Category Archives: Political philosophy

defense of others, duty, Elsewhere, genocide, gun control, guns, hatred of Jews, Inspiration, Israel, Jewish philosophy, mindset, Political philosophy, Politics, self defense, Terrorism, Uncategorized

Zehut, The Politics of Identity

June 21, 2016 Carl Bussjaeger 2 Comments

by Sheila Stokes-Begley

When many people go to Israel, the want to see the historical sights. I do as well, especially military museums. There will most likely be a column on that. A lot of people want to eat the fabulous
food. Yes, me too. They want to shop, I’m SO there, especially when you talk about Yafo. They want to swim, did that. But what I really, really, really, really wanted to do, was interview Moshe Feiglin. At
which most tourist are probably saying “Excuse me?” But that was one of my very highest hopes for this trip. And I was successful.

I first learned about the former MK (Member of Knesset) when in response to something I had written my wonderfully kind team mate Y.B. sent me a portion of a Torah Thought from Mr. Feiglin. I loved it! I asked for more info and Y.B. told me who had written it and who he was. I did online research and signed up for the Manhigut Yehudite newsletter and was soon getting my own copies of Torah Thoughts included with each newsletter which I very much looked
forward to receiving. Each newsletter included Torah and politics. Does it get any better? Well, also a Dry Bones Cartoon. That’s pretty good too.

Last year I got to interview Mr. Feiglin by phone, and it was a great interview. This year it was in person. I feel very blessed.

So why my fascination? My respect first blossomed when he was writing articles calling for the Israeli government to make it easier for everyday Israelis to get weapons permits. Gun Control? Or Citizen Control?

With all that has been going on in Israel, I had a lot of questions for Mr. Feiglin. Especially since he along with the support of a lot of everyday people have founded a new political party. Zehut, which means “Identity”. Zehut is unusual in that they also allow people from places other than Israel to join. And with that I tell you I am a proud card carrying member. Well, I will be when my card gets here, but I am.

My first question was why form Zehut? Was it in response to the betrayal of leadership in politics? They campaign on one platform and then when elected turn and go another direction?

Feiglin: The average Israeli feels disenfranchised from their Jewish identity and the concept of a Jewish state. (I believe he said in a recent poll that 80% of Israelis identify as Jewish first, and as an Israeli second). The disenfranchisement started with the Oslo accords and now takes the form of things like a Judge appointed to the High Court who refused to sing HaTikvah, the Israeli national anthem after being sworn in. It shows in an army which is now refusing to allow soldiers to grow beards, “too much Jewish”. And very sadly when a Yad Vashem guide pointed out that the murder of Gil-Ad Shaer,16, Eyal Yifrah, 19, and Naftali Fraenkel,16 had occurred in Gush Etzion because they were Jewish. (That would seem evident to
me, but I guess political correctness can run amuck anywhere). Israel is a Jewish democratic state, but 10% controls the power and it is eroding Jewish values.

I have a few questions about everyday Israelis being allowed to carry weapons. Why are there areas where people are not allowed to have carry permits? A buddy moved from Jerusalem where he could carry, to Tel Aviv and now he can’t. He’s no less qualified in Tel Aviv. Yafo which suffered a terrorist attack is certainly within walking distance of Tel Aviv, I’ve done so! Why aren’t the military allowed to carry off duty, and why after people are out of the military can they not automatically be allowed to carry a weapon? As it turns out, the answer to all these questions are the same. Mr. Feiglin is very good at seeing the big picture and summing it up.

Feiglin: Because the concept of freedom is wrong. It should be the concept that the right of self- defense is G-d given! In Israel they believe that the right is given by the state. And if the state can give you the right to self defense, they can take that right away. In America they had the right concept, although they are losing the mindset. They believed anyone should be allowed to own guns unless they showed they were not to be trusted with them. (I pointed out that the UN does not believe self defense is a human right at all. Considering how anti-Israel the UN is, that is really not a good
combination). Zehut believes in planting in the Israeli mind the concept of true freedom. That everyone is responsible to defend their life, that of their family and the nation. Of course, there are those that oppose this. When I was in the Knesset I fought for more people to be allowed to carry. There were 150,000 people licensed to carry. But the Knesset wants to decrease that till terrorism decreases. You have the state as “Big Brother”.

What about the shooting in Hevron? (Sheila’s article on this incident) WHY is this soldier being prosecuted? Didn’t the fact that the video came from B’Tselem raise suspicions? This produced a wealth of information. This is so much more to this than a simple case of Katie Couric media malfeasance. I really think you should go read Moshe’s whole article on this topic, but here is what we covered.

Feiglin: This is a war of Israelis and Jews. It’s the soul of the Israeli, for what comes first, a concept of citizen or Jewish state. It’s been going on a long time. For the Israeli (in this comparison, sounds to me like your typical “enlightened” leftist who doesn’t have good sense about how this will play out) it’s the citizen, not Jewish state or identity. It was certainly evident when the Eichmann trial took place in Israel in 1961. A Jewish writer Hannah Arendt wrote a book, “Eichmann In Jerusalem: A Report on the Banality of Evil,”with basically the premise that Eichmann was just there, wrong place, wrong time. Can’t blame him, can’t blame anyone but Hitler. Anyone would have acted the same. Apparently some Israeli “intellectuals”
felt the need to agree. This kind of thinking is evident in the IDF today. The former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon recently said that “If someone rises to kill you, kill him first” is not the IDF’s strategy. The Deputy Chief of Staff equated those who subscribe to that value with Nazis. He would rather lose soldiers who protect citizens than kill terrorists. There is no difference in the value of the life of a person just out doing their shopping and the terrorist that comes to kill them. Certainly had nothing to do with ideology, right? But yet today some Arabs want to kill any Jew, soldier, civilian, man, woman, child or baby, it doesn’t matter. It IS the ideology. When Arafat was sick in Ramallah I had a sign on my car that said Hurry up and kill him before he dies. For someone that had that much blood on his hands to die in his own time is immoral. For terrorists to go to trial is immoral. A healthy Jewish response is you kill the attackers. You kill the terrorists that have
declared their own war on Jews. After the soldier killed the terrorist, the stabbings stopped. He did more than all the speeches.

What about the Temple Mount, Har HaBeit? Why are the Israeli police so quick to remove Jews? One young boy was even recently removed not for saying anything but because he had tears in his eyes. And for those that wonder, yes I did express my opinion of Moshe Dayan’s decision.

Feiglin: It has to do with losing identity. We must let Jews have their identity on the Temple Mount. There are those replacing Jewish identity, and they fear what Israel will become with it’s Jewish identity. Arabs do not really have an identity so much as filled with hatred. It’s in their textbooks, their schools, mosques, social media and how they are raised. If Israel disappeared from the map, there would be no more “Palestinian”. Their reason for being would be gone. The first Zionists were colonialists from Europe, and they just wanted to be one big happy family. They didn’t understand the Arab mindset. Most Israelis are Jews first, Israeli second but they are being led by a minority that doesn’t have that mindset.

What about the Boycott, Divest and Sanction (BDS) or as I call it (BS) movement? Has it had an effect? Is it just plain anti-Semitism in increments?

Feiglin: BDS is about the delegitimizing of Israel. When did the holocaust start? (He did ask me this, and I thought for a second and answered “the night Hitler was conceived”) That was the correct answer. When Hitler spoke again and again against the Jews it had it’s effect. In 1939 or 1940 when Jews ran to their neighbors to hide, they were killed. It was about eliminating the right of Jews to exist. Israel has to attack Iran, there is a real danger of Jewish history being written in Jerusalem. Not Warsaw. It’s needed to make a moral point. There is a correlation between the speeches made in Iran 12 ½ years ago by Ahmadinejad and the delegitimization of Israel, and it’s growing.

My last question to him “We’ve had a possible Kenyan as a president, at least someone not really raised as an American, I think we should try having an Israeli for a President, would you run?”

Feiglin: I’ve been asked about the current election. My answer is it doesn’t matter which one wins. If Israel will do what is best for Israel, then all will be better.

I started this interview by telling him that I felt like I cared more about Israeli lives than some Israeli politicians did.

After talking to him, I am quite certain that is not how it is when it comes to Mr. Feiglin. He has a very sound political platform based on a Jewish identity in THE Jewish state, living by Jewish laws and principles. Laws that will protect the innocent, laws that will allow every citizen living their daily lives be it in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva, Judea and Samaria to know their lives are worth defending and giving them the means to do so. It will allow the IDF to return to being the fine army it was meant to be and not a social experiment.

Zehut is a party based on knowing who we are, and what we are, and where we belong. And embracing it!

Honestly, I think there is a lesson in this for Americans as well. Because I’m very, very tired of having values that the majority of U.S. believe in being derided and told “that’s not who we are”.
Yeah, it is. And as the politicians and their compatriots in the media crank up to hype another round of gun control tripe, we would do well to remember it. It makes me think so much of “You can live
by G-d’s law or die by man’s.

I want to thank three wonderful people, Aryeh Sonnenberg who is the international director of Zehut and so warmly welcomed me when I joined. He put me in touch with Shmuel Sackett (who I got to talk with on the phone, really) who set the meeting up with Moshe. Shmuel also writes excellent articles. And I very much want to thank Moshe Feiglin for giving me an hour of his very valuable limited time. And since I often like to close with a video, this one is perfect!

(source)

Political philosophy

Using the Myth of the Constitution, Part 4: What to do to make the Myth REAL

May 17, 2016 Carl Bussjaeger 38 Comments

by Historian

In Part One of this series, I have discussed in broad terms the flaws of the present Constitution, link HERE.

Part Two discussed the specific shortcomings of the US Constitution, and there were a number of thoughtful comments that added significant value. Link HERE.

Part Three covered suggested steps to be taken and touched on the importance of ENFORCEMENT of the Constitution as the highest law of the land. Link HERE.

This installment is about making the myth of the Constitution real, about how we can go about actually enforcing the Constitution.

The idea of Constitutional enforcement has been an undercurrent in American politics for a long time, almost as long as the Constitution has been in force. Lysander Spooner in his essays entitled “No Treason” was not the first person to point out this issue, nor was he the last. Yet after over 200 years of increasingly obvious issues with the Constitution, we still have no enforcement clause.

Moreover, very few people are discussing what I consider to be the single most egregious flaw in the Constitution. Neither Michael Farris in his push towards an Article 5 Constitutional Convention nor Mark Levin in his book “The Liberty Amendments” promote Constitutional ENFORCEMENT, preferring rather to propose adding still more unenforceable amendments to an unenforced, and unenforceable Document. The only person I know that pushes the idea of enforcement of the Bill of Rights and the Constitution as the highest law of the land is Neil Smith. Despite endless lip service about Constitutional Government, few people out of government, and nobody at ALL in government seems to actually want to enforce The Document. Why is that? Cui Bono?

Well, not having an enforcement clause sure makes looting the taxpayer a lot easier, and it also makes it a lot easier to “enact a multitude of laws and eat out our substance.” A country like ours, where over half of the people working actually work for one governmental agency or another, either directly or indirectly, does provide considerable incentive for those folks to vote in favor of keeping their jobs funded. Enacting an enforcement clause is going to be damned difficult to do; enforcement of the Constitution will break lots of rice bowls. Both the Demopublicans and Republocrats see significant benefit in maintaining the illusion of legitimacy provided by the present myth.

Oddly enough, however, given the things the ruling oligarchy in this country have recently done, like having our military parade in red high heels and importing large numbers of 7th century barbarians in the hope that Western civilization will benefit therefrom, I’m hopeful that the right combination of stimuli can make the average American politician vote for damned near anything, as long as the carrot of re-election is dangled temptingly enough in front of them. But in any case, before we get hung up on the “how,” let’s think first about what an enforcement clause ought to look like. So what should an Enforcement Clause do? I have been thinking about this over the last two years, and here are my thoughts:

One of the problems we have with the current legal system is that it is a form of guild socialism. That is, if you do not belong to the appropriate guild, and pay the guild tax, you do not get to work in that profession. Guild socialism was common in medieval times, and was an early version of merchantilism, acting to restrain market entry and limit competition. American exceptionalism was due in part to getting away from those medieval ideas, and allowing anyone who wanted to enter the market to do so. Unfortunately, the lawyers managed to maintain their guild after the Revolution, and it still rides us today. As an aside, the last time I checked, I believe that there are only a few states that still allow people to read the law and take the Bar exam without having graduated from an accredited law school, one of which is the Commonwealth of Virginia. (see links here and here.)

With regard to the broader issue of Constitutional enforcement, the problem is that it is totally impractical, (in reality not possible,) for a non-attorney at present to act to strike down an unConstitutional law, and the only way to gain ‘standing’ is to break the law and place yourself at risk of conviction. Given that the overall conviction rate for Federal indictments runs in the high 90% range, why would any sane person do such a thing when the deck is so obviously stacked against the common citizen? The 1934 GCA which led to the case of US v. Miller, where the Federal Government won on appeal because the plaintiff failed to show up at the Supreme Court, is just one example of such issues; there are probably tens of thousands. If we are to have true enforcement of the Constitution, we have to be sure that access to whatever mechanism is developed is not restricted to the privileged class of lawyers, and that people who perceive an infringement on the Constitutional limits on Federal authority do not have to place themselves at jeopardy to seek correction. Any American must have the right to challenge the acts of every level of government which purports to have jurisdiction over them.

The second issue I see is that Constitutional issues get bumped up the ladder, taking years of time and gobs of money before the Supreme Court rules on the matter at hand……or doesn’t, in which case confusion reigns for another stretch of time, and the poor suffering taxpayer who got screwed by the government in the first place gets ignored. There needs to be a process that provides PROMPT relief. “Justice delayed is Justice denied,” right? If the determination is made at the local level that there has been Constitutional infringment, or if there is any significant delay, there needs to be immediate action to provide relief from the unConstitutional law or regulation, which according to precedent is now void, but which in practise never goes away. That stay or injunction ought to restrict the government, at whatever level the action is brought, from acting until the issue is finally resolved at whatever level it ends up being resolved. Moreover, if the case is appealed, and the higher court finds in favor of the plaintiff, the stay should be required to be extended to the entire jurisdiction of the court holding in favor of the plaintiff. This puts some teeth into enforcement, and ought to help correct the present tendency of Federal attorneys to do the legal equivalent of the “Rope-a-dope” and to draw out the proceedings and attempt to bankrupt the plaintiff by appealing any time they get an adverse ruling.

The third issue is that nobody is held responsible. There is no personal accountability on the part of any of the myriads of Federal, State, or local governmental elected or appointed officials, agents, or employees for their misfeasance or malfeasance. Those who violate the Constitution do so with impunity. That DEFINITELY needs to change, and those convicted of unConstitutional activity under color of law should suffer for it, both civilly and criminally. On the civil side, the costs of the legal action should be assessed against the person or persons involved in the infringement, personally, and they ought to be discharged from their position and stripped of their wealth, as well as salary, benefits and pension, and any other assets they possess.

On the criminal side, deliberate infringement of the Constitution ought to be a felony, and any such infringement resulting in loss of life, directly or indirectly, ought to be punished severely. One could argue that such subversion of the Constitution and violation of rights under color of Law ought to be treated as treason, with the death penalty available, but in any case, any governmental employee, representative, or agent should be liable for their actions.

So there is my conceptual list of what an Enforcement Clause for the Constitution ought to do. Constitutional Enforcement ought to:

Be available to any citizen of these united States;
be resolved promptly, with the presumption in case of delay in favor of the plaintiff, and with stays or injunctions against the unConstitutional law or regulation required;
Those who promote or enact such rules or legislation should be held accountable for the damage they cause and the costs required to address the issue.

Next time, I will discuss how this might be accomplished. In the mean time, thoughts or constructive criticism of the above are welcomed.

With Regard to all who serve the Light,

Historian

(Originally published at Views from Liberty Hollow.)

Ed. note: This commentary appeared first on TZP’s weekly email alert. If you would like to be among the first to see new commentary (as well as to get notice of new polls and recaps of recent posts), please sign up for our alert list. (See sidebar or, if you’re on a mobile device, scroll down). Be sure to respond when you receive your activation email!

authoritarian swine, Elsewhere, genocide, gun control, gun grabbers, hatred of Jews, Israel, Jewish history, mindset, Political philosophy, Politics, resistance, self defense, spirit of rebellion

Yom Ha’Shoah

May 4, 2016 Sheila Stokes 7 Comments

Today is Yom Ha’Shoah, holocaust remembrance day. A few thoughts and some more information for you on Yom Ha’Shoah. This is quite a good little article.

authoritarian swine, gun grabbers, mindset, Political philosophy, Politics, resistance, Sellouts and traitors, spirit of rebellion

Who’s looking through your Windows?

April 29, 2016 Sheila Stokes 15 Comments

I’m not a tech blogger, nor do I play one on TV. I would if anyone asked, I’m sure. But let’s be honest, no one is asking.

But sometimes, things in life just sort of can’t be ignored. I recently bought a little tablet hybrid. Meaning it’s a tablet with a detachable keyboard. I put much thought into my purchase. I chose one with decent reviews from a company that seemed to have good customer service. I chose one that can be charged from 100 -240 V AC, 50/60 Hz universal so it could be charged about anywhere, it has good hardware, good ports including a SD card slot that can give me 128 GB extra storage besides the 64 GB it comes with. It has a trackpad, I found out last year trying to blog off my PlayBook that inserting hyperlinks without a mouse or trackpad is a hyper-nightmare. It comes in Rouge Pink.

It also came with Windows 10.

Perhaps I should say the poor thing came infected with Windows 10. I haven’t read much good about Windows 10, and personally I left windoze behind when I bought a new computer infected with Windoze Vista. The word Vista still makes me a little nauseous.

After obsessively checking the FedEx website about 5 times a day the little thing finally arrived. I charged it for the requested 9 hours while I was at work. Hey, I couldn’t use it, but I could look at it’s shiny pink shell. And smile. Ahh yes, the plans I have for you little hybrid!

Finally, 9 hours into my shift and it’s the “q” word. In my business we don’t say the “q” word meaning lack of utter chaos. Saying the “q” word aloud brings down utter chaos upon us. I fire it up and am greeted with it’s cheerful start up logo, then it’s time to set it up. The first screen basically says we are going to set things up, like time, date and language. The “next” button is in it’s usual spot to the bottom right of the page. There is some small writing in the lower left. It says you can customize settings. Ok, let’s. I click on that. Had I done the express set up as I suspect many do this is what I would have missed.

Followed by

I’m sure you are not shocked to find all these settings were turned ON by default. All of them.

And once you shut those off? You also need to go into app permissions, because by default their apps (many of which can’t be uninstalled) have permission to access everything. To get a browser different than Microsoft’s Edge to work required using command line and doing a command line reset. You know, the usual stuff.

So, automatically connect to things shared by my contacts. MicroSnoop will know who all my contacts are. It tells you it is collecting your browsing habits and sending the data to MicroSnoop, it basically collects everything about you and sends it to MicroSnoop. In fact, it is basically turning my little rouge pink traveling buddy into one little tracking device. Sort of like having Bill Gates staring through the window at everything you do…the voyeur.

Pity the people that want to keep their Windoze 7 or 8. Windoze 10 is being pushed off on them if they have recommended updates turned on. In addition to badgering them frequently to upgrade, it’s now just downloading and installing it. Oh, and on Windoz10, you can NOT turn off installing updates, at least not like before.

I realize we are already being tracked like crazy. A friend of mine was telling me about recently doing a google search for HazMat gear. When she logged into Facebook the next time she was greeted with many ads for HazMat materials. You know, the usual stuff that pops up on most womens Facebook pages.

This article has a more humorous take on it, but it’s still true.

Many states are trying to implement the REAL ID act by hook or by crook, in my state it was by crook, but hey, we have a dem governor. There are a host of potential expensive problems created for citizens and their states. But you have to admit, sure will be handy having all that data on people in one giant storage bin. Biometric data, friends, surfing habits, web searches. Even obamacare helps out. The majority of the veterans denied their Second Amendment rights have been turned in by the Veterans Administration. Now even if you’re not a veterans you too can experience the fun since your medical records are now electronic and can be accessed by a whole lot of people other than your doctor. Gee, even your children help out with data collection on the family unit via common (rotten to the) core helpfully pushed along by the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. Shock, gasp, awe, astonishment? Not so much.

So with all that tracking going on, I really don’t need my little pink hybrid friend ratting me out to MicroSnoop and any other giant data bases with whom they chose to share information. It’s no one’s business if I surf Drudge, Israeli news sites, Second Amendment sites and listen to the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Matisyahu, Tom T. Hall, Glenn Campbell and Yossi Azulay on YouTube. It just isn’t.

I waffled on writing about this, but when I saw this line in Kit’s column

Understanding how to set up and maintain those networks and infrastructure is the difference between a stagnant movement and a liberty resistance.

I decided to go ahead. Crucial to networks is their ability to do their job, as it needs to be done. For a few hundred years tyrants have known to maintain control, data collection is invaluable.

Political philosophy, Politics, Schools and campuses, So Much Stupid!, Voting, You can't fix stupid

What a RIOT!

March 14, 2016 Sheila Stokes

I’m probably dating myself here, but I remember when the term, which I still occasionally used, meant “how funny or humorous”.

I want to say up front, this isn’t about endorsing or disparaging a political candidate, this is about something I’m seeing that’s very disturbing and becoming somewhat frightening as it grows more common.

The first time I ever heard of riots was in the 60s. My Dad drove into the city to get his Mom out and bring her out to the suburbs where we lived and it would be safer for her. I was terrified till he got home with her and they were both safe.

It was a few years later that the L.A. riots happened, the ones where the Korean shopkeepers were the only ones that still had stores standing in their area because they were up on top of their buildings with AR-15s. The ones the liberals say have no civilian use.

Then there was George Zimmerman, when the black panthers formed mobs and publicly and openly put a bounty on his head with no repercussions.

This last year we saw Ferguson and Baltimore savaged by mobs, with the blessing of the Missouri Governor and the Baltimore Mayor. Repercussions? Meh, not so much.

But those were riots because something didn’t go the way people wanted it, and since they weren’t happy everyone and everything around them was going to suffer till they got their happy pants on again.

What we saw this weekend with Donald Trump, candidate for President was a different kettle of fish.

Mr. Trump has been having huge crowds at his rallies. Some love what he says, some hate it. Ok, fair enough, I have to leave the room or have a air sick bag handy if I’m in a position I can’t get out of listening to “The Bern” or Hillary discuss how fast they can each seize rights or redistribute the fruits of working peoples labor. That’s the political process, the politicians say what they will do to us or for us and we get to choose who we want to lead us. At least that is how it is suppose to work.

What I’m understanding happened this weekend is more along the lines of Ann Coulter, and other conservatives being prevented from speaking at universities because the precious indoctrinated children attending these universities didn’t want to hear an opinion different from how their liberal college professors had indoctrinated them. Bless their little hearts. Rather than just not attend if they didn’t want to hear, or even put their little hands over their ears and hum to themselves they had to prevent others from hearing what was said. Much like University of Missouri assistant communications professor, Melissa Click yelling for “some muscle” to remove a videographer. See some irony here? Only what WE the tolerant liberals want you to hear, will you hear.

So back to this weekend. There was suppose to have been a Trump rally in Chicago at the University of Illinois at Chicago on Friday. However due to a massive protest, that was canceled. There were people that had lined up since midnight the night before so they could hear the speech. They had broken no rules, but because the tolerant leftists didn’t want to hear what Mr. Trump had to say, then they deemed no one would be allowed to hear what Mr. Trump had to say. The protestors seemed to be a mix of Black Lies Matter, liberals, and turns out barry’s good buddy Bill Ayers was there too.

Apparently only SOME black lives matter as a young black entrepreneur who had been a Trump supporter was beaten and shot by the tolerant leftists.

A day later when Mr. Trump was speaking at rally in Dayton Ohio a Black Lies Matter activist attempted to jump on stage after throwing something at Mr. Trump. The secret service sprang into action and protected Trump and nabbed the self-identified activist. Trump said the people disrupting were fans of “The Bern” and leftists. The communist Senator from Vermont said Trump was a liar. Old Bernie probably should have checked out his buddies social media pages before he called Trump a liar on that one. The guy was an avid Bernie fan. And besides being a Bernie fan, he is a star in a pro-ISIS video, busy guy.

Dr. Ben Carson had what I thought at least, were some very accurate statements about what is going on with some of this. This is an excellent little video clip. No, I didn’t say that because it had horses in it, I said it because Dr. Carson hit the nail on the head. Oh, guess that was a bit violent too, eh?

I suppose my point is this, whether or not Donald Trump, Ted Cruz or, well, it will probably be one of them, is the nominee for the Republican candidate for president, this is ugly. Because now this huge mob on the left had learned they can shut down the speech of someone they don’t like. The riots I mentioned earlier were basically hissy fits because something didn’t go the way some group of people wanted it to go. Elect better leaders and that sort of thing will be dealt with and you won’t have a part of a city burned. But THIS, this stuff is about affecting the political process. This is about keeping from people going to a rally to investigate candidates and maybe ask questions. They don’t agree with his politics and policies, and they intend to make sure you don’t have the opportunity to make up your own mind whether you do or not by denying you the opportunity to go hear the speaker and make an informed choice. They want to stop it by either stopping the speaker or making people afraid to go hear them, either way, the result is the same. More uninformed voters, and that has yet to work out well for our country.

Again, I’m talking events here, not candidates, rule of mob vs. rule of law. How could such a thing have happened? I guess I never have liked bullies.

But ultimately? The only ones responsible for these reprehensible actions are those that committed them.

mindset, Political philosophy, spirit of rebellion, Uncategorized

Be Careful Who You Make Your Heroes

January 5, 2016 Claire Wolfe 15 Comments

Guest commentary
Exclusive to The Zelman Partisans
By PigPen51

Heroes have existed seemingly for all eternity, in nearly every culture. From Native Americans with tales of great bravery by men with names like “Eagle Feather” or “Bear Claw” to tales of heroes from ancient Israel like David vs Goliath to more modern times with real-world heroes like Audie Murphy, we all are familiar with the stories of those who inspire us to courage and faithfulness.

Often, however, we in America have created heroic images around people who have actually harmed us rather than benefitted us or society. Many men have been written into the history books as heroes not by virtue of anything positive they have done, but instead because of circumstances that chose them.

One such man is John F. Kennedy. He did nothing to deserve the title of hero. In fact, realistically, a strong case could be made for him as a horrible example of a leader, and one who was unfit for the office of president. From his disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion to his adultrous affairs to his escalation of the Vietnam war to his possible ties with Mafia leaders, he definately had feet of clay.

Of course, we can’t forget honest Abe Lincoln. His abuse of power is legendary. Even before the Civil War, he suspended the Writ of Habeus Corpus, then imprisoned the leaders of the pro-slavery movement from Maryland. This ensured a win in the next election in that state, which kept it from going to the south, thus landlocking and isolating Washington, D.C. Eventually, Lincoln would imprison as many as 14,000 people for political reasons. Many were held for the entire war. He also censored the mail and the telegraphs and shut down up to 300 newspapers for varying lengths of time.

We don’t have to go that far back in history to find “heroes” who have in fact been nothing but the same political self serving, freedom-stealing murderers that have been around for years.

The obvious candidate for first place is George W. Bush. For many conservatives, he is a paragon of freedom, second only to the great Ronald Reagan in modern times. And yet for those of us with any common sense, who can forget the Patriot Act, or the torture committed in our name?

A controversial one could be Edward Snowden. Many believe that by coming forward and releasing the documents he did, he is a hero. He did, after all, bring to light the many abuses of the NSA. However, the possibility remains that by his reckless release of these documents he caused many U.S. human assets to be put in danger. Whether or not this resulted in actual death remains a matter of contention.

I could go even further. I could go to other countries. Perhaps the great humanitarian Nelson Mandela. The man who united a nation. The communist leader who also was a ANC leader, the group who popularized the execution method called necklacing. Let’s just say it involved gasoline and an automobile tire. That narrative isn’t politically expedient, so we will just sweep it under the rug and call Mandela an unalloyed hero. It is the same for many others.

Someone can of course be a hero to one group while being hated by another. Even worse, in our case, many publicly extolled “heroes” rob our freedom while other genuine heroes go unsung or are even villified.

I am sure most people who are reading this are familiar with many freedom-movement activists. You have probably read their blogs, or seen their names in the comment sections of other writers. They all have the same thing in common with the heroes that I remember from the Vietnam war. They never thought they did anything heroic. They always said, if asked, “I didn’t do anything anyone else wouldn’t do.”

I think our country is certainly in need of heroes. We face a growing threat from without in the form of terror and financial attack. Perhaps more significantly, we face a threat from within, which, if left unchecked could rival that seen 150 years ago. It will take courage — and dare I say heroism — to lead our country back to where our founding fathers, and yes, mothers, meant for us to be.

However, as we consider this, I urge caution before making anyone into a hero. Think of all the different leaders of the past, especially those who ran for office with good intentions. Some probably genuinely thought they could make a difference. In my own state, many times “good” politicians swore, “Only two terms, and then I will not run again.” They quickly abandoned such promises, claiming they didn’t realize how long it took to get the feel for the job and to build relationships. We passed an amendment to our state constitution limiting them, and they continually bitch and moan about it, wanting to change it back.

Perhaps money and power are disqualifing factors for being a hero.

As I write this, I realize the question is not how can we make anyone into our hero but rather how can we become our own hero?

I think it would be great to try to become a hero myself. That way nobody loses. I don’t have to wait for someone else to act. And being a hero doesn’t mean waiting for some big event to sweep me up. I can start with the everyday things. I don’t have to wait for someone else write a letter to the editor. I don’t have to wait for someone else to take a new shooter to the range. I don’t have to wait for … fill in the blank.

Give up your heroes and work to become a hero by your own actions. Once you do, freedom can’t be far behind.

It has often been said, “be the change you want to see.” The same can be said for freedom. Be the freedom that you want to have. Don’t want to feel like the government owns you? The change comes first not on the outside, but on the inside. Fill your mind with the idea that first and foremost, you own yourself. They can only take away what you let them.

We must stop waiting for our heroes to do anything for us. Once we truly get that, really get that deep down in our heart, and start to actively do the things that the free people do, we will see our nation, or at least our communities, turn around. But just as we musn’t look for others be our heroes, we can’t stop to wonder if we are making any difference. A hero doesn’t look back. A hero doesn’t worry if what they are doing will be perceived by others as right or not. Heroes just act the best way they can, and count on someone else to be there for them later if they stagger or fall.

Freedom once tasted, can never be taken away, but can only be given up. We will never let each other down if we simply stand on our own.

—–

Ed. note: This commentary appeared first on TZP’s weekly email alert. If you would like to be among the first to see new commentary (as well as to get notice of new polls and recaps of recent posts), please sign up for our alert list. (See sidebar or, if you’re on a mobile device, scroll down). Be sure to respond when you receive your activation email!

genocide, Israel, Jewish history, Media, mindset, Political philosophy, Politics, Schools and campuses, self defense

Oh, it’s probably nothing…

December 28, 2015 Sheila Stokes 5 Comments

Dear Aharon,

I’m sorry to bother you again. But Hanukkah and Christmas are both over and this year it just seems like I’ve seen more than a few things that bother me. I’m really trying to be understanding, but I guess some of this just eludes me and I was kind of hoping you could help me clear it up.

In the America I grew up in, it seemed like December was always just such a joyous time of year. There is Hanukkah, with parties and dreidels and Christmas with Santa and trees and gifts. Of course I know that Hanukkah is not about gelt, dreidels, latkas and sufganiyot. I know Christmas isn’t about gifts, trees and hot chocolate.

Hanukkah was about the freedom to be a Jew, practice your religion and live. All at the same time. The Greeks weren’t so interested in killing the Jews prior to the Maccabbean rebellion as forcing assimilation. As long as you were willing to give up the practice of Judaism as commanded by G-d through the Torah and adopt the Hellenistic ways, as many of the more liberal Jews were, it was all cool beans.

Christmas was about the celebrating the birth of Yeshua, the son of G-d. Churches had nativity scenes out in front and often there might be one by the courthouse as well. Schools would have trees, kids would sing songs, there would be little parties with cookies, and parents would beam as the children did their Christmas plays.

But not this year. It’s been harder and harder to see the symbols in public the last few years, because they aren’t there. This year has been the worst it seems. So many things canceled for fear of offending another religion.

This is the year of the offended. Or fear of offending. It’s so bad that a teacher was told to take down her Hello Kitty Christmas tree. Yep, Hello Kitty. No angels, or baby Yeshua or anything like that, just little cartoon kittys on a pink tree that were dangerously offensive. At another school the Charlie Brown Christmas play was heavily edited due to the complaint of one person. There were many more complaints against it, but they didn’t matter. So it would seems the schools are safely sanitized of religion now.

Well, except for one. While many schools have decided to quit teaching cursive handwriting because it isn’t needed, some school districts are teaching calligraphy. To teach calligraphy, they are teaching the children to write in Arabic. In Arabic the children are learning to write “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” The first pillar of Islam. The girls in class were also treated to a lecture on how to dress modestly like a muslim, and invited to try on a headscarf while learning. This lesson was not well received by parents, and the school decided to avoid classes the next day and close. Parents were not informed what their children would be told to write, or given a chance to opt out. While a Koran was provided in class for the children to look at, the teacher declined to provide a Bible saying it wasn’t necessary. So I guess that’s how a school in VA observed December. But it’s not just Virginia, in Tennessee in September the schools went even further and made the children learn and recite all five pillars of Islam. They spent three weeks studying Islam, but skipped over the lessons concerning Christianity and Judaism. Doesn’t quite seem equal in the schools to me.

In business, mulsim cabbies refuse passengers with guide dogs and alcohol. Because it’s for religious reasons. However, religious reasons don’t seem to matter when it comes to Christian bakers who don’t want to make a cake. Then it’s all different.

What about obamacare? In 2016 the penalty for an individual is $695 for someone who’s insurance doesn’t match what the government says they must have. The Amish and Muslims are not required to buy obamacare, or have penalties. They believe insurance is gambling. Well, if insurance is gambling and they don’t have to buy it, what about auto insurance? Most states require you to have auto insurance to drive. Are they exempt from that as well?

When there is a crime committed, especially one with guns involved, it seems the media rushes to find a conservative or tea party angle. Yet when it appears the perpetrator is a muslim, the media and the government rush in to decry the connection saying it isn’t islam. In fact, barry still says ISIS has nothing to do with islam. When the woman ran over all those people in Las Vegas? The Sheriff isn’t comfortable discussing motive. Ok, maybe it has nothing to do with terrorism, or islam. Other people may scream “Allahu Akbar”, but seems it could be a clue. I mean that’s how they do it in Israel on a daily basis. The media talking heads and politicians will all trot out and tell us it wasn’t islam, had nothing to do with islam. And then call for more gun control. As a favorite radio show host of mine pointed out, why don’t all those people just hush about it, and let them tell us what islam is and isn’t. The ones doing the terrorist acts says it’s in the name of allah. I’m guessing they would know. No, I don’t think all muslims are terrorists. But the state department hasn’t a clue who is and who isn’t either. Nor does DHS or any other acronym. I’m still waiting for the million muslim march decrying the violence. Oh wait, they probably won’t do that, because it could mean their death as well.

No, islam in America seems to be hoping to force America to change to suit them. And in areas where there are large concentrations of them, they are getting quite brazen about what they insist taxpayer fork over.

So, Aharon, that’s the educational system, the business sector, the health care sector and the criminal arena and even charity and benefits. In all of those one group of people is giving preferential treatment over another. Does this mean we are already living in “dhimmitude” and no one has told us yet? And if the restrictions are applied I guess we will understand why barry tried so hard to take guns away from law abiding citizens. It’s going to be hard to impose the rest of some of those restrictions till he gets that one in place.

It just seemed so sad this December, and I guess I wonder if it is just the start of things? It’s not like we’ve ever seen a time where people are forced to give up the practice of their religion, covert or die right? It’s not like we need to be paging Judah Maccabee, right? No, it’s probably nothing, right?

Sincerely,

נצ

Dear נצ

You really are a glutton for punishment aren’t you? Yes, I can understand why you see things this way. I can understand why you are sad and concerned. But all you can do is keep trying your best to keep the concept of freedom and liberty alive. People have to have the mindset they want to live free. To keep those things alive you have to keep the right to have defensive tools. There are plenty of examples of civilizations that didn’t have enough, or good enough defensive tools and how that turned out. Keep doing those things. That is what you can do. Now, go have a nice cup of Israeli coffee, maybe a piece or two of halva. You’ll feel better.

Regards,

אַהֲרֹן

Elsewhere, genocide, hatred of Jews, hoplophobia, Israel, Jewish history, Media, mindset, Political philosophy, resistance, self defense

The Double Edged Standard Sword

December 4, 2015 Sheila Stokes 7 Comments

I started collecting stories I wanted to use to write a column a few weeks ago.

Since then there have been the attacks in Paris and the attack in San Bernardino.

The rest of the world has begun to see what Israel has been living with for a very long time.

There is such a difference in how things are portrayed in the media. In America predictably if a gun is involved, conservatives, gun-owners, Christians, whites or some variation or combination of the listed will be blamed. It will be acceptable to call for violence, the internment or a combination of things against law abiding people that have committed no crime and are just trying to go about living their lives and mostly want to be left the heck alone.

Liberals, leftists, communists, socialists etc will not allow this to happen because they see the list above an a real impediment to their ultimate goal which is control, power and domination. So the ability of the list above must be limited, or they must be muzzled or eliminated.

I listened to a radio show within the last few weeks and the host made the point that Anti-Zionism is always the precursor to antisemitism. Anti-Zionism is the polite socially acceptable mask for antisemitism which will reveal and show itself in time.

And antisemitism is alive and well in the world. It flourishes under the guise of the “enlightened”, and while overt antisemitism would perhaps be challenged by Abe Foxman, as long as it wasn’t one of his friends that said it, Anti-Zionism is applauded in the UN, and the European nations, campuses in the US and a large chunk of the demoncratic party.

Let’s have a look-see shall we?

We are told by the media and other “authoritative” sources that the poor Palestinians just want their own home land, they were displaced by the Jews.

I’ll let the always eloquent Dennis Prager answer this from a lecture at Oxford. It has subtitles, we’re good. One thing I find really amusing, though it has nothing to do with the subject. If the little flower that is so anxious to speak against Mr. Prager had worn that dress in a sharia ruled country, she would be dead, eventually. Not sure what would happen first.

Double standard much? Nawww.

Now lets look at the peaceful Palestinians are so disenchanted because they are forced to live in poverty. Ok, why?

Job opportunities suck? Well, many of them collect dole from Israel. American tax dollars going to the PA are given out most generously to terrorists. But some did have jobs. Until the enlightened liberals interfered. The Boycott Divest & Sanction movement? Supported by some churches, buckets of liberals, and the brain dead on campuses all over. Let’s walk it out.

I read a very interesting interview with a Palestinian human rights activist Bassam Eid. He has nothing good to say about the BDS movement. He pointed out that it is hurting the Palestinians the most. Take for example Soda Stream. It moved from the settlement of Mishor Adumim near Jerusalem to Be’er Sheva due to BDS pressures. Some of the former workers had talked with Mr. Eid. The told him at Soda Stream they earned around 5,000 shekels a month, about 1,300 USD. Today they can receive the princely sum of 1,400 shekels (365 USD) from the Palestinian Authority. Sadly, they had taken on financial commitments based on the belief that their work at Soda Stream would continue. The interview ended with him saying to the BS BDS people “As long as the Palestinian people aren’t boycotting Israel, they don’t need to do so for us”.

The mayor of Nazareth has similar sentiments.

The Arab members of Knesset had been coming to Nazareth to meet, photos, rally, hate the Jews, the usual. But a odd thing happened, completely unexpectedly, the Jews quit coming to visit Nazareth.

Salam told the Israeli business newspaper Globes that “on a regular weekend, 20–30,000 Jews come to Nazareth, but yesterday there were none. One a regular weekend, they [the Jewish visitors] spend a minimum of 10 million shekels. Yesterday not one shekel was spent.”The impact has been devastating.“Restaurants are closed. Businesses are closed. They [the business owners] come to the municipality and weep,” said the mayor, noting that it will now take months to return business to where it was before the most recent outbreak of violence.

In fact, Mayor Ali Salam made his point loud and clear on live TV.

In the live broadcast, the mayor could be heard shouting at a shocked Odeh, “Take your ‘business’ elsewhere. …You have destroyed our city. …Not one Jew came [to Nazareth] today. Not one! …Shut up and get lost!”

The left takes great delight in trying to cripple Israel, but because they live in the liberal world they don’t know that things sometimes look good on paper, but that’s not how they plays out in the real world.

The latest is the European Union’s decision to brand Israeli products made in East Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights. They are branding them to make the easier to boycott. Despite the fact that there are currently over 200 territorial disputes going on world wide, Israel is the only country the EU is requiring to label products. The PU ambassador to Israel said that the branding was pretty common, gave a load of baloney and when asked what other countries were required to do this (got a choice of 200 there Lars) replied, well, none. That’s a different situation. Of course it is Lars. Because the EU certainly isn’t antisemitic is it?

Now let’s move on to how the world treats the attacks that happen often in Israel. It is such a glaring difference that a magazine I subscribe to has a regular feature each month called “News From Pallywood”. If you aren’t familiar with this, it is very real. The media will show a photo of some poor innocent arab muslim being dragged off by her hair, or some poor child laying bloody in the street. Obvious victims of vicious Israelis. They just don’t run the photos of what happened moments before with the grinning arab woman hurling stones at soldiers and civilians. Or the cherubic looking child in the street having just stabbed a 13 year old Jewish child. There having even become well known stars of Pallywood. One little girl can turn on the tears at a moments notice. They are very media savvy. I’ve covered some of these attacks before. But since we in the US are currently being told by the obama regime that we are being silly being concerned about women and children let’s have a look at how that works out. Israel has a lot of experience with arab muslims.

A quick 47 second guide on how to avoid Israeli Brutality.

These girls were 14 and 16 years old. Their attack was carried out at Mahane Yehuda, which is a very large old market in Jerusalem. I love Mahane Yehuda, I love shopping at Mahane Yehuda. I’m making my list for my next visit. Many of these precious moments children that go out to stab Jews are in schools, getting an education and could have had prospects for a decent life. But for some reason have decided stabbing Jews is the best thing they could ever do with their lives.

תיעוד הפיגוע בירושלים: 2 המחבלות במסע הדקירות עד שנוטרלו. pic.twitter.com/9Ig2LrnRGx— הערוץ הראשון (@Channel1Iba) November 23, 2015

Here’s what “lightly wounded” looks like, from a magazine.
Just to put things in context.

Most of these are quite short. A few times you will notice the children had to be reminded to say “zionist” and not “Jews”. But some flat out said what they had been taught.

This one was kind of embarrassing for the TV hostess. It’s bad when your grieving guest star whips a knife out of her maidenform bra and says she’s waiting for her chance to stab Jews. Her son was killed stabbing Jews on a bus. He was stabbing Jews on a bus because his cousin was killed a month or so before stabbing Jews. This is the cycle of violence John Kerry and obama talk about. Jews get stabbed, they die, soldiers, armed citizens, the Jerusalem mayor, the police try to stop the stabbing and kill the assailant and another peaceful Palestinian will come and stab more Jews.

But, so the Christians won’t feel left out, these adorable tykes are playing behead the Christians in Turkey.

The media talks about “disproportionate” response. A parody news station called MSNBC uses propaganda maps put out by an anti-Israeli pro-Palestinian group to discuss land and territories.

There are a whole laundry list of helpful tips for journalists in this article, so you can report the news from the Middle East and not look like the usual media buffoons. And since it’s pretty humorous with links to pretty much back up all it’s claims it’s well worth reading.

Compare what you read in there with how the world and France reacted to the Paris terror attack. Just forget the part about barry recently standing on the stage in Paris and telling the French that mass shooting attacks don’t happen in other places in the world as he committed to more American gun control. France’s President said he would be “Ruthless” in response to the attacks. But no one questioned the proportionality of his response, the EU didn’t demand French wines be labeled. In fact everybody but barry was supportive. MSNBC didn’t call them to task, barry may or not have muttered something about not judging all the the response of the “extremists” which have nothing to do with Islam.

Many in our country have not taken a strong stand with Israel and her citizens under attack. They listen to CNN or MSNBC, or university Professor Biotch and don’t know what it’s like to live under constant threats. I think that is going to be changing as our populations demographics change. As the radio show host pointed out, Jews tend to be the canary in the mine. When attacks are beginning to start, they often start with the Jews. And, there was the HyperKosher attack with Charlie Hebdo, and what was done in response? Nothing. Well, not nothing. Nothing really from the French government as far as stopping Islamic attacks, but there has been a response from France’s Jewish population. There has been a 2400% increase since 2013 of young French Jews traveling to Israel. Some of those will consider making Aliyah.

We listen to politicians tell us we’re afraid of women and children. So? They kill the same as men. They are raised to do so. Look at the couple involved in the attack at San Bernardino.

As everyone tries to figure out why the attack happened, because it’s not radical Islam, probably more workplace violence. But a normally relatively clever British paper may have figured it out. A Messianic Jew may be responsible. A good first bit of the article describes what sort of things the man posted on his Facebook page (not the killer, one of the victims) and that he was a strong supporter of Israel (well, there ya go). He and the killer had been friends. Until the killer snapped ran home got his wife and the few little IEDs and pipe bombs he had laying around and donned his “assault clothes”. I’m actually impressed, it takes me longer to make an Israeli dish with quinoa, cauliflower & carrots. But we certainly can’t hold the innocent arab responsible! NO NO!! It’s what that EVIL Messianic Jew said! We must learn to watch what we say around the peaceful muslims, lest they snap & kill people!

I learned a couple things last week. In parashat Vayishlach in Genesis 32:11

11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.

The question was raised why did Yaakov say Esav the name, and then the title my brother? Why did he ask G-d to save him from both? Because he knew Esav, the wild man who could be a killer, who didn’t value his birthright, he knew to be on guard around him. But he also was afraid of his brother, the man he grew up with. Because he might not see the threat coming from his “brother” in time.

The attacks in Israel now are being perpetrated by the arabs that live among the Israelis. They work in their phone companies, attend their schools, work in their restaurants. They are the brothers and sisters living among them with the scissors hidden in their skirts.

And now they are the men who work in San Bernardino, the army Majors that are psychiatrists, the brothers that are living among us, that grew up here. We are bringing in more by the boatloads. And I’m guessing there will be a few Esavs among them.

What will be the result? Well, it’s almost Hanukkah now. And in Paris the police are telling Chabad not to light the Hanukkah candles. Seriously. And why do we celebrate Hanukkah? Oh, because the Maccabees were victorious over the Syrian Antiochus who wanted to wipe out Judaism and force the Jews to worship false G-d’s. Antiochus’s goal was to prevent the observance of Judaism and thus the revolt. Guess we best not say “You’ve come a long way baby” considering Chabad is now being told they can’t observe the festival that commemorates the war to practice Judaism.

So since France seems to be taking the wrong approach to dealing with Islam, I will provide the helpful information I got from another web site. Perhaps if they can do this, they won’t have any more attacks.

The irony of course, is that France has been very condemning of Israel and her long standing plight.

IF FRANCE WANTS PEACE WITH THE ARABS, THEY MUST DO THE FOLLOWING:

BORDERS
Return to the 1,420 borders

SETTLEMENTS
Stop building French homes on French soil

CAPITOL
Divide Paris into two Capitals for two peoples

Via Daniel Pipes.

So why do I call it the “Double Edged Standard Sword”? Because there is most certainly a double standard when it comes to how the world sees and judges Israeli Jews and her responses to terror attacks and how it treats other nations. And that difference has become a sword to be used against the Israelis. They need to defend themselves, the citizens need to defend themselves and the current American regime needs to quit asking their media lap puppies to skew their reporting to support the anti-Israel white house narrative. The double standard has become a double edged sword that is costing lives.

שבת שלום

Shabbat Shalom

defense of others, gun control, gun grabbers, guns, hoplophobia, mindset, Political philosophy, Schools and campuses, Sellouts and traitors, So Much Stupid!

I am WOMAN hear me whine?

November 4, 2015 Sheila Stokes 6 Comments

I saw a column a few days ago about a University of Miami Law Professor who was opposed to a campus carry bill making it’s way through the Florida senate.

MA Franks, another self-defense expert, urged lawmaker to reject the legislation. Franks is a law professor at the University of Miami who specializes in self-defense law and is also an instructor in Krav Maga, a Israeli form of hand-to-hand self-defense.“Guns are highly effective in committing crimes. They are rarely effective in preventing them,” Franks said.Franks said law enforcement officers and military members receive extensive training in firearms yet “struggle to use them effectively and accurately,” citing an 18 percent “hit rate” in gun fights involving the New York Police Department.“The fact of the matter is guns escalate aggression. They create a false sense of security. They encourage violence as a first resort,” Franks said.Franks also rebutted the argument that concealed weapons could prevent rape, noting most assault victims know their attackers. “Unless someone is going out on a date with her hand on a gun, this is not going to help her,” Franks said.

Apparently unmoved by the victims of rape that testified in favor of the bill, Franks believes that a woman would be unable to use a gun to defend herself.

WOW. A Professor of law, but, but the degree came from Harvard so that could be part of the problem.

I had a conversation with my Mom this morning, we were just reminiscing about my Dad, and things I had wanted to be “when I grew up”. At one time I considered lawyer, or perhaps open a auto repair shop staffed by women. A place where women could come and not feel intimidated. Dad didn’t like either of those. At the time those conversations took place women weren’t really in either of those fields. Back then there were still some jobs that were considered “men’s work”.

I remember the women’s liberation movement. Fairly well. Women were fighting to be accepted into fields that typically weren’t open. They wanted equal pay for equal work.

The first female police officer (actually functioning as a regular officer) was 1972. The academies didn’t make it easy for them to get through and often their teammates didn’t want them on the team.

The first female fire fighter to work solely as a paid fire fighter was in 1974. There were women who were volunteer fire fighters in the 1800s. There had also been BLM crews made up of solely women, but the first regular fire fighter if you will, was 1974.

The first integrated unit where men and women served together in the military in a war zone was the 1991 Gulf War. Prior to that women had been in the military, but usually as support staff, medical or clerical jobs. Going back to the War for Independence and the un-Civil War women did serve in combat units, but they disguised themselves as men. It was a process not an event. In 1974 the first six women became Air Force pilots, in 1976 the military academies became co-educational.

Women fought hard to have the opportunity to have these non-traditional jobs. If I had a daughter attending an expensive college and had one of her professors telling her that she was incapable of using an effective tool to defend herself I would be appalled and outraged, and she would be out of there and into a good school in a Miami minute. If I were alumni of the school and had a professor telling women such things I would drop support. I realize colleges are a hotbed of liberalism and progress and so to return to such an outdated and false sterotype is despicable.

So who is this ancient crocodile that is so threatened by a woman being able to defend herself against someone or a group bigger and stronger than herself?

Well, this is where it gets really sad. MA Franks, is Mary Ann Franks. A woman. Sadder still? She is a Krav Maga instructor. She recognizes the importance of self-defense but would deny her sisters the use of one of the most, if not the most effective tool to do so.

She is young now, she can do Krav Maga, but is she foolish enough to think that ALL women can? I realize she earns money teaching a way cool martial arts form, and kudos to her for that. But she lives in la-la land (sorry, forgot about the Harvard thing) if she thinks that there are no older students or students with physical disabilities. The most vulnerable do not need an effective form of self-defense? And they are every bit as deserving to live safely as the people that can afford to take her classes or have her physical abilities.

To have someone who has worked to be in a role that at one time would have been dominated by men telling others that women are incapable of using a gun is allowing her liberal ideology to damage lives. Perhaps she needs to get off the campus and into the real world where she could begin to use her mind and begin to think.

What a shame. What a selfish, silly, ungrateful child.

authoritarian swine, Political philosophy, Politics, resistance, spirit of rebellion, Voting, You can't fix stupid

Am I a Calzone?

October 6, 2015 Sheila Stokes 8 Comments

No, I don’t mean the food thingy, I mean the person, as in Ron Calzone.

Ron Calzone is a citizen, a mere mortal citizen. Well, a regular citizen with an incredible energy level. He raises horses and cattle and has a small manufacturing business. And then there is his side line. In his “spare” time Ron goes to Jefferson City to talk to legislators. Ron talks to them from a Constitutional viewpoint. He opposes things like eminent domain, and about anything that gives government more control over people lives or their property. He talks to legislators about having good firearms laws, that protect ownership and their owners. And he is very good at it. He is part of a group in Missouri called Missouri First. Ron is often in Jefferson City at the Capitol wearing down the leather on his shoes. Now not every citizen can get off work to go to Jefferson City to testify before a committee when the bills they are most interested in either seeing go through or stopped dead are to be heard. In those cases Missouri First has come up with something very ingenious, called Liberty Tools. People that are subscribed to their mailing list will be sent a notice when a bill of interest is about to be heard, and if you can’t go, you can fill out your witness statement online, MoFirst will print it off and take it to the hearing FOR YOU. Then your Representatives and Senators can get online and see which of their constituents weighed in on it. Either for or against, doesn’t matter, the choice you made, your comments will be there in the liberty tools section. Even if your vote and comment go the opposite of what Missouri First is recommending, it will be there. Pretty nifty huh? I heard from a very reliable source who was in a hearing for a Missouri Firearms Freedom act bill that Ron showed with a stack of witness forms about 18 inches or so high from people in Missouri who were in favor of it. That is a LOT of input.

So what’s the problem? Sounds like a stand up guy, right? I mean he takes time off from his own business, farm and family to go to Jefferson City and do what groups are always urging their members to do, get involved, go talk to legislators, send emails, write letters, make phone calls. He represents those that can’t be there but want their voice heard with piles of witness forms at hearings. Good stuff for citizens right? What could go wrong?

Well, he is good at being heard. And that has resulted in angering some politicians. Let’s look at a couple things.

When Sen. Kevin Engler thought he was a shoe in for position of the Senate’s President pro tem.

In 2010, along with multitude of Tea Party and Patriot group members, I also quite vocally opposed the election of Senator Engler, who was the majority floor leader, to the position of the Senate’s president pro tem. For the first time in decades, the Senate declined to make the majority floor leader their next president pro tem.

Right, Engler didn’t get it, and he was livid.

Now let’s uncover just a couple more skeletons. This one named Ron Richards. Ron was Floor Majority leader in the house at one time. That time would be 2013 and what was at stake was a fabulous bill called the Second Amendment Protection act. Now Ronnie has proudly proclaimed his pro Second Amendment status. He demonstrated this by running away from this bill screaming like a little girl. Actually I’ve seen some girls with bigger, never mind. Anyway, apparently Ron was upset that the bill would prevent newspapers from being able to publish the names of gun owners, you know, like they have in other states. But he promised he would sponsor an even better bill and get it passed. What can you say, he’s a RINO in Missouri. It’s two years later, and still not done. Then there was that time back in 2010 when Ron fought a bill that then Speaker of the house Ron Richards wanted, later the Missouri Supreme court struck it down, so guess Mr. Calzone was correct after all.

Then just recently, Rep. John Diehl was up to be Speaker of the House. Missouri First took the position that he would not be a good speaker, and set his legislation contact list to calling their elected Representatives to ask that they pick someone else other than a “bad Diehl”. The people did the contacting but the House still elected him speaker. Though they did get rid of him after he was caught in a big sex scandal. Oh well.

So what does all this have to do with the price of Israeli coffee in America?

Well this is where it gets really interesting.

A little more background. The Governor of Missouri is Jay Nixon, anti-gun. He’s the one that did the best barry impersonation “The police acted stupidly” when the Police officer shot thug Michael Brown. Jay promised swift justice for Michael. Actually, I think justice had probably already been done, but that was Jay’s first response. His second was to prevent the National guard from stopping the rioting after he illegally called them in before the riot started. So that’s Jay.

Governor Jay is the one who appointed the six members of the Missouri ethics commission. I’m sure they are all up to Jay’s demanding “standards”. Chuckle.

From the MoFirst website:

MEC says about their mission: “The MEC serves the public interest by promoting and maintaining transparency, accountability, and compliance with campaign finance, lobbying, and conflict of interest laws.”The Ethics Commission claims they have no responsibility to consider constitutional arguments that might otherwise be presented in a defense against complaints.While it’s true that MEC has no authority to declare a statute unconstitutional like a real court of law would, they do have a responsibility to support the Constitution, so they should actually at least be considering the constitutional implications of various interpretations of statutes relating to a complaint. In other words, if there are two possible ways to interpret a statute – one is constitutional and the other is not – they should feel obligated to choose the constitutional approach. They do not feel thus constrained, however, and that does not bode well for our free speech rights.

Ready for the juicy stuff?

At the September 3, 2015, hearing before the Missouri Ethics Commission, a witness called by the Commission’s own attorney revealed during sworn testimony a very interesting and very telling fact. The testimony was that Representative Kevin Engler and Senator Ron Richard had talked to the Missouri Society of Governmental Consultants (MSGC), asking them if they had any interest in my status as a lobbyist. After that, MSGC filed a complaint against me with the Ethics Commission.

Only natural persons are allowed to file with the Ethics (guffaw) commission. And within five days they were to have told Ron who his accusers were. So SEVENTY-FOUR DAYS later the Missouri Ethics (yes, I am having trouble typing that with a straight face) commission told Mr. Calzone who had filed the complaint against him. And it wasn’t a person. In fact the lawyer that drew up the complaint made it clear that the filing entity wasn’t a person.

What is the fallout? Ron has been accused of being a lobbyist. That he hasn’t registered and paid the $10 fee, and hasn’t filled out the necessary paperwork. So that results in a thousand dollar fine. If he persists, he could face jail time.

Ready for the punch line? Ron isn’t a lobbyist. He is a citizen, working with other citizens and with other freedom minded groups. He is paid NO money for going to Jefferson City, and he buys the legislators no gifts, no meals. If he’s a lobbyist? He stinks at it.

That’s what makes this so ugly to me. This is an attempt to keep mere citizens from suiting up and showing up to speak to legislators. At one time this was something I did, and not long ago, I was one of two people tapped to be the citizens showing up to talk to legislators on behalf of a group of combined Second Amendment groups. I could have been in Ron’s boots. This is an attempt to stifle free speech and shut out influence of mere citizens from bothering the elected officials. That and some ugly political payback.

At a time when more than ever citizens need to be involved in the political process in an effort to protect our rights this is a very bad thing. If other states should begin to consider such actions? Citizens need to have access to their elected officials, whether it’s showing up themselves, or if they can’t, filling out a online form to be presented at a hearing, they need to be involved. We all need to be suiting up and showing up in whatever capacity we can.

Am I a Calzone? I hope so.

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Jews. Guns. No compromise. No surrender.