Thursday, March 20, 2014

An Open Letter to the Legislatures of New Jersey and Rhode Island: Are you seriously proposing to have your own skulls turned into soap dishes?

Aunt Jenny Brooks.
To the legislators of the states of New Jersey and Rhode Island, upon the approach of your votes for firearm confiscation:
The firearm owners of your respective states tell me that you are busy men and women with short attention spans so I will try to make this brief, beginning with an instructive story from the history of my adopted state, Alabama. Some still tell it with pride in the hills of north Alabama. Like all the best stories, it has the advantage of being true.
In 1863, eight duly sworn and appointed law officers of the state government, acting with the authority of their nation's congress, executed a search of the homestead of one Henry Brooks. They were there searching for Brooks' son who was evading the draft and to execute the tax-in-kind law, which stated that everyone, no matter how poor, had to support the national government, even if that meant having half their crop and farm animals stolen for government purposes. At the homestead were Brooks, his wife Jenny and their eight children. The oldest son was just 17 and was hiding in the barn. The youngest was suckling at his mother's breast. The men disarmed the Brooks at gunpoint and commenced their work. In order to find out where the eldest son was, the Confederate Home Guard posse put a rope around Henry's neck, threw it over a limb of the tree in their front yard and slowly raised and lowered him, torturing him for the whereabouts of his son as the entire family was forced to watch.
Shortly, the oldest boy could take no more and charged the men in a hopeless sally from the barn. He was shot to death. Henry Brooks, still hanging from the rope and strangling to death, was shot as well. The lawful and duly sworn search party then rode away. They were laughing as they left.
Had they understood who they were messing with, they wouldn't have been laughing. Jenny lowered her husband's body from the tree, laid it out beside that of her oldest son, and had all of her sons place their hands in the blood on their daddy's chest (or, in the case of the baby, she placed it there herself). She then had them swear a blood oath that they would not rest until all eight men were dead. This began a feud that lasted forty years, the last shots of which were fired in McCurtain County, Oklahoma in 1904. By that time seven of the eight "law officers" were dead, as well as no less than twenty-four others who got in the way of the Brooks' and their quarry. (The eighth disappeared, leaving his family and all his property behind, apparently changed his name and was never seen in these parts again.)
What does this have to do with you? Well, I'm getting to that. Stick with me here.
Jenny, a full-blooded Cherokee girl whose family had avoided the Trail of Tears by hiding up in the mountains, loved her dead husband. She demonstrated the depth of that love by ambushing the leader of the lawful posse a couple months later, shooting him off his horse as he rode out alone from his own home. She then dragged his body into the woods, cut the "lawman's" head clean off, put it in a tote sack, took it home and put it in the lye boiling pot, cooking it until all that was left was the man's skull, minus the jawbone. She then turned it upside down, put it on the sideboard and used it as a soap dish the rest of her life, right up until the day she died many, many years later.
Of course, Jenny lost all of her boys but one and several sons-in-law in the forty year feud, but she counted that as a part of life. In later years she would relate how proud she was of her boys "dyin' with their boots on" and how she had taught them all to shoot straight.
Again you will be asking impatiently, "What does this have to do with me?" Just this. The eight duly sworn and appointed law officers didn't understand, nor did they care to understand, just exactly who it was that they were messing with. They were "the law" and "the law" had to be obeyed. What they didn't understand in the arrogance of their ignorance was that they too were in violation of a law -- the ironclad and non-repealable Law of Unintended Consequences. This is a mistake that you too -- at this moment in history -- are on the cusp of making.
Like the senate and legislature of Connecticut, you are about to pass more onerous laws robbing heretofore law-abiding firearm owners of their God-given, inalienable and natural rights to liberty, property and life -- rights that the United States Constitution merely codifies. These rights do not come from the Constitution, and they certainly do not come from you by your permission. They are not subject to majority vote. They just ARE. The Connecticut authorities are discovering to their chagrin that fully 85% of the firearm owners that their draconian law was aimed at ARE REFUSING TO COMPLY. More than a few have made up their minds to resist any confiscation -- law or no law -- even if that means defending themselves from state violence at the point of their rifles. As I pointed out in a speech on the steps of the Connecticut capitol last April, when democracy turns to tyranny, the armed citizenry still gets to vote. (1)
You see, like those eight duly sworn and appointed law officers, you mistake the people you seek to victimize. Yes, they have put up with previous restrictions you have passed. They backed up, grumbling, but they backed up. However, many of these folks, with a huge sense of grievance brought about by decades of being pushed back from the free exercise of their traditional liberties by the likes of you, are ready to themselves push back. The thing is, Connecticut has now ventured into this undiscovered country as blithely as uncomprehending deaf and blind folks tap dancing in a mine field. For as I tried to explain to them, they (and you) live in a different century than Jenny Brooks. Had Jenny understood the principles of 4th Generation Warfare, she would have sent her boys to kill the Confederate Governor of the state of Alabama and his political minions -- not to mention the Confederate congressmen who passed the despotic laws and the newspaper editors who endorsed them. For 4th Generation Warfare understands that the way to defeat an enemy is to directly engage the war makers and decision takers. Win the war there, and the raid parties stop coming. (2) This is the reality of war in the 21st Century -- this is the reality of the civil war you risk by pushing people you barely understand who have decided in their own minds that they will be pushed no longer.
Ask yourself, if Connecticut has an 85% non-compliance rate, what will the rate be in New Jersey? In Rhode Island? Do you think that your fellow citizens are more meek that Connecticut's? Are they more willing to have their rights torn away just because you say so? I doubt it. In case you hadn't noticed, civil wars -- such as you now propose to ignite -- haven't gotten any more civilized since Jenny Brooks' century. Indeed, they have grown more savage. And here you are, like the Confederate Congress, about to pass laws that will bring parties of armed men ready to dole out state-sponsored violence in furtherance of your tyrannical appetites to the doors of people who already feel disenfranchised, marginalized, mocked and scorned. Do you seriously think that after the first folks are killed in the name of your "benevolent intentions" that your victims won't come looking for you? Do you think that -- after you have killed their kith and kin -- you are immune from such people making a soap dish out of your skull just because you were elected by the constituents of your district and that the "law" was passed according to democratic forms? Do you imagine that there is a green zone within which you could hide from the future Jenny Brooks that your tyranny will have made?
It is an established principle of American jurisprudence that an unconstitutional law is null and void. Connecticut has passed such a law and is apparently intent upon rushing it into action before the Supreme Court can rule upon upon it. I have urged them to suspend enforcement until that time. (3) They have ignored me. The fact that I can later say that I tried to warn them to prevent civil war will be cold comfort. But don't you think that it would be the better part of valor for your respective states to at least wait to see if Connecticut ends up killing people under a law that was later ruled to be null and void by the Supremes?
I really would like to avoid another civil war in this country. I hope you agree with me. Do not extrapolate from your own cowardice and think for one moment that these people who you scarcely understand and secretly despise would be willing to merely roll over at the first threat of state-sponsored violence as you would. There remain in this country people who are willing to die for their principles. Such people are most often willing to kill in righteous self-defense of those principles as well. American history demonstrates that it is best not to push such people too far, lest they push back, fully and in kind.
To ignore that truth is to go whistling past Jenny Brooks' soap dish. Kinda makes your scalp itch, doesn't it?
Sincerely,
Mike Vanderboegh
PO Box 926
Pinson AL 35126
(1) "Defy. Resist. Evade. Smuggle." Speech at CT state capitol, 20 April 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkjLlZu9uno
(2) Tyrants beware. 4th Generation Warfare: How the next civil war will be fought.
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2013/04/tyrants-beware-4th-generation-warfare.html
(3) Open Letter to the Legislative Tyrants of Connecticut.
http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com/2014/02/open-letter-to-legislative-tyrants-of.html

39 comments:

WarriorClass III said...

God bless Aunt Jenny! God bless her sons.

Excellent letter Mike!

Anonymous said...

"Kinda makes your scalp itch, doesn't it?"

I lol'd. Well done, Sir.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Mike.

Anonymous said...

Outstanding.

Anonymous said...

Make no mistake - Freemen will always be willing and able to take up arms when their liberty is threatened enough.

Never in my life have I witnessed more Americans saying openly - Enough is indeed ENOUGH!

Not one more inch.

Mike
III

Unknown said...

God bless you, Mike.

Anonymous said...

My wife needs a new soap dish...

11B

Capitalist Eric said...

There remain in this country people who are willing to die for their principles. Such people are most often willing to kill in righteous self-defense of those principles as well. American history demonstrates that it is best not to push such people too far, lest they push back, fully and in kind.

I have said for a long time, that the American people will take getting slapped in the face for a very long time.... but when they've had enough, they'll come after you, and won't stop until they've destroyed you completely.

Contemporary politicians have either forgotten this lesson, or simply refuse to believe that people could come after them with a level of viciousness and brutality well beyond their meager comprehension. Surely, they believe, there is no modern version of Aunt Jenny; we've become far more "civilized," you see.....

Their learning-curve, I believe will be very short and bewildering to such fools. There are two variables: how much of their blood will be spilled (depends on the level of rage the armed populace has), and what level of support the LEOs will give to the traitors.

I thoroughly enjoy reading your work. But honestly, I think your attempts to warn the political fools away from self-immolation are a Quixotic.

Pity.

bloodyspartan said...

You seem to forget Mike that the Supreme Court no longer wishes to be bothered and does not take up the cases that will backfire.

Eventually they will rule against us /
The Time is past for war let us get on with it or More will die and the path back even harder.

Good story I like the Cherokee part.

Paul Kisling said...

Wow. They bet that is going to leave some saucer eyes in Rhode Island and New Jersey.

Anonymous said...

I can only wish to be fully half as succinct as the author. Excellent post!

Anonymous said...

Great letter.

Eloquent and to the point. No one can say these folks haven't been warned. We've been warning them for years.

But they live in a different paradigm than we do. They think that they can pass any law they want to, and woe betide those who don't obey.

Things get more and more "interesting" by the day.

With Democrat politicians in a panic over the ever-increasing likelyhood of losing the Senate and more House seats in November, I wouldn't be surprised if the administration tries to pull something...

Anonymous said...

Those who take it upon themselves to write the laws by which the rest of us must live
should fear the wrath of the people they seek to govern. For the nation to be truly free,
those who seek to exceed the limits on their power imposed by the Constitution
must be made to live in mortal terror of the consequences.

Anonymous said...

With such levels of non-compliance surely it would be much more efficient and cost effective to lock up the errant legislators ... for their own 'protection'?

Do that for the future freedom of countless millions of unborn children!

III

Anonymous said...

Bravo, Mike. Excellent letter and you speak for many of us.

Anonymous said...

Enough... make it illegal and against the law if you don't own a high capacity tool in a NATO caliber.
Get well soon mike.



Billy



Cameraman said...

As always Mike a Good Upper Cut to The Jaw, I believe these arrogant Fools will Dismiss any and all Warning to the, the Demise of their pucked up Lives..We are just one Spark away from a Explosion, People we are on the Cusp of Civil War!!!


Semper Fi

tjbbpgobIII said...

I liked this so much I shared it with all the Viet Nam veterans from my company and platoon. The story of Aunt Jenny and all her kin that kept this going until the last, should well be remembered. I hope you don't mind my sharing this nice story.

Anonymous said...

You are beginning to sound like the next Unabomber.
Rant on, with your implied threats.

Crotalus said...

Don't know if I want to mess with making a skull soap dish, but scalping comes to mind.

David Codrea said...

Waaah. It's too long. Waaah.

Anonymous said...


Monkey sez: Can't happen to me!

j said...

Brother, every time I think you have written your best article, you come along and top it. This is superb.
Take care of yourself - prayers continue.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for the story. It appears in enough places that it is likely true.

Our current crop of nanny-staters have not learned this lesson, same as the Japanese in 1941.

Kick Americans in the face at your peril.

God bless you Mike, and thanks for keeping the lessons coming.

Unknown said...

One of the Best yet! Where do I sign up!

Paul X said...

I don't know if Americans really fight for principles; that is too ethereal. To me it looks like they just get fed up with being pushed around and pissed on by pompous, self-serving legisdweebs.

Anonymous said...

David made me laugh. Waaaah. Ha ha.

As for the "implied threat" troll - you obviously have been reading these letters - there is no threat either direct indirect or implied. There is simply a statement of fact premised openly as a gesture of informed warning.

Question troll - is that really the best you got?

Screaminogre said...

If it starts, they will be dealing with more than just that states citizenry. Many like myself, are prepared to join the fray if and when the time comes. I am in Pennsylvania, and have heard this from people as far away as Texas and beyond. If they push for a fight, they will get one, and it will not be a fair fight. The best way to stop a snake is to cut off it's head.

Anonymous said...

Each veteran I've approached have the same response and are prepared to defend themselves and families against the tyrants in DC sucking away our blood with taxation and infractions against the Constitution. Tar and feather those who take the oath of office and replace them with Christians who believe in God and enforce the Constitution. Heathens run amok in Congress, Senate ant the not so Supreme Court of Zombies.
j

Anonymous said...

Since you brought it up I guess it's time once again to remind you that there are thousands of us out here waiting on you to finish "Absolved". It will not be the same if Rosie has someone else finish it posthumously. Plus, it is my uneducated opinion that you will do better money-wise if you self publish. Unless you are blocked, take some time off of the blog and see what you can.

Patrick.J.Henry II said...

Dear Mike,

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. I'm a Navy veteran, Husband, Father and Patriot. I have, over the past 10 years had my eye's opened to what is going on in this country. And, like many others here in New Jersey, I have had enough. I WILL NOT COMPLY. I WILL NOT HIDE. I WILL NOT SURRENDER one round of ammunition, one magazine or one firearm to a unconstitutional tyrannical government.
What I will do is, RESIST, DEFEND and if necessary, FIGHT for my GOD given, not state given, Right to defend myself and my family from injustice.I swore an Oath,to defend the constitution from ALL enemies, Both foreign and DOMESTIC. AND I ASSURE YOU AND ALL WHO READ THIS THAT I WILL at even the price of my life.

Patrick.J.Henry II

Gregolas said...

Excellent article about some history I'd never heard before. Thank you.
Mike, How can I contact you by email?
Gregolas

Anonymous said...

Amen to that Mike. When they come for mine they better be as dedicated to getting them as I am to keeping them!
Gary

Anonymous said...

Just heard your letter on Aunt Jenny read on the Micro Effect Radio broadcast.

Interesting part was about an hour later the owner found out the state had just emptied his bank accounts.

He's now broke can't even afford to put food on the table

John G said...

Willis Brooks II was born on April 3, 1854 to Willis and Louisa Jane "Jenny" Brooks, who lived in the hill country of Lawrence County, Alabama. Willis Jr. had four brothers; John, the eldest, Gaines, or Gainum, Mack, and Henry, the youngest. During the American Civil War, the Brooks family joined the Confederacy, although many of their neighbors remained loyal to the Union. For this they were called "Tories" by the rebels. Willis Brooks, Sr. attempted to enlist in the Confederate Army, but he was rejected due to his age. He did, however, become a saddle maker that was attached to a rebel cavalry in 1863. When Willis returned home he learned that a "Tory" had been annoying his wife, Sarah, a half-breed Cherokee, who was nearly twenty years younger than her husband. Sometime within the next few days, Willis found the man and killed him, but his friends soon retaliated. Willis was shot dead in front of his house and then, a few days after his funeral, John was killed while working in a field. Mrs. Brooks witnessed the first event and she claimed that seven or eight men were responsible, according to differing accounts. She then had her sons avenge their father. According to Ken Butler, author of Oklahoma Renegades: Their Deeds and Misdeeds: "By late 1883, the Brooks clan disposed of the last of the seven slayers of their father, but they continued to harass some of their neighbors [the Hubbard family]."[1][3][4]

In April 1884, Sheriff Alex Heflin decided he had had enough of the Brooks family and he deputized some local men and attempted to make arrests. A gunfight occurred on April 14. Gaines and one deputy were killed while Henry and two more deputies were wounded. Henry was hit in one of his legs and after it was amputated he became known as "Peg Leg" Brooks. The Brooks family then went West. For the next six years they lived in Cooke County, Texas, but, in 1890, Willis II, who was now the leader of the family, moved north to the Chickasaw Nation, in the Indian Territory. He didn't stay for long though; in 1894 he moved his family again. This time to a new settlement known as Dogtown, twenty-five miles west of Eufaula, in the Creek Nation. In Dogtown, Willis II and his family prospered as farmers and ranchers. Willis married at some point and he had six sons and at least two daughters; Thomas, Clifton, John, Earl, Marion, Willis III, Francis and Lela. When she was old enough, Francis married Columbus Windfield "Sam" Baker, who was also from Alabama and supported the Brooks family in their dispute with the McFarlands. Together Sam and Francis had several children, one of whom was named B

Steve Shanahan said...

This is perhaps your best posting yet, Mike.

Anonymous said...

I would strongly recommend that everyone in Connecticut contact their local police unions and urge them to go on strike rather than enforce this Unconstitutional law -- which is their right -- on the grounds that not only is no LEO required to enforce an Unconstitutional law, but that any attempt to do so would cause unnecessary police casualties. When the police refuse the enforce this law, the state govt. will be obliged to repeal it.

Bob Hurt said...

Thus, the populace must become and remain well-armed so as to have the physical force and collective might to run the crooks out of government, even at the risk of personal danger.

I don't advocate violence against crooks in government but I believe history has shown its inevitability, particularly when the FBI won't investigate, the Grand Jury won't indict, and the DOJ won't prosecute (on state or federal levels).

I remind the reader of these fateful words in the Declaration of Independence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

Anonymous said...

In the original post, the father, who was hung, should have been Willis, not Henry. Henry was the baby. Check other posts about Aunt Jenny Brooks for more accurate versions. Or check Alabama (Lawrence County) census for 1860.