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Ozark Mountain Craft Mall – 1440 W Country Music Blvd. Ste 120 Branson, MO 65616, (across from Grand Country Resort).
For those in the Branson Missouri area who have asked where they can purchase my books, (many don’t like to buy online), they are now available at the Ozark Mountain Craft Mall – 1440 W Country Music Blvd. Ste 120 Branson, MO 65616, (across from Grand Country Resort).
Currently available: “Zen and the art of Cat Maintenance”; “A Wake of Vultures” and “A Republic, if you can keep it”.
one of the issues driving the adoption of the Militia Act of 1903 was further disarmament of black Americans, particularly in the South during what is considered to be the nadir of race relations in the United States.
Curiously hidden within an otherwise banal defense appropriations bill, the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878 radically changed the role of the militia in the United States. It prevented the Army from enforcing federal law in the United States. This was later amended to include the Air Force, however, both the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy are lacking from the law. The Navy has regulations which effectively provide the same prohibitions.
Also missing from the Act is anything preventing the state militias or the National Guard from enforcing relevant laws, provided that they are acting under the command of the governor and the state government. This meant that the state governments, acting largely under the control of the Democratic Party, could still use organized military – while the federal government, still dominated by Republicans, could not. While state militias were rarely, if ever, used in the same manner as the Klan and other white paramilitary organizations, the writing was on the wall – black citizens would no longer receive protection from the federal government against either the Democratic Party state governments or their more militant and rambunctious voters.
Militias under the control of the state largely acted not along racial lines, but economic ones. State militias were increasingly deployed against striking workers in labor disputes. The Great Railroad Strike of 1877, known contemporaneously as “the Great Upheaval,” is one such example. The first nationwide strike in American history, railroad workers went out on strike against a third wage cut in the span of a year. Over 100,000 workers walked off the job. Local and state militias played an instrumental role in breaking the strike, which lasted 45 days and left over 100 dead. Militia forces killed striking workers across the nation, including in Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Chicago.
The Great Railroad Strike was not the last time that militias were used against striking workers. In Lemont, Illinois, two striking Polish quarry workers were killed by the militia. There was also a racial component to some strikebreaking. For example, in Thibodaux, Louisiana, the Louisiana Militia shot at least 35 unarmed striking black sugar workers.
However, the most violent incident by far was the Ludlow Massacre of 1914. When the dust settled, 20 were dead – including 12 children and one bystander. As with many of the most pitched battles in American labor history, this involved the United Mine Workers. Mine work is dangerous everywhere, but this was particularly true out west. Workers were frequently paid in tonnage, and work that did not involve the digging of resources was unpaid. This meant workers often took chances with their lives, letting important repairs go undone and engaging in risky activities to get valuable minerals out of the ground.
Most of the striking workers in Ludlow, Colorado, had demands most Americans would sympathize with: Increased wages, payment for maintenance work, measures to keep weightmen honest, the right to live, shop and see a doctor at a place of their choosing, and the enforcement of existing state and federal laws.
The Massacre took place on Orthodox Easter, with the militia firing on striking worker camps with a machine gun. Women and children were attacked in an underground shelter with a fire set by the militia. While the United Mine Workers failed to obtain official recognition, the Massacre led to sweeping labor law reforms both in the United States and Canada. A monument erected by the United Mine Workers sits on the land once occupied by the striking workers’ tent camp.
The Militia Act of 1903 was the most sweeping reorganization of the militia before the formation of the modern National Guard. Prior to the enactment of the Militia Act of 1903, the militias were governed both by the Constitution and the Militia Acts of 1792. The latter simply enabled the president to call out and command militias when appropriate and set the parameters for what constituted the militia. It left the question of state versus federal control of militias unresolved.
While the militia as a national defense had been problematic since the days of the War of 1812, the Spanish-American War demonstrated that the militia system in the United States was badly in need of reform from the standpoint of Federal control. The Militia Act of 1903 repealed the Militia Acts of 1792. It was this new Act which separated the militia, (unconstitutionally), into the organized and unorganized components. It also created the National Guard, an organization separate from both the organized militia and the National Guard of the United States, but with significant overlap with each. It has been argued that one of the issues driving the adoption of the Militia Act of 1903 was further disarmament of black Americans, particularly in the South during what is considered to be the nadir of race relations in the United States.
Left without much recourse in the way of self defense, the more militant members of the Civil Rights Movement began organizing what were effectively militias under the auspices of the National Rifle Association.
To say that there was racial tension in the former Confederate states would be an understatement. Not only was the South under continued military occupation, but they were also being occupied by their former slaves, now armed by what was until very recently a foreign power.
Credit: ammo.com
The War Between the States (1861-1865) was nothing less than a revolutionary reorganization of American government, society, and economics. It claimed almost as many lives as every other U.S. conflict combined and, by war’s bloody logic, forged the nation which the Founding Fathers could not by settling once and for all lingering national questions about state sovereignty and slavery.
The postwar period, however, was one of arguably greater turmoil than the war itself. This is because many men in the South did not, in fact, lay down their arms at the end of the War. What’s more, freedmen, former slaves that were now American citizens, had to take defensive measures against pro-Democratic Party partisans, the most famous of whom were the Ku Klux Klan.
America’s militia has existed for a number of purposes and has exercised a surprising number of roles over the years. But at its core, it’s a bulwark of the power of the country against the power of the state. In Early American Militias: The Forgotten History of Freedmen Militias from 1776 until the Civil War, we covered the historical roots of the milita. Below is the modern history of the militia following the Civil War, and how unforeseen changes which started during Reconstruction have set the stage for the contemporary movement of Constitutional citizens militias.
The Reconstruction Era (1865-1877) is one of the most fascinating – and violent – periods of American history. After the defeat of the Confederate States, the United States Army took direct control of the quelled rebel states. Elections were eventually held and Republicans won every state, with the exception of Virginia. The state governments then organized militias, which were comprised of a majority of black men.
To say that there was racial tension in the former Confederate states would be an understatement. Not only was the South under continued military occupation, but they were also being occupied by their former slaves, now armed by what was until very recently a foreign power. The white population of the South responded to what they considered to be an attack on them and their rights by organizing militias of their own, despite the fact that this was prohibited by law. In fact, postbellum laws on militia organization prohibited drilling, parading, or organizing.
Fears among Southern whites were not unfounded, nor without precedent. The 35th United States Colored Troops went house to house in Charleston confiscating firearms. Black troops were known for looting and rioting during the final days of the war. The 52nd United States Colored Infantry sacked the Vicksburg plantation belonging to Jared and Minerva Cook, where it is believed some of them had been slaves. They confiscated the plantation’s guns at the point of a revolver, shooting both Cooks, killing Minerva and seriously wounding Jared.
A correspondent writing at the time spoke of the palpable fear of the white population: He believed that a massacre of the entire white population was impending. This anxiety is what led to the so-called “Black Codes” of the postwar era, which included tight restrictions on the weapons that could be owned by free blacks – if any at all. Some laws even restricted blacks from owning knives.
It’s worth noting that black veterans of the time were armed quite well. Not only did many keep their service weapons after the war was over, but they were also in possession of weapons claimed as war prizes. The average black citizen of the time, however, wanted only arms for self defense. Indeed, the mutual feeling of uneasiness in the postwar South seems to have a solid foundation for each group. How comfortable would most people feel with an occupying army of hostile former slaves? And how comfortable would most former slaves feel surrounded by recent insurgents?
These independent white militias were effectively a form of guerilla resistance against reasserted Union control in the South. Activity on either side tended to peak around the time of elections, suggesting that each was engaged in a campaign of intimidation against the other.
Some of the first anti-gun control movements in the United States were among freed blacks seeking to keep and bear arms for their own protection against the white independent militias. The names are familiar to most Americans: The Ku Klux Klan, the Knights of the White Camelia, The Red Shirts, The White League, The White Brotherhood. These white independent militias have been called by George C. Rable the “military arm of the Democratic Party.” Many blacks who had no intention of firing a shot in anger wanted a weapon simply to keep themselves and their families secure in the face of armed terrorist gangs seeking to circumvent the Reconstruction.
However, winners, as they say, write the history books. The Southern side of the argument is that the Union League, a Northern organization dedicated to patriotism, unionism and opposition to “Copperhead” Peace Democrats was, by the end of the war, organizing in the South. While less known than the above-mentioned groups, the Union League (also known as the Loyal League) was certainly not innocent of violent assaults, murder and rape. This made the most innocent of Union League members a target for Southern, pro-Democratic groups.
In the battle between the largely black, pro-Federal and Republican groups and the overwhelmingly (if not exclusively) white, pro-Southern and Democratic groups, the latter ultimately won the day. Reconstruction was ended as part of a bargain to secure Republican Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in 1876. The North in general, and the Republican Party in particular, was tired of dealing with the Southern issue. Northern sympathies for black troubles were tepid to nonexistent a decade after President Andrew Johnson declared a formal end to hostilities.
Beyond the national political loss of will to continue Reconstruction, there are other, more intangible factors in play. White independent organization was stronger than the black, federally backed organizations. What’s more, while the black population was afraid, the white population was mad with desperation. Blacks in government, armed with the backing of federal power seemed to them no less than an inversion of nature and an existential threat to all white Southerners.
With federal troops and backing withdrawn from Reconstruction, the stage was set for Jim Crow and a rollback of many of the social gains blacks enjoyed during this era.
While the popular vision of the post-Reconstruction Era is one of constant terror from pro-Democratic paramilitary groups such as the KKK, this is inaccurate. The Knights of the White Camelia, an upper-crust organization, had largely ceased to exist by 1870. Nathaniel Bedford Forrest ordered the Klan disbanded in 1869, increasingly concerned with their lawless behavior and his inability to control it. President Grant’s Enforcement Acts of 1870 and 1871 were squarely designed toward dismantling what remained of the Original Klan. The White League, perhaps the most militant of the group, disbanded in 1876, seeing their aims as largely accomplished. The Red Shirts lingered on until 1900, but their efforts were primarily around voter intimidation at election time, rather than a constant campaign of harassment, terror and intimidation.
The point is not to soft pedal or minimize the attacks against blameless black civilians during and after the Reconstruction Era. However, the white paramilitary groups were largely inactive for the simple reason that the Democratic Party state governments were accomplishing most of their goals through the rule of law.
…since inception, militias have been tasked with stopping those who hold public office from exceeding their authority or those seeking to enact legislation outside of their operating charter…
Credit: ammo.com
The United States militia is enshrined in the Second Amendment of the Constitution. And while the militia movement of today is widely known, its history – and the history of independent Constitutional militias stretching back to the dawn of the republic – is far less well known.
Why does this matter nowadays? Because understanding the historical roots of America’s militias helps modern-day members appreciate the role they play in our federal system of government. Because since inception, militias have been tasked with stopping those who hold public office from exceeding their authority or those seeking to enact legislation outside of their operating charter – a crucial check against incremental encroachment by the state, as James Madison wrote in the Federalist Papers on January 29, 1788:
“Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition, more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of.”
The militia is the final means of recourse in this cycle of self-government – and arguably the most important. Thus this is the first in a two-part historical series on America’s militias. The second part, American Militias after the Civil War: From Black Codes to the Black Panthers and Beyond, looks at additional changes this American institution underwent from Reconstruction onwards.
The vision of an American militia goes back even before the United States Constitution or the founding of the United States. In most states in colonial America, all able-bodied men were considered to be part of the militia – through which the individual towns and cities would provide for the common defense.
A militia is explicitly mentioned in the United States Constitution, prior to the Bill of Rights. Article I, Section 8, drafted around the same time as the founding of the Springfield Armory (ground zero for American ammunition manufacturing), mentions it three times alone:
Article II, Section 2 designates the President of the United States as the “Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States.”
While the 1903 Militia Act is a relatively recent innovation to the world of the American militia, it is worth referencing, even if briefly, as we dive into our long history. The Militia Act of 1903 separates the militia into two groups:
In the pre-1903 Militia Act era, the line between the two is not so clearly defined. Many of the militias discussed below are organized and subject to statute, but not “organized” in the sense that they have official membership rolls, uniforms, or even significant involvement from their respective state and territorial governments. Much like the later independent or “Constitutional militia” movement, there is a rank, structure and a chain of command, but the organization is not necessarily subject to government oversight – other than having to comply with all relevant statutes. In the case of the militias of the Revolutionary War period, this is very fuzzy.
The militia is an outgrowth of an English common law institution. The word itself dates back to 1590. Originally, the word simply meant soldiers in the service of the state. By the mid-17th Century, however, it had taken on connotations of a civilian military force. It carried additional connotations in terms of a military raised in temporary service to respond to some kind of an emergency.
The early militias, on both sides of the Atlantic, served the purpose of both security and defense. These were particularly important in the New World, where attacks from hostile Indian tribes were a constant threat. Indeed, these militias played a key role in the French and Indian Wars, including the primary one taking place concurrently with the Seven Years War between the years 1754 and 1763.
During these periods, militias organized by towns were also the pool from which the Provincial Forces were drafted. This was, in fact, a rare occurrence. The Provincial Forces were one of the best-paying wage labor opportunities available to American colonists, so their ranks were rarely short.
While the Provincial Forces were very professional and disciplined, the militias were not. Indeed, no less an authority than George Washington (at that time the adjutant-general of the Virginia militia) noted that the militia was largely disorganized. He considered the militia fit for times of peace, but ill-equipped for times of war. Even during peace, the bulk of the colonial military were what are today Army Rangers – well paid, professional, highly disciplined, and accomplished.
The militias, however, played a central role in the American Revolution. The famous “Minutemen” – figures as iconic as the cowboy in American mythology – are, in fact, personifications and embodiments of the militia as it existed during the time of the American Revolution.
The history of the American militia cannot be discussed without talking about the Minutemen. These were effectively partisans in the war against the British, for which there is a subtle irony: The Minutemen harked back to the earliest traditions of the English countryside militia – ready on a moment’s notice.
Indeed, the militia is perhaps the British institution that most shaped the United States and its culture.
The British did not represent the entire militia, but the most disciplined and committed elements of it. They were, as the name implies, ready to go at a minute’s notice. They represented approximately a quarter of the entire force, and skewed toward the younger and more radical members of the revolutionary movement.
The roots of the Minutemen (and of the militia in general) lie in the old British colonial militia. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, all able-bodied men between the ages of 16 and 60 were obligated to serve in the militia. By 1645, possibly earlier, there were men selected specially for rapid deployment segments of the militia, known as “training bands.” The term “Minutemen” was even used during this period. These were organized on a town-by-town basis, with some towns, notably Lexington, not having special rapid response units.
During this period, Minutemen could not be over 30 years old. Officers were elected by rank and file, as was generally common throughout the colonial militias. Fowling pieces were the most common weapon. Uniforms were nonexistent, with hunting gear being the most common form of clothing. The French and Indian War provided the irregular forces with training in proto-guerilla warfare that European troops were not familiar with.
On the eve of the Revolutionary War, the Minutemen became something distinct from the rest of the militia, not simply its most committed segment. The Powder Alarm of 1774 underscored the need for a sleeker, more committed and more rapidly responding segment of the militia – the regular militia simply did not deploy quickly enough to prevent the British military from seizing materiel from the local ammunition stores and armories.
The British feared the power of the militias and the Minutemen prior to the Revolution. One of the strategic aims of the Intolerable Acts was to significantly decrease the power of town government. When General Thomas Gage, Governor of Massachusetts under the Intolerable Acts, attempted to seat his hand-picked court in Worcester, 2,000 militiamen prevented him from doing so. In response, Gage set out to confiscate provincial munitions. The militia responded in kind by assembling 4,000 men to the Cambridge common.
From the very beginning of the revolution, the militias played a pivotal role, despite the fact that they were of limited utility. The Battles of Lexington and Concord started as a confrontation between the local militias and the colonial authorities. On April 19, 1775, 800 British troops marched out of Boston to Concord. They were unable to locate their target, the colonists’ arms and ammunition, which they were to confiscate. It was at 5 a.m. that they encountered 70 militiamen in Concord. They ordered the militiamen to disperse, but the militiamen refused. This is what led to “the shot heard round the world,” but to this day historians are unsure who fired first.
While the militias themselves were primarily used for disrupting supply lines and harrassing, skirmishing type attacks, many of the senior officers were those who had cut their teeth bush fighting during the French and Indian Wars. On the other hand, the British senior officers had no experience with this kind of fighting and had to learn it on the fly.
On their way back to the city after being unable to find the arms and ammunition, the British were stalked and sniped by militiamen. The company was routed, and 900 additional troops were required to save them from the clandestine attacks of the Patriot militias.
Throughout the Revolutionary War, the Minutemen model increasingly became the standard for irregular militia fighters. This provided the Continental Army with swelled numbers on short notice. While the Minutemen weren’t known as great marksmen, the psychological impact and distraction of their presence certainly helped win the Patriots’ cause. Scores of militias were culled from each of the newly independent 13 states, as well as Vermont, which was at that time its own independent republic and not one of the United States.
While the revolutionary fervor was felt most strongly in the militias at the beginning of the war, this waned over time. After all, the Revolutionary War lasted eight years – a long time to maintain that level of enthusiasm. The militias elected their own officers and often used this to ensure that they would not have to serve outside of their home state. Often times, militia members hired replacements, and in extreme cases, exorbitant bribes were required to get the men to perform their militia duties. The currency became inflated over the course of the war, requiring land grants and promises of slaves at the war’s end.
The militia was a hugely popular public institution at the end of the Revolutionary War. It was seen as the national defense of a free people, as opposed to a standing army. Most experts, however, did not feel that the militia had much in the way of actual military value in the event of a foreign invasion. Still, figures like George Washington were forced to support the militia publicly, while speaking of its limitations more privately.
During Shays’ Rebellion, the role of the militia was transformed. This time, a militia was used to defeat a rebellion, rather than to fight the dominant power. There is a deep irony in the role exercised by the militia during Shays’ Rebellion, which was one of the factors in scrapping the Articles of the Confederation and replacing them with the Constitution. During the Constitutional debates, figures such as James Madison stated that the militia could be a check on the power of a standing army. However, in the case of Shays’ Rebellion, the militia acted as an instrument of centralized power and taxation.
Militias in the service of federal power did not end with Shays’ Rebellion. President George Washington personally led a militia of 13,000 for the specific purpose of putting down the Whiskey Rebellion.
Much of the military forces that fought the British during the War of 1812 were militia forces. This is part of why the United States exhibited such a dismal performance on the battlefield. While they were effective at battles in Plattsburgh, Baltimore and New Orleans, this was largely due to the entrenchment of the forces rather than their military abilities in their own right. It was after American defeat in the War of 1812 that the militia effectively ceased to be the primary means of defense, supplanted by the Regular Army.
During the period between the War of 1812 and the Civil War, the state militias of the Southern states took on a new function: slave patrols. When slaves would run away, militias were raised out of the general population to look for them. This was effectively another form of forced labor, though militia service did come with pay. In the case of North Carolina, militiamen made 46.5 cents per day of service in 1826.
In Missouri, the militias served another purpose – that of public order. Tensions between the Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) and the rest of the community around the State of Missouri ran high. So much so that there were anti-Mormon vigilante squads roaming the country, looking for Mormons to target. In 1838, General David R. Atchison ordered the state militia to “prevent, if possible, any invasion of Ray County by persons in arms whatever.” This led to the disarming and expulsion of Mormons in Northwestern Missouri. In response, the Caldwell County militia (a Mormon-heavy area) rescued Mormons expelled from these areas.
The two state militias came into conflict with one another in what is known as the Battle of Crooked River. As funny as it might sound to us today, the State of Missouri took several precautions and preparations for a Mormon invasion of the state. This and other tensions led to the battle, which prompted an Executive Order expelling all Mormons from the State of Missouri. The Mormon community of the state then relocated to Illinois, before ultimately settling in Utah.
For their part, the Mormons organized their own militia, which fought against the United States government in the little-known Utah War. The matter was eventually defused by negotiations, but not until 150 people died. This might not sound like a lot, but the Utah War lasted one year and the number of deaths was equal to the full seven years of “Bleeding Kansas” – which was likewise patrolled by militias in a sometimes fruitful attempt to keep the peace between pro-slavery and pro-free state forces.
Another famous battle in the years leading up to the Civil War is John Brown’s uprising and attack on Harpers Ferry. Every village and town in a 30-mile radius around Harpers Ferry had their militia activated. For his part, Brown did not think much of the capabilities of the state militias of Virginia and Maryland (nor, for that matter, of the Regular Army forces that might be dispatched against him). This factored into his planning of the uprising that ultimately resulted in nearly 20 deaths and precisely zero freed slaves. The final capture of John Brown was executed by a detachment of 88 United States Marines, however, the local militias played a key role in pinning down his forces.
The War Between the States found each side ill prepared for the challenges that it faced. 75,000 militiamen were called up by President Abraham Lincoln to retake Fort Sumter. Lincoln considered the strength available to him far below what he actually needed. The problems with the militia system were not limited to the rank and file. The officers had no idea how to command a unit of this size, having never done so before.
The Western states and territories largely used militias as a form of common defense and security. It’s worth noting that in the Western states, Americans had to deal with much larger Indian populations who were also much more hostile, particularly in the Plains. Later on, during the Civil War, many of these militias were organized into groups of Regular Army volunteers. However, in territories like Colorado and other free states, militias were organized not only to repulse invasions from Confederate forces, but also to prevent an uprising from pro-Confederate forces that might exist in the state.
Some of the state militias had their moments of glory during the War Between the States. The Colorado Volunteers, for example, turned back a Confederate invasion of the New Mexico Territory. They later achieved further notoriety (and some infamy) for the Colorado War against the Plains Indians, which included the Sand Creek Massacre. The California Column were responsible for expelling the Confederate Army from the Southern regions or Arizona and New Mexico, as well as West Texas. They also kept the Mormon population of Utah under observation, as it was widely feared that the Mormons would use the opportunity of the Civil War to rebel and start their own independent nation.
The Union was not the only side with militias during the Civil War. Perhaps the most famous of the Confederate militias were Quantrill’s Raiders. William Quantrill (referenced in the film True Grit as “Captain Quantrill”) led the group, which included Jesse James and Frank James, later of James Gang fame. The organization had its roots in the pre-Civil War fighting of “Bleeding Kansas.”
The reference to “Captain” Quantrill during the True Grit film are not without historical basis. Quantrill was given a field commission by the Confederate Army for his work as a guerilla fighter. This backfired when the Quantrill gang engaged in the Lawrence Massacre. Lawrence was the center of an abolitionist and Unionist organization. As such, it was a common target for Quantrill’s men, who numbered about 400. Frustrated by the constant raids, the Union authorities began imprisoning the wives of Quantrill’s men with an eye toward deporting them from the area.
This is what led to the Lawrence Massacre. Quantrill’s men burned down a quarter of the buildings in the town in a coordinated attack. At least 150 men and boys were killed in the attack. One of the main targets of the Massacre, Senator Jim Lane, escaped by fleeting into nearby corn fields. The Confederate leadership could not abide such an attack and withdrew any support they had given to Quantrill and his men.
Quantrill’s Raiders fled into Texan territory, massacring 100 Union soldiers at Baxter Springs along the way. He still enjoyed some support among the officer corps of the Confederate military, such as from General Joseph O. Shelby, “The Undefeated” who withdrew his troops into Mexico rather than surrender to the Union Army. In 1864, one of the Raiders was killed in a gunfight with a Texas Posse and lynched a sheriff in retaliation.
The Raiders began returning home in 1864, none of them led by Quantrill. Curiously, one of Quantrill’s men was a freeman, John Noland, who was described by other Raiders as “a man among men.”
Quantrill’s Raiders were a product of the Partisan Ranger Act. This is one of the most important pieces of legislation in the Confederacy. In effect, the law meant that partisan guerillas would have the same pay and command structure as the Confederate Army, but be able to act with broad leeway that was not afforded to the Regular Army. The law was repealed in 1864 under pressure from, among other officers, Robert E. Lee. While the strategy was largely effective, Lee and others were concerned about the effect of having many armed men without much central control.
Two militias were allowed to continue after the repeal of the Act: McNeil’s Rangers and Mosby’s Raiders. These groups of guerilla fighters were distinguished by their discipline and adherence to the accepted rules of warfare.
The history of militias in the United States continues after the Civil War in American Militias after the Civil War: From Black Codes to the Black Panthers and Beyond, when it becomes a whole other ballgame.
Today, Americans face dangerous times ahead in terms of ever-bolder leftist movements. Yet most Americans remain adamantly comfortable in denying the existential threat we face
In the end, it will have been that darned, slippery, “normalcy bias” that does all us conservatives in, not the Democrat-socialists, not Antifa, not the bought-and-paid-for politicians and judges. Not even the gulags, guillotines, hangmen, or hired guns manning firing squads will be the biggest factors that ultimately kill us and our way of life.
For the last 20 years, our sense of what passes for being normal in our culture has rapidly been pushed further and further to the extreme left by educators, the media, and liberal thought leaders.
They push and we have failed to hold the line. We know it’s happening and we squawk a bit, but the changes keep coming and we choose to simply keep retreating.
Why? Well, for one, we’re nice people. But more to the point–we value too much the comfort we live in … the personal choices we have as Americans in how we entertain ourselves, what kind of food and how much we eat, and the fashionable social groups we can align ourselves with in the name of being responsible, enlightened modern citizens of the world. In this regard, it is not helpful that conservatives take pride in being reasonable, law-abiding citizens who behave like good worker bees for the good of the hive.
In psychology, there is a concept known as normalcy bias, which explains why most people underestimate the threat associated with natural disasters like hurricanes and floods, and why people are plagued by inaction during a crisis.
Recognizing that what has been happening in the United States over the last several years is an accelerating revolutionary march toward demolishing the Constitution, we must admit that what looms directly in front of us is nothing short of a man-made disaster. That conservatives have failed to put a stop to it yet is the reason the whole thing has gotten as far as it has. The ONLY excuse we have, as lame as it is, is the tendency many of us have to allow ourselves to be manipulated and controlled by the “normalcy bias” phenomenon.
Today, Americans face dangerous times ahead in terms of ever-bolder leftist movements. Yet most Americans remain adamantly comfortable in denying the existential threat we face, in spite of hard-left threats on camera and in writing about how “low-life, racist, redneck” conservatives will be made to endure re-education gulags, if they are lucky. These are not idle threats and liberal politicians are not denouncing even the most alarming threats being made to our liberties and our personal safety.
As normalcy bias prevents us from acting to protect ourselves, it is important to know how to overcome it. Being well-informed is the first step towards your goal. If you have no idea as to what you should do in the event of, say an earthquake, you are more likely to suffer from analysis paralysis, which, in turn, will delay your actions and make you vulnerable. Also, you shouldn’t take things lightly.
Many of us were raised to respect authority. If “authority” governed against us, (and it has for 40+ years or more), it was still authority and required obedience.
When ‘Superstars’ are heralded for having an Abortion so they could win a shiny Trophy, when every TV show and movie denigrates Men and lifts up homosexuality and pedophilia, when every show makes Christians look like crazy people and the Cops are turned into the Bad Guys. List goes on.
Authority used to be broadly recognized as WORTHY of respect and even obedience.
Not so much any more ….
Too many people are neglecting the common round of daily tasks, and idlers are imposing on Christian generosity.
For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
Too many people are neglecting the common round of daily tasks, and idlers are imposing on Christian generosity. We are taught to be generous to those who are in lesser circumstances than we are but this “Christian charity” has been turned upside down by those who would live off the fruits of the labor of others.
It is to be remembered that in Genesis 3:19 we are admonished; “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”
Meet the authors festival – Kimberling City, Missouri
For those in the south-central Missouri Ozarks area around Kimberling City Missouri:
8th annual Meet the Authors event
Kimberling area library
Saturday, February 1, 2020
9:30 AM – 2:00 PM
Free admission
If you’re in the area, stop by and say howdy.
Elderberry tincture has long been known as the ‘poor man’s medicine chest’ for its usefulness, but especially its efficacy in treating cold and flu symptoms.
We are now into our “normal” flu season and along with the drum banging on the Chinese corona virus many of the “health professionals” are suggesting that everybody over the age of six years should receive this year’s flu vaccine.
Many will take this advice and then come down with some kind of illness. The reasoning behind this is simple. The vaccine stimulates your body’s immune response which temporarily actually reduces your system’s ability to fight off other viral agents, (technically, it is called a cytokine storm).
Understand that I am not a medical professional and the following is not in any way to be construed as medical advice.
For many years our forebears practiced “folk medicine” based on plants and herbs. My maternal grandmother was one such person. One of her “home remedies” was based on the berries of the elderberry shrub which she would harvest in the early autumn and dry for the purpose of making an elixir to ward off the influenza.
Elderberry tincture has long been known as the ‘poor man’s medicine chest’ for its usefulness, but especially its efficacy in treating cold and flu symptoms. Long used throughout Europe and the Americas, elderberry has a long and respected history as an herbal remedy. Both Pliny the Elder and Hippocrates mentioned and recommended elderberry as a medicinal herb in their writings.
Elderberry Vodka Tincture
Dried elderberries enough to fill quart-sized jar 1/3 full or fresh berries to fill jar -100 proof vodka, (DO NOT use a lower proof or other liquor. You will NOT get the results you are looking for.)
Directions: Fill quart-sized jar 1/3 full with dried elderberries (or completely full for fresh). ). Fill jar with 100 proof vodka. Place the lid on the jar, label with date, and keep in a cool, dark place. Shake the jar at least twice a day for 10-12 days, (leaving it longer does NOT make it stronger). Strain the mixture using a cheesecloth. Be sure to squeeze all of the liquid out of the berries. Store in an airtight container on the pantry shelf for up to 2 years.
Use: Take within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms. For adults and older children: Administer 1-2 tablespoons daily for prevention and up to 4 times daily at the first show of cold/flu symptoms. May be administered in a cup of hot warm, sweetened to taste.
WARNING: This stuff tastes awful… almost like a cross between varnish and shellac… but it WILL kill the flu virus.
Anyone who’s been paying attention could have predicted the rise of the coronavirus and know what the outcome will be. Mass hysteria and collective fear will be used to further erode individual liberties and stoke allegiance to the medical industrial complex.
Another Look: 5 things to consider about the corona virus
story is getting massive hype: why
Media makes top dollar on your fear
Government Always seeks more control from Virus Fear: Bingo
Important Issues being put on back page: Bingo
The Institutions that Benefit are incompetent and dangerous
Bill Gates also just held a World Economic Forum based on an outbreak:
I do find the timing of this outbreak interesting. Just as Trump is putting on his defense and information on the Bidens, Ukraine, Obama, Flynn are close to being disclosed then “this” happens. Look back and see how many times we warned of false flags. We have already dodged a lot of bullets. Iran, 2nd amend attacks. Nothing they have tried has caused the civil unrest they want.
This outbreak also took place just before the celebration of the Chinese New Year when millions travel to cities all over the world to visit relatives. This has and is happening inspite of lock downs. There are 6 confirmed cases in the US; one in each of these cities; Washington state, Texas and Chicago, Az and CA.
Each confirmed case in the U.S. has been from patients who had recently traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the new virus.
“Anyone who’s been paying attention could have predicted the rise of the coronavirus and know what the outcome will be. Mass hysteria and collective fear will be used to further erode individual liberties and stoke allegiance to the medical industrial complex. By simply being aware, however, that fearing all the news is illogical, while continuing to focus on your health and wellness, you automatically subvert this attempt at mass control.”
Hype
Vaccine experimentation
More public control
More public demand for vaccination
Keep other stories out of public eye
profit off your fear, fear is good for business
Geez starting to look like you would be stupid not to do this. And considering other things China does to its population then….
Here is a quick history of his helicopter: Originally he owned it. But maintenance made it more practical for him to sell it to a company that had a maintenance crew, and lease it back. It remained HIS HELICOPTER. Years ago it had a black and white paint scheme.
The Nike color scheme was put on Kobe Bryant’s helicopter in 2015, and has been there ever since.
This is the media picture of what crashed…
The crashed helicopter being shown in the mainstream media does not match anything he ever had OR LEASED.
Here is a quick history of his helicopter: Originally he owned it. But maintenance made it more practical for him to sell it to a company that had a maintenance crew, and lease it back. It remained HIS HELICOPTER. Years ago it had a black and white paint scheme.
The crashed chopper in the picture shows an Illinois state government helicopter and the double blue paint scheme was from Illinois. Even if the “wrap melted off”, the fact remains that the paint under that wrap was black and white.
Mainstream media was reporting Bryant’s death almost immediately after the crash… before search and rescue teams had time to work. The deaths of nine persons is most surely a tragedy but something about this is strange… very strange.
