Growing and Inescapable Burden

Israeli School Protection

 Liberal political correctness holds that we should learn from "diversity" --from the wisdom of other lands-cultures. Though the politically correct crowd would be horrified to think it, the place from which to learn about dealing with terrorism is Israel whose people have triumphed over terrorism for 50+ years.

[Palestinian murders of school children began decades ago.] It seemed a low-risk strategy: Small children can't shoot back. So when Arafat's and other Palestinian terror groups started out over thirty years ago their first targets were schools and school buses.

But Israel's response has been that at least some teachers in each school are armed. Likewise, bus drivers are issued guns and/or encouraged to carry their private firearms, and at least one armed teacher or parent must ride along on every school field trip. By arming teachers to stave off terror attackers until security forces (who patrol near schools) arrive Israel has deterred Palestinian school attacks for the last 30 years.

 This is, incidentally, a matter of deliberate policy, not just of idiosyncratic sadism. The theory is that by killing children, especially in front of their parents, Palestinians maximize the chance of terrorizing the Jews. Also such attacks initially seemed a low-risk strategy: So when Arafat's and other Palestinian terror groups started out over thirty years ago their first targets were schools and school buses.

It works even on today's suicide terrorists. While willing to die, they still avoid schools lest they be shot down before they can kill the children. It is easier to kill in places and circumstances where strangers are allowed entrance rather than barred, as illustrated by a May 31, 2002 incident reported by the Israeli news service Arutz Sheva: "At about 8:30 AM, [a Palestinian terrorist entered the town of Shavei Shomron, opened] fire and threw at least one grenade at the kindergarten before setting off on a shooting spree through the town. He opened fire at several residents and homes before David Elbaz, owner of the local mini-market, gave chase and killed him with gunshots. In addition to several grenades and the [rifle] the terrorist carried on him, security sweeps revealed several explosive devices that he had intended to detonate during the thwarted attack."

Note that he did NOT try to enter the school. That would have required that he successfully shoot it out with school personnel in order to get  into a position to set off his bombs. (A few days before, a suicide terrorist was killed by a teacher before he could harm anyone.)

The above is from Don Kates, a  longtime  eminent civil rights attorney and Second Amendment supporter who, incidentally, also is a liberal Democrat.

P.S.  Students at at least several New York City Jewish schools also are always under the protection of trained armed guards there.  Volunteer parents take turns performing that duty after acquiring the equipment and skills necessary to protect their children.

Letter From Kerr Mudgeon

Dear Mr. [Think Tank President]:

         Although I appreciate your recent letter and the work done by and because of [your think tank] , I will no longer support it or the many other libertarian organizations to which I have contributed over the past six decades.

         As is indicated by the length of time that I have provided financial and other help to organizations promoting individual rights and liberties (along with the commensurate responsibilities), I am an aging codger.  As such, I continue enjoying my life, which has been and continues to be blessed with good health, many compatible friends, and satisfying family relationships.

         However, it is clear to me that the good work that has been and is being done by [your think tank] and similar organizations has failed to stem the expansion of the size and scope of government and the corresponding erosion of our liberties.  Promoting good ideas is a fine and worthy endeavor but our country today has a far more intrusive government and is far less free than in my earlier days.

         All the good works by intellectual adherents to Constitutional principles apparently only provide intellectual resources for rear guard actions that at best slow the rate of the retreat from, and abandonment and defeat of those principles.  Those resources go largely unused in any coherent way.  We desperately need but completely lack an effective organized active effort to advance -- or even merely to defend what remains of -- the values that the nation’s founders sought to enshrine in the Constitution.

         We thought but largely failed to fight a good and worthwhile fight and therefore have lost. 

Like a fish that has been kept too long, we rotted out from the head, with the corruption first having taking hold in, and then spreading from our leading institutions in government, academia, business and finance, organized labor, the press, and even our churches.  The virtuous citizenry required for maintenance of the republic no longer exists.

         In light of the foregoing, I have concluded that every society, nation, and civilization has a life cycle akin to that of all living organisms . . . and that ours (including all of what has been thought of as Western Civilization) is in a downward spiral.  I used to believe that I would be gone before the final collapse.  But that may not be the case as the decline, having already reached an inescapable point, is accelerating with breathtaking rapidity. 

Still in the Game

Dashing the statists' fondest hopes, Sarah Palin is making it clear that she isn't going to disappear or back down.  See the latest story here.

Rare Honest Realism

Wisconsin's Milwaukee County sheriff has acknowledged that there cannot be enough law enforcement officers to protect individual citizens.  Accordingly, he is recommending that people learn to use firearms and take responsibility for defending themselves and their loved ones.

Makes sense, and anyone who thinks about it will understand that police agencies are not organized to provide protection to anyone.  Their personnel almost always show up after being called after harm has been done.  Then, to the extent that their resources enable them to do so, they endeavor to apprehend the perpetrator.

Bagpiper's 'Man Thing'

As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a

funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless

man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a

pauper's cemetery in the back country. As I was not familiar

with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man,

I didn't stop for directions.

I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently

gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the

diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.

I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the

side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in

place. I didn't know what else to do, so I started to play.

The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around.

I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends.  I played like I've never played before for this homeless man.

And as I played 'Amazing Grace,' the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car.  Though my head hung low, my heart was full.  As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say,

"I never seen nothin' like that before and I've been putting in

septic tanks for twenty years."

Apparently, I'm still lost . . . .  It's a man thing.

New Term, New Slogan: 'Who Cares?"

Vacation Hiatus

Kerr is going to be out of the country on vacation until roughly January's last few days.  So no new items will be posted on this blog until about the end of the month. In the meantime, take the time to peruse and, hopefully, enjoy the previously posted pearls of wisdom.

Deadly Threat to Liberty

Registration Records Prove Criminals Are Unarmed

No Credit Earned

Lessons From a U.S. Government Massacre

December 29, 2012 marked the 122nd Anniversary of the murder of 297 Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee Creek on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.
 These 297 people, in their winter camp, were murdered by federal agents and members of the 7th Cavalry who had come to confiscate their firearms “for their own safety and protection.” The slaughter began AFTER the majority of the Sioux had peacefully turned in their firearms. When the final round had flown, of the 297 dead or dying, two thirds (200) were women and children.

Around 40 members of the 7th Cavalry were killed, over half cut down by friendly fire from the Hotchkiss guns of their overzealous comrades-in-arms.  Twenty members of the 7th Cavalry were deemed “National Heros” and awarded the Medal of Honor for their acts of cowardice.

We do not hear of Wounded Knee today.  It is not mentioned in our history classes or books.  What little does exist about Wounded Knee is normally the sanitized “Official Government Explanation” or the historically and factually inaccurate depictions of the events leading up to the massacre on the movie screen.

Wounded Knee was among the first federally backed gun confiscation attempts in United States history.  It ended in the senseless murder of 297 people.

Before you jump on the emotionally charged bandwagon for gun-control, take a moment to reflect on the real purpose of the Second Amendment -- The right of the people to take up arms in defense of themselves, their families, and property in the face of invading armies or an oppressive government.  The argument that the Second Amendment only applies to hunting and target shooting is asinine.  When the United States Constitution was drafted “hunting” was an everyday chore carried out by men and women to put meat on the table each night, and “target shooting” was an unheard of concept -- musket balls were precious commodities in the wilds of early America, and were certainly not wasted “target shooting.”  The Second Amendment was written by people who fled oppressive and tyrannical regimes in Europe, and refers to the right of American citizens to be armed for defense purposes should such tyranny rise in the United States.

As time goes on the average citizen in the United States continues to lose personal freedom or “liberty.”  Far too many times unjust bills are passed and signed into law under the guise of “for your safety” or “for protection.”  The Patriot Act signed into law by G.W. Bush, then expanded and continued by Barack Obama is just one of many examples of American citizens being stripped of their rights and privacy for “safety.”  Now, the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is on the table, and will, most likely now will be cut back and eventually taken away for “our safety.”

Before American citizens blindly accepts whatever new firearms legislation is about to be rolled out, they should stop and think about something for just one minute: 
Evil does exist in our world. It always has and always will. Throughout history evil people have committed evil acts.  In the Bible one of the first stories is that of Cain killing Abel.  We can not legislate “evil” into extinction. Good people will abide by the law, defective people will always find a way around it.

And another thought:  Evil exists all around us, but looking back at the historical record of the past 200 years across the globe, where have “evil” and “malevolence” most often been found?  By the hands of those with power -- governments.  The greatest human tragedies on record and the largest losses of innocent human life have been caused by governments.  Who do governments target? “Scapegoats” and “enemies” within their own borders . . . but only after they have been disarmed to the point where they are no longer a threat. Ask any Native American, and they will tell you it was inferior technology and lack of arms that contributed to their demise.  Ask any Armenian why it was so easy for the Turks to exterminate millions of them, and they will answer “We were disarmed before it happened.”  Ask any Jew what Hitler’s first step prior to the mass murders of the Holocaust was -- confiscation of firearms from the people.

Wounded Knee is a prime example of why the Second Amendment exists, and why we shouldn’t be rushed into surrendering our Right to Bear Arms.  Without the Second Amendment we have no means to defend ourselves and our families.