Gun Control or Mind Control?

Gun control or mind control?

It looks like the real colors have been hoisted in the gun control debate currently raging in Washington.  It is not about background checks, it is not about whether or not someone with a slight, severe, or suggested mental deficiency should have the right to own a weapon, it is, simply, this administration has a strong desire to obliterate the Bill of Rights one amendment at a time, starting with the second.

They have plans in the works to take out the first, and the fourth is already shredded by way of detention without representation, and killing of citizens without benefit of even being charged with a crime.

Who is behind all of this?  Some, like the extreme left and the anarchists like to blame the international corporations and their lobbies, and the international banking interests and their lobbies, but I have another thought on that matter.  The hard core left that believe more and bigger government is the answer to all questions also have little regard for the concept of individualism, and if you read the Bill of Rights, it has individualism written in almost every line of thought, not a big strong federal government.

Men and women like Holder, Obama, Pelosi, and Boxer detest the concept of an individual actually being able to be responsible for herself of himself, not being a sheep willing to run with the flock, or go over the cliff with their fellow lemmings.  The fear in their hearts runs deep for right now, the majority of voters in this country is probably a mix of independents and libertarians, and to be one or the other, one must think from a critical angle.  That is how you spell individualism.  That is what created the Bill of Rights in the first place.  And that puts blazing fear in the hearts of those that can only believe something is good when it’s done by government.

It was a strong central government with strong controls and demands that led to the 1776 revolution in the first place, it was strong leadership from many with individualism in their hearts that led to our Constitution and the Bill of Rights attached to it.  An individual’s rights have no place in socialism, and right now, the federalists running the current administration are working overtime to destroy the last remnants of the Bill or Rights, one amendment at a time.

The power base of the current administration comes from those that rarely think past their next government offering.  This beat up old libertarian is of the opinion that come the 2014 elections, many of us are going to have to demand some critical thinking from those seeking office if they want our vote.  There should be nothing more important than individual freedoms as offered by our Constitution and Bill of Rights, and it’s going to take a strong effort to protect what we are slowly losing.

Has it been awhile since you’ve read the Bill of Rights?  Click on this site and you’ll also have a chance to read the Constitution: http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html

As always, read good books and stay regular.

Ah, Spring

Ah, Spring

            I’ve always found it difficult to take the garden apart in the fall, remembering all the wonderful things that happened during the spring and summer, still tasting the fresh tomatoes, still agonizing over whether or not the cauliflower was really going to take, and enjoying the fruits and vegetables that are now stored on the shelves and in the freezer.  It’s a difficult time at best, to take apart such a magnificent place.

            On the other hand, late winter and early spring are filled with anticipation as my wife and I champ at the bit, knowing full well it’s almost too early to plant, not too early to start the little darlings inside or in the hot house.  So, while the last stages of winter fall gently on unbroken ground, piling up in white drifts that will last at least another month, we plan and plan and plan.

            “No, Johnny, I want the corn there,” as we plot out the garden for spring 2013.  “That way it will help shade the tomatoes.  Remember?”  Of course I do, I whisper, she knowing full well I don’t.  But, she’s right, one must have a plan before planting.  The plan should indicate where old Sol’s arc will be across the sky, keeping veggies that need sun in the sun and those that don’t in the shade.  And, a plan will make your watering and irrigation that much easier as well, along with harvest time.  Maybe, this year you won’t have to fight off the cucumbers to get at the beans.

            This period of time when it’s too early to plant, but planting time can almost be felt in the air, is the right time to make sure all the garden implements and “stuff” are ready.  Shovels and hoes need to be cleaned and sharpened; tool handles need to be checked for burrs, splinters, and cracks; pots and vases need to be cleaned and filled with fresh soil; and let’s not forget getting that hot house ready for another season.  Even with snow on the ground, if there’s plenty of sunshine during daylight hours, and a means of gentle heating at night, early planting is possible.

            Spring, that glorious time of the year when rebirth is in the air, when snow drifts can be seen to retreat hourly, when visions of corn stalks dancing in the breeze and fresh tomatoes with basil and goat cheese are on the lunch menu, is just around the corner.  I’m almost ready, just a few more things to do, like clean the bar-b-que and get the beer well iced.

Introspection

An Introspective Glance At Being A Nevadan

By Johnny Gunn

As we near a milestone in Nevada’s rich and sometimes lusty history, it’s an opportunity for me to offer some introspection and maybe just a bit of circumspection, in case I let my mind wander off target.  I’m well aware that I’m getting way ahead of the calendar, but that’s life.  On October 31, 2014, Nevada will celebrate its being a state for 150 years   The governor has named a commission that is supposed to help us celebrate this auspicious date, but I wonder just how many have taken the time to actually celebrate what we have, this grand Silver State, filled with so many twists and turns.

For instance on May 25, 2014. I will celebrate being a citizen of Nevada for fifty years, while at the same time celebrate being one half as old as the state.  The old saying comes to mind here, if I knew I was going to live this long, I sure as hell would have taken better care of myself.  During these fifty years Nevada has grown and grown and grown.  Our rural lifestyle has been taken from many of us, replaced with a mini-California.

In 1964, it was loudly proclaimed that Nevada had more head of cattle than people, and the members of Nevada’s legislature wore more western hats than Homburgs, more western boots than shoes, and bolo ties were rich in silver and turquoise.  It was also the year we lost the silver dollar, the cartwheel.  Gold sold for $37 a troy ounce.

Nevada has grown in population but is not more prosperous now than it was fifty years ago.  The cities affected by Interstate projects have suffered, some dramatically, and it’s still a long drive on a two lane road from Reno to Las Vegas, but with fewer stops along the way to chat with friends and knock the dust out of your teeth (Think cold beer).  In 1964 distance was often measured in six-packs, every pick up had a rifle rack, and it only took a couple of road trips to make life long friends along the highways and byways.

Politics were just as rough and tumble but without the personalization that has come about recently.  It was issues and ideas that dominated political debate and discussion, not the hate and vitriol that we see today.  Reno had two daily newspapers, blazingly active gambling casinos, with hotels popping up like asparagus in the spring, and you didn’t vie for a buck tag, you simply picked one up.

Paydays on the ranches brought the buckaroos to town, and gamblers from California found themselves standing next to a real cowboy, not one dreamed up by Hollywood.  Horses often were moved in the back of pick up, which is a sight I haven’t seen in too many years.  Horses often weren’t trailer broke, they were trained to jump in the back of a pick up and hold on tight.  Same way we taught our kids.

I’ve been one lucky young son, being able to live in some pretty exotic places over my three quarters of a century.  I was born in Santa Cruz, went to high school on Guam, served my country for a time in Puerto Rico, and have spent half a century as a citizen of the Silver State.  In Nevada, I’ve had homes in Virginia City, Gold Hill, Jacks Valley, Carson City, Middlegate, Manhattan, Silver Peak and Reno.  It just isn’t time to settle down, quite yet.

I’ve done mustanging, won races on top of crazy camels, worked underground in more than half a dozen mines, worked on the air for some of the finest broadcasting companies in the state, published my own weekly newspaper, and milked goats that have given me some of the sweetest milk, cheese, butter, and ice cream available.  Nevada has been kind to this young son.

When I met my lovely bride, Patty, she had just moved to Reno from Orange County.  Talk about change of scenery.  She loves road trips just as much as I, and we have been on so many over the years, but on some of our first excursions together, she commented, “Do you know everybody in this state?”  It seems that way sometimes, but on reflection, it was simply a case of arriving in a town and looking for a cold beer, and of course, knowing the bartender or owner.  You apparently don’t do it that way in Orange County.

One of Patty’s favorite places is Bruno’s in Gerlach.  On our first time there, we had left our little rancho in Cold Springs, driven north to Alturas, then over the pass to Cedarville, and south to Gerlach.  We went into the bar, got that first beer, and told the bartender we wanted to rent a room.

He said, “Sure, take such and such number,” and handed me the key.  A guy behind me said, “Hey, that’s my room.”  Seems the maid thought he had left, cleaned the room and made it available to rent.  Bartender, not flinching, said, “OK, fine, then take such and such room,” and handed me another key.

We got our stuff out of the truck and walked into the new room only to find it too was an occupied room.  The bartender never once got flustered as he handed me a third room key.  This one turned out to be empty, and Patty wedged a chair against the door when we finally hit the bed that night.  “Just in case,” she said.

We can’t go east without a stop at the Wig Wam in Fernley, Highway 50 means stops at Middlegate and Eureka.  Right next to the Eureka Opera House is a little saloon, yes, Virginia, it’s a Clamper Bar, and one New Year’s Eve we got involved in a karaoke party, and it only takes a couple to get me up singing (squalling) through numbers no one remembers.

Road trips today usually mean too much time on an Interstate, going too fast to enjoy the broad and fascinating land called Nevada.  The old two lane roads, 50, 95, 93, 6, 241, are far more interesting, and lead to wonderful places.  We spent two nights in Pioche a couple of years ago and I had told Patty about the colorful history of the town, with gangsters and robberies and murders on an almost daily menu.  When we arrived, we found the local casino closed.  It had been robbed of some $20,000 the day before.

The café there is one of the best in Nevada.  We had rib eye steaks that you could cut with a fork and dripped in flavor.  They came from a local ranch and were USDA Prime.  You can’t get that anywhere anymore.  We ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner there for two days.  The hotel rooms sit just above the saloon with a rickety old staircase leading to the upped floor.  Just like in the movies, only as real as real can be.

Well, it seems, I did get off target a bit here.  There is a tendency today to shunt aside what is so special about Nevada in favor of what you would find just about anywhere else in the country.  Chain this and chain that.  No more Liberty Belle Saloon.  No more Kiah’s Squeeze In.  No more Harold’s Club.  And the characters.  No more Gordon Lane.  No more Tiny Carlson.  No more Grant Sawyer.  No more Bill Raggio.  And, one of my favorite politicians of all time, Jim Slattery simply can’t be replaced in the 21st Century.

I’m afraid this Silver Lady has grown up, and I’m not sure she will dance and sing as she has for 150 years, but I am sure that I’m proud to have become a Nevadan.  I’m a year early, and I don’t give a damn.  Happy birthday, old girl.

Constitutional Crisis

This old Libertarian is not at ease right now.  And I think there’s more to it than just the ins and outs of politics.  For several years our congress, and this is the description of representative democracy, our congress, those that are supposed to represent our wishes in place of us voting on each and every issue, has rolled over and played dead.  Within a three headed republic, congress is supposed to be an equal with the president and the supreme court, but from a point during the George W. Bush terms through today, congress has done virtually nothing.  Here are some thoughts:

            1. There is no budget and hasn’t been one for years.

            2. Fiscally, this country has fallen out of the bottom of the barrel and very few are willing to accept the fact. 

            3. Our CIA is killing people in foreign countries that we are not at war with.

            4. President Obama is acting like a dictator, setting aside areas of our constitution that don’t fit his plans.

I am not looking at republicans disagreeing with democrats, or the other way around, nor am I looking at congress and the president in a big old political brawl.  What we are facing is a constitutional crisis and it is my greatest fear that this could very well lead many people to start acting out in more of an anarchist manner than in a structured society in which political discussion can be had without it becoming an armed conflict.

Watching President Obama over the months since the election, and in particular, over the several weeks since the inauguration, I am mystified by what the man is attempting.  He has a congress that is not sympathetic and he doesn’t seem interested in discussing the issues with them.  On the other hand, if one were looking for a possible conspiracy, it would seem the man is campaigning for a third term.

He has already shown by deed and thought that he has little knowledge of the constitution, believes strongly is side stepping congress with presidential decrees that will probably not be upheld by the Supreme Court which he doesn’t believe has any use in our triple headed government system anyway.

So, by decree, will this man say, just a couple of years from now, ‘I’m setting aside that constitutional amendment that forbids a president’s third term and will be running for president for a third term’? He has already shown that it is in his character to do so.  The First, Second, and Fourth Amendments are also in jeopardy if this man continues on his current path.

In two years, every member of the House of Representatives, and several members of the Senate will be running for election.  As it stands right now, Mr. Obama could very well be facing an even uglier congress following that election.

We have all met people that have the attitude of, ‘Do it my way or else.’  This president fits the image of ‘It’s my way or the highway.’  Politics doesn’t work that way.  He decries a lack of conciliation and then demands things be done his way or else.  He won’t talk to congress, but he will go on what can only be described as campaign junkets.

I have rarely bought into conspiracy theories.  In most cases one could drive trucks through the holes in them, but what I think I see here is the beginnings of a campaign for a third term, the setting aside of even more of the constitution, and a giant step for mankind into chaos and rebellion.

If that isn’t the case, if it’s just that this president doesn’t have the ability to debate the issues with congress, doesn’t have the knowledge to work within the constraints of the laws of the land, and can only give speeches on the campaign stump, then as a people we have to see to it that the other two mainstays of government are prepared to ask him to leave.  Congress will have to get its act together, and they sure haven’t had it together for some time now, and the judicial system will have to be ready to make some serious decisions about what our constitution is really all about.

Too many people, in open discussion in public places, are saying that a possible rebellion is not out of the question.  Letters and missives to congressional representatives have been blunt to the extreme, and it’s time for members of congress to accept the position of leadership that they were sent to Washington for in the first place.  There is an undertone of resistance that isn’t that many steps from rebellion, and the love that most Americans have for the constitution and the laws of the land are in jeopardy right now.

We have had constitutional crises in our history, and in most cases it has been determined that what our founding fathers wrote and what we have amended, is the way our government and our people should live.  Today, this administration sticks people in prison without the benefit of representation or trial, it has killed our own citizens in foreign countries, it attacks foreign soil without benefit of a declaration of war, and it has tortured people to the point that they die.

And we have a president that is in favor of all of that and a congress that won’t repudiate the system.  We are in the midst of a constitutional disaster and it appears the only answer to the problems will come from the general public itself because the elected leadership is a major part of the problem.  The old phrase “Power to the People” might have to ring out on every street corner and be heard in every meeting hall from coast to coast.  The failure of those elected to do their duty, do their job, needs to be explained to them in the strongest words and deeds possible.

As always, read good books and stay regular.

Important quotes

Thoughts on a stormy day from a somewhat storm tossed mind …

I was forced to stay inside the cloistered walls of the rancho by waves of an increasing Washoe Zephyr recently, and found several pages of rather poignant quotes dating back to the origins of Greek Democracy, and very relative to what is happening in Washington even as you peruse these pages.

Cicero is said to have commented one time: “Freedom is the power to live as you will.  Who then lives as he wills?”  That would bring a Homeland Security check if sent by e-mail.

In 1928, Supreme Court Justice Brandeis is quoted as saying, “The makers of the Constitution conferred, as against the government, the Right to be let alone; the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized man.”

Whilst my old friend Jimmie Durante said, “Put no constrictions on the people.  Leave ‘em ta Hell alone.”  Amen brother.  When I was publicity director at John Ascuaga’s Nugget at the end of the 60s and first year of 1970, Durante appeared often.  No different in person than on stage. 

“All government, of course, is against Liberty.”  Those are the words of H.L. Mencken, said many years ago.  Doesn’t anyone in Washington listen?

It was Robert Frost that said, “Freedom lies in being bold.”  And Hunter S. Thompson said, “When you are INNOCENT you can do ANYTHING that you want.”  Unless, of course, if the Patriot act intervenes.

It was Alexander Tyler writing about the fall of the Athenian Republic, which fell, by the way, some 2,000 years ago, that democracies only last about 200 years, progress through specific sequences.  To wit:

From bondage to spiritual faith;

From spiritual faith to great courage;

From great courage to Liberty;

From Liberty to abundance;

From abundance to complacency;

From complacency to apathy;

From apathy to dependence;

From dependence back into bondage.

Samuel Adams backed that up, 200 years ago, saying, “Democracy never lasts long, it soon wastes itself, exhausts and murders itself.  There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

It was John F. Kennedy that said, “Every American ought to have the right to be treated as he would wish to be treated, as one would wish his children to be treated.”

And Abraham Lincoln said, “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.”

Your job then, if you wish to accept the position, is to convince 435 members of the House of Representatives, 100 members of the U.S. Senate, and one rather uppity President of the United States, that what has been said in the past still holds true today.

Have a great day, read good books, and stay regular.

Regarding the Current Gun-Rights Debate

First, I must make the necessary caveat.  I own weapons, and have since I was twelve years old when I received my first .22 rifle, a Mossberg, tubular feed, bolt action.  I rarely go hunting any more, mainly because the Nevada Wildlife people have allowed the herds and flocks to decline radically.  My wife, Patty and I love to shoot black powder, have participated in many rendezvous, and will continue to do so.  My dad was a life member of the National Rifle Association, I grew up with the NRA safety rules bounced off my head regularly but have never joined the group.  Their safety training is the best in the world.

All of that said, the current arguments to limit or do away with the Second Amendment have little credence.  If every law in the books today were acted on by the agencies responsible, there would still be violence, from guns, from knives, from hammers, from anything that could be considered a weapon.  When a person is robbed late at night in an awkward part of town, and dies from the inflicted knife wound, there is a mention in the paper.  When a person shoots his neighbor, in a nicer neighborhood there is a front page headline.

An argument was offered recently that is seriously naïve.  The argument was that any nation with bombers, fighter aircraft, nuclear weapons, or other weapons of mass destruction could attack the United States and all the weapons in private hands would have no effect.  Nonsense.  The argument was probably written by someone who has never seen military service.

Atomic bombs, other bombs, other weapons have never won a war or battle.  It still takes an invading force, and any fool that thinks the many millions of weapons in the private hands of American citizens aren’t a deterrent, isn’t thinking.  That is the primary purpose of the Second Amendment.  Its secondary purpose is to keep the government in power in check, and if you don’t believe that you haven’t read your history.

History does tell us that the Second World War was won through the use of the atomic bomb.  But, it was the government of Japan that would not accept the fact they were whipped until two of those monsters had to be dropped.  It kept us from having to invade, and it’s the invasion and subsequent win that would determine the victory should some despot be foolish.

There was no standing United States army in 1776, only bands of revolutionaries willing to take out the government in power at the time.  Those revolutionaries became Washington’s army, and even then most were considered private militia.  The constitution and Bill of Rights made it clear that we will be a free nation because of a well armed militia.

The current administration, from day one of the first term, has made it clear they plan to make serious changes in the Bill of Rights and the Constitution.  Naming Eric Holder as Attorney General should have sent red flags screaming up flag poles across the nation.  The continued arresting and holding of American citizens without charges, without benefit of counsel, and the activity at Guantanamo and secret CIA sites where fingernails can be ripped from someone or water dripped in forced open mouths, and the drone attacks on countries on which we have not declared war are all unconstitutional, yet adored by this administration.

Now, we have the man lovingly known to his far left supporters as “Uncle Joe’, in reality, one that those of us who believe in the constitution should be most frightened.  When Holder was outed, President Obama called in his other attack dog, Vice President Biden.

This is not the time to sit back and hope the other guy gets the job done.  There is a full frontal assault on our rights as citizens of this country, and it is time to stand up and be counted, because if we don’t, there will come a knock on your door, probably about three a.m., and men with black hoods and big rifles will take you and your rightfully owned weapons into custody, and your neighbors will not know where you went, nor will they see you again.

Have a great day and read good books.

Anarchism

Laws and Lawlessness

It was a tragedy that simply can’t be explained in simple statements or simplistic thinking, with very young people dead because of one man’s problems with life.  He killed his mother and stole her weapons and did the unthinkable, and the only way that could have been prevented would be a complete restructuring of our constitution and its attendant amendments.  There are limits placed on all the amendments, including those first ten that represent our way of life more directly than anything else ever written, but there has never been a call to eliminate one of those most important ten, and there shouldn’t be now.

Citizens of the United States enjoy a way of life envied by most of the other peoples on the planet because of the structuring of our constitution, the Bill of Rights, and a political system free of most of the problems faced by other countries.  Corruption will exist in any society that is as free as ours, and it’s laws and rules that are supposed to control those that don’t play well with others, but today, laws, rules, ethics are products of yesterday, not holding any meaning today.  When one looks at the deteriorization of our society, the first word that comes to mind is rampant anarchism.

When two thirds of the attorneys smoke pot and snort cocaine with apparent impunity, someone should recognize a serious social problem.  This isn’t a question of whether pot should be legalized, it’s a question of those sworn to uphold the law flaunting the law.  Without the rule of law, there is no society, and those of us of a certain age can remember in civics class an instructor saying over and over, “If you don’t agree with the law, work within the framework of government to change that law.”  Laws are changed through social pressure, through politically active individuals and groups, and through increased knowledge of a subject.

A perfect point of fact, the recent legalization of pot in some communities and states.  The problem being, it is still a federal issue, and in order for that law to be fully realized, there will have to be more political activism.  Not just ignoring the law, flouting the law, denying the law.  That is not the American way, it is lawlessness, anarchism.

We have become a nation of lawbreakers and don’t seem to understand the consequences that is having on so many people.  With a wink or nod, illegal merchandise is transferred from one to another, one or both of whom are sworn to uphold the law.  Joe citizen sees this and says, “good enough for him, good enough for me.”  Cops on Nevada’s highways break the law everyday by intimidating people into letting them do illegal searches, that is, searches without a warrant.  Dogs are trained to “sniff out” drugs by way of a hand movement, thus setting up the warrantless search, and most of the time, guess what?  No drugs.

If those charged with maintaining the peace, upholding the laws of the land won’t, why should John Q. Citizen?  There are controls on the First Amendment, think “don’t yell fire in a crowded theater.”  There are controls on most of the others, and it is possible that some other controls might be needed, but when a vast number of people simply don’t give a damn about law and rule, what would another rule actually mean?

The Justice Department through the ATF sold illegal guns, federal agents died as a direct result of the sales, and the Attorney General is still in office.  The reasons for each of the amendments called our Bill of Rights have been debated for well over two hundred years, and often, it’s the second amendment that seems to be most difficult for many to understand.  It’s one of the strongest reasons that our shores have not been invaded, and it’s one of the strongest reasons our government actually responds to our wishes, most of the time.  Our government is our people, and our people are letting themselves down by way of losing the concept of a society determined by the rule of law.