Saturday, August 28, 2010

Casus Belli: Of Tripwires and Simpletons Who Risk Nothing Wanting to See Them Tripped.

The Old Powder House in Somerville, Massachusetts as it stood in 1935.
Casus belli is a Latin expression meaning the justification for acts of war. Casus means "incident", "rupture" or indeed "case", while belli means "of war". . . The term came into wide usage in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries with the writings of Hugo Grotius (1625), Cornelius van Bynkershoek (1737), and Jean-Jacques Burlamaqui (1748), among others, and the rise of the political doctrine of jus ad bellum or "just war theory". Informal usage varies beyond its technical definition to refer to any "just cause" a nation may claim for entering into a conflict. As such, it has been used both retroactively to describe situations in history before the term came into wide usage and in the present day when describing situations when war has not been formally declared. -- Wikipedia.
Forgive me for all of those who are not simpletons, but it appears I must insult your intelligence with basic definitions and rudimentary common sense in order to attempt to reach a few hardheads who continue to foam at the mouth, eager to plunge their country into civil war under circumstances which will guarantee defeat of the cause which they claim to espouse.

"Informal usage varies beyond its technical definition to refer to any "just cause" a nation may claim for entering into a conflict."
When I use the term casus belli in posts, it is merely pointing out that the particular trend or incident is adding to the just cause by which the civil war, when it breaks out, will be justified.

The cumulative effect of such individual reasons, stacked one upon the other, will later be seen as background, the fuel, the dry grass if you will, of the conflagration.

The prairie fire will be started by a single spark, or series of sparks -- incidents so compelling that no one, given the common understanding of the explosive tinder building up, will be surprised that it happened, only when it happened.

The Founders experienced such a rising series of casus belli, each new outrage of the King's ministerial government piling upon the one before, causing reactions among the liberty-loving populace COMMENSURATE WITH THE THREAT.

The Stamp Act caused the colonists -- WHO DID NOT YET THINK OF THEMSELVES AS REVOLUTIONARIES but merely English citizens whose rights under the English Constitution were being abrogated -- to react with violent demonstrations, assaults on royal lackeys and their property, tar and feathering, etc. The resistance was sufficient to get the Crown to back down.

The Boston Massacre was not the tripwire for general war. Why? Because neither the general public nor the men who were increasingly viewing themselves as revolutionaries were ready for such a step. Indeed, John Adams and other Founders acted as DEFENSE attorneys for the British soldiers at the subsequent trial. Yet the propaganda that the Founders made of this incident was absolutely brilliant, and essential to laying the groundwork for independence.

The tax on tea was not the tripwire for general war, again because no one was ready. The political pretext for resorting to defensive violence had not yet been made. There was no thought that the officers of the King should be targeted, but the tea itself? A brilliant choice of targets and an impeccably executed plan of vandalism. It was Sam Adam's finest hour.

Then came the Intolerable Acts and the continuing battle of the Crown forces with smugglers. Revenue cutters were burned, customs men harassed (NOTE: NOT KILLED), and as British troops flowed into to overawe the malefactors, the liberty-minded colonists began to take over the militia system or create their own units independent of the colonial structure.

Then came the British attempt to seize militia arms and powder. The militias responded to several of these raids by mobilizing around and in front of the British columns, culminating in The Powder Alarm of 1774.

The Powder Alarm was a massive popular reaction to the removal of gunpowder from a magazine by British soldiers under orders from General Thomas Gage, royal governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay, on September 1, 1774. In response to this action, amid rumors that blood had been shed, alarm spread through the countryside as far as Connecticut, and American Patriots sprang into action, fearing that war was at hand.

Although it proved to be a false alarm, the Powder Alarm caused political and military leaders to proceed more carefully in the days ahead, and essentially provided a "dress rehearsal" for the Battle of Lexington and Concord seven months later. Furthermore, actions on both sides to control weaponry, gunpowder, and other military supplies became more contentious, as the British sought to bring military stores more directly under their control, and the Patriot colonists sought to acquire them for their own use. -- Wikipedia.

The Powder Alarm caused smuggling of war supplies to increase and militias to redouble to their training. No one went to war, because neither side was ready.

When the war did start -- the tripwire if you will -- was thanks to a miscalculation by the British that they could march out of Boston, seize or destroy the arms and powder and get back to town before the militia could react. Even the mustering of the Lexington militia on the green was in the spirit of the Powder Alarm. Captain Parker actually backed his little force up, away from the road, so as not to block the ministerial troops path, but yet to make a demonstration that they had better not get out of hand in the village.

But the actual tripwire, the "shot heard 'round the world," could itself have been a negligent discharge by a nervous regular or militiaman. The Brits of course blamed the militia and vice versa. But the conduct of Parker's formation and the lop-sided odds, made it seem likely to the rest of the colonials that the "bloody lobsters" had started it. And remember, about a third of those colonials thought that the "armed rabble" had it coming, and that it was about time the King's men did something.

In 1861, the tripwire was the Confederate bombardment of Fort Sumter, South Carolina. Prior to that incident, Lincoln was faced with a huge political problem. A majority of the people of the North wanted to avoid a civil war. So Lincoln contrived to get the Confederates to cede the moral high ground.

By April 4, President Lincoln . . . ordered merchant vessels escorted by the United States Navy to Charleston. On April 6, 1861, Lincoln notified South Carolina Governor Francis W. Pickens that "an attempt will be made to supply Fort Sumter with provisions only, and that if such attempt be not resisted, no effort to throw in men, arms, or ammunition will be made without further notice, [except] in case of an attack on the fort."

In response, the Confederate cabinet, meeting in Montgomery, decided on April 9 to open fire on Fort Sumter in an attempt to force its surrender before the relief fleet arrived. Only Secretary of State Robert Toombs opposed this decision: he reportedly told Jefferson Davis the attack "will lose us every friend at the North. You will only strike a hornet's nest. ... Legions now quiet will swarm out and sting us to death. It is unnecessary. It puts us in the wrong. It is fatal."


Toombs, as we know now with 20-20 hindsight, was absolutely correct. Lincoln's gambit worked and the Confederacy took the bait to it's peoples' eternal sorrow. Imagine the Federal rout of the First Battle of Bull Run WITHOUT the justification of Fort Sumter. The pressure on Lincoln to stop the war and negotiate would have become immense. Arrogance and stupidity killed the Confederacy at the very first. That it took four years for the Federals to subdue the South in cruel war was a testament to the Southrons' courage and tenacity. BUT THE CONFEDERATES GAVE THE FEDERALS THE FIRST, AND ARGUABLY MOST IMPORTANT, STICK WITH WHICH TO BEAT THEM.

Fast forward to today.

First, one of the arguments most often heard in simpleton quarters is "THEY" (whoever they are) are "too smart to start a war" and will simply gradually increase oppressive measures until they achieve our absolute slavery.

This assigns some sort of god-like power of restraint to the largest, most inefficient, ponderous, corrupt and mistake-prone bureaucracy ever created in this country: the federal government of the 21st Century. Only an ignorant simpleton would believe such a tall tale.

For the better part of two years, one agency of that government, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has been chasing a phantom opponent simply because one of their favorite snitches told them he was a confederate of a law-abiding man that they wished to see squashed. ATF lawyers have demanded to know from expert witnesses in depositions if they knew this man, always eliciting the answer, "I know of no such person." ATF agents have been dispatched to run down every lead, every rumor, searching for this nemesis of the Chief Counsel's Office WHO NEVER EXISTED. Millions of taxpayer dollars have certainly been wasted in the search.

This is hardly evidence of federal omniscience or omnipotence.

Secondly, the argument that "they" will be patient enough to play the long game of gradual tyranny reckons without our own ability, LIKE THE FOUNDERS SHOWED US, to resist with lesser measures and gradually make our would-be oppressors so frustrated and crazy with our resistance that they attack us with deadly force, by accident or design.

The tools available to us to accomplish that are the same as were in the liberty toolbag of the Founders: strikes, shunning, petty yet strategic vandalism, street theater, demonstrations, smuggling, etc. The fact that we haven't fully employed these tools is an argument AGAINST the preemptive use of deadly force on our part, not FOR it.

Recall Michael Collins:

“They can jail us. They can shoot us. . . BUT . . . we have a weapon more powerful than any in the whole arsenal of the British Empire! That weapon is our refusal! Our refusal to bow to any order but our own! Any institution but our own!”
That refusal, if we practice it diligently, adamantly, will force the frustrated leviathan to use deadly force.

Third, there is an argument offered by some (many more than actually have it as a valid reason) that to engage in lesser acts of resistance than shooting -- breaking political party windows or vandalism of ARRA signs for example -- will compromise their "operational security" for the big event when shooting starts.

Perhaps. But only if they're stupid in carrying out such operations. We are not talking about carrying out operations against defended targets, for crying out loud. Nothing is more vulnerable than the easy pickings of an ARRA sign on a deserted road at two o'clock in the morning. Besides, engaging in the process of operational planning and execution exercises the tactical muscles for when the shooting DOES start. Each who makes this argument must look into his or her own heart for the answer to whether or not this is simple reluctance to do ANYTHING rather than an exercise in proper prudence.

But in any case, unless sanity breaks out among our would-be tyrannizers, at some point there will be an initiating event of deadly violence by Leviathan against a man or woman who simply wishes to be left alone.

Let us then look at what the Three Percenters have staked out as tripwires:

Any more restrictive firearms laws, is a big one. Katrina-like confiscation obviously would be resisted by force at out doorsteps first, and then taken to the enemy in maneuver warfare style. But what of lesser moves? A "gun show loophole" bill would be resisted first by hosting our own Fed-free gunshows, provoking a response. Any ammunition restrictions would be resisted first by rolling our own, smuggling, theft, etc. Again, provoking a response, and then, a spasm of targeted counter-violence.

Enforcing "health-care" would be met by refusal to pay the fines, refusal to go willingly to jail, and eventually, at the point of a gun. Again, a PROCESS OF RESISTANCE only ending in deadly violence if Leviathan chooses to do so. And they will, if we do our part right.

Federal election tampering, or outright theft, is another. Here I can think of an excellent use of tar and feathering of local and state election officials, breaking of windows, and other vandalism as a first response. If the election is certified despite these moves, then the situation will rapidly move to violence without doubt.

But why, in any of these cases, should we cede the moral high ground and shoot first? Just because some of us are tired of waiting? Or because they're too scared to use lesser measures? Or because they risk nothing nothing in urging US to take the first shot? Such people are urging us to the trip the wire without consequence to themselves. For if they lack the guts to start acting like free people and engage in lesser forms of resistance, what evidence is there that they will go to the extreme when it is called for?

I mean besides their own hot air reduced to keystrokes.

I agree that not all of us are public figures like myself, with names and addresses well known to the PTB. Nor should we be. My JOB is to be a living, breathing gambit -- daring the Power to take a shot at me, and gradually defeating them with every passing day that they do not make an example of me -- exposing the lie of the man behind the curtain that the Wizard is all knowing and all powerful, encouraging others to resist by simply existing as a symbol of the federal government's true vacillation and impotence.

But if YOU are urging us IN AN EASILY TRACEABLE COMMUNICATION to engage in deadly violence against the PTB, then you are not a "grey man" anyway. You trade that when you speak out on the Net. Only a simpleton thinks otherwise. So, telling me that you are not willing to risk lesser violence in order to preserve the operational security that you just threw away by telling me in this venue is hardly persuasive of anything except to reasonably doubt your intelligence or courage or both. Likewise, people who urge others to begin shooting in such a venue have to be asked: who are they really serving? And what are they risking by doing so?

Finally, I ask again, who among us on that final day the wire is tripped will not desperately wish that we had ONE MORE DAY, ONE MORE HOUR, to train, to recruit, and see to our own logistics for the killing time?

If present events play out into a likely future, that wire WILL be tripped. But until it is, it is your responsibility to do everything you can using lesser measures to avoid it and, failing that, to prepare for that day to fight and to win.

No Fort Sumters. No OKC bombings. Let the enemies of the Founders' Republic make those mistakes, not us.

Mike
III

37 comments:

Mayberry said...

Excellent! Very well said.

Anonymous said...

Bravo Mr. V.
There are still plenty of actions we each can engage in to tip the balance in material and moral favor of Liberty.

We each and all can do our part to force the the Liberty eaters to eat their own cake.

Pat H. said...

Your background on the Fort Sumter defense isn't complete.

The most important fact is that the Union had agreed, in writing, to not occupy the as yet to be complete fort. Yes, that's right, Fort Sumter wasn't garrisoned at all when South Carolina lawfully seceded from the Union and revoked the title to the Fort's location. The only discussion was to be over South Carolina's payment for the costs of the Fort's construction so far.

The Union commander at Fort Moultrie was ordered, or decided, to move his garrison, minus cannon, to Fort Sumter in the middle of the night, in clear violation of the US government's agreement to not do so. That's act of war number one.

South Carolina and then the Confederate government gave the Union from late December 1860 to early April 1861 to vacate the Fort peacefully. All the while, allowing food and other necessities to be routinely taken to the men in Fort Sumter. The fort was never placed under siege, no one attempted to starve the soldiers into submission.

It was Lincoln's decision to send in 300 additional troops with military supplies of powder and shot, act of war number two, that precipitated the shelling of Fort Sumter.

No one at Fort Sumter was killed.

It was these two primary acts of war by the Union that initiated the War for Southern Freedom, not the bombardment of Fort Sumter.

The Trainer said...

Well spoken....

Slobyskya Rotchikokov said...

One of your most concise, ordered and detailed pieces ever.
And it is certain that those who have in whatever capacity, engaged in warfare, combat situations complete with blood, death, the smell of decomposing flesh and burning hair, and the sounds of screams that go on forever - those who have really watched as companions are loaded onto stretchers or zipped up in bags - are the very last to want to do that again, and yet they are also the ones who will be first on the line if the moment comes.

As you point out so perfectly, we ALL feel that frustration, that tingling in the nerves and narrowing of the eyes when we read of the latest offense of the great beast; no one is faulted of looked down on for wanting to get on with ut. But many who now believe they want it will, going by history, freeze on the trigger or feel the temporary paralysis of self-doubt when the instant arrives to terminate an enemy, to snuff out a human life.
Yet that is the price that we must pay, and wil pay, to acheive victory and to secure a free nation for our children's children.
We must think, train, pray and mentally prepare for the moment.

Thanks for this classic, Mike.

Temnota said...

I have this conversation with progressives from time to time. Once they discover I'm one of those damned radical libertarians, the question will eventually come up, "Well, we're in charge, and we're both righteous and mighty, what are you going to do, little peon?" I reply, "I will ignore you to the extent I am able. If you're persistent, I will hurt you until you go away. If you just don't get the message after all that, well, that's what the Second Amendment is for."

The objective, lest we lose sight of it, is to live as free men and women. So, go live as free men and women. There really is nothing preventing you from doing this, and tons of resources to help you with the learning curve. What you do have to contend with are risks and speedbumps put in your path by the State. Some are more serious than others. Some are traps for the stupid or unwary. Only you can decide how much risk you can absorb. You must also accept that your standard of living will be different. The Ozzie-and-Harriet suburban American dream is largely pretty furnishings on cell walls. Freedom is not comfortable. More decisions for you to make.

It is at the point where liberty you can't live without collides with a State you can't hoodwink or evade that you should consider attacking them for effect. That point will also vary with your individual equation but it is important to remember that you don't necessarily have to kill people to render them ineffective. Save that option for when you really need it. Ethically, we may kill to defend life. Killing preemptively is murder.

The thing I most hate about commenting from this cellphone is that I can't open new browser windows to look things up in mid-rant, so apologies for the paraphrase. Remember the wisdom of Shepherd Book, that while the Bible decries murder, it is somewhat fuzzy on the subject of kneecaps. Break the State badly enough, and you may not have to kill...or at least, not as often or as soon.

Brock Townsend said...

"Excellent! Very well said."
========
As always.

WarriorClass said...

An excellent response, Mike. I know that when I asked the question, when do we respond, I was not suggesting we do so at any specific time, like now. It was a sincere question, not an urging to war. We do have a lot of grievances right now and they keep piling them on and threatening more; more taxes, more unconstitutional acts and laws, while refusing to that which they are required to do under the constitution, such as protect our borders. The PTB are also stirring up racial tensions to start their own four way confrontation between the blacks (90% of whom support Chairman Obama), the illegal aliens, the muslims and the whites. And make no mistake, it is the white middle class they have in their cross-hairs. They intend to make us poor as soon as possible in order to de-fang us, and they are succeeding in short order. The PTB will use all the government mooches as their army as well as whatever police and military force they can point at us. Perhaps that would be an excuse to enact martial law.

Also, millions of people are going to be hit with the Alternative Minimum Tax this year, which was never adjusted for inflation, and they don't even know that is headed their way. Say good by to all your deductions, because they will not count to reduce your tax.

And by the way, the IRS is not going to come take your house, they will just sell it out from under you so you will not be fighting them, should you choose to fight to keep it. The new owner will just have the police remove you. Perhaps that will be the Casus Belli, I don't know.

What I have seen is that most of the election fraud takes place in the primaries, where there is little oversight. That's how we keep ending up with the choice between dumb and dumber in the official elections. The diebold voting machines make it Oh so easy. McCain was dead last in the republican primaries until he hit the states with the diebold voting machines, and whamo, he's on top. Combine that with the fact that half the people don't pay taxes and you have a system that "legally" steals from everyone else. We are not going to win at the ballot box.

I wish we had something more effective than the window campaign, stickers and sign treatment, but I don't know what that might be. A wrench in the gears would be good, but I don't know what form that should take. How do we get the government to stop stealing from us and leave us alone?

Defender said...

Proportional responses will still be seen as extremism, but that's the way to engage them.
Interestingly, Attorney General Eric Holder is NOW coming forward and saying he heard current New Orleans police chief Riley -- when he was an assistant chief five years ago during the Katrina offensive -- order police supervisors to pass on orders to shoot looters and "take the city back."
I guess Holder hopes to distance himself from the paramilitary tyranny enforcers he is so fond of, now that real opposition is being heard.
Five years?

Pericles said...

Time works to the advantage of one side, or the other. I think one of the lessons of Reagan winning the Cold War is that time is on our side. Our opponents have to obtain a disproportionate share of resources at a much greater cost than we bear,

To keep the at least 3 to 1 ratio needed to attack me:

For every round of ammunition I have,my opponent needs to have at least 3.
For every man that joins with me, my opponent has to recruit,pay, and train at least3.
For every day I wait patiently, my opponent has to commit resources.

I just have to wait until the leviathan collapses on its own accord, because time is on my side due to the fact that my opponent will run out of resources to commit. Every day I prepare, I increase the cost to my opponent and hasten the day of his collapse.

Anonymous said...

I can only wish to have the historical knowledge you possess Mr. V. A very, very interesting narrative.

Dan
III

Anonymous said...

First, one of the arguments most often heard in simpleton quarters is "THEY" (whoever they are) are "too smart to start a war" and will simply gradually increase oppressive measures until they achieve our absolute slavery.

Well Mike, love ya ... but let us hope that they do not prove you to be the simpleton.

If the only alternative is your alternative, then let us hope you are right. If you are not? Then it will be left to future generations to figure out.

Rehashing the first American revolution is nice for its historical value, but history is not always a road map of future events. While many valuable lessons can be learned from history, no matter what side of the fence you are on, one shouldn't use a revolutionary map to find ones way from New York to China Town, San Francisco.

We'll see how things play out.

And just a cautious reminder... we may very well think of TP'sTB as ... stoopid ... but here we are today ... through many justifications to rise up and reclaim our republic.

Again, if your alternative is the only alternative, then lets us hope you are correct in your analysis. Because if it is not, then we have placed the burden on the fruit of out loins. Let us hope that they in turn do not place the burden on the fruit of their loins. As our fathers and their fathers placed on us. May your analysis not be wishful thinking.

Anonymous said...

fwiw - on the way south out of Old Town Alexandria, before you get to Gravelly Park, there's one of those ARRA signs. North of Four Mile Run. Right along the bike path.

Just sayin'. From one who never did take up paintball. How *does* one make up stickers from a .jpg on the web, anyway?

Anonymous said...

Well said Brother.

Pickdog
III

pdxr13 said...

If this bad thing can be delayed, let it be so. Delay a month, a week, another month, all for the good. We grow stronger and more legitimate in the minds of the people. We are not "racists" or "terrorists" regardless of what the Gov't Controlled Media says, and the people will know it if we remain with them and be helpful.

We can have a soft slow revolution, a turn-over in the ruling elite, maybe with some elections and trials to determine the guilty and to bring a new government without the baggage of the previous ones. Very few will die if the mechanism of the Constitution is maintained, but who can say what terrible forces will be unleashed if a free-for-all determines the winners from among the survivors?

I can endure those stings of inept wasteful central Gov't that I cannot evade. My resistance will look like inability, weakness, and bad luck while continuous effort is made on stockpiles and coordination, physical fitness and self-education.

Leave the tripwire untripped, and mark it clearly with a warning. We need more time, as much as possible from our side.

Cheers.

Anonymous said...

I was looking for books in ye olde B&N store today and chanced upon one Vince Flynn's older books, to wit: "Term Limits". It struck me that sending copies that little fable to various congresspigs would be an interesting variation of the broken window ploy.

Anonymous said...

How many ARRA signs have been updated thus far?

The answer has meaning, if you search.

Anonymous said...

You've done more to hurt freedom than to adovocate it.

"No Fort Sumters"-----

You're afraid, Mike....

Chuck Martel said...

Ghandi said something very similar to Mr. Collins, "They may torture my body, break my bones, even kill me, then they will have my dead body. Not my obedience!"

Anonymous said...

Ever toss a brick personally, Mike?

Anonymous said...

Mooah, Mr. V. Hooah

Anonymous said...

All I ever wanted was a clear and concise argument as to why we should wait. You have provided it, and I will concede to wait a little longer, how much longer till this tyranny we all live under eats me alive, I can not say; but; I will wait. And I may or may not drive out of state to vandalize a sign or two in act[s] of civil disobedience. Thank you for all you have done.


Sincerely, DB III

Anonymous said...

There will NEVER be "casus belli" to satisfy the likes of the masses because as you ALL well know the Govt. and its corporate powers hold all the cards of newspaper press, MSM, internet news etc... They have and will continue to manipulate all information that is consumed by the public. If you are waiting for casus belli in order to get off of your butt... IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN!!!!!!
In this day and age, any action that a group takes against the Govt. be it a large or small group, will be re-interperated and fed back to the masses with whatever spin they want to put on it. The term "casus belli" may just as well not exist!

Anonymous said...

pdxr13 said...
We can have a soft slow revolution, a turn-over in the ruling elite, maybe with some elections and trials to determine the guilty and to bring a new government without the baggage of the previous ones. Very few will die if the mechanism of the Constitution is maintained, but who can say what terrible forces will be unleashed if a free-for-all determines the winners from among the survivors?


I want to remind you of something. When G.W. Bush said: "It's just a G-damn piece of paper", he was entirely correct in that statement. That piece of paper is nothing without the will to ensure that it is enforced and adhered to. And it was your betters who placed that burden on YOU, YOU, YOU ... and ME.

What we had: "A republic madam ... if YOU can keep it."

How to keep it: "The Tree of Liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure."

Your "soft slow revolution" is a pipe dream.

Here is your "soft slow revolution"! Compromise! Status Quo! Appeasers. The definition of which is: You can whip us, but not as hard. Or: We don't want to get there tomorrow. Can you wait until the day after?

Whatever. Lets just get it done folks. If your bag of tea is throwing rocks ... then throw them. If it is sticking stickers on bathroom walls ... then stick them. If it is knocking down signs ... then knock down. Personally, for myself, I am working on the minds and hearts of people I talk to. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose ... but to the ones I lose, they were lost in the beginning anyhow. To those I win, it is one more less mind, body, and spirit for the lost.

I don't tremble for my country anymore. My country deserves what it gets for its apathy and loss of moral character and it deserves it good and hard. I do tremble for my family and my friends ... AND ... some of you. I can assure you, that when bullets are crack-slapping inches from your head, you are not thinking of your country, but those you love.

Even so...

EJR914 said...

Powerful post, Mike. That sort of post is needed from time to time.

Anonymous said...

Fear is a good thing. It shows that you have a perceptive nature, that you realize that actions and omissions have consequences. Sometimes those are extreme and affect others as well. Sometimes they can't be avoided, no matter what you do.

This is especially true when you know that you are a target, among others, and you suspect "they" won't be stopped and can't be reasoned with. That "they" will have it "their" way, regardless of any prohibition to the contrary which previously was the understood "law of the land."

That the options that will be offered are to surrender the country, your rights and your children's rights or be imprisoned or die. Surrender your constitution, bill of rights and liberty, become "their" slave, or be imprisoned or die.

So you hope that everything holds together, just a little longer. Point being that "they" will be very willing to gallantly sacrifice as many tax dollars and government personnel it requires, to win. But not themselves or their friends. Well, maybe their friends but certainly not them.

The time is coming because "they" will not stop or be reasoned with. "They" feel that "they" don't have to listen anymore and moreover, that "they" can win. That we will be easy to beat, if we do anything at all about any of it.

EMWONAY said...

Some really good points here. I still want this to go hot. But I see where having it go hot at the right time, for the right reason, with the proper buildup of events is important for success. I guess I knew it all along, its just so easy to want this to begin sometimes. Hell, maybe shooting can be avoided! We just dont know.

While I believe that every day that passes makes gaining victory harder, it is just the hand we are dealt I guess. The public's support is one of the biggest reasons to hold off and wait. And even if we were not going to consider public support, Who are we going to fight? lol seriously?

I am glad to have done some thinking on this subject. I still want what I want, but it is not the right time or place for that yet. And if it can be avoided, even better.


Thank you Dakota for an earlier comment to a post I made. Its really helped me reconsider how I was thinking about this whole subject. I can want whatever I want, but I shouldnt kid myself and believe that I am in control of anything. Being reigned back into reality really helps see the need for more restraint. And more thought to the process of this whole thing.

Anonymous said...

I think your analysis of a modern Ft. Sumter incident is accurate, in that it correctly predicts the sympathies of many of the 300 million in the US.

But it is wrong, in that it is playing politics with what should be inalienable rights.

It is also an error to be designing strategy within the box of majority rule. The percentage of collectivists is too high to let that work.

"First, one of the arguments most often heard in simpleton quarters is "THEY" (whoever they are) are "too smart to start a war" and will simply gradually increase oppressive measures until they achieve our absolute slavery."

The Jews DID give up their careers and businesses, move into the ghettos, and get on the boxcars without opposition. It HAS worked before. Tell us how you aren't repeating that mistake.

Kyle Bennett said...

Very astute analysis. It's the mark of beginner chess players to start by seeking check at every opportunity. Seasoned player learn patience, timing, position, and depth. They may use a check on the king as a tactical move, but they reserve the full, final attack for when all the pieces are in place.

In this case, the pieces are not just hardware, but also ideas, will, and moral clarity.

Anonymous said...

we will be their pearl harbor

III more than them said...

"I just have to wait until the leviathan collapses on its own accord, because time is on my side due to the fact that my opponent will run out of resources to commit. Every day I prepare, I increase the cost to my opponent and hasten the day of his collapse."

It won't cost him anything to sit back and watch you. Since he won't go man to man with you, and will use technology you DON'T have as a force multiplier, your equation will show to be in error, and the real resolution will come at you from a side with which you are unfamiliar.

You expect him to match blue for blue, but he will come with red.

Anonymous said...

As far as OKC goes, the jury is still out on that. McVeigh and Nichols could have been part of a larger govt false flag or even agents of a foreign power. Read THE THIRD TERRORIST by Jana Davis.
Also, we still have a few months of wiggle room until November second. Use that time to plan and prepare for whatever you see is going to happen in your AO. Also, watch the economy. Barry and his minions cannot control the laws of economics. Their plunge protection team and quantitative easing policies cannot keep the rotten house of cards propped up indefinitely. As I wrote in an earlier post, an economic meltdown means chaos in the big cities, where so many of the parasite class live. Think of one thousand Katrinas, one thousand Rodney King riots. The Leviathan will be very busy with these people.
So be of good cheer. But again: plan, watch, wait, and communicate.

Anonymous said...

I do not wear seatbelts unless I decide it is warranted according to road conditions, speed, etc. Nor do I hesitate to carry my sidearm traveling through states that have the balls to tell me I can't. When you see vandalized abortion signs and propaganda billboards expect that I was one of those vandals, but not the only one. I see antiAmerican obama supporters on magazines at the checkout, you can bet the cover catches the heel of my shoe, gets a good splash of my coffee or maybe even a wad of my gum. At the very least they get turned upside down or completely tossed behind the rack like I did with every one of those filthy obama books that were out last year.

I am not new to this.

Anonymous said...

Mike,
You think like a general. Bravo.
I'm new to this board, but share Mike's opinion that, we must retain the moral high ground, the war of northern aggression proves that.
Our Lord is our example, he over turned the tables of the money changers, and whipped them, he did not draw a sword...
They CAN be provoked, in the words of a first lady;
JUST SAY NO.

God Bless Mike

ruralcounsel said...

Keep preaching Mike. It's good common sense stuff, and will help the eager youngsters from making early miscalculations.

I suspect that some of your "simpletons" are actually provocatuers, trying to cause us to expose our positions and capabilities too early.

We've been given the gift of time to train and prepare. We should make good use of it.

Seeker said...

Oh nonsense -- no one goes to jail for not buying health care.

What balderdash. Why can't you refute health care plan, without making up nonsense?

There is plenty about the health care plan to critisize and repeal, without such tripe.

And if you want to change health care, here is a clue, change it. Elect the people you want, or run yourself. Is that too hard for you to grasp?

What kind of insanity is this?

You clearly can not be upset about a healthcare plan that you don't even know. The health care plan you hate does not exist.

I can only assume you just want "social points" for being angry. Like some little kid pouting for effect.

Personally I'm opposed to Obama's health care plan, I think it was vastly overdone, and far too giving to fat cats and insurance companies. But that's just me.

I don't threaten and act macho duck cause I didn't get my way.

Everyone can't get their way, fido. Figure that out. So what's your logic? Something happen you don't like? So you get macho.

Well go for it. But that is not how a republic is supposed to work. You don't get everything you want.

Do you realize that? Some people are gonna was no pollution laws, others want crazy strict pollution laws. Eventually that's worked out politically, which means people vote, and probably compromise.

Likewise on health care. Or speed limits. You don't get everythig you want.

Figure that out. It's called growing up.

Seeker said...

Oh, and by the way, the "trigger" for the Civil War was NOT Fort Sumter. We all hear of Fort Sumter, but that was just the firing.

The trigger was pulled two weeks before. In Montgomer.

The trigger was the South's official Ultimatums to the North. There were five of them.

Do you know what the Southern Ultimatums were?

Well everyone knew then, about them. They were headlines in the papers, North and South.

The Richmond paper headline was "The TRUE ISSUE!"

Lincoln would not, and could not, obey these ultimatums, so the South attacked.

When you learn what the Southern Ultimatums were -- you will also see why the South has tried to ignore these Ultimatums.

Google Southern Ultimatums March of 1861, and learn a little. Learn what "the true issue" was-- according to Southern leaders and the newspapers.

These demands -- issued by the very same people who wrote the Southern Constitution and created their government ---are the best possible way to see what the South wanted, and what THEY said the war was about, at the time.

Not what some historian said, but what the Southern leaders said officially, loudly, and proudly.