lost culture

I used to know a guy…

…who was a friend, a mentor, a good guy.  A gun guy, Gunsite graduate.  A libertarian.  Sadly, we are no longer in touch.

He used to say he’d not know how he’d react if things got so bad in this country, that if he was stopped and asked, “Papiere, bitte!” “PAPERS, PLEASE!”, what he might do?

I’m sorry to say, Bud, that day has come.

Here’s hoping none of us loses their cool if asked.

h/t/ wirecutter, John

There’s a point here…

So…

Initial investigation has determined that there were two individuals proximately responsible for the Boston Marathon bombings.  They later shot and killed a police officer.  One of the suspects was DRT*.  (Reportedly run over by the other suspect during his escape!)

The two suspects are of Chechen origin, and have lived in the United States for 10 years.  They are reportedly Muslim (as are many Chechens) and brothers.  I’ll not grant them any more fame by posting their names or photos here.

It’s been reported by family members that the two brothers never assimilated into American Culture, and had no American friends.  After 10 years (!)

“…never assimilated into American Culture” 

The point of the information reported is not that the suspects are Chechen, or Muslim, or brothers.  It’s that they lived here TEN YEARS and did not assimilate.  Period.

I’ve no problem with folks legally migrating to the United Stated and retaining connections with their home country and culture.  Hell, I’m part German and part Irish stock – have celebrated St. Patrick’s Day and Octoberfest.  But, I’m an American.

It used to be if folks came to America, it was to find the freedom here – to become American.  I used to know an Italian family who owned a pizza place.  Tiny Italian and American flags all over the restaurant, coupled with a picture of the President and the Pope on the back wall.  And they had many friends and customers of all ethnicities and nationalities.

I don’t know if these guys were home-grown terrorists, turned by a radical Muslim/Chechen faction, or part of a sleeper cell.  Perhaps we’ll never know.

But, I do know if they’d assimilated, there’d have been less of a chance of violence used against us.

I wonder if the families of the Mexican kids who tore down the American Flag at their high school and ran up a Mexican flag understand this?

Come here to be part of American culture – or stay home.

*dead right there – thanks to John Farnham

Smith & Wesson Military and Police Revolver

(NOT the modern AR-15 rifle clone, you ninnies!)

The classic, later known as the Model 10 .38 Special revolver.

I’ve never owned one.  I’ve shot a bazillion of ‘em, and carried some.  With the exception of those without the strength to pull the trigger, I’ve recommended these (or similar models) for self protection, CCW, and general home/business carry for years.

Why?  Not everyone likes the semiautomatic, even those with minimal levers and buttons (e.g. Glock).  And the .38 Special cartridge is street-proven, but not so full of blast and flash to scare the new shooter more than the shootee!  Good for a beginner.

Barrel length?  That’s a matter of personal choice, although a 4″ barrel is fairly ubiquitous and inexpensive (used) at gun shows and pawn shops.

And they come with a fixed sight – nothing to hang up, break or misalign  on a coat or in a purse.  One could ‘bob’ the hammer and remove the single action function if one were moved to do so.

Disadvantages?  Medium caliber and six rounds; slow to reload.  Although I’ve known a few folks who could reload from belt loops two-rounds-at-a-time faster shot-to-shot than some folks using a pistol with a magazine!

And, I’m old-school, so there!

Is There No One?

Knuckledraggin’ My Life Away reports about a D.C. Council member recommending legislation that would require gun owners to purchase liability insurance.

The Council Member is Mary M. Cheh, a constitutional law professor!

Is there no one out there, no constitutional law professor who actually has read and understands the U.S. Constitution?  All of them appear to be progressive folks pushing their dystopian agenda on us, under the guise of constitutional law?

Then there was that constitutional law professor a while back who proposed scrapping the Constitution.

Or are they all like this ‘professor’, cut from the same cloth as another ‘constitutional law professor’, the President?

Someone needs to look up the phrase shall not be infringed.

Where are you?  They’re giving constitutional law professors a bad name!

Tyranny of the Majority

The Liberty Sphere advises us as follows:

US tyranny to increase for foreseeable future

A close friend who is politically astute, a Tea Party activist and Christian conservative, stated Wednesday in a private conversation that America as we know it is already lost, gone, destroyed.

And not a single shot was fired. This was done entirely through the electoral process, the courts, and a clear majority of the electorate that does not share the philosophy, the mindset, or the world-view of the Founders, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or our nation’s rich religious heritage.

An all-important threshold was crossed, quite imperceptibly and thus totally without notice, that brought the nation into what the Founders referred to as “the tyranny of the majority.”

I seem to remember the difference between a Republic and a Democracy was defined exactly by this.  That a democracy elicited ‘tyranny of the majority’, and a Republic protected the rights of all.

When I was growing up, the phrase was, “Majority rules – Minority rights!”

However the education of the youth has devolved as described above.  In our Civics classes of yore, we were taught to revere, honor and respect The Constitution.  Now, the meme seems to be something akin to ‘whatever the United States is or has done is WRONG and BAD.  This country needs to progress beyond the old, outdated document forged by rich White guys to a New World Order.  ‘Leveling the playing field’ by fiat or diktat is more efficient and certainly more FAIR!

Somewhere within Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries, he makes a statement to the effect that the cry of THAT’S NOT FAIR is the epithet of pre-schoolers who learn as they get older that the World is just that.  Not fair.  And they demand their due.  Just like the OWS criminals terrorists protestors did – whom I suspect are those same children, older, but not yet mature.

And now, many of those children have done as Van Jones suggested.  They’ve left the collegiate quadrangle protest groups for government service.  Just as Saul Alinsky wrote in Rules for Radicals.  A cancer inside the mechanism of the Nation.  To make it ‘better’.

But, it’s not.

h/t Jeff Cooper

Another Hero Gone…

(stolen borrowed from Old NFO – because our history IS important! – Guffaw)

The final four survivors are Lt. Col. Cole of Comfort, Texas; Lt. Col. Robert Hite of Nashville, Tennessee; Lt. Col. Edward Saylor of Puyallup, Washington, and Master Sgt. David Thatcher of Missoula, Montana.

RIP Major, know that you were an example to an entire country and gave America hope!

To the Major and his memory!

h/t JP

Where Does The Hatred Of Constitutionalism Come From?

Real News Reporter shares with us an essay by Brandon Smith of Alt-Market

The Constitution of the United States is an undeniably powerful document.  So powerful in fact, that it took establishment elitists with aspirations of globalized governance over a century to diminish the American people’s connection to it.  It’s been a long time coming, but in the new millennium, there is now indeed a subsection of the masses that not only have no relationship to our founding roots, they actually despise those of us who do!

Including the following video,  wherein a New Hampshire politician voices his opposition to libertarians moving into his State:

The essay IS a worthy read!

Customer Service Fails

So, my roomie and I frequent a local restaurant.  Actually, it’s a sports bar and grill.  We started going there a few months back, whilst exploring local businesses to support.

You all know I’m not a sports guy, but they have pretty delicious food (pulled-pork sliders topped with onion strings!, and teriyaki wings, and fish & chips-roomie’s fav.  YUM!) and a good selection of beer, including many regional microbrews.

And all was right with the world.  Until they stopped stocking our fav brew (the brewery raised their price) and consistently ignored State smoking regulations.  They have a patio, right outside the front door, intended for folks to enjoy the weather.  It is NOT a smoking area, but folks treat it as such.  And, whenever someone goes in or out, smoke comes in.  Now, smoking is legal, and I’m not particularly fond of the smell, but my roomie is asthmatic, and the slightest whiff can set her off.  We’ve complained numerous times to the fine wait staff, but the AZ legal distance to door is not consistently enforced.  And my roomie coughs up a lung and grabs for her inhaler.

I finally had enough (and perhaps one-too-many beverages) and got snarky with a waitress, then we left.  And I followed up with a more sobering email to the manager.  Hell, I said I’d buy the signage at the nearby Ace Hardware, if necessary!  We’ll see what happens.

SO, today I received a text from my pharmacy one of my meds was ready for pickup.  A great system ,except I pay for texts and I already picked up this med four days ago!  I called the pharmacy to advise them to remove the auto-message from their system, and was told they are unable to do that.  Huh?

I’m beginning to sound like an old person.  “Back in MY day, they used to pay attention to the law, and detail, and customer service, and took care of the customer!”

B&G update – I received an email response stating they apologize, and will make certain signage is more visible remind everyone of the State regulations.  Unsigned email.  Oh, well, it’s better than a poke in the eye with a frozen washcloth.  We’ll see…

The True Believer

I watched and listened in amusement, disdain and horror as the 17th President to achieve reelection took again the oath of office.  His discussion of upholding rights for all…WE the People, failing to acknowledge the individual rights we hold (or rather held) in this country; speaking of the collective.  And never stating that those rights are natural rights, not something issued or taken away by government.

Constantly referring to our founding documents, as though saying those wise words would make his statements go down easier.  Because the speech was about his agenda, not upholding a Constitutional vision for the Nation.

And the camera shots of the audience, obviously fans of the President, alternately staring enraptured and bored, speaking to one another during the National Anthem and the Benediction.  No respect.  Even one of his daughters was not paying attention and talking to her mom.

In 1951, Eric Hoffer wrote The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements.

The book analyzes and attempts to explain the motives of the various types of personalities that give rise to mass movements; why and how mass movements start, progress and end; and the similarities between them, whether religious, political, radical or reactionary. As examples, the book often refers to Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Christianity, Protestantism, and Islam. Hoffer believes that mass movements are interchangeable, that adherents will often flip from one movement to another, and that the motivations for mass movements are interchangeable; that religious, nationalist and social movements, whether radical or reactionary, tend to attract the same type of followers, behave in the same way and use the same tactics, even when their stated goals or values differed.  (Wikipedia)

I fear most of the persons in the audience were such people.  True Believers.  Folks who either love the man because he’s Black, or because he’s not George W. Bush.  Or because he gives them stuff or money.  Or who voted for him as an agent of change, out of white guilt.  Hardly thoughtful reasons to vote for a chief executive.  Many who now have taken note that the government is more powerful than any previous in American History.  Not militarily, but in a domestic police role.

It was especially telling to have Senator Charles Schumer introduce the President.  A man who needs no introduction to most of my blog readers.  An individual rights bigot and hypocrite.  Another True Believer.

The President did as he did last time.  Instead of making an historic speech, he made a campaign speech, trying to sound inclusive, but ignoring the individual.

This was not unexpected.

On NOT Preaching to the Choir…

Many bloggers have been posting of late regarding the ongoing elimination of rights by the government.  I’ve been one of the folks posting.  And, with the exception of the occasional ‘troll’, I’m pretty much preaching to the choir.

And sometimes that’s appropriate.  We need to support and reaffirm one another.

BUT, what does one do with the community outside the ‘church’?  Friends, co-workers, family who are not gun owners, who don’t participate in the gun culture, who either are neutral about firearms or just a little uneasy with them?

We need them, as well.

Those people who don’t see that when some folks rights are taken away, all rights are on the table for removal.

I’ve one friend, a libertarian, who understands The Constitution and The Bill of Rights and all that.  I’ve even taken him shooting.  Just doesn’t interest him.  He’s not anti, just not a supporter.  A close relative who knows I’d be happy to bring her into the world of guns; to train her and help her to be more self-protective.  But she fears her own temper, so she won’t consider it.

We need these folks, if not in our gun corner, in our political corner.

How do we do that?

Anybody?  Bueller?  Bueller?