Posted on 08/31/2016 5:49:41 AM PDT by Travis McGee
MATTHEW BRACKEN is a former Navy SEAL (BUD/S Class 105), a Constitutionalist, and a self-described “freedomista”. He’s the author of several books, including Enemies Foreign and Domestic. This is the first part in a series of different author’s thoughts on the next civil war. Here’s what Bracken sees as a potential scenario for the next American Civil War.
The Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights does not “grant” Americans the right to armed self-defense, it simply recognizes and affirms this God-given human right. The Constitution, including the Bill or Rights, is a very succinct document that was written in plain English intended to be fully understandable by ordinary citizens, requiring no interpretation by judges. Article III of the Constitution discusses the responsibilities, powers and limitations of the Judiciary, including the Supreme Court.
Nowhere in the Constitution does it say that the Supreme Court is a super-legislature authorized to amend the Bill of Rights by a simple majority vote among its nine lifetime-appointed justices. In fact, Article III Section 2 explicitly grants to Congress the power to regulate which cases the Supreme Court may adjudicate at all. However, in the current political climate, with a toothless Congress abdicating its power to the Executive and Judicial branches, it is unlikely that the Supreme Court will be reined in and confined within its Constitutional limits.
My scenario for a second American civil war involves a Hillary Clinton victory in November 2016, followed in 2017 by the appointment of a Supreme Court justice politically to the left of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. The Second Amendment will then be gutted using a specious argument such as that the militia has “evolved” into the modern National Guard, meaning that there is no longer a right for private citizens to individually keep or bear arms. Liberal politicians and the collaborating liberal mainstream media will be in full-throated agreement with this false interpretation of the Second Amendment.
Subsequently, some states will ban semi-automatic pistols and rifles capable of taking a detachable magazine, meaning that nearly all semi-automatic firearms will become “illegal” with the stroke of a pen. Firearms confiscation raids against gun collectors and outspoken “Right to Keep and Bear Arms” activists will then take place with the intended purpose being to strike fear into holdouts. But instead of forcing gun owners into compliance, the confiscation raids will be the trigger for a new civil war. There will be casualties among both citizens and law enforcement as these confiscation raids are increasingly met with armed resistance.
The First Amendment will likewise be gutted, using the argument that the “bitter clingers” who are still advocating the “obsolete” interpretation of the Second Amendment are supporting terrorism when they argue that law enforcement has no valid legal or moral reason to engage in gun confiscation raids. Freedom-oriented writers will declare that the federal government is in breach of contract with the people, because the rogue Supreme Court had no authority to unilaterally nullify key elements of the Bill of Rights.
Millions of Americans who still support the original interpretation of the Second Amendment will consider those who advocate the new interpretation to be traitors and domestic enemies of the Constitution. Writers who argue that the new interpretation of the Second Amendment is invalid, and that citizens are therefore morally justified in opposing the new gun laws by force of arms will be arrested for “inciting violence” and “encouraging terrorism.” Websites which promulgate these views will be banned and shut down.
At that point, with no other options available to oppose the emerging hard tyranny, a guerrilla insurgency will emerge, and some of those responsible for limiting the Bill of Rights will become victims of sniper attacks. Targeted individuals will include national politicians, prominent “journalists” and federal law enforcement personnel who vocally support or even simply enforce the new gun bans. These deadly sniper attacks will typically involve a single shooter firing a single shot from long range. Federal law enforcement will be given the impossible task of predicting who will become the next sniper from among scores of millions of Americans. Gun confiscation raids and arrests for “inciting violence” will escalate, and so will the retaliatory sniper attacks.
The start of Civil War Two will probably be pegged to the assassination of a prominent judge or politician who is held responsible by “constitutional originalists” for invalidating the First and Second Amendments. The new tyranny will not back down in the face of these sniper attacks, but will double down in its efforts to disarm the resistance. Arrests and disappearances of “constitutional extremists” will be countered with even more sniper attacks against key supporters of the new tyranny. Civil War Two could resemble the “Dirty War” in Argentina during the 1970s, with recalcitrant “constitutionalists” becoming the victims of secret government special-action units. It’s difficult to imagine the final outcome of an American “dirty civil war,” but it’s impossible to imagine the forces of tyranny successfully disarming the American people.
It’s well known that Switzerland has never been invaded by a foreign power, largely because of its national policy of providing adult male military reservists with modern battle rifles, which they keep at home for their entire lives. It’s less well understood that Switzerland has also never seen the emergence of a tyranny, and for the same reason: a would-be tyrant would not survive for long in Switzerland. Likewise, would-be tyrants in the United States might have a strong desire to disarm the American people, but any widespread attempts to do so will, at the very least, result in a prolonged and bloody dirty civil war.
“…We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security….”
Those who choose to sell it, merely demonstrate that they had no business with it in the first place.
Matthew 7:20-23
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
The house of prophecy merchandise peddles figs from thistles and grapes from thorns. Those aren't figs and thistles, but if hey if they sell...
Buyers who can't be bothered to inspect the mislabled fruit, yet keep going back for more, will not have any sway with the customer service manager when they play victim, expecting a refund. At any point they could have looked over the fruit and noticed a problem, because the fraud is evident with minimal observation.
Matthew 24
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.
2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.
3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
Often at the end of prophecy videos is a question about eternal security - do you have it? 'Cause you know, the world is falling apart. Here's how you can know you are saved... blah blah blah... in Jesus' name, amen. It's a standard formula with the "ends times" preachers.
Eternal security? They are saying "Peace peace" when there is no peace, because... there IS no peace, saith the Lord, for the wicked. Workers of iniquity, making merchandise of the sheep.
When they shall say peace and [eternal] security... sudden destruction...
There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down
So much for the house of prophecy merchandise. Forty and six years was this temple in building.
These clowns are prophesying about a rebuilt Jewish temple, oblivious to the impending destruction of their own. Haman built his own gallows, after all. Fortunes turning on a dime, the plot being flipped over and going horribly wrong: it's the standard formula.
Product Description
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http://www.christianbook.com/the-late-great-planet-earth/hal-lindsey/9780310277712/pd/027771X
You don't have to know much of anything about figs, to recognize that thistles are not figs.
People have been feasting at the End Times prophecy buffet so long that it's all they know. No awareness that processed foods are not Nourishing Traditions. Fruit Loops are not eggs, nor will they ever be.
Life is often faster in the City, and usually you don't get many second chances. The monsters are a lot sparser in the rural areas.
I live a short distance outside of the city so I can get the benefits of both worlds.
“I’m totally prepared for this. I’ve marked out my safe space and posted “no guns” signs to keep the government at bay.”
This reminds me of what a few people (not me, certainly) suggested might be entertaining - many years ago: That when/if it became illegal to own certain firearms, that someone who owned (or used to own) such a weapon could take some fired shell casings from such weapon and spread them on the property of some local (or not local - depends on your taste) anti-gun zealot...and then anonymously call the police to report that you saw someone on the property with an “assault rifle” or whatever the unpopular/illegal gun of choice in that jurisdiction might be. Of course, in such a hypothetical circumstance, one would thoroughly wipe all fingerprints and biological materials from said fired shells, and place the call from an untraceable “burner” phone. Maybe being able to disguise one’s voice would be advantageous. All in theory, of course - remember, this was a discussion of what might be entertaining, someday and somewhere.
Variants on this included putting several different types of shells on the target property....223/5.56 mm, .308/7.62mm, 9mm, .45 ACP, .22 LR, etc., etc. - all for the purpose of making sure that the person was, umm, “well vetted” by the authorities. Oh, and calling the local news media (again, on a burner phone) to report the “unexpected police activity” was viewed as a real enhancement to the entertainment.
Potential targets for this hypothetical prank included local or state politicians (or federal ones, if available), judges, prosecutors, newspaper and TV reporters, influential people in the community, turncoats who had been pro-gun or who made a lot of money selling to the police, etc. - IOW, anybody who was notably and publicly for the abolition or “control” (i.e. abolition) of firearms in the hands of the general public. The basic idea was to increase the cost of being anti-gun and/or to punish those who had harmed the citizenry by their words and deeds. Oh, and as yet another enhancement of the entertainment value, a couple of people suggested that possibly some of the better-known targets, or the office-holding targets, might be too well guarded to do such a deed...which naturally led to someone (I don’t recall who, it was a LONG time ago) suggested that the adult children of such a person (if they had adult children) would be great alternative targets.
Again, this was all about entertainment - nobody who was discussing the idea (and I certainly don’t recall any of the internet names of those people, let alone their actual names) was actually calling for people to do this kind of thing...which, as anyone with any sense would know, would be a violation of the law. Nope, it was just entertainment, that’s all.
Even so, the consequences of it are still being felt, and if you think something doesn't matter because it's over, you are very much mistaken.
The Civil War created numerous institutions, power blocks, changes in law, and social consequences that are still causing serious damage to the nation today, the latest being "Gay Marriage. (Based on the 14th amendment.)
I believe it is important for people trying to get out of a mess to understand which wrong turn caused them to end up in the mess.
How about stick to the topic - possible FUTURE government action, and what to do or not do about it?
Already discussed some of this. See mine and other's comments about currency and stored value.
“I consider it prudent to keep a neighborhood map, since I do not know everyone in the area. Those with an Obama bumper sticker or other ties to the culture of parasites are marked prominently, since I know their morals. I feel safer knowing something about each family’s trustworthiness.”
It might even be quite entertaining in view of Post #223.
Here’s a simpler, cheaper, alternative counter-measure: http://madogre.com/OldMadOgre/Interviews/myths_molotovs.htm
I agree with you. We have gone down the road of "Brave New World".
What do you believe to be the source of all this apathy? Is it not comfort and prosperity?
Do you think if things were tough people would be so content to slouch towards Gomorrah?
I say the font of all our destruction is the borrowing stream of Federal spending. This money fuels our evil power-blocs and fuels our parasite class. (Which in turn keeps the money spigot turned to "max borrow.")
We live in a borrow from the future to spend today world, and it is inevitable that it will crash at some point.
But it is this ease which has been purchased off the backs of future slaves that has caused people today to be content with illusions and indolence.
The evidence I have uncovered indicates the founders borrowed heavily from the ideas of the Swiss (Primarily Vattel) in creating and setting up this nation.
In 1776, Switzerland was the only Republic in the world. All other governments were monarchies. It was primarily Vattel that gave them the idea to become Independent, along with the Natural Law justification for doing so.
I can respect and acknowledge that the 1861-1865 disagreement hasn’t been discussed for a few hours. I wrote what I wrote in response to Post #111 - when said discussion was pretty much still hot and heavy. I was, at that point, pretty sick of the waste of my time in this thread due to that sub-discussion.
As to consequences: Yes, of course they existed and still exist. But (to quote a famous individual), “What, at this point in time, does it matter?” Yeah, I hate that quote, and more so the person who originated it, but that is the truth - we are in the situation that we are in right now, regardless of why. We have to deal with facts on the ground HERE and NOW, and what may or may not have happened several lifetimes ago doesn’t change the here and now. That it is interesting, and that some lessons could be learned from that history, is undoubtedly true - but maybe that should be confined to either a thread about that part of history, or a private message exchange.
Its not that I’ve ever gone off-topic on someone else’s thread - I have - but that there were SO DAMNED MANY posts about the same off-topic subject.
I reject the premise that Hillary Clinton has every been correct about anything in her life. Yes, Benghazi matters. It matters quite a lot, because if we ignore it, we are going to elect a Nazi Harridan who will cause far worse destruction.
By the same token, the Wrong Turn the nation took in 1861 is still causing us damage, and it will cause us damage until we address some of the issues contained therein.
For example, we are all talking about the possible secession or ejection of states from the Union, but thanks to the mindset created by the consequences of the Civil War, you will discover that the vast majority of your fellow Americans will consider it their civic duty to violently suppress any attempts by states (such as Texas) to break away from this Wreck of a Union in which we currently live.
Do you think the possibility of a successful secession is not relevant to this topic?
I would consider a secession by Texas (et al) to be one of the possible means that the decent people of America could avoid the horrors that I see coming due to wrongheaded federal policies which are creating a fiscal and social crises in this nation.
But the minute you mention "Secession", everyone chimes in and says "That's illegal. You can't do that."
It effectively cuts off one of our most effective means of escaping the horror, so in that regard, I think the previous Civil War is very much causing us a serious problem right now.
Let me put it another way. We would have less cause to worry about an out of control federal government and wars in the street if we could separate peaceably, but there is that D@mned "Civil War" once again getting in the way of this much preferable solution.
Its not that I’ve ever gone off-topic on someone else’s thread - I have - but that there were SO DAMNED MANY posts about the same off-topic subject.
I didn't start it, but I have always felt it is very important not to let disputes of fact regarding a mater of principle pass without rebuttal.
One of the tactics that has always been used against us is a war against truth. (Men can become women, Females can serve as warriors in Battle, etc.) Defending what is demonstrably true is important regardless of in what thread one happens to be.
Oh, and I’m a stubborn contrarian too! :)
I fear he is wrong, there will be no resistance if such a fictional event were to take place.
OK, you’re forgiven. :>)
I understand where you’re coming from, and I can be pretty stubborn myself...but next time, please take it to the P.M. function. I was more interested in seeing if fellow readers of the post had information that Travis McGee didn’t, or seeing posts on how to effectively, uh, play the game that is about to be foisted upon us.
Ideally you would want to survive your encounter, and getting close enough to throw the bottle on the target while conspicuously holding a bottle with a lit wick definitely reduces your probability of surviving the event.
steal or make your own filler for the container and with a few hundred feet of wire you can fire off the countermeasure and have a reasonable chance of not getting shot in the attempt.
Who said anything about doing it alone. Bring a friend...or 20: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Eaqfi6gZg
*Ping*
Yes, probably sooner than later. I have them all safely stored away.
Time will tell.
So then only some of you get shot. "The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." Patton
The 1863 act didn’t end private American banknote issue, it simply changed it, and based it upon a bank’s holding of Treasury bonds. Part of this was to promote the purchase of Treasury debt in order to pay for the Union Army.
American banks continued to print their own currency right up to 1929, look up ‘American Large Size banknotes’ and you’ll see plenty of them.
One reason that banks printed their own currency post 1863 is because it was cheaper than dealing with checking accounts, which IIRC were taxed while currency wasn’t. So bank-issued currency functioned as checking accounts do today. The situation is reversed now... I’ve read that it is still legal for private American banks to issue their own currency, but there is a 100% tax on doing so, so no bank does it. I suppose some bank could do it and create some interesting collectables but no one is doing so.
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