Of Myths and Monsters, by Dave Jiles

Special to TLE

Over the years the public has come to accept the "new meanings" of words and terms for the benefit of those who seem to have a vested interest in perverting the real meanings. The political classes, and their partners in crime the news media, have become experts in turning raw BS into everyday household facts. Well I say its time to turn it back around and stick it in their faces. Here are three of my favorites.

Patriot: Once a term of honor and admiration, except to the oppressive governing bodies of the time. I now hear this word accompanied by a sneer as if to discredit the thoughts of anyone who considers themselves a patriot. Well, get a grip, a patriot is one who stands up for the very ideals that made this country the best place in the world to live. Patriots demand that the government abide by the promise of the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. If you find that an objectionable goal perhaps you should take the following oath. Put your right hand on the IRS Tax Code book, and repeat after me;

I, ________________ being of diluted mind and soft and squishy body, declare that I am too stupid, incompetent, and irrational to be trusted with any individual rights or property more dangerous than plastic silverware. I must be told what to think, and will follow the instructions and do the biding of my duly elected government masters. I will turn over the raising of my offspring to the popular culture and the government. I will utter no complaint, and never question authority, just as long as the Broncos game is televised on Sunday.

Militia: I can't remember the last time I heard this word without at least a trace of sarcasm. Unfortunately to many, it brings forth an image of unshaven chubby men in camos playing with guns while swilling beer, stopping only to burn an occasional cross. Well to some, the word Police brings an image of four white guys emptying their guns into an unarmed black man, and to others the "Black Community" is a ghetto with drug dealers and hookers on every corner. You see, stereotypes are unfair all across the board. To me, the militia is not necessarily a group of people practicing military maneuvers. It is individual citizens, well armed and practiced in the use of those arms. They can drop a deer four hundred yards away and serve it up for dinner. They bring with them the professional skills they use to make a living, and skills learned in past military service.

They went through Marine Corps sniper school and Airborne Ranger training. They can build things, grow food, and do amazing things with computers. They can make old vehicles new again, and make a firearm from a piece of raw steel. As the song goes, "make our own whiskey and our own smoke too, ain't too many things these old boys can't do". When you really think about it, it's kind of scary isn't it Mr. Politician? Some could snap a man's neck with one hand, others could ruin his life with a few computer keystrokes. No matter how many laws you pass, no matter how many guns you forbid them to own, they will survive and they will conquer a tyrannical government.

You cannot take away their knowledge, their skill, and their desire to be free. The masses of brain dead, sports watching, leader following sheep are of little consequence. When the stuff hits the fan they will wet their pants and run for a hole and the "Million Moms" will become a million whimpering cowards. So this Militia that so many like to belittle is, and should be the power hungry politicians worst nightmare. Let it be the reason they can't sleep at night. Let them wonder every time they introduce a new piece of fascist legislation if this will be the one that breaks the camel's back, the one that calls the "Militia" to arms. Will they now have to face real justice?

Anti-Government: This all encompassing term is used to smear anyone who opposes further expansion of Government. It makes you an enemy of the State. It is assumed that you hate all cops, that you are a mad bomber looking for a target. Well I proudly profess to be anti-government, and if I tried making a bomb I'd put my eye out. I also do not hate cops; in fact I have friends who are cops. I do hate corrupt cops, and arrogant bully cops, but then I dislike civilians with those traits as well. Unlike some Libertarians, I believe we need cops. Cops that "Protect and Serve" not search and confiscate.

People become anti-government because government can never stop. Power and authority drive it. When they have money left over after funding all manner of nonsense, they call it a surplus and compete with each other to find ways to spend it. Hello; a surplus means you collected more than you needed, give it back. And by the way it's a projected surplus, which means they intend to continue to collect more than they need as a matter of policy. They believe that they must be making new laws whether they need to be made or not.

I recently read that a southern state was considering legislation to make it a crime for men to be sexually aroused in public. It was designed to do an end run around legal strip clubs by making the patrons subject to arrest for achieving their goal of becoming aroused. I don't get it, is this (excuse the expression), a "big" problem for the citizens of that state? More likely, it is more pandering to a loud mouth group of busy bodies.

There is talk of efforts to ban 50-caliber rifles. I suppose we will be told that they are routinely used in drive by shootings by gang-bangers, or are often found on the coffee table with out a trigger lock. Truth be known, they know that a 50-caliber rifle could put a big hole in a politician at 1000 yards, and it scares the hell out of them. Now some fascist pig wants to make you register your guns on your income tax forms. What a stretch, how did we get from income tax to gun registration? Maybe this will backfire and be the thing that will cause people in mass to tell the IRS to kiss off.

Everyday, some politician or bureaucrat pushes the envelope a little further. A late night City Council meeting produces a surprise ban against this or that type of gun. A conspiring group of legislators whisk through a big tax increase to fund a project for the benefit of their friends and relatives. A slimy Senator slips some totally unrelated BS into an appropriations bill and the other Senators won't be paying enough attention to notice it. A slick President confiscates hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the name of saving the environment for the children.

Each of these actions affects and radicalizes a few more people, ten, one hundred, one thousand, or a hundred thousand. Those who don't have their heads up their asses will notice these things and they will remember. We are increasing in numbers, and what you Mr. or Ms. Politician have to worry about is when we will have had enough and come to remove you from your cushy office. Don't count on Law enforcement to protect you, many of them agree with us. The U.S. Military, same thing. Maybe the U.N. Peacekeepers could come and save you. To date, they haven't been able to prevail in a good bar fight, how do you think they'll do against 15 or 20 million pissed off and well armed Americans?

The point is, if you bring this kind of crap down on this country, you have far more to lose than your job. As a Viet Nam veteran who is more than twice as old as I was the last time I saw combat, believe me, the last thing I want is to go to war against my own government. But I am willing to die in defense of the freedoms that we are quite clearly guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, because quite frankly without them, life would suck. Are you Mr. or Ms. Politician, personally, willing to die to take them from me?

I'm not just referring to Second Amendment issues here. I'm referring to being able to drive down the damn road without being randomly stopped in the name of protecting the public from drunk drivers, uninsured motorist, drug runners, ax murderers, or whatever this weeks excuse for trampling the Bill of Rights is. I'm referring to going to sleep at night without fear that some druggie gave the DEA the wrong address thereby subjecting my family to the danger of hot dog cops with automatic weapons assaulting us.

I'm referring to being able to serve on a jury and voting my conscience without being put in jail by a judge that was displeased that I did not allow "his trial" to come out the way he wanted it. And I'm referring to being able to live day to day without the federal government involved in everything from how my kids get to school to the size of the holes in my god-damn Swiss cheese.

Well there you have it, I hope a few politicians get an eyeful and start to rethink their positions, but I won't hold my breath. At least I feel better now.

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