Maybe the title should be "There is no United States."

"There is no California."

David Codrea Exclusive: Documents confirm ATF surveillance in U.S. before gun found in Mexico

"Trial testimony transcripts and a press release from Immigration and Customs Enforcement show an El Paso gun dealer was cooperating with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in its surveillance of suspected gun traffickers as part of a joint eight-month operation between ICE and ATF, documents received and being analyzed this week by Gun Rights Examiner reveal."

Southern Preposterous Lie Center hoisted upon its own petard.

Back in the spring of 2005, the Southern Preposterous Lie Center attacked the Family Research Council as one of "A Dozen Major Groups Help Drive the Religious Right’s Anti-Gay Crusade." It labeled the FRC as a "hate group."

Now that diseased chicken has come home to roost. "Family Research Council accuses Southern Poverty Law Center of sparking shooter’s hatred."

The head of the Family Research Council on Thursday (Aug. 16) accused the Southern Poverty Law Center of sparking hatred that led accused gunman Floyd Lee Corkins II to shoot a security guard at the conservative Christian lobbying group’s headquarters.

FRC president Tony Perkins called the Wednesday shooting “an act of domestic terrorism.”

“Corkins was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center that have been reckless in labeling organizations as hate groups because they disagree with them on public policy,” Perkins said.

The SPLC tracks domestic extremists and lists the FRC as an “anti-gay” hate group. On Thursday, Perkins called “an end to the reckless rhetoric that I believe led to yesterday’s incident that took place right here.”

The SPLC’s Mark Potok called Perkins’ accusations “outrageous,” and said his group is committed to offering “legitimate and fact-based criticism.”

“The FRC routinely pushes out demonizing claims that gay people are child molesters and worse — claims that are provably false,” Potok wrote on the SPLC’s blog. “It should stop the demonization and affirm the dignity of all people.”

Corkins, 28, of Herndon, Va., had volunteered at The DC Center, a gay advocacy group in Washington, D.C.

He has not been charged with a hate crime, but was found to be carrying symbols of a recent flare-up in the culture wars. Corkins was found to be carrying 15 Chick-fil-A sandwiches when he was arrested, along with a 9 mm pistol and 50 rounds of ammunition. . .

The American Family Association issued amplified the FRC’s condemnation of the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“They have repeatedly and without cause demonized FRC, and have spent years stirring up anger in the homosexual community and directing that anger toward an organization whose only crime is to promote and defend the classic American values of faith, family and freedom,” the group read.

“Thus according to SPLC’s own standards, it is the SPLC that is to blame for yesterday’s shooting.”

The Montgomery castrato, Mark Potok, immediately fired back: "SPLC: Family Research Council license-to-kill claim ‘outrageous’"

The FRC and its allies on the religious right are saying, in effect, that offering legitimate and fact-based criticism in a democratic society is tantamount to suggesting that the objects of criticism should be the targets of criminal violence.

Riiiight. Which is exactly what the SPLC has been doing for years. Maybe FRC can sue the bejeezus out of SPLC and get that multi-million headquarters that "poverty" built.

Collectivist tyranny's Typhoid Marys -- Doctors who target gun ownership as a social disease.

Doctors target gun violence as a social disease.

Is a gun like a virus, a car, tobacco or alcohol? Yes say public health experts, who in the wake of recent mass shootings are calling for a fresh look at gun violence as a social disease.

Ever heard of Garen Wintemute? David Codrea had this link-packed article about this anti-firearm weasel last year.

Here's a friendly bio of the guy.

Here's my take. I think that tyrannical collectivism is a far worse social disease than gun ownership. Wintemute's propagation of hoplophobia for the purposes of citizen disarmament makes him the Typhoid Mary of the 21st Century as far as I'm concerned. The fact that he cloaks his tyrannical work in pseudo-science ranks him right along with the "racial biologists" who laid the groundwork for the Final Solution. And if that violates Godwin's Law in somebody's mind, then that's just tough. I'm serious.

Why is this pseudo-scientist of tyranny smiling? Because he can get his bogus theories printed in USA Today without challenge.

David Codrea Exclusive: Shipley documents point to more government-sanctioned gunwalking!

"Documents made available to Gun Rights Examiner this week from a source close to the case of FBI agent John Shipley, convicted of dealing in firearms without a license, bolster defense claims that he was merely an active collector, and further reveal evidence of guns being smuggled to Mexico following ATF-directed deals by suspects under extended surveillance. A mysterious receipt for a gun sale to a Mexican resident, reports of investigation that include suspect interviews, trial transcripts, government press releases, Mexico weapons recovery pictures and the indictment of a trafficking suspect all lend credible support to concerns that the government itself engaged in wrongdoing."

David Codrea: Philly DA purposely turns blind eye to ‘gun crime tip’

“[Ramsey] has openly carried a firearm in the city of Philadelphia but is neither a certified police officer, nor does he have a license to carry firearms.”

A Bright and Shining Lie. The Canonization of Saint Eliot Ness. B. Todd Jones thinks rebranding the ATF will solve its problems and make us all forget about Ruby Ridge, Waco and the Gunwalker Scandal.

Ness remarried in 1939, to illustrator Evaline Michelow. The Nesses moved to Washington, D.C. in 1942 where he worked for the federal government, directing the battle against prostitution in communities surrounding military bases, where venereal disease was a serious problem. Later he made a number of forays into the corporate world, all of which failed from his lack of business acumen. In 1944, he left to become chairman of the Diebold Corporation, a security safe company based in Ohio. After his second divorce and third marriage, he ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Cleveland in 1947, after which he was expelled from Diebold. In the aftermath, Ness began drinking more heavily and spending his free time in bars telling (often exaggerated) stories of his law enforcement career. He also spent himself into debt. Ness was forced into taking various odd jobs to earn a living, including as an electronics parts wholesaler, a clerk in a bookstore, and selling frozen hamburger patties to restaurants. By 1953, he came to work for an upstart company called Guaranty Paper Corporation, which specialized in watermarking legal and official documents to prevent counterfeiting. Ness was offered a job because of his expertise in law enforcement. The company soon moved from Cleveland to the quiet rural town of Coudersport, Pennsylvania, where operating costs were lower. He made a decent income from GPC and moved with his wife and adopted son into a modest rental house. Once again, he enjoyed going to local bars and regaling amazed audiences with his tales of crime fighting. He collapsed and died at his home of a massive heart attack on May 16, 1957, at the age of 54. Collaborating with Oscar Fraley in his last years, he co-wrote the book The Untouchables, which was published a month after his death.[11] This book, among others about the Untouchables by Oscar Fraley, was heavily spiced with fiction including fictional characters and events to make the books more appealing to a general audience. -- Wikipedia.

Eliot Ness, patron saint of the ATF.

From the Wall Street Journal: "Firearms Bureau Struggles to Define Its Role."

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives brings fewer than a hundred alcohol and tobacco cases a year. It now plays second fiddle to the Federal Bureau of Investigation on explosives. And its skill at catching firearms violators is in doubt after the flawed probe known as Fast and Furious.

No wonder the agency's boss is looking to reinvent it, and maybe even change its name.

The ATF is a Washington oddity, stitched together in the 1970s from units going back to the age of Prohibition. Gun-rights supporters are wary of it, yet they are also loath to see firearms regulation move to the FBI.

So the ATF survives, and acting director B. Todd Jones has to figure out what to do with it. "We're the entity that everyone loves to hate," said the 55-year-old former Marine.

Mr. Jones, who doubles as the U.S. attorney in Minneapolis, said he sees a "sweet spot" for the agency in tackling violent crime, particularly in some big cities like Philadelphia that have seen an increase in murders and drug-related shootings.

Hence an idea discussed by top ATF officials: ditching the agency's anachronistic seven-word name and rebranding it the Violent Crime Bureau. Mr. Jones confirms the discussions, but cautions it isn't easy because the change would require congressional approval. The bigger point, he says, is to improve the morale and professionalism of agents who often grumble about being overshadowed by the FBI.

Since taking over last year as the ATF's fifth acting director in six years, Mr. Jones has tightened controls over undercover probes and confidential informants. New chiefs are in place in 16 field offices. And he consulted a historian to dig up proud moments in the agency's past. Legendary lawman Eliot Ness worked for an ATF predecessor known as the Bureau of Prohibition, leading his team of "untouchables" against the distilleries that made Al Capone rich.

"Legendary lawman" indeed. As the Wikipedia citation quoted above indicates, much of the "legend" came from the failed old drunkard's own mouth. Yet it is certain that Ness is now, and always has been, the patron saint of the gun cops of the ATF. His birthday, 19 April, is celebrated with ATF award dinners and golf tournaments, and the story circulated after the fiery end of the Davidians at the hands of the FBI that the Fibbies had chosen Ness' birthday to repay the Mount Carmel residents with interest (about twenty to one) for the four dead ATF agents killed in the 28 February raid that began the standoff. (While Mt. Carmel was still burning, the FBI raised a flag with four stars and "ATF" emblazoned on it. A pretty birthday picture it was for the Eliot Ness fans of the ATF.)

But, hey, B. Todd, go ahead and try to rebuild your agency around a bright and shining lie that owes more of its currency to Hollywood than to history, and by all means, rename it the "Violent Crime Bureau." The Davidians wouldn't quarrel with that name, nor would the thousands of Mexican victims of the Gunwalker Scandal. Violent crime, from the crippling of Kenyon Ballew up through the murder of Brian Terry, is what the ATF has facilitated or committed itself. Good choice, B. Todd.

A present from the FBI to the ATF on the birthday of Eliot Ness, 19 April 1993.

Trying to catch up.

Spent the day with Matt traveling to Len Savage's in Georgia. A fun time was had by all. Will try to catch up by tomorrow morning.

When 1,099 Felons Vote In A Race Won By 312 Ballots

How Al Franken got "elected."

Matt's home for a couple of days.

I will be taking most of today to spend with him. More posts tonight, perhaps.

Reminder to the hostile peanut gallery.

No comment on this blog addressing me as "Mikey" will be released. Try to be more creative. As I have proven in the past, I don't mind personally insulting or even threatening comments -- occasionally I even highlight them in "Another country heard from . . ." -- but I draw the line at "Mikey." The only person I ever allowed to call me that was my Grandma Vanderboegh and she's long dead. Again, try to be more creative.

Other pet peeves that don't make it past the "Delete" button -- the "Itinerant Iraqi Painters Blew Up the OKC Federal Building" theory of Jayna Davis; 9/11 as an inside job; links to Prison Planet and neoNazi rants (which are almost always too obscene anyway). All comments have to approved by me so reposting five times just because you don't immediately see it gets you nowhere. This is, after all, my blog. Don't like it? Get your own. You can call me "Mikey" to your heart's content there.

GOP-led House Oversight Committee to file contempt suit against AG Eric Holder.

"CBS News has learned that the House Oversight Committee expects to file a civil contempt suit against Attorney General Eric Holder Monday. The lawsuit is to try to force Holder to release documents from the Fast and Furious gunwalking operation."

Matthew's back in country on leave from Afghanistan.

Link: Big doins' in Columbus, Ohio.

"What do I care if a criminal is dressed in rags or a police officer’s uniform?” The debate over the right to keep and bear arms -- IN RUSSIA. And they're quoting Jefferson.

"'Nanny State’ Wants No Firearms for Russians."

In December 1917, weeks after coming to power, the Bolsheviks launched a drive to confiscate all firearms from the hands of the Russian populace. They never gave them back.

Old habits die hard, and Russia’s restrictive gun legislation was never seriously softened over the past 100 years, despite regular calls to the purpose, the latest of which came last week from a pro-Kremlin senator.

Those who oppose firearms are wary of the temperamental populace, predicting shooting rampages and an increase in murder rates.

But some skeptics claim the real reason the Kremlin is not allowing the public to own firearms is fear that armed citizens will turn their guns on the country's notoriously corrupt bureaucrats.

“They’ll just start killing off officials,” said Mikhail Pashkin, head of the Moscow Police Labor Union.

Oh, fer cryin' out loud.

The Federal Nanny State attacks again. Sen. Schumer aims to make metal theft a federal offense.

Under the radar no longer. Not that we had any doubts all along, but it is nice of Obama to make it official (again). "The first War Between the States was precipitated by the election of Lincoln and the second one will be kicked off by the re-election of Obama"

During the meeting, President Obama dropped in and, according to Sarah Brady, brought up the issue of gun control, “to fill us in that it was very much on his agenda,” she said.

“I just want you to know that we are working on it,” Brady recalled the president telling them. “We have to go through a few processes, but under the radar.” -- Washington Post, 11 April 2011.

White House: Obama Supports Renewing Assault Weapons Ban.

President Obama supports reinstating the assault weapons ban, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Monday, on the heels of back-to-back shooting rampages in the United States.

As a presidential candidate, Obama supported renewal of the 1994-2004 federal ban on manufacturing some semi-automatic weapons for civilian use. But he hasn’t pushed for it as president, largely steering clear of the issue.

“He does support renewing the assault weapons ban,” Carney said at his press briefing.

I was in a local gun store the other day, just cruising to "take the temperature". I ran into a fellow who I knew from the 90s. He observed that "the first War Between the States was precipitated by the election of Lincoln and the second one will be kicked off by the re-election of Obama" and what follows it. I could not argue with his premise.

Just now I was chatting with Bob Wright (he always calls to check up on how I'm doing) and he brought up something similar. Bob's First Sergeant in the 1st New Mexico had commented that he believed that the War Between the States was certain after the Dred Scott decision. The Yankees, he posited, were disposed to tolerate slavery while they could plausibly deny responsibility for it. But Dred Scott made them responsible for the "peculiar institution" in a way that they could no longer ignore. "Kind of like Obamacare and the mandate," I observed. The Obama administration is now pushing us similarly, Bob agreed.

(I am not interested in refighting the whole "the WBTS was not over slavery" issue. There were many other issues, tariffs, economic competition, to be sure, but I believe that all of that was wrapped around what Bruce Catton once called, "the indigestible lump.")

I am not pimping for Romney here, not at all. I despise the GOP leadership and their unprincipled and Constitutionally worthless candidate. I will not vote for him. The election of Romney will provide even more challenges to liberty, made harder to fight by the fact that the GOP -- if they retain the House and recapture the Senate -- will circle the wagons around "their" president.

I am merely warning here that civil war is probable with the re-election of an Obama administration "liberated" from any political constraints that have heretofore applied.

Got militia?

More "Repeal the Second Amendment" Collectivist Excrement.

Why is this clueless, bloody-minded, tyrannical moron smiling?

This time from a Salt Lake City doctor.

"The Second Amendment is dead — a victim of its own making. It has been killed over and over again. It’s been dying since the mass murders at the University of Texas Clock Tower, 101 California in San Francisco, McDonalds in San Diego, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Trolley Square, Fort Hood Army Base, and now Aurora, Colo. It only remains to be declared DOA and repealed — plain and simple."

My reply is below, which I was compelled to send though I doubt it gets printed. If it seems to be repetitive when compared to earlier letters to others, it is, with bare variations on the theme. I suppose if they can repeat themselves, I can too.

-----Original Message-----

From: georgemason1776

To: vanderson@sltrib.com; letters@sltrib.com

Sent: Sat, Aug 11, 2012 12:40 pm

Subject: RE: Clawson's proposal to repeal the Second Amendment and start a bloody civil war.

RE: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/opinion/54667054-82/gun-guns-amendment-clawson.html.csp

Evidently Herr Doktor Clawson hasn't studied the Law of Unintended Consequences, nor thought through his tyrannical proposal. He wishes to repeal the Second Amendment, overturning the keystone of the Founders' Republic, with an eye to confiscating military-pattern semi-automatic rifles -- all of this in order to prevent periodic mass shootings in "gun free" citizen disarmament zones such as schools and theaters. No doubt this would work -- by sparking a bloody, nationwide, civil war that would relegate such incidents to the back pages of the Tribune. It seems an odd way to preserve the lives of innocents.

I must ask, in addition to killing me, my family and all my friends -- Obama's despised "bitter clingers" all -- just how many millions of bodies is Herr Doktor willing to stack up to achieve his proposal? One million? Ten? Twenty? His own? I doubt that last, for such tyrant wannabes rarely have the courage of their own convictions, life rather than principle being the most important thing to them. Indeed, they extrapolate their intended victims' expected behavior from their own cowardice, knowing that THEY would not risk imprisonment or death in standing up to the imperial federal government over something as unimportant to them as liberty or property.

But Herr Doktor should at least comprehend the existence of people who would die for their principles, even if he considers them wrong or even insane. The problem for Clawson embodied by this inconvenient fact is that people who are willing to die for their principles are most often willing to kill in righteous self-defense of those principles too -- and generally at substantially more than a one-to-one ratio. And, not to put too fine a point on it, but we're the ones with the firearms, the training and the will to use them if forced. The tip-of-the-spear military also is made up of our sons and daughters. Just which way does he expect them to point their weapons when his tyrannical order to disarm the American people comes down?

So I ask again, how many millions of us and how many millions of his side in this proposed civil war is he willing to see dead in order to get his way? All of us? All of them? None of us?

If the answer, after sober reflection, is the latter, then I submit that Herr Doktor Clawson ought to shut the hell up in the face of that bloody reality. If not, then let him have the courage of his ill-thought convictions and lead the first federal gun confiscation raid himself.

Mike Vanderboegh

P.O. Box 926

Pinson, AL 35126

GeorgeMason1776@aol.com

http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com

Washington Times picks up the Tea Party Insurrection of 2016 story.

"U.S. military officers are told to plan to fight Americans."

A professor at the Joint Forces Staff College was relieved of duty in June for uttering the heresy that the United States is at war with Islam. The Obama administration contended the professor had to be relieved because what he was teaching was not U.S. policy. Because there is no disclaimer attached to the Small Wars piece, it is fair to ask, at least in Col. Benson’s case, whether his views reflect official policy regarding the use of U.S. military force against American citizens.

Got militia? "Economist Richard Duncan: Civilization May Not Survive 'Death Spiral'"

"A depression so severe that he doesn't 'think our civilization could survive it.'"

Nappy sued. “J-No Appointed Lesbian Girlfriend, ICE Chief of Staff Harassed Male Agents”

"Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano favored women pals for jobs: lawsuit."

Note that this story was first broken by blogger Debbie Schlussel.

No wonder she didn't have the time or curiosity to look into the murder of own of her own Border Patrol's finest.