Author: Bob

Election Theater Act 2, The Candidates

Way WAY back on May 6th, 2019, I wrote Election Theater Act 1, The Lightning Rods. At that time, I placed my first and second choices for the official Democratic Party candidates in an envelope, sealed in a mayonnaise jar on Funk & Wagnalls’ back porch to be opened following the 2020 Democratic National Convention. The convention is over, we have nominees and direct descendants of both Funk & Wagnalls have delivered my jar. My guesses at the time were: First choice: Kamala Harris. Second Choice: Hillary Clinton.  I’m claiming a “damn close” with a big honk’n asterisk for things to come. 

I’ll repeat my previous warning: What follows is my opinion and my opinion alone. It is based on my observations of far too many elections and the political process as I currently see it. 

That Joe Biden is the Democratic nominee for President is shocking, to say the least. With the Party focus on the vote from youth, minority, immigrants, progressives and the newly “woke”, the Democratic party has chosen an elderly white male millionaire establishment candidate with 47 years in the D.C. political swamp. A candidate who has already failed twice as a Presidential hopeful and at age 78 would be the oldest President to ever take the oath of office. 

Somewhere along the line, the plan seems to have gone astray. And not for trying either. The nominee has made more gaffes than can even been listed. Things so serious any other candidate would have been tossed to the side like yesterday’s fish wrapped newspaper. These include sexual misconduct allegations that seem to have been swept away along with his involvement in his family’s misdeeds and his own history of racism and questionable cognizance. 

Which brings us to his choice of running mates, Kamala Harris. A former Presidential hopeful herself who crashed and burned badly during the Democratic debates. Yet Biden’s made a promise to choose a black female candidate to fill his Vice President slot and he chose the former top law enforcement official of California during the Defund The Police movement supported by the Party. 

As you can see from my predictions, I always thought Harris would be the nominee. She had all the right supporters and backers but was never able to get over her own poor showing or her highly dubious history as a prosecutor and politician. 

Now here’s my big honk’n prediction asterisk. Should Biden be elected and not be able to fulfill his full term as President, Harris would become the President, a reality many now believe as a given. 

But what of my second choice, Hillary Clinton? My prediction backup was the leading candidate would fall from grace so badly that a demoralized Democratic party would turn to her as their savior and, bypassing all scrutiny of the pre-election theater, nominate her as their Presidential candidate once again. It’s still not outside the range of possibilities but early voting is starting soon, time is running out fast. 

Clinton has recently said she would be open to serving in a Biden administration. But what position would someone who to this day still thinks she was robbed of the presidency be willing to take? Certainly not something subordinate to the President, it would have to be something decidedly superior. The only thing I can think of would be an appointment to the United States Supreme Court. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, and extraordinarily terrifying. 

So let’s take a preview of what will certainly be Election Theater Act 3, The Elections. 

With COVID-19 still making it too unsafe to vote in person – even though mass riots are perfectly safe – mail in voting will be the key to making this election the most hotly contested and litigated in United States history. 

Those of you who are old enough will remember the absolute CF that was the 2000 Presidential elections, how long it took to resolve and the intervention of the Florida Supreme Court and the United States Supreme Court in determining the end result. 2020 is going to make that look like a walk in the park. 

Imagine late ballots, non-postmarked ballots, boxes upon boxes of lost then mysteriously found ballots, defective but still certified ballots, ballots from the dead and many, many ballot recounts – in every state around the country. This election is being set up to be contested for MONTHS by armies of lawyers on both sides. Which brings up the nightmare scenario where the Electoral College is unable to declare a winner by January 20, 2021. 

In that case, the election would go to the House of Representatives for a vote by state, with each state voting on their own, independent of their state’s election results. Whatever candidate (and it could be anyone) has a majority of 26 states would become president until Jan. 20, 2025.

If you think the elections have been nasty and stupid so far, you haven’t seen anything yet. 

Of course, this is only MY opinion. 

Bob

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Un-Happy Labor Day

Today is Labor Day in the United States, a time we should be taking to celebrate the American worker. We should be, but this year is a very different. With the twin plagues known as COVID-19 & election politics in full bloom, millions of Americans are out of work, their “non-essential” businesses shut down or only able to open at a small fraction of their capacity.  In my state, today is day 180 of the mandatory Two Weeks to Flatten the Curve of COVID-19 economic shutdown.  Businesses closed, many forever, means workers idled, dependent on emergency government assistance to provide them with enough money to simply survive. Too many businesses are closed, families broken, and lives lost for not being able to endure the anguish.  This is not the way to celebrate Labor Day.

I don’t believe for a moment American workers want to be dependent on the government for their existence. American workers want to work. They want to provide for their families themselves. They want to be independent and make their own choices about the safety of their families, but they are not allowed to. 

A little reminder on what Labor Day is. 

The modern observance of the holiday seems to have forgotten the roots that brought Labor Day into being. Following the Pullman Strike of 1894 where 30 workers died and 57 were injured at the hands of the United States Army and Marshals Service, Congress approved Labor Day as an official holiday. It was an attempt by President Grover Cleveland to gain support among the trade unions following the strike. While it is disputed who first proposed the holiday, Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners or machinist Matthew Maguire, the intent was to create a “workingmen’s holiday”.

Recently the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) revised their numbers to show the number of sick and dead from COVID-19 were never as bad as they had been reported. Also revised has been the guidance for travel indicating the mandatory 14-day quarantines are not necessary. Still further evidence shows the economic shutdowns have been overly broad and unnecessary. Yet extremist governors refuse to revise their shutdown orders and let people go back to work. Those who attempt to defy these orders have been issued shockingly excessive fines for simply opening their businesses. 

The longer this pandemic shutdown goes on, the more we see it has not been a health-related emergency but a political exploitation. The purpose has been crystal clear, to cause as much economic disruption as possible to influence people to vote against an administration THEY blame for the economic turmoil and promise to rebuild the economy THEY themselves are responsible for destroying. 

When the U.S. Congress comes back into session this week, we’ll see if they are willing to work towards helping those who have been shut out of their jobs or holding them hostage until they can pass a full agenda of socialist reform measures. 

Better yet, how about some encouragement to the states to get them to reopen their economies. Perhaps if the politicians who have yet to go without a paycheck from the economic shutdown lost their income too it would prompt them to action. Perhaps a complete shutdown of all federal dollars to any state that hasn’t reopened would get them to take a fresh look at the economic impact vs. their political positioning under the pretext of a health emergency. 

American workers deserve the opportunity to work and celebrate their Labor Day as actual workers. 

Bob

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Not Well-Suited for Self-Defense?

As expected, the State of California filed an appeal of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit three-judge panel that upheld the ruling that the State’s ban on Large Capacity Magazines (LCM) was unconstitutional in the case of Duncan v. Becerra. Nothing about the request for a rehearing by an en banc panel was a surprise, from the arguments being made to the appeal being filed on the final day. California will do anything and everything to protect one of its signature gun control measures and bleed the opposition dry while doing it. And just because you’re not from People’s Republik of Kalifornistan doesn’t mean this case shouldn’t be important to you. 

All of the materials, filings and rulings on this case are available at the link below. It’s worth your time to read and understand what is going on since California likes to export its bad, expensive and unconstitutional policies to the rest of the country. 

There are a few things I found particularly interesting in the State’s Petition for Rehearing En Banc.

First, the State sees no reason or need for any civilian to have so-called large capacity magazines. In fact, the filing indicates “The record here demonstrates that LCMs are not well-suited for self-defense.” It rationalizes that Californian’s can have as many 10 round magazines as they want, and (currently) as much ammunition as they want. 

The photo that accompanies this article is from a home security system in a Fremont, CA home invasion burglary on August 28, 2016. It shows five armed men coming into the house, at least one carrying a handgun with a magazine extending below the pistol grip, a LCM. Fortunately, the residents were not home at the time. Even if the resident was armed with a California 10 round magazine, he would most certainly have been killed in this encounter. In this burglary the homeowner was able to call the police while watching the burglary on his home cameras remotely. Unfortunately, the armed home invaders left before the police arrived and were not caught.

The State has never explained why a so-called LCM is not-well suited for self-defense, but it’s the exact opposite of the training and advise of every reputable self-defense instructor I’ve ever known, including my own. It has also never offered any explanation why 10 rounds is the magic, safe enough for civilians number, but 11 is way too dangerous. 

Let’s also keep in mind that in some places like New York City, firearms that simply have the capability to accept a so-called LCM are banned. So, if even one magazine is made for it with a capacity over 10 rounds, the firearm itself is banned.

The State also references the Fyock v. Sunnyvale, a local California ordinance banning magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, which was upheld by a three-judge panel, as a binding precedent. 

There are several issues that come from Fyock, not the least of which is that California does not have a preemption law banning local jurisdictions from passing their own more restrictive firearm regulations. As we’ve seen in states without preemption, this results in a patchwork of laws throughout the state that are impossible for any law-abiding citizen to understand or comply with. Virginia recently removed its preemption for firearm regulations and now anti-gun cities are drafting unique and highly confusing laws regulating use and possession within its borders. 

Fyock was also decided under what is known as Intermediate Scrutiny, which is what the State believes is the correct level for Second Amendment cases. Duncan’s ruling utilized Strict Scrutiny. 

A quick note on Rational-Basis, Intermediate Scrutiny, and Strict Scrutiny

Under Rational Basis the government must have a legitimate interest and the law must be “rationally related” to the interest. 

Under Intermediate Scrutiny, the government must have an important interest and the law must be substantially related to the interest. 

Under Strict Scrutiny, the government must have a compelling interest and the law must be narrowly tailored to the interest.

Note that the likelihood of a law being overturned increases as the level of scrutiny increases. Few government laws survive a Strict Scrutiny test since they are generally far broader than need be. 

The argument for the use of Strict Scrutiny review of Second Amendment cases has been going on for years. Government agencies don’t like that because it severely restricts their regulatory powers, something most of us would argue is appropriate in a case involving the Bill of Rights. 

For the next step, the 11-member en banc panel to hear this will be randomly drawn from the Nineth Circuit Court of Appeals. While there has been significant progress in helping to balance the court with justices appointed by the current Presidential administration, it still has a 16 to 13 liberal slant. Of course, that ANY judge should be considered liberal vs. conservative is absolutely asinine. The law, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights should be interpreted by every judge each and every time WITHOUT regard for political party platforms, but that’s a topic for another time. For this case, the outcome will likely be decided by the draw instead of the legal arguments in the case. 

Why is this case important? A successful appeal by the State reverses the initial District Court ruling and magazines with a capacity higher than 10 rounds are once again illegal in California. The only hope for a reversal comes from the United States Supreme Court which has not been willing to hear Second Amendment cases. 

In the unlikely event of Duncan being upheld, the State will have to decide if it wants to risk an unsuccessful appeal to the Supreme Court where it has the potential to impact magazine bans around the country or find another way to restrict them in California. 

However, in my opinion the most important thing this case points out is the importance of our local and state elections. Laws like this are enacted by the people we elect to office. When we elect gun control politicians, we enable them to restrict our Second Amendment protected rights and the only recourse we have is to have them overturned in the courts. 

And guess what, you and I are paying for both sides of this fight. Our taxes pay for the lawyers to defend the laws that take away our rights and our dues and donations pay for the lawyers to try to get them back. The only ones who win regardless of the outcome are the lawyers. 

It’s a fool’s errand to believe that once a law has been enacted, it can successfully be drawn back. Of the thousands of gun control laws passed around the country, precious few are successfully appealed and reversed. The best way – the ONLY way to stop them is to prevent them from being enacted in the first place.  And the only one who can do that is you.

Vote wisely this year. 

Bob

Duncan v. Becerra

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Gun Buys vs. Gun Votes

It’s election season and everyone is trying to predict how people will vote. Now mix in COVID-19, a near complete national shutdown of the economy, millions of people thrown out of work, business and lives destroyed and lost, violent criminals being released from prison ‘for their safety’, police departments being defunded and services cut, and the ongoing “peaceful protests” a.k.a. riots around the country. It’s no wonder we’ve seen absolutely unprecedented firearms and ammunition sales around the country, many of them by first time buyers. But does this mean more votes for or against gun control politicians as some are predicting? Sadly no, but you know what, that’s not what is important. 

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 spread, and the politically motivated shutdown that has lasted MONTHS beyond the initial “two weeks to flatten the curve”, there has been a run on firearms and ammunition unseen in this nation’s history. NICS (National Instant Criminal Background Check System) inquiries, the federal background checks used to estimate firearms sales, have broken records for months with no signs of letting up. 

But there’s something different about this spike vs. previous ones. Most of the time firearm purchases increase after a horrific event and there is fear of political knee-jerk reaction laws to limit access to firearms and ammo. The fears are of course well-founded as gun control extremists and their political allies realize they can cram through otherwise unobtainable laws under the mantra of “never let a crisis go to waste”, even if it means politicizing the victims while they are still bleeding and acting before the cause is actually known. 

This spike has been different. With COVID-19 national shutdown of the economy, convicts being released en masse into the community, law enforcement services being curtailed, daily riots and destruction around the country and random, unchecked violence everywhere, people are genuinely and rightfully concerned for their safety and the safety of their families. In many places, the fear of not being able to get a law enforcement response for hours, if at all, to a plea for help in a crisis has many who have never before owned firearms flocking to gun stores. 

I’ve seen estimates around the country of anywhere between 40% to 70% of purchasers are new to firearms. They come from all walks of life, races, ages, religions and political affiliation. Far more than the normal amount are women. Many of these new purchasers also have no idea what it really takes to purchase a firearm leading to a host of amusing, yet very sad, stories from around the country. 

So, what does this mean politically? Do all of these new firearm owners mean a sweep for Republican or anti-gun control Democrat candidates? No. It means absolutely nothing. And, that’s okay. 

Purchasing or owning a firearm has very little to do with political party affiliation. During my time in the firearms industry, managing a firearm retailer, gunsmithing and operating a small private shooting club and range, I’ve met firearms owners from every point on the political spectrum from off the scale left to the hardest of hard-core right. Just because you own firearms, doesn’t mean you don’t support gun control. I’ve met people you would think to be anti-gun control such as law enforcement, ex-military, a gun range operator and even the owner of a firearm manufacturer who are very pro-gun control. At the same time, one of the biggest anti-gun control advocate I know is a Democrat. 

Modern political party affiliation, especially in urban areas, generally means you have bought onto the full party platform. For Democrats, that means you support gun control. For a politician, if you don’t support the party platform, you’ll very quickly find your Party support and money gone and a new Party supported Democrat running against you.  In rural areas, where there is less focus on the national party platform, politicians from both the major parties are more reflective of their constituents. 

The other thing to remember is very rarely does the citizenry directly vote on gun control measures. There are exceptions, but for the most part we vote for representatives, who then vote for or against gun control. As we’ve seen, many politicians run on a very strong anti-gun platform, at least during the normal campaign season. Then, in the final run up to the elections, gun control is purposefully faded to the background so as not to discourage those who may hold strong firearm rights views.  Sadly, as the State of Virginia found out, once elected, gun control becomes the primary focus with politicians claiming their victory is a mandate for gun control. 

What this all boils down to is firearm purchases are going to mean very little, if anything at all, to the elections. People are going to vote for the party or person they feel best represents their values. Gun rights and gun control is a part of that, but it is very unlikely to switch someone from a blue to red vote. 

My take on this is that’s okay. While I wish more people would place the Second Amendment and firearm rights higher up on their priorities, it is not a requirement for firearm ownership. Second Amendment protected rights apply to EVERYONE equally, no matter their political party affiliation, just as it should be. People owning and using firearms makes them and their families safer, just as it should be. 

So what do we do? We welcome new firearm owners into the community. We help them with training, places to shoot, competition, hunting, sports and self-defense information. We invite them into our clubs and associations so they can be the best and safest firearm owners they can be. If we can also help them to see how important their Second Amendment protected rights are at the same time, then maybe sometime, someday, somewhere, they’ll bump that a little higher up on their priorities. In the meantime, we simply welcome them. 

Bob

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Those Damn Racist Norwegians??

Rant Warning: In case you missed it in the news recently, a Michigan Bed & Breakfast removed their Norwegian flag following accusations of promoting racism when their flag was mistaken for a Confederate flag. After “at least a dozen hateful emails” and twice as many comments about it, the owners of the Nordic Pineapple, Greg and Kjersten Offenecker, removed the Norwegian flag and an American flag that flew on the opposite side of the porch.  

No matter if you see history or hate in the Confederate Battle Flag, what kind of reactionary social justice moron does it take to mistake a Norwegian flag for the Confederate flag? 

Even if someone didn’t recognize it as being the official flag of Norway, confusing it with the Confederate flag is a HUGE stretch. Look at the picture, is it even conceivable the two could be confused? Take a look at the flags of the world someday and start counting how many flags are come combination of red, white and blue with some kind of stripes and / or stars. 

Of course, it’s not like there weren’t any other clues to the origin of the flag, like the name of the business – The Nordic Pineapple – or the owners, Greg and Kjersten Offenecker. 

What this sad situation does show is the lack of intelligence and blind willingness to follow the mob mentality of our current social justice ‘wokeness’. So willing to accuse anyone or anything of racism, the actual facts, the truth and cold hard reality are easily pushed aside. It doesn’t matter if innocent lives and businesses are destroyed as long as you are able to say someone is a racist! 

Even though the facts conclusively prove otherwise, we are told to believe all of law enforcement is guilty of systemic racism. The criminal justice system, racist. The entertainment industry, racist. Sports, racist. Every business, restaurant or entertainment venue, racist. YOU as someone who is reading this??? You must also be a racist. 

All of this goes to further highlight that if you are looking at the world through racist glasses, all you are going to see is racists. Accusing someone or labeling something as being racist these days has very little to do with that person or thing actually being racist. It does however speak volumes about the accuser’s bias. 

Is this what our society has become? Are we so willing to destroy the businesses and lives of others over something we can’t be bothered to confirm for ourselves? 

To Greg and Kjersten Offenecker, I am sorry your own community succumb to the mob mentality without thinking. That Greg, a United States Navy veteran who served in Desert Storm, and Kjersten, whose father was from Norway, the parents of three including two adopted black children, should have to suffer for the sheer ignorance of the race baters among us intolerable. 

Tell me again how the social justice warriors are improving our country. 

Bob

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School Security In A Defund The Police World

Despite the never ending COVID-19 crisis, it’s back to school time in many parts of the country. However, one critical element will be missing from many schools, a law enforcement presence. With the “Defund the Police” movement pushing for the removal of police officers from elementary to college level, schools have cancelled police contracts and banned officers from coming onto their campuses. Why? Because these racist and violent officers – the same ones who have been successfully integrated into schools for years and years – are now part of a “systemically racist” society that only fuels the so-called “school-to-prison pipeline”. 

So instead of addressing the actual causes of the problems in the school, you remove the law enforcement officers who are there to protect the students, teachers and staff from threats inside and outside the school. It’s not hard to predict what is going to happen. Once again, the lives of America’s children are going to be sacrificed for political gain. 

Despite what the media tells us, acts of mass violence at schools is hardly a new, or a United States only, thing. It has and continues to happen at schools of all levels, in all corners of the world, with all forms of weapons. The weapon in fact makes little difference, violence is violence and dead is dead. When one form of weapon isn’t available, another will be used.

What has changed is the way we prevent and respond to it. We’ve learned that hardening schools, having law enforcement on site, having armed teachers and having a zero-tolerance policy dramatically reduce the amount of violence on school grounds. 

The most visible, and most newsworthy, incidents are shootings. Nothing grabs media and politician reactions like shooting innocent, unarmed children. Yet what is the preferred method of protecting our nation’s schools?  Posting a bunch of Gun Free Zone signs and declaring the campus safe, until the next time. 

I, and many many others have pointed out the insanity of ignoring the evidence and relying on Gun Free Zone signs to protect our children. Yet time and time again, the evil, insane and deraigned take note of where the soft targets are and go there to make their name in history. And time and time again, the political response to a mass shooting event is more gun control.  

But what about this systemically racist school-to-prison pipeline? Isn’t that worth not having police in schools?  

Schools are supposed to be about educating our youth for transition into adulthood. Violence, harassment and drugs brought in by students has no place here. Yet schools continue trying to insulate students who commit on-campus crime from the criminal justice system. They say they can handle it better without getting the authorities involved. Thus, students learn very quickly there are no real consequences for committing crime. 

Again, it’s been show time and time again that a permissive approach towards minor crime leads to more crimes and more serious crimes.

Take the example of Parkland High School in Florida who had a policy of not disciplining students or calling in law enforcement for incidents. After all, that makes the school look bad and could impact funding. Was this the cause of the tragedy there? No, not its own. In this case there were so many colossal failures at every level from the schools disciplinary policy and ignoring a safety assessment, security watching the gunman entering the building and doing nothing, to the Sheriff’s department inaction before and during the incident, the state child welfare services and the FBI, ALL of which could have stopped this horrific incident before it ever started. 

So here’s a little reality you might find disturbing. What if the school-to-prison pipeline – defined as the disproportionate tendency of minors and young adults from disadvantaged backgrounds to become incarcerated, because of increasingly harsh school and municipal policies – isn’t because of the policies or the police being on site? What if the population getting arrested really is committing the crimes and the policies and police are just catching it? 

Of course, the popular answer is the schools and police are racist because these policies are ensnaring a disproportionate number from a certain population. That’s easy to fix. Get rid of the policies and the police. It won’t do anything to fix the actual violence or crime in the schools, but if there’s no official reporting on it, does it actually exist? 

What if the real reason is there are deeper societal issues for this population to be getting into trouble in the first place. That would mean going into the communities and working on things like family, parenting, education, opportunity, jobs and crime. Of course, that would be really hard and take a long time to fix when it’s much easier to just declare a system racist and change the policies there. 

So as students return to campus this fall with nothing more than a Gun Free Zone sign to protect them from internal and external threats, the gun control extremist politicians are queuing up their next round of gun control measures guaranteed to prevent the violence, this time. 

Remember, gun control does absolutely nothing to increase public safety and the answer to fix that shortcoming is always to implement more gun control.

For those who have children in school, it’s way past time to demand your school board keep safety measures in schools, including strict zero tolerance policies and law enforcement in schools.  

Bob

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Re-fund The Police

For two months we’ve heard the call to “Defund The Police” and “Reimagine Public Safety” from extremist city councils, mayors and governors who have labeled all law enforcement agencies and every officer a racist. Police budgets are being ‘defunded’ while some cities are actively working to completely abolish their police departments. In the meantime, the remaining officers are being prevented from doing their jobs. While many of the budget cuts have yet to go into effect, we are already seeing the result in these American cities. Every category of crime has skyrocketed. Brutal, random violence has become commonplace. 

Maybe it’s time to stop living in this fantasy dreamland and recognize that evil will always exist and if you don’t have the police, that progressive model of a community love is going to be a war zone. Maybe it’s time to stop experimenting with people’s lives and re-fund the police.

The numbers speak for themselves. Chicago homicides have increased 50%, 139% in July alone. Atlanta 240%. New York City 277%. Houston, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Portland and Seattle have all seen significant spikes in homicides and shootings. And this is ONLY homicides and shootings! 

Yet contrast these numbers with areas of the country that have NOT given in to the ludicrous accusations of systemic racism within their law enforcement agencies and you find no increases. Amazing. It’s almost as if giving the mob what it wants makes life for every citizen in that city worse. 

But it’s not just the act of crime, it’s the fact that some people now feel it’s perfectly acceptable to simply beat the crap out of anyone, or just outright kill them, if they disagree with the current mob position. 

What kind of violence have these “defund the police” politicians enabled?  Shooting and killing a man walking across the street with his daughter holding his hand. Beating a pregnant woman and head stomping her toddler daughter. Shooting and killing a woman who had the nerve to say “All Lives Matter”. Killing an eight-year-old passenger in a car driving through a BLM controlled intersection. Beating airline employees because a flight was delayed. This is to say nothing of the extortion demanded out of stores and restaurants who don’t give into the social and economic demands of the mob movement.  

Why is this happening? Because there is nobody there to stop them. Criminals, anarchists and thugs are able to do whatever they want because there are no consequences.  Even if the police are allowed to apprehend them, they know there is little chance of being charged or held as extremist prosecutors have been dropping charges against rioters as quickly as they are arrested. Should they ever find their way into a courtroom, as long as they say “systemic racism in the justice system” they will never have to pay for their crimes.  

But now there’s an interesting trend happening. Citizens in these ultra-liberal cities are fed up with the violence, the extortion, the discrimination and the disruption caused by these social justice warriors and the governments that support and sponsor them.  They are starting to demand their police departments be re-funded and re-enabled to actually fight crime in the streets. 

New York City residents are demanding the NYPD anti-crime unit be reinstated. Seattle residents are demanding their police department not be abolished. Minneapolis residents are demanding police protection in their neighborhoods. These people, along with others around the country, have already seen what happens when the police are pulled back just a little bit and they don’t want anything to do with it. 

For whatever problems any law enforcement agency has, sacrificing the safety of the general public for some false utopian vision of an ideal society is not the way to solve it. Law enforcement has made incredible progress from where it began in this country, and it will continue to do so. Allowing the very same city councils, mayors and governors who have always been responsible for these departments to suddenly declare them as being too systemically racist to continue to exist is not the answer. 

And for anyone who missed it the last time, I’ll say it again:

Just in case you’re thinking that because I was a law enforcement officer, I’m going to support officers no matter what, you need a reality check. Nobody hates bad cops worse than other police officers. Each and every professional officer out there wants nothing more than to see bad cops stripped of their badges and held accountable for their unlawful actions. Period.

It’s time to support the good men and women of law enforcement and enable them to do their job. It is NOT acceptable to kill, rape, assault, burn, steal or extort others in your community. If you make the conscious choice to break the law, you should be apprehended and face the full consequences of the law. It doesn’t matter your race, gender, nationality, religion, vocation, status, wealth or appearance. If you break the law, you should pay the price. 

It’s time to let justice be revered in our country once again. It’s time to re-fund the police. 

Bob

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Defend The Police

Our nation’s police are under attack like never before in our nation’s history. They are being made the scapegoat for all of our country’s problems, real as well as imagined. I make no apologies for being a strong supporter of our nation’s law enforcement officers and am calling BS on what is being blamed on them. I’m also going to suggest that the actual culprits, the ones who are responsible for what is happening in law enforcement, are the ones at the top. Yup, I’m looking right at you politician-with-badges chiefs and city councils. This disgrace, and all the lives lost because of it is on you. The blood is on your hands.  

It is now socially acceptable to violently assault officers in this country. If an officer is making an arrest, it’s acceptable to jump in and beat them. It’s acceptable to violently resist arrest and help others escape custody. It’s acceptable to ambush, beat, stab and shoot officers in broad daylight. It’s now acceptable to kill officers just because they are officers.  What the hell kind of world is this? 

If you believe the rhetoric being spewed by rioters, anarchists and extremist city councils, law enforcement in this country is fatally flawed due to its tenuous at best association with slavery in the antebellum southern states. We’re told this, and only this history, not the roots from England and other parts of Europe, is what matters. Time, growth, law, policy and training mean nothing in this context and as such, police departments have been and always will be guilty of systemic racism and must be abolished.

But for a moment, let’s forget all that and look at modern law enforcement up until May 2020. Certainly, there have been issues, but politician-with-badges chiefs and city councils have updated and regulated their departments to be a better reflection of the values of their communities. The radically “new” concept of community policing was implemented to bring the departments closer to their citizens. Then one horrific incident changes everything. Now, suddenly “woke” by the mobs of anarchists and rioters demanding their heads, city councils are instantly able to recognize their own police departments, the ones THEY THEMSELVES have been responsible for, are and always have been incurably racist.  I call BS! 

They claim the lowly officer on the street is under trained and running rogue. Except of course, the officers are trained to the very standards and following the very policies the politician-with-badges chiefs and city councils set for them. But that doesn’t matter, it’s the cop on the street’s fault for doing what they were hired and trained to do. 

Is the level of training provided to police officers enough? HELL NO! I have never, EVER met an officer who felt the amount of training they receive from their department is sufficient. For the majority of officers, the training is the minimum required by law, and nothing more. Training costs money and you need extra officers to cover the time away from their shifts – which means more money. But municipalities don’t want to spend money on that. It’s much cheaper to blame the officers and get rid of them.  

With angry mobs backed up by biased media outlets at their doorsteps, departments are willing to throw their officers under the bus for the smallest perceived infraction, even if it complied with the law and department regulations. Due process, policy, legal precedent and evidence doesn’t matter, as long as it pleases the mobs. Officers are considered expendable. 

While the politician-with-badges are kneeling their allegiance to the mobs and hiding behind their copies of 21st Century Policing, they are joining with their city councils to take away the tools the officers need to restore order from rioters and issuing stand down orders to allow the mobs to operate with impunity. It doesn’t matter if property is looted and burned to the ground. It doesn’t matter that our nation’s landmarks are damaged and destroyed.  It doesn’t matter if people are assaulted and killed. The mob has carte blanch as long as they are rioting for the ‘right’ cause. 

Politicians are working on creative ways to further restrict and punish police officers. Eliminating officers qualified immunity, while not being willing to remove their own liability protections, is just the latest punishment in advance. Efforts are being made to strip away officers’ certifications if X number of complaints are recorded against them, even if the complaints are determined to be false. 

In New York City, certain restraint techniques are now chargeable offenses, even if not purposefully applied and no injuries occur. It has led the New York State Police Union to demand their officers to be pulled out of New York City, claiming there shouldn’t be two sets of standards in the state. 

Side note: This may sound eerily familiar to the Second Amendment argument against allowing every municipality in a state to set their own gun control laws. 

Just in case you’re thinking that because I was a law enforcement officer, I’m going to support other officers no matter what, understand this. Nobody hates bad cops worse than other police officers. Each and every professional officer out there wants nothing more than to see bad cops stripped of their badges and held accountable for their unlawful actions. Period. 

Across the country, actual law enforcement leaders, chiefs who are defending their officers, are getting fired. Meanwhile, politicians-with-badges and the city councils they serve continue to demand around-the-clock protection from the very police departments they are vowing to defund. And if they are targeted by “terrorists” at their own homes, they demand swift justice from the soon-to-be-eliminated police. Ironic, isn’t it? 

For anyone that doesn’t appreciate what that thin blue line does for them, take a look at what has been happening in Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and New York right now. Police services being cut, restricted and withheld. Rioters, anarchists and thugs have been given control of the cities and the criminals and politicians are the only ones being protected. Is this the kind of country you want? 

Welcome to the new world of Defund The Police. 

Bob

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Apparently, I’m A Racist

Like so many others across our country, I have been labeled a racist. Like so many others, it has nothing to do with who I am, my heritage, my history, what I believe in, the life I’ve led, my values, my thoughts, my words or my actions. Like so many others the label was given to me by people who do not know me. Like so many others the label was given because of my appearance. Like so many others I was given the label because of my current or past vocation. Like so many others the label was given because I refused to buy into the current mob mentality and kneel to it in some form of mock submission. And most importantly, like so many others it is not a reflection of who I am but who the accuser is. 

I’ve come up with two definitions of racism, one is factual and the other is from the mob mentality point of view. 

  1. The belief that a particular race is superior or inferior to another, that a person’s social and moral traits are predetermined by his or her inborn biological characteristics. Racial separatism is the belief, most of the time based on racism, that different races should remain segregated and apart from one another.
  2. Disagreeing with anyone about racism.

While you can also be labeled a racist based solely on the color of your skin and the color of your ancestors’ skin, anyone regardless of their skin color can be labeled a racist if they violate rule #2. Of course, the only surefire way to not be considered a racist is to admit you are a racist. It’s the 2020 version of Catch-22.            

Calling someone a racist is the simple solution to pressure them to think or act the way you want them to. We have become a world where simply disagreeing with someone makes you a racist. Presenting an opinion, even one backed up with research, well documented facts and credible witnesses, that goes opposite to the current mob mentality says is “truth” makes you a racist. 

If you think, so what, I am entitled to my own beliefs. Consider that people have been fired, had their businesses ruined, looted and burned to the ground, ostracized from their communities, extorted, had their lives, families and properties threatened, been assaulted – and worse for speaking out against the mob mentality. Imagine having the sheer audacity, or if you are white, the caucasity to dare say “All Lives Matter”. It’s no wonder so many people are afraid to speak their mind these days. 

I would never suggest that racism does not exist in our nation. It has existed since the beginning of mankind and exists in every corner of the world today. Anyone and everyone, from any race, gender, religion, vocation, status, wealth or appearance can be a racist. What I will suggest however is that not everything is racism and not everyone is racist. The epitome of human understanding is not being able to find racism in every situation, it should be to respect every human for who they are. 

The sad truth is I’ve been called a racist, and far more horrible things, in many languages, many times throughout my life. Each time it followed the same pattern of hate and anger used to deflect the blame from something they did to someone else, hoping for a better result for themselves. 

These are people who take one look at me or see something I have written or said which goes against the popular narrative of the time and immediately know enough about my life, my history, my beliefs to say, YOU ARE A RACIST. Which, in order to follow the stereotypical racist accuser pattern, is followed up by a litany of personal insults. 

Now if someone who actually did know me, who has spent time with me, has seen me interact with others, were to come to me and say, ‘Bob, I think you’re being a racist’, then I might have to take stock of what they are saying and take a good look at myself. Am I doing something that is being misinterpreted or am I really being racist? 

For me, the way I was raised, the values I was brought up with, it simply would not have been tolerated. Like so many others, I was raised to treat everyone the way I wanted to be treated, equally and with respect. You know, basic Golden Rule stuff. Race, gender, religion, vocation, status, wealth, appearance or anything else that could possibly set us apart are never an excuse for treating anyone else less than what we expect for ourselves.  It’s really that simple. 

I am by nature a very private person. Even among those who know me, very few know many details of my own or my family’s history. Even fewer know my original family name or the circumstances that caused it to be changed because of…. racism. But that’s okay because that is my own personal history and history is what you make of it. You can learn and grow from it, or you can attempt to erase it and pretend it never happened. But no matter your past or the collective past of our nation, you – and you alone – are responsible for your actions today.  

So, what am I going to do differently now that I have yet again been called a racist? NOT A DAMN THING! Like so many others the only kind of racism I am actually guilty of is the kind that doesn’t agree with the current mob mentality on racism. And that’s not racism, that’s integrity. 

I am going to continue to advocate for basic human rights, for everyone. I am going to continue to advocate for Constitutional protection of our inalienable rights, for everyone. I am going to continue to work for solutions to issues with family, education, employment, inequality, crime, justice, accountability and responsibility – for everyone. 

Like so many others, I’m proud of who I am and the nation I have been brought up in. I will continue to fight for the rights our nation was founded on, for everyone. Not because it’s easy or because it’s politically correct, but because it’s the right thing to do and what I would want for myself.

Bob

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Fourth of July Patriots

I’d like to thank all the patriots in my town who gave a big ol’ fashioned FU! to the crown Saturday night and participated in an impromptu community Independence Day fireworks display. With a 180-degree view, a full moon rising and a thunderstorm passing in the background, we couldn’t have asked for a more perfect spectacle. And it was all done without burning the down the countryside. Imagine that… people celebrating freedom responsibly. 

That so many people were setting off fireworks at home this year is due to the insane gathering restrictions put in place by our Governor. With all of the COMPLETELY non-protest/riot related COVID-19 cases spiking, fireworks presentations across the state were cancelled, for our own protection. Protests/riots are of course still approved mass gatherings, as long as they are for the cause sponsored and supported by the angry mobs and extremist politicians. 

Much like mandate to wear non-medical, permeable cloth facemasks in public to stop the spread of a virus that can pass right through them, cancelling Independence Day celebrations across the nation was nothing more than another measure of extremist control and quite frankly, an insult directly targeted at anyone who values our nation’s history and freedom. 

To see so many fireworks in defiance of oppressive, do nothing orders in celebration of our nation’s independence confirms the silent majority is still alive and kicking. While the fringe of the nation continues acting out in violent temper tantrums carefully scripted to divide and distract us, real patriots are celebrating freedom. 

Libertatem diu vivere! 

Bob

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