Category Archives: Freedom of Speech

Essential and Nonessential

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There is no doubt that the current pandemic and the government’s actions(over reach)has done possibly irreversible harm to the Bill of Rights and the Constitution as a whole. Nowadays life and life’s activities are broken down into two categories, Essential and Non-essential. This breakdown is based on what? Just who gets to decide what is essential or non-essential? Government rode to the rescue to answer this question. They usurped this power, enormous power, power they will never relinquish. The rights of the citizens are being trampled while the rights of government are growing by leaps and bounds. The rights of the citizens as listed in the Bill of Rights are quickly becoming no more than privileges, privileges that can be denied on a whim.

Time for a side road, got to take a bit of time to really and hopefully tick off some people and if you see this post and you get ticked(pissed)then you will know this side road pertains to you. A lot of people that could be considered as being on the right have more than a few videos and posts railing against the left(democrats/socialists/Stalinists). They do this while ignoring the the overreach done by the right(republicans/socialists/Stalinists). Does it really matter if the boot on your neck is a left boot or a right boot? No, it matters that there is a boot on your neck.

Back on point. Essential and Nonessential.

Has there ever been a time when a person wanted to open a business that he/she was told that the business they wanted to open was a nonessential business and thus denied a business license? There may have been a zoning problem but they would have never been deemed a nonessential business. Even if there was a zoning problem they could have applied for a variance or a rezoning. Now all of a sudden the government has the power to declare a business nonessential and ordered them to close or face a fine and/or imprisonment. Each and every business is essential as they provide a product or service that someone deems essential to their way of life or standard of living.

It was rather slick the way they pulled this off. They never told these, now declared, nonessential businesses that the employees were nonessential. Why? The business owner decides who is essential and who is nonessential. Businesses do not have nonessential employees, each and every employee is essential to that business. Those essential employees found themselves unemployed because they worked at and for a now declared nonessential business.

Some states micromanaged this essential/nonessential garbage to the max. The government took it upon themselves to determine what you could and could not buy. Yep, they all of a sudden had the power to tell you what you were permitted to buy. You could only buy what the state deemed essential, you no longer could decide for yourself what was essential.

Our Rights listed in the Bill of Rights have also been classified as essential and nonessential. We found our Right to the Free Exercise of Religion deemed nonessential and our Churches closed. The government took it upon itself to decide how and where we could worship. We found our Right to Peacefully Assemble severely curtailed or outright banned. There was talk of banning protests against government over reach, imagine that. Denying the people the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Public lands became government lands. Public lands closed to the public. Beaches and the oceans themselves closed to the public.

Has government used this crisis to forge chains for us the citizens? At what point will government bind us with and rivet those chains on us? Will it be during this or the next crisis?

A total freaking disconnect

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I had resisted the urge to do this post last month. But no more, I will try my best not to use profanity.

Got a letter from the RNC(republican national committee)today. Yep, you guessed it. They are begging for money(donations) $35, $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000 or $5,000 they were even kind enough to enclose a pre-paid, pre-addressed USPS Priority Envelope.

Seems the RNC is having an emergency, they need to raise $7.3 million in the next 21 days. The response letter they enclosed has the words Emergency Campaign Reply in red lettering all capitalized. All I could think of was “Cry me a f#%&ing river”. They did say please return by May 4, 2020, or I could do this online so they could get the contribution immediately.

The RNC can consider this as my reply, if they wish.

It would appear that who ever is in charge of sending out these “mailers” may have missed a headline or two recently. That or the RNC is no more than a horde of “heartless bastards”, uncaring and unfeeling.

In case you at the RNC missed the recent headlines, allow me to bring you up to speed.

In case you missed it we are in the middle of a “National Emergency”. Don’t worry it is only a pandemic, something caused by the Wuhan novel corona virus. The virus causes a disease called covid 19. I really do not see how you missed that one as it is the news all day, daily briefings and all. You really need to pay attention, dip stick.

Something else you may have missed. It was reported that unemployment claims went up by 6.6 million bringing the number of unemployed to between 16 and 17 million depending on the news source you get the information from. Some say that these numbers have not been seen since the Great Depression. Tying in with this many that have been laid off or furloughed are being denied the use of PTO(paid time off)during the lay off or furlough. Added to this many have already received their last pay check and will not see another in the foreseeable future. Do you live under a rock? No, according to the mailer I received your office is located in DC.

Speaking of your office being in DC, will you be able to make your rent this month and pay your utilities as well as pay all the employees in your office? Last I heard you had something over $200 million on hand, you should be okay. While you sit on over $200 million and beg for more, there are many out here in the world you are disconnected from that are at this very moment trying to come up with a way to pay rent and utilities, or mortgages and utilities, put food on the table, put clothing on their children’s backs. You may have heard as these as the three basic necessities, Food, Clothing and Shelter.

This post began with my doing now what i resisted doing last month. Last month I received the exact letter from the NRC, well almost exact the reply date then for your emergency campaign reply was April 6, 2020. I at that time gave you the benefit of a doubt, I told myself you just did not have time to stop the mailer. This time you had plenty of time to stop the mailers.

I have no idea if the DNC is still begging for money at this time or not. I suspect that they are.

The RNC accuses the DNC of “being out of touch” with the American citizens. They may well be, but are you heartless bastards in touch?

Now I am going to follow the advice of the CDC. I am going to wash my hands and practice social distancing. I am going to do both at the same time.

I am going to wash my hands of you. As for social distancing I am going to get as far from you as humanly possible. As soon as possible I am going to register NPA(no party affiliation).

This is my official reply, Piss Off.

The question not asked

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I am quite sure by now everyone has heard the Senate passed the $2 trillion economic stimulus package to “fight off” the economic crisis brought on by the Wuhan corona virus crisis. Complete bi-partisan support 96-0, no opposition. Shortly after the Senators got the heck out of town. The House, when they(some of them)return to town, has promised swift passage(voice vote), then off to the President to sign. Of course a roll call vote could be forced therefore requiring House members return to D.C. that would slow things down a bit or for quite some time.

Keep in mind that this is the third corona virus package and a fourth is in the works.

Given all of the debate, posturing and the rest that goes along with Congressional “negotiations” I noticed one thing missing that is a mainstay with normal non-crisis partisan debates and posturing.

The question not asked was, How is this going to be paid for?

When it is a partisan plan the other side and their talking heads without fail will ask , How will this be paid for? But this is a bi-partisan plan with no opposition no one cares about the cost or how to pay for it. Not a one has said, Wait a minute we can’t afford that.

Was not all that long ago that a current sitting member of Congress suggested that two $1 trillion coins be minted and placed on deposit with the Federal Reserve. Then I got to thinking, How can you deposit money that you do not have?

That brings me to this. We are told that we as a nation are in debt, a debt that exceeds our GDP. If we are that deep in debt you would think that those in charge of the “purse strings” would be very careful when money must be spent. But they are not, they spend and give away money hand over fist like there is no bottom. We have been told for years that there is a national debt.

Suppose for a minute that there is no national debt. Suppose we have been lied to about that. The recent first time buyers of firearms have been lied to forever and only realized the extent of the lies when they attempted to make their purchase. They say that repeating a lie often enough does not make it a truth, however if you repeat a lie often enough it can be taken for the truth.

We are told we are in debt and swallow that hook, line and sinker. Has anyone out side of government ever seen the balance sheet from the Treasury? Has anyone ever seen the receipts and expenditures from the Treasury?
This little tidbit comes from a speech given by Patrick Henry 07 June 1788. …Another beautiful feature of this Constitution is the publication from time to time of the receipts and expenditures of the public money. This expression, from time to time, is very indefinite and indeterminate. It may extend to a century….

I will add this. It may extend to forever.

While I am here I might as well get this out of the way. Has anyone outside the top echelon of the Federal Reserve ever seen the balance sheet?

And now they know

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They ran head first into a brick wall.

By now everyone has heard, seen or read about the “run” on gun stores. From the videos I have seen the stores are pretty much sold out. From what I gather the vast majority of these sales of firearms, accessories and ammunition were to first time buyers.

So I was wondering what was fueling the sudden “need” to have a firearm. Could it be that you now, at long last, know that you are your own best defense?

What were they buying? From what I have seen just about anything and everything. I imagine that the shoppers that got in on this “run” early got pretty much what they wanted. From the looks of it the ones shopping later were buying what was available(leftovers)and then only if there was ammunition available. This might cause you a problem down the line, but something is better than nothing.

Many a first time firearm owner/buyer has come to the stark realization that acquiring a firearm is not as easy as they have been told. From what I hear some of you were taken aback at how difficult and time consuming the whole process can be.

You were told all you had to do was give the clerk some cash and walk out with a firearm. Didn’t work out that way did it? Had to “jump through some hoops” did you? Let’s look a some of the “hoops” you had to jump through after making your selection.

First you had to fill out a form 4473 in which you had to give up a lot of personal information and submit to a background check. If your State has a law requiring a background check for ammunition then you had to submit to that also.

Second the FFL had to make a phone call and wait for approval before the firearm could actually be transferred to you. The system could be overwhelmed and shutdown, operating hours could be reduced, personnel shortages many things could cause that approval to be delayed, no approval no firearm.

Third if your State has a mandatory waiting period you did not walk out with your firearm. You paid for it but you left empty handed. Depending on how long your State requires then you will wait that many days before taking possession.

Fourth if your State requires that you first get a license to purchase a firearm and you did not have that then you just plain did not get to buy a firearm. From what I hear the office that issues that license is closed, thus you are just out of luck.

Fifth if your State is in the “one gun a month club” and you just bought a firearm because it was all that was available then you are going to have to wait a month to buy another firearm. For instance you had every intention of buying a pistol for yourself and found them all gone and all that was left was a single shot 410 shotgun and you bought it because it was the only firearm available with ammunition you will have to wait 30 days for your next purchase in hopes of getting what you really wanted. You may find that by the time your “time-out”has expired there are no pistols left. But at least you have that 410 and as I said something is better than nothing. By the way, if your “time-out” has expired and you finally get to purchase what you really wanted you will have to go through the whole process again, the form, the phone call and the approval, the waiting period it is not a one time ordeal.

Sixth do not forget about the safe storage laws that your State may have.

Seventh if you tried to order a firearm on line and have it delivered to your house you found that it does not work that way either. You are going to need a licensed dealer to complete the transfer, and yes you still have to complete the form and the phone call still must be made and you must wait for approval and do not forget the mandatory waiting period.

All that above are just some of the “hoops” that must be jumped through. Some apply to everyone no matter what State they live in while others are specific to some States.

So I guess you now know that it is not harder to buy a book than a firearm. Did you ever have to fill out a government form to buy a book? Did you ever have to undergo a background check to buy a book? Was there a mandatory waiting period to take possession of your book? Were you ever limited to the number of books you could buy in a month?

I suppose right now the natural inclination would be for me to sit back and laugh at you in your current predicament, but I shall not do that.

If you are a first time firearm buyer/owner I would personally like to welcome you to the community. Congratulations on your purchase. If you are now just old enough to make your first purchase then I want to take this opportunity to wish you a belated Happy Birthday. More on this in a later post.

If you live in a State with a “red flag” law you now are subject.

What you had and have to endure is the product of and result of many years of gun control steps and measures. There are many more in the works. Things like a national registry and mandatory liability insurance on your firearms just to name two.

The gun control zealots, politicians and/or citizens, have been lying for years, lying to all of us, some bought into their lies and others did not.

They lied when they claimed that “gun free zones” were safer. Well until your recent purchase your home was a gun free zone. What was it that caused you to feel not so safe? By the way most of those claiming that gun free zones are safer are surrounded by armed security details whether paid for by the taxpayers or privately funded.

If you are well above the minimum age to buy a firearm and just got around to purchasing a firearm then you have first hand experience at how difficult and time consuming the whole process is. Your eyes are now open and hopefully you now realize that you have been lied too for years. If they have lied so much and for so long about how easy it is to buy firearms, then you need to ask yourselves, What else have they lied about? Well I ask you, Are their lips moving?

I would like to point out that all of these so-called “common sense” gun control measures have had no effect on the criminals. What they have had an effect on is you and your ability to exercise your right, the Right to Keep and Bear arms. Keep in mind there is an election coming.

That is over

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President Trump was acquitted in the Senate yesterday. Pretty much along party lines, one republican sided with the democrats on article 1, party line votes on article 2.

So round 2 is in the books, and the democrats lose again in their effort to undermine the President. Round 1 was the Russian collusion investigation. That episode proved nothing except that no American had colluded with the Russians to influence or change the outcome of the 2016 election. On a side note to this, there has never been any proof brought forward that even one vote of one person was influenced one way or another by the actions of the Russians.

For three long years America has been suffering the wrath of the disgruntled democrats. Impeachment murmurings began after the 2016 election and never abated. He was called an illegitimate President. According to the democrats and some republicans he was unfit to serve as President. It is clear that they hate President Trump, perhaps now more than ever. The only question is do they hate him more than they hate the ones who elected him? I mean after all, he is only President because he was elected.

I am quite sure that the democrats are working on their third attempt. They will not stop. Was it not said, The investigations will continue? Was it also not said “He is impeached forever”? They have yet to accept the results of the 2016 election and will not accept the finding of not guilty.

In my opinion the only thing the democrats have done is to assure the re-election of President Trump this coming November. His support is solid, nothing they have done up to this point has chased away any support, not for lack of trying. While they have been on their quest to bring down the President their Presidential candidates have been bringing down their entire political party with their far left(socialist)agenda.

Before we take an early victory lap there is something that must be addressed. The President will not be re-elected if you don’t vote.

I don’t know how many times I have encountered people that bitch, moan and complain about how things are going that did not even bother to vote. I only know that they did not vote because I asked them. Not only do they not vote, they are not even registered to vote. Again I know this because I asked them. Many of them say that they have not registered to vote because they may get selected for Jury Duty. I know because I ask.

Get off your butt and register to vote, yes even if it means you might get selected for Jury Duty. Then go vote.

Elections have consequences. Not voting also has consequences.

Not a dimes woth of difference

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It has long been said that when it comes to republicans and democrats at the national level there is not a dimes worth of difference between the two. It would appear now that that is also true at the State level.

While all eyes were on Virginia some things have been happening here in Florida. In Virginia the democrats have control of the Legislative and Executive branches of government, and one would kind of expect that they would pursue an anti-gun, anti-liberty and anti-freedom agenda. Here in Florida the republicans have control of the Legislative and Executive branches of government and one would kind of expect them not to pursue an anti-gun, anti-liberty and anti-freedom agenda, but they have.

Our republican controlled State Senate is reportedly working on a series of gun control bills. It was also reported that there was a rather sizeable political contribution from a gun control group. Which brings me to wonder which a politician will respond to, a letter or phone call from a constituent or a sizeable contribution? I think the sizeable political contribution will win every time. Do you really think that you have the politicians ear?

Looks like Virginia has a problem with democrats and their gun control agenda, and Florida has a problem with republicans and their gun control agenda.

By the way, the last round of gun control legislation passed after the mass murder in Parkland here in Florida was with a republican Legislature and a republican Governor. And let us not forget, before all this impeachment nonsense kicked off the President said something about having an “appetite” for some gun control measures. Also some republicans had sided with democrats on gun control measures, and some republican Senators had “instantly” put together national “red flag” proposals with incentives for states that would enact their own red flag laws.

It would seem that the two parties are heading in the same direction when it come to the Second Amendment. The only difference between the two is the speed at which they move.

Living in interesting times

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No surprise the democrats voted to impeach the President. Now on to the Senate, provided the Speaker sends the Articles of Impeachment forward.

This post is about another matter, Second Amendment sanctuaries. At last check 85 Counties, 10 Cities and 16 Towns in the Commonwealth of Virginia have declared themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries. This is being done as some democrats in the soon to be democrat controlled government in Virginia have pre-filed some onerous gun control legislation that will come up for a vote once the democrats take control in January 2020. The democrats in Richmond have pretty much painted themselves into a corner with this gun control journey, much the same as the democrats in the US House did with impeachment, they once started could not turn back. Not to mention that a lot of money poured into Virginia from the gun control groups to help elect the democrats. These gun control groups fully expect a return on their expenditures. And just for the record, I do know that the pro-gun groups do the same things. There is a big difference between the two. The anti-gun groups are demanding that the right to keep and bear arms should be severely limited or outright eliminated while the pro-gun groups simply want the right to keep and bear arms left alone. There is another difference the anti-gun groups are more than willing to have the government use force to accomplish their agenda, the pro-gun groups are not demanding the government use force to maintain the right to keep and bear arms.

It would appear that many in Virginia are fed up and these brave citizens are pretty much telling the government in Virginia to “stick it”. The legal and lawful gun owners are sick and tired of being the “whipping boy”, being blamed for the actions of a minute few that do not and will not obey the laws already on the books.

What is the government and indeed the Governor of Virginia going to do? No matter what is done, America will be watching.

They could abandon this course they are planning to embark on. No, they will not do that, no turning back now. They feel as though they were elected on a gun control agenda and as much they believe the must follow through.

They could pass the legislation and sign it into law while knowing full well that that law would not be enforced in the vast majority of the Commonwealth. No they can not do that either. If a law is to be simply ignored and not enforced what good would it be to have laws?

Side road. The latest mantra of the democrats is, “No one is above the law”. How many times have we heard that one used against the President during the impeachment process. They also like to say, “We are a nation of laws” and “The rule of law”. They say this while allowing the recreational use of marijuana is lawful in some leftist sates while their is a federal prohibition against the possession and use of marijuana. Some jurisdictions even profit from the use and sale of marijuana by taxation. Imagine that, profiting and taxing an illegal activity. The left also offers sanctuary in some states and cities for persons in this country illegally. Some allow them to get a drivers license, allow them to vote in local elections, provide welfare and so on. Being in this country without authorization is against federal law, yet they defy federal law and shelter criminals. So much for being a nation of laws and the rule of law. You get no “moral high ground” in this case, even if there were any available which there ain’t.
Just to note, the Federal Government has not “fallen” on the States allowing the use of recreational marijuana and harboring illegal aliens using governmental force to bring them into compliance.

Back to the post. They could pass the legislation, sign it into law and fire(remove from office)any local government official who refused to comply with and enforce the law. Firing a government employee is one thing(though they would be forced to deal with the government employee unions), removing a duly and constitutionally elected government official is quite another. The residents of the counties, cities and towns effected might just get pissed off. Who would be installed in those vacant offices? Seems to me the criminals would be the biggest supporters of this move and benefit the most. I have heard of legislation coming that says refusal to enforce the gun control legislation would be effectively self-terminating from the office which they hold, quitting. They could withhold funds from the locales that refuse to comply. This move would bring about a whole series of calamities.

They could use the Virginia National Guard, as one suggested, to force compliance. How can they be sure that the men and women in the Guard would descend on their fellow Virginians? Are there enough Guardsmen to cover such a large area?

Are they actually contemplating using force, government force, to disarm the citizens of Virginia? Will Lexington and Concord be repeated?

January is closing in.

The Second Amendment sanctuary idea is catching on, perhaps it will spread across the land.

We are living in interesting times.

How soon they forget

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A Senator from the great State of Georgia is vacating the Senate seat he currently occupies, he is resigning from the Senate. Some would say that he is vacating his seat, nothing could be further from the truth. The Senate seat he is vacating belongs to the State of Georgia, not to him or any other person. Those that say he is resigning from his Senate seat are the same ones that say America is a democracy, wrong on both counts. It is not his seat and America is no democracy.

Now the Governor of Georgia is going to name a temporary replacement, I say temporary because next November a special election will be held to fill that seat. Even then it will still be temporary because whoever wins that special election will have to run again in 2022. It has been reported(if the news media can be trusted anymore)that the Governor has made his choice and his choice has not made the GOP happy.

Here are some of their reasons.

Concerns were raised pointing to her never running for elected office before and may not be “seasoned” enough to receive the nod.

I might point this out to the GOP and the President. When candidate Trump was running in the primaries he had no political experience outside of making donations to politicians. He had never ran for elected office before announcing he was entering the republican primaries, in other words he was not “seasoned”. He positioned himself as a “political outsider”. He won the primaries and became the nominee. Why? The voters finally had a choice in something other than a “seasoned” politician. When it came to the presidential election of 2016 he won that also with no real political experience. The voters were willing to take a chance. Why? The status quo was not working. So, lay off.

She is not an original backer of President Trump and the 2016 campaign.

You have got to be kidding me, you think that this is a reason. There are many Trump supporters, that are Trump supporters now that were not then. They came to support him in spite of his lack of “seasoning”. Got a news flash for you, there are many now not supporting of the president that did support him in 2016.

She lacks conservative credentials.

Please tell me what conservative credentials President Trump brought to the primaries or the presidential election. For that matter, I would like to see the conservative credentials on the republicans in the Senate or even the House. Some, I fear would be sadly lacking in those “conservative credentials”.

It could lead to a messy electoral fight.

Where do I start with this one. Tell me what electoral fight is not messy. I think what was really meant here was if the wrong person is appointed it will lead to a messy primary next year. If that is the case then if the right person was appointed he would not face a primary challenge.

The Governor of the State of Georgia is the one that must name the temporary replacement, it is his responsibility or duty, however you wish to call it. This rests directly on the Governor’s shoulders. It does not rest with the President and most certainly not with a Representative from the State of Florida. The Governor will pick whomever he picks on his judgement and for his reasons.

In closing I would just say that you would better serve by acting your age and not your shoe size. Twitter wars are just a little infantile, juvenile at best.

Do you really have a choice?

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Every state has somewhat of a say in who becomes President with the Electoral College. However not every state has a say in who is the nominee of the party.

The way it is now the contenders focus on the early states with few or no campaign stops in the later deciding states. Why? Because the later deciding states do not matter. They are not important, yet.

The democrats are always crying about how unfair everything is, they want a level playing field. But they themselves enjoy the “unlevel” playing field of the primaries. By the time the last state holding it’s primary votes the voters only have a choice in what is left of the once crowded field. The person they vote for may not be the one they preferred, they just get to choose from left overs. The only states having a real choice are the states holding their primaries early. By the end of Super Tuesday the field could be narrowed down to two or three. Now is that really fair?

It is time, past time, for “comprehensive” election reforms. Here are some proposals to consider.

The Primary.
1. The primary would be settled in the same manner as the presidential election. All states vote on one day, every contender gets considered in every state, no more leftovers. The contenders would have to convince the entire nation that they are the best candidate, not just a few voters in the early states.
2. There is to be no early voting, as this leads to speculation by the media as to how people have voted and who holds the lead.
3. No exit polling, None.
4. Absentee voting would be handled in the same manner as the presidential election, however to vote absentee would require a better reason than being too damned lazy to go to the polling station.
5. And to further enhance a level playing field every state would begin and end voting at the same time regardless of time zone(explained in the next section).

This would take politics out of the hands of the political parties and place it squarely in the hands of the people.

The Presidential election.
1. Every state will begin and end voting at the same time regardless of time zone. How many times has the presidential election, or even the primary, hinged on the results of Alaska or Hawaii?. This is what I was referring to when I used the word somewhat in the opening line. By the time the election is called the polling stations are still open in those states, their vote rarely matters just “icing” on the cake. This alone would make the 4 Hawaii electoral college votes and 3 Alaska electoral college votes as important as the states with double digit votes. As an additional benefit more people would vote. How many voters are disenfranchised by the current voting schedule? Why vote if the election is over before the results of your state come in.
2. No early voting, get to your polling station on election day.
3. Absentee voting would require a better reason(excuse)than being to lazy too vote in person.
4. No exit polling. None.

On a side note. A hat tip to Rep. Tulsi Gabbard for calling out your party for what it has become. Refreshing to say the least.