Quote of the day—Paul Bedard

The Biden administration’s new push to regulate highly popular AR-style pistols could net Uncle Sam billions in new tax revenue and rub out a small industry involved in the production of the firearms.

In a newly proposed regulation from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, most owners will have to pay a $200 tax per weapon or radically change it or turn the gun in to be destroyed.

And because ATF said it doesn’t expect anyone to give up their guns, the money would roll in if the rule is adopted.

Paul Bedard
June 9, 2021
New taxes under Biden gun registration push will reach billions
[At first reading I laughed at the ignorance. Apparently this knucklehead had not thought of the option which will be taken by 90% or more—non-compliance.

But it’s possible he and others have thought of that and are telling the lie to try and sell the idea. You can imagine fellow Democrats saying, “Tax the knuckle-dragging gun nuts and use the money for funding abortions or health care for illegal immigrants just for the giggles.”

And a still darker option that is just as likely is the observation made by Ayn Rand:

The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them.  One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.

And there darker options still. But many of those shadows are cast in the other direction.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Neo

A brand new day has dawned, in which the ACLU is in favor of civil liberties only for those who support the left, making the “civil liberties” in the title something like Orwell’s Ministry of Truth and Ministry of Love, the opposite of what it professes to be.

Neo
June 8, 2021
The ACLU has made the name of the organization Orwellian
[Their distain for the 2nd Amendment is a concrete example.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Lyle

The criminal mind is indeed terrified of the lawful, armed citizen. No one else, of course, has the slightest thing to worry about.

Lyle
June 7, 2021
Comment to Quote of the day—Andrew Cuomo
[This explains why so many Democrats, politicians in particular, want to ban guns. Democrats, as a group, have twice as many people in prison as all other political affiliations combined. They, for all intents and purposes, are the criminal class and rightly fear being shot by their victims.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Andrew Cuomo

The NRA’s (National Rifle Association) dream of a society where everyone is terrified of each other and armed to the teeth is abhorrent to our values.

Andrew Cuomo
Governor of New York
May 28, 2021
New Yorkers demand right to carry hidden guns as America reels from bloody week of mass shootings
[Anyone who believes an organization with five million members has a “dream of a society where everyone is terrified of each other” is delusional and/or pushing “the big lie”.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Inez Stepman

He wants that unelected department staffed by trained academics, presumably by him, to have veto power over every municipal state and federal law in the country, if it creates, in his eyes, any kind of disparity between groups. And he wants that body to have veto power over who stands for political office.

I call it woke Stalinism … his position is that a group of unelected academics should have complete veto power over all laws in the United States, and kind of similar to how it works with the mullahs in Iran, to basically select the slate of candidates. The people may vote, but only on the candidates or among the candidates selected by people who think like Ibram X. Kendi.

Inez Stepman
June 4, 2021
Biden’s Proposed Funding of Critical Race Theory Puts US on a ‘Very Dark Path’: Inez Stepman
[We live in interesting times.

Complete elimination of disparity can only be achieved by death for all.

Prepare appropriately.—Joe]

Who could have guessed?

Seattle police union chief fears losing 400 officers in a year as crime levels soar

As crime levels in Seattle continue to climb, more police officers are fleeing the force for jobs in police departments outside the city, where politics may play less of a role in shaping law enforcement decisions.

More than 200 officers have left the Seattle Police Department in the past year, leaving staffing levels below what department leaders say are necessary, and the head of the police union fears that number could double by next year.

“I’m fearful that we could lose up to 400 people within a year’s time, and then, where does that put us in our community?” Mike Solan, the president of the Seattle Police Officer’s Guild, told the Washington Examiner.

“It would take decades to recover,” he said.

In 2020, Seattle saw its highest number of murders in 26 years, and crime in the city has trended upward in keeping with a national rise in violence.

This is such an obvious result I find it necessary to believe the politicians responsible intended this outcome. They are deliberately destroying “The Emerald City”.

Quote of the day—Francisco

All of which points directly to many Americans increasingly realizing that individual independence, sustainability, and resilience matters, and it’s not a big reach from there to deciding “if I’m taking care of myself, why do I need any of those people?” Official Washington can safely be left behind their patrolled fence, they’ll be superfluous, a theatrical performance only for each other.

We’re certainly not there yet, but I think I may be able to see parts of it from here. Don’t stop working toward the goal, and provide what assistance you can to those traveling the path with you.

Francisco
June 3, 2021
Comment to Quote of the day—Caroline Glick
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Caroline Glick

The polarization of opinion on Israel that we are witnessing in American politics between Republicans who support Israel and Democrats who oppose Israel, is an expression of a much larger division within American society. The heartbreaking but undeniable fact is that today you can’t talk about “America” as a single political entity.

Today there are two Americas, and they cannot abide by one another. One America – traditional America – loves Israel and America. The other America – the New America – hates Israel and doesn’t think much of America, either.

Traditional America believes that the U.S. brought the promise of liberty to the world and that even though it is far from perfect, the United States is the greatest country in human history. In the eyes of the citizens of Traditional America, Israel is a kindred nation and the U.S.’s best friend and most valued ally in the Middle East.

New America, in contrast, believes that America was born in the sin of slavery. New Americans insist America will remain evil and an object of scorn at home and abroad so long it refuses to exchange its values of liberty, capitalism, equal opportunity and patriotism with the values of racialism and equity, socialism, equality of outcomes, and globalization. For New Americans, just as the U.S. was born in the sin of white supremacy so Israel was born in the sin of Zionism. In New America, Israel will have no right to exist so long as it clings to its Jewish national identity, refusing to become a “state of all its citizens.”

Caroline Glick
May 28, 2021
Dark Clouds: Google, Amazon, Israel and the New America
[Via email from Paul K.

In recent months, more so than in previous years, it has been made more and more clear the conflict of visions (no, not this conflict of visions) may be irreconcilable via peaceful means. One vision is of collective rights, planning, and responsibility. The other is of individual rights, planning, and responsibility.

This collective rights and collective responsibility inevitably lead to individual injustice. The process of achieving equality of outcomes because a moral imperative and an easy sale to many people. Today we have calls for reparations. Even if this were conceded it would not end. Distribution of property equally or according to need will follow. Some time after that would be the demands for retribution. And so it would continue until the final true equality is clearly in sight and a remaining majority, or powerful enough minority, put a stop true equality.

The bottom line is that achieving equality of outcomes becomes an unending task because:

Full equality comes with death. And it should come as no surprise the political left is well acquainted with death on a very large scale.

This is the unspoken promise of the collective vision. Today, the collective vision is making itself more visible and more insistent on making “progress”.

Prepare appropriately.—Joe]

Interesting times

Gun sales: Best May ever, 2021 set to crush record, public ‘afraid of violence, tyranny’:

2021 looks to double the number of background checks and sales of 2015, when 23 million checks were conducted.

Quote of the day—Operation Blazing Sword / Pink Pistols

We oppose David Chipman’s nomination as ATF Director with the same vigor as we would if a known homophobe were nominated to oversee hate crime investigation, and for exactly the same reasons.

Operation Blazing Sword / Pink Pistols
May 29, 2021
Chipman Appointment: “Like a Homophobe Investigating Hate Crimes”
[I have nothing to add.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Firearms Policy Coalition @gunpolicy

The ATF’s entire reason for existing is to restrict liberty. Proposed rule 2021R-05, which seeks to redefine “frame or receiver,” is a perfect example of this. An agency like that cannot be redeemed. Submit a comment and stand for natural rights at Fight ATF!

Firearms Policy Coalition @gunpolicy
Tweeted on May 27, 2021
[With all the people supporting the “defund the police” movement you would think abolishing the ATF could get some traction. It’s not going to happen.

As a side note, I find it interesting that the people most interested in defunding the police don’t want to defund the ATF. And those most interested in abolishing the ATF don’t want to defund the police.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Robb Allen @ItsRobbAllen

The problem isn’t who is being picked to lead the ATF, the problem is that there an ATF to be lead.

Abolish it.

Robb Allen @ItsRobbAllen
Tweeted on May 29, 2021
[Why should there exist a government organization to regulate an specific enumerated right? Is there a government bureau for the regulation of churches?

See also: Some questions don’t make sense in a free society.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Alan M. Gottlieb

All law-abiding citizens of this country are considered adults at the age of 18 for nearly all purposes. They can vote, enter into contracts, start businesses, get married and join the military. But the state prohibits them from exercising the fundamental right to bear arms, that is, to carry a handgun outside the home or in an automobile, even though the state allows other adults to obtain a license to carry firearms in public.

We’re asking the court to remedy this situation by issuing an injunction against further enforcement of the ban on our individual plaintiffs and other young adults facing the same situation. Citizens in this age group enjoy nearly all of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution except when it comes to the Second Amendment. This cannot be allowed to stand.

Alan M. Gottlieb
May 27, 2021
SAF FILES FEDERAL CHALLENGE TO ILL. CARRY BAN FOR YOUNG ADULTS
[Incrementalism at work.

It’s a good venue as well. Judges in the Seventh Circuit have been good to us.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Sam Jacobs

Red August was effectively a series of politically motivated riots; however, the riots were not stopped by the police force of China. The Red Guards often received official protection from the police, who instead enacted harsh measures against anyone who dared to resist Mao’s Red Guards. Red August is generally considered the beginning of the Red Terror in China. Red Guards from Beijing No. 6 High School famously wrote “Long Live Red Terror!” on the wall with the blood of their victims.

It is easy to get bogged down in the various details of the Cultural Revolution, but it is the broader points that are most important. The Cultural Revolution was, at least ostensibly, wages against “the Five Black Categories:” landlords, rich farmers, counter-revolutionaries, bad influences, and rightists and “the Four Olds:” Old Ideas, Old Culture, Old Habits, and Old Customs.

Finally, it is worth noting the ferocity with which people were attacked for holding opinions that were until very recently uncontroversial. There was a massive, hysterical push to destroy symbols of Chinese history that had become unfavorable due to the current political climate. Those who were being persecuted by the government were, somewhat perversely, painted as if they were an oppressive class being uprooted by a revolutionary government that was going to equalize society by addressing historical injustices.

Sam Jacobs
May 2021
How Totalitarianism Rhymes Throughout History: Czechoslovakia, China, & Venezuela
[Does this sound familiar? Perhaps even “rhyme” with current events?

Take appropriate action.—Joe]

Incrementalism

In Texas:

A measure allowing Texans to carry a firearm without a license is on the brink of becoming a law after the state Senate on Monday approved the bill, sending it to Gov. Greg Abbott, who has pledged to sign the Republican-championed legislation into law.

The bill makes legal what gun rights advocates have dubbed “constitutional carry,” or permitless carry. It would allow Texans over the age of 21 to carry a firearm without first obtaining a license as long as they are not barred by state or federal law from doing so. Under current law, Texans are generally required to have a license to carry a handgun either openly or concealed.

More than a dozen other states have similar laws on the books.

It wasn’t that long ago that Texas finally stopped infringing upon the rights of people who wished to openly carry a firearm. And it was in 1995 which concealed carry was legalized (this last link has a great history of the incrementalism of concealed carry laws in the entire country).

Now Texans will soon have constitutional carry.

At least for concealed carry of firearms the pragmatic incrementalism has worked. The principled approach of all or nothing does not have appeared to significantly contributed to our nationwide success in restoring this fundamental right.

Sign of things to come?

Is this some sort of communist takeover and a sign of things to come?

Squatters take over multimillion-dollar Sammamish home, police say hands are tied

Neighbors identified the two people as the squatters and both were arrested for burglary, according to Pingrey. Both were out of jail within days and headed back to the home, bringing more people with them.

“After they were out of jail, we had a large group trying to get back into the house,” Pingrey said. “No one was supposed to be there. The homeowners were not allowing anyone to stay there.”

Taking the advice of local prosecutors and lawyers, Pingrey said law enforcement is limited in what they can do. His frustrations hit a boiling point when the squatters demanded to be allowed to take property inside the home with them. Pingrey said, legally, his hands were tied and officers conducted a “civil standby.”

Pictures taken by a neighbor show police vehicles lined up on the street with officers watching, as the squatters filled a U-Haul truck with items inside. Another picture shows a garage full of appliances, including an ATM.

“We were not allowed to go in there with them and had to allow them to take this property out,” Pingrey said. “The person who had been illegally living there (was able) to come in and get what they stated was their property.”

Or is it some sort of misguided law with a loophole being exploited?

Quote of the day—Christopher F. Rufo @realchrisrufo

I learned about racism, slavery, segregation, Jim Crow, and the Trail of Tears in my K-12 education. I never learned about the Holodomor, Cultural Revolution, and 100 million dead from global communism. American schools haven’t “whitewashed” history; they’ve “redwashed” it.

Christopher F. Rufo @realchrisrufo
Tweeted on May 24, 2021
[Via daughter Jaime.

It’s been a long time since I looked at school history book but I suspect this is a valid point.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Jim Rickards

There is some part of the DNA, I don’t have it but some people do, where they just wake up in the morning and they just want to tell people what to do… You do this, do that, etc.

And there’s no end to it. Even if you agree they will have something else. I’m kinda like, just get on your bike and do what you like. I try to leave people alone.

The point being … something like COVID becomes a platform and a perfect cover and a perfect excuse for the inner neo fascist in people all over the world and those in political positions. And they cannot resist the opportunity to boss people around. And the way you do this, it’s tried and true, you put people in fear. You make people very, very, fearful. You tell them they are going to die if they don’t listen to you.

Jim Rickards
May 5, 2021

[Via The New Great Depression, with Jim Rickards.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Kurt Schlichter

Mock the media. There is no institution with a more inflated sense of itself than the press – that smug self-satisfaction is one of the things that helps make up for the crummy pay (though most young journalists today are rich kids whose birthing parent and daddy subsidize them). Your refusal to pretend that these oafs deserve respect causes them no end of fussy fury. So, refuse.

The media hates you. You owe it nothing. Give it nothing, except your contempt.

Kurt Schlichter
May 17, 2021
The Media Hates You And Is Shocked That You Hate It Back
[Good advice.—Joe]

Quote of the day—Kirstie Alley

You can be cooking meth and sleeping with hookers, but as long as, apparently, you didn’t vote for Trump. I feel like I’m in the Twilight Zone a bit with the whole concept of it.

Kirstie Alley
May 19, 2021
Kirstie Alley opens up about backlash she received for Trump support: ‘Blackballing situation’
[I’m not going to post it here because it is so incredibly horrible, but the picture of Alley they used tells us what the publisher thinks of people who voted for Trump. This is what they think of people of people who do not agree with their politics.

“Twilight Zone”? Yeah. It’s sort of like that. But if you have read a little about genocides you will quickly realize what we are seeing isn’t just something from a television series writer’s imagination. This could easily be history in the making.

Prepare and respond appropriately.—Joe]