April 19th is the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising.
For those that do not understand what Yom HaShoah and the Warsaw Ghetto uprising has to do with guns, look at all the hands in the photos. When there are hands in the air reaching skyward, you will see guns in the hands of those surrounding them. Guns are the defense against tyranny. For “Never Again” to be more than a slogan you need to be able to ensure that it isn’t by having the means to stop the attack.
At the memorial service I attended today the final speaker talked about something a holocaust survivor had implored him to do. To act, to scream, to talk to people, but no matter what, not to do nothing. To do nothing, to be frozen in inaction was to allow them (nazis) to succeed.
The Warsaw Ghetto Memorial at the JCC.
For the flame of liberty to continue to burn, there must be those willing to speak out against evil. There must be those willing to give their time, talent and treasure and pledge their sacred honor. Yes, that phrase comes from the American Revolution. The Battle at Lexington and Concord also occurred on April 19th. But if we do not show up and suit up in the battle for freedom, the flame of liberty becomes the Shoah, the holocaust, as well as the flames that devoured the Warsaw Ghetto, the other Ghettos throughout Europe and the death camps.
What do Yom HaShoah and the Warsaw Ghetto have to do with guns. Everything! The fearful cost of a disarmed people.
What happened exceeded our boldest dreams. The Germans fled twice from the ghetto. One of our companies held its position for forty minutes, while the other one lasted – upwards of six hours… I cannot describe to you the conditions in which the Jews are living. Only a handful will survive. All the rest will succumb, sooner or later. Their fate has been sealed. In almost all of the bunkers in which our friends are hiding one cannot even light a candle at night, for lack of air. Goodbye my friend. Perhaps we will see each other again. The main thing is this: My life’s dream has become a reality. I have seen the Jewish defense of the ghetto in all its strength and glory.
23 [21] April 1943 Mordechai Anielewicz
There is no need to ask “Why does this happen”. Nor is there a need to ask “How can something like this happen.” It’s a pattern, we know how.
One of our readers gave a link to a documentary, it is excellent and this is the longer version of it.
From Yad Vashem’s website, interviews with Fighters who survived the Warsaw Ghetto. What is the end result of Universal Background Checks and other “common sense” gun control? Listen, the survivors will tell you.
Tomorrow is Yom HaShoah. It is the Holocaust Remembrance day. In my area the memorial service will be Sunday. I intend to go. I can do nothing but go. It is my personal feeling, just mine, this is only my opinion, that for me to forget what happened, to allow the memory to become comfortably cushioned in the soft cotton of foggy faded distant memory is folly and disrespectful.
Folly because those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat it. I’ve learned some pretty painful long term physical lessons working with my horses. Weather changes bring about certain reminders, very clearly. Care to place a wager on me forgetting how I got them and what needs to be done to prevent a repeat performance? I don’t forget.
Disrespectful because the nazis* goal was to erase Judaism from the earth, to blot out all the names of the victims, to resign them to the faded pages of distant memory. As long as I have breath and am able, I will not be part of that. I will be there, I will pay my respects and I will try to keep their memory and their fate plain. The horrible cost of trusting and disarmed people.
No, I do not mean all of them, but too many. hitler* was elected after all. Not all those that died were Jews either. Estimates are six million Jews died, and five million others made up of groups of gypsies, Poles, Political dissenters, mentally and physically disabled, homosexuals and communists. I’m guessing some of those that died and their family members voted for hitler. Someone pointed out to me last year basically, the Holocaust wiped out the population of Israel. Israel’s Jewish population in 2014 was 6,218,000. The total population was 8,296,000.
Last year I was in Israel during Yom HaShoah. I went with my girlfriend that I stayed with to Ben Gurion University for the memorial service. Since she worked at BGU (אבג) getting in was not a problem. The courtyard where the ceremony was held was packed and people were standing in the windows of surrounding buildings to see the ceremony. We got there early and so sat in the chairs in the courtyard. One thing we noticed, of all the Arab and muslim students that attend there, none that we could see attended the services. It was a profoundly moving services. I didn’t understand a lot of it, it was all in Hebrew of course, and I would only catch words from time to time. But somethings go beyond words. They are universal. One was a dance that was performed.
The dancers were dressed in either white or black, and it was very very clear what the dance was about as the dancers dressed in black appeared to flog, beat and kill the dancers dressed in white. At one point during the dance one of the dancers dressed in white quietly slipped off the stage and disappeared behind a column. When she came back out in a bit it appeared she was being comforted by a staff member. She was unable to finish the dance. The dance finished with the dancers gathered around a pile of their shoes they had all taken off and placed in a corner as they came onto the elevated dance stage. Yeah, like that.
Shoes
It was very emotional. I can speculate on what those around me felt. I know what I felt, and I suspect it might be different than the majority of those around me.
Following that was the portion where Holocaust survivors or family members came up and read something. I apologize, but my Hebrew just wasn’t/isn’t good enough to recount the stories. But at the end each of the six people went over and lit a candle. Each candle represented a million people. As they read their speeches you could hear something in the background. At first I thought it was suppose to be the sound of muted rifle fire. But then with each person it seemed to be a bit louder and more clear. Not rifle fire. Trains. The sound of trains on the tracks. Damn.
The Train, display at Yad Vashem
I was already angry from my visit to Yad Vashem just a few days before when I had been livid about the miniscule display of “Resistance during the Holocaust”. It was a miniscule display for more than one reason, but what was going through my mind was that the elected nazi government used all branches of government to target a group of people. And then they used already on the books common sense gun laws like universal background checks to more easily eliminate them.
Flame at Ben Gurion University
An article recently appeared that brought to light that among those who tried to help rescue the Jews, were other Jews. They feel that the concept of Jews saving themselves has been muted or lost. The article stated
Part of the mission of the Jewish Rescuers Citation is to re-instill the idea that Jews are not only capable, but prone to be hardened heroes.
The article raises some very interesting ideas. Even if you don’t read the linked article, you might want to check Yad Vashem for a short list and photos of nine people who served in the Resistance, many of them at the greatest cost to save lives. Their names and their lives deserve to be remembered. Their price was large, perhaps you can spare a couple minutes to meet them?
For people to live in freedom, freedom from slavery, from poverty, from annihilation, the first thing we need to do is to quit committing suicide.
By that I mean there is ONE JEWISH state, in all of the world, there is ONE. Look at your elected officials attitudes towards that one state and you will have an idea of their attitudes towards your group.
Look at remarks made towards your group, are they accurate and fair? I’m thinking of the last two years worth of comments at the annual prayer breakfast here.
Are branches of the government targeting certain groups of political dissenters?
Do you put money into the pockets of people that urge you to become disarmed and vulnerable to any of the above? Harry Weinstein, Babs Streisand, Tim McGraw or any of the many other anti-gun entertainers that will then use their bully pulpit to disarm you?
Saddle pads and skirts folks. Check your patterns
There is a stone in the Garden of the Righteous Among the Nations, it is to ALL, not Jewish, or non-Jewish, but ALL.
To Those, located in the Garden of the Righteous at Yad Vashem
Please G-d, may we need no more of them. The cost is far too dear.
* Some things and some people do not deserve capital letters. Not a typo.
“We’re gonna have to get as organized as the mafia,”“We better stand up and kick these guys in the ass,” “We just can’t take it anymore [from] these crazy bastards.”“It’s like, here we go again, we’re right back where we were [before the Holocaust]. And the lessons of the past are we better stand up and kick these guys in the ass.”
GREAT idea Harv! Really, kudos! Excellent plan. That attitude is certainly needed as the following video demonstrates. It was filmed a couple of weeks ago on March 22nd. A group of 20 people attempted to storm a Synagogue in London. The worshipers were using chairs, a mop and makeshift wooden clubs fashioned out of furniture pieces to repel their attackers. Perhaps it was a honest mistake, I’m sure “Synagogue” is often mistaken for “Fight Club”. Not sure of the frequency the cry “Kill the Jews” being heard in a fight club, but I don’t frequent fight clubs. Nor am I sure of the statistics on prayer books ripped up in a fight club. Perhaps I need to get out more?
The Jerusalem Post quoted a member of the synagogue who said he heard the men shouting “we will kill you” as they assaulted worshipers and ripped prayer books.
But circumstances have improved. This year those under attack are using chair parts and mops and brooms. Last year in a Jerusalem seminary when students were attacked by a group of peaceful Palestinians throwing rocks at the students during the supper the weapons at hand were chairs, boiling water and the prime defensive weapons appears to have been a pot of cholent, the traditional meat stew. So I guess we should be thankful for small favors, right?
Why the snarky attitude? Because Mr. Tough Weinstein who calls for Jews to fight back condemns them to having cholent as their primary weapon. You see, Mr. Weinstein doesn’t believe Jews or anyone else should be armed and be given a fair chance to defend themselves or their family from the peaceful elements of their area who hurl rocks at them.
“I never want to have a gun,” Weinstein told Stern. “I don’t think we need guns in this country, and I hate it, and I think the NRA is a disaster area.”
Stern asked Weinstein what he would use to defend his family if he were living during the Holocaust, considering both he and Weinstein are Jewish.
Weinstein said there was a justification for using a gun “when you’re marching a half of a million people into Auschwitz.”
Reality apparently escapes Mr. Weinstein. The disconnect between his obamaunicorn stew ideology and the reality of what happens to people who are left at the mercy of those who have none.
Perhaps the illustrious Mr. Weinstein can provide copious amounts of his obamaunicorn stew to the next Synagogue to be attacked prior to the attack, to hurl at their assailants?
Then again perhaps Mr. Weinstein has a reason for keeping people that may be physically smaller and weaker defenseless?
On 21 January a man armed with a 8 inch knife managed to perpetrate a horrific attack. Twelve people were wounded in the attack, of which three who were in serious condition, four in moderate condition and five who sustained light injuries. Another seven people were treated for shock.
The terrorist says he learned how to conduct these types of attacks from the internet. It seems there are helpful manuals online in video form. Videos translated by Palestinian Media watch found
video focusing on Hamas founder Ahmad Yassin and portrays young children as continuing the slain Islamist sheikh’s legacy. Children are portrayed wearing uniforms, holding rifles and participating in military training. The children are shown marching and carrying out mock attacks on their “enemies,” and are exhorted to “carry the knife” and “carry machine guns” to attack Israel.Other videos show the specific techniques needed to slash someone’s throat or stab them in the side, what spot to aim for in order to kill someone, etc.
Oh, goody. Reminds me of what Golda Mier said
Peace will come to the Middle East when the Arabs love their children more than they hate us.
“I had no choice, I had to save the passengers,” Biton stated, from his hospital bed in Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital. “He stabbed me while driving and went to the middle of the bus and began to stab passengers.””Then he began to rock the bus from side to side, so that people standing on the street will notice that there is a problem,” Biton added.Biton said that he purposely directed Matrouk toward him so that he could enable passengers to escape while they could. “I had no choice but to bring him to me,” Biton stated. “I hit the brakes so that he flew like a bird [up front] to my seat.””I jumped out of my chair, grabbed his left hand, and started to spray him with tear gas,” he continued. “I gave him a punch and he punched me back. Because I was losing a lot of blood, there was a pool of [my] blood next to me and I slipped in it.” Meanwhile, passengers had wrenched open the bus doors and fled – but it was not enough to stop Matrouk, who left the bus and began walking toward Yitzhak Sadeh street in the heart of the city. But despite his injuries, Biton “left the bus and started chasing him,”
“When I realized I was on the scene of a terror attack, I tried to neutralize him (the Arab terrorist) due to the fact that I was armed.””I saw people running. I asked ‘who is the terrorist?,’ because I had trouble identifying him,” said the man. “And then I saw a youth, dressed in jeans and holding in his hand a knife with a 20 centimeter (nearly 8 inches) blade, trying to stab passersby around him.”Despite being armed and faced with an attacking terrorist, the man was unable to act due to the surrounding passersby.”I tried to shoot him but had trouble doing so because there were passersby around him and I feared harming innocents. I shot in the air, I tried to warn the passersby, and shouted ‘terrorist,’ but it didn’t help,” he said.”In front of my eyes he stabbed an elderly man who was there. Afterwards he continued on to a young girl who was in shock. I shot in the air again trying to snap her out of it – but I didn’t succeed. In front of my eyes he raised the knife and stabbed her until she collapsed,” related the man.
The terrorist continued his stabbing spree as he headed up the street, you can see people running to get away from him.
So far methods used to try to thwart the attacker have been tear gas, armed security but they couldn’t shoot the terrorist due to by-standers. He did fire in the air, and try to warn passersby. We also saw people running away to try to escape being attacked. Security cameras, like the ones countries like Britain and the U.S. tell us are such a great crime deterrent. None of it worked.
So, what did finally stop him?
According to police, a team from the Israel Prisons Service’s elite Nachshon unit happened to be driving behind the bus when the attack took place. The officers got off the car and gave chase to the terrorist, shot him in the leg and arrested him.
“If two armed and trained citizens had been on the bus yesterday in Tel Aviv, the terror attack would have ended in a completely different way – or it wouldn’t have happened at all,”
“So if weapons-bearing citizens help to secure the public domain, shouldn’t the State encourage responsible citizens to practice shooting and carry weapons? Why does it do just the opposite?
The answer is that the State of Israel is not increasing our liberties; it is reducing them. Dictatorship confiscate citizens’ weapons. ‘The State alone will take care of all your security needs’.In the past, there were 300,000 citizens licensed to bear weapons in Israel. That number has now been cut in half. As a member of the Knesset Interior Committee, I was able to stop the trend. But we have to understand: Without liberty, we will not enjoy security,”
WOW, he’s a politician, and he gets it. The same principles apply the world over. But the response of the elected Representatives will determine the direction the country goes. Will there continue to be attacks by terrorists that fear little chance of citizens stopping them, or will they begin to fear attacking a “Sheepdog” nation, knowing their chance of success small and if they fail they will be buried in Uncle Buck’s pig farm?
We must become resolved that we will not tolerate Politicians who do not represent us and hold their feet to the fire. We must demand that groups that are paid membership dues represent us, or we find another group to belong to. The situation has become so serious we can’t afford to be anything less than fully resolved to fight this battle.
Washington state gun owners are being smashed between a rock and a hard place. The disaster — which is bound to be bloody — will likely shape the gun-rights fight in states across the nation.
And the outcome for people far beyond Washington state may depend on Alan Gottlieb. Which terrifies me. And should terrify you.
—–
I was talking the other day with another gun blogger who hoped that after last year’s JPFO debacle I would have insight into Gottlieb’s mind. I have none. I’ve had the same thought; I wish I knew what Gottlieb could possibly be thinking. I’ve said I wished I could be a fly on the wall of that man’s brain. OTOH, I fear that experiencing Gottlieb’s thinking from within would make me puke.
But there are so many mysteries about what that man is up to! Why would a gun-rights advocate — any gun-rights advocate, anywhere — want background checks? Why would he want the federal control, the de facto gun registration, and the risk of confiscation that inevitably follow? How could he be so clueless about rights? So clueless about the threat to gun ownership? So clueless about how gun owners think?
And beyond that … how could a man who wants background checks continue to present himself — and be widely accepted! — as a gun-rights leader?
Of course he continues to be widely accepted partially because of SAF’s several successful lawsuits and partially because too many people don’t look at what he’s really doing. Most followers are also unaware of his sordid history. But more recently (and I expect ultimately more tragically) Gottlieb’s leadership is being accepted by some primarily because he has forced Washington state gun owners to choose between that rock and that hard place — between him and activist rivals who are overtly, unabashedly radical.
—–
Gottlieb has long ruled gun-rights activism in Washington state. He not only owns several major groups himself, but he’s on the board of others and serves as virtual puppet-master of yet more. Here’s just one example of how Gottlieb’s system works.
Many years ago, in the 1990s when it looked as if the antis were going to trample us all into the mud, I sat in on a legislative coordinating meeting of supposedly independent gun-rights groups in Washington state. The meeting was (no surprise) at Gottlieb’s headquarters and it was my first glimpse of what was going on.
There was no independence. There was one overriding mindset — don’t rock the boat. The one activist (a newcomer) who offered ideas that actually could have advanced gun rights (rather than merely holding the line) was repeatedly shot down. Not only shot down, but shot down with words I found mind-boggling and unforgettable: “Oh, we can’t ask the legislature for that. They’d never give us that.”
What kind of bargaining position can that be? Where would negotiators ever get if they started out only by asking for what their opponents are already known to be willing to give? That’s surrendering before the first battle!
But that was the state of Washington gun rights groups 20 years ago, designed and dominated by Alan Gottlieb. Matters appear to be worse now. After that, I always marveled that the state managed to have fairly decent gun laws, despite such wimpy “leadership.”
Well, I marvel no more. Since November — and thanks in large part to Gottlieb’s inexplicable “divide to lose” strategy — Washington has one of the most terrible state anti-gun laws. And the Billionaire Brigade is using I-594 as a battle plan to rampage through other states.
—–
I-594 might have passed anyway since it was the product of an enormous, multi-billionaire propaganda campaign. But Gottlieb initially made matters worse by throwing all his efforts not against I-594, but into a competing initiative, I-591. That went down in flames (and $1 million+ that could have been used against I-594 went down with it). But now Gottlieb, via his many puppet organizations, is trying to set himself up as the leader of the anti-I-594 forces.
He has filed a lawsuit against the new law while explicitly stating that he’s not trying to stop background checks. Even as state Rep. Matthew Shea prepared a bill to completely repeal 594, Gottlieb ally/partner/front group WAFLAG was focusing on getting gun owners merely to ask for fixes. As activist Kit Lange observed, “[Shea’s repeal] bill has not even been submitted yet, and they have already given up.”
You can’t “fix” a law that’s evil from its inception. And you can’t win if you already side with Michael Bloomberg on the most important points.
—–
Gun owners who are really aware of the issues and who understand that you can’t have freedom without standing firm on principles want nothing to do with Gottlieb or any of his front organizations. This means that some of the most angry, adamant, in-your-face activists have stepped forward. Gavin Seim’s armed, non-permitted “I Will Not Comply” rally in December outdrew Gottlieb’s January “legislative rally” by as much as 10-to-1. But when quite a few people with the “I will not comply” mindset also showed up at Gottlieb’s event, long-guns in hand, and carried their firearms into the House visitors’ chamber, it gave Gottlieb’s allies — and many inherently moderate gun-rights people — the excuse to call them all crazies and crowd closer to the false “safety” represented by Gottlieb.
Gottlieb has set things up so it’s either “side with me or side with the crazies” when it really just ought to be about getting I-594 declared dead. And getting the horrid monster buried at the crossroads with a stake through its heart so it can never rise again.
My heart and mind are with the “crazies.” But at the same time, I see how their tactics scare some activists away — and drive some activists right into the arms of Alan Gottlieb, despite his obvious, well-publicized sellout.
But as one activist from Graham, Washington, observes, the “crazies” are using those tactics as much to defy Gottlieb as to defy I-594. They are saying, “We will never allow you to ‘lead’ this battle. We won’t be polite and deferential as you sell us out. To hell with you.”
If Gottlieb had a clue about the rights of gun owners or the mindset of gun-rights activists, he would step out of the spotlight (and not just via the pretense that one of his puppets is really in charge). Being completely discredited on anything to do with background checks, he would recognize that he has no ability to lead (even from behind) on this issue. He would let somebody more principled unite the state’s gun owners. Instead, there he is, dividing — once again — so that our enemies can conquer.
Because Gottlieb stands in the way of any calm, strong, and principled leadership on gun rights in Washington state, he is helping Bloomberg win (just as he hoped to help Manchin, Toomey, and Schumer win at the federal level a year ago). Heartened by their victory in this first state, and strengthened by the lack of effective pro-gun leadership, the Bloombergians will rampage onward to the next state, which appears to be Nevada.
Good luck, Nevada. Good luck to us all. Except Mr. Gottlieb. May he choke on his own duplicity. May the power he so craves, the power he’ll stop at nothing to get, destroy him — before it destroys the rest of us.
Some of what I’ve learned about leadership I learned from my horse. His name is Captain Bob, I usually call him Captain, or Seren, which is Captain in Hebrew. I got a really, really good deal on him. And not long after I got him home I found out why I got a really, really good deal on him. He weighs in at around 1,300 lbs and stands a bit over 16 hands. Good size lad. Handsome too, did I mention very handsome? Well, he is. I do not weigh 1,300 lbs (usually) and am a fair bit shorter, but I want to be at least a Colonel, and preferably a General in his eyes. I want to be the leader of the team. And this is where resolve comes in. For me to allow my idea to become his idea and get us to do what I want as a team, I need to be resolved. I need to see the situation clearly for what it is. Ok, a hoof flying at your head is not hard to interpret. Think 15 year old with a bad attitude flipping you off. He’s better now. But don’t call it “youthful exuberance”. It is not. By the same token when I point my finger and he walks into a trailer nonchalantly that means something big too. But you need to speak and understand “equine” to know what it means.
Let’s start with Bibi and his response to the atrocities in France.
At the Grande Synagogue in Paris Bibi Netanyahu is inundated with shouts of “Bibi! Bibi!” and shouts of “help us!” in Hebrew. No word if anyone was hollering for a “free Bibi-phone” and my Hebrew isn’t that good yet. Well actually, it is and they didn’t.
France didn’t show itself in the best light shall we say during the visit. First the Prime Minister of Israel was not invited to attend the solidarity march for world leaders. Perhaps France hasn’t noticed there is a country of Israel? After Bibi said he was coming, France then invited Mahmud Abbas. While French President Francois Hollande was chilly to Bibi, he seemed all BFFs (yes, I did mean that) with Abbas. Both Abbas and Hollande left the Synagogue when Bibi got up to speak.
But France doesn’t only fail in manners, it fails in organization and security. For some strange reason, the bus that was to take Bibi and his security detail to the march was running quite late.
His response as he is made to wait for bus? He and his detail remain alert, and just do what they gotta do. Although, when Bibi got on the phone I did kind of wonder if he was calling in a air strike on Hollande’s house.
Then we get to the march itself. According to Arutz Sheva
At first, he finds himself in the second row of heads of state – either on purpose or for some other reason. He then apparently decides to move into the first row – and does so by approaching the president of Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta, from behind, introducing himself and simultaneously sliding into place next to him.
Bibi, as a leader, shows resolve. He passes. He is doing what he needs to do to represent his country, and her people.
Abbas, now Abbas. Interestingly, Abbas took heat at home for going, according to Arutz Sheva
Mahmoud a-Zahar, a top Hamas terrorist in Gaza, slammed Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas for participating in the anti-terror rally in Paris Sunday. A-Zahar called Abbas “hypocritical” for participating in the event.
“The participation of Abbas in this event is part of the hypocrisy and political acrobatics that Abbas commonly participates in,” a-Zahar said. “Abbas wants to show that he can fight terror, but he does not even know the meaning of terror.”
And that’s coming from a terrorist. It’s not that Abbas is enlightened or wants to sing Kumbaya, Abbas is a holocaust denier who did not condemn the attack on the Hyper Cacher Kosher Grocery. He’s not standing for anything firm, he’s being a Politician. He does not show resolve.
Abbas=Fail.
I think we’ve already kind of covered France’s Hollande. He has been unwilling to keep a entire segment of his population safe from another segment of his population because it might offend their tender sensibilities.. as my Uncle would have said. I would say hurt their little feelings. As he and French law keeps law abiding subjects disarmed this is even more critical. So what to do when you know the leader of your country will not keep you and your kin folk safe?
This one is better than words. BETAR!!! You’ll enjoy this one.
Yeah, Hollande=fail.
So, now we come to barry. It seems the White House didn’t realize the march was going to be a big deal. I mean, after all, barry did say “The future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam.” in a speech to the U.N. He just didn’t specify that the future wouldn’t belong to them because they would be, well, dead. Seems barry didn’t know about the march, according to aides, they didn’t mention it to him since it wasn’t a big deal. I guess if he had known it was a big photo op, he would have gone. That’s how it works when you don’t have an actual sense of right and wrong. So what to do, what to do?
Well, let’s see. You could announce on January 11th that barry will host a “Summit on Countering Violent Extremism“, since he’s not in Paris for the march. That will show you are a serious world leader. Mind you, not a summit on violent Islamic Extremism. He seems to sort of avoid saying that. Hmm, needs more cowbell, so what else can you do? Ahhh, cowbell, yes, that’s the clue. Send John Kerry with James Taylor to France. To sing “You’ve Got a Friend”. It sends all of France a “big hug”. Seriously.
We have to wake up and call this what it is – not generic ‘terror,’ but Islamic terror that is hitting us with full force.”~~Naftali Bennett
To have resolve, you have to KNOW what you are facing, you have to ADMIT what you are facing. Until you do there is no way to work out actual solutions. You will not solve a hoof flying at you by giggling and saying “oh, he’s just exuberant, isn’t he cute?”.
Barry doesn’t have the first clue about resolve, well, perhaps when it comes to “fundamentally transforming…”. But to protecting America’s citizens? Protecting America’s Constitution by not selling it out the the U.N.?
Barry=Fail.
Now this is just sad, you want to know what RESOLVE looks like?
In case you want to help, anonymous is going after the Twitter accounts.
— OpCharlieHebdo (@OpCharlieHebdo) January 9, 2015
Do you want to help us ? Find terrorists twitter profiles, report them. #No2IS #JeSuisCharlie #OpCharlieHebdo #CharlieHebdo #StopDonkyLovers
A conversation a week or so ago about terrorism got me to thinking about resolve. The opinion was expressed that rather than the Israeli military flying exercise mission, each flight will try to find a terrorist camp. Rather than not bombing missile launching sites because it is a school, they will be bombed. The world is never going to “love” Israel, and trading land for peace isn’t working, being sensitive to world opinion isn’t working as evidenced by the number of wars since her birth. That resolve is needed, resolve to do what is necessary to keep her people safe and stop the cycle of war> win> give away> be attacked.
As I face paths in life, forks in the road, I find that it seems “resolve” really does play a huge role in how a path is chosen. If I (and I can only speak for myself) lack the resolve to see a battle for what it is, call it what it is, take stock of assets and liabilities, and make a plan then what realistic chance of success is there? I think this pretty much applies to leaders of groups, politics, nations and their leaders. If they lack the resolve to see the battle through, we all pay the price.
And if that resolve is not there? Don’t be surprised when you see that hoof come flying at your head for the 53rd time, in a week. Or another Boston bombing, or beheading, or, or, or.
I’m miffed at Bibi Netanyahu at the moment, AND Danny Dannon. In fact, I’m so miffed at them, I’m not going to answer their emails! Just on the off hand chance they have a clue who I am and they would actually email me in the first place. As you may be well aware, Bibi is the Prime Minister of Israel. He is from the Likud party, as is Danny. Danny is even more right wing than Bibi, This is not a bad thing to my way of thinking.
So right wing is good, right? Supporting actual Israelis against the likes of someone like Haneen Zoabi.
A couple of years ago I did an interview with a Navigation Unit Commander for a tank battalion. Of course the topic of Israeli politics came up. That’s one of the nice things about doing interviews, you get to ask what you want to know. I remember him saying that in the Knesset you will have some of the members saying things like Israel should be bombed off the face of the earth. I’m sure I looked appalled when I asked “WHY on earth would you let someone like that be in the Knesset? They should be arrested for treason!” He looked equally appalled and informed me “Everyone has a voice, everyone gets a say”. I remember thinking, with MK s like this, who needs to worry about obama or the other muslims? I understand what he’s saying, but yesh! One of those type of MK s is the Zoabi mentioned in the video. She has done such notable things as side with those on the illegal flotilla a few years ago, she also sided with the rioters on the Temple Mount, and the cowards that kidnapped and murdered three Israeli teenagers in the summer of 2014. She stated “They are not terrorists, even if I do not agree with their actions, these people do not have any escape, any escape.” Precious isn’t she? In March 2009 she stated that she was not worried about the prospect of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons. She suggested that a nuclear-armed Iran would act as a counter-power to Israel. Yep, a real peach.
I can well understand why Danny and Bibi wouldn’t want someone like Zoabi or her Balad Party (left wing) having a lot of influence in the Knesset. So Danny and Bibi are strong, conservative, pro-Israeli, right? Welllllll, that’s probably a loaded question, and here we go.
Ever heard of a political party called Manhigut Yehudit? It means “Jewish Leadership”. It would be the political party I would most wish to be a part of. The irony here, is they would most likely have nothing to do with the likes of me. I’m not Jewish or Israeli, at least by most people’s definition. Ever hear of Moshe Feiglin (hope your Hebrew is better than mine)? These guys are RADICALS! They believe in the Jewish state that Jews should be allowed to pray at the Holiest site in Judaism! Can’t you just hear the sound of air being sucked in through teeth? I know! They also believe things that are an anathema to left wingers, such as, gasp, religion in schools! Yes, Jewish education for Jewish children in a Jewish state! And a modern and open economy based on Jewish values, and transferring power to local governments, less taxes! Oh the shock and horror! But more astounding is Israel needs to defeat its enemies not to flee them. WHAT? Minorities Must Abide by the Law, why that’s RAAACIST! Why, folks, I believe what we have here is the Israeli version of the Tea Party. Well, except Manhigut Yehudit was formed in 1998.
So, it would seem natural that Manhigut Yehudit would fit right in with the Likud, wouldn’t it?
Well, imagine my shock and surprise to find out that Bibi and Danny Dannon along with some others conspired to keep Moshe from returning to the Knesset! Now is where I hit the deep water. I read that Moshe and another MK I really like, Tzipi Hotovely had been given unrealistic seats. Moshe at #27 and Tzipi at #26. People like me maybe shouldn’t have Israeli news feeds on their phones, I dunno. So when I read this
Hotovely is the only religious female MK on Likud’s roster. In any case, the Likud’s “leading woman” is shaping up to be Miri Regev – who is also an advocate for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount. Regev is in the fifth spot, after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein, and ministers Gilad Erdan and Yisrael Katz. The former leading woman in the party, Limor Livnat, has bowed out of politics.Gila Gamliel, who is currently Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, is in the 10th spot.Meanwhile, Deputy Knesset Speaker Moshe Feiglin is out of the realistic zone for election to the 20th Knesset. Former MK Ayoub Kara has outflanked him and pushed him to the 36th spot.
My first thought was “huh?” What does this mean? So I did what I always do when I’m in over my head, and I know it, but I don’t want to back off. I picked up my phone. “Can we talk about Israeli politics and the elections? I’m confused and I don’t understand some of this stuff”. I think I heard a deep sigh, which wouldn’t be all that remarkable except I had sent a text message, not made a phone call. But the answer was “Of course”.
Some of my first questions were HOW can a person like Tzipi Hotovely not be wanted in the Knesset when she makes sensible statements in March 2011 about
Israeli Author Amos Oz being naive, after he sent a Hamas leader a copy of his auto-biography, writing that Oz would lack even the instinct to distinguish between Mordechai and Haman.In July 2011, Hotovely met with Glenn Beck. She told him that “this [Israeli-Palestinian] conflict isn’t territorial…This is a religious battle led by Islam. We can’t ignore this basic truth.”
Or Moshe Feiglin,
“Why should non-Jews have a say in the policy of a Jewish state?… For two thousand years, Jews dreamed of a Jewish state, not a democratic state. Democracy should serve the values of the state, not destroy them….””Israeli citizenship to Jews only [and] the immediate expulsion of any person of another people who claims any sort of sovereignty in the Land of Israel.””We are busy fighting for Yesha, and refuse to recognize the more dangerous front against the fifth column inside Israel.” “We established a state so that we could stop being different and start being normal. If only Jews can be Israelis, then we will never be normal. . . .The fundamental solution is leadership that is not looking for normalcy. The solution is leadership that emphasizes our Jewish identity. Paradoxically, it is only when the Arabs understand that the Israelis do not need them to help them to forget that they are Jews – will we be able to live here in peace with non-Jews who unequivocally accept the fact that Israel is a Jewish state.”It appears that the Israeli Arabs identify with our enemies. There are laws in this country that deal with treason and they should be applied when required. If Israeli Arabs are found helping our enemies, they should be stripped of their citizenship. In addition, if they are citizens, they should not be exempt from paying taxes; they should serve in the IDF, or at least in Sherut Le’umi, the National Service. . . . .If they are against us, we must make every effort to ensure that they leave. If they collaborate with our enemy, they must be removed.
WHO wouldn’t want him in the Knesset? Well, while I’m admitting right up front, I have an as yet imperfect understanding of Israeli politics, the short version is people don’t vote for a person after the primaries, they vote for the list the party puts up. Sometimes the party will change the list they publicized after they are elected. On top of that, to get a majority number of 61 seats, sometimes the party with the most seats will form collations with other parties to get the 61 out of 120 seats. To do this there are payoffs usually involved. You want the “Pirate party” (kid you not) to join your collation of “We are all Friends” or “Meretz” to make it to the magical 61 seats? You will probably promise their people posts. Now these are all Left Wingers. But what if someone from the Pirate Party is appointed to a position in finance. And what if the Pirate Party appointee turns out to be like Ragnar Danneskjöld from Atlas Shrugged and supports lower or no taxes and full unfettered capitalism. Think how betrayed the big government, more control, less Israel first voters are going to feel. And apparently there can be all kinds of machinations that take place. Reminds me of a caucus I went to a few years ago. The Ron Paul people had the 2nd most amount of people turn out, and yet that candidate received not a single delegate when the deals were done. The list appears to have been made up by Karl Rove types. Moshe & Tzipi would be a threat, they believe in Israel and Israelis first and foremost. They believe they should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. So, since they (Likud leadership) view them as a threat to getting the votes of the “moderates” and “independents” they put those troublemakers further down the list. Much like in America when we see “Moderate” candidates like John McCain and Mitt Romney put up as viable “conservative” candidates. And the Karl Rove, talking head types tell us they are the only type of candidates that can win. Similar to Republican attacks on the Tea Party.
So, the Tea Party, like Moshe, who thought he could change Likud from within, are finding out, maybe not so much. Moshe is planning on forming a new political party. I think our Tea Party is going to have to begin to stand on their own. I don’t know that they can afford to keep trying to work from within to reform a party that elects John Bohner as speaker of the house. Bohner has proven time and again he will not fight barrry. He is lots of hot air, all hat and no cattle. Both Bibi and the Republican Party talk about being “inclusive” and the “big tent” and wanting to have more groups of people brought in, unless of course, they are true conservatives. Then, um, well, no. they want no part of that!
But this isn’t only a National problem, look at just a couple news stories out of Missouri in the last few days.
HB 188 which would be very harmful to grassroots issue based groups, say for example Second Amendment rights groups. This bill would require groups to disclose their membership lists. Kind of a lousy political environment for making a list of Second Amendment supporters available to the government isn’t it? Especially when you have a sort of Governor like Jay Nixon.
A bill introduced by Rep. Caleb Rowden to force more disclosure of political spending received a significant endorsement last week when incoming House Speaker John Diehl said it is a priority for inclusion in a package of changes to state ethics laws.Rowden’s bill would require corporations or other entities formed under state business laws to report the sources of their funds when spending to influence elections exceeds 25 percent of their annual budget. The bill, said Rowden, R-Columbia, is intended to exempt entities with a wide range of activities from disclosure while putting a spotlight on those with a primary purpose of influencing elections.
And this abomination is brought to you by freedom loving Repub, er RINOs.
Yep, the US and Missouri at least show a flair for the same nonsense.
But what about a Zoabi type character, is there such? Why, yes, yes there is! Missouri has State Sen. Maria Chappelle-Nadal. Little Maria recently said on Twitter
“LET ME BE CLEAR. When you exercise your #WhitePrivilege, don’t think I’m not going to remember. I will use it for the future. Uncomfortable?”
No, she’s not the anti-gun Senator that was arrested for being drunk and carrying at the “peaceful” Michael Brown protest. That was Jamilah Nasheed.
Missouri sure has some “special” politicians. But I bet if you dig around and turn over some rocks you can find the same type of politicians in every state.
What is the end result of all the “specialness”? Well, you get laws that prohibit Jews from praying at the holiest site in Judaism in a Jewish state. You get laws that are horrid, and then the Police who are charged with enforcing the laws get stuck enforcing crap laws. Because these morons were elected by “We The People”. Although I will admit there could well be vote fraud.
These Politicians think theirs is the power, they believe in the Politics of Power. And that’s who they choose to represent. They have forgotten that they were elected to represent “We The People”. And as long as we continue to tolerate people that run on campaign promises of what the people are asking for and then sell out at the earliest opportunity, this is what we will have.
I’ll end with this music video of Moshe Feiglin, partly because I just like it. I love looking at the scenery and thinking did I walk down that street? And partly because I like the message, we need to stand together. Where politicians seems to be doing nothing but dividing us, we need to force them to unite to accomplish what “We The People” are telling them we want.
We are beginning to see what I fear is the start of something that will evolve into something really, really ugly. The erosion of the “Thin Blue Line”. There are some people that support the law enforcement community no matter what. I am not one of those. I think people like the officer (Kevin Dupre) from Cleburne Texas that called these dogs over to him by making kissing noises and then killed them need to rot in hell. I truly hope there is a special place in hell for people like him. Just so I’m clear on how I feel about this piece of scum. I’ll be honest, I can’t watch the whole video.
Just in case you are livid as well, there is a petition to have him terminated since the police chief decided he did nothing wrong. They want 150,000 signatures by 14 February 2015, they already have 148,985.
By the same token, I think the officers that used an illegal choke hold on Eric Garner needed to face legal consequences. There are some nasty Law Enforcement types out there that crave power and abuse it.
That being said, the majority of the Law Enforcement Officers I’ve dealt with have been good people. Trying their best to carry out their calling. They have a genuine desire to protect the helpless, to stop crime, make their towns safer for good people. They are truly “Sheepdogs”.
The Thin Blue line refers to the line that police form between good people and predator thugs. It’s the same kind of mindset as the military, and to a lesser degree concealed carry holders. Speaking for myself, I did not get my concealed carry endorsement to protect society in general, but myself, and my family when I’m with them. The members of the Thin Blue Line willingly, on a daily basis, put themselves at risk in harms way to protect law abiding citizens, people they’ve never even met.
I know it well. A few hundred years ago I was a member of the “Thin White Line” meaning Emergency Medical Services, airborne variety. We did search and rescue, emergency transport and “scene flights”. Those are usually “high drama” as you are landing at the scene of whatever, car crash, shooting, stabbing, heart attack, sudden infant death, ________ tragedy. If it’s a scene flight, it wasn’t good. Often at these scenes you would have very upset people, they could be family members, friends or just bystanders. Before we would land, the LZ (landing zone) would be secured usually by the Fire Department and law enforcement. But for law enforcement the fun didn’t end there. Once we were on the ground, they also kept the crew and the helicopter safe. I’ve had upset family decide I was going to talk to them, RIGHT THEN, and unfortunately I was trying to stick a tube in an airway to ventilate the patient. Law enforcement peeled the guy off me and I finished my job, upset family member was very determined though and previous law enforcement hero repeated heroic act and got him off me as we were loading the patient in the helicopter. This was also during a time when one of the local gang initiations was to “pop” someone in a jacket. Which meant us, or the ambulance crews, fire or police. Securing a scene is not always easy I don’t suppose.
So through the years, most of my contact with law enforcement has been on the same team, apart from an odd ticket every 20 years or so. And I’m very supportive of our local law enforcement where I live, well, the Sheriff’s department anyway.
And this is where I differ from the “peaceful protesters” we’re seeing such a plethora of lately. For them, it doesn’t matter if the innocent child (read 300+ lb charging water buffalo) was committing a crime as Michael Brown was, on top of a “white hispanic” like Trayvon Martin pummeling the snot out of George Zimmerman or walking away as Eric Garner was, if the person that died was black, and the narrative can be exploited, get ready cause it’s going to be. Not far from Ferguson another young black man named Antionio Martin had made the choice more than once to commit armed robbery, assault and armed criminal action. Quite the list of accomplishments since he was 17. It ended badly as it often will when police who had been called about the theft have a gun pointed at them. They shot him. So far the Chief of that officer is standing behind him pointing out the choices Mr. Martin made had everything to do with the outcome of the situation.
I haven’t heard when the race pimps will arrive in town to foment it being burned to the ground yet.
The execution of Officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos I think is the beginning of a response to the attacks by politicians such as Warren Wilhelm (aka Bill diBlasio) Barry Sotero (aka Barak Obama), non-Govorner Jay Nixon, Eric Holder and flotsam and jetsam Sharpton and Jackson. Also getting into the act are the schools of higher “education” (chuckle, guffaw) colleges. Like the charming editorial in the CUNY by the editor in chief calling for armed war against the police. I think there is already plenty of hostility toward the LEO community. While I didn’t hear it in the American press, in an Israeli newspaper ran an article that the gun man that killed Liu and Ramos had invited bystanders to come, follow him and watch what he was going to do. Yet in that community it apparently didn’t even prompt a phone call from any of the people in the hood to the police to say something might be afoot.
For campus firebrands it must be quite a chore deciding who to hate more on any particular day.
If it’s Monday it must be the Jews and if it’s Tuesday it must be the cops. Is that how it works?
This we know about the darlings who have turned our universities into gulags against free thought and free speech. They want to boycott Israel and they want to divest from law and order and they want to sanction anyone who makes them feel “uncomfortable.”
Quite a good column that, worth the read. You can find out the direction the future of our country is being steered by the hallowed halls of higher education.
So what’s the endgame? I don’t know, I can’t find my crystal ball at the moment, but a conversation with a couple of co-workers one day was pretty interesting. One of them opined that the police would soon become afraid to intervene in anything involving one of the protected by politician class of people. I could well see how that could be possible. And since this protected class largely appears to be the criminal element this won’t go well for law abiding citizens. And since our law-breaker in chief doesn’t seem to think local police forces are up to the job of “fairly” applying the law, perhaps it is time for him to begin to implement the plan he first put forth in July 2008, of a “Civilian National Security Force” that would be “just as powerful, just as strong, just as well funded as the US Military.” You can read about how helpful this type of security force has been in history, and how he has gone about starting to create it. Don’t remember him saying it?
And the idiots applaud on, never questioning “What the heck does THAT mean?” nor did the media jump on it.
But as Ronn Torossian points out, Hitler hired PR firms, the terrorists of today hire PR firms (which by the way ofter refuse Israeli business) but Obama and his left wing ideologues? They don’t need to hire PR firms, the media does it for free for him.
The current regime has done everything it can to divide this country, by race, economic class, religion and now law-abiding and LEO community vs. gangs that are becoming ever more violent in response to the encouragement.
Where does it all end, I don’t know. But I’d fasten my seatbelt, cause it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Additional thoughts, what will happen to a town when firefighters can’t fight the fires because they are taking incoming fire, from the “peaceful protesters for social justice?” As they did in Ferguson and had to pull back. When EMS, Emergency Medical Services can’t get in to help the injured for the same reason?
Another aspect that is coming into play. I found out today a large area mall was shut down the day after Christmas during the large shopping day due to fights breaking out in the mall. It was one of several malls across the country so attacked. Not spontaneous, planned. In the story one Mother says she TOOK her teenage daughters to the mall at a certain time due to a message the girls received on social media telling them what time to be there. WHO does that? I mean, really, did the Mother not know what was going to happen? Did she not ask her kids? Yesh! The economic impact of things like this is going to be awful. Whole shopping centers shut down because the police can’t protect them, even when calling in mutual aid.
Bumpy ride? Societal norms under attack? In the past, what has followed attacks on a culture? Yeah, buckle up.
Mike Bloomberg thought he was on a roll. In the wake of Sandy Hook, his money managed to buy unconstitutional legislation in Connecticut, Colorado, Maryland and New York. In the election just past, his money staved off defeat for two governors who did his bidding, although as Wellington said about Waterloo, it was “the nearest run thing you ever saw.” Most importantly — and the latest jewel in his anti-firearm crown — his money and that of Bill Gates, Paul Allen and other like-minded elitists “bought the mob” (in the parlance of the Founders) with the success of I-594 in Washington state.
Yes, Bloomberg was on a roll. The so-called “mainstream” gun rights organizations, from the NRA to Alan Gottlieb’s Second Amendment Foundation and all the smaller spin-offs in the affected states, had no answer to Bloomberg’s millions and refused to put their own rivalries and jealousies aside to find one. This is hardly a surprise, since almost all of these groups have always been more about raising money to “fight gun control” than actually FIGHTING gun control. Each has been more obsessed with their own reputation in the collectivist-dominated press and their obsession to “win friends and influence people” in the middle. So, following their long-established patterns and refusals to think and act outside the boxes they placed themselves in, they lost. They lost in Connecticut, they lost in Maryland, they lost in New York, they lost in Colorado and now they have lost in Washington state.
In each case, Bloomberg understood his enemies, their foibles and their failures far better than they understood him. So he won and they lost.
But then something happened that Bloomberg in his arrogance never expected, something that the “mainstream gun rights organizations” for their part never expected either — in every single state where Bloomberg had “won,” it turned out that the victims of his unconstitutional laws had other ideas. And they didn’t need “leaders” like Wayne LaPierre and Alan Gottlieb to lead them.
The riots, looting, and destruction were the culmination of weeks of threats the savages of Ferguson issued if the grand jury did not return the verdict they desired.
The city is burning, and they were ready for war.
They were ready for “war,” because somehow the decision of their fellow citizens based on scientific evidence became a personal slight – an opportunity to project every miserable event in their lives onto this one event and blame others for what they perceive to be their lousy lot in life.
I’m not good at expressing very many feelings, other than rage.
One of my assignments in grad school for my class in intelligence profiling was to develop a profile of myself. After careful self-analysis, I realized that my background as a Soviet Jew is the reason for my visceral reactions to injustice.
I wrote that injustice – whether it’s the force of the state against the individual, the force of the strong taking advantage and abusing the weak – whether the elderly, defenseless animals, or babies – or the force of those who gather in a mob to abuse those whom they perceive to be ready victims – makes me cry.
It ties my stomach up in knots.
The sheer intensity of the rage I feel takes my breath away.
The helplessness – the inability to do anything to help level the playing field – the utter despair I feel becomes physical pain.
It’s that pain that I felt when I stared down the barrel of a Soviet-made AK in Chop – that little border town in western Ukraine after the guards took my dad away for no reason other than to humiliate the Jews.
That’s the kind of pain and rage I feel when I see the looting Neanderthals victimizing innocent people in savage hordes.
Why?
It’s not because some kind of injustice happened in that grand jury hearing! It’s no because the jury was wrong, or racist, or somehow prejudiced against Michael Brown.
The justice system worked. Whether or not you like or agree with the results, based on the reams of evidence they examined, the grand jury did its due diligence and decided not to return the indictment.
That is called justice.
But that’s not why these looters are rioting. They don’t care about justice. They were planning riots long before the decision not to indict came down. They were planning to victimize innocent people – people who were maybe more successful, more well off, and better situated than they were.
And because these miserable, thieving Neanderthals need someone to blame for their lousy lot in life, they chose to project their grievances onto this one case, and to punish those who represent the wealth and success they would not work to achieve.
THAT’s what this is about. It’s a herd of barbarians taking the opportunity to exact vengeance for some nebulous slights against innocent people who had nothing to do with the grand jury decisions.
Merely because they could.
They had bricks, incendiary devices, numbers, and the willingness to victimize others.
Gun sales spiked in preparation for the decision in this case, according to CNN. Many chose not to rely on police to protect themselves and their property, but to take responsibility for their own lives and livelihoods.
Nothing. They looted and burned businesses, because they were there. Because this was the opportunity to take out all their rage on someone – anyone! It was the opportunity to, for once, in their miserable, decaying lives, to show their strength, rather than fester in their weakness!
I know I’m not good at expressing my emotions. I know I tend to focus more on factual information, links, evidence, etc.
But this…
This injustice – not the grand jury decision, which by all available evidence was reached after a thorough preponderance of the evidence presented – but the repugnant display of force against innocent people…
…this savagery makes me sick!
It should make anyone sick!
It should evoke tears, rage, horror, and shock.
This is the devolution of our society – the chaos and the agonizing shambles – that comes from this entitlement mentality: the mentality that allows sub-human swine to victimize innocent people en masse, because they somehow feel they somehow have the right to do so as a demonstration of their own impotent rage.
I’m so glad many in Ferguson chose to arm themselves! I’m grateful people began to realize how critical the ability to defend themselves is. I only fear that not enough of them chose to do so.
Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.
Password Reset
Please enter your e-mail address. You will receive a new password via e-mail.
