Sunday, September 15, 2013

Warrior Class takes me to task, upcoming plans and reflections on two decades.

He comments:
Do you ever write any more of your own, or are you just now a Drudge-type conglomerate? We can all get the news directly from the sources you provide, but it was what you had to say that we all respected. Now you have nothing to say, so why should we keep coming here? Hell, you don't even say thank you. Adios, hombre. WarriorClass III
Funny. I was thinking the same things more or less just the other day. Not the part about failing to say thank you, because I try to do that, at least, without fail. I couldn't do what I do -- to the extent I am able to do it -- without the constant support of my readers. And I mean "support" not just in the voluntary subscriptions but in all the prayers and kind words I get daily in comments and emails.
But like Warrior Class I am never satisfied with my work, so I offer no defense to his critique. His thoughts track with my own. If I may, however, I'd like to offer a more complete look behind the scenes as it were to my average day that may be an explanation, if an unsatisfactory one.
As anyone who looks at the times of my various posts can tell, I've difficulty with insomnia. Sometimes the various aches and pains will wake me up, sometimes an idea. My first move after hitting the head is to the computer to check my email, answering those that require answer, marking many for later consideration, deleting those that have made it past the spam filter, etc. I get hundreds of email (sometimes more than a thousand) each day, so this is a constant chore. I then go to Sipsey Street and release (or delete) comments on previous posts. I then begin constructing the posts for the day from the news that seems important to me, especially from news tips of readers garnered in the previously-discussed emails.
Sometimes I'll start this process right after midnight and it takes me only so far when I must get some sleep again, and then I lay back down. Sometimes it works and I get more rest, sometimes not. If I do, often I'll oversleep, so that when I wake, I'll have just enough time to get outside a hard-boiled egg, shower, have Rosey change the dressing on my back and get ready to drive her to work. She has to be there by 0800 and it takes about a half hour to drive there. After dropping Rosey, I head to the doctors' appointments for the day or bill-paying stops and try to combine the trip back home with other stops that get the maximum amount accomplished for the least expenditure of gas. Along the way, I always hit the PO Box to see what comes in since many folks only communicate with me by essentially anonymous snail mail. (The One Hundred Heads note was a good example of that.)
I am generally back home sometime around lunch. My first move is to the computer, again to release comments and check (and weed out) emails. Lunch has to be light because my digestive system is very pressure-sensitive and the results of over-eating are often spectacularly inconvenient, so if I'm going to get anything done later in the afternoon I've got to eat sparingly.
If I've had little or no sleep the previous night and have no other intervening work required of me before picking up Rosey, I'll fall asleep on the couch after eating. Lately though, I've had plenty to keep me busy. This is the time when I get the most done on the Absolved rewrite, usually about three or four times a week. This is also when I do more planning and organizing work for upcoming operations. More often, this is when I get required household chores done.
Then, too soon, the time is up and I'm off to pick up Rosey who gets off at 1700 Monday through Friday and at 1600 on Friday. Any grocery shopping generally happens on the way home, which can delay things by about an hour or two given rush hour traffic. My first move once inside the door is down the stairs to the computer, where I go through the email/post ritual once again. (I'll do this once more before turning in for the episodic night.) Then, having posted on Sipsey Street the stuff that I think is important enough to interest the readers, I go up for supper and a little time with Rosey. And so, to bed, and then the schedule repeats.
In the past few weeks I've also been absorbed by going through my papers accumulated over the past 20 years, sorting them out and boxing them up for the Birmingham Public Library Archives folks. Believe me, this is a huge volume of documents. Yet this, like Absolved, is a task that must be completed before I resume civil disobedience operations in the fall, if for no other reason than we are contemplating some stuff that could get me arrested at the least.
When I do go out to Colorado, I will have a reporter in tow who will document the whole trip. Same goes for the planned trip up to Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut (their ammo restrictions go into effect in October, not July as I was misinformed back in April and I still have that 7.62x39 to spread around in defiance of that intolerable act).
One of the things we're talking about for Colorado is how to maximize the effect of our efforts on the future career of Governor Hickenlooper and how to keep hanging the gun-control bell around that cat's neck until the November 2014 election.
Despite all of these daily and special tasks, I, like Warrior Class, am dissatisfied that I haven't been able to crank out more original material and follow up on investigative stories that I have received tips on. I don't blame him for being upset. I'm upset myself. Yet, the blog must go on if anything else is, and the blog is a monster that must be fed. There are many folks who make Sipsey Street their first stop of the day and who appreciate the Drudge-like links, often because they wouldn't encounter them elsewhere and they appreciate my take on them, even if it's just a sarcastic headline.
It is not an excuse, I offer you dear readers, but perhaps it is an explanation.
You know, going through my papers has also provided me with a glimpse at what a long fight we are in, how far we've come, how far we have to go, and of the many friends and fellow fighters we've lost along the way. It's been 9 years since I lost my good friend Arlin Adams to heart attack. It was Arlin, a devout traditional Episcopalian, and the "1st Psy-Ops Company, Southeastern Command" who helped me get the "Unwanted by the FBI" posters up in Michael Brescia's haunts in Philadelphia which embarrassed the FBI into finally rolling up the last remnants of the Aryan Republican Army cells in that area. (Brescia had been the roommate of federal provocateur Andreas Carl Strassmeier at Elohim City, OK at the time of the OKC bombing. See Ambrose Evans-Pritchard's article in this issue of the John Doe Times.)
It's been five and a half years since we lost my co-conspirator in truth on the OKC bombing J.D. Cash. To my eternal regret, J.D. was buried before anyone thought to let me know.
Ten years before that. we lost Glenn Wilburn, whose crusade to find out what really caused the deaths of his two grandsons Chase and Colton Smith in the Murrah Building daycare on 19 April 1995 brought J.D. and me together in the private investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing.
Glenn, J.D. and I made a solemn promise that one day we would get to the truth of the OKC bombing and the role that Elohim City played in it and that we would stroll together onto the foreclosed property where the bolmbing had been planned and together piss on the graves of FBI informant "Pastor" Millar and the stupid terrorist Richard Wayne Snell (he shot and killed a pawn shop owner he mistakenly believed was Jewish). It was Snell, whose execution date was moved up by Arkansas Governor Jim Guy Tucker to 19 April 1995, in whose honor the OKC bombing was carried out the morning of his death to give him a "going away present." As he awaited his execution, Snell watched television coverage of the bombing and laughed like hell at the carnage. His last words were: "Hell has victories. I am at peace."
Well, both Millar and Snell have likely gone to that Hell. J.D. and Glenn have gone to their respective rewards, but it is unlikely we ever know the truth about the OKC bombing or that I will get the chance to urinate upon the graves of Millar and Snell. It is far more likely that one their neo-Nazi familiars or FBI handlers will urinate upon mine. I am content though, proud to have known such fearless patriots as J.D. and Glenn, prouder still that they called me friend.
There more faces that pop up when I go through these documents. There is Doyle Proctor, another fearless patriot who stood by me along with the rest of Bob Wright's boys of the 1st New Mexico at the national militia meeting at Mountain Springs, Texas back in October 1995 when I took on Prophet of the Most High Yahweh Willie Ray Lampley. Doyle also played a critical role in the beginning of Operation White Rose. Doyle is gone now too, an ardent patriot gone to his reward.
Bob Wright, my fast friend since that day in Texas is still here, of course. There have been many times when Bob and I wondered aloud how we ever made it alive through the 90s. It is evident that God is not done with us yet.
So to Warrior Class and everyone else who justifiably gets a little irritated at the quality of my work product, I would ask forbearance if not forgiveness. As far as I've traveled to date, I ain't done yet.

25 comments:

JAQUEBAUER said...

I am amazed at the amount of work you are able to put out, considering the chronic health problems that you have. So dont knock yourself too hard, and to hell with those that feel its necessary to whine about whatever hair may be up their ass at the moment.

Anonymous said...

Wow! I gotta start praying for you more.
Thanks for your service to us all Mr.. Vanderbough

suek said...

Warrior is an ingrate.

Let him produce something that rivals your contributions - if he can.

I admire the perseverance of those of you who blog day in and day out...

No pay, apparently no thanks and nothing to show for it - you certainly don't need brickbats.

Ignore him.

Thank you for what you do in spite of your infirmities.

CowboyDan said...

Sounds as if you're quite productive, all things considered.

I'm one who hits SSI early, every day I can, and it IS for the links that I am most grateful. You bring news from places I wouldn't likely go on my own. Thank you.

I also greatly appreciate your original work, and the time & effort that must take. I have several chapters of "Absolved" on various fucuters, but several are missing. I look forward to finding them somewhere online, or buying complete, bound copies somewhere someday.

I know a few people who'd do well to read your work, and I will send them books when I can and links when I can't , as I now do with Matt Bracken's work. His "What I Saw at the Coup" is a classic short story.

Keep up the good work, as best you can, and keep the faith. I'm not the only one who appreciates it.

Being its after nine Sunday, I have to dress and go to church. I used to be a traditional Episcopalian and thought I'd die one, but The Episcopal Church had different ideas.

I was one of thousands who left over theological, trust, and to a much lesser degree, social issues. I hope God chooses someday to heal them, and us, but I really hope He laughs at His foolish children when we quarrel.

I do hope he isn't angered by our foolishness. He has been angry before, and it wasn't pretty.

Dutchman6 said...

Cut Warrior Class some slack. He's been a mainstay of support for a long time and if that doesn't give him the right to bitch I don't know what does.

Slobyskysa Rotchikokov said...

Hey. a LOT of us have had a hard time - you know some of my own situation - and still do what we can. We don't find it necessary to bitch and moan; and if Warrior Classless had something to say to you, why didn't he email you instead of posting it? Piss on him and the camel he rode in on. Maybe he can have better luck if he moves to the 'Citadel' where self-righteous mealymouthing is the order of the day. I say, good riddance to any ingrate who spouts off in public about a private gripe.
Prayer continues for you, my friend.

Chris P. said...

This is the first place I come every morning, Mike. Thank you.

Robin said...

Sir, You are doing a great job! I think of you as a soldier who refuses evac until he completes his mission. You are defending the Constitution just as much as I did in the Army. Just in a different way.
I once had a 22 year old 2LT tell me that everyone, no exceptions, should adhere to the 18-22 year old physical training (PT) standards. If we did that, no one would ever make it above Major or Staff Sergeant. I chalked it up to ignorance. He hadn't even really thought about it. Who wants an ignorant Army; ignorant people. God bless.

Anonymous said...

Don't listen to him. Plenty of people love your site and codrea's. in fact, as a charter member of Ron Paul' new channel, I was asked to give my ideas on guests. I suggested you and codrea for breaking and keeping alive the fast and furious story. That alone qualifies you as never having to write an original post in your life again if you desired, and I would still visit your blog every day.

Anonymous said...

SSI is still my first stop in the morning. I appreciate the links. Sure, I wish circumstances allowed you to do more. In the end, I come here for the quality, not the quantity. All I can say are the words of my father that this Iowa farm boy heard figuratively countless times, and lived literally plenty of times as well: "Make hay while the sun shines."

Anonymous said...

I'm one of those people that make this my first stop or at least 3rd. ;) I don't read Drudge or most of the other places b/c they generally have a very right wing or left wing slant....we have that here too to an extent, but it's more libertarian in thought for the most part and not so partisan b/c Sipsey recognizes that the Statists destroying this country have both Rs and Ds next to their names.

Keep doing what you're doing and tell Rosey that we're sorry we've stolen you from her.

Thank you for all that you do.

God Bless,
Sean

michael said...

Hang in there. Your doing great. If ya ain't pissing someone off your not working hard. Cheers

Vegas Dave said...

I visit everyday Mike, and look forward to your (dare I say) pithy remarks, and even more so, your lengthy dispatches.

Enjoy life, we understand your health battles.

and good on you for understanding Warrior Class was essentially complaining because he wants MORE, not less of Col. Vanderboegh

fireplaceguy said...

I spend a lot less time wallowing in the demise of America than I used to. I'm very selective about time spent on the web these days, and SSI is one of my very few regular reads.

Mike, given your health and financial challenges, I have been VERY impressed with the consistency and quality of your posts. You do more with less than anyone else I'm aware of in the patriot movement. It's understandable that you don't write as much in-depth original material these days, and anyone who's given it much thought realizes that you are far more frustrated by that than any reader.

A blog is indeed a monster to be fed, and I doubt anyone besides a farmer, rancher or fellow blogger really appreciates the burden. You have nothing to apologize for, and much to be proud of.

grey said...

I don't think it is right to criticize you for not writing. I like the stuff you aggregate, most of it I don't see anywhere else and I like the stuff you have written yourself.

I don't know why people are so ugly.

Ned said...

I suppose the old adage "you can't please all the people all the time" is appropriate here.

Many thanks for your efforts, and Godspeed in your recovery.

Stay healthy and stay safe!

Please check out this website - the information saved my life and turned my wife into an energetic ball of fire: http://www.paleodiet.com/

GMO foods are death.

CB said...

"...Warrior Class was essentially complaining because he wants MORE..."
Yes, quite likely. He sounds like a tough old nail who hates all the waiting and wants to get this damn thing settled. We are all like that. Most of us just want to get on with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The problem is that the damn liberals just wont leave it alone. They keep stirring the pot. That fact will never change. If we had total victory TODAY, there can be no rest period lest the creeps creep back in. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty."

WCIII probably will check in, now and then, but even if he doesn't, many will continue to make this their first stop in the morning, at noon, and in the evening.
Keep posting Mike. Since I found your site several years ago, we who love freedom have grown in numbers and have some victories to show for it; Colorado being the latest. And, as I've said before, if MV hadn't kicked the Fast and Furious door open and kept it open, would the world even know about it? Keep doing what you do best; stick your finger in the eye of the Cyclops every chance you get. It's good for morale.

CB

bubba said...

I never expected you to be my trained monkey. Do what you can when you can.

WarriorClass III said...

Did you get the 1000 bullets I sent to you?

Dutchman6 said...

Warrior Class, Please email me or call me.

skybill said...

Hi Mike,
A long time ago at the Acadamy Awards, the actor David Niven was at the podium when a "Streaker" ran past behind him catching everyone by surprise. Said Niven with perfect timing,"Some people just have to show off their short commings." The audience roared with laughter! (WCIII take note!!)...... I mean, like it sure would be nice to have a secretary or two and a staff of "Gofers" to help out, But! You're doing all this on your dime and your 10 fingers on the keyboard. Thanks again Mike for doing what you do.
BSBD,
III%,
skybill-out

plumbernater said...

Plumbernater said

Mr Vanderbough your work will never be finished, as long as there are those who want to change our country. You are definitly in my prayers. Who will pick up the tourch when you are gone. You are and will be among the many patriots this country has bred through her constant struggle to be free. Thank you and I wish I could know you personally. But I do keep up with your work and am with you here in Alabama

plumbernater said...

Mr Vanderbough your work will never be done, as long as there are folks that want to change our country. I will be praying for you, for you are among the patriots that have fought for our freedom from the beginning. Im just another ol Alabama boy that will stand with you when the call goes out. and I am proud I know you if only through this blog. This is also my first comment here. Dont like to say too much. You find out more by listening

Anonymous said...

I for one appreciate having the news in one central location as my google-fu skills are weak & I don't have unlimited time to search.

Merle

Unknown said...

You have nothing to apologize for, although I must admit I was pleased as hell about how er uh fulsome the recent write-ups have been. Soldier on, sir, and God bless.