When Ted Olsen teamed up with his former adversary, David Boies, to file a federal lawsuit on behalf of two plaintiffs against Proposition 8 in California, one would have thought that the apocalypse was indeed nigh. Olsen and Boies were on opposite sides in 2000 when they were arguing before the Supreme Court about that little election issue in Florida… I think it was important, but I don’t recall. Anyway, the fact is, they teamed up and brought a lawsuit against the State of California. At the time it was filed, there was reticence and mistrust from the LGBT community. There was a real concern that if Olsen and Boies lost it would be disastrous precedent for future lawsuits to overcome. Lambda Legal was one group who was worried that the timing wasn’t right, and that a loss would be incredibly damaging. Some conspiratorial voices buzzed that Olsen was going to intentionally throw the case. But, no such thing happened, and they actually won, for now. There’s a good chance that this ends in California, though, because California may not pursue the appeal. Governor Schwarzenegger and Attorney General Jerry Brown have declined to pursue it any further, and as they were the defendants named, nobody else would have legal standing to defend Prop 8 before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If this happens and the 9th Circuit declares that there’s no standing, the case does not advance. That would be the best scenario for social conservatives, a containment of their loss, because a Circuit-wide defeat of Prop 8 would in effect wipe out any state law or state constitutional amendment that restricts marriages to one man and one woman. Other states would most certainly appeal that to the U.S. Supreme Court and it’s really a toss up at that point, because Judge Vaughn Walker- ahem- a Reagan conservative appointee- wrote a solid ruling that was based in constitutional law and analysis, and not the emotional, irrational whining of the Prop 8 defenders who almost seemed to be throwing their own case intentionally. But, this is not about the ruling in Perry v Schwarzenegger. There is a movement afoot that I have been sensing since this case was first filed.
Conservatives are turning the page on gay issues.
At first it was subtle. Just a little rustling in the wind. In 2004, Vice President Dick Cheney broke ranks with President Bush and declined to support a federal Constitutional amendment that would have forced a nationwide definition of marriage on all 50 states. Not for nothing, but many prominent Republicans at the time also recoiled at the idea of etching such a thing into our founding document. Many who did faced enormous criticism from liberals and conservatives alike. The next wave crested when the State of Massachusetts could not get the required votes to place a ballot initiative that would repeal marriage equality. The State of Iowa became the first state West of the Mississippi to enact same-sex marriage when their state supreme court overruled the ban on same-sex marriage and it’s held for several years now. So, when did conservatives see the writing on the wall and decide that the time was right to make a move? I would say it all began with the campaign and election of Barack Obama.
Barack Obama has, in the past, expressed his support for marriage equality back when he was doing community work in Chicago. Yet, when he ran for the U.S. Senate against the carpetbagger Alan Keyes, he dialed back his support to the fence-sitting position of ‘civil unions’. It was easy to look like the beacon of reason next to the virulently homophobic Alan Keyes, who called Mary Cheney a selfish hedonist and even kicked his own daughter out of the house for being a lesbian. Everyone knew that Obama was being groomed for a run at the presidency even while he was being sworn into the Senate, and on the national stage, the more vague you are, the more people you reach. He tried several times to reach out to socially conservative, religious Black people, first through using ex-gay singer Donnie McClurkin on his campaign tour, and then by inviting Rick Warren, pastor of the Saddleback Church, to give the invocation at Obama’s inauguration. Warren has had his own litany of anti-gay screeds and arguably, the blood of many Africans on his hands thanks to his help in getting condom distribution stopped in countries ravaged by HIV/AIDS. Gay people were frankly livid at Warren got such a prestigious invite. Incidentally, many social conservatives were also livid that Warren accepted. Obama then failed to say anything about Propostion 8. He did not object to his words being used out of context in pro-Prop-8 ads. He did not say much a year later when a voter’s referendum was used to repeal the legislatively enacted same-sex marriage law in Maine, one that was heavily financed by out of state interests, similar to how Prop 8 was pushed. Obama’s justice department filed briefs in two cases, one defending the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act from a Massachusetts lawsuit, and another defending the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy by people who were suing to keep their careers in the United States Military. Both briefs were filled with insulting and demeaning characterizations of gay people. It was becoming clear that Barack Obama was no “fierce advocate” for the LGBT community. By the time Ted Olsen and David Boies filed the lawsuit, a plan was in place.
I have to admit, it’s a good plan.
First, you quietly drop the opposition to same-sex marriage and gays serving in the Armed Forces. Even if you oppose it, just let it go, because eventually these battles will be lost. The second is to have some conservatives actually outflank the President on these issues. Not conservatives who actually have any power, mind you, but a few big names that might open some eyes, like Dick Cheney and Laura Bush. It makes Obama look weak if he can’t even throw a bone to members of his base. Ken Mehlman comes out. GOProud puts on a conservative gay convention and has Ann Coulter speaking, not to mention such sponsors as Tammy Bruce, Grover Norquist, Margaret Hoover, John Hawkins, Lisa DePasquale, Bruce Carroll & John Ciccone, Christopher Barron & Shawn Gardner, Jimmy LaSalvia, Craig Engle, Christopher Taylor & Anthony Cirone, Roy Eappen, and Jessica Lee. Glenn Beck even takes a few steps back and telling Bill O’Reilly that there’s bigger fish to fry than gay marriage. The plan is, I believe, in two years, to split the gay vote from two fronts- the first is dropping opposition to or even expressing support for marriage equality, and the second is to use Islamophobia to convince us that compared to Muslims, Christians are downright docile. Lastly, they get to one-up a president who has had a lot of trouble putting his words of support into any tangible action that benefits gays & lesbians. If the Republicans manage to deliver marriage equality while Obama waffles on it, it’s going to go a very long way in getting new GOP support in 2012.
Some have said that the social conservatives in the GOP won’t stand for it, but I believe that they will endure it, because the thought of four more years of Obama enacting what they believe to be a socialist, communist, non-citizen, Muslim (okay, look, birthers and other people who try and paint Obama as something completely foreign- he’s black. Deal with it, okay? Get over yourselves.) agenda is more frightening to them than two dudes and two chicks getting married. So the GOP will downplay their social cons and their theocratic cons, and use the Tea Party movement to recruit gays by one-upping the president and the do-nothing Democrats in Congress. Even though their motives are purely political and have nothing to do with, oh, doing the right thing for LGBT people, they get to wrap themselves in the mantle of acceptance and equality while they evangelize a new batch of gays & lesbians into Republicanism.
I’ve been there. I’m a recovering Republican. I’ve seen what this kind of governance has done for this country and I can’t say I like what I see, and that has nothing to do with marriage equality or LGBT issues. It has more to do with giving away so much power to megalithic, unaccountable corporations who have undermined capitalism and representative democracy, which as a result, is systematically destroying a once prosperous American middle class, and in this endeavor, Democrats are also complicit. They have just as much blood on their hands as Republicans. I am all for diversity of thought and public opinion in the political sphere, I am not one who thinks that all gays should vote Democrat, but I do ask that you think about this sudden shift in opinion and ask yourself why they want your vote so badly that they’re willing to throw 30 years of pandering to Christo-fascists and Moral Majority types under the bus to get it. Perhaps they see that younger generations aren’t quite as hip to the disturbing anti-gay messages of the late Jerry Falwell or the severely aged Pat Robertson. Perhaps they see Islam as a far greater threat to the West than homosexuality. No doubt we have to keep a watchful eye on crazy radical Muslims, but the degree of fearmongering going on lately is a bit much. Whatever the reason is, remember, they’re not doing it because they genuinely believe in marriage equality. They want something from us. They need something from us. Our problem is that we’ve forgotten how to be demanding. We’re a cheap date, anyone knows by watching how we fawn over Democrats who make us promises they have no intention of keeping. So let’s stop being such pushovers and start dealing, and make them come to us hat in hand. Democrats too, it’s time that we hold them responsible for broken promises, stalling, and inaction as well. Screw it, while we’re at it, ANYONE who feels that they’re simply being pandered to, stop being so easy and start holding the feet of your elected officials and candidates to the fire. Let’s hold them all accountable for selling out the American Dream while using volatile but meaningless social issues to distract us from how badly we’re being shafted.
President G.W. Bush and fmr. RNC chair Ken Mehlman.
Earlier this week, former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman came out of the closet, confirming rumors and reports about his sexual orientation that have been around since 2003. Mehlman was also the campaign manager for President George W. Bush during his 2004 re-election campaign. Mehlman was the strategist who came up with the idea to put marriage rights to the ballot box in 11 states in 2004 and several more in 2006 in order to get social conservatives to come out and vote, using homophobia as a way to keep Republicans in power. He’s not the first closet homo to betray his own, but he is by far the most powerful in recent years to do so.
Mehlman now claims to support marriage equality and has expressed a desire to help achieve that end. Putting aside my outrage at this guy for a moment, let’s look at this practically. I don’t know if the damage he did can be undone. He’s created a climate in which over half the states now have some sort of state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, with some states like Texas going so far as to outlaw civil unions, domestic partnerships, or any private legal agreement that confers upon same-sex couples any semblance of marriage rights. Legislators cannot override these amendments. The courts are hesitant to, except in California, and that was only because same-sex marriage was actually legal for a short period of time before Proposition 8 went into effect. As that case waits to be heard by the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals, efforts to defend marriage equality in the states that have it, and to at least stop further amendments in states that have yet to pass them, continue on. Though the anti-marriage equality movement is waning and groups like the National Organization for Marriage look more and more silly each day, there are still some powerful people out there who still are unwilling to support full marriage equality for gay & lesbian couples.
Like President Barack Obama.
It is sad that Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, and Ken Mehlman have all come out in support of same-sex marriage. That Ann Coulter is being ostracized by World Net Daily for speaking at a gay Republican (GOProud) convention. That Glenn Beck said on The O’Reilly Factor that we have “bigger fish to fry” than same-sex marriage. It’s stunning to me that Barack Obama would waste a political opportunity to be ahead of the curve, and it looks to me like conservatives are making a bold move to capture the gay vote. Obama, on the other hand, who promised to be a “fierce advocate” for the LGBT community, has been one great big letdown. In 2009, his justice department filed a brief (known as the DOMA brief) in federal court, defending a lawsuit against part of the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, in which it compared same-sex marriages to incestuous couplings. Gay people were noticeably pissed. In response, Obama promised to sign into law a bill that would provide domestic partnership benefits for federal employees. We’re still waiting on that one. Granted, he did sign the Matthew Shepard Act into law, which added sexual orientation, gender identity, and disability to the federal hate crimes statute, but this was hardly an act of courage. The law was attached to a defense authorization measure. Two years prior it passed the House and Senate as a stand-alone bill that was vetoed by President Bush. With a greater Democrat majority in both houses, he couldn’t get this done by itself? And then there is Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Oh boy, is the Obama administration blowing it on this one. The wind is at his back on the repeal of this terrible law, and yet, he continues to pander to the dwindling number of people on the right who support this ban on gay & lesbian servicepeople for no rational reason. His “study” is a joke, the survey being conducted is loaded with homophobic questions, gay soldiers are not guaranteed secrecy if they take the survey, and people can take the survey as many times as they want. Can you say “skewed” and “unscientific”? I don’t remember Harry Truman conducting a survey before he ordered the military to be racially integrated. Soldiers follow orders. This should be a no-brainer. As Rachel Maddow mentioned, spending a little political capital goes a long way in winning respect, not just from your base and the people who voted you in, but from yourself.
I don’t even want to get into Obama hiring an “ex-gay” gospel singer for his campaign tour, or all his other borderline homophobic crap he’s dabbled with the whole time he was courting the gay vote. Ken Mehlman was a high-ranking Republican who was closeted and did do a lot of damage to the cause of equality, but he would have done the same if he were straight. We opposed Mehlman and the agenda he put forth back then. I am far more concerned with elected officials who claim to be ‘fierce advocates’ for me who then refuse to do jack shit when it comes to repealing terrible laws that keep us second-class citizens. Ken Mehlman betrayed himself. Barack Obama has been betraying us since before he got elected.
Oath Keeper Sheriff Richard Mack – interview for the movie “Guns and Weed: The Road to Freedom.” Filmed at Wyoming Liberty Fest in Lander, August 21, 2010.
Sheriff Mack, Richard Mack, Oath Keepers, Oathkeepers, Graham County, Arizona, Libertarian, 10th amendment, constitutionalist, gun rights, Wyoming liberty fest, Sheppard Humphries, Neema Vedadi, Michael w. dean, nullification, guns, weed, legalize marijuana, liberty, Ron Paul, freedom, states’ rights, US Constitution, saving America, Bill of Rights, Richard Mack vs SPLC, Southern Poverty Law Center, tyranny, gun control, gun grabbers, Brady campaign, war on drugs, obamacare, war on guns
I think a lot of libertarians and Republicans tend to not want to “rock the boat.” For instance, I have a Goldwater Republican friend who lives in Phoenix and he hates illegal immigration, is directly affected by it in a negative way, but doesn’t like what the governor’s doing there, because it “causes unrest” and “goes too far.”
Whereas liberal progressives LOVE to yell and demand their “rights.” It’s a problem…..libertarians just basically want to “be left alone”, that’s almost the common DEFINITION of libertarianism. And the definition of progressivism is that they LOVE to screech, tell people what to do and “push the envelope.”
Libertarians should all own and carry guns. Carry a handgun and own a rifle. It reinforces the idea of self-defense, in everything. Guns are not only a physical tool, they are a psychological tool. Carrying one reminds you that libertarianism isn’t just “leave me alone”, it’s “if you push me too far I’ll push back.”
Some may think that “rocks the boat” or “goes to far”, but I’m a peace-lovin’ man and it makes a lot of sense to me.
ZAP: Do not initiate aggression.
ZAP 2.0: Do not initiate, OR ACCEPT, aggression.
Pretty girl in pearls with a shotgun shoots at encroachment:
J-Tizzle rocks the Remington 870 while dismissing encroachment. What’s not to love?
This is an excerpt from upcoming movie “GUNS AND WEED: THE ROAD TO FREEDOM”
Republican Liberty Caucus endorsee, Ron Micheli says that “Sheriffs are the ultimate authority.”
I dig it. Commonly considered a fringe belief, it’s actually codified into the Posse Comitatus Act:
Posse Comitatus (Latin): Power of the county. The whole force of the county: that is, all the male members of a county over fifteen, who may be summoned by a sheriff to assist in preventing a riot, the rescue of prisoners, or other unlawful disorders. Clergymen, peers, and the infirm are exempt.
CHEYENNE — Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Micheli’s support for a movement to recognize local sheriffs as the ultimate law enforcement authority has drawn fire from his opponents and runs counter to an emphatic warning from a federal judge in Casper.
Micheli insists the higher power of elected sheriffs is an extension of states’ rights spelled out in the U.S. Constitution. In a recent interview, he said that if elected, he would appoint a state attorney general who agrees with him.
“I will appoint an attorney general who understands the 10th Amendment, and who understands states’ rights, and we will do everything possible to enforce them,” Micheli said.
The 10th Amendment to the Constitution specifies that all powers not expressly delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or the people.
“A federal authority, if he comes into a local jurisdiction, should be in communication, and should be working with the local sheriff before an arrest is made,” Micheli said. “The fact (is) that the sheriff is the authority in that jurisdiction.”…
….An Associated Press report earlier this year found that the push to declare sheriffs as the highest law enforcement agent in the land is gaining traction nationwide. Many federal officials say the effort is misguided…..
Micheli has been endorsed by Richard Mack, a former sheriff in Graham County, Ariz., who is active in the loosely organized movement called the Oath Keepers. The group enlists law enforcement and military personnel to pledge that they would refuse 10 unconstitutional orders, including any commands to confiscate guns or to perform warrantless searches…..
Sounds like a good way to push back against federal encroachment.
During the seven fat years, Pharaoh taxed the people at the rate of twenty percent to fill his storehouses with grain. Then, during the seven years of famines, he did not simply return the people’s grain to them, but instead used the grain to reduce the people to bondage. Today, we call this Social Security. The purpose of Social Security should be to secure financial independence and even wealth for all those who work regularly, not to convert those who work into government dependents upon their retirement. — Dr. Clifford F. Thies, Eldon R. Lindsay Chair of Free Enterprise
Professor of Economics and Finance, Shenandoah University
by Eric Dondero
Our conservative Republican friends may be a bit too timid to admit to it, but we libertarian Republicans will say straight out, loudly and boldly, that Yes, we Do Want to Fully Privatize Social Security!
From The Hill, “Dems plan to attack GOP on Social Security,” Aug. 9:
House Democrats are planning more than 100 events around this week’s anniversary of Social Security to attack Republicans who want to reform the popular entitlement.
Democrats and interest groups on the left have scheduled “birthday parties†and other events to highlight Saturday’s 75th anniversary of the program signed into law by President Franklin Roosevelt.
A Democratic leadership aide said Republicans are “highly vulnerable†on both Social Security and Medicare.
“This is a party that said they want Medicare to wither on the vine and want to privatize Social Security,†the aide said.
Burn your Social Security Card!
Curiously, in the entire piece there’s no mention whatsoever of the Libertarian Party which advocates in their platform complete privatization.
From LP.org:
Libertarians believe you should be able to opt out of Social Security and invest your money in your own personal retirement account. An account that you own and control – one that politicians can’t get their hands on.
Republicans and Democrats say it can’t be done – that your Social Security taxes are needed to pay benefits to today’s retirees. Instead of letting you invest in your own future, they want you to have faith that someone else will pay your benefits when it comes time for you to retire.
Although most won’t admit it publicly, their “solutions” to the Social Security crises all come down to some combination of tax increases and benefit cuts.
Libertarians know that there’s a better way.
Countries like Chile, Mexico, Britain, and Australia have successfully made the transition from their failed Social Security systems to healthy systems based on individual retirement accounts.
The Libertarian Party even went so far as to sponsor nationwide rallies in the 1980s to burn Social Security cards, and urge its members to drop out of the S.S. system. Republicans gain Libertarian voters with boldness; not bland pastels
So here we have the Libertarian Party criticizing Republicans for not backing real Social Security privatization.
And if you think the LP is “fringe,” consider for a moment their candidate for US Senate in North Carolina is currently polling between 8 to 10%.
But of course, the Dems can’t attack the Libertarian Party. They have to portray the Republican Party as the “extremist Privatizers.”
The Republican Party needs to not only appeal to moderate Centrists, but the libertarian swing voter, as well. Libertarians are not pacified by namby pamby proposals of soft reform, or tinkering around the edges.
A bold Republican stance for full privatization of Social Security and other failed government programs will undoubtably attract that hardcore libertarian vote. Without such boldness, the Republican candidate is likely to loose 3, 4 or 5% or maybe even like North Carolina with a strong articulate Libertarian candidate on the ballot, as much as 8 to 10% of the vote on their libertarian flank.
The job of us libertarian Republicans is to help the GOP appeal to that flank.
So, go ahead Democrats. Keep playing up the “Republicans want to Privatize Social Security” line. You only make our job much more easier. Dr. Thies is a longtime Republican, former National Chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus, and currently Senior Editor of Libertarian Republican. Eric Dondero is a former Senior Aide to US Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX), 1997-2003.
We’re making this film because we’re amazed by how many people who love guns also support the War on Drugs, and how many people who love drugs support the War on Guns. They need to know the two wars fuel each other. And most pro-pot people are also into progressive socialism. It doesn’t make sense. If you’re into one freedom, you really should be into ALL freedoms.
For instance, Woody Harrelson is a well-known pot advocate. I agree with Harrelson on the pot issue. But he’s an inveterate Obama licking socialist progressive.
Salon.com: At least at this point, it appears that Obama is pushing onward with the war in Afghanistan. Is he just constrained by geopolitics? Is he simply not free to say, “Look, we’re not going to do this anymore”?
Harrelson: I think there’s a lot of persuasive and powerful people around Obama. For a president to make his own decisions, I think that’s a rarity. Even someone who we think of as our guy — this is a guy with integrity, a guy who cares, for the first time in a long time — in the Oval Office, even with him we don’t really know who’s pulling the strings. I think of every president as being a marionette. Whether he’s any different, I don’t know. Certainly his military advisers all want him to prosecute this war to the end, just as they did in Vietnam with LBJ.
It’s just too depressing, I think we’re going to have to hit the streets. Obama has the chance of becoming JFK or LBJ. I think JFK was one of our last great presidents, although I thought Carter was pretty great too…..
Which just goes to prove my thesis….the Republicans better quit trying to legislate against what people smoke and who they bed, or we’re going to have a permanent majority of people who want to rob from the disarmed producers to support the insolent and indolent parasites.
Not that repubs don’t do that, but lately the dems have been taking it to vast new levels. And while dems don’t care what kind of freaky mammal sex you have, they certainly want to control or eliminate every tiny little other nuance in the world. Coal, oil, commerce, guns, hunting, water, health care, salt, or body fat index and ironically, weed.
Why should the government protect us from ourselves?
If you think they should, then no one should have guns, right? (Except of course, the government, because the government is an all-knowing and perfect loving-yet-stern parent to guide us in our every decision!)
Another issue: PROHIBITION DOES NOT WORK. The War on Drugs has been unwinnable since the 1930s. It only fuels government waste, bolsters government intrusion, and puts good people in prison. It also fuels the War on Guns. Look how Holder tried to reinstate the Assault Weapon Ban to help the War on Drugs.
Prohibition doesn’t make people quit smoking pot anymore than a total gun ban would make a patriot hang his head in shame and voluntarily hand in all his hardware to the federal smelter.
“A User’s Manual For The Human Experience” by Michael W. Dean is a book I most likely would have never read if I had not previously read, reviewed, and enjoyed Dean’s “$30 Writing School.” I’m glad I found “$30 Writing School” on the shelf of a book store and enjoyed it, because that led me to this “User’s Manual For The Human Experience.” It is a self-help book, but one like no others I have read. I found it to be unique, interesting, informative, and most of all enjoyable.
Dean definitely has a style of his own. It’s a mixture of reflection, self-assuredness, a zest for life, libertarianism, his own brand of humor, all combined with a love for his wife and cats. In this very revealing book, Dean shares some of his triumphs along with some personal tragedies in order to present a message that will help the reader live a more productive and positive life. He calls his personal philosophy of living “Life Amplification,” or “LifeAmp” for short, and describes this as learning to be comfortable in your own skin, and making a living doing what you love….
My friend Neema directed this piece (which features me) about the Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act, for the news. This showed in Casper, Cheyenne, Riverton, Lander and throughout most of Wyoming. Yay! It’s also got Anthony Bouchard, from the Wyoming Gun Owners Association.
Neema and I are working on a film together. It’s about liberty.
Here’s part two, Wyoming governor candidates talking about guns:
Shootin’ at Cap and Trade with a Smith & Wesson Model 500! He’s got my vote!
Gerald Gay, Republican. He’s a former Wyoming state Representative, tea party guy, running again this fall in HOUSE DISTRICT 36 (My district, Casper). He’s a member of the NRA and the JPFO, and I like his stances on things. Check out his answers to the RLC liberty survey, here: http://www.rlcwy.org/RLC-CandidateQuestionnaireV1.2-WYgay1.htm
His website is here: http://votegeraldgay.com
Vote for him in the primary on August 17, 2010! I certainly will!
This is my friend Neema Vedadi’s song “I Own Me.” It kicks ass.
He’s my buddy, we hang out a lot and go shooting and are making music together and are working on a film together. (He’s a TV Newscaster on the Wyoming ABC affiliate, K2 News.)
Its gettin thicker than dreadlocks/
they treat us like we’re dread scott/
don’t wanna see the feds pop/
or be the one that they’d stopped/
or get in trouble cause I talked shit to their mascot/
frickin’ busybodies need to go and buy an ascot/
tellin’ me you own me then makin sho’ i’m taxed out/
maxed out, deep in-debted from the easy credit/
that the fed imbedded then they betted it all be copacetic/
if they were the medic but forget it/
the people are gettin’ pissed/
blowin up like some unleaded/
they want control unfettered/
but ya’ll know that smells fetid/
like the craphole that we’re headed/
to if they don’t let me do me/
and you do you/
and all the guns in the gunverment /
won’t amount to a twenty-two /
if they keep on stompin’ on amendment number two/
and we don’t even need you/
take your welfare and your brainwashing free-school/
and ya’ll are so see through; easy to see you is evil/
chorus:
Nobody owns me/
ya’ll haters don’t/
I own me /
so back the fuck off/
(x 2)
I make my own rules/
take my own tools/
you ain’t in my shoes/
no you ain’t get to choose/
I ain’t pay you dues./
I pay ‘em for my self/
don’t expect shit from me/
and I ain’t need your help/
and in case you didn’t know/
this song is for the parasites/
the feeders that bleed us and treat us/
like they’re the hand and we’re the dice/
no utopian paradise to be had from any plan/
the world’s too complex for any man to comprehend/
all the supply and again all the demand/
when the few control the view/
their mistakes are multiplied /
the decisions should be ours/
like our bodies. Let’s take back our lives/
Only a slave if you submit/
and ya’ll know I got some fight!/
and this ain’t racist /
its for blacks, whites and asians/
middle eastern people, latinos/
and everyone who wants to be free, so/
we’ll even let it slide if you’re emo/
I never signed no social contract/
I’m about to have to repo/
myself, for my health/
and my wealth/
put your bills back on the shelf/
capitol hill can go to hell/
we should put them punks in jail/
we could live our lives ourselves…./
chorus
So who’s to say Barack Hussein/
knows what’s best for me?/
I knock the man and not the name/
cause in my family tree/
could be husseins so I take aim/
at tyranny times three/
branches that act just/
like geriatric babysitters/
poonannies./
but really you’ll get beat-up/
if you don’t follow their edicts/
there’s a law against living /
year its worse than shariah./
but where can I go if this/
whole world is socialist/
though we know that it failed for the soviets./
Its 1984 people please notice this./
Fuck a tax feeder time to overthrow them tics/
its in the declaration Jefferson wrote the shit/
So choose to be a free man /
governments we’re over it/
governments we’re over it!/
CHEYENNE — The Wyoming Department of Revenue has suspended sales tax collections from gun shows because of increasing animosity toward the state’s field tax agents.
Dan Noble, director of the department’s excise tax division, said Friday that an incident at a gun show triggered the decision.
He added, however, that resistance from gun show sponsors and participants has been a recurring problem statewide.
“I have 10 field reps throughout the state, and every one of them has experienced some animosity,” he said. “Folks are nervous anyway because there are guns there. I don’t want to put my people at risk.”….
…”We tend to have more trouble at gun shows than any place,”….He said the “climate” has changed and some of the gun show people are “fairly extreme.”…
Anthony Bouchard (executive director of the Wyoming Gun Owners’ Association) said that the position of his group is that the state shouldn’t charge sales tax on gun and ammunition sales because of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
Identifying himself as a “tea partier and damned proud of it,” Wise said Friday that people are angry at the federal government over health care reform and other actions.
…Noble informed members of the Legislature’s Joint Interim Revenue Committee Thursday of his decision because at some point legislation may be necessary, he said.
Note that no one pulled a gun, it’s just people who own guns getting up in the tax man’s grill.
I think the Founders would be proud. This is LITERALLY the intended and true reason for the Second Amendment.
Party like it's 1775!
And while we’re on the subject, check out this Daily Kos article, Why liberals should love the Second Amendment.
It’s written by a liberal and published in a progressive leftist rag. Despite all that, the article is brilliant. (*but the many idiotic comments will convince you that the writer is one of the few smart ones.)
Cale Case (Republican) – Wyoming state senator, co-sponsor of the Wyoming Firearms Freedom Act, Hotelier, libertarian, Republican Liberty Caucus member, sometimes called “The Ron Paul of Wyoming”, comes over to Michael W. Dean’s house and yacks freely about how a Constitutional Convention can save America. They also yack about Molon Labe, the economy, homeschooling, guns, cats, pot, porn, dueling, the wind tax, the role of government, Ron Micheli, Matt Mead, Rita Meyer, Gerald Gay, Free State Wyoming and Free State Project New Hampshire, how wonderful Wyoming is, and how to be hopeful, not fearful, in the coming years in America.
I own two parcels of land in Kenna, New Mexico (population 15). It’s in Roosevelt County, and it’s literally in the middle of nowhere. Here is a Google satellite view of the Kenna area. Here is the Wikipedia article on Kenna. Here is an article with the very interesting history on how I came to own the land.
The photos above and below are of the town, not of the land. I’ve never been to Kenna or seen the land. But I own it, and will probably never use it, and am tired of paying the eight dollars a year in property tax, and would love to sell it and buy more guns. (I gots me a hankering for some AK-47s, actually!)
The land is two parcels, each is 1/6 of an acre, which is enough to camp on. You can go there when the Schumer hits the fan! I’m selling both parcels as a unit for $750.
The land is property number 1 000 010 004 285 00 – lots 9 and 11 of block 81 in Kenna, New Mexico. It’s a matter of public record that I own them, and this can be confirmed by phone with the county clerk at the courthouse in Portales, NM.
Nearly a gigabyte of sonic Michael Dean loveliness….125 songs, high-quality MP3s, FREE. Every song ever recorded by Bomb, Baby Opaque, The Beef People, Right Arm of Wyoming, The Rolling Scabs, Slish, and a few other cool surprises.
I hate liberals so damn much!
But not for their freaky mammal sex
I don’t care what you wed or do or screw
and I don’t care if you shoot crack!
I hate liberals because they steal
My money and my rights
They mug me and they mug you
and think they’re doing right…..
I HATE LIBERALS SO DAMN MUCH (AND I HATE STATISTS TOO)…but I love cats!
Michael W. Dean and Debra Jean Dean have rainy day fun talking about the baffling case of South Carolina candidate Alvin Green, chili cookin’ on a rainy day with your baby, the concept and the book Future Shock, the growing divide between far left and far right, the concept and the book The Road to Serfdom, THE PUSSIFICATION OF THE WESTERN MALE, the cool site and book The Art of Manliness, why people who hate guns are really dangerous (and pussies), how all laws and taxes are enforced at the barrel of a gun, and more nifty stuff.
I’ve always kind of dismissed the “birthers”, I think Obama was born in Hawaii. (Though I STILL don’t think he’s my legitimate “leader” because I don’t believe in mob rule being legitimate.)
But there’s a newish and under-reported theory here, on this site, which I think deserves to be reprinted far and wide, that basically shows why EVEN IF OBAMA WAS BORN IN HAWAII, HE IS NOT LEGALLY LEGITIMATE TO BE OUR PRESIDENT.
WHAT IS CERTAIN
What is certain is 1 fact; it’s not speculation; it’s not a conspiracy theory; it’s not based on rumor or the allegations or speculations of his opponents or supporters. It’s a fact he proclaims every day, and asserts about himself in his biography, Dreams from My Father.
1) We are certain that his father is Barrack Hussein Obama, Sr., a man who was a subject of the British empire on Aug. 4, 1961, and a transient alien in the U.S.A..
WHAT THIS 1 FACT PROVES
2) This one fact proves that according to the British Nationality Act of 1948, that — let’s call him by this name for the sake of ease — Barack Hussein Obama II was at birth a British subject.
3) And this conclusion in law, in turn, proves that he is not a natural born citizen of the United States of America; because according to 4 rulings of the Supreme Court, a natural born citizen is, “one born in the country of parents who are citizens,” and since his claimed father was a British subject, not a U.S. Citizen, even if Obama is a U.S. Citizen, he is not a natural born citizen. (It is important to note that “natural born” is a legal term, “natural-born” can be used also for the medical term, of a natural birth without caesarean insection).
4) And this conclusion, in turn, proves that he is not eligible to hold, accept or retain the office of President of the United States, on account of the absolute prohibition in Article II, Section i, paragraph 5, of the U.S. Constitution, that the president be a “natural born citizen.”
5) And this conclusion, in turn, proves in law that Barack Hussein Obama is not the lawful president of the U.S.A., and that none of the laws he signs, the appointments he makes, or the actions he takes are binding in law on anybody.
6) And this establishes that in law he is a usurper, a pretender, and not the lawful Commander-in-chief of the U.S. military.
7) And this proves, beyond the shadow of doubt, that the U.S.A. is currently in its greatest Constitutional Crisis.
So don’t get confused by speculation, rumor, or conspiracy theories. This 1 fact and its consequences in law are all that is necessary to act as a concerned citizen, and to vote accordingly, to march on Washington, D.C., or to justify his immediate and peaceful arrest by lawful authorities in any jurisdiction.
So….as some have asked (at FSW), if this COULD be proven in court (the Supreme Court?), would it invalidate everyone Obama has appointed? Every edict he’s enacted? His Supreme Court nominee? Would she have to recuse herself if this made it to the Supreme Court? Could it ever make it there? Will I get a knock a the door and be “disappeared” in the middle of the night for even conjecturing about this? (Very few people have covered this story online, and there is very little online about it, even mentioning it).
Anyway, not sure it would transfer to Biden if Barry were proved and found illegitimate to serve. Would probably transfer to Nancy Pelosi (yikes!) or the majority leader if it happens after Jan next year if the Repubs retake majority this November. Maybe a reason to wait on this?
Also, I have always had the feeling that if Berry were unable to continue (lets say sudden heart attack from realizing how tough the job is, and that not everyone will be overjoyed with his “CHANGE”s), that Biden would concede it to Nancy. The Powers that be just ain’t gonna let that lummox be in charge. he was on the ticket to be the gray haired white guy, period. He’s fulfilled that duty, and now he’s no longer part of the equation. Nancy is the Karl Rove to Obama’s Bush, she’s running the country FAR more than jokin’ Joe.
I have been active in libertarian circles for more than a decade, so when Ron Paul’s Presidential campaign raised more than $6 million in one day for our Presidential candidate, I was jumping for joy. That was in December, 2007, and was in conjunction with a nationwide “Tea Party” protest of Big Government. At our local event in Georgetown, Ron Paul supporters hosted our own fundraising event in which we wrote “Income Tax”, “Federal Reserve”, and “Invasion of Iraq” on boxes and tossed them out the 2nd story window of the event venue onto the streets of Georgetown.
The “Tea Party” was a nationwide event organized by Ron Paul supporters. Therefore the original concept of the Tea Party was libertarian — in favor of individual liberties (including personal freedoms and the ability to make any choice that does not harm another), limited government, and free markets.
The summer after the MoneyBomb fundraising success, in 2008, I participated in a Revolution March with Ron Paul supporters in DC (that’s me, with the Ron Paul sign, below right). The march was quite massive, likely with between 7,500 and 10,000 participants from all across the country. It ended with a concert in front of the nation’s capital which lasted all day.
2009 Resurgence
Things went quiet for a while, until early 2009. That’s when Rick Santelli drew attention for his remarks made regarding the Homeowners Affordability and Stability Plan in February of last year — from the floor of the CME Group during pre-market hours. Santelli accused the government of promoting bad behavior and called for a Chicago Tea Party in response. Scattered cheers, whistles and applause could be heard from some of the personnel around the floor.
I participated in my second tea party event when I was asked to speak at the Reston Tea Party (in northern Virginia) on April 15 of last year. My speech focused on an economic issue that I believe important on tax day: repealing the Sixteenth Amendment. In my speech, I discussed how I never was duped into voting for George W. Bush, but that those who did can now redeem themselves by working for liberty in 2009, 2010, and beyond. I was well-received despite the hard rain pouring down on me as I spoke. At the time of my speech, I could tell that a broad coalition of folks were attending the Tea Party, and I surely realized that not all of them would agree with me — especially on social issues. So be it.
Hijacked Tea Party?
But it’s now a year later, and the Tea Party seems to be transforming from a libertarian gathering to promote less intrusive government and celebrate our freedoms to a neo-con group promoting War in Iran, criticizing immigrants and diversity, and persecuting those with different religious views. Rachel Maddow and David Weigel from The Washington Post have provided excellent coverage of this transformation from the very beginning, interviewing libertarian bloggers like Steve Gordon and Jason Pye and even interviewing Congressman Ron Paul to gain their perspective on the Tea Party hijack. Maddow was shocked to learn that three so-called Tea Party supporters challenged the inspiration behind the Tea Party — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul — for Congress in his rural Lake Jackson/Victoria area district in Texas.
The “far left media” recently crowned Sarah Palin the new mother of the Tea Party movement. This is problematic for several reasons.
First, Palin is employed by FOX News, which has a history of propping up increased foreign intervention — including the War in Iraq. Second, Palin is closely associated with people who support increased interventionism abroad. In her most recent trip to Hong Kong, she brought a prominent media relations strategist/lobbyist named Randy Scheunemann. Third, there is a correct perception that Sarah Palin is scripted — she’s using talking points from people writing speeches for her rather than sharing what she really believes. (I’m sure she has some core beliefs, but what are they?)
Increased foreign interventionism, bigger military budgets, and sending our troops to more countries abroad is the exact opposite of what the original Tea Parties were all about — so libertarians, paleo-cons, and traditional Goldwater conservatives should be rightful skeptics of the strategists who have put into motion the hijacking of the Tea Parties.
There are several national groups claiming to lead the Tea Party. These include:
* The Tea Party Express, which created a campaign called Our Country Deserves Better. Of the $1.3 million raised for their campaign from July to November, $870,000 plus of it went to a single Republican campaign firm in California.
* The Tea Party Nation, run by Judson Phillips, which organized the recent Convention in Tennessee. Libertarian-leaning groups like Ron Paul’s Campaign for Liberty and Eric Odom’s American Liberty Alliance decided not to participate after dealings with Phillips and his co-organizers.
* The Tea Party Patriots, which is working with FreedomWorks — headed by former U.S. Rep. Dick Armey.
Be wary of any national group trying to control local Tea Party organizations.
How Do We Proceed?
This is not the first time a libertarian concept has been adopted by others. It was libertarian economist Milton Friedman who developed the concept of school vouchers, but most of the credit was never given. The same is true of the Cato Institute, which developed the concept of Social Security privatization but is rarely credited with it. And who was it that was actively calling the War on Drugs a failure from the early 70s onward? Despite that most people recognize the failure of the War on Drugs, the Libertarian Party rarely receives credit for popularizing what is now plainly obvious: that the War on Drugs has not worked.
The original message of the Tea Party — let’s take our government back! – still rings true. It’s up to us to keep fighting to reclaim our personal and economic liberties — and that includes a humble and logical foreign policy.
I would encourage people who share the Republican Liberty Caucus commitment to limited government to attend local Tea Party meetings to get a flavor for what your local branch of the Tea Party is like. Certainly the flavor of the local Tea Party depends on who is leading it. The local Tea Party objectives should determine if it’s a good fit for you. If it isn’t, start your own Tea Party.
If more libertarian-leaning Republicans were leaders in the Tea Party movement, perhaps the Tea Party movement would have a decisively more libertarian flavor.
Overall, the credit for the Tea Party concept goes to the most innovative thinkers in politics today: libertarian Republicans and Ron Paul supporters. The current Tea Party is heading in the wrong direction, but whether it can reverse its course is up to us.
There’s never been a better time to get involved in the movement to change our government to one of, by, and for the people. I challenge you to become active in your area. Joining the Republican Liberty Caucus is a great place to start.
Today we signed the papers and bought our house! yay! yay! woot woot!
We’ve lived in Wyoming for coming up on a year, that will be in July. But one year ago today and tomorrow was when we came to Wyoming on a reconnaissance trip. We went all over the state that week, and we decided on that trip to make Casper our home. A month after that, we moved here and rented the house we just bought today.
To celebrate one year of being in love with wonderful Casper, Wyoming, here’s a re-print of my blog post (on my other blog, Stink Fight) from those two days. Yay!
So, we are having a BLAST! Loving this place. We’re really psyched to move here, and we’ve totally fallen in love with Casper. That’s where we’re pretty sure we’re going to live.
We arrive in Casper and go out to dinner at a Red Lobster full of families with kids, while both openly packing. No one blinked. People saw, but it was no issue. Food was yummy!
Next morning we go out to breakfast at the Cheese Barrel diner on W. 6th and S. Center. Open carried no problem. Food was great, service was nice. Very friendly place.
Ever see a snow shovel in June? Casper has ‘em!
We drove around for a few hours and got used to the lay of the city. Casper is a nice place. We looked at houses that were listed for rent in the paper, to get an idea of how much rentals are, and what different neighborhoods are like.
Stopped at a Walgreens. We open carried, no problem:
Went to lunch at Wonder Bar with a bunch of our new friends. Seven of eight open carried, no one cared, food and service were really good:
We have a far richer social calender in Wyoming than we do in California where we’ve lived for decades.
Four folks, four guns:
The Free Caballeros loafin’ at the Loaf & Jug:
Went to the Poison Spider Shooting Range. Spent about five hours there. Shot many many hundreds of rounds, 9mm, 45mm, .223 and .308. Even a few hundred rounds of .22. We were the only people there, and it’s totally remote. A nice change from the range we go to in Los Angeles that has about 100 people at it at any given time. Would have loved to shoot longer, but a thunderous downpour sent us seeking shelter and dinner (and I suppose it was getting late).
Bowling with guns:
DJ bowls a perfect 300 with a borrowed .45:
Me shooting a cool Israeli Galil
DJ with an AR-15:
I lose my battle rifle virginity! Me shooting the wonderful FAL. Hit a metal deer silhouette at 200 yards. DJ hit it repeatedly too.
Me shooting a Remington 700 (.308:) counter-sniper rifle:
I hit the same deer-sized metal target at 200 yards more than once. DJ hit a cougar-sized target at 300 yards – but only took that one shot, the kick was just a bit much for her post-surgery shoulder after the AK and the FAL. What an elegant weapon that Remington is!
Went out with our new friends afterward to Tacos Mexicanos. Yes there is Mexican food in Casper, and it’s good. And we open carried no problem.
Was a wonderful, gun-tastic day! Much thanks to our generous friends for sharing their weapons and the marvelous range.
Back at the hotel now, about to jump into the hot tub and then sleep. Tomorrow we continue on to other wonderful towns in Wyoming on our tour of liberty and bison!
What do you think contributes more to society? A cutting-edge modern art gallery in one of the most famous and cosmopolitan cities in the world, or a drive-through liquor store that sells cheap guns with no waiting period in Wyoming?
I’m gonna go with the guns & liquor place.
SUBMITTED FOR YOUR APPROVAL, two businesses…. The Shooting Gallery art gallery in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood, and the BiRite drug store in the Casper, Wyoming neighborhood known as “Felony Flats.” BiRite doesn’t even have a website, but you can go on Google Street View HERE, and see it and the neighborhood.
HERE Google Street View is the same treatment for The Shooting Gallery. And you will see that a “bad neighborhood” like Felony Flats in Casper is a much nicer looking (and safer) place than an “edgy” neighborhood in San Francisco (The Shooting Gallery says it picked that name because junkies shoot up in the doorway, and you can get shot on that block. Charming….) And scroll to the left of the Shooting Gallery….that’s the park we used to call “Sucker Punch Park”, named for what often happens to any white person who dares walk there. By the way….this place is a few blocks from Hyde Street Studio where my band Bomb recorded our first album, To Elvis in Hell. I know this neighborhood well.
I’ve never been to the Shooting Gallery, it started after I moved out of that town. But I’ve been to a dozen places exactly like it….taxpayer-funded gen-x edgy hipster anti-American-values storefronts that local liberal rags love to drool all over and consider “important.” The art these places show always sucks, barely qualifies as art, and the only people who ooh and ahh over it are suffering from “the emperor’s new clothes” syndrome.
Remember the “King of the Hill” episode where an important New York artist comes to Texas and gets shunned for defaming beef in his exhibit? He threatens the sheriff “YOU’LL NEVER HAVE ANOTHER SHOWING OF IMPORTANT ART FROM NEW YORK IN THIS STATE AGAIN!” and the sheriff drawls “We’ll get by…..”Well, I’m that sheriff in this story.
The Drugstore part of the Wyoming Drugstore went outta business this year, after many decades of providing for the community. But the other parts of the place are still in business: a greeting card shop that feels delightfully like something from the 1940s, a liquor department, and a sporting goods section that sells 9mm semi-auto pistols for $140 bucks with no waiting period.
Cheap 9mm Hi-Point Pistol
Yup, these are what are commonly called “Saturday Night Specials“, which was originally a racist term and I don’t like to use it (as in “guns that black people buy to shoot folks on a Saturday night, just for kicks.”) But the drugstore sells Hi-Point brand guns, which are OK if that’s all you can afford.) (Unlike Jimenez Arms – or what I call an Especial de la noche de sábado – an even cheaper Mexican gun that might blow up in your hand. They have before with some people.)
While I wouldn’t trust my life to a $140 pistol (my cheapest semi-auto cost $450, and my cheapest revolver cost $370), these guns do have a legitimate purpose – providing self-defense to people who can’t afford a better gun. And this Wyoming liquor store selling them contributes that service to society. Unlike edgy liberal art galleries, which provide nothing of value…..
The Shooting Gallery opened it’s (sic) doors in 2003 to the edgy Tenderloin district of San Francisco; one known for it’s diverse culture and history. Owner and curator, Justin Giarla, founded the space to offer a welcoming environment for viewing the art he loves.
Justin started collecting art at the age of 23 and has since amassed over 500 pieces in his own collection. Growing up in Southern California gave Justin an affinity with everything lowbrow: pop art, street art, outsider art, punk rock album art, comic book art, surf/skate art, erotic photography and hot rod culture. Giarla has long since recognized the necessity to provide lowbrow artists with a platform, which is exactly what The Shooting Gallery has done for the past seven years.
Since opening The Shooting Gallery, Justin has gone on to start his own publishing company and open three more San Francisco galleries including White Walls, Gallery Three and D.D.Arts. The Shooting Gallery also participates in art fairs around the worldand hosts annual fundraisers for local non profits.
(emphasis mine, not theirs – MWD)
Shepard Fairey at The Shooting Gallery
Come on. Some place that celebrates a destroyer of property (and Obama licker) like Shepard Fairey, considers graffiti on someone else’s private property to be art, considers a naked lady in a net or a piano hanging from the ceiling to be “art”, venerates propaganda that lambastes George Bush with an ironic “More Military Less Education” (if we’re talking about public schools, I’d agree, even though I know they’re being ironic)….AND does it all with the help of PUBLIC funds…..come on….I think a cheap gun store contributes a lot more to society. At least the cheap gun store could offer me protection for the risking of my life I’d have to do to walk down the street where the art gallery is…on a street devastated by bad decisions of San Francisco liberal politics. (Though I will never walk down that street again, because it would be a FELONY to carry a gun to protect myself on that street.)
Now if you wanna see some “emperor’s new clothes” art that I DO dig, here’s some nifty performance art, William S. Burroughs shooting a painting that Ralph Steadman did of William Shakespeare. (Steadman is the shorter gray-haired gent seen here with Burroughs.)
In the late 1980’s and early ’90’s there was this great band from San Francisco called Bomb. I never got to see them live. Jack Endino did and his comment was, “The drummer is amazing”. They made this great record called Hits of Acid and one of my favorite tunes of all time is “I Loved Her, Then I Died” – I urge heavy rock fans to check it out. Here’s a free mp3 of the tune “You In Romance”
Hits Of Acid is a great lost-classic. It’s super-warped heavy rock. And like all of my favorite records – listening takes me on a journey. If this band came out of Seattle instead of San Francisco – they would have been one of the great Grunge bands.
NOTE: This song is not a call to action. Its a history lesson, about the Whiskey Rebellion….sort of punk rock Schoolhouse Rock.
“Would You Tar and Feather a Tax Collector?”
NEW song from Right Arm of Wyoming. DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE. (RIGHT CLICK TO SAVE.) http://www.rightarmofwyoming.com/TarA…
Here are many many many photos of our quickie two-day vacation to Yellowstone and Cody this week. ….in our state, four hours away. Bison, mountain goats, Old Faithful and more!
(More pictures up now! Part one is here, part two is here.)
Here are many many many photos of our quickie two-day vacation to Yellowstone and Cody this week. ….in our state, four hours away. Bison, mountain goats, Old Faithful and more!
How cool is it to be able to drive a few hours and take a vacation that people fly around the world to take?
Also includes a few photos from the Dug-Up Gun Museum in Cody and the Buffalo Bill Museum, also in Cody (largest collection of firearms in America, spans from 1400s to now, and pretty much literally EVERYTHING in between. Guns in photos here include Jeff Cooper’s 1911, Dick Cheney’s pistol (but not his shotgun) , a gun from the TV show “Gunsmoke”, and some antiques from the Civil War and Cowboy era.
Punk Rock Saved My Ass is the name of a great new book from Medusa’s Muse press. It’s got some surprisingly great writing and true storytelling in it, and the first article is by me. (They also printed a sweet ass picture of me with a scary black rifle, which should unnerve some leftie punx who will probably read the book.) You can get the book on Amazon here for only ten bucks, and a buck from each one sold goes to Gilman Street Project. The book is a better “slice of life” of the punk “movement” than a lot of books and films that have much better known people in it.
The writers include musician and libertarian Michael W. Dean, UK poets Tony Walsh and Annie Mcgann; Boston musicians Chestnut Growler and Squallie Greenthumb; performer Jennifer Blowdryer; writers Ryan Cooper, Mic Schenk, Jim Munroe, Matthue Roth, and Heather Seggel; musician Paul Richards of the band Heavy Load; and many more. Also included are several never before published photographs of punks and punk bands taken by Nicole Lucas and Richard Wismar. Punk Rock Saved My Ass, distributed by Ingram, is $10.00 and will be available from Amazon.com, Powell’s Books, BarnesandNoble.com, and your local bookstore.
The Revolution rock and roll podcast interviews Michael W. Dean about punk rock, revolution, survivalist ideals, prepping, the Sex Pistols, Wyoming, Texas, drug addiction, the dot-com crash, making a living doing what you love, battle rifles, GOOCA (get out of California!), building a home recording studio, libertarianism, guns guns guns and more guns, the FAL rifle, carrying a gun to save your life, dealing with gun grabbers and much, much more.
Questions:
- Why the FAL?
- What specifically brought you over to libertarianism from liberalism
- How do you deal with all of the libs and left-wing nuts in the music industry?
- Mention letter to self, What were your punk rock influences?
- Why Wyoming?
- What do you do besides RAW?
- Discuss Songs:
+ Fakin’ the Race Card (you lie!)
+ Get Off My Property
+ Government is A Collective Hallucination (lots of talking)
+ My Gun Keeps You Honest – “and I practice almost every day…”
- “My guns are keeping you honest, that is my right as a free man”
After 11 months of running around Wyoming (always with guns, often with guns carried openly), tonight we had our first cop encounter in Wyoming ever.
Tonight we were on the way to the post office. DJ was driving, I was in the passenger seat. As usual when we drive, I had a loaded revolver on my hip in a belt holster, and another loaded revolver in the open glove box in front of me, in plain site, and within quick grabbing range.
Suddenly, we got pulled over by the police. Young male cop walked up to DJ’s window. I kept my hands where he could see them.
Cop: Ma’am, the reason I stopped you is you were going 40 in a 30. Any reason for that?
DJ: Yes sir. I’m sorry sir. Just inattention.
Cop: OK. May I see your driver’s license and insurance please?
DJ: Yes sir. (Reaches by her feet to her purse, gets her license and hands it to cop.)
DJ (to me): The insurance is in the glove compartment…
Me: Officer, before I reach in there, I wanted to point out that….
Cop (cheerily): Yeah,…I see the gun.
I reach past the gun, get the insurance and hand it to DJ who hands it to the cop. He looks at it, hands it back to her, takes her license and goes back to his patrol car. He called in on the radio, came back to our car, handed DJ her license and said, “OK ma’am. Please be more attentive. I’d hate to see you have an accident on such a pretty day.”
He didn’t give her a ticket, we said ‘Thank you”, and he left.
WHAT WAS AWESOME ABOUT ALL THIS:
Well, it wasn’t California.
It’s very rare in California to NOT get a ticket when you’re pulled over for speeding. But moreover, having a loaded gun sticking out of your open glove box in California would not result in a polite “Yeah, I see the gun.” It would result in another gun being pointed at your head, commands being screamed, you being pulled out of the car, you being thrown to the ground, handcuffed, backup being called, you being arrested, processed and jailed.
But really, what was awesome about this is that a cop didn’t treat us as potentially dangerous and/or as needing a babysitter/parental supervision/nannying. Looking back on almost every interaction either of us has ever had with cops, they almost invariably treated us potentially dangerous and/or as needing a babysitter/parental supervision/nannying. Having a cop treat us as adults and not dangerous was pretty damn cool.
And NOT getting a ticket was just icing on top of that.
So, in our ongoing quest to bring the Republican Liberty Caucus to more people in Wyoming, Debra Jean and I rented a table at the bi-monthly Wasatch gun show in Casper, Wyoming, put on our best “Don’t tread on me” and “Molon Labe” shirts, and set up a Wyoming Chapter of the RLC info table for the weekend. It was a lot of fun, and we met some great folks.
Before the gun show, we went to Party America and bought some camo balloons; some red, white & blue balloons, some bunting, and a bunch of camo candy. (I didn’t know they made camo candy, but apparently they do!)
We’re planning to take an RLC road trip next month, handing out pamphlets and talking to people all over the state.
The view from behind our table: machine guns with silencers. God I love Wyoming!
Libertarian rapper and TV personality Neema Vedadi visits Michael W. Dean and Debra Jean Dean in Nestlandia, in Wyoming, and drops mad science. They talk about consent of the governed, the coming collapse, impending doom, liberal idiots, and how to transcend all of the above through education, edu-tainment, and guns. Neema explains how America is headed toward a Weimar Republic where a loaf of bread costs a million dollars. He and the Deans talk about what to do about it, how to save yourself and your family, and chat about liberty, child rearing, taxation as theft, where America went wrong, why there should be no public property, and what’s cool about guns and weed.
They talk about a lot of other fun stuff, for a long long time (an hour and 40 minutes). Yay!
PODCAST:
Neema V Tells You How to Thrive in the Coming Collapse: Download
(CNN) — The former governor of Oklahoma and his wife were robbed at gunpoint in the driveway of their northwest Oklahoma City home, officials said Thursday. George Nigh, 82, and his wife, Donna, were unhurt in the incident about 10:15 p.m. (11:15 p.m. ET) Wednesday as they were returning home from a dinner engagement. Nigh told reporters his wife was unlocking the front door of their home as he got flowers out of their vehicle when a man approached him from behind and said, “Get on the ground.”…..
AUSTIN, Texas – Pistol-packing Texas Gov. Rick Perry has a message for wily coyotes out there: Don’t mess with my dog. Perry told The Associated Press on Tuesday he needed just one shot from the laser-sighted pistol he sometimes carries while jogging to take down a coyote that menaced his puppy during a February run near Austin. Perry said he will carry his .380 Ruger — loaded with hollow-point bullets — when jogging on trails because he is afraid of snakes. He’d also seen coyotes in the undeveloped area. When one came out of the brush toward his daughter’s Labrador retriever, Perry charged.
“Don’t attack my dog or you might get shot … if you’re a coyote,” he said Tuesday.
Perry, a Republican running for a third full term against Democrat Bill White, is living in a private house in a hilly area southwest of downtown Austin while the Governor’s Mansion is being repaired after a 2008 fire. A concealed handgun permit holder, Perry carries the pistol in a belt…..
I don’t like the idea of anyone getting mugged, but I must add that the unarmed Oklahoma guy who got mugged is a Democrat, and the pistol-packin’ Texan is a Republican.
I make no secret of my love of snubbies. I carry a .38 special sometimes, and a .357 mag sometimes. The .357 can stop a bear, but weighs 24 ounces empty and kicks like a shotgun. The .38 special can stop most things, weighs only 12 ounces empty and has a manageable kick, which makes accurate follow-up shots easier.
My .38 is a Charter Arms Undercover Lite. Was 350 bucks new. I carry it all the time, even at home. Outside the house, I carry it, and often carry the .357 Taurus model 605 also.
Below the pix are some good links with excellent snubbie info. (added later: also check out the comments, there’s some great info there, especially on speedloaders, holsters and carry options.)
In a debate on Thursday night of Wyoming Gubernatorial Republican candidates Matt Mead, Rita Meyer and Ron Micheli (candidate Simpson didn’t bother showing up) and Libertarian Party candidate Mike Wheeler, they all tried to out-do each other on how anti-Fed each one is.
This is a nice contrast. In my former state, California, the candidates generally praise Washington DC and talk about how if elected (or re-elected), they will enact more programs and entitlements. In Wyoming the candidates talk about calling out the Wyoming National Guard against the federal government (RLC-endorsed candidate Rita Meyer), and taking federal land in Wyoming away from the Feds (RLC-endorsed candidate Ron Micheli). Statist Matt Mead even talked boldly about “securing the nation’s borders.” (Not really a bold issue for a non-border state gov candidate, but hey…more conservative than some RINOs would try to get away with.)
I love it. So far Wyoming has no Democrat announced for the November election, and the Republicans are fighting on a platform of who hates the Feds more. I find it refreshing.
Check out some of the user comments from appalled lefties on the Casper Tribune (a leftie rag that some call “the Casper Turbine”) :
I’ve never been so embarrased (sic) or depressed to live in Wyoming, because let’s face it it – one of these boobs is going to be our next Governor, and more than half of our state populace will embrace this boob with open arms. My god, look at what they say in a public forum – lord knows what they’re really thinking in the dark cobwebbed feverish little poison closets of their minds. Dark days ahead indeed, for the state and the country. Time for educated and enlightened folks to wake up and come out swinging or we’re going to wake up one day and find the teabagger trolls running the show.
and
You and Rita are both suggesting the treasonous use of force against the federal government. It doesn’t matter what 7th grade scenario you think up, if you’re using force to fight the rule of law in this country, you’re committing treason. I hope you both end up before a firing squad should you ever try to pull such nonsense using this state’s national guard. Or any other force.
Yikes!
Anyway, the Libertarian Party candidate, Mike Wheeler, showed up tonight at the Republican Liberty Caucus meeting we had at the library. He seems like a nice gent, but I’ve got to say, he kinda monopolized the meeting and spun it into a campaign pitch for ten minutes or more until I stopped him. And moreover, he is not a true libertarian, he’s a LINO who thinks the government should subsidize cars to run on natural gas to help the state economy of Wyoming. When I pointed out that this wasn’t a very libertarian stance, he said “I’m not really a libertarian.”
Mike Wheeler may have his heart in the right place (being of service), but has a very child-like understanding of government (several laymen and one laywoman attending the meeting had a much deeper understanding of the way the world works. And my wife, the only other person at the meeting who was a registered Libertarian Party member, said “No way I’d vote for that guy.”)
This was confounded more by Libertarian Party candidate Mike Wheeler’s comments at the debate last week, (from the Casper Turbine):
Growing up on a southern Colorado cattle ranch, Wheeler said there were “a couple of people that had a little water on their back working on the ranch.”
He then lamented that there are “red-blooded Wyomingites that are losing a job to somebody that’s probably sending their money back to Chihuahua for tacos.”
Anyway, the scary thing is the guy thinks he can win. He said so tonight when I asked him.
I told him, in front of others at the meeting, that I think he’ll just take away votes from people who should win.
I asked him if he knew who Dave Dawson is, Wheeler didn’t know. Dawson is the Libertarian Party guy who split off three percent of the Republican vote in the last election and handed the Wyoming Governorship to a Democrat. (I’ve had lunch with Dave Dawson. He’s a sweet guy regardless of putting a Democrat into office. And that Democrat was Gov Dave, who really probably should have run as a Republican. Gov Dave is at least as fiscally conservative, if not more so, than Scott Brown.)
I also thought it was a little ironic that a Libertarian Party guy took up so much time at an RLC meeting, because I was anticipating (and prepared for) liberal shit-starters, and none arrived. So it kinda took me off guard when a Libertarian Party guy showed up and talked until I cut him off…at a meeting of a group that came out of the Libertarian Party to run candidates as Republicans so they could win, rather than splitting the vote to make a point, like the Libertarian Party so often does.
Amway, I’m excited about Rita Meyer and Ron Micheil, and the consternation they’re causing the small (but growing) number of liberals in this state. Yay!
God told me to carry a brace of snubbies (two snubnosed revolvers) as my carry configuration. I like it. If one gun fails, I have another.
I got a new one today, a Charter Arms Undercover Lite .38 special. It’s so light it feels like a toy – it weighs 12 ounces, is made of aircraft-grade aluminum alloy, and can handle +P rounds. It’s a nice backup for my .357 mag Taurus 605 snubbie. Yay!
I love the brace of snubbies configuration:
It this works for concealed carry with an open shirt:
which makes the snubbies very quickly accessible:
I love revolvers. I actually sold a semi-auto 9mm to buy this new lite snubbie now rather than waiting for the next royalty check.
I usually don’t like photos of people pointing loaded guns at the camera, because they often end up being used elsewhere to imply that the person is crazy or violent. But I am not crazy nor violent, and these are pretty pictures, so dig ‘em. (note, no one is holding the camera, it’s a camera on a timer. I would never point even an unloaded gun at anyone for a photo, and certainly not a loaded gun, like these.)
NOTE: This song is not a call to action. It’s a history lesson, about the Whiskey Rebellion….sort of punk rock “Schoolhouse Rock.” lol….
NEW song from Right Arm of Wyoming. DOWNLOAD MP3 HERE. (RIGHT CLICK TO SAVE.)
Song is dedicated to my great great great great great great grandfather, Joseph Cornish, who died on the American side in the American Revolution.
LYRICS for “Would you Tar and Feather a Tax Collector?” :
CHORUS 1:
Would you tar and feather a tax collector?
Like they did in days of old?
Would you tar and feather a tax collector?
For breaking in and stealing your gold?
CHORUS 2:
GET OUT AND FIGHT!
GET UP AND FIGHT!
STAND UP AND FIGHT!
FOR YOUR RIGHTS!
GET OUT AND FIGHT!
GET UP AND FIGHT!
WAKE UP AND FIGHT!
FOR YOUR RIGHTS!
The American Revolution was mostly
fought for just two things:
taxation and trying to take our guns.
My great great great great great great grand dad
died in that war.
He took a musketball from King George’s goons.
A few years later, in 1791 the federalist gub’mint
sent us the bill for that war
with even higher taxes than before
That federalist traitor Alexander Hamilton
acted like the new King George.
He tried to take honest money from the distillers.
But the brave men of Pennsylvania didn’t want a nanny state
so they tarred and feathered a tax collector
(CHORUS 1)
Flash forward 219 years
The new Alexander Hamilton is trying the same plan
but on a much larger scale
The gub’mint’s much bigger
And most people are sheep
waiting to be sheered in their sleep
(CHORUS 1)
The gub’mint buys guns by the millions
Meanwhile, they’re taking ours.
What do you think they’ve got in mind?
I’m not saying “it’s time.”
I’m just sayin’ ya gotta look behind.
Those who ignore history
have no future.
And King George wants us all subdued.
Middle 8:
It’s hard to watch my country being destroyed
It makes me very sad.
When I’m sad I don’t feel sorry for myself.
The sorrow turns to anger, which
hardens into steely reserve.
(CHORUS 2)
I’ll probably get on some list for singing this song
Screw ‘em – I’m right, they’re wrong.
We were taught to love our country, at one time.
But now?
That’s a hate crime.
or this wonderful YouTube video of a cop shooting himself in the foot in a classroom full of kids, after bragging that he’s the only person in the room “professional enough” to use a gun.
MP3 podcast
and was in conjunction with a nationwide “Tea Party” protest of Big Government. At our local event in Georgetown, Ron Paul supporters hosted our own fundraising event in which we wrote “Income Tax”, “Federal Reserve”, and “Invasion of Iraq” on boxes and tossed them out the 2nd story window of the event venue onto the streets of Georgetown.
rnment of promoting bad behavior and called for a Chicago Tea Party in response. Scattered cheers, whistles and applause could be heard from some of the personnel around the floor.
beginning, interviewing libertarian bloggers like Steve Gordon and Jason Pye and even interviewing Congressman Ron Paul to gain their perspective on the Tea Party hijack. Maddow was shocked to learn that three so-called Tea Party supporters challenged the inspiration behind the Tea Party — U.S. Rep. Ron Paul — for Congress in his rural Lake Jackson/Victoria area district in Texas.
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