Kurt Hofmann and David Codrea both note the huge effect that a relatively small group of individuals can have on societal stability. And make no mistake about it – law enforcement in and around Boston believed that they were performing “stability operations” (counterinsurgency) after the Boston bombing. Their operations had all of the hallmarks of stability operations the U.S. performed in Iraq, including signals intelligence, humint and forcible home invasions, in spite of the fact that Americans have the constitution to “protect” us from these tacics.
But most interesting isn’t this evolution in tactics, but that it is defended and even begged for by the collectivists, and not just the rulers.
If the tragedy in Boston proves anything, it’s that it really does take a village.
Investigators now are trying to figure out what happened leading up to the attack – how two brothers could become radicalized, how they managed to build the bombs and set them off without being noticed, and whether they were part of some broader violent mission. But the impressive response of Massachusetts – from the locals who followed directions to stay indoors to the police who hunted down and caught the suspects, one of them alive, to the elected officials who not only maintained public calm but managed to stay remarkably focused and clear-headed themselves – shows that we must act together to maintain our very lives.
[ … ]
And what would an individual do with an AR-15? Go door-to-door, ferreting out a man who might well have another bomb on him? That’s one way to wind up dead, perhaps taking a lot of other people with you. A single individual with a gun is no match for a suicide bomber. Trained teams of bomb squad technicians and well-protected professional law enforcement officers are a better bet. This, actually, is what the framers of the constitution had in mind when they wrote a Second Amendment referring to “a well-regulated militia.”
Note the fear that grips this pitiful woman, and the reflexive (and incorrect) reaction to equate law enforcement with the militia of the second amendment. I recall having this discussion with my son Daniel concerning his service in the Marine Corps. Granted that was older than was he at the time I said this, but it holds true regardless. Son, I said, there are things worse than perishing, such as perishing without honor.
No man lives forever, but we will have a hand in turning over a country to our children in which they are free or enslaved. This will be the legacy of our horrible generation. Which will we choose?
As for what we would do with an AR-15? I am much more concerned about law enforcement than I am a bomber.
UPDATE: Mike Vanderboegh notes another collectivist arguing for collectivist solutions to collectivist problems.
