A Commentary by J. D.Longstreet
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“Tyrants preserve themselves by sowing fear and mistrust among the citizens by means of spies, by distracting them with foreign wars, by eliminating men of spirit who might lead a revolution, by humbling the people, and making them incapable of decisive action…” ... Aristotle You'd think ole "Ari" might have been peering through some sort of cosmic window into modern day America some 2300 years ago with comments such as those above.
There's another way to look at it, as well. One can grudgingly admit that the Greeks, of 2300 years ago, were smarter than modern Americans. In my estimation -- you'd be right. So, I tend to go with the latter explanation.
See, America is building a head of steam preparing to go to war with itself a second time at this very moment. This is not unusual -- not in America. We have already had two revolutions. You may recall the American Revolution against Great Britain and the second -- the War for Southern Independence, often erroneously referred to as the American Civil War, or the War Between the States.
Tensions are running high all across the country as citizens are rushing to arm themselves with the closest thing resembling combat weaponry they can possible find. Ammunition of all calibers is disappearing for the shelves of gun shops and back orders at the manufacturing plants are piled high.
Americans are preparing to dig-in. In other words they are preparing for a fight. They are preparing for the day when the words run out, as they surely will. They will then have no other alternative than to turn -- as their forefathers have done since the country was founded -- to the gun.
Look. Nobody really knows how many guns are in the hands of private citizens in America. Many have multiple weapons. A few are even registered, but, my guess is -- the vast majority are not registered anywhere for exactly the reason Americans feel they are being driven, herded, as it were, to armed resistance. Of the weapons known to be in the hands of private civilian Americans there are enough, according to some reports, to arm every man woman and child in America today -- well over three hundred million.
That's a lot of guns, but not nearly as many as there will be in 2013. Manufacturers are finding it impossible to keep up with demand for their guns.
The old expression: "Fools rush in" is as apropos a word, or phrase, as I can conger to describe the actions of the so-called "gun grabbers" in America in recent days. Their propagandists and boosters in the press and the Mainstream Media added to the mental light weights already liberally salted throughout the US Congress and White House are mindlessly fanning the flames of a conflagration that threatens to consume the country in another American war over the rights guaranteed by the US Constitution -- including the Bill of Rights. These are rights sacred to Americans. These are the rights for which they have been willing to valiantly lay down their lives to protect since the birth of the nation. They are no less ready to put their lives on the line once again. I do not think our current "masters" fully understand that.
Look. Those who would disarm America seem oblivious to the buzz saw into which they are mindlessly running. Their naivete is monumental, off the scale. When describing weapons they want banned, their description of such weapons makes it clear they haven't the foggiest notion what they are talking about. It is also clear they are operating from pure emotion with no reason mixed in. They often describe weapons they want banned. They don't seem to know that those weapons have already been banned since the 1930's in America. They use the term "assault weapon" when there is actually no such weapon, only a political term to describe a weapon that is, well, scary looking.
In their ignorance, they cannot grasp that even if a gun ban were successful, a black market in guns and ammunition will spring up, almost overnight, and will make Prohibition resemble a Sunday school picnic. Gun owners and those familiar with guns know, already, that guns are fairly simple to make, many with off the shelf, readily available, parts.
The very first firefight between government agents and American private citizens will be the ignition point of an all consuming maelstrom that will inundate the nation and render null and void any chance that America might reconstitute itself into its former image afterwards.
To the folks on the left, the gun grabbers, if there is any doubt in your minds that Americans will defend their constitutional rights to the death, simply drive across the Lincoln Bridge and take a long look at row after row of white grave markers at Arlington National Cemetery. As you gaze upon that place of honor, remember, we are the sons, grandsons, and great-grand sons of the men lying there. We are no less inspired than they to defend the constitution against all enemies -- domestic and foreign.
For those of you who purportedly serve the public in your position within the Congress, understand that we are taking careful note of your maneuvering to deny us our constitutional rights and we will be working tirelessly to see that your political career is ended when next you stand for election. That is a promise.
The idiots in the Mainstream Media still do not understand that freedom of the press , freedom of speech, is only viable so long as the right to keep and bear arms is guaranteed by the Second Amendment. The job of the press is inextricably linked to the armed citizen. If the armed American goes, so does the independent, non-state-controlled press. Freedom of the press, freedom of speech, will disappear.
It is such a simple thing -- when thought through. But that's the problem. They aren't thinking. They are reacting out of raw emotion -- certainly NOT reason. It is their handlers, however, who ARE reasoning. They reason, and rightfully so, that they cannot accomplish their agenda as long as the American citizen is armed. And so the useful idiots of the Mainstream Media are trotted out to happily make fools of themselves in service to the political left, which will grind them into so much dust once their goals are realized.
It is such idiocy as this that brings men to grapple at each other's throat.
And here we are again, preparing to do battle with each other, brother against brother, over an issue that was settled two and a half centuries ago.
At first glance it appears to be lunacy of the highest order -- and yet -- here we are on the cusp of violence to defend something the political left, an authoritarian cabal itself, cannot abide, AT ALL: personal freedom, individual freedom.
Remember that Aristotle said: "Tyrants preserve themselves by ... by eliminating men of spirit who might lead a revolution, by humbling the people, and making them incapable of decisive action… .” Could this be why over a dozen of the US's highest military officers have been hounded from service in recent months? Is it why this financial crises has dragged on and on ... to keep us humble and incapable of decisive action?
And now they intend to disarm us. Look. There is so much pent-up anger in America today that if this argument over gun control ever gets beyond the talking stage it is reasonable to believe there will be violence on a scale not seen since the 1860's in this country.
I would ask the political left if they understand that this is only a temporary argument over gun control? Do they understand it will quickly become an argument over whether or not the country continues to exist as a single fifty state entity or breaks up into separate countries? I don't think they do. Indeed, I don't think most Americans understand that once this fight begins, in earnest, there will be no turning back and when it is ended -- there will be no going back, either.
I don't want a war in my homeland, either. But, dear reader, THIS is exactly how they begin.
© J. D. Longstreet
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