American Pioneer Spirit

I Just love the American pioneer spirit 

I have been following the national news a little closer than usual making sure I try to give as much time to Fox as I give to MSNBC.  It has not been a pleasurable experience I assure you.  As a hobby historian, I inevitably find myself comparing current trends to trends of the past in the hopes of seeing some silver in the clouds that are forming overhead.  In my humble opinion we are rolling quickly towards circumstances that may well endanger the very structure and longevity of this once great democracy.  If you believe in Communism or the Tea Party, now is the time to hit the "ESC" key and leave since you will probably not like what I have to say in the following paragraphs.   

There are groups forming throughout the U.S. purporting to be politically motivated and often laser focused on a single facet of what I believe to be socio/poitico/moral infrastructure of this country.  The problem lies in the way they attempt to impose their beliefs on the rest of us.  As an example, because one group has taken a very broad interpretation of our Constitution, I can no longer feel safe in my neighborhood tavern, a dark movie theater, and some cases, even church.  Why?  Because one of these outspoken groups has persuaded the government that there is a need to carry a dangerous firearm into facilities like those noted above.  This need exists even though there is a statistical probability that the dude packing heat is only going to be one of a tiny minority of the other guests.  I, one of the unarmed majority, have no way of knowing what mental state Bubba is in nor do I even have an inkling about his proficiency with the firearm he has so casually tucked into his shoulder holster.  I don't know if he is there to take out a long simmering grudge against someone in the facility.  I don't know whether he has the capability to accurately distinguish me from some perceived threat and cause me to become "collateral damage."  The irony is that the 2^nd amendment has become sacrosanct that there is no way for a concerned citizenry to answer any of these concerns.  So people like me are forced by people like Bubba to continue, should I decide to stay, to place my own well being at stake, or I can opt to leave and deny me the pleasures I may have been enjoying until I spotted the Bubba's 2^nd Amendment right. 

I live in a country that is constantly in a state of economic competition with its neighbors and trade partners throughout the world.  Yet, this nation will have to deal with a generation of young college graduates many of whom do not support even the most basic constructs if the scientific method.  These hyper-religious "flat earth" zealots will have to face competitors who actually know how petroleum is formed over the millennia.  How life and death can be modified at the genetic level and not through the ever evasive soul.  The rest of the world competing with us will not believe that the earth and all of inhabitants have only existed for less than 6,000 years.  We will sit across the tables from our competitors who will barely conceal their amusement at our naivete and will use our rigid standards to their own great advantage. 

To insure some semblance of fairness, the United Sates Government currently has the authority to levee and collect tariffs on trade items entering the U.S.  Of course the U.S. recognizes the right of sovereign nations to set their own tariffs for items we may wish to export to that country.  It is all very complicated but in the end very smart people on both sides work out enough details so that I can buy a BWW and the French shopper can buy levi jeans.  This system has worked reasonably well throughout our history except for a period around the mid-1800s when a smaller group of States decided to dictate terms to the larger majority of States.  The U.S. had levied tariffs on prized U.S. cotton.  A exploding industrialization of England had placed a great demand for our cotton.  Southern growers to sell the cotton without collecting the established tariffs noting they were in competition with Mid-East and Asian cotton.  Beneath this refusal to collect tariffs was a sub-plot to undermine the established government in Washington as a subtle way to demonstrate their own power and selectively rebel against the laws and decrees emanating from Washington.  This initiated a growth industry involved in stealing past U.S. naval blockades designed to stem the growing tide of cotton smuggling between the U.S. and Great Britain.  Ft. Sumpter was one of the small island fortresses set up to enforce the naval blockade efforts.  This Southern policy of ignoring Federal laws became known as "nullification" and as we all know, this Southern policy quickly spread to almost every category of legislation coming out of Washington.  A terrible war pitting brother against brother was just around the corner.  But heh – what has a history lesson from the 1850s have to do with what is going on today in the United States?

The concept of nullification has even more potential bad consequences especially if we choose to simply shrug our shoulders and hope the same sort of nonsense doesn't begin to impose its will on my State.  It is easy for someone in Virginia to chuckle at other States attempting to place into law their right to ignore the laws and mandates issued by the Federal Government.  As an individual citizen, I would have little voice in court if my only defense of a crime was that I did not agree with that particular law and therefore as a "Patriot", I chose to ignore the laws governing my violation.  Yet several of the separate States of this Union are currently submitting robust legislative bills expressly notifying the populace in that State that they are no longer required to obey key elements of Federal.  One State went the extra step into lunacy by writing legislation threatening to bring charges against anyone within their span of electoral interest who actually chooses to obey the law of the land pertaining to elements of firearm control.  One only has to look at the long list of legislative actions designed effectively prevent a woman from seeking an abortion even though the Federal Courts have reaffirmed that right on numerous occasions.  States have taken extraordinary care to prepare requirements designed to identify and process illegal undocumented aliens.  The entire process of maintaining a viable immigration system, including policing and oversight of these efforts plainly lies within the purview of the Federal Government and none of these controls and legal oversight have been delegated to any of the individual States.  So where is all of this headed?

I can't claim to be a seer or predictor of the future.  However I can claim to be reasonably up to date with the news pertaining to this nation.  Based on my well informed grasp of the daily news and a more than passing interest in America's history, I can present some scenarios that might seem a little "out there" but in my opinion, very possible in our near term future.  Here goes…. 

It's a warm Spring day in a one of the Great Plains States.  Their legislature has passed sweeping laws placing the Federal Government on notice that any current or future legislation pertaining to weapon possession will be ignored by all State citizens.  To make their point as a sovereign entity within the U.S., their Federal Senators and Representatives will begin to immediately bearing arms inside the Capitol Building while conducting their political duties.  This will bring these individuals into direct violation of Washington D.C. laws pertaining to carrying concealed weapons.  It will also be a direct violation of Federal Laws pertaining to the carrying of weapons on Federal property.  A secondary group of State legislators will attempt to gain entry onto all the Federal properties in their State including the seven U.S. military reservations located within their State.  A Third group of State legislators will attempt to board commercial aircraft enroute to New York City.  If they are permitted on-board the aircraft they will land in New York City and immediately visit the Office of the Mayor where the Mayor will be informed that as of this date, all residents of their State that they will be authorized to bear arms unrestricted in America including any State which may have more restrictive laws that, in the opinion of this great plains State, brings them into violation of the 2^nd Amendment. 

A very large number of weapons are confiscated and in the case of the traveling groups made up of State Legislators, arrest were made and steep bonds were set.  The Federal Legislators had their weapons confiscated but in accordance to the provisions of the U.S. Constitution they were not arrested.  Since many of their staff members also chose to bear arms, these individuals were arrested and the offices located within Federally owned property was searched and all weapons and ammunition was confiscated.  There arose a great howl of indignation crying any number of violations of personal rights and privileges.  Soon other States joined into the cacophony of threats against the current administration and a call to repeat the actions of the Great Plains State was issued.  Several States willingly agreed and dates were set for the actions.  The U.S. Government restated with force the current laws on the carrying and/or concealing weapons on Federal property.  They noted that the Attorney General had issued orders that any similar violations of laws as demonstrated by the Plains State would be handled in a similar fashion with the exception that under the provisions of the "Patriot Act", bond will be automatically denied as a matter of national security. 

In the crowds gathered around a group of State Legislators attempting to board a plane for New York City, Bubba sat quietly and steamed within.  He had been raised since childhood to believe that Government was essentially evil and any rules, regardless of how minor, pertaining to the ownership of weapons was nothing more than the first step towards confiscating all weapons in America.  Bubba simply could not let that happen.  He takes aim and quickly kills three ATF Agents wearing their clearly marked black windbreakers.  He then drops two local police officers assisting the ATF Agents.  Sprinting out the door he drops another ATF Agent before he reaches his car and speeds away.  Unfortunately Bubba was only one member of a small but dedicated group of men who distrusted the Government and were seeking a cause on which they could make their stand.  The whole legislator weapons fiasco was a perfect vehicle.  As Bubba-1 sped away, Bubba 3, 4, 5. 6, and 7, were stating similar political positions from the barrel of a gun.  By the end of the day, 12 Federal Agents lay dead next to 14 more local police officials.  About twenty people, mostly innocent bystanders were wounded along with another dozen wounded Federal and local police officials.  Three Bubbas were also killed and two were taken captive.  The living Bubbas told a story of future planned conflicts involving many itinerant groups, both large and small but all focused on damaging if not destroying the U.S. Government.  

The Federal Government's subsequent actions were inevitable and totally predictable.  Using the Patriot Act and some quickly fashioned new "temporary" legislation, the U.S. Government moved against those groups named by the captive Bubbas as well as other groups already known to possess similar hate for the U.S. Government.  New pictures and descritions of flaming compounds with scattered bodies and row after row of both automatic and semi-automatic weapons were displayed virtually every night on the national news networks.  New efforts  to limit the purchase and ownership of many of these types of weapons started to gain momentum much to the chagrin of the hundreds and hundreds of Bubbas across the nation.  The violence did not abate but rather it grew monstrously.  New emergency decrees were issued by Washington involving the unwarranted search of homes and offices and seizure of all unauthorized weapons listed in the growing list of decrees from Washington.  The ever expanding list of daily Federal and local official casualties offered the Whitehouse with just enough leverage to force even more stringent laws through a muted and confused Congress. 

When several States finally reached their political breaking point, the word secession started to be tossed around more freely.  In the end, three years later, six Southern and Gulf States along with two Plains States opted to notify the Federal Government of their intention to issue a decree of secession.  All of the States in question had considerable military and other Federal assets within their borders.  The Federal Government issued a decree that these facilities would remain in place and it was the intention of the Federal Government to significantly reinforce these facilities with both manpower and weaponry to protect these facilities.  On 12 July 20--, a US Coast Guard riverine craft on the Mississippi River was struck and sank by a rocket fired from a State River Protection vessel.  Later in the day, this same State river vessel open fire on an Army Corp of Engineers office/equipment storage area killing and wounding several dozen of the military and civilian workers.  The Federal Government was given notice by a delegation of all of the recalcitrant States that all uniformed military personnel were to leave their borders and all civil servants would be given the option of remaining at their desks or leaving with the military personnel.  In any case, all equipment, files, stockpiles and similar inventories would remain in place and not be permitted to be evacuated with the personnel.  All evacuations will be completed within ten days after which time any remaining Federal personnel would be arrested as illegal aliens. 

Do I have to go into detail with what happens next?  Oh, yeah, the Federal Government goes to war.  You can bet on that.  They will recover all jeopardized materials.  They do this in less than four months but not before slicing and dicing the U.S. Constitution to the point where another convention had to be held to produce a new Constitution to better suit the emergence of the new U.S. Government.  America will begin to look more like a European nation with no rights to firearms, severely limited States Rights and more centralized Government with a modified type of parliament for the selection of Presidents and limited terms of offices for all Federally elected officials.  States will cede virtually all power to the central government retaining only local police and first responder service.  Schools will teach a universal national curriculum which can only be modified at the national level.  Churches will be taxed and church representatives will be paid as State employees financed by the Federal Government.  States will have local representative bodies to manage routine State affairs and will elect Senators and Representatives to the national government for terms not to exceed three years per election and limited to three elections (nine years) for a lifetime.  There is no ability to shift from one "house" to the other.  You are either a Representative or a Senator.  No law can be passed by one State that is in direct contravention to the laws of all the States nor the Federal Government.  

Way to go Bubba.  You did good son….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

    

Are you kidding me!?

Are you kidding me?

I have seen and done lot in my 69 years on this planet.  I have been shot in war, jumped out of over a dozen different aircraft onto at least that many different drop zones, trained to live "off the land" for prolonged periods of time, graduated with honors from graduate school, married well and helped to raise two great boys into full prosperous and meaningful lives, travelled throughout world spending time in almost two dozen countries five of which no longer even exist and met with literally thousands of people some of whom actually could be called acquaintances.  Not much really surprises me anymore but that does not mean I don't find myself becoming more and more frustrated and angered at the sheer idiocy of the actions of my fellow citizens. 

I noted some of the highlights of my own life above to demonstrate that I have periodically been called upon to face fear and desperation but somehow managed to move forward.  Many of the problems in today's headlines are caused by deep seated fears that my fellow citizen is simply too meek and unsure to face in a responsible manner.  In a democracy, the rule of law is the foundation for that form of government to continue to exist.  If, on the other hand, you begin to fear the instruments of law within your society, then your society is doomed to destroy itself.  If the citizen believes they must arm themselves with obscene quantities of weapons and stockpiles of ammunition because they do not trust the ability of their designated law enforcement agencies to protect them then they have initiated that road to societal destruction.  I am rather amused by a non-trained weapons carrier touting the need for extended ammunition magazines.  I have spent considerable time in combat environments engaging actually trained and dedicated adversaries.  On those occasions, I used my US Government assigned weapon, a rifle with a simple twenty round magazine.  Though my rifle did have full automatic capability, this method of fire was rarely used.  We all preferred the careful use of single shot engagements to better enhance our chances of eliminating our threats and to preserve not only our ammunition but also the mechanical integrity of the weapon.  I received extensive training on the use of my weapon and was confident I was at least as well trained as my adversary. 

Given these well documented facts from actual combat engagements, why do ill-trained and improperly motivated citizens in the US still believe they need more than one rifle to protect themselves from unspecified threats but in fact feel the need to acquire multiple weapons and thousands of rounds of ammunition?  Any common sense evaluation of scenarios would note that a threat requiring more than a couple of dozen bullets from a single weapon would indicate a threat which could not be overcome by a single individual even in the most outrageous Hollywood movie.  Why then do our citizens feel the need for extended magazines and multiple weapons?  The simple reason is personal fear.  Even "Rambo" only had one side arm.  The frightened little mind that believes more weapons and more ammunition is the answer has forgotten to take into account the one most disturbing aspect of a "gunfight."  Simply stated – the other person is also armed and shooting back. 

This simple fact is what will cause our frightened little mind to ultimately lose in these types of engagements.  By purchasing multiple arms and crate loads of ammunition, they have already demonstrated a total lack of understanding about self-protection and one-on-one winner take all engagements.  Their fear has already doomed them but the most disturbing fact is that their perceptions and lack of trust with law enforcement have spread their fear to the rest of their immediate society.  I would draw their attention to the activities of the local police forces in Massachusettes following the tragedy of the Marathon bombings.  In a matter of hours an entire town was effectively surrounded and placed under a modified police authority.  Now imagine if the several hundred dedicated and well trained police officers were multiplied to reach the numbers that could be fielded by only one of America's infantry divisions – upwards of 20,000 young, strong, well trained and fully equipped men and women with virtually unlimited fire power at their disposal.  These soldiers will not have to seek "hideouts" or "cache" their weapons but will walk our streets in large well protected numbers with any number of "lists" on who lives where obtained from credit and bank accounts, utility bills, hospital records and previous military service records just to name a few.  They will know whom they are confronting.  Trust me!!  Bubba the Patriot, on the other hand, will have scant information on the mission of this Division, how many troops are available, how they are monitoring his activities and what steps this unit will take to accomplish their mission.  If you think the police officers in Massachusetts were upset because on of their own was killed, consider the steps that a field commander will take if his front line troops are "engaged" by Bubba Patriot and his band of
freedom fighters.  It will not be pretty.  Now let's see how many of Bubba's Freedom Fighters want to continue the struggle by heading for the woods and mountains.  Again, I assure you that common field equipment in support of our troops will be able to quite easily find and destroy even the most cleverly concealed lads and lasses who might choose to run for some idea of cover in the woods. 

OK, that's probably enough discussion about these little minded people who believe they are in some way acting out some twisted and convoluted version of patriotism.  If they harbor a sense that they will ultimately be called upon to face off with the entire power and might of a nuclear equipped government, then they have already acknowledged they no longer believe in the concepts of democracy stemming from the ability to elect our governments in free and unfettered elections.  That is the worst type of fear since it is driven also by deep cowardice and ignorance.  They don' want "terrorists" to be tried in our courts because they do not trust our court system.  These same misguided cowards are the ones who yell the loudest about their rights to attorneys, protection of the court and their rights to remain silent when accused of an infraction of the law.  The are quick to point to the 2^nd   Amendment right to bear arms but somehow find it inconvenient to call to mind the base Constitution and the rest of its amendments.  Perhaps if these pseudo-legal experts actually read the document in detail along with the supporting documents and discussions our founding fathers used to formulate this powerful, yet flexible document.  They would quickly learn that The Constitution has been changed and modified dozens of times since its initial printing.  Some amendments were added and later over written by new amendments proving that nothing in our base document is invulnerable to change based on the concepts that change within our society.   We do not authorize slavery, we do authorize the consumption of alcohol, and women can and do vote.  If these monumental changes were made the law of the land in the United States, then it is quite conceivable that as we mature and grow into adulthood as a nation, we will see the need to eliminate personal arsenals by a new amendment as have most of the other civilized nations of the world.  

Where is the reality of today?  It's very disturbing especially to some of us who actually get our daily doses of world news from several sources including, but most certainly not limited to Fox News.  What are the under currents that are ongoing and are actual threats to democracy as we know it in America? 

-       One Southern State attempted to name a single religion as their State religion.   (A clear violation of the 1^st Amendment). 

-       Another Southern State wants to enact a policy of "nullification" whereby it can pick and chose what Federal laws it decides it wishes to obey and which it wishes to ignore or "nullify".   (A clear violation of Article VI of the Constitution.)

-       A certain Representative from Texas has indicated he intends to seek the Presidency even though he was born in Canada of an American mother and foreign father.  (A clear violation of Article II of the Constitution).

Now the latest rumblings indicate that a growing number of so-called Americans believe the United States is headed for another armed civil rebellion.  I would imagine that the cowardice that makes these statements would show their true run and cower nature when the first rounds are fired.  In the meantime, I would ask such "patriots" to consider just what this country would look like following such open hostilities.  Any semblance of personal rights and privileges would be suspended probably - indefinitely.  The Constitution would become an historic relic of no relevance to the surviving form of government.  All elections would be suspended – also indefinitely.  The individual police forces would become "well regulated militias" in support of a powerful and domineering military force.  Bubba, should he actually survive trial and execution for treason, would never again have to be concerned about his right to bear arms.  He, and ALL of his fellow citizens will be forbidden from ownership of private weapons and ammunition.  So go ahead Bubba and threaten the US with armed rebellion.  Your personal dossier will grow and grow as time goes by.