Who do YOU belong to?

As I watched this amazing video I kept remembering a line I read a few years ago in Jonah Goldberg's excellent book Liberal Fascism:

"Fascism - the cult of unity!"




H/T to WRSA for pointing this out.

A few words from the Southern Avenger

Eminent Domain may strike close to home

For the first time in my life I am personally impacted by faceless government bureaucrats threatening to exercise the awesome power of Eminent Domain.  Allow me to explain:

In 1819 my Great-great grandfather brought his family from South Carolina and settled in a region of South-east Georgia known as the Sand Hills.  The area where they lived their remaining lives was at one time or another part of Liberty County, McInstosh County, and finally in 1920 it became Long County.  As with any family, there were descendants who moved with their families to other regions of Georgia or on into to Florida, but there remains a core group of family that continues to inhabit the same area (and even the same house originally built in 1819) until today. 

When a family lives in the same general area for nearly two hundred years they tend to create cemeteries and small family plots throughout the region.  Our family, and other families just like ours with histories in that part of the country, obviously has deep roots with the soil well enriched with the bones of our ancestors. 

Along comes a Marine Corps Colonel at MCAS Beaufort SC who oversees the air wing units stationed there.  He wants a place for his pilots to practice dropping precision guided bombs without sending them across to the West Coast.  Perfectly understandable I suppose.  Modern day Long County Georgia currently has a 5,000 acre facility (equating to roughly 8 square miles) that is owned by the Marines and run day-to-day by the Georgia National Guard.  The Marine Colonel is adamant that this facility is much too small to practice with “precision” guided weapons!  And even though Fort Stewart Army base in neighboring Liberty County is more than adequate to conduct such bombing practice, the Marine Colonel has expressed the sentiment that coordinating with Army brass is just too difficult. 

So the offshoot of all this is that the existing Long County Bombing Range is going to be expanded roughly seven-fold to encompass nearly 48 square miles of Long County – and all those folks living on that land will be forced out, and paid “fair value” by Uncle Sugar.  Then maybe the Marine brass will be happy with their new giant bombing range that they can use to practice their “precision” bombing runs more conveniently. 

Of course there will a multitude of family plots and cemeteries that will be gobbled up in the process.  The properties, if not blown to smithereens at some point, will be forever out of reach of their living relatives.  My own family cemetery with 250 graves will likely end up right on the boundary line of the new enlarged range – and less than a half mile from a target area.  And I know of at least three smaller family plots that will be on the wrong side of the governments’ fence. 

Now the Imperial Federal Gubmint has gone most of the way thru its dog and pony show designed to make the locals feel like they have a voice in the matter.  But it’s most likely that the Colonel at Beaufort Air Station will ultimately get his new toy. 

Of course the impact for the living will be far worse.   I have access to is an engineering consultant (and distant cousin) who works for the Fort Stewart bombing range, and he tells me that another serious problem will be the lost tax revenue base if too many displaced residents elect to leave the county altogether.  There’s serious concern that the small-town county seat will be bankrupted and lose its town charter.  Now far be it from me to decry the destruction of any sort of government unit; but I’d sure rather have a small town government in place rather than another outpost of the Federal Imperial Gubmint to deal with!

If this actually comes to pass, it will be an exceedingly bitter pill to swallow to lose access to the graves of my ancestors.  I am not among those folks who have no concern for the past.  I am instead deeply proud of my family and can point to an unbroken patriarchal lineage stretching back 24 generations all the way to the year 1396 in western Wales.  For me - this is some serious sh*t.

This is like something you'd find in Stalinist Russia or Maoist China

The NYT admits that every quote they run from both Obama and Romney has been APPROVED by the two campaigns!

And you thought you lived in a free country. 

Thanks to WRSA for pointing this out. 

One more thing that government should take credit for

The Marxist-in-Chief recently espoused the notion that small business owners owe government credit for everything they have built. 

I wonder if the Mighty Kenyan will be as quick to take credit for the government’s role in James Holmes building his weaponsand ammo stash?

Concerning events in a little country cemetery

Authors note:  When I was in the Marines, all the best stories started with some variation of “That ain’t no shit…”  Well, this ain’t no shit either!

I parked my truck in front of the old church just as the morning sun was peeking over the treetops along the eastern side of the highway.  As quickly as I could, I moved my gear to the rear of the cemetery and staged it in the edge of the woods there.  Shovel, arms cache, rake, and a scrap of old carpet were positioned out of sight behind a large oak tree, just in case some other early morning cemetery visitors showed up unexpectedly.

The particular grave I wanted to use for the purpose of hiding some guns and ammo was just a few steps away from the treeline, and I was fairly certain that any cars approaching along the highway could be heard in plenty of time to stash anything incriminating if the sound indicated they were slowing to pull into the cemetery.

Lest my reader think ill of me for disturbing a grave, allow me to explain that I had no intention of disturbing the grave itself, but merely to hide my cache behind, rather than in front of, the headstone.  These are, after all, strange times we live in.  And the old man sleeping here had been awaiting judgment day for over a hundred years now.  Besides – from what I knew of the old fellow I was fairly certain he would understand.

As further camouflage for my activities, I unloaded a weedeater, lawnmower, and other yard tools and positioned them strategically at the rear of my truck. 

Once everything was in place, I began to dig.  The soil was soft and the shovel was as sharp as I could get it, but the sweat was streaming down my face in no time just the same.  This was a task I would be happy to finish quickly and be on my way.

For the next few minutes the only sounds to be heard in this little country graveyard was the sound of a fat old man laboring with a shovel.  Then came a sound that made me almost jump out of my skin.

“Ahem”

I whirled around, and nearly fell over in the process.  Seated just a few feet away on another headstone was an old man.  One leg was crossed over the other as he sat there calmly puffing a pipe.  He was dressed in an old-style brown woolen suit, and he had an old wide brim hat on his head that looked like it had seen as many years as he had.  His demeanor was thoroughly calm; almost disinterested, and the expression on his face was one of mild amusement.

I’m sure I stood there, shovel in hand, huffing and puffing with a surprised look on my speechless face. 

“I don’t reckon you ought to be doing that young fellow.  Folks don’t take kindly to being disturbed ya know”.  His voice was deep and melodious, and the accent was that of a man born and raised in the southern Georgia backwoods.

“I’m sorry” I replied.  “I really need to hide something, and this was the very best place I could think of to hide it.  I didn’t hear you walk up.”

He eyed me for a moment without speaking, took another puff off his pipe, and then said “Well whatcha hidin that’s so all-fired important that you have hide it in a cemetery?”  My comment about not hearing him walk up was ignored.

For a moment I felt a little silly, but clearly there was no turning back now.  And the thought occurred to me that the only way out of certain trouble was to make my point to this gentleman sufficient for him to see the wisdom of burying guns and ammo in a cemetery.

“Well sir… this PVC pipe is filled with a couple a rifles and about a thousand rounds of ammo that I am scared to keep at my house.  I’m fairly certain that I’ve drawn the attention of this evil federal government that is busy destroying the Republic, and I’m scared of a midnight visit to my home”.

As I spoke I laid my shovel down and then leaned against the headstone I had been digging behind.  At my words I saw the first flash of something other than amusement in the old man’s eyes and I was afraid that I’d said something to offend him. 

“What’s that you say boy?  Government destroying the Republic!  Is this still America or what?”  he said with a degree of force in his tone that hadn’t been there moment before.

“Let me tell you sump’um boy” and he leaned forward as he spoke, his eyes becoming steely and his brow furrowed  “My grandfather was a Lt. in Colonel Anderson’s Company during the Revolution, and him and his men didn’t go off and bury their rifles!  They shot King George’s troops with ‘em!” 

His ire was clearly up now, and his demeanor no longer that of a kindly old country gent.  His pipe now forgotten in his hand, he stood up and hitched up his britches in the manner of someone resolved to action.   In a sweeping gesture with his free hand he continued on:  “Boy… take a look around yerself here.  Ain’t you standin amongst two hundred years of your own family?  And don’t you know these folks were made of stern stuff?”

Indeed I did know where I was, and I knew very well that my grandfather, his father, and his father’s father all lay within a few yards of where I now stood being lectured by a man whose identity was beginning to dawn on me. 

“I know who you are Boy.  I’ve watched you since you wuz a young’un.  And I watched your Daddy too.  Didn’t he go to war half way around the world back before you wuz born?  He damn sure did!  Hell… back in 1861 me and all my brothers, and every one of my cousins, and every able-bodied man in these here parts – we all signed up to go fight them sumbitches that come down here from up North.  You ought to know Boy… we ain’t never been the sort to run and hide!”

Hearing these words I knew that the man standing before me had departed this world in 1901, and was none other than my own great-grandfather – whose grave it was that I had disturbed.  Yet rather than fear my only feeling was one of profound shame.  His words struck to my very core.  My father had fought the Japs on Okinawa, and this old man had fought against Sherman in his march to the sea.  His father (my great-great grandfather) had served in the militia during the War of 1812, and that man’s grandfather had organized a chapter of the Sons of Liberty that was so effective in harassing the British in and around Savannah that he was mentioned by name in the Georgia Governor’s letters to King George.   

These things I knew well and the truth of his words had cut me to the quick.  I had bowed my head lower and lower with each word from the old man, and now as he seemed to pause, I raised my eyes and looked him full in the face.  All the pride I had ever felt in my ancestors now welled up within me, and I spoke to him from the bottom of my heart. 

“I hear you Grandpa.  And I reckon you’re absolutely right – There’re other things I need to be doing with these”

The old man smiled a smile of love - in a face framed in pride - and slowly faded from view.

Range Report

I had a good day at the range this last Saturday. In hopes of beating the rush (and the heat) I got there early and was shooting by 8:30. As it happened, I had the entire facility to myself until nearly 1pm.

I started out at the 300 yard line using ammo of my own creation. Batch #19 has shown real promise at the 200 yard line when fired against my other loads, and against off the shelf stuff. So this was my first opportunity to fire it at a longer distance.

My group at 300 yards was strangely out of whack, and I don’t have a good reason. It might be the clouds of mosquitoes I was fighting off, or it might have been the bug repellant that the sweat kept carrying into my eyes. Whatever the reason, I wasn’t thrilled with my 300 yard line results and moved out to the 400 yard line with some trepidation.

At 400 yards my group of three shots was 3 and 3/4 inches. At 500 yards my group measured 4 and ½ inches. Moving back to the 600 yard line I fired a 6 and ½ inch group, and at 700 yards my group measured 10 inches.

My dope as provided by Bryan Litz’s program, Point Mass Ballistics Solver was right on the money the whole way! If the day hadn’t been so blisteringly hot, and the mosquitoes and gnats not been on the assault throughout the day, I am sure that I could have done even better.

The other positive factor I am convinced is the Outer’s Foul Out barrel cleaner that I used to strip the copper fouling from my heavily used rifle. I made a mistake in not starting at the 200 yard line so I don’t have comparative data for before and after the barrel cleaning. But I was just so darned anxious to get out beyond 200 yards that I stifled my good instincts and went directly to 300 yards. That is the one part of my day at the range that I regret!

Law student slaps down LEO for illegal stop and questioning

This is absolutely the most motivating thing I've seen in quite some time! I would buy this young man a beer and happily shake his hand. THIS is the kind of GUTS that American gun owners need to have!

 

The UN is deciding on your gun rights this month

How many of you even knew this was happening this month?  The United Nincompoops, in cahoots with the Obongo administration, is in the process of deciding if the 2A has any future at all.

Read this

Keep it firmly in mind that the UN does NOT like the idea of an armed citizenry, and nothing expresses its contempt quite so well as the artwork adorning the UN's front lawn!

What Boortz said

There much that comes out of the mouth of Neal Boortz that I stridently disagree with (abortion, Confederate Flag, gays, Christianity, etc.), but every now and then that guy nails it squarely on the head. Here’s his 4th of July rant, and he calls it – right on the money. Americans love security more than Liberty!

Tomorrow is known as Independence Day, not Dependence Day. This is a day we celebrate the Declaration of Independence … proclaiming our independence from Great Britain and the heavy-handed governance King George was inflicting on the colonies. Now we have durned near half of the voters in this country not only supporting, but celebrating another ruler (his words, not mine) who governs with every bit the heavy handedness of the British King we fought for liberty 236 year ago.


My beef with the 4th of July is that so many of the people who go to such great lengths to celebrate this holiday – perhaps even a majority – are much more tuned in to dependence rather than independence, and security rather than freedom. There’s a reason the word “security” beats “freedom” by a 9:1 margin in presidential speeches.

There more, and it's worth your time to read it. Go here for the rest.