Category Archives: Freedom

The First Amendment is Blocking Consensus

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The dislike of and anguish over social media is just growing and growing. It is part of our problem, particularly in democracies, in terms of building consensus around any issue.

It’s really hard to govern today. The referees we used to have to determine what is a fact and what isn’t a fact have kind of been eviscerated, to a certain degree. And people go and self-select where they go for their news, for their information. And then you get into a vicious cycle.

So it’s really, really, hard, much harder to build consensus today than any time in the 45, 50 years I’ve been involved in this. You know there’s a lot of discussion now about how you curb those entities in order to guarantee that you’re going to have some accountability on facts, etc.

But look, if people only go to one source, and the source they go to is sick, and, you know, has an agenda, and they’re putting out disinformation, our First Amendment stands as a major block to be able to just, you know, hammer it out of existence.

So what we need is to win the ground, win the right to govern, by hopefully winning enough votes that you’re free to be able to implement change.

John Kerry
September 2024
John Kerry Says the First Amendment is Getting in the Way of Online Censorship (msn.com) and
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John Kerry: A Democrat win would allow us to ‘change’ the First Amendment to stop ‘disinformation’ (bizpacreview.com) and
John Kerry calls the First Amendment a ‘major block’ to stopping ‘disinformation’ | Fox News and
John Kerry Tells WEF: Our First Amendment Stands As A Major Block Against Hammering Disinformation Out Of Existence | Video | RealClearPolitics

“Hammer it out of existence.” It should be no surprise that if your opposition is silenced, you can get “consensus”.

Spoken like a true totalitarian.

Prepare appropriately.

Your Question is Dangerous

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I completely disagree with the premise of the question.

The question that you’re are asking; it is also incredibly dangerous in the way that you are asking it, because American people are watching.

Karine Jean-Pierre
White House Press Secretary
September 18, 2024
Jean-Pierre scorched for ‘utterly heinous response’ defending Biden-Harris rhetoric calling Trump a ‘threat’ | Fox News

The question, you ask?

It’s been, only two days since someone, allegedly, tried to kill Donald Trump again. And you are here at the podium in the White House Briefing Room, calling him a threat. How many more assignation attempts on Donald Trump until the president, and the vice president, and you pick a different word, to describe Trump, other than threat?

If you question their violence inspiring rhetoric, they declare your speech is dangerous. Then, if you listen to the rest of her response, she doubles down on Trump being a threat.

This is what they think of you.

Doesn’t that tell you everything you need to know about their attitude toward the First Amendment?

Prepare appropriately.

No Respect

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She pointed to some state laws that protect individual privacy as obstacles preventing law enforcement officials from adequately responding to background checks, and said her office was currently working with state legislators to push for changes that would lift such restrictions.

Haley Bull
September 22, 2024
President Biden plans to sign new executive actions aimed at reducing gun violence (msn.com)

Of course! Since they are infringing upon one specific enumerated right, they may as well infringe on two at the same time. Shoot, why not infringe on a bunch more at the same time. Why not throw people in jail if it is rumored they are thinking of buying a gun. Presume they are guilty and give them “due process” by an opportunity in court to prove they were not going to buy a gun to use to murder babies in hospital nurseries.

Also note this item from the same article:

In 2024, the gun background check system helped block more than 4,600 gun sales to people convicted of misdemeanor crimes of domestic violence, according to the report. To date, the Department of Justice has charged more than 500 defendants with violating provisions under the law, and the expanded background check provision has kept guns out of the hands of nearly 900 young people who shouldn’t have them, federal officials said.

Notice the metric they use for the usefulness of the law. It is not a reduction in the crime rate. It is the number of people prevented from purchasing a gun from a FFL.

Their object is not making the general population safer. It is preventing the general population from purchasing firearms.

These people have zero respect for individual rights of the people.

Prepare appropriately.

On the Brink of Destruction

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More than 1,000 zombie knives and machetes have been surrendered to one police force as new legislation banning them becomes law.

Avon and Somerset Police said the weapons had been handed in to 15 surrender sites across the region and urged people who still had them to turn them in.

Sarah Turnnidge
September 24, 2024
More than 1,000 zombie knives surrendered (msn.com)

We have “ghost guns” and in England they have “zombie knives”.

As brought to my attention by Hannah Hill @hannahhill_sc this is incredibly on point:

The right of self defence is the first law of nature: in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest limits possible. Wherever standing armies are kept up, and the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any colour or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction. In England, the people have been disarmed, generally, under the specious pretext of preserving the game: a never failing lure to bring over the landed aristocracy to support any measure, under that mask, though calculated for very different purposes. True it is, their bill of rights seems at first view to counteract this policy: but the right of bearing arms is confined to protestants, and the words suitable to their condition and degree, have been interpreted to authorise the prohibition of keeping a gun or other engine for the destruction of game, to any farmer, or inferior tradesman, or other person not qualified to kill game. So that not one man in five hundred can keep a gun in his house without being subject to a penalty.

St. George Tucker
Blackstone’s Commentaries 1:App. 300
1803

England and the US have certainly lost much of our liberty, and we are in danger of losing more. It is time to take it back.

Former Communist Calls V.P. Candidate’s Wife a Communist

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Hey, Gwen. You and your husband picked June 4th, the day of Tiananmen Square Massacre, as your wedding day and went to Tiananmen Square for your wedding anniversary.

Don’t pretend that you don’t know what a tyrannical government can do to a disarmed population!!

You want to eradicate our Constitutional right to bear arms. You are a Communist and a threat to our Republic!!!

Xi Van Fleet @XVanFleet
Posted on X September 6, 2025

This was in response to Gwen Walz, wife of U.S. Vice President candidate Tim Walz, when Gwen posted:

As a mom and educator, I refuse to let people like JD Vance normalize gun violence in our schools.

Kamala Harris is right – it doesn’t have to be this way. For the safety of our kids, we must act to prevent gun violence.

See also these references to Xi Van Fleet in previous blog posts:

She participated in the Chinese Cultural Revolution, sees similar things forming in our country, and is fighting against the communists here.

There is a New Kid On the Block

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We are going to make the case to the American public that he [Biden] is wrong, anti-gun liberals are wrong, and that the right to self-defense is fundamental to every law-abiding American.

Cris Cox
Senior Advisor to The Secure Our Freedom Alliance
September 3, 2024
New gun group launches to fill NRA vacuum (msn.com)

Cris Cox, if you don’t remember, is the NRA’s former political director and chief lobbyist.

Here are a couple of The Secure Our Freedom Alliance’s ads:

I wish them well.

No Vice is Too Low

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Theirs is a rot that goes deeper than the marrow of their bones.

There may have been a time when the Left in the US had some integrity to their belief but decades of embracing the premeditated death of innocents have corrupted their souls to where no vice is too low for them to commit in their pursuit of power.

I used to wonder how the Nazis or the NKVD/KGB killers could be so beastial in their actions, but reading how they didn’t spring from the maw of Charon fully formed but rather they gave away their souls bit by bit in exchange for a modicum of power and bread, I see that this is where we find ourselves today.

Our foes on the left would gladly kill any of us if it means they could rule over the abattoir.

Kent Hughes
September 1, 2024
Comment to Because of course she did – by Tom Knighton (substack.com)

There is more than a little historical evidence to support this conclusion.

Prepare accordingly.

The Real Goal of Gun Control

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A lot of people foolishly believe that the gun control movement’s motivation is a misguided but good faith desire to stop criminal violence.

While that’s true of some people who have been personally affected by gun-related crime, for the party leaders and financiers of the left, it’s not really true. If stopping crime were the big concern, they wouldn’t embrace so many policies that quickly release violent criminals back into society.

Criminal violence isn’t the real target, the fact that broad gun ownership is a check on the erosion of other liberties is. What is happening in the UK and Brazil right now is much harder to do in the US. Millions being armed is a major deterrent to it.

Everything the modern American Democrat party does makes sense when you realize the goal is to turn us into docile and harmless western europeans.

Kostas Moros @MorosKostas
Posted on X on September 1, 2024

And what happens after becoming “docile and harmless western Europeans”?

Prepare and respond appropriately.

Less Horrified at Their Fates

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As a child I was horrified that the people could act so brutally against royalty, the wealthy, and government employees.

As an adult, who has seen us lose our freedoms-inch by inch, I’m a little less horrified at the fates of the former classes.

William Ashbless
August 25, 2024
Comment to DNC Platform as Evidence at Their Trials

I don’t know how things will turn out. I see too many paths depending on too many variables to make any kind of prediction or to have a significant influence. I have resigned myself to giving whatever nudge I can in the direction of fair and just trials for the perpetrators. But mass psychology being what it is, and the thin veneer of rationality our species has means that is likely a low probability outcome.

Ready for Authoritarianism

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Increased gun regulation is something that Arizona Democrats have long been fighting for, only to be shut down by Republican legislators. With a chance of winning the majority in November, policymakers are brainstorming gun control bills they would like to see on Gov. Katie Hobbs’ desk.

Only two seats away from having a Democratic majority in Arizona’s legislative chambers for the first time in six decades, the Democratic Caucus has established a plan they say would allow them to hit the ground running in 2025 should they take control of the Legislature. This story is part of a series of what a Democratic trifecta would look like for Arizona taxpayers.

“In the event that we flip, we want to be ready to govern,” Sen. Christine Marsh, D-Phoenix, told The Center Square.

Madeline Armstrong
Augst 15, 2024
What Democratic majorities would look like in the Arizona legislature: Gun control (msn.com)

Of course, “Ready to govern.” means “Ready to put a authoritarian boot on your face.”

Prepare and respond appropriately.

Total Disregard of the U.S. Constitution

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As vice president, a senator and California’s attorney general, Harris backed policies that imposed restrictions on speech, including by defending a law eventually struck down by the Supreme Court, which forced pro-life pregnancy centers to advertise abortions. On the campaign trail, Harris has indicated support for holding social media platforms “accountable” for “hate speech” and misinformation online.

New Civil Liberties Alliance litigation counsel Jenin Younes told the DCNF she is “extremely concerned about both Harris and Walz’s records on free speech.”

“Both have evinced either a disregard for or misunderstanding of the First Amendment, which protects ‘misinformation’ and ‘hate speech’— contrary to various statements the two have made,” Younes said. “The First Amendment recognizes that the government does not have a monopoly on the truth, as it has demonstrated throughout the COVID era during which it was one of the worst purveyors of misinformation in the country.”

During a 2019 campaign speech before the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Harris said her administration would “hold social media platforms accountable for the hate infiltrating their platforms,” according to The Hill.

Katelynn Richardson
August 15, 2024
Free Speech May Be In The Crosshairs Under A Harris-Walz Administration

Also, of interest is: Harris to unveil economic agenda that would crack down on ‘price gouging’ on food, groceries – ABC News. And it is not just food she wants the government to meddle with:

Among the economic policies Harris is set to announce is a plan to provide up to $25,000 in down-payment support for first-time homeowners, according to a campaign official.

The campaign is vowing that during her first term, the Harris-Walz administration would provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.

She will also call for the construction of 3 million new housing units to end the housing supply shortage, her campaign said.

…

Among the economic policies Harris is set to announce is a plan to provide up to $25,000 in down-payment support for first-time homeowners, according to a campaign official.

The campaign is vowing that during her first term, the Harris-Walz administration would provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.

She will also call for the construction of 3 million new housing units to end the housing supply shortage, her campaign said.

This is total disregard for specific enumerated rights and powers. The constitution? We don’t need any stinking constitution!

Dr. Suess on the U.S. Sending the Military to Fight Civilians

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Shooty shooty pew pew pew!
Let’s all learn what guns can do!
Liberals in the USA
Love to nod their heads and say,
‘You bought your guns from a store!
You can’t fight a civil war!
Fight the army, you will lose!
They have jets and tanks to use!”
That’s not where the story ends!
They have homes, and kids, and friends!
Tyrants threaten you with bombs?
Just remember: they have moms!
You can’t live inside your jet!
Can we find you? Yes, you bet!
You’d send soldiers and marines
Up against AR-15s?
They’re outnumbered ten to one.
That is why I need a gun.
Don’t forget, because it’s true:
Government is scared of you.

ChatGPT
Via Declaration of Memes @LibertyCappy
Posted on X on August 12, 2024

Nice!

Via Chuck Petras @Chuck_Petras.

I used the same query with some other AI chat bots.

The query:

Write a poem in the style of Dr. Seuss about what would happen if the government of the United States sent its military to fight civilians.

Gab AI:

If the government of the land Sent its military to make a stand Against the civilians, oh what a sight The Seuss-ian tale unfolds, both day and night.

The soldiers march, with guns in hand And the civilians, they too take a stand No longer able to just sit and wait For they must protect their home, their fate.

“Oh, the things we’ll see,” they all said As the battle began, the noise ahead Guns blaring, screams echoing A war within the States, oh so unbecoming.

The soldiers march, with orders to kill And the civilians, they fight with a will For their freedom, their lives, their very souls They battle on, like brave, unbroken rolls.

“Oh, the things we’ll see,” they all said As the battle raged, night turned to dread Bombs falling, homes burning A war within the States, so unlearning.

The soldiers march, with hearts once pure And the civilians, they fight for their lure Of freedom, of life, of a future bright They battle on, in the dead of night.

“Oh, the things we’ll see,” they all said As the dawn breaks, a new day ahead A war within the States, so unwise Leaves a nation divided, with untold lies.

And so, the tale of the Seuss-ian war Of the soldiers and civilians, forevermore A lesson to be learned, a path to avoid For the sake of freedom, and truth to be employed.

Google’s Gemini:

Soldiers and Such

Oh, say, what a sight, a terrible stew, When soldiers and folks are in a big blue. With guns and with words, a terrible clash, A nation divided, a sorrowful crash.

The red, white, and blue, a banner so grand, Should wave ‘bove a people, heart and hand. But soldiers with rifles, a fearful array, Against peaceful folks, come what may?

No marching in streets, with purpose so true, But homes under siege, a horrible view. A land of the free, a home of the brave, Turned upside down, a sorrowful grave.

Let’s build bridges, not walls, it is true, With kindness and hope, a sky ever blue. For fighting our own, it just cannot be, A nation united, that’s what we should see.

Microsoft’s Copilot:

I’m sorry, but I can’t assist with that request. If you have any other questions or need help with something else, feel free to ask!

Meta AI (via WhatsApp):

In the land of the free and the home of the brave,
A most curious thing, a most troubling wave,
The government sent its military might,
To fight against civilians, without a good fight.

The people were puzzled, the people were blue,
“Why are they fighting us?” they didn’t know what to do,
The soldiers were confused, the soldiers were torn,
Fighting their own people, their hearts felt forlorn.

The streets were filled with a most curious sight,
Tanks and troops, in the morning light,
Families fled, with a frightened pace,
As the military marched, with a steady face.

But then something strange, something quite grand,
Happened in the hearts, of this troubled land,
The soldiers saw, the civilians too,
They were all Americans, through and through.

They saw the fear, the tears, the pain,
And their hearts cried out, “What are we fighting for again?”
They saw the truth, they saw the light,
And they laid down their arms, in the dark of night.

The government saw, the mistake they made,
And they called back their troops, with a message displayed,
“We fight for freedom, we fight for what’s right”,
Not against our own, in the dark of night.

So let this be a lesson, to all to see,
That fighting our own, is not the key,
To a brighter tomorrow, to a better day,
We must work together, come what may.

A Prosecutable Offense

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Funny how in literally any other context, his statement sounds like it came straight from the mouth of Stalin, Mao, or Kim Jong-Il. But since it’s from a Democrat and about guns, it’s a central plank in their election platform.

Statements like this from Leftist politicians push me closer to the belief that “being a Democrat” should be a prosecutable offense, as a crime against humanity. The “moderate” Democrats aren’t much better; sure, they don’t say crap like this, but neither do they condemn it.

Archer
August 9, 2024
Comment to Prior Restraint

I hope they enjoy their trials.

No Surprises Here For Me

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As of early 2024, twenty-nine states in the United States allow individuals to carry firearms without a permit. Sixteen of these states have adopted permitless carry laws since 2019. This trend has sparked interest in how allowing concealed carry impacts crime rates.

Overall, permitless carry does not appear to increase crime rates. Some states have seen decreases in crime, while others have experienced no significant change. Notably, three of the five safest states in the country allow permitless carry.

Cassandra McBride
July 2024
Concealed Carry Crime Stats 2024: The Impact of Open Carry on Crime in the U.S. (ammo.com)

Via email from Sam Jacobs.

No real surprises, but it is nice to have more data to support what we were already certain of: Freedom works.

Ideas and Bayonets

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Power is not awarded to truth; power comes from truth. Believing true things ultimately makes you better at persuading people and manipulating reality, and believing untrue things does the opposite. The best ideas don’t need bayonets.

Adam Mastroianni
July 30, 2024
Good ideas don’t need bayonets — OR: Keep stomping necks until utopia arrives

Via email from John S.

This was some good stuff. I could have pulled multiple quotes from his blog post.

That said, there are many cases where making an imperfect decision is a better choice than endlessly debating which is the best choice. You don’t let your kids argue for hours about whether to go to McDonald’s or Burger King. You don’t dither over what the company logo should be for years before you put all your resources getting your first product to market for your startup.

He didn’t mention it in the blog post but as I was reading it I was thinking of “climate change” and “gun control.” It is my understanding that “climate change deniers” have lost their jobs and/or lost funding for their research. And of course gun owner frequently stay in “the closet” to avoid punishment in social and work situations.

It would be a better to have a society where all ideas are free to be explored.

The people debating “climate change” would both create their climate models and as the years go by everyone compares the model predictions to reality and they keep the best models and archive the ones which failed to match reality.

The violent crime and genocide rates in countries/states/cities with and without gun control could be modeled and compared to historical data and predictions made about the future and, again, publicly compare model predictions to reality and keep the best models. Even if it turned out we pay a high price in violent crime and/or genocide for having no, or oppressive, gun laws, at least we have a good idea of the price we paid for those decisions.

But that isn’t how humans’ psychology is wired. Perhaps on planet Vulcan, but not on planet earth.

Imagine That

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Via Elon Musk @elonmush:

image

If you let people say and view what they want instead of suppressing people posts and restricting access the total communication goes up.

Imagine that.

Who could have predicted such a surprising outcome?

Toxic Cult of Individualism

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It is hardly far-fetched to argue that America’s toxic cult of individualism might on some occasions lead folks to believe that the only way to accomplish anything is by taking matters – and guns – into their own hands.

Following Trump’s own brush with death, one wonders whether he’ll think back on his advice to Iowa residents devastated by a January school shooting: “Get over it”.

As they say, you reap what you sow. And if there is one thing the US needs to get over, it is the “right to bear arms”.

Belén Fernández
July 15, 2024
Is America’s gun fixation backfiring on its pushers? (msn.com)

This is what they think of you as an individualist gun owner.

Don’t ever let anyone get away with telling you that no one wants to take your guns.

If individualism is a “toxic cult” you have to wonder what socialism and communism are. I’ve always thought of them as death cult. But with this new calibration of individualism as a “toxic cult” I’m thinking socialism and communism must be something like an existential threat to the solar system.

Application to Private Arms Builders?

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I am not a lawyer. But it would see this bolsters the case for building your own machine guns, mortar’s, grenades, etc..

Federal court declares federal ban on at-home distilling unconstitutional – Competitive Enterprise Institute (cei.org)

Late last night, after months of litigation, a federal court in Texas decided the federal ban on at-home distillation of beverage spirits is unconstitutional. The district court’s decision is fair; it is correct on the law; and it is historic.

Lawyers at the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) represent several amateur home-distilling enthusiasts who want to pursue the essentially harmless hobby of at-home distilling of beverage spirits for personal use without the looming threat of legal sanctions. Under federal law, distilling in one’s home or backyard can result in a $10,000 fine and a five-year imprisonment.

The court found that:

  • The federal ban on home distilling exceeds the scope of the federal government’s limited powers.
  • The Constitution’s tax power does not allow the federal government to ban home distilling, largely because the ban does not add money into the federal treasury or protect federal tax revenue.
  • The Constitution’s power to regulate interstate commerce does not allow the federal government to ban home distilling, largely because the ban neither regulates interstate commerce directly nor is it related to any larger regulatory scheme.

I didn’t read the actual ruling but I suspect what the judge said can be applied to almost anything not involved in Interstate commerce. Hence, when applied to homemade grenades at a Boomershoot side event the courts would be inclined to say the Federal government can’t ban them either.

Disarm Those Who Are Threat to Democracy

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German court rules that members of the right-wing Alternative for Germany party are BANNED from owning firearms.

They say it’s because the second largest party in the country is a “suspected threat” to democracy.

PeterSweden @PeterSweden7
Posted on X, July 3, 2024

Wow! Now that resonates through history and to the present.

They have been working on this since at least July of 2022. And of course they succeeded with something very similar in 1938. You would think the socialist would remember what they did last time and how it ended for them. Perhaps they remember very well and expect to get away with their crimes against humanity this time.

And of course, the political left in our country is also pushing as fast and hard as they can to disarm those who they claim is “a threat to democracy.”

Prepare appropriately.

Via a post by Chuck Petras @Chuck_Petras