tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post115654659091848341..comments2024-03-08T07:09:46.527-07:00Comments on Pro Libertate: "These Are MY Sons!"William N. Grigghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14368220509514750246noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-11085058222129891822012-05-28T01:09:41.617-06:002012-05-28T01:09:41.617-06:00Yes, I recognize years and years have gone by sinc...Yes, I recognize years and years have gone by since this article was first published, but I only recently learned of 'Pro Libertate' and as I appreciate it, have gone back to reading the blog from its inception.<br /><br />And this is the first entry in which I have an issue.<br /><br />The Commandments are simple: Thou Shalt Not Kill.<br /><br />It seems as if once we begin to find exceptions to that rule that we additionally find there are more and more and more exceptions... until we've reached the point that those in prison can be killed, those captured on the 'battle field' can be killed, those who stand up to the state's agents (police) can be electrocuted and killed and whenever there is a war declared by the State, those of a particular age can be killed (and kill).<br /><br />I know we're nearly on the same line, but you argue that: "if you threaten my kids, I'll hurt you. If you kidnap them I'll kill you.''<br /><br />But once you (it seems to me) begin down that winding trail of 'I'll kill you if you do ... ' then more and more opportunities are accepted by our leaders and clergy until you reach the point that we're at today (obviously at a point near if not in hell itself) where the State can kill for a wide variety of reasons (and preachers claim it is just) and offspring are taught in school that all wars are good wars if TPTB tell us so.<br /><br />Seems better to say: I'll keep the commandment and NOT kill rather than opening the pandora box of death.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-1156755071748664352006-08-28T02:51:00.000-06:002006-08-28T02:51:00.000-06:00Johann = Jo Ann<I>Johann</I> = Jo Anndixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-1156754885800494602006-08-28T02:48:00.000-06:002006-08-28T02:48:00.000-06:00Sorry for the nutty paragraph order above. I actua...Sorry for the nutty paragraph order above. I actually meant for the "And ugh, I'll be riding the roads again..." paragraph to follow the "Speaking of NC, I just traveled to Beulaville..." paragraph, naturally. I often get distracted with other compu-centric matters while I'm writing forum postings or blog comments and, especially in those long comments, it ends up twisted or misordered.<BR/><BR/><I>i'm from williamsburg, so we share the same congresswoman. you know, the one who went to a boy scout meeting at o dark 30 when i think CAFTA was being voted on. her vote would have made a difference.</I><BR/><BR/>Yeah, Johann Davis. The only politician that seems to have demonstrated that he possesses any solid convictions is Ron Paul, which TNA has made note of as well in past artciles. Other than him, I think politicians especially those in the Congress, as a whole, are spineless and are little more than reprobates.<BR/><BR/><I>fayetteville. in the 60s and 70s known as fayettenam. one guy i know now says we must modernize so he calls it "bragghanistan". that had me rolling!</I><BR/><BR/>I've heard that as well. I've been to Fayetteville one time to a big gun store there. This was some years ago, in the early-mid 90s, to see some of the "assault" weapons he had on sale. I decided to make a stop by there after visiting Fort Fisher on the way back up.<BR/><BR/>I can't remember the name now, unfortunately, but it was a BIG gun dealer, as I recall.dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-1156670252495762272006-08-27T03:17:00.000-06:002006-08-27T03:17:00.000-06:00i can understand dixiedog not wanting to join the ...<I>i can understand dixiedog not wanting to join the military, but there may be one reason to join--to get the training. joining to get the training, and then getting out my pay off in the end.</I><BR/><BR/>Well, that's <I>today</I> 8) since I now see so much of the "big picture" that I was utterly ignorant of in a previous life.<BR/><BR/>See, dang it I must confess. I "forgot" to mention that I have already been in the military (AF in ground radio communications) myself from '84-'90 during the Reagan years and the beginning of Bush 41 years. I was stationed in upstate NY (Griffiss) near Rome '85-'86 and then after GLCM, or Ground Launched Cruise Missile, school was stationed in Germany from '87-'90. Of course, we knew that after Reagan signed the INF treaty in Dec. '87 that GLCM was going to be phased out.<BR/><BR/>I probably would have gone on to retire in 2004, but I was diagnosed with diabetes (Type I) in 1990 and could not re-enlist. Anyhow, after that I made my way in both the government sector (NAAF) working at AAFES and then finally in the private sector as a general computer tech at several firms and finally to a network admin, and here I am. The significance of me mentioning this, however, is that had I not left the military my eyes would have likely remained closed and I would be thinking tactically and not strategically as regards government, military, etc. So I'm thankful ;).<BR/><BR/><I>and for dixiedog. i can understand supporting VA over NC. i'm from VA, but currently in NC. this state has more gun control than VA! now, if we could only get rid of the VS troopers on the interstates and their ticket writing habits? i just love it when i cross into NC on the interstate. feels like....freedom!</I><BR/><BR/>Rick, a small world, eh? Well, the interstates are not so bad, in terms of overactive VS troopers on ticket writing missions, at least in the Hampton Roads region anyway (I264,I664,I64). On the other hand, I81 and I95 are another matter since those two are major traffic expressways, I95 traversing the entire eastern seaboard, I81 from New York to Tennessee. It's not just interstates in which ticket happy troppers can be found, but also US-360 from approximately Chesterfield county to Danville is a sometimes heavy VSP ticket nest. And ugh, I'll be riding the roads again late in September on our F650s heading to Stuart, VA. to my buddy's dad's family's ol' homestead, but we'll probably be heading west on US-58 from Isle of Wight. Not as bad as US-360, we've heard anyway, for being a ticket haven.<BR/><BR/>Speaking of NC, I just traveled to Beulaville (Duplin county) with a buddy of mine, both on our F650 motorcycles...hehe. I went down there to see a great-aunt that is 101 and also to examine my grandmother's now idle property. She's been deceased since '99 and my mother and aunt, who lives in Richlands near Jacksonville, have b/w them about 40 acres. Land is a most precious property and my family has basically kept to handing a homestead down rather than selling it off.<BR/><BR/>If you don't mind me asking, what general area of NC do you reside? I'm in Yorktown, VA. myself.dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-1156581329544109732006-08-26T02:35:00.000-06:002006-08-26T02:35:00.000-06:00I'm a native of Virginia myself as is my dad and h...I'm a native of Virginia myself as is my dad and his dad and my mother is native to southern North Carolina who moved to the Tidewater region in the early 60s. My entire "clan" so to speak basically still are concentrated in the two states. That said, I've always been a more localized supporter for Virginia, which just happened to secede and join the Confederacy, and not so much the Confederacy in and of itself. I also believe that the vast majority of southerners of the "Civil War" era were also, hence Mr. Anderson's view.<BR/><BR/>On of my favorite books of the era and the following decade of reconstruction are the memoirs, compiled in <I>When the Yankees Came: Civil War and Reconstruction on the Virginia Peninsula</I>, of George Benjamin West (1839-1917) and edited by Park Rouse, Jr.<BR/><BR/>Mr. West was raised on the Virginia Peninsula and describes in detail how his and his family's life were changed forever and their four year long life as refugees in Richmond and Lynchburg after Virginia voted to secede on April 17, 1861 and the arrival of the Yankees six weeks later. His memoirs were written in the 1890s some thirty years after the war, but they are eye-opening. Just to make clear, I also do not, and would not, support chattel slavery, even though we're all slaves in essence, just today it's an economic (mamon) master rather than literal chattel. And for Christians, Christ is supposed to be our master, but I digress.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, about some his local neighbors, who likewise were farmers, residing at Newport News point, he wrote:<BR/><BR/><I>None of them were rich, but all were well-to-do, owned farms, and had sufficient slaves for household and farm work....The slaves were notably well-treated, well-fed, and well-housed; they were seldom bought or sold. They married either their master's slaves or those of their neighbors. They attended and belonged to the churches of their owners....Not a single one left his master, though they had every opportunity to do so in the vessels that traded up the James River.</I><BR/><BR/>This is not to say that all slaves throughout the CSA were thusly treated and cared for, but it's significant nevertheless. With all the bile that's been propagated, since the turn of the 20th century especially, about blacks being treated as no more than cattle, the truth is somewhere in between the two opposites.<BR/><BR/>I think this concept of "what is worth fightin' fur" is among the many, many things that need to be seriously mulled by folk <I>today</I> even more than during the WoNA. Folk need to seriously begin to understand and grasp the panoramic view concerning life issues and faith issues instead of being overly focused upon tactical details. Similar, in a sense, to the "live from paycheck to paycheck" mantra that so many follow.dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32869165.post-1156581228986905882006-08-26T02:33:00.000-06:002006-08-26T02:33:00.000-06:00By the war's end, as Jeffrey Hummel has documented...<I>By the war's end, as Jeffrey Hummel has documented in his splendid study Emancipating Slaves, Enslaving Free Men, both the Federal and Confederate governments had degenerated into plunder-fueled engines of tyranny and corruption. War, whatever its stated objectives, always emancipates the State, to the detriment of liberty.</I><BR/><BR/>Even though I haven't read Hummel's study, I wouldn't really contest that since <I>war</I> in the abstract always reveals the the level of inhumanity that humanity can contemplate as well as the aggregate corruption and destruction of liberty that is evident.<BR/><BR/><I>As someone who proudly displays a Confederate Battle Flag in his home, I offer that acknowledgment with some regret. On more than a few occasions as I have denounced conscription in the company of people whose views I almost entirely share, the Southern example has been cited to justify the proposition that in some desperate circumstances conscription has to be allowed.</I><BR/><BR/>Sigh, that's why I don't display it ;(. I prefer the 1st national with either the original <A HREF="http://members.cox.net/ogdenwb/1stcsa.gif" REL="nofollow">seven </A> stars representing the inital seven states that seceded Dec. 1860-Feb. 1861, the <A HREF="http://members.cox.net/ogdenwb/1stcsa_11.gif" REL="nofollow">eleven </A> stars representing the eleven states, minus Kentucky and Missouri, or the <A HREF="http://members.cox.net/ogdenwb/1stcsa_13.gif" REL="nofollow">thirteen</A> stars representing the eleven actuals and the two hopefuls Kentucky and Missouri. I'm aware that the 2nd national had a battle flag canton, but by the time that flag became official in mid-1863 the Confederacy had already breached the summit and was on the decline. Defeat was only a matter of time. It's still utterly amazing to me that the southern nation held out until 1865 even. That indicates to me the hardy constitution of the southern folk in general to the immense hardships and yet to not think of surrendering until their resources were completely depleted and the men were beyond ragged. Yet, even at Appomattox, many of the men of the AoNV were still willing to continue the fight even with Grant's army besieging Petersburg and their positions.<BR/><BR/>Again, utterly amazing...<BR/><BR/>Another point I want to make is that as you are against conscription as am I, I've also come to loathe the entire military complex itself, <I>not</I> the men mind you, but nothing makes me cringe more than seeing these guys even "voluntarily" joining the military because of the socio-<I>economic</I> or just <I>economic</I> condition they find themselves in. That's another angle no one talks about. The pundits are all about WAR! SUPPORT the WAR!, WAR! as long as it's not the richie pundits' kiddies who have to play a combat roll. As General Smedley Butler wrote a book called "War is a Racket," indeed it is and the lower middle class is the bearer of the burden of it all. But there's another reason I cannot fathom even "voluntarily," forget being forced, joining the military is I couldn't see a single righteous attribute or philosophy that I'd be fightin' for! I loathe this country's culture, I loathe Hollyweird, I loathe the media pundits, I loathe the government elites and I would not want to put my life on the line to <I>defend</I> any of those camps in any way!<BR/><BR/>As you said, "Capice!?" The country is dying and I would not want to contribute to its demise by fighting for all of the above. I guess I'm a victim of seeing the "big picture" in the conscription whine and I see even the so-called voluntary service a pile of bile. Most of the folk in the military now did not join because they just LOVE the thought of battle and killing other folk, destroying other folks' infrastructure, ad nauseam, they joined <I>because they had no other economic avenues on which to move ahead and get somewhere</I>! Did you get that, folks? I'm beyond tired of hearing/reading anti-draft/conscription screamers raging against the same, and yet in the same breath say we already have folk who <I>volunteered</I> to join the military machine. BS!!dixiedoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09845646940134894119noreply@blogger.com