You live in fear. This is the goal of terrorism.

I show my concealed-carry permit to a cashier asking for a photo id to confirm my credit card.  She panics.  She assumes because I have the weapons permit, I must be armed.  I’m now labeled a terrorist.  I’m questioned by the authorities, as are my friends.  I’m unable to fly because I’m on the TSA watch list.  Every purchase is scrutinized.  My travels outside the US are suddenly suspicious, regardless of the data trail.  Why did I purchase diesel fuel in Canada?  Didn’t I buy fertilizer in the US once?  Am I making a bomb?  What are these pictures on my camera?

The definition of terrorism from Merriam-Webster:

“Main Entry:

ter·ror·ism

Pronunciation:

\ˈter-ər-ˌi-zəm\

Function:

noun

Date:

1795

: the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion”

Imagine if I had a name typically found in the Middle East, like Ramak Fazel. All of his problems were caused by one busy-body on an airplane.

Report your neighbors, random acquaintances.  Fuck up life for all of those bullies in school by reporting them as well.  Live in fear.  Obey your government.  After all, they know best.

Domestic Violence & Protection

I volunteer for a battered womens shelter.  These women come in scared, and generally leave empowered.  During their transformation, they invariably want two things; self-defense lessons and a handgun.  They all say they can be overpowered by their partners; the gun is the equalizer.  I’ve heard over and over again, “I had a restraining order against him, but it didn’t stop him.”  Of course not, it’s a piece of paper reliant on a timely response from an overworked police force.  The self-defense lessons and handgun will even the odds, and possibly hold the partner until the police do wind up arriving.

It’s not that these women want to kill.  They want to protect themselves and their kids.  They feel far safer knowing I have a concealed permit, although very, very few every ask if I’m actually carrying.  They don’t want pepper spray, they don’t want to continue to have the crap beat out of them waiting for the police, they want a hand gun.  In MA, they seriously consider if they want to get one legally or not.  Legally, means their records are public and given the invasive requirements for a concealed carry license, someone always knows exactly where they are living.  Abusive partners will find this info and use it to their advantage.  Some have gone ‘downtown’ and picked up a few handguns from the street corner.  Some have been concealed carry holders for over 20 years without a license.  The risks of going to jail are less than exposing themselves to the public records for their abusers to find.

It’s also funny that the local NRA membership grows from these shelters.  These women starting over with nothing, somehow find the money to become an NRA member.  It crosses all walks of life.

I’m a terrorist.

A recent bill passed by the US House of Representatives, HR 1955, defines thought crime, violent radicalization, and basically anyone that is “different” is now a terrorist.  My past comments about defending America, violently if needed, now put me in the class of domestic terrorist.  Your founding fathers were domestic terrorists according to the British Govt.  Do we have to overthrow this silly govt in order to get real freedom, liberty, and change?

Americans No Longer Question Authority

Monday, 8 October 2007
Americans No Longer Question Authority
Timothy V. Gatto

HitlerHave we passed the point of no return in this country? Has the right engineered such a change in our laws that nothing can be done to bring the country back from an Orwellian State that exists to serve the oligarchy and has stripped the common man of his basic unalienable rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness? Has the Federal government become so powerful that it can imprison people for dissent? Can this government really designate anyone it wished a terrorist or a terrorist sympathizer and prosecute him or her without the benefit of due process? Have we really come to this point?

Some believe we have. There are some that honestly believe that America has no safeguards for civil liberties. These people believe that the right of free speech and the rights guaranteed us under the Constitution have been replaced by new laws that abridge our expectations of privacy, our right to dissent, and our right to challenge our government in a court of law to be decided by a jury of our peers.

These concerns are everywhere. I see them in articles, in e-mails, in telephone conversations and in the media. If this has indeed taken place, how was it done? Has the global war on terrorism taken such a priority in this nation that it now infringes on our personal freedom? If this is the case, can we ever get back what we have lost?

I believe that these questions are important and that we should all be asking them. I also believe that we should all be asking the question that if this is the case, how we as a people can change the situation. We should all be engaged in taking a reality check.

We should be asking ourselves if this government really needs the power that we seem to have ceded to them. We should be asking if the government really needs the authority to monitor our phone conversations, our e-mails and our mail. We should also be concerned about the laws that have been passed that require every citizen to have a national ID card. We should be asking the question why would it be necessary for the Federal Government to have the power to search our homes without our knowledge or without us being there because they say that they have information that indicates that we “might” be terrorists or terrorist sympathizers without having to show evidence of that belief because they claim it is “sensitive” in nature and could jeopardize “national security”.

The point I am making here is that the government has indeed overstepped its authority. The people that worry about whether or not we have reached the point of no return are asking a reasonable question. Have we turned into a police state? You tell me. Many Americans claim that the question is not important because they have nothing to hide. From my perspective that comes from 57 years on this planet, we all have something to hide. There is no one that lives that doesn’t have secrets that they would rather not be exposed. There is not a person alive that has not broken some law at sometime in their lives. No human being on Earth is untouchable. This is not opinion, it is a fact.

Now is the time to reflect on what one of the greatest patriot and statesmen in American history once said. Benjamin Franklin said “Those that would give up their freedom for a little security shall have neither freedom nor security”. This statement carries more weight and meaning now than it ever has, at least in my lifetime. When the government can do what it will, whether it be to tap your phone or to search your house without a signed warrant from a judge that has been given probable cause to issue a warrant, we have no rights. Thus we have indeed become a police state by the very definition of the words.

Will we have the chance to rectify the situation and put this nation back on track as a nation that obeys its own Constitution and thus the rule of law, or is it too late? It becomes too late when our leaders no longer talk about the civil rights that we have lost. When the citizenry is unconcerned and the leaders that are elected by the citizenry don’t examine the constitutionality of laws passed hastily by people that were afraid of things that they didn’t understand and voluntarily gave up their rights, it is doubtful that without a discussion of these freedoms lost, that we will ever get them back.

The two political parties that govern this nation do not seem as if they are in the least bit concerned that Americans have given up their rights against illegal search and seizure, the expectation of privacy in their communications, or the right to due process which is the right to be told what they are being charged for, the right of representation by a lawyer, the right to a speedy trail, and the right to be judged by a jury f their peers. If you are suspected of terrorism or of aiding a terrorist, you no longer have these rights. It doesn’t matter if you were born here or if you are an immigrant. The only thing that matters is that you are suspected by people that don’t have to tell you why they suspect you.

The major Democratic candidates and the major Republican candidates are not questioning these things. The laws have already been passed and the mechanisms in place. Meanwhile the people are silent and compliant. Have you ever wondered how the Nazi’s were allowed to subjugate the German People? You need not wonder any longer. It has happened to the American People now too. The terrorists have won. If like President Bush claims, they hate us for our freedom, they need hate us any longer. We have no freedom to hate us for.Authors Website: http://liberalpro.blogspot.comAuthors Bio: Former Chairman of the Liberal Party of America, Tim is a retired Army Sergeant. He currently lives in South Carolina. A regular contributor to OpEdNews, he is the author of Kimchee Kronicles and is currently at work on a new novel.

Top 10 Quotes Advocating Rebellion

1. “God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion. The people cannot be all, and always, well informed. The part which is wrong will be discontented, in proportion to the importance of the facts they misconceive. If they remain quiet under such misconceptions, it is lethargy, the forerunner of death to the public liberty . . . And what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time, that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to the facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.”
—Thomas Jefferson, letter to William Stevens Smith, November 13, 1787

2. “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquillity of servitude than the animating contest of freedom—go from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!”
—Samuel Adams, speech, Philadelphia State House, August 1, 1776

3. “There is danger from all men. The only maxim of a free government ought to be to trust no man living with power to endanger the public liberty.”
—John Adams, Notes for an Oration at Braintree, Spring 1772

4. “The basis of our political system is the right of the people to make and to alter their constitutions of government.”
—George Washington, Farewell Address, September 17, 1796

5. “Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; ’tis dearness only that gives everything its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed, if so celestial an article as Freedom should not be highly rated.”
—Thomas Paine, The American Crisis, No. 1, December 23, 1776

6. “This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it.”
—Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural Address, Washington, D.C., March 4, 1861

7. “If we wish to be free; if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending; if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained—we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms, and to the God of hosts, is all that is left us.”
—Patrick Henry, Speech in Virginia Convention, Richmond, March 23, 1775

8. “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God.”
—Benjamin Frankin, 1776

9. “Freedom had been hunted round the globe; reason was considered as rebellion; and the slavery of fear had made men afraid to think. But such is the irresistible nature of truth, that all it asks, and all it wants, is the liberty of appearing.”
—Thomas Paine, The Rights of Man, 1791

10. “In short, the flames kindled on the 4th of July, 1776, have spread over too much of the globe to be extinguished by the feeble engines of depotism; on the contrary, they will consume these engines and all who work them.”
—Thomas Jefferson, letter to John Adams, September 12, 1821

From Alternative Reel

How did the ‘Greatest Generation’ give birth to the ‘Most Stupid Generation’?

In reading this story, I came across the quote used in the title.  The quote is awesome.  My grandfather was a member of ‘the greatest generation’.  He grew up during World War I.  He lived through his father dying in the war.  He went on to serve in World War II.  He was a John Birch Republican.  He loved his country and the ideals on which it was founded.  He fought election corruption.  He fought for the beliefs embodied in the US Constitution.  The majority of his peers did the same.  They gave birth to spoiled brats afraid of their own shadow.  These are the people running your government today.  These are the neighbors and peers that fight for safety over liberty.  At least, that’s how it seems.  The practitioners of peace, love, and harmony of the 1960s are the future fascists of America today.

I’ll give up my house and relatively comfy lifestyle to fight a police state.  I’m a gun owner, so I’m already an infidel in the eyes of many.  America still has a way to go before becoming a USSR.  However, the machinery is in place to do so.  Would BlackWater’s standing army be ready to fight the US military over a battle for the Constitution?  Would you?

Second Republic of Vermont

I met some friends trying to spread the word about the Second Republic of Vermont.  I wish more states felt this good about secession.  Instead they all suck on the teat of the federal government as if it’s required.  The Second Republic of Vermont and Cascadia are two examples of a growing feeling that the US has gotten too big and out of control.  I believe the same is happening in Canada with Alberta and Quebec threatening to secede as well.

Banking Fun

I had to stop at a bank in Cambridge today to sign some forms.  The bank rep asked for a picture ID.  I thought for a minute and gave her my concealed carry firearms license.  Her eyes widened in horror.  She looked at me and then looked at the armed guard in the bank.  She quickly got up and said something about having to make a copy of it.  I’m sitting there reading brochures for a good 15 minutes.  All the while I’m thinking the copy machine is broken or they’re all freaking out that there may be an armed citizen in the bank.   She returns with the branch manager.  I’m asked if I have a license.  I state the firearms license is a license, issued by the state.  They ask for a drivers license.  I calmly explain that the firearms license has more background checks and authorization than the drivers license.  I state that I have to meet the town police chief in order to get the license.  A drivers license I can print up and fake pretty easily.

The branch manager thinks for a second and then calls over the armed guard.  It turns out the armed guard is an ex-cop.  He confirms my story about the firearms license.  He then stands over me and asks if I’m armed.  I clearly state I don’t have to answer that question.  I clearly state I’ll gladly leave the bank if this is making them nervous.  I’m sure another branch would be happy to handle my paperwork.  The armed guard  is clearly not happy about this situation.  He states to the branch manager that I should finish the paperwork and leave.

The bank rep returns my firearms license, asks me to sign the paper and then says, “that’s it, all done.”  As I’m standing up, I say, “Well, that was fun.”   The branch manager looks at me and nervously walks me to the door.

Showing my firearms license is becoming a habit.  The reactions to it are great.

Tending the Flock

A long time ago, I realized the American populace is controlled by their television. I stopped watching television shows at this point. It was a good decade before I started watching Nova and other PBS shows again. And then the Tivo arrived. Now I watch such a small segment of what’s available that I’m astounded by the sheer stupidity of what passes for news these days. I don’t read newspapers much either, for they are biased and parroting whatever they’re told to parrot. A free press is long gone; save the web.

Nightmares.

For the past few nights, I’ve forced myself to wake up from nightmares. I don’t know why they started. Let’s called them the “Red Dawn” series of nightmares. In each case, I’m somehow outnumbered and out gunned by an organized force. In all cases, I’m forced to choose between the kids and the wife to save. So far, I’ve chosen the kids every time. It’s shortly thereafter things get intense, and something realizes the dream is too real. I mastered lucid dreaming as a kid due to nightmares. I force myself awake. My heart is pounding and I’m sweating. And by pounding, I mean 155 beats per minute. I’ve learned to master panic fairly well in my life. In each dream/nightmare, I’m panicking. This is what sticks with me throughout the days. Why am I panicking? Why do I keep having the same variations on a theme in my dreams recently?

Partial answers hit me tonight. I was researching gun training courses at SiGARMS Academy. I don’t know what to do in situations when I’m out gunned. I need to take some courses and develop skills. This will give me confidence and at least a better chance of surviving real world situations. As for the rest, time will tell.