Towards A New America
BY Herschel Smith
11 years, 7 months ago
Nonprofit Quarterly recently carried a commentary on Lindsey Graham and his comments on AR-15s that took a detour into the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Rick Cohen’s thoughts make for interesting reading.
Our impression of American behavior during disasters has been that people generally pull together, that adversity brings out the best in us. Sure, we know that people do very bad things, but the press often notes how people also go out of their way to help and protect their neighbors. In fact, that feeling of mutuality was what we thought undergirded the nonprofit sector in a democratic society.
It must be that we fell for some Panglossian view of America, if we are to believe Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.). At a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing yesterday, Graham grilled Attorney General Eric Holder about the proposed ban on assault weapons. We haven’t seen the news reports that verify what Graham says happened—or sort of happened—to spark his support for carrying around military-style assault weapons:
“Can you imagine a circumstance where an AR-15 would be a better defense tool than, say, a double-barrel shotgun? Let me give you an example, that you have (sic) an lawless environment, where you have an natural disaster or some catastrophic event — and those things unfortunately do happen, and law and order breaks down because the police can’t travel, there’s no communication. And there are armed gangs roaming around neighborhoods. Can you imagine a situation where your home happens to be in the crosshairs of this group that a better self-defense weapon may be a semiautomatic AR-15 vs. a double-barrel shotgun?
I’m afraid that world does exist. It existed in New Orleans, to some extent up in Long Island [after Hurricane Sandy], it could exist tomorrow if there’s a cyber attack against [the] country and the power grid goes down and the dams are released and chemical plants are — discharges.
What I’m saying is if my family was in the crosshairs of gangs that were roaming around neighborhoods in New Orleans or any other location, the deterrent effect of an AR-15 to protect my family, I think, is greater than a double-barrel shotgun.”
As far as we can tell, Graham must be referencing a gang of white vigilantes in New Orleans’ Algiers Point neighborhood who, armed with shotguns and assault weapons, allegedly opened fire on African Americans “with impunity” after Hurricane Katrina; the militia was reportedly on the lookout for anyone who “didn’t belong” in the neighborhood, as reported by ProPublica and The Nation. If so, maybe Graham’s fears would have more of a basis in reality if he looked a little more like Holder and was facing a white militia armed with AR-15s.
It is in vogue to tell this revisionist history of Katrina. We’ll deal with this shortly, but before we do that and in order to set the stage for our response, we will now be the ones to take a detour into another crisis to watch how a nation behaved. We’ll address AR-15s, catastrophies and totalitarian governments, but for now let’s briefly revisit the fall of the Berlin wall, the role of one church, and the actions of the East Gernam Army.
OathKeepers has an interview with Lt. Colonel Gunter Spens, in which he describes the fact that the East German Army simply refused to obey orders to stop the protests at the wall and stayed on base. True enough for part of the story, and as much as I admire Oath Keepers, it isn’t as simple as this and there is more to the story. This is the church that brought down the wall.
In the GDR, atheism was the norm. Churches like St. Nikolai were spied on but allowed to remain open.
“In the GDR, the church provided the only free space,” Fuhrer said in an interview with Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly. “Everything that could not be discussed in public could be discussed in church, and in this way the church represented a unique spiritual and physical space in which people were free.”
In the early 1980s, Fuhrer began holding weekly prayers for peace.
Every Monday, worshippers recited the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount. Few came at first, but attendance grew as the Soviet Union began opening to the West.
The prayer service, Fuhrer said, “was something very special in East Germany. Here a critical mass grew under the roof of the church — young people, Christians and non-Christians, and later, those who wanted to leave (East Germany) joined us and sought refuge here.”
As a college student in those years, Sylke Schumann was one of the hundreds, then thousands, who joined the vigils in the sanctuary at St. Nikolai and then marched in the streets holding candles and calling for change.
“Seeing all these people gather in this place … from week to week and more and more people gathering, you had the feeling this time really the government had to listen to you,” Schumann said.
In October 1989, on the 40th anniversary of the GDR, the government cracked down.
Protesters in Leipzig were beaten and arrested. Two days later, St. Nikolai Church was full to overflowing for the weekly vigil. When it was over, 70,000 people marched through the city as armed soldiers looked on, but did nothing.
And even this report doesn’t tell the whole story. I was a member of a church during this time that received regular (underground) reports from East German churches about the events of that era. When society has rejected God and embraced totalitarianism, the men can become lovers of power or drunkards and whore chasers. Not all men do, but many succumb to this fate.
But oftentimes the women – mothers and grandmothers who want their children to be raised with a sense of morality and the knowledge of God – toe the line. Secretly they teach their children. Their children learn to love their mothers and the instruction, and like ticking time bombs that explode later in life, that instruction proves determinative.
And toe the line the women did. The crowds were heavily populated with mothers and grandmothers, and the boys who populated the East German Army remembered their instruction. They wouldn’t discharge their weapons at their own blood, and whether it was the instruction in underground churches or the simple fact that the boys wouldn’t kill their mothers or mothers of colleagues, no rounds were fired. It had little to do with orders to stay in garrison. If the East German Army had deployed (as some of them did), they would simply have watched as the wall fell without a shot.
Now, let’s return to the issue of New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina. Except for the horrible racist, Aryan gangs who abused the black folk, it was a veritable Shangri La indeed. Except for the white folk everyone would have gotten along just swimmingly. White Aryan gangs in the middle of New Orleans. You simply can’t make this up.
Except that this isn’t reality. Revisionist doesn’t even begin to describe that view. That view is an outright fabrication and falsehood. A more accurate and honest accounting shows how rough the time was.
In the City of Vultures, a New Zealander is one of the few remaining police officers who has stayed behind to protect the helpless.
James Gourlie, 30, formerly of Christchurch, is one of six officers who have remained out of a district force of 200.
“This is my district. I will not abandon my district, my county, my workmates or these people,” he told the Herald On Sunday last night.
Mr Gourlie was speaking while preparing for another night patrol from the Hampton Inn, which he and fellow officers took over after their police station was overrun. For its single entrance, and the war zone outside, they have dubbed the hotel “The Fortress”.
It’s been six days and five nights of lawlessness since Hurricane Katrina hit. In the vacuum left by Katrina, anarchy has reigned. Human vultures have preyed on the helpless, pillaging homes and shops, committing murder and rape.
The decision to stay while hundreds of fellow officers fled has left them bitter. Mr Gourlie returned after getting his American wife Jennifer out of New Orleans.
When one fellow officer and friend pulled out for Texas on Friday, taking two automatic rifles and a shotgun, he earned his colleagues’ anger.
“They’re preserving their lives but they’re risking their friends,” said Mr Gourlie, of the “cowards” who have left. “You know what the New Zealand and Australian way is – and that ain’t the Anzac way. You sacrifice yourself for your mates.”
There are incidents every day involving weapons, although Mr Gourlie is thankful he has not yet had to shoot anyone. The times the officers have intervened, those desperate for help have wept and offered thanks.
A fellow officer was killed after warning looters away from a store. A looter pushed a gun against his head and pulled the trigger. “It was heartbreaking to see this police officer lying on his back, blood pouring out of his head.”
There are gangs of armed thugs in the convention centre. One young hood the officers pulled up was carrying a civilian version of a military M-16 rifle.
“There’s shooting. The thugs inside, they have come outside. They are running up and down, disturbing people with impunity. They know we can’t cross the road and engage them because we don’t know where their cohorts are. We are so vastly outnumbered, especially at night,” said Mr Gourlie.
There has also been murder and rape. In one awful case, a 15-year-old girl had suffered both, her body stuffed into an oven with her throat slit.
“I would expect something like this in a war zone in the Middle East. You’d be stupid not to be afraid. It’s how you face it that counts.”
The gangs in the centre have now destroyed the generators, and last night was the first Katrina’s survivors have spent without light. “That’s one of the reasons why people are so afraid today.”
I am certainly no admirer of Lindsey Graham. His criticism of Ted Cruz, Mike Lee and Rand Paul over their filibuster was petulant, and his friendship with John McCain shows that he wants to stay in power rather than hold government accountable. But from the mouth of the unexpected sometimes comes wisdom, even if by accident.
Unfortunately like the author says, Ameica is indeed like this concerning violence and danger, even if his intended target – white gangs – is a fabrication of his imagination. And during this period of peril for the citizens of New Orleans did the National Guard keep order? No, to their everlasting shame they spent their time confiscating weapons from law abiding citizens.
And yet, the National Guard had no evidence that New Orleans wouldn’t devolve into something like the L.A. riots, leaving people helpless and defenseless.
America as we have know it is dead. It is no more. The cities are violent and the government totalitarian. America is more bifurcated than it has ever been in history. Ninety million people are out of the labor force, and something approaching half of America pays no income tax. Keynesian economics has failed like a star burning out. The first medium size city has gone bankrupt, taking with it nearly one billion dollars in pensions for state workers. Note that this doesn’t include Medicare, Medicaid, food stamps, unemployment payments, welfare, social security or any other federal program. One billion dollars – just on state pensions, just with one medium size city.
While the states are going down, the federal government is working hard at making itself more totalitarian than before.
The ATF doesn’t just want a huge database to reveal everything about you with a few keywords. It wants one that can find out who you know. And it won’t even try to friend you on Facebook first.
According to a recent solicitation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the bureau is looking to buy a “massive online data repository system” for its Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information (OSII). The system is intended to operate for at least five years, and be able to process automated searches of individuals, and “find connection points between two or more individuals” by linking together “structured and unstructured data.”
Primarily, the ATF states it wants the database to speed-up criminal investigations. Instead of requiring an analyst to manually search around for your personal information, the database should “obtain exact matches from partial source data searches” such as social security numbers (or even just a fragment of one), vehicle serial codes, age range, “phonetic name spelling,” or a general area where your address is located. Input that data, and out comes your identity, while the computer automatically establishes connections you have with others.
Many other specific requirements are also to be expected for a federal law enforcement agency: searching names, phone numbers, “nationwide utility data” and reverse phone searches. The data will then be collected to help out during investigations and provide “relevant information and intelligence products.”
To do this and similar things they are spending the wealth of your children and children’s children. Ben Bernanke is trying ever so hard to keep hyperinflation under control and interest rates low in order to keep the deficit from exploding, but sooner or later America’s unfunded liabilities will come due and no amount fiat money will suffice. Fractional reserve banking will prove to people when hard times hit that their money doesn’t exist and cannot be withdrawn from their accounts. It’s just a waiting game, because the system cannot be saved.
The American experiment – subtended by wealth redistribution, race baiting, totalitarianism and the creation of taker class that leeches off of workers – is over. It has been replaced by Fabian socialism. But all is not lost. America will be reborn in a different form. Hard times are approaching, and there are some salient and hard questions that are a function of those hard times.
Will police, soldiers and Marines raise their weapons against American civilians? The Louisiana National Guard did. To each and every officer, soldier and Marine I tell you, you’d better not. God will condemn you for it. Your orders must be legal and moral to require your fealty, and notwithstanding the [il]legality of such an order, it would be immoral. Will you confiscate weapons if so ordered? You’d better not – God will condemn you for it. Each man lives his appointed days, and then he will face judgment. Do not face God having removed means of legitimate protection of the family. And do not face God having been the stooge for a tyrant. It matters little how long you live. It matters much how you live, and how you perish.
To parents, you must teach your children and instill in them a reverence for and love of liberty. Even for the old among us, you may very well end up training the very men who would otherwise be your tyrants, but who will remember their upbringing instead. Mothers and grandmothers, you essentially saved the day in East Germany. Don’t underestimate your role. Teaching the children is the most important job on earth.
Men, don’t be naive. God apparently granted a special dispensation to East Germany for a bloodless coup. It won’t happen that way anywhere else. The National Guard in many states has already shown that they will assist totalitarianism. The race riots in Los Angeles were nothing compared to what it will be like in the event of an economic collapse in America.
Teach the children. Defend the family. It isn’t just a right, it’s your God-given duty. And never, ever relinquish your weapons. That would be as immoral as the actions of totalitarians in confiscation. You shall not cooperate with the totalitarians and be approved by God. Never give up. God is on your side.
On April 8, 2013 at 3:57 am, Bob O'Reilly said:
A fine and inspiring article, Herschel. The more garbage that emanates from the Gov’t, the more I become infused with a fierce determination. Your resolve strengthens mine, as in Proverbs 27:17. Thanks.
Paraphrasing Pete from WRSA, once one know what’s going on, one could spend a lot of time in a down mood. I’m just getting tired of the crap, and I’m tired of being depressed.
The doomsayers in our circles disappoint me; I see them mewling like weak kittens everywhere. In spite of them, we will make it. What will lie on the other side, I don’t care anymore. It’s a sad discovery to realize that anything is better than the abyss we are currently plunging toward.
Given all of the times I should’ve been blown to bits, shot full of holes, or taken off of this planet by almost every other conveyance imaginable, I figure God must want me to stick around for something. I really don’t like the form that His plans seem to be taking, but I don’t really have a choice in the matter. Looks like we all better cinch down our straps, this won’t be fun.
I posted a reply over at NPQ before I read your full article, but I basically stated what you have here, although more reserved. We approach things in the same way. Hmmm. Take care and God Bless. :)
Lt. Capeheart, I wish you the best in your endeavor, but if I have to go anywhere, Texas sounds good. It rains too much in the NW for me. :D
Remember, over 60% of the country are still non-latino whites. Even if half of them are moochers, we aren’t gonna need to hide from anyone. Besides, my “tribe” is multicolored, but we’re all from the same culture. Hardcore American.
On April 8, 2013 at 7:28 am, bubba said:
The point has always been to keep loving and teaching your children (and your grandchildren) right. The .gov wishes to separate the children from their parents but if you understand what they are doing you can successfully counteract every one of their false entreaties. The .gov will come to nothing.
On April 8, 2013 at 9:17 am, Katrina Armorer said:
Re:New Orleans. It was a few zealous, inexperienced, uneducated, unaware of the law, atfr’s that started takng guns illegally. Which in a normal society would be called breakng and entering, home invasion, and theft. Atf then somehow managed to coerce assisting guardsmen to joint their looting spree. It was only when DEA stepped in and threatened to arrest the atf that the atf started to actually obey the law. It’s been like that for 30 years! Saving the people from atf… And god bless the guard! They are the lifeblood of every good law enforcement group in the U.S. but they were mislead when someone, unknowingly said, go with the atf, help them, do what they say! What the orders should have been, and should always be, when dealing with the atf is/are- go with them, keep an eye on them, make sure they follow the law, keep them out of trouble. When dealing with the atf, you have to start from the premise that they have broken, will break, and are breaking most every gun law on the books. They were told a month ahead of time that their waco affidavit was illegal and falsified, by another agency ASAC. They did it anyway! They had absolutely no jurisdiction in new orleans during katrina, they acted anyway. You hand them info on actual cartel weapons, and they do nothing but get the idea to give them US weapons so they can claim the stat…..if they can find them to take them back. If you go to an atf employment/recruiting presentation and pick up one of their display weapons and put it back down, they probably claim it as a seizure stat and try and get prints off the gun! Everytime an agency takeover or merger is brought up, the first words out of anyones mouth is- we’ll take the bomb techs, we want nothing to do with the rest! I won’t really bad mouth the new orleans pd because thete were only about 50 of them left doing their job by the third day of katrina. The rest had gone to the dark side and joined the looters, but they also looted the pd and all their substations.
On April 8, 2013 at 9:41 am, Glenn Allen said:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
We all know what the problem is and more FUD( fear, uncertainty and doubt) will not do much to make things better. My question- Is there room in the New America for non Christians? Is there room for those who do not believe in your idea of god? Will we have a American Revolution or French Revolution?
I fear the Christian Right as much as I fear the Socialist Left. I simply want to live free and want others to do the same with no interference from church or state. Can we do that?
I prepare myself for the coming onslaught of name calling and trolling but I still believe in my country and its constitution. Long Live the Republic. Keep up the Fire!
On April 8, 2013 at 9:52 am, Jackson said:
Lt. Capehart:
I take it by your postings, both here and at WRSA, that you are a follower of Harold Covington and the Northwest Front, who wish to create a all-white nation in the states of Oregon, Washington and Idaho at some point in the near future.
While I’m sure many readers are pretty realistic about race I wonder how many would support the NWF’s projected program of racial intimidation and racial cleansing of the NW. In Harold’s three part novel non-whites in the NW are assassinated, have their businesses arsoned, rounded up and generally treated like the Jews were by the Nazis. I wonder how many patriots would support such plans? I suspect very few.
And speaking of Nazi’s, Covington can’t get enough of them. In the novels the NWA is frequently compared to the Nazi’s, their planned government is described as National Socialism, their uniforms incorporate swastikas, etc.
Some of the worst treatment in the books is handed out to “race traitors”, that is white people who have had romantic relationships or married non-white partners. As part of your program do you intend, as did the characters in Covington’s trilogy, which serves as the guidebook for the NWF, plan to take revenge on such “traitors”?
Just curious what you have in mind exactly?
On April 8, 2013 at 10:19 am, Josh said:
Glenn, how do you define the “Christian Right” and why are you afraid of them?
I think that Christians in the USA today are probably some of the most pacifist people on earth, even to a fault.
In any case, I agree wholly with Herschel here. This American experiment has failed, and will be coming to a closure and rebirth soon. I can only hope there are enough of us that have the fortitude and means with which to defend our precious constitution.
Even now, the government is classifying, labeling and categorizing us all. They’re watching, listening to and archiving everything we say, do, purchase and everywhere we go. And if anyone thinks that’s hyperbole, just wait five years. Us? They’ve put us in the “insurrectionist” folder already.
George Orwell was almost prophetic in his work. Tread carefully.
On April 8, 2013 at 10:20 am, Chuck said:
Some points about the Guard based on extensive personal experience:
1) Assigning dark motives to the Guard gives them far more credit than they deserve for actually having a clue. At platoon level and below the Guard CAN be as effective and professional as some of the best Regular Army units (although they can also be as dicked up as the stereotype), but starting at company level they become uneven at best and the higher you go the level of incompetence increases exponentially. By the time you get to the levels of command that would plan something like a Katrina relief mission the incompetence is simply staggering. You can safely attribute anything the Guard did that reflected poorly on them in New Orleans to a lack of higher level leadership. Conversely, any successes they had should be attributed to solid leadership at the junior leader level (squad and platoon).
2) For many in the Guard, especially those who have not been tested in combat (with Iraq finished and the drawdown in Afghanistan accelerating, there will be many more who fall into this category), there is an eagerness to get into some kind of action. This is exacerbated by officers, especially field grade (battalion and brigade commanders and staff) officers who are just looking for a way to beef up their evaluation reports, and doing something “real world” is the best way to accomplish this. The officer corps in the Guard is a good ol’ boy network but that only goes so far. You still need to do something that makes you stand out from your peers. Commanding a battalion in a major hurricane relief mission is not as good as doing it in combat overseas, but it’s better than not having anything better than a couple of dozen drill weekends and a couple of annual training periods on your OER.
In other words, attributing malice implies a level of intelligence and competence that is not there at the levels where this stuff is carried out. Never underestimate the power of careerism at the field grade officer level and the appeal of “getting some” at the junior leader level. The Joes will generally just do what they are told and that’s the most dangerous part. It will actually take leadership, either formal leaders or informal leaders, to get the Joes to do the right thing…or the wrong thing.
I will caveat this by saying that at the mid-to-senior NCO level (E-6 to E-8) you will find some who are very jaded and cynical about the system and especially the officer corps. These are the soldiers, who, in my opinion, are the most likely to see through the bullshit and begin to question orders. Even so, I think this is a very small percentage of the whole, but it may be enough to make a difference in some cases.
3) Finally, the Guard has deep roots in the community. They and their families live and work in the same communities where their Armories are located. Typically, when a disaster strikes, the sensible thing to do is send units from out of the affected area to do the relief mission and not call up the local unit (since they will likely be busy at home dealing with the snowstorm, hurricane, riots, etc.). This is the smart way to do things so it is not always the case (see above re: officer evaluations) but is generally how the Guard operates. In the case of Katrina, Guard units were sent from nearly every state in the lower 48 because the LA Guard was overwhelmed. The result is predictable: Guard units from out of state might as well be Regular Army because they will not behave like they would if dealing with people from their own communities. Abuses are far more likely to happen in that case. Expect that if a general state of martial law were to be declared in CONUS, the Guard troops you see in your neighborhood will be from another part of your state or, more likely, from another state altogether. This is deliberate and a time honored technique that has been used by governments going back to Rome and beyond. It was used effectively by the Chinese at Tienanmen Square. The irony is that while it’s easier for troops to shoot at citizens when they are from clear across the country, the reverse is also true.
The question, for those of you out there who are still actively serving, is what are your priorities? Where does your loyalty lie? If it’s God, family, Constitution and THEN unit, you stand a much better chance of doing the right thing.
On April 8, 2013 at 10:27 am, Josh said:
I would remove Lt. Capehart’s comment altogether. Having a comment on this website with a URL for NWF is a black stain.
Edit: Thanks for the tip. Busy day, had not had a chance to take out the trash yet. Done.
On April 8, 2013 at 10:30 am, Draco said:
To address the current tone of the discussion here it may be quite necessary to correct our course before we get off point and run afoul.
The so called law makers and interperters are woefully inaccurate and down right dangerous to the rest of us. A time of respecting authority because some one appears to be in authority is done. The People are the authority and I don’t mean the lamebrained uninformed socialist feel gooders, I mean the People who know their rights and duties to force, if necessary, their servants to obey the Law of the Land, the Constitution. Here is an example of how successive Court interpretations ladne with errors of facts and application have gotten us here and created a situation where those disposed to usurp take full advantage. Knowledge is the key. Without it we may as well fight a war with kind words and flowers…
Setting the foundation of the discussion here is the key to intelligently discussing the matter at hand. Proceeding upon a supposition without a proper review of relevant points does not stand the house squarely upon the foundation. This obvious analogy here is that the lean to the left or the right will not assist us in a proper discussion, our point of reference is skewed and thus our persuasion, however thought out, may not be on point. And just like a house the skew will be obvious if not corrected and result in the collapse of the house. After all, it is not our individual agenda we discuss her but how our understanding and our ability to reasonably address the matter that is of value if we indeed think to do the right thing.
On the point of Justice Scalia’s reference to “arms in common use at the time” I must say this. Miller was addressing a challenge to the National Firearms Act. Justice Scalia borrowed the phrase for the Miller Court’s comments in this consideration alone. The justices at the bench referenced militia statutes that mandated individual members come to drill and muster prepared to repel an instant threat to security. As every infantryman was equipped in the regular army, so the militia member was to be equipped. This was the bare minimum required to report to muster with, thus the fine if the member failed to report, missed the drill or the muster or failed to report with a proper “kit”. Failure to report with the prescribed equipment is still an offense punishable under and “Article 15” non judicial punishment pursuant the Uniform Code of Military Justice. The charge is “failure to repair”. Please note: the ordinary solder does not drag along a canon or other heavy equipment when required to report for duty, even today.
Miller was attempting to address the question of what a militia type weapon was. The challenger of the NFA, Miller, stated as a defense that a shotgun regulated under the NFA was a proper militia weapon and thus exempt from the provisions of the NFA. The courts rationale in determining the validity of Miller’s proposition was to consider arms in common use by the militia at the time, thus the phrase used by Justice Scalia. Unfortunately Miller did not complete his challenge, the attorney did not present any showing to support the defense’s position and the Court ruled that “absent a showing that a sawed off shotgun was a militia type weapon the NFA would prevail. In short the decision was based upon a default. What Miller did not address, and Justice Scalia failed to research exhaustively, is that citizens, of the colonies at the outset of the Revolution, possessed field artillery. I know that this fact may be shocking to the conscious but we must examine the truth here in it entirety of become one of the many agenda driven irrational voices which seem so prevalent today.
Minute Man Park has on display a 3 Pound canon with the inscription describing the ownership of the gun, who it belonged to and the Order of the United States Government returning the gun to its owners “several citizens of Boston. The inscription goes further to describe its fellows “captured by the enemy” belonging to the Government of Massachusetts. Such a distinction was carved upon the gun and its brother, the Adams and the Hancock as they are named, in order to pay tribute to those citizens who bought with their own money a fierce weapon of war and furnish it to the militia.
The United States Maritime Museum sponsors a site and the site describes the efforts of a civilian navy during the Revolution. The Continental Navy had a compliment of 64 ships equipped with around 1200 mounted canon and swivel guns. The civilian navy with privately owned and armed ships numbered in excess of 2000 with a gun compliment of over 14,000 canon and swivel guns. These men upon the armed ships of private individual citizens harassed the British shipping and naval vessels keeping our supply lines open and the British Navy otherwise occupied until the land forces could be marshaled and defenses could be made as well as they could. Obviously the sheer number of canon aboard these vessels would astound the civilian population today but at the time they were ordinary equipment aboard ships. Those who do not have such a sense of our historical roots and the facts as they are may sometimes swayed by incomplete supposition and allusions to reason which are, shall we say, constructed in a vacuum. But the truth is and it must be always observed else we are swayed by unreasonable suggestions and smoky rationale.
As for the use and possession of “military type weapons” I may add that in each and every militia statute, the weapon required of the militia man was of the equal or better quality as the military and in some of the statutes, such as that of Ohio in 1788, required the militia man to have a bayonet with their other military equipment when they mustered or were called into service. In addition if the civilians were to be relegated to having less
proficient arms that that of the military would they not be limited to bows and arrows????
The militias serving in the Civil War that were called to duty did not all show up with muzzle loading weapons and when the technology changed, so did their weapons that used complete cartridges and breach loading technology. I dare say that the National Guard, the current “organized militia” is not directed to use muzzle loaders or black powder weapons.
Of course one may take “dangerous and unusual weapons” out of context. But headsman’s axes have no more use in a military operation, or simple self defense for that matter, than a sledge hammer. Unwieldy, heavy and cumbersome they were a symbol of certain death by tyrants committed upon bound and helpless victims. One would be hard pressed indeed to press an offense against a militiaman armed with a musket or rifle and bayonet. Washington chose a militia unit to cover his retreat from New York because the militia unit all had bayonets, whereas the newly formed Continental Army did not. Yes there were regulations concerning what was dangerous and unusual but no one carries those types of things in public to disturb the peace intentionally. At least I have not seen anyone carrying a headsman’s ax recently. I too would think it unusual. In deference to the Heller decision we need to remind ourselves of one thing. The Court does not give advisory opinions. Comments about what a person keeps at home for personal protection was the question before the Court in Heller, not military type weapons. This is an example of quoting dicta as a decision and every law school graduate should have been raked over the coals for doing any such thing by their professor. It certainly won’t fly in a brief or memorandum submitted in a court. Having been a clerk for a Federal Judge I do know this. It is not permissible to for young clerks or attorneys to use opinion and dicta in citing a “decision” by a court. The comments of the court are irrelevant and immaterial in this matter. While the comments are sometimes used for persuasion, it is usually considered bad form to quote a comment out of context and of course there is no “stare decisis” president created.
The militia unit was “well regulated”, when they were well practiced in drill and maneuver, force which is the correct and historical meaning of well regulated. Headsman’s axes and the like are not the type of weapon to carry into the field and would have been equally disdained by proficient infantrymen in open warfare. To say that rocket launchers, machineguns, mortars and the like are unusual in modern societies is to disregard the fact that civilians possess them in other parts of the world.
Civilians also possess them in this country, although they are heavily regulated. There are operational tanks, grenade launchers, field artillery and even armed helicopters owned by civilians. There are reenactment done in this country that use amphibious equipment artillery and automatic weapons fire recreating the Normandy Invasion. So the unreasonable reaction that disregards fact and the “scientific” resort to empirical evidence as proof is just that, unreasonable. When the facts are skewed as the reasoning is attempted nothing is scientific or reasonable.
Resorts to popular sentiment and appeals to authority and emotion are as fallacious in Aristotle’s time as they are in the present. Indeed time may change but as we ascertain by observation, human nature has not. Obviously the politicians today will use any sort of low cunning and outragous concept to build an argument to support their agenda and the only defense is to be superiorly armed with knowledge. I mean how many of you people would get the muzzle loader out of the safe to confront a home intruder. If you don’t arm yourself with the truth and superior knowledge you may as well resort to the muzzleloader or the bow and arrow when the time comes. One thing is for sure all these wind bag politicians hate to have their hat handed to them with superior knowledge, they want you to appear unreasonable and prone to violence but when you dust their butts with truth, reason and accurate resolute presentations of the truth they squeal and run off into irrational rants like the sissies they are. The truth is on our side use this weapon to beat them up and run them to ground.
With gun control the crux of the matter may be as easy as educating our young people about the sanctity of life for every living thing and not to callously disregard an action before you consider the effect upon ourselves and the people we interact with. I think with gun owners this is a given but it is not the norm in our present society. There is too much anger in society. Those who foment the emotion and stir action based upon anger and hate are as culpable as those who commit the act, politicians and so called community leaders included. The FBI reports that more murders are committed more with everyday items than firearms. Firearms are not the cause or the affliction. The firearm does not point itself or discharge unless there is a human to direct it.
The issue is human error not that of the inanimate object. Let’s cure the disease not merely address one symptom out of the many. The failure to see ourselves in the other person’s position or consider their life as ours is the failure of the whole of society, not a piece of metal. We all, I hope, wish to live in peace. Let us not throw peace to the wind for some irrational reasoning and emotional bent. Let us see the common ground here, not devise a war between us.
I thank you all for your time and your and good manners in allowing me to comment here today. I hope that I have not offended any one. My reason for commenting is to present a correct and well founded position from which to discuss a matter that all of us are concerned with. Grave differences of opinion often create divisiveness when we all should be united. Terrible events like those which occurred at Sandy Hook should be unifying calls to action. We can certainly accomplish more with communicating our ideas and suggestions than attempting to gain the moral high ground based upon questionable premises and lop sided agendas which do not address the matter.
On April 8, 2013 at 10:36 am, Mark Matis said:
I would note yet once more that the hives are the core of power for the traitors. And those hives are EXTREMELY susceptible to failure in the event of an extended power outage. And that as of today, they have very few ways of preventing such an outage. How long should we wait until we dare treat them as the traitors they are? Do we need to wait until they harden the substations to make things more difficult? Or are we to claim the “moral high ground” because “innocent people might die” and refuse to take the only action that can rapidly set the evil back on their hind legs?
I would note that in the most recent war this country won, we did not worry about that “moral high ground”. And furthermore, the traitors have repeatedly shown no concern over wantonly murdering or incinerating innocent people. One of the best ways to lose a conflict is to tie one’s hands behind one’s back whilst the enemy does his thing.
On April 8, 2013 at 10:59 am, Herschel Smith said:
Glenn,
You fear the Christian right? Oh my. This is appalling ignorance, and I feel sorry for you over it. You need to get out more.
I am not describing what the new America will look like – time will tell. But as for the American vs. the French revolutions, see Douglas Kelly, “The Emergence of Liberty in the Modern World.”
http://www.amazon.com/Emergence-Liberty-Modern-World-Governments/dp/0875522971
The American revolution was Christian, the French revolution was atheist. Thus in France you saw beheadings, torture, etc. In America after the revolution you saw liberty and freedom.
Again, you should get out more.
On April 8, 2013 at 12:13 pm, Another Anon said:
Herschel, I’ll have to disagree with that author to some degree , certainly there were Christian influences involved in the revolution and strong Calvinist ones as well but it wasn’t driven by those principles. It was Masonic and driven by the ideas of the Enlightenement. The author of the Constitution, Thomas Jefferson was at best a social Christian, witness his Jefferson Bible as i suspect Ben Franklin was as well
As for the causes of the French Revolution, well, in my amatuer historians opinion, no.
The reason for the brutality was the level of oppression and awfulness were much higher. France was Les Mis on Steroids the US was basically a poorly governered Colony (though arguably the best run in the Empire) and the Founding Fathers saw an opportunity to create our grand old Republic
You might make the argument that the ringleaders were non Religious types but France was more Christian than the US was by far, Catholic variety granted but very Christian
As for any hopefully hypothetical upcoming unpleasantness, it won’t resemble what we had before. France a bit, maybe but its a new new thing for us.
If you can imagine 4 tribes, Americans, Squatters, Moochers and Unamericans and of course 5 races White, Black, Hispanic, American Indian and Asian and the mix and flow between tribes with tribes weighted by race and class you’d have a good handle on things. No matter what it will not be a gentleman’s war. Suffice it to say, I fall into the genocidal hackfast on par with the 30 Years War (50% casulties in Germany) but I pray that I am wrong and no matter what, believers will need to mind their conscience
On April 8, 2013 at 12:25 pm, Jackson said:
Herschel,
The French revolution was at least anti-clerical, if not really atheist. The Catholic Church was a part of the control structure of their society.
I think the characteristics of the uprising has as much or more to do with the nature of the leaders an characteristics of the participants. In the USA you had a revolt of the elites. The revolution was led by land owning aristocrats, look the signers of the declaration. The French revolution was more a true bottoms up mob. You can’t expect much from an illiterate mob, be they French peasants in the 18th century or Rwandans in the 20th.
But yes Christian beliefs did play an important part in the American revolution, but then they also played an important part in the witch trials a couple generations earlier. So belief in something called Christianity is not, by itself, protection against mob behavior.
On April 8, 2013 at 12:31 pm, Jackson said:
On April 8, 2013 at 10:27 am, Josh said:
I would remove Lt. Capehart’s comment altogether. Having a comment on this website with a URL for NWF is a black stain
I’m of two minds on this. Perhaps remove the link, but in general I favor open communication, even with people I disagree with.
I live in the NorthWest and it’s a fact that they are a long-term faction in this area. I think it’s useful to talk with them, especially if they are commenting in a respectful manner. I’m really interested in whether the followers really by into the over-the-top rhetoric of their leader.
But of course I do see the downside of being linked as a “hate group”. That will probably happen with or without the links and comments of the Lt. though.
On April 8, 2013 at 12:36 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Jackson, again, read the info I cite (as well as many other books on the subject). The French revolution was a product of the enlightenment. Period. The American revolution was a product of Calvinism. There was nothing Christian about the French revolution.
On April 8, 2013 at 12:44 pm, Josh said:
@Jackson,
I don’t at all agree that Herschel would be “linked as a hate group” without the comments of Lt. In fact, I don’t think he would be “linked as a hate group” if they were allowed to stand.
It’s more the notion that a website with the sort of quality analysis and editorial such as TCJ having a URL for NWF *anywhere* is akin to tagging a Rembrandt with graffiti or splicing Lady Gaga into a Mozart piece.
The NWF and its adherents are objectively trash.
On April 8, 2013 at 1:37 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Another Anon,
Unfortunately not a subject for amateurs. Citing one or two individuals – e.g., Thomas Jefferson or Ben Franklin – doesn’t do the trick. It doesn’t examine primary documents of that ara, e.g., the role of sermons in churches in fomenting the revolution.
There is simply no evidence to reverse the order and say that the French was Christian and American enlightenment. That’s exactly contrary to history. I offer up also R. J. Rushdoony, “Nature of the American System” and “This Independent Republic.”
On April 8, 2013 at 2:42 pm, Jack said:
To Josh:
One of the important things we wish to preserve is the FREEDOM OF SPEECH.
In my opinion, That freedom includes the members of the NWF.
Also, in my personal opinion, you should be ashamed.
On April 8, 2013 at 2:52 pm, Herschel Smith said:
The problem Jack is that this is not the troller’s (Capehart) web site. I reserve the right to take out the trash and stop trolling any time I wish. I am not associated with white supremecists. There are certainly race problems and I have spoken to the causes before on my pages (many times). But discussing supremecy of races horribly misses the point of the article and is a bad diversion and misdirect. HORRIBLY misses the point.
The first amendment means that the individual I banned has the right to open his own web site, not comment on mine. Occasionally I still fall for misdirects and continue arguments or discussions not pertinent to the article. Occasionally – but not usually.
On April 8, 2013 at 3:59 pm, Josh said:
@Jack,
You must be lonely. Does the hate fill you up inside?
On April 8, 2013 at 7:45 pm, Bob O'Reilly said:
Jack, you’re absolutely correct. Everyone has a right to say whatever they want as long as it doesn’t infringe on the rights of anyone else. If we don’t like it, we don’t have to read or listen to it. No harm done or received. But as Herschel said, this is his house. His rules.
I took a brief look at the NWF site before my comment last night, and it seemed that they are a group of separatists. If that’s the case, let them buy up land, build their utopia, and do whatever they want on their property. That’s their business. For all I care, they can cover themselves in blue mud and dance around bonfires every full moon. More power to ’em.
If, however, as Jackson says, these NWF people are some supremacist, Stormfront, 14/88, Bruder Schweigen, Turner Diaries, “let’s kill all the mud people” psychotics? I retract wishing them anything of good; I hope they fail miserably. If they’re that type of miscreants, I don’t know how they’re going to make it in the NW. I know too many people up there that would eradicate them.
The groups within the liberty movement have dozens of petty differences to reconcile, and quickly. That’s not an insurmountable task. We simply need to stop arguing over stupid non-issues and put them aside ’til later. On the other hand, there are some groups who should just disappear. They’re part of the reason we’re in this mess.
On April 11, 2013 at 8:00 am, Peter said:
Herschel,
You may have read my “lessons learned” posts post-Katrina on Fr. Frog’s site and the API List, where I posted them first. I’ve since assembled them all into a single blog post:
http://bayourenaissanceman.blogspot.com/2008/08/lessons-learned-from-hurricanes-katrina.html
You might find them interesting, in the light of what you’ve said above.
Respectfully,
Peter