Much wisdom contained herein. A few rifles and cans of food aren’t going to do piffle against the technology of a modern totalitarian state. We do need to keep our wits. I’[ll have to take some time to digest this.

Thank you, Paul.

One of the most excellent posts or articles of any kind I’ve ever read!

The only people who anger me more than those who try to tear this country down are those *supposedly* on our side who put forth great efffort to spread hopelessness & doom.

I am remembering my wits, which lead me to ensure my family will have a safe place to live, food to eat, and that my guns are oiled.

I am not hopeless, but grim and determined and under no illusions about what is all about us and what lies ahead. I am heartened by the recent courage of most Republicans, but saddened by the capitulation of three of them. I am protecting the innocence of my children while planning for a worst-case scenario, and I worship every Sunday and spend my days knowing that there is nothing that can happen to me that compares to the sacrifice of my Savior, and that my eternity is certain.

Oh yes, my wits are about me, and I am ready for the fight, but do not doubt for one minute that the fierceness that once characterized America is rapidly giving way to sloth, and dependency, and bondage. We need to realize that before we forge ahead, and understand that it is an enemy we have not faced here before.

RS is a daily read for me, and this article is one of the worst I’ve read here. Yes, ‘wits’ are important and we can all improve our skills – this has always been true.

Gathering ‘food and guns’, arranging some other piece of land for you and your family – what is wrong with this. It’s not despair or resignation if some choose to prepare to provide for whatever situation they see coming FOR THEM. Do we begrudge those in a hurricane’s path their preparation? Increased crime, supply-chain disruptions/food shortages, impending job loss – any of these could compel someone to ‘prep’, to look out for their family. It depends on their circumstances. They are not sitting around waiting for a government handout, are they? Knowing the Federalist isn’t going to change anything about the Supreme Court composition or its decisions. And it isn’t going to feed your family. Obviously the canned goods and ammo are not going to stop a totalitarian state – they aren’t meant to.

And where is our ‘tradition’ of school suicide- massacres? We have many traditions – Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, 4th of July, Christmas, etc. What is ‘traditional’ about school murder-suicides?

And finally, many people can fight for a small government, for less intrusion by government in their daily lives without ever getting involved in the Christian religion. Keep equating the ‘conservative movement’ with this kind of ‘go join a church’ message and you will keep losing seats at the table. Religion is personal – people come to it in their own way.

So yes, sharpen your mind, provide for your family, support your community. No one is giving up, even if times do look tough.

…against the totalitarian state. 6,000,000 Jews. 6,000,000 Jews. 6,000,000 Jews.
“Those that cannot learn from history’s mistakes are condemned to repeat them.”
“First they came for the Jews, and I said nothing.
Then they came for the Gypsies, and again I said nothing.
Then they came for the Catholics and I said nothing.
Then they came for me.”

As for myself, I’ll need a few more reads to digest it.

Gathering ‘food and guns’, arranging some other piece of land for you and your family – what is wrong with this[?]

Nothing. It’s a prudent course of private action in most cases. As a recommendation for a public course action, however, it leaves much to be desired. But if you have really read my argument as a critique of prudent preparation, then you have gravely misread it.

As for the tradition of school massacres, a take tradition to encompass the idea of repeated public ritual over time. We have had some 20 or 25 years of this repeated ritual, so I think tradition is a serviceable word for it. It is a peculiar instance of the peculiarities of American depravity. But if the word tradition bothers you, leave it aside. It ain’t that important to my larger point.

This, I’m afraid, is a witless paragraph:

And finally, many people can fight for a small government, for less intrusion by government in their daily lives without ever getting involved in the Christian religion. Keep equating the ‘conservative movement’ with this kind of ‘go join a church’ message and you will keep losing seats at the table. Religion is personal – people come to it in their own way.

Do you think it is possible to tell the story of American self-government without the Christian religion? Religion is personal, yes — and public. It has always been public for Americans. At every turning point in our history, the churches were there, vital and active and irreplaceable. Democracy in America without them is a contradiction in terms.

At some point in the early 20th century, a clique of liberals got it in their head that religion should really be private only, and set about to convince everyone that it had always been private only. But this was and is an transparent falsification of our history and tradition. And I’m not really interested in seats at any table that participates in this falsification.

As I said, after the family, the church has been our most basic unit of community, and the most common forum for self-government to begin. Have a look a Tocqueville if you doubt this.

Purely as a matter of reason (leaving theology aside completely), there is no possible replacement for churches in the life of American self-government.

had said something like this instead of throwing around irresponsible words such as “catastrophe” and “irreversible” the Dow might not have plunged over the cliff as it has.

RUN, don’t walk, RUN to your psychiatrist and have your meds adjusted.

What an embarrassingly overwrought, melodramatic pile of nonsense.

Long I have wondered whether the mere blogger, whilst attempting to soar to the heights of the bon mots, would come crashing to the depths of pre-adolescent angst.

Long have I wondered as to the source of the tradition of the self-absorbed teen blogger, baring his very soul to the public in a manner better suited to the locked diary safely stored under the pillow away from the prying eyes of the invading hordes of the depraved.

Ahh, but what of the pillow? A pillow formed of the down of the goose? Nay. It is but a polyester pillow. A palpably, perverse, polyester pillow. Can it contain the thoughts of the diary. Can any of my musings be contained by our pitiful universe? No, I say! Let them soar. Let them soar to the ether and be absorbed by the unworthy masses.

Excellent post Paul. I had ‘jumped over’ this admonishment in my own mind when I was about to post here in my own diary about ‘protecting the Vulnerable’ (to borrow Obama’s phrase) with strategies to protect the most vulnerable: us earners and our dependents.

Faith does indeed have its place in the intellectual discussion, because no matter what your intellectual credentials, you are missing a big part of the intellectual experience if you have a void in your soul that is not filled with faith. Intellect can carry one only so far. The adventure of the intellect is carried so much further if it is informed by a measure of faith. It does not have to be a big measure, but it must be a deliberate measure.

So much for agreeing on that principle.

The next post in my own diary will offer some hard strategies for dealing with the truth of our situation and some ideas for how to operate day-to-day in safeguarding and even improving our personal assets for the future.

It won’t be about guns and land, although a good kitchen garden will be one bullet point. I’ll try to get my thoughts posted later tonight.

Let’s see, the stock market is dropping at the rate of about 800 points per month, 4000 points since last September.

Our government lent $2,700,000,000,000 to financial institutions toward the end of last year and they’re not telling us where $2 TRILLION of it went.

There is talk of spending another trillion over the next few months.

There is plenty of talk about NATIONALIZING BANKS! Even the usual suspects on “our side” appear to be behind this (McCain and Graham). See more here: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/2ad3b750-fd27-11dd-a103-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1

The Obamessiah and his Congress are rolling back welfare reform and embarking on the biggest spending spree in our nation’s history in light of the fact that such spending sprees have been proven. time and again, to not work.

Abortion-on-demand, with no restrictions, is about to become law. It’s only a matter of time.

The “fairness doctrine” is coming back to usurp freedom of speech even more than McCain-Feingold.

Iran is buidling nukes and President Government has made it quite clear that he doesn’t plan to actually do anything about it. Israel is on her own and the Israelis know it.

We can study history and federalism all we want and pat ourselves on the back but it’s not doing us any good. America recently elected the most unqualified candidate ever to run for the highest office. They couldn’t tell us why they voted for him or what policy positions they agreed with. He just made them “feel good” about themselves.

There’s talk about repealing the 22nd Amendment so that Obama can be president for as long as he can manage to get re-elected. Hugo Chavez recently pulled it off and the State Dept. congratulated him for it.

*sigh*

Don’t panic? Show me some Republicans and “blue dog” Democrats in Washington with some courage and I’ll think about it.