Just some friction in The Machine

Posted 6:38 PM by Gerald Klaas
Ahhh! Vicarious relief through the Belligerent Claimant in person. About once a year I get frustrated enough with current events and the general public reaction that I become convinced there is no hope. As has every democracy before this, ours will slide into tyrrany. It's only a matter of time and a question of whether I'll be alive long enough to fight in the final battle. And as I come to the realization that it is inevitable, although neither unpredictable nor unmitigatable, I get angry. Just like Allen, I get angry at all the politicians who talk about our "rights", and the Constitution, but follow the party line in continuing the slide into facism. I get angry at the public who can't be bothered long enough to learn about our founding documents, and the brave and intellectual men who put themselves on the line to establish a great republic, knowing well that it would crumble in time and it could only be forestalled as long as the citizenry protected it. I get angry at people I know, sometimes even my dear wife, a Republican, for not seeing the future with the same clairvoyance as I do, and as our Founding Fathers did. It's about that time when I realize that my dear wife is not the enemy (even though she sometimes cancels my vote at the ballot box). She sees things differently than I, and just may be more clairvoyant than I, although I have a tough time admitting it. I would bet that when I ran for the California State Senate was the only time she ever voted for a Libertarian. (Then again, maybe she didn't then either.) She is way too pragmatic. She is also much more strategic than I. She fights from within the machine, often times carrying a libertarian message to people who would tune me out because I'm not a Republican. Just like Christian Bowman, she works it from the inside, and I can respect that. I don't really understand it, truth is it frustrates the hell out of me, I just have the faith that it helps to try to recover the heart of the Republican party rather than abandon ship and rebuild. It isn't Barry Goldwater's party anymore. If it were, I'd still be in it. But alas, I stand with the likes of Allen Hacker, Doug Kenline and David Goodyear helping to build the Libertarian Party into the one and only political party that stays consistent in its defense of the entire Constitution and Bill of Rights. I've had people tell me for years that I'm trying to cut a redwood with a herring (or some other colorful analogy). Yet somehow I manage to contain my frustration, rebuild some hope, be cheered by some fellow Libertarians, and jump back on my soapbox for another year of unfettered proselytization. So Allen, my advice is to take a deep breath, a pale ale, a jacuzzi and a nap, maybe not in that order. Maybe we can keep our collective finger in the dyke long enough for our Republican bretheren to fix it from the other side (although somewhat more difficult being under water and all...), and then again, maybe the dam thing will break (pun intended).

And a note to David Goodyear on his excellent commentary of historical guerilla warfare. Don't forget that the Palestinians are being very effective using guerilla warfare against Israel. And the African National Congress (ANC) used guerilla warfare to successfully gain control of the Afrikan government in South Africa ending the apartheid. And at home, guerilla warfare terrorizes the people in our inner cities and the police are powerless to stop it. I don't see a need for a show of force in Iraq to terrorize our citizenry leaving us to cry for protection, even at the cost of our rights. If they could just disarm the citizens enough that the hoods, thugs and gangs have no resistance than the police, and then extend the sphere of influence of the "inner-city", the job will be complete. It doesn't matter who creates the terror, only that it exists, and that the politicians are able to use it to justify the erosion of our rights.