Fighting For Liberty

“I consider all the ill as established which may be established. I have a right to nothing which another has a right to take away.”

–Thomas Jefferson to Uriah Forrest

Indeed.

David Founding Fathers

Donate only a few minutes of your time today.

Tell me what I placed in bold couldn’t be said to Obama – TODAY.

Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the numbers of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know the worst, and to provide for it.

Give me liberty, or give me death!

Happy Anniversary, Patrick Henry. Do the man justice and go read the whole thing today. It applies much more than you’d imagine it would for being written more than two hundred years ago.

David Founding Fathers

Those who would sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither. Ben Franklin spoke this idea many, many years ago. (this version is not his exact quote).

On WMUR:

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Air travelers in Manchester said Monday they would be willing to sacrifice some privacy for increased security in the skies.

I can tell you this much … I sure as hell am never flying again. Why stop at body scanners? Why not strip everyone naked, sedate them, and shackle them to their chairs as they are ushered from point A to point B. I mean … if it saves one life … right? Surely the only people who would have a problem with it are those with something to hide …

David Founding Fathers

There are going to be a lot of pictures in this post.

Let me preface this whoooooole thing with this:

I have never been in a protest/march/peacable assembly of any kind for any cause, ever.

This was something, however, that my wife and I felt so strongly about, that we wanted to attend. We’re not Republicans or Democrats, we’re not liberals or conservatives, we’re your classic mixed bag. We’re pro-liberty, anti-collectivism, and that’s pretty much it.

Now, I’ve seen the reports about the 9-12 march. About “thousands” (which, technically is true. Even a million is made up of “hundreds” after all). I’ve seen write-ups talking about this being organized by a couple of well-funded groups, about it being rabid, right-wing, conservative, yadda yadda.

I have one simple sentence of advice for you.

DON’T BELIEVE ANYTHING YOU’VE READ FROM A “JOURNALIST”.

Because if it was published in a fishwrap somewhere, it’s a lie. Period.

I want to show you a picture that perfectly sums up what the day and the general attitude of nearly all in attendance was:

That woman was from Ohio. Folks, that’s your theme of the day. We’re getting screwed by two parties in a two-party-system and that’s leaving you and I at the crap end of a bad deal.

So let me take you through my day at the March. It started early. About 8:00AM, actually. The march was apparently set to take place at 11:30. We arrived a block or so from Freedom Square in downtown DC to a little Cafe where the only thing left on the shelf … at 8 AM, were three chocolate croissants and some orange juice. Well, family’s gotta eat! While there, we snapped a few pictures of people getting ready for the day:

That last shot is a look across the street at Freedom Square, where this whole shin-dig started. As you can see, even at an early hour, the place was kinda packed. We were hearing cheers and chants well before we finished our last sips of OJ.

So we arrived at the staging area. I stuck a flag in my son’s hand, and off we went to snap some photos:

Yes, that’s a frigging FLOAT of a tea-party boat and it’s awesome. He had speakers hooked up and everything. Notice the street is clear. Everyone was still assembling in the square at this point. This is the last time I’d see a street so clear the entire day. Soon, it was a sea of people and signs.

The guy with the “We Stand with Israel” sign got a ton of cheers as people walked past. Clearly, he’s a swastika-carrying right-wing terrorist.

Hands-down the best home-made signs of the day … A cardboard cut-out of Obama at a podium held by one guy, along with two teleprompter screens held by his buddies. Holy cow I laughed hard at this one:

Those guys were from Producer or Parasite.

So as we’re looking around, I hear the distinct sound of a Fife … lo and behold, here they come marching past! They were absolutely awesome, playing Yankee Doodle Dandy in that unmistakable sound accompanied by the rat-a-tat of a snare drum. Stuff like this really set the mood, we were in for something special today:

Next, I tried to get some shots of all the people. As you can tell, the street was no longer free and clear. We were joined at Freedom Square by an apparently gigantic contingent who assembled at the Monument and took a stroll to our neck of the woods.

There were … a lot … of people. More than I’ve ever seen in one location in my lifetime.

Next up, we started snapping pictures of signs. Like people, signs were everywhere and some of them were just too good. What you won’t see are swastikas. Because I didn’t see any. What I saw were people pissed off at government and in particular our current elites. They’re angry because they are not being heard.

Now, I think it’s important to interject before you see all of these signs that this was a peaceful but passionate protest. Had this been a protest for a liberal cause-du-jour, you would’ve seen arrests, people with bandanas over their faces hurling rocks, smashed windows, overturned cars, a huge police presence and property damage.

There was nothing of the sort on this day.

Now have a look at some signs …

Something else we didn’t see today? This:

That was the only interview I saw all day. Go on, MSM, keep ignoring it.

One of the many handouts I saw:

And yet more signs. The lovely lady with the red hat was from Georgia. Most people behind her were from Florida. Many of them traveled together, many didn’t.

Yet more signs. The guy with the “Turd” sign had a collage on the back of Reid and Pelosi in a toilet. The bright character with the pig hat was a lady from Florida if I remember correctly:

Great signs, great stuff. I wanted to tell you about this next guy, pictured at right:

He’s from Massachusetts and we got to talking me being from NH and all. He said, “I personally have had my gun rights taken away.”

Well, you know I had to ask how. As the march started we talked for a bit on our way to the Capitol building. He had a conceal carry permit for many years. When it was time for him to renew, there was a change in the law, and his renewal was denied. Why? Because he got arrested back in high school for being involved in a fist-fight.

Apparently, that’s a violent crime, and therefore, he was not re-issued a carry permit in spite of having one for nearly a dozen years prior. He spent $12,000 in legal fees and a few years fighting it, and he’s hoping that by the end of the year he’ll have it re-issued. I hope he does.

And that brings me to some other thoughts here. There was no single issue that was being hammered on here. It was general and thorough dissatisfaction with Washington DC. Everything from healthcare to gun rights to taxes. What it amounts to is some bad ju-ju for our current elected officials because there are a ton of people very pissed off for very different reasons and one gets the sense that it’s a perfect storm of pissed-offedness that’s going to wreak havoc upon incumbents come elections 2010.

Now … more signs!

What you’ll see next here was just a couple of shots of a young patriot having a good time. This kid was striking and he certainly wasn’t the only child in attendance.

On the presence of children … my own attended and I had no worries about them seeing anything inappropriate. There were no signs with four-letter words of the SH or FU variety anywhere to be seen. The strongest language I saw printed all day was a single instance of the word “Asshole” and a single instance of the word “Douchebag”. No chants during the march included any foul language either. This was clean, peaceful, and energetic from finish to end.

With all that, the march started and moved briskly. We were very close to the front.

As we were walking at a slower pace (we had three kids with us, for cryin’ out loud!) we got a chance to meet a lot of people. I always ask where they’re from. Many from Florida, Ohio, a lot from California (California!!!), Arkansas, Texas, Michigan, and just … everywhere.

We had our picture taken by more people than I could count. Why? Because we’re a small family with small kids.

Let me tell you, having complete strangers come up to you and thank you for involving your kids in something like this is humbling. More humbling is having an old man approach your own son and say, “You know, we’re all here doing this for you today. We all want to make sure that you have a secure, free future.”

There were moments this day that really shook me up. That was one of them.

Prior to our walk, some people from I believe the Heritage Foundation were handing out pocket-sized Constitutions. My son – he’s 7 – grabbed one. He’s short, so he couldn’t really see much other than some signs and people’s backsides, so what did he do during the march from Freedom Square to the Capitol building?

He started on page 1, and read the Constitution.

Needless to say, people were loving watching my boy read up on the Constitution on a day like this. It was so fitting.

As we marched along, people started calling out all kinds of chants. Now at first, it was your basic U-S-A chant. Then it turned into “throw them all out”, etc.

The best one of the day that had everyone going, and laughing, and shouting along was:

“We’re the Angry Mob!”

*pause*

“Have a Nice Day!”

My boy nearly giggled himself to the floor on that one. He also giggled himself silly when he saw a sign that read, “We the People … Are Mad As Hell!”

“Dad! He laughed, “it starts off like the Constitution!”

Getting closer, we came across this building, and in particular what was engraved in it’s side, a few stories high:

Yes, indeed, your first amendment. The chants picked up louder and louder, “READ THAT WALL! READ THAT WALL!”

Delicious.

Getting closer to our destination now, I turned around and snapped a few pictures of the oncoming angry horde folks.

There were a lot of people. Finally, we approached the Capitol building:

We stayed for a bit, listened to some of the speakers, and turned back to do some sight-seeing.

After all of that excitement, we finished our day in the silence of the rotunda to have a look at the Articles of Confederation, the Declaration of Independence, and the Constitution as written by our Founding Fathers.

The perfect ending to a historic day.

David Founding Fathers, Me, Political Garbage

At a particular person’s blog right here. And I quote …

How do you think government is going to pay for “free” healthcare anyway? Where does government’s money come from???? From the sky? From a money tree?? ARGH. How I hate hearing the term “free”-anything related to government. People have gotten completely out of touch with their own money.

This particular person happens to be my lovely bride who, upon getting so fed up with big ol’ .gov had to … DO SOMETHING. What did she do? Started a blog. Started having casual conversations with friends, and decided to try and make a difference by not being shy about her principles. Patriotic Reader is a blog about books and the American Way. Right now she’s blogging about the MUST READ, Glenn Beck’s Common Sense.

So stop over there and say hi, will ya? If you ask nice and leave a polite comment, she just might send you cookies. Seriously.

David Founding Fathers, Me

Via Rustmeister I see that Smallest Minority also has a go at Marc Rubin. Awesome!

I nailed this liar Marc Rubin and his fantasy world a week or so ago: http://fightingforliberty.com/?p=102. I hope he’s permanently exposed as the lying jackass he is.

Oh goody … on a Google search for “marc rubin guns” I’m #5 … with a bullet.

David 2nd Amendment, Dumbass Liberal Crap, Founding Fathers

Robb comes along with GOLD just as my writer’s block is in full swing – in the form of some dumbass NY-based Obama employee named Marc Rubin who’s job is apparently showing everyone how much of an ignorant hack he’s capable of being:

But what the hearings may finally do is put to bed this incredible ignorance over the 2nd amendment, ignorance which quite frankly does gun owners no good at all. Except to constantly put them on the defensive because every time they try to invoke the 2nd amendment to achieve something they want, they lose. And always will. Because the 2nd amendment has absolutely nothing to do with an individual right to own a gun and never did.

At first I thought this guy was joking. No. Make no mistake though – he’s no idiot. People like this are dangerous because they believe their own lies so strongly that they can persuade others.

Let’s analyze some more of what this liar, Marc Rubin, seems to be peddling. First, invoking the Founding Fathers:

The Constitution was written by the greatest collection of minds this country ever had in one place at one time — Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, Hamilton, Madison and the rest. They had a tremendous command of language as the Declaration of Independence and Preamble to the Constitution shows, and they knew exactly what they were saying and how to say it. And they knew exactly what they meant.

I couldn’t agree more. Now this …

Most misunderstanding of the 2nd amendment comes from complete ignorance of what the words, “to keep and bear arms” means …

… It means what the Founding Fathers intended it to mean. The word “arms” doesn’t mean the gun or collection of guns in someone’s house. The word “arms” meant the same thing in 1789 as it did in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings and in 1959 when there was an arms race between the US and the Soviet Union. It meant one thing and one thing only to the Founders and to anyone else who understands the english language. “Arms” means weapons of war …

… As for the words “the people”, any constitutional scholar will tell you that when the constitution is talking about an individual right it uses the word “person” and when it is talking about a states right it uses the “the people”. “The right of the people” means the right of the individual states …

Got that you ignorant, inbred, clingy gun owner? Any moron who understands the English language can plainly see that the Founders knew EXACTLY what they were talking about and that the 2nd applies ONLY to states, not to Jeb and his gun collection in his own house!

I’m so mad. It’s an insult to the Founding Fathers. Allow me to put this douchebag in his proper place using the Founder’s own words …

“The said Constitution should be never construed to prevent the people of the United States, who are peaceable citizens, from keeping their own arms.”

-Samuel Adams, Signer of the Declaration of Independence
*Debates and Proceedings in the Convention of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Held in the Year 1788

“And what country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that this people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.”

-Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration
*Memoir, Correspondence and Miscellanies Vol. II, to Colonel Smith, November 13, 1787

“No citizen shall be debarred the use of arms within his own lands.”

-Thomas Jefferson, U.S. President and Signer of the Declaration
*From Jefferson’s proposed Constitution of Virginia, June 1776.

“The advantage of being armed is an advantage which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation … In the several kingdoms of Europe … the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.”

-James Madison, Father of the Constitution
*Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison. Federalist #46, by James Madison

“I consider and fear the natural propensity of rulers to oppress the people. I wish only to prevent them from doing evil … Divine providence has given to every individual the means of self-defense.”

-George Mason, Delegate to the Constitutional Convention and “Father of the Bill of Rights”
*Debates … of the Convention of Virginia – George Mason on June 14, 1788

“Forty years ago, when the resolution of enslaving America was formed in Great-Britain, the British parliament was advised … to disarm the people. That it was the best and most effectual way to enslave them. But that they should not do it openly; but to weaken them and let them sink gradually.”

-George Mason, Delegate to the Constitutional Convention and “Father of the Bill of Rights”
*Debates … of the Convention of Virginia – George Mason on June 14, 1788.

So do you want to tell me again, liar Marc Rubin, that the Founding Fathers never intended an individual right when it comes to the 2nd Amendment? You want to tell me that it doesn’t apply to – as you put it – ” the gun or collection of guns in someone’s house” when someone such as Thomas Jefferson himself says, “No citizen shall be debarred the use of arms within his own lands.”

Marc Rubin is a lying scumbag of the lowest kind. He is intentionally distorting facts and completely re-writing history in order to shape it around beliefs in his own mind that he’s too cowardly to challenge.

The Founding Fathers were crystal clear when it came to the 2nd Amendment. It’s an individual right – my right – period.

David 2nd Amendment, Founding Fathers