After Newtown, the anti-gun forces rallied around magazine limits and universal background checks, because these were what they thought they could manage to ram through.
Now, with the rally call of Trayvon Martin, they have decided to go after “Stand Your Ground.”
In both cases, the legislation being pushed would have had no effect on the triggering incidents, but that has never dissuaded the anti-gun folks.
One smart tactic they’ve learned is to push at the state level.
Governor Scott has said he won’t call a special session. This gives us time. Time to start reminding the state legislators not to bow to manufactured hype. Because the full-court press will begin once they’re back in Tallahassee.
It’s been a few days since the verdict. Some protests, with a few that turned violent. Not quite the large scale riots some were afraid (and some seemed hopeful) would occur. Now the Justice Department has announced its own new investigation to determine if Zimmerman violated Martin’s civil rights.
1. There is a large segment of the population that will latch onto the racist narrative and will use any and all tropes to retain that narrative in the face of contravening evidence. I could argue against the “racial profiling” trope or the “He should have stayed in the car” trope, or the “Zimmerman is a liar and the only one who could tell the truth is dead” trope, but there’s no point. It’s very much like arguing with any other flavor of conspiracy theorist, from anti-vaxers, to 9/11 Truthers, to moon landing hoaxers. The difference is that this will see wider belief and become part of our fight to preserve self-defense in its current form.
2. As much as I hate it, this case has reinforced that it is utmost I look after my own. That suspicious person walking in the neighborhood? I might call the cops, but I can’t afford to do anything that might escalate it to a deadly-force encounter.
3. This case will most likely cost someone their life. Not in some form of retaliatory shooting, but because someone will let themselves be killed rather than chance that they are the next to be dragged in front of the racial lynch mobs drummed up by the professional racists and their sycophantic media. It might be someone who doesn’t pull the trigger, but more likely someone who decides against arming him/herself.
I personally believe the jury made the correct call based on the evidence presented and an understanding of self-defense. I also believe we will be fighting the urban legends that come out of this trial for years to come.
This week’s Metal Tuesday continues Iced Earth’s Gettysburg trilogy with “Hold at All Costs.” This song deals with the second day of the Battle of Gettysburg, and includes references to the charge by the Maine 20th.
Lyrics:
Just a mile or so away
Is my dearest friend in this world
He wears the blue and I, the grey
And God, it hurts me so
The last time we were together
I grabbed his hand and I pledged
If I ever draw my sword on you
May the good Lord strike me dead
The union flank’s in trouble
To the round top on the double
A bad decision, insubordination
Exposed our line in a dangerous way
The burden lies upon us
Surrender is not an option
We are the flank and if we break
The union crumbles, we could lose the war
Down below’s the carnage
The rebels charging onward
Push the slaughter forward, the peach orchard
Through the wheat field and devil’s den
The valor of the Texans
And Alabama’s best men
They’re unrelenting and devastating
The last full measure of devotion’s clear
We’ll know what we’re made of
When up against all odds, we hold our line
For the cause that we so love
We must hold at all costs
We’ll know what we’re made of
When our nation needs us
We’ll stay the course for the union we so love
We must hold at all costs
Wave after wave, they are coming
Their power must be waning
We’re out of ammo, we can’t fall back, no
A desperate measure, a means to end
On their next wave, we charge them
There is no other option
Disconcert them, force submission
On my command, fix bayonets
We’ll know what we’re made of
When up against all odds, we hold our line
For the cause that we so love
We must hold at all costs
We’ll know what we’re made of
When our nation needs us
We’ll stay the course for the union we so love
We must hold at all costs
We’ll know what we’re made of
(The burden lies with us)
When up against all odds, we hold our line
(We can’t fail)
(For the cause that we so love)
For the cause that we so love
We must hold at all costs
We’ll know what we’re made of
(With courage in our hearts)
When our nation needs us, we’ll stay the course
(We won’t fail)
(For the union we so love)
For the union we so love
We must hold at all cost
Anyone who is silly enough to believe that it is better to allow evil to win at the cost of his or her own life is free to live like that if they want. There’s no law against stupid. But you cannot demand that I live under your rules. As a free man, I have the right to defend my life with any force necessary to preserve it. I further have the right to stand in defense of my family and in defense of innocent people around me. You cannot demand that I stand idle while others are attacked. You don’t have that right.
….
If you decide to let someone kill you instead of fighting to keep your life, I’m not going to lie and say that I “respect your position.†I can’t respect that and I won’t. I don’t ask you to “respect†my position either. I don’t actually care. You can either be on my side or you can be on the side of society’s predators, because to refuse to fight evil is to ally yourself with it. There is no “neutral†ground.
And don’t say “I’ll call the police.†If you refuse to defend your own life, what the hell gives you the right to demand someone else fight to preserve it? Where do you get off demanding that another person take responsibility when you refuse to? That cop is just another person. He isn’t your dog, to order to take your wounds, to fight your enemies while you sit safely outside the battle, your moral “purity†unstained.
I only have to respect a person’s opinion in as much as I will not use force to shut them up. That doesn’t mean I have to treat their opinions with equal merit, much less them.
My brother and I went to see Pacific Rim last Friday. It was predictable and trope-ridden, but it was also AWESOME! The fight scenes between the robots and monsters were amazing. They even managed to keep the Braveheart speeches to a minimum.
Because we went to the Cinebistro, which does seat side dinner service, my brother and I had to be there when the ads started.
Brother: Why do they have to have such boring ads at the beginning?
Ads: Next we take a look at the new ABC show, “Agents of SHIELD.”
The political left’s welfare state makes poverty more comfortable, while penalizing attempts to rise out of poverty. Unless we believe that some people are predestined to be poor, the left’s agenda is a disservice to them, as well as to society.
Dr. Thomas Sowell, economist
I understand the human need to alleviate suffering, but I believe the way is to provide opportunities for people to succeed. My brother often says “A hand up, not a hand out.” I think that tends to summarize my idea of charity as well.
Tampa means Sticks Of Fire, due to our inordinate amount of lightning. Most of the time, it’s just pretty bolts arching across the sky. Then there are times it reaches down and destroys a perfectly good computer. And router.
I’m pissed, but I was planning on building a new one soon anyway. Still, damn it.
So I recently received electronic copies of the “Punisher Armory” comics. The series was 10 comics that were put out between 1990 and 1994 that detailed the gear and weapons of the Punisher. I eagerly purchased each of them and read them until they fell apart.
Reading them was an interesting trip down memory lane. This was the time I was really starting to get into guns. Glocks were still relatively new, M-16’s didn’t have rails, and a Taser looked like half of an old Black & Decker Dustbuster.
These comics are great fun to read again, but it’s amazing to see how far the technology has come in the past fifteen years.
