Quote of the day—Philip Reeves

Drive around Caracas, and you see long lines of cars waiting for hours at the few gas stations still operational.

Motorists park on highways, cell phones aloft, searching for a signal. The rich have taken refuge in luxury hotels. The poor stand in lines in the street.

Philip Reeves
March 11, 2019
‘This Is Going To End Ugly’: Venezuela’s Power Outage Drags On
[It already is ugly:

Venezuela has been in the grip of a crippling blackout for four days — and the humanitarian situation there is growing increasingly dire.

As we have been predicting (read the comments) for a long time this is ending badly.

Don’t let it happen here. We need a landslide against the socialists in 2020.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Steve Hebbe

As a law enforcement agency, our job is to uphold the law, and we take an oath to uphold the Constitution. We are dedicated to ensuring a safe community and will be keeping a close eye on all proposed legislation.

Steve Hebbe
Farmington Police Chief
February 20, 2019

San Juan County sheriff concerned NM gun control bill could violate constitutional rights
[This is about parts of New Mexico. See also here.

What is it, maybe 75% of Washington state is 2nd Amendment sanctuary territory? Parts of Oregon are as well. Then there are nine states which have passed the Firearms Freedom Act.

It’s trivial to create analogies to free/slave states and sanctuaries in the early 1860. The Democrats are pushing, and passing, bills that I couldn’t have imagined they would try even a couple years ago. Nearly all semi-automatic guns are to banned?

They have become berserkers. My guess is that it is some sort of late stage Trump Derangement Syndrome. What happens if the courts slap them down? What happens if the courts support them? I hope they recover their senses before the only cure is a repeat of the 1860s, but The Fourth Turning keeps coming to mind.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Johnny (Joey) Jones‏ @Johnny_Joey

I paid for my @NRA membership with my own blood as I got a free lifetime membership for being a Purple Heart recipient.

Also… come to think of it.. your security, free market economy and constitutional rights were paid for in blood as well.

 Johnny (Joey) Jones‏ @Johnny_Joey
Tweeted on March 5, 2019
[Thank you Joey Jones.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Donald Trump

We reject oppressive speech codes, censorship, political correctness and every other attempt by the hard left to stop people from challenging ridiculous and dangerous ideas. These ideas are dangerous. Instead we believe in free speech, including online and including on campus.

Today I’m proud to announce that I will be very soon signing an executive order requiring colleges and universities to support free speech if they want federal research grants.

Donald Trump
U.S. President
March 2, 2019
Trump says he’ll sign executive order for free speech on college campuses
[While I applaud a push for free speech I wonder if this really should have been handled a different way. Could the next president sign an executive order requiring colleges and university to censor “hate speech” by anyone opposed to socialism?

I would think a better approach would be to prosecute university officials or individuals using existing laws. Wouldn’t 18 USC 241 and/or 242 be applicable? This would be particularly in the case on exhibit in the article (a kid was punched in the face). If something broader were needed then I think it should go through the legislative process.

Explain to me how I’m wrong on this.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Richard Hudson

It’s a shame that in their rush to “do something”– anything – Democrats have made this critical debate a partisan show. Last week, my Democrat colleagues rushed to pass two partisan pieces of legislation that would have done nothing to stop some of the most prominent mass shootings in recent memory. H.R. 8 would not have stopped Newtown. H.R. 8 would not have stopped Parkland. It would not have stopped Las Vegas, or Sutherland Springs, or San Bernardino or many other tragedies. But the proponents of gun control don’t want you to judge them based on outcomes; they want you to judge them based on intentions.

Richard Hudson
United States Representative for North Carolina
March 2, 2019
H.R. 8 won’t stop school shootings
[I thank Representative Hudson for standing up for our rights and pointing out the deliberate deception of many anti-gun people.

While I agree that what Hudson says in that last sentence is true for many people and it’s a relatively safe thing to say to avoid a lot of controversy it’s not entirely true.

I believe that some gun control proponents, particularly, but not exclusively the politicians, know the proposed gun legislation cannot make people safer and that is their intention. They want something that will fail to make people safer and, in fact prefer, that it will make people less safe. This gives the politician more power because it makes people more dependent upon government.

That said, the common person doesn’t realize they have been duped and believe the implied intention. I said “implied” because it is very rare that politician will come out and explicitly state that a law making access to guns more difficult will make people safer. They will say, “Its just common sense.” They will say, “No one should have these guns.” They will say, “80% of the people want background checks.” But they don’t say, “Criminologist predict this will reduce violent crime by 20%.” Or, “This will cut mass shootings deaths in half.” That they don’t make the claim that gun regulations will improve public safety strongly implies to me that they know it will not improve public safety.

I can give someone a temporary pass on not knowing something and making an overstated claim about their unproven hypothesis being true. But when they almost for certain know the truth and deliberately word things to deceive people that is an extremely strong indicator they are evil people. That these people deliberately deceive others to infringe a specific enumerated right make them criminals punishable by law.

I hope they enjoy their trials (http://bit.ly/EnjoyYourTrial2).—Joe

Quote of the day—Thales

If a Rightist is going to have a problem with you, the odds are he’s going to punch you in the face. Or follow you into a bathroom and beat you down. The Right is much more fond of directness. Does anybody really think, say, a redneck is going to dump bleach on you and run away? Do you think he cares about the symbolism of a noose, or that he’s going to go out of his way to wear a certain hat – so as to make the right fashion statement during the attack? No. If he has a problem, he’s going to get in your face, probably punch it repeatedly, and walk away when he feels his point has been made.

In this the Left betrays how little they understand us. For even their hoaxes seem like bad parodies to us. It’s what a Leftist would do, only reversed in ideological polarity. It’s not what a Rightist would do. They don’t get us. Their rank-and-file doesn’t have any clue who they are dealing with anymore. Even the Media is too stuck on Leftism to understand anymore. There was a time, perhaps, when wiser Leftists would have thought “well, that doesn’t sound a whole lot like them… maybe we should check into this a little more.”

That time has passed.

This is profoundly dangerous to us all. Because, not knowing us, they cannot understand where the limits are. They’ve been butting up near our maximum levels of tolerance for some time now. Sooner or later, one of them is going to exceed that boundary because he doesn’t even know it’s there, anymore.

Thales
February 22, 2019
Leftist Hoaxes: A Failure to Understand the Right
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Maj Toure @MAJTOURE

Currently, folks can be locked up for feeding homeless, stashing rain water, growing plants, recording public servants and owning guns. What a time to be alive.

Maj Toure @MAJTOURE
Tweeted on February 22, 2019
[Look on the bright side. There is lots of opportunity for improvement because there is so much low hanging fruit.

Or is that, “Fruits that should be hanged”?—Joe]

Quote of the day—Ozzie Knezovich

This is an individual who wants to ban guns — except he wants to kill people.

Ozzie Knezovich
Spokane Sheriff
February 21, 2019
Washington Man Arrested For Allegedly Vowing Sheriffs Who Oppose Gun Control Law ‘Will Be Shot. By Me.’
[Well, of course. As Lyle pointed out a few days ago when the question “Why are anti-gun activists so violent?” came up again:

When you turn that question around and ask it the other way (Why are the violent so opposed to honest people being armed?) then it pretty well answers itself.

That an obviously violent person thinks it is so vitally important that the guns of common people must have their guns taken away is one of the best reasons possible to hold on to your guns and prepare to use them.

Here is a picture of the thug:

jaydinledfordmugshot

Be on your guard. He may not remain in jail long enough to cure him of his violent and Marxist ways.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Eric Boehm

Timbs is a good reminder of how ridiculous the argument in favor of civil asset forfeiture really is. During oral arguments in November, Indiana’s solicitor general got boxed into a corner by Justice Stephen Breyer, who managed to twist the government’s lawyer into arguing that Indiana should be allowed to seize vehicles for as small an offense as driving 5 mph over the speed limit, which literally elicited laughter in the courtroom.

After Wednesday’s ruling, there’s a better chance that more civil asset forfeiture cases will be laughed right out of court for being what they obviously are: unconstitutional, excessive punishments that don’t fit the crime.

Eric Boehm
February 20, 2019
Supreme Court Delivers Unanimous Victory for Asset Forfeiture Challenge
[And as Tam said:

When Clarence AND Ruth are on the same side of an argument, you gotta be kind of a weirdo to be on the other side of it.

This is great news.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Matt Shea

The problem is I am not going to sit in a state that is going to try to take away our firearms, either by regulation, by cost or by confiscation, are you? So if they try to do that the only solution left is the 51st state. A lot of people say, ‘Why do you want to do that?’ It would better represent downtown Seattle’s values and our values in Eastern Washington if we split. They would stop calling us the welfare freeloaders, as one publication said. They would stop calling us names, we’re the ignorant hicks. Have your socialist values in downtown Seattle. It’s awesome. Go and do that do that experiment, but let us live free.

Matt Shea
Washington State representative
February 15, 2019
Supporters of forming 51st State of Liberty gather at capitol rotunda
[As Richard said yesterday:

Absolutely right about CW2. I have never experienced it, thank God, but have studied it enough to know I want no part of it. Trouble it takes only one side to start it. That is why I want a civil divorce before it is too late.

Sounds like a plan. Make it so.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Old 1811

I’m probably the only commenter here who has arrested and convicted a genocidal mass murderer. During my investigation, I interviewed witnesses in two countries, and their statements still disturb my sleep fifteen years later. (Quick example: A witness was being chased by the murderer, and only escaped because the murderer stopped to shoot a baby.)

So whenever I read about a new barbarity, it dredges up unwanted memories that I can only try to dispel through sick humor. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

I remember reading somewhere about judging and being judged. Or maybe not.

Old 1811
February 13, 2019
Comment to Quote of the day—Benedict Rogers
[Yeah, I’d bet he is the only commenter with those credentials here. Those experiences are rather rare.

Old 1811, thank you for what you did. Are there things you can share which will help others avoid enabling more mass murderers? Any advice on any related topics?—Joe]

Quote of the day—Larry Lambert

The problem with socialism is that you can vote your way into it but you need to shoot your way out of it.

Larry Lambert
January 30, 2019
Threat Assessment
[Via Oleg:

socialism_problem_2221web

It’s not the only problem, but it certainly is a significant one.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Doug Huffman

My grandfather, Cecil Huffman served in the Army with the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) Siberia.  On this day in February 1919, he wrote a letter to his parents that I have in my possession today.  All his letters were censored, and he knew the rules regarding what information he could send home, so none of his letters appear to have sections cut out or removed.  In his letters he often says there was nothing to write about even after he was involved in skirmishes with the Red Army led by Vladimir Lenin.  The attached letter is much like many others he wrote while in the Army.  On this day 100 years ago, Cecil wrote, “I know you expect to hear something in every letter, but there isn’t a thing to write about.”

The resolve of the people to fight the leftist forces of the communist revolution was not strong enough and resistance slowly folded as the Red Army advanced.  My grandfather and the rest of the AEF Siberia were pulled out of Vladivostok via transport ship in the fall of 1919.

In the decades that followed, Lenin and his successors went on to murder tens of millions of their own countrymen.  As communism spread in the 20th century, estimates are that up to 160 million people died worldwide through execution, starvation and politically motivated genocide under communist rule.  This happened in one nation after another as governments became too powerful, private industry was eliminated and free speech was restricted to only the politically correct line of thinking.

The majority of those supporting communism had no evil intent.  They fought for communism because they believed it would bring a better way of life for them and their children.

We must never forget the lessons of history.

1919-2-11 Cecil to Home (1)

1919-2-11 Cecil to Home

Doug Huffman
February 11, 2019
Email to extended family.
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Benedict Rogers

Many prisoners of conscience—Falun Gong members, Uighur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists and “underground” Christians—have been subjected to medical testing and had their organs forcibly removed. Those organs have fed an enormous trade in organ transplants.

Benedict Rogers
February 5, 2019
The Nightmare of Human Organ Harvesting in China
[Via email from Paul K.

Well, I guess that is one way to make true the communist claim of better health care than in capitalist countries. You can get your organ transplant in days instead of months or years.

Isn’t communism wonderful!? Aren’t you looking forward to government supplied health care so we can have the same benefits in our country?

Or as Paul put it, “It’s more like Larry Niven’s “organlegger” dystopian plot line.”—Joe]

Quote of the day—Brinda Karat

The tremendous achievements of the first Socialist State beckon us to understand what was possible and what is possible to create today. The Soviet Union created records, equally relevant today in wiping out poverty, backwardness, and illiteracy, in establishing equality among peoples and nationalities, between men and women. It is an inspiration of what was and what can be, and that is why we say that the era it established of the transition from capitalism to socialism is as relevant today. Capitalism is not the end of history.

Brinda Karat
November 9, 2017
The Russian Revolution Is Still Relevant Today
[Via email from Chet.

Delusions are often functional but I’m struggling to find the function in this whopper of a delusion. Perhaps Karat thinks they would be one of the leaders who would be in control.

I can’t imagine they believe conclusive evidence supports the claims they made. Just reading a few chapters of The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation (Volume One) would dissuade anyone of sound mind that this is a path a society as a whole would knowing and willing venture.

And yet, via another link from Chet, we have Teen Vogue discussing the differences between resistance, rebellion, and revolution while speaking fondly of the Russian and Cuban revolutions.

We live in interesting times.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Rep. Steve Scalise

Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing Wednesday on new gun control legislation Democrats plan to push on the American people. The top Republican on the committee, Doug Collins, R-Ga., asked committee Democrats if I could testify about this legislation in an appropriate setting to offer another perspective as both a survivor of a shooting attack and strong supporter of our Second Amendment rights. But the Democrats said no. While liberals may try to silence conservative voices, I will not be silenced. The American people deserve to hear all perspectives.

Rep. Steve Scalise
February 6, 2019
Rep. Steve Scalise: Democrats don’t want you to hear what I have to say about guns and the Second Amendment
[Socialists cannot tolerate the truth and must repress opposing points of view. Particularly when that point of view involves individual liberty. Socialism is about coercion. And an armed society is able to resist coercion and hence the view of people like Representative Scalise must be repressed.—Joe]

Quote of the day—James Woods‏ @RealJamesWoods

The raging communist moron Bernie Sanders and half of Hollywood held Venezuela up as the Utopia of the future just a few short years ago. These liberals are also classic gun grabbers. So please enjoy this video of “Venezuelans Without Guns…”

James Woods‏ @RealJamesWoods
Tweeted on January 31, 2019

[Never give up your guns.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Sarah H. Hoyt

It’s going to continue ramping up. That the enemy gets a say, doesn’t mean we’ve lost the war.  Note the game is always the same they’ve played, only it’s working less now, now that us thought criminals know we’re not alone. They are not by and large, safe for the antifidiots resorting to physical violence. (And the antifidiots only operate in the cities where they feel safe.) They’re yellow under all the black paraphernalia. They are using what they always used: doxxing, whisper campaigns, mobbing and destruction of reputations and livelihoods.

They’ve done this my whole life. It’s their modus operandi. It’s just that now half of their campaigns (at least) fall apart and what they wish to keep under the rug comes flying out.  And we’re not alone. And we know we’re not alone.

My guess is that we’re so far from alone that the end-game for the US is the same as Romania, in terms of the worm turning (hopefully not in terms of the stupid afterwards, but that is up to all of us.)  One morning the “progressives” are riding high and by evening they’re cooling meat.

Sarah H. Hoyt
January 30, 2019
The Liberation Won’t Be On The Payroll
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Dan Bongino‏ @dbongino

Socialism is the religion of the imbecile. Support for it is blind faith in a governing system so devoid of reason that it signals either your complete lack of intellect OR your thirst to subjugate others. ANYONE supporting socialism is an accomplice to the destruction it causes.

Dan Bongino‏ @dbongino
Tweeted on February 10, 2019
[In part, because of their deficiency in their ability and/or interest in using reason they are far more likely to use violence than those unaligned with socialism.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Auschwitz Memorial‏ @AuschwitzMuseum

When we look at Auschwitz we see the end of the process. It’s important to remember that the Holocaust actually did not start from gas chambers. This hatred gradually developed from words, stereotypes & prejudice through legal exclusion, dehumanization & escalating violence.

Auschwitz Memorial‏ @AuschwitzMuseum
Tweeted on November 26, 2018
[Correlation to present day circumstances are left as an exercise for the reader. Possible reference materials are here and here.—Joe]