Psalm of the Progressive

Obama is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Government maketh me to lie down in green pastures: case-workers leadeth me beside the still waters.

Government restoreth my self-esteem: bureaucracy leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for its name’s sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no tea-bagger: for government art with me; government’s rod and staff they comfort me.

Government preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: government anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely welfare checks and subsidies shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in public housing for ever.

(OK, now I feel kinda icky)

Others could do better with the wording, but you get the point.

The Bundys speak directly

Interview here. Horse’s mouth and all (not that I’m calling anyone a horse).

Peaceful, cool-headed, principled resistance always works best, but it only works when backed by a substantial, credible force. Doubly so when you’re up against un-principled, arrogant foes. A thousand militia, just being there, will drain the sense of impunity right out of an aggressor. A was said elsewhere;

“No more free Wacos.”

I still don’t fully understand this particular conflict, but it is clear that these people and their supporters have grit, and that’s refreshing to see.

I hope the militia had night vision, some fifties, and some form of aerial surveillance. It’ll be needed next time. This is how the peace is kept.

Quote of the day—Robert J. Avrech

The truth is that the left are the religious fanatics. It is they who excommunicate non-believers; it is they who shrilly denounce heretics; it is they who hold kangaroo courts where guilt and punishment are preordained.

Robert J. Avrech
April 7, 2014
Homo Fascism and the Mozilla Moment
[The left doesn’t have a monopoly on religious fanaticism but they certainly do have their share of true believers, crusaders, and history of persecutions.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Glenn Reynolds

Because they’ve decided that free debate isn’t a winner for the collective.

Glenn Reynolds
April 4, 2014
Welcome to the Collective: Justice Breyer turns the First Amendment on its head.
[This was in response to this question:

So why have the court’s “liberals” adopted a hostile attitude toward political speech, which has long been understood as being at the core of First Amendment protection? In his McCutcheon dissent, Justice Stephen Breyer elaborates the theory behind this odd development.

I suspect Reynolds is correct.

And as the situation worsens for the collective they will attempt to infringe more and more of our rights.—Joe]

The Land – a real playground

An interesting article in The Atlantic Magazine. A “junk yard” playground that is very popular. Apparently the story is making the rounds in my kid’s school district. I doubt it will change anything, but it’s a start. It’s similar to one from Kiwi Land.

Upshot of the two: more reasonable risk-taking, fewer rules, more natural consequences are better for kids than bubble-wrap and bureaucracy. Well, duh!

Right in line with your memories of the dump, Lyle.

Quote of the day—Robert Riversong

There are no “natural rights” any more than “God-given rights”. All rights are created by social consensus and protected by law.

Robert Riversong
February 2014
Comment to Supreme Court rejects NRA appeals
[It’s true this is merely the ranting of someone ignorant of history and legal precedent but he has a lot of people on his side. At one time our government did not recognize the right to be free of bondage and people like him perpetuated that condition. There have been many times throughout history when “the law” demanded that “certain types” of people be murdered by the thousands or millions. People who thought like Mr. Riversong enabled that. That makes him and his kind extremely dangerous.

People who believe in natural rights put Riversong’s historical compatriots on trial for crimes against humanity. I look forward to him being on trial.—Joe]

Quote of the day—ChrisFu1

Most of these tech workers make too much money anyway. The only issue I have is that instead of that saved money being taxed and given to the poor, it’s being kept by the company. It’s time we limit all wages to $32,000/yr for everyone.

ChrisFu1
March 22, 2014
Comment to Revealed: Apple and Google’s wage-fixing cartel involved dozens more companies, over one million employees
[Once you had maxed out your wages what would be the point of getting more training or coming up with new ideas that might save the company money, or starting a new business?

Communists/socialists/liberals/whatever. He/she might as well have said, “From everyone according to their ability.” I would like to invite them to North Korea so as to enjoy a much closer approximation to equality for a short time in extreme poverty until they reach true equality in death.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Anonymous Conservative

Liberals … have a deep psychological need to destroy happiness and irritate those around them that is so fundamental to their nature, I am not even sure they are consciously aware of it. The state of our nation under their leadership is no accident – no matter how outlandish that may seem. If you don’t like seeing people happy, you find the rich, and the successful, and the happy, and the contented, and you set about screwing up their lives under the guise of their happiness being unfair, their behavior being wrong, immoral, or inconsiderate, and them being evil.

Many of the most committed Liberal ideologues are actually deriving joy from how they are reducing the happiness in the nation, and destroying our social organization. Whether it is screwing up the healthcare of people who enjoy having their healthcare, or trying to make everyone render their families equally vulnerable to crime, or taxing the happy rich people on the grounds that their success and happiness is unfair, Liberalism is more about diminishing the happiness of the happy, than alleviating the suffering of the unhappy, no matter what any Liberal tells you.

Liberals are a truly evil enemy, every bit as much as the Narcissist, and we need to view them as such.

Anonymous Conservative
March 22, 2014
How Narcissists Use Amygdala-Focus
[This might not be the case for all people that identify with the political label ‘liberal’ but I’m pretty sure it is a match for a great many of them.—Joe]

Cars should be treated like guns

Gun owners are hostile to having guns registered and requiring a license to own them. The fear of having that data in the hands of the government is justifiable. Not just stories like the Belgian Corporal from 75 years ago on another continent but the stories in present day from Connecticut, New York, and California.

Now we have conclusive evidence that car licenses are also subject to abuse.

It’s time to treat cars like guns. No more registration.

H/T To Tamara K. for the retweet of Kirk Freeman.

Quote of the day—Mike Maharrey

This is an important first step for Idaho. Getting this law passed will ensure that any new plans or executive orders that might be coming our way will not be enforced in Idaho. Then, once this method is established and shown to be effective, legislators can circle back and start doing the same for federal gun control already on the books. SB1332 is an important building block for protecting the 2nd Amendment in Idaho.

Mike Maharrey
March 21, 2014
BREAKING: Idaho governor signs emergency legislation nullifying all future federal gun laws
[Lyle also posted on this last week.

Also of extreme interest was that “S1332 passed the house by a vote of 68-0 and the senate by a vote of 34-0.”

Interesting times.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Bruce Newcomb

The Second Amendment does not apply to schools.

Bruce Newcomb
Director Of Government Relations at Boise State University
February 28, 2014
Testimony before Idaho House State Affairs Committee
[That’s odd. My copy of the Bill of Rights doesn’t have an exclusion for schools. If Mr. Newcomb’s does then that must mean he shouldn’t have a problem with him being convicted without a trial as long as it is done on school property.

H/T to Mike for the email.—Joe]

More on registration

This should have occurred to me much sooner. The world is unstable. Trouble in the Middle East is growing. Putin’s Russia is pining for a return of the “Glory” of the Soviet Union while radical Islamists pine for a new global caliphate, and China is a rising military power. The U.S. Continues to commit economic suicide. We’re well on the way to becoming a full-on surveillance state, with global information sharing.

You’re homosexual and you want to get married, thus putting your name on a list (a database) of homosexuals.

As gun owners and supporters of liberty, we know well the dangers of registration and lists, as they almost always lead to confiscation or something else unpleasant.

Just sayin’. Once the novelty of this great idea of “gay” marriage wears off, there’s nothing left but the long term implications. Communists, socialists, Progressives, Fascists and jihadists aren’t known for their respect of basic human rights, whatever they may have you thinking right now. And they all love lists, and the more detail the better. Lists are power to them. And they all consider the Earth to be vastly over-populated already.

As a white, male, heterosexual business owner, employer and father who has guns and openly advocates liberty, I’m already a target of just about everyone else on the planet. I’m already out of the closet, so to speak, and so I’m not afraid to say this. Someone had to.

I’ve never been all enthusiastic, eager and giddy about being added to yet another list in someone else’s database, speaking just for myself. Some friends of mine, a man and a woman, just got married, and kept it off record as much as possible. In their minds it’s none of the state’s bloody business. Maybe later you’ll be glad to have read this. I don’t know.

Quote of the day—Barry Snell

An anti-gunner reads a book though, or sees a documentary on TV — or perhaps worst of all, gets a degree — and suddenly they have the almighty authority and expertise to tell us how we ought to live our lives, replying to our objections to their onslaught by throwing pictures of dead kids in our faces and commanding us to shut up, because we’re just a bunch of stupid radicals and liberals alone know what’s best for America.

Barry Snell
May 3, 2013
Snell: Waking the dragon — How Feinstein fiddled while America burned
[An even larger point is that liberals believe in a planned/controlled society and I don’t. I believe in free association and exercising free will as long as you don’t infringe upon the rights of others to do the same. I want government out of not just my bedroom, my body, and gun safe but out of my house, my bank, and my contracts with others. The job of government is to protect rights and enforce contracts, not infringe rights and invalidate contracts.

See also my comments from when I first quoted from this same article.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Janaye Ingram

The second amendment is clear and has been affirmed by the Supreme Court, but we cannot sit on our hands while innocent people are shot and while the gun lobby finds more ways for people to have access to guns.

Janaye Ingram
March 14, 2014
Fighting Fire With Fire Isn’t A Solution For Gun Control
[So… her belief is that the Second Amendment guarantees people the right to keep and bear arms but we should just ignore that and find ways to restrict access to guns. If the Bill of Rights is just a smorgasbord to be selected from as public opinion changes then it doesn’t mean anything at all. We could just as well find ways to restrict access to religion, free speech, and a fair trial.

Ms. Ingram should be careful what she asks for. She may get it.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Robert J. Avrech

Thus, the story of Purim ends in a series of battles, a bloodbath. The Jews do not sit down and enlighten their enemies about how we must all live together in peace. They do not form reconciliation committees; they do not call for a national conversation about Jew-hatred; they do not consider it a virtue to be tolerant of the intolerant. And they do not forgive their genocidal enemies.

The Jews who follow Mordechai and Esther take up their swords and fight. Because only a good man with a sword can defeat a bad man with a sword.

Robert J. Avrech

March 13, 2014
Purim: The Non-Progressive Jewish Holiday
[The details change some but there are certain concepts that appear to be timeless truths.—Joe]

‘Fascinating…’

…said First Officer Spock as he raised one eyebrow.

It may be that some people in the government class are beginning to “get it” but we’ll have to remain vigilant and see. An “emergency bill” in Idaho to nullify federal gun laws has passed without a single “nay” vote. It’s now up to Governor Marshmallow.

“It is the intent of the Legislature in enacting this act to protect Idaho law enforcement officers from being directed, through federal executive orders, agency orders, statutes, laws, rules, or regulations enacted or promulgated on or after the effective date of this act, to violate their oath of office and Idaho citizens’ rights under Section 11, Article I, of the Constitution of the State of Idaho.”

News article here.

The act applies only to future federal encroachments, and so the language, “…protect Idaho law enforcement officers from being directed…to violate their oath of office and Idaho citizens’ rights…” has a grandfather clause in effect. It means, quite literally and specifically, that violating the Oath of Office and citizens’ rights is perfectly OK (and maybe even laudable) so long as said violations have existing laws, etc. as a pretext.

I suppose we can take this as a sign of progress, but we need to be careful and not celebrate too enthusiastically. Happy Days are not here again, innocent people are still in jail, the guilty are still being paid out of our pockets, and the skies above are rather cloudy. I don’t believe that anyone in government “gets it”, so much as they’re merely able to see which way a gale is blowing. Still, there is hope.

Quote of the day—John Kirksey

Black people primarily need to arm themselves as history has shown from a tyrannical government, the Ku Klux Klan, and gang violence in certain neighborhoods. In order for citizenry to attain proficiency in firearms I believe that black people should acquire arms, take lessons and join organizations such as the NRA and their local gun clubs. Most if not all of these organizations will provide training. 

The world is a dangerous place; criminal elements in the community, political government excesses, home safety in an increasingly dangerous society. These kinds of things speak for themselves. For it is better to be prepared than victimized.

John Kirksey
March 12, 2014
Gun Control
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Um…

A man saw our ad in a magazine, got onto our commercial web site, had the wherewithal to find and click on “send us mail” at our web site, and then wrote the following;

“I saw your Ad in a recent issue of Shotgun News Mag. Please…let me know where I can purchase your products.”

Avoiding the urge to launch into scathing, blistering sarcasm requires patience and understanding. I’ve not always been patient or understanding. In fact I’ve actually taken pride in NOT being patient or understanding, if that makes any sense, and have often taken pride in my ability to express sarcasm in the most eloquent, mean ways with maximum insult, puffing myself up at someone else’s expense. The first step is recognizing the urge for what it is, and then realizing that my job is customer service, that I’ve been contacted by a perspective customer, which is the only reason why I am here. I’ve often said that we should be heartened by the fact that we are inspiring people to get onto the internet for their very first time (and yet even in that statement there is a twinge of sarcasm, no?).

Hello. My name is Lyle and I am a sarcasmoholic…

One day at a time.

Butt out?

Well now this is interesting.

==================
Wyoming, a deeply pro-gun state, has taken the lead in the case, spurred by Gov. Mead, who called the New Jersey law a threat to citizens’ freedom everywhere.

“This decision out of New Jersey impacts the right to keep and bear arms outside the home,” Mead said. “So I felt it was necessary to have the [state] attorney general support a petition to the Supreme Court to hear this case.”

Some in New Jersey are pushing back on the intervention from outsiders. A Feb. 18 editorial published by the website NJ.com called on them to “butt out.”
==================

“Butt out.” The Southern states said very much the same thing back in the middle 1800s, claiming the right to enslave other people and the right to be “free” from outside meddling in that endeavor. There is of course no such right, as there is no “right” to violate any right. That simple and obvious concept is what brought us Incorporation Doctrine.

I don’t like that term “deeply pro-gun”. It’s not quite as bad as “severely conservative” but it is barking up the same tree. How about simply “pro-human rights” as in, “Wyoming, a more pro-human rights state”…? Better yet, “less intrusive upon human rights” or “a less coercive state” would provide a more realistic perspective. That is if we care about perspective with regard to basic principles.

Quote of the day—Standing Wolf

The Constitution is a restraining order against the federal government. I’m not going to say a word about the effectiveness of restraining orders against criminals.

Standing Wolf
[This is the signature line used by “swgunner” on various forums.

They make a very good point. And, of course, this subtly points out the necessity of the Second Amendment as a backup plan for dealing with governments/criminals.—Joe]