another day, by another Congress. Louise Slaughter has other ideas.

Part two is the current occupant of the White House. He of quick tongue. He who is wrapped in robes made up of equal parts of massive ego, hubris unbound, and a narcissistic state being here to for unknown, even in the cesspool of D.C. Barack Hussin Obama, whom I have compared to Jimmy Carter, and I was wrong for doing so. Carter was a much better man. I have also compared him to FDR, at times calling him “the reincarnation of FDR, and I was wrong for doing so. FDR at the very least believed in fighting evil when confronted with same. (That he was an avowed Socialist and flirted with Communists is, a topic for another day.) No, Obama is much more likely to be the reincarnation of Louis the 16th of France. (With Micheal aptly filling in for Marie Antoinette.)

These two parts together, are the “kick” which will bring this nation to it’s knees. These two together have brought us to the “finish line” for this “Representative Republic”.

And this is the final line, once crossed, which will see this nation either no longer exist as we knew it. Or will see the start of such calamity, the likes of which has not been seen since it’s founding.

God have mercy on all those who are a part of what is transpiring in our nation’s capital, I fear the American people, in very short order, will not nearly be so generous.

Abe we hardly knew ye

Okay, time for a bit of revisionist history. Yes, even here, sometimes you just have to do it.

I give you, dear reader, the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln ….

VAMPIRE HUNTER!

Thoughts from the porch

My sweetieheart and I talk about many things. Lately, the state of the Union, the asshats in both Houses of Congress, and various other bits of stupidity (oft times masquerading as either something intelligent or “done with good intentions”) which pop up on the interweb.

The feeling I come away with, is one of increasing frustration. The control of ones daily life, daily actions, seems to be out of our hands.

70-100 years ago, you didn’t need:

• Insurance on your auto, your home, your health, or your person.  Granted, having such items could be considered “good sense” as they offered some sort of protection against unforeseen actions/”acts of nature” taking place at some future point in time; but the state didn’t mandate you have same, “for your own good”, the choice was (rightly so) left up to the individual.
• You were not “required” to wear a helmet while operating a motorcycle (and in some cases now, a bike).  Nor were you required to wear a seat belt while in a car or truck (as a driver or passenger).
• Ones home was ones castle (this included the yard and other buildings on your property as well).  If your grass was “too long”, or the yard in general was not “conforming” to the neighborhood standard(s), mote then likely, you would be shunned by same.  Perhaps even a bit of “physical persuasion” would be attempted, if said owner was not particularly well liked.  But odds are, folks would consider “leaving well enough alone”, or “as long as they are not really bothering us, it’s their own business, we just won’t have anything to do with them if at all possible”.  Now, the local lawn police will be at your door if the grass is an inch over the “accepted community standard”.  Or your yard is “cluttered” with anything from too many toys, to too many autos in the drive.  “Oh, and did we mention your flag is much too large?”
• IDs … for everything.  You need a driver’s license to drive a motor vehicle. Most will accept this as a legitimate step in validating ones ability to safely operate a vehicle to such a level that everyone benefits from same in maintaining a level of safety.  But when did they all “morph” into “photo IDs”?  Over and above this, when did we need photo IDs for owning a firearm (they do here in Illinois), for buying alcohol/cigarettes, entering a bar?  (Yes, I understand what this helps to eliminate, as far as selling/serving to minors, but this was an issue, to some extent long before there were photo IDs, and seemed to be handled just fine back then …. soooo?)  Now and again, there has been talk about either a national ID, obstensively used for voting, but bet my bottom dollar it will be used for far more then that.   “May I see your papers please?”
• Permits for everything under the sun (with more appearing with each passing day).   No need to list them here, I am sure you can come up with your own list.
• Taxes (or some sort of “fee”) on just about everything and or action in ones life.  Though these may not be a direct control on individual actions, they are a  drain on individual resources, which could be better spent elsewhere at the very least the choice would be “ours” and not “theirs”.

Yes, there were taxes 70 years ago (or better).  There were already permits, licenses, “community standards”, and “fees”.  But the level of intrusion into ones everyday life was far, far less then it is today.  Indeed, many of the above items where in their “infancy”, with the resulting “intrusion” hardly, if at all, noticeable.  Many communities were still bereft of same, especially those further away from “the big city”.  Sadly, this is no longer the case.

But the real question is not, “How did these get here??”, rather it is, “Why have we let it come to this, and what can we do about it?”

The “why” is easy enough.  Chalk it up to human nature.  Whether it is fear, greed, envy, pride, lust (for power/control), or any of the other darker aspects of our nature, they have all played a part in getting us to where we are now.  It is really just that simple.  Perhaps that is why it is so hard for the intellectual elite to get a handle on this, they make it far more complicated and convoluted than it really is.

As far as the “what can we do about it” part goes … To this old Sailor’s mind, there appears to be only a couple courses of action:

• Work within the system.  Become knowledgeable about not only the Constitution, but about any individual running for office (incumbent, or “first timer”).  Be aware of any legislation which could directly impact you on a daily basis, or that which is in direct conflict with your rights as enumerated by the Constitution.  Seek to bring about change within the given guidelines our founding fathers set in place.  However, if this fails (due to malfeasance on the part of the government or those acting as it’s agents) … all bets are off.
• Resign yourself to the unpleasant, but no less real, possibility that if the system is broken beyond repair, it is time to “reset” same.  This will not be easy, cheap, or without risk to lives, liberty, or property.  But when all other avenues fall short of the desired goal of a return to a right and proper Representative Republic, and the removal of “Mrs Grundy” (if you are a fan of Heinlein, you know to whom I am referring) from, at the very least, the federal level of government,  then there is really no other measure of sufficient means of which to bring about the return of that which is only right and proper.

It is my personal belief we will see our final chance to “work within the system” come this November’s elections.  Regardless of which party gains control, or which individuals get into (or return to) office, if business continues on as usual, well, all bits are off.  The system will have proven itself to be well and truly broken.

Which leads us to the second choice above. (There is a third option.  To go as lemmings, willingly jumping off the cliff of democracy, into the shallow waters of socialism, the tide taking you out into the sea of totalitarianism.   I for one, refuse to go that route.  It is a non-option.)  All the kings solders and all the kings men will be no match for the uprising which is to come, if the system is perceived to have failed (let alone, if it is found to have really done so), heaven help us.  If we are lucky perhaps all that will be needed is any number of States to secede from the Union, and start anew.  This might work, but it might also bring about the same reaction we saw some hundred and fifty years ago.   Open rebellion, to my mind will only bring the bloodshed to the fore sooner, rather than later.  This too is a version which could happen, but I hope it is not the case.  Still, when all other choices are removed from the hearts, hands, and minds of the free, what other real option is there.

But what say ya’ll?

Odds and Ends

Well, fried the motherboard on the old puter. Funds pending, there will be some new and improved guts placed in the case, and it will be transferred to my sweetieheart for her use. Right now the laptop is doing all the heavy lifting. (Thanks again, to my brother for sending this bit of magic into my hands!) This would explain (to some extent) why there haven’t been any entries around these here parts as of late. But stay tuned, the muse is starting to stir, and I expect there will be more on the way in short order.