A REASONABLE PROPOSAL FOR RULES OF ENGAGEMENT

This is re-posted from The D.C. Clothesline

A REASONABLE PROPOSAL FOR RULES OF ENGAGEMENT DURING THE COMING TRIBULATION by Gary Harper
Posted on January 10, 2013 by Dean Garrison
(Sigh…)

My grandmother was a secretary for a Senator.  Her sister was married to a Governor of NJ.  Her other sister was married to the head of the NJ DOT.

From all that she had seen, my grandmother was always talking of Revolution.  She said you would not believe how crooked the whole thing is.  And, how bold and arrogant they all are.

My dad, a carpenter and a millwright, was also always talking of Revolution.  So were a lot of his co-workers.

I was always shaking my head, and saying that the country is nowhere near that.  Everyone is too comfortable with their beer and TVs and air conditioning and taking the kids to soccer practice and their new Davenports and their new cars.  Revolution is not a good thing.  It is never a good thing.  People die in Revolutions.  Lots of good people, innocent people die.  Maybe you would die too.  And the government removed is merely replaced by one with other political hacks of the same ilk.  It attracts a certain nasty, distasteful breed.  Nothing is ever accomplished in the end.

Which brings us up to today.

I hope and I pray that the Revolution does not come in my lifetime.  But it now appears to be much closer than ever.  This seems to have happened overnight.  We all feel it.  We actually are only ever one ill-informed Executive Order from it.

Do not think that those in our government who know what is better for you than you do yourself do not have a long-range plan.  They are counting on the citizens of this country to be a highly divided, non-cohesive, lethargic, and apathetic force.  Strike fast and swiftly, be very repressive, document it and get it all out there, and convince us that there is nothing we can do, there is no hope for our cause, is always their best tactic.  It worked well for Hitler and Stalin.  The government could have had David Koresh jogging on the road miles away with only a few companions, but instead they surrounded the Waco compound.  They were expecting the drama of all that, his supporters surrendering meekly on nationwide TV, to show you that there is no hope, you cannot stop them.  In their arrogance, they planned to show you how far they would go to push their agenda. Instead, you saw agents shot, one falling on the roof. And Koresh’s followers showed the government that ordinary citizens will fight back when pushed too far.  The end result in Waco was actually a lot like Masada under the Roman siege, it was just over way faster.  On prime time.

The government assumed that we were all numbed by DVDs, beer, bowling, and the nine-to-five world.  They were misreading our apathy at election time as a pervasive national mindset.

After the lesson of Waco, they will not make that same mistake again.  Waco pushed their agenda back for a number of years.  But people have pretty much forgotten about that now, as they counted on.  And they have been planning ever since.

After all, if there is absolutely no conflict between peoples, there is no need for government, or for armies.  If all people got along, even all weapons of self-defense would be unnecessary.  We would not need to lock our doors, would not need to worry about the safety of a child standing alone on a street corner, we would have no missing children in this country, and no rapes or robberies would occur.  But, people are for the most part self-serving, and cannot see past their own situations.  This goes for our elected officials, too.  After all, they were raised in this society.  Would you expect them to be any different from the general population?  Politics is a septic tank, and the really big pieces always float to the top.

The government has a vested interest in conflict, or at least in the appearance of conflict.  They thrive as the perceived mediators between conflicting parties.  Each law passed creates a new class of criminals out of what were formerly law-abiding citizens.  Each law passed results in an additional need for enforcement, enforcers, and personnel and equipment and buildings to support those enforcers.  As time passes, and more laws are passed, government tends to grow exponentially.  Eventually it becomes totally self-serving, to the detriment of the population it formerly served.

As an example of the divisiveness of the government, you only need to look to the census.  It will ask you what your race / ethnic identification is.  There is no block for “American”.  There is no block for “US citizen”.  So the government, in the guise of collecting ethnic information, actually is tacitly promoting racism.  Policies are drawn up on the basis of this.  It does not matter what race or color you are.  It only matters if you are a citizen or not.  Being of European and Cherokee descent, I mark “Mixed” or “Other” on everything.  I encourage you all to do the same.

If you keep specific groups in conflict with one another, they will not be able to get together and focus on who their real foes are.  Which pretty much comes down to anyone who wears a red power tie.  In the final analysis, laws are about power and control, and not necessarily in that order.  I present this statistic as another possible example.  What does abortion do?   It kills 3.5 times as many future black citizens (percentage-wise by population) as it does future white citizens.  I read this today.  The claim is that these poor, young, single black women will experience undue hardship in raising their children.  In many cases, that is absolutely true.  So, we abort their children, rather than ensure that we provide equal economic opportunity to all.  The net result is that the rate at which white people become a minority in this country is being slowed down.  Is funding this a racist policy or not, an economic necessity or not?  Does this involve any conflict, power and control? You decide for yourself.  As long as black and white do not totally get along, neither group will be looking at the power ties.  This serves their interests.

Out of the promotion of conflict originated our two-party system.  The Republicans do not care if you live or die, you are free to do either, as long as they and their friends are unfettered to amass great sums of wealth.  The Democrats will do anything to ensure that you will not hurt yourself, down to controlling every aspect of your environment, your lives, and hopefully, your very thoughts.  They do not care what you think about this, because you are not qualified to think for yourself.  Just so long as they and their friends are still free to amass great sums of wealth.

So you see, they are just two faces of the same coin.  Their posturing and vocal conflict on the face of it all reflects the conflict they slyly promote in society as a whole.  But behind closed doors, they are all from the same club.  And you are not a member of that club.  You are expected to look forward to your happiness in the future slavery of the mind.  Enslave the mind, and you do not need to enslave the body.  Or, be happy starving.  Once dead, you do not require any expensive social services.  Either way, you are nothing to them.

Know that there are many in the lower levels of the current government who do not like the way all of this has been heading.  They have their pensions to protect, so they are currently paying lip service to all of this.  But deep down inside, they know where their true loyalties lie.  This is a good thing, because we citizens have some inside men and women we may have to rely on later.  I expect that they will come through for us in the end.

Assume that the government has a well-laid-out plan for its future, your future.  A lot of time has gone into it.  It is therefore a top-heavy and inflexible plan, as is typical of bureaucratic plans.  So, since the government has its rigid plan, we citizens all need to have a loose and adaptable plan of response.

Writing to your Congressmen is a good thing.  Express your opinions, whether pro or con on the gun control question, or indeed any other question.  We rightful Bearers of Arms want you to express yourself, although we do not truly see the anti-gun stance as being logical, rational, well thought out, or ultimately even safe for you as a free citizen.  But, express your opinion, we encourage it.  Our legitimately purchased and owned arms insure your right to do so.  We can only hope you will see your error before it is too late.

It is time to speak of the things many think about, but few discuss.  If things do go bad down the road, these are my own ideas for a logical plan of action.  I believe the dissemination of this may result in discourse among all interested parties.  I certainly hope so.  We all need to have a plan for the future.  They have theirs.

The guarantees of the Constitution are not absolute.  The test of any law that seems to limit freedoms guaranteed within the framework of the Constitution is in the simplest analysis two-fold.  The first test is, what is the actual intent of the law?  Is it actually intended to abrogate the rights guaranteed under the constitution via a back-door means?  The second test is, if during its implementation, will a well-meaning law abrogate constitutionally guaranteed rights?  If so, it is for all intents and purposes unconstitutional.  No matter how well-meaning it was in its original intent or wording.  The Constitution is flexible to a degree, but it is not designed to be breakable. The Framers wrote it to last for millennia.

If the Congress were to pass any sort of comprehensive gun ban, this would abrogate the Second Amendment to the Constitution.  The same holds for a wide-sweeping Executive Order.  After all, Obama has now been pushed into a corner by certain interests, and he needs to do something to lend the appearance to all that he is doing something meaningful to stop the senseless and needless violence.  But this would be unconstitutional, as a sweeping gun ban has to be ratified by a vast majority of the State Legislatures, and it has to be in the form of an Amendment to the Constitution to repeal the Second Amendment (remember Prohibition?) to be constitutional. Expect Obama not to do this exactly.  But do not totally count on it, as he cannot be re-elected.  Remember the tactics of our prior Presidents.

So here are my modest proposals for a future plan of action in the event an outright gun ban is ever attempted.

While we are waiting for the Supreme Court to throw it out, we need to test our rights of Free Speech and Lawful Assembly.  We need to launch small-scale protests all over the country.  This will not be a time for large scale protests of large masses of people all gathered together in one place.  Remember the lessons of Tsarist Russia, the Soviets, and the Warsaw riots under Nazi occupation.  We will instead have to stage protests of dozens to hundreds of individuals, not hundreds of thousands, in all of the towns and cities of our nation.  These protests are to be loud, sign-waving affairs, but under no circumstances are they to be violent.  No one is to bear arms during these protests.  No throwing rocks or bricks.  No riots or looting.  We will apply for permits where permits are required, but we will not wait forever for their issuance.  If the local authority is deliberately stalling on permit issuance, we will eventually have to protest anyway.  We need to be heard until the Supreme Court makes its decision.  And if the government attempts to break up these assemblies, you already have your answer, Court or no Court.  Note that local bans usually end up before the Supreme Court with time.  A Statewide ban would have to be answered by nationwide protests in the initial stages.  It also would eventually end up being heard by the Supreme Court.

If any state adopts an outright statewide ban, all citizens of the country will have to call in sick for work for one day.  There will be no deliveries, no one to answer the phone, no place to get gasoline, no way to buy groceries.  Necessary units such as hospitals and nursing care facilities will be exempted from this, of course.  Let your conscience guide you as an employee there.  The more people who call in sick, the greater is the impact, the greater the exhibition of the mood of the citizens as a whole.  This would be a one day general strike, but of necessity a non-violent one.  Such strikes have historically worked for the French, has been effective recently in toppling the governments of Arab nations, and worked for the Bolsheviks during their Revolution.  Learn from history.  The government is not expecting you to do this, because they know that their banker and merchant friends have you all up to your neck in debt, and they know you cannot afford to take a day off from work.  They feel you have found mindless happiness in slavery, even if it is economic slavery.  So, surprise them.

What could they possibly do if every single person in the US stopped paying their bills all at once?  Think about it.  This is one of their greatest fears.  We would have the power ties on their knees in a matter of days.

If the Contrarian Citizens Confiscation Police (CCCP – hey, I had to call it something) starts outright, door-to-door firearms confiscation, do not wait until they get to you.  If we hear of this happening somewhere, anywhere in this country, we are all to go to the streets in protest, again unarmed.  If the government tries to break these protests up, you have your answer.   If this does not cause them to stop what they are doing, they are signifying that they are ready to take it to the next level.

Do not think that you can hide your guns and ammo in the walls or the ground.  They will have excellent dogs to find them.  Maybe German shepherds to sic on you.  Robotics, too.

A one day general strike would be in order, a nationwide epidemic of the “blue flu”.

If needed, the next general strike would be longer.

If this does not work, the very next step then would be to return home, arm yourself, and occupy the fields, the streets, and the interstates.  Be very mobile.  Everyone has to do this.  Do not wait for others to be the first to go out.  You need to be the first.  There is still hope at this point that those in power who are not thinking straight will figure it all out, and retract the ban.  If there is a violent response via their side, you have your answer.  A violent response will tell you that the Rights to Bear Arms, Lawfully Assemble, and to Freely Speak no longer exist.  You have no Constitution at that point.  No Republic.  With no Constitution or Republic, you have no USA to be a citizen of.  Their nightsticks and their tear gas and their rubber bullets and their copper-coated lead have shown you that.  What more do you need to know?  Everything will be different from then on, will be different forever.

If you take to the woods and streets, and the Revolution regrettably starts, you will need to strike sparingly and frequently.  No large scale operations, with very few communications between groups, and very few large scale operations involving a lot of personnel in one place at one time until near the end are warranted.  This will drive them crazy.  They will not know how to launch a large scale concerted response.  You will need to think like the Viet Cong did.  A war is won one casualty at a time. The only strategy you need is to win.

They will eventually end up holed up in the cities and bigger towns, like our armies always do.  This is where our city brothers and sisters come into their glory.  This is everyone’s fight.  It would be guerilla fighting, street to street.  We country boys and gals will deal with the supply lines, and keeping them bottled up there, as we work our way inward to meet our brothers and sisters.  The Revolution will be live.

While the Supreme Court is deciding on this ban, hopefully the CCCP will sit back and wait and see what happens before doing anything.  But do not count on it.  If the CCCP goes out, do not expect them to be politely knocking on your door.  They will be breaking it down, because they are afraid of you.  They will be coming in the middle of the night if they want to martyr you, or while you are at work if they just want to get your arms without a fight.  They will be bringing tear gas and armored vehicles.  They will be all around your house and on the roof, climbing through the windows into your basement.  They may burn you out with fire bombs.  The police did that to Move in Philadelphia.  They will most likely start in the late winter, when the leaves are off of the trees, Infrared sensing will be able to pick you out better, you will most likely be at home and not in the field hunting, the days are shorter so they have a better chance of their night scopes picking you out without you seeing them, and it is just a hardship to take to the field without the proper equipment.  They will be using satellites and aircraft and robotics.

Your top priority is survival.  Your second priority is to get your hands on their high-tech mobile equipment.  Expect it to have tracking devices in it.  This is where our young hackers will come in.  It is their fight too, as they have a lot of years left to live in this country.  All that texting and video game playing should be good for something.  There will of course be Martyrs.

Know that if you ever used the words “gun” or “Assault weapon” on Facebook, or ever searched a weapon or gun-related web page on the internet, or subscribe to a sporting magazine, or get outfitter catalogs, or have a gun registered in your name, you are already in a searchable database.  This is especially true if you are a member of the NRA.  You can either avoid doing all this, or you can rub it in their faces by making sure you are on that “gun” list.  The choice is yours.  The more people there are on the gun lists, the harder it is for them to decide who to go after first.  If everyone in the country was on these lists, well, that would be a good thing.  The mood of the citizenry would be self-evident.  And really, what would that say about the current government, if every one of its citizens was on one of their watch lists?

A government that serves the people has nothing to fear from that people.  A government that serves itself at the expense of its people has everything to fear from that people.

So, we come to the Rules of Engagement in the event of a comprehensive gun ban.  Someone has to start thinking about this.

1. When they call for everyone to come in to turn in your weapons, completely ignore it.  It is unconstitutional to take away the very means the Founding Fathers put into the Constitution to ensure all your other constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms are not abrogated by any increasingly tyrannical government.  This is true whether the Supreme Court decides for the citizens or for the government.  The Founding Fathers envisioned the Revolution as never ending.
2. When the CCCP comes to your neighbor’s house, document it, and immediately post it on social media sites.  Forward it to such organizations as the Civil Liberties Union and the NRA, to your neighbors and your friends.  Ask everyone to share it.  But expect that contacting such organizations will be blocked at this time, and Facebook access will be restricted.  You will end up on a list.  Take lots of videos and photos.  But expect that the surrounding houses will also be under guard.  They will not send one or a dozen people, there will be scores.  They will all be well armed and dangerous and nervous.  They are that afraid of your neighbor and his .22, and you and your .22.  They will have all of the necessary papers and warrant in hands.  The Nazis always did.  But, you may not get a chance to see them.
3. Approach them slowly and non-threateningly.  Confront them verbally and unarmed, whenever and wherever they show up at your neighbors, to see how they will react.  Do not be afraid.  It is almost all over for you anyway.  It has already reached the point of either retaining Freedom, being owned by a government, or dying.  It is expected that there may be a few Martyrs at first.  All the neighbors have to come out.  If they are knocking on heads, arrestingpeople, choking them with batons, tear-gassing, Tasering and shooting them, you have your answer.  Let them spill the first blood.  If they do, from then on, the confrontation will of necessity have to be armed.  If any of this happens, also document it all and post it immediately.  With the first blood, many of the CCCP in total disgust will refuse to go any further.  They are, after all, also our fellow citizens.  We won the first battle already, with few innocent casualties.  There were Generals in China who refused to send troops under their command into Tiananmen Square, even under the knowledge of certain death.  Count on our fellow citizens to do the same.
4. Needless to say, you have to have ammunition and keep your gun sighted in.  If you get to the second box of ammo, you are lucky.  You will be lucky to even get through the clip right in your gun.  Whether it is ten shots or thirty shots.  You will likely not need a lot of ammo in a one-on-one situation.  They will have head-to-toe body armor, and automatics you are not allowed to own.  They will have tear gas, and fire bombs, and smoke grenades.  Shoot for openings and weak spots, like around the neck.  Pick just one opponent out, do not worry about all of the rest of them.  Be patient with your shot, do not rush it too much.  Pick a leader, if possible, and make that one shot count.  It will probably be your last. Expect to be martyred.  Try for an at least a 1:1 casualty ratio.  Even shooting one of them in the ankle will work.  The Viet Cong said that a wounded soldier was equal to three casualties until he was fitagain, as it takes two other people to take care of him until then.
5. Many armored vehicles have magnesium in the bodies.  It burns if it is gotten hot enough.  The Reds in Russia during the October Revolution and the Frenchin WWII took out lots of tanks and personnel carriers with vodka and wine bottles, rags, gasoline, and a lighter.  You really should keep such supplies around, and know how to make a Molotov cocktail.  It is simple and effective.  Get it on the ammo rack, if it is exposed, and it often soon blows.  Throw it inside of an open hatch or door, and everyone inside is clearing out pronto.  But do not be overly eager to do this.  It is possible that most of those inside are really on your side, and are waiting for just the right moment to take over that vehicle, are waiting until the last second to do so, so that they are more effective in your firefight.  He who is not against you is with you.  If they surrender as they leave, find out then which side they are truly on.  And collect the small arms and ammo.
6. If you are a member of the police or the armed forces, please refuse to join in with the CCCP.  Instead, stand with your fellow citizens.  But tell no one of your intentions, not now, not ever.  You already know who your friends in the force are, and where they stand.  Do not ever let anyone else know which side you are on, until the very last second.  We need good inside people.  Only a handful of people died in the most recent Russian Revolution, and the Berlin Wall fell without many hitches.  Hopefully, we can all avoid even one shot being fired.
7. If it is a long, drawn-out affair, the uniform of the Patriots should be white in the winter, and camo in the summer.  We need dark armbands and / or headbands to identify us to each other, in a color that does not show up well in the woods or shadows of buildings, no orange or chartreuse, preferably black.  Expect it to all start after the leaves have fallen off of the trees, before or after the rifle hunting seasons.  If you take to the woods, travel light and alone, or in very small groups, say two or three to five.  This way, they can get only a few citizens at a time.  Maintain few communications among groups, nothing traceable on the phone or in writing.  Lend the appearance of being somewhat disorganized as a whole, but strike specific small targets frequently,often, and everywhere at once.  Be like the Resistance behind German lines in WWII.
8. The Patriots accept anyone of any race, color, national origin, religious belief or lack thereof, creed, sex, sexual orientation, or political persuasion.  This would be everyone’s fight.  Trust me, if they start going house to house, many who first supported the ban and confiscation will be changing their minds in a hurry.  Many will be just as feverent supporters of us as they were originally opponents, once it gets to be down and personal for them.  At least, they will for a while.  If they know how to use it, and you can determine that they are not playing any back-stabbing political games, give them one of your guns if they do not have any.  We are all in this together.  We can go back to arguing over all of that other nonsensical meaningless crap after it is all over.
9. The Patriots will practice restraint in all matters.  We need to take the moral high ground.  After all, if it gets down to this, we are the ones who will be upholding the Constitution / Bill of Rights, not the government.  We are required to practice due process in all legal matters, whether the government does or not.  Expect them not to, in their desperation at this point.  This is not the time to settle old scores.  We The People are to stand united.  Our differences will be our strength, as the inner city kid will approach the resistance at an entirely different angle than does the duck hunter from the bayou.  Keep them guessingat to what is going to happen next, and not knowing which way to look or turn.
10. Our job is to ensure that the Constitution and the Republic stand, nothing more, nothing less.  Hopefully, China will stay out of all of this, so it does not get too complicated and messy.  If we all stand united, they also would not stand a chance in coming here.
11. While we will of necessity have leaders, they are not by any stretch of the imagination gods.  Do not do anything they ask or order you to do that violates your conscience.  Reasonably question their leadership, but it is generally not a good idea to do so while you are engaged in a firefight.  You will know in your hearts who to follow.  The Republic is never ever to be ruled by warlords.  If someone starts acting that way, they need to be replaced, non-violently.  Vote.

Hopefully, it does not come to all of this, and we all can keep on going like we have been all along, and I can die an old man and be buried peacefully, having lived my life out in a time of relative peace.  Hopefully, we can all weather this without anyone on either side ever having considered firing a shot, and the Second Amendment, and the Constitution and the Republic by proxy, will all stand relatively unscathed.  Hopefully, the Supreme Court will remember what their current job is, as it has been formulated so long ago by the presumptive First Warren Court.  The price of Freedom is always Eternal Vigilance.  The true cost of Freedom has always been the Blood of Martyrs.  Be watchful, let your voice be heard, sit this out for now, and wait.  Keep your bores clean.

Please share this, so we as a country can start individually planning for the worst case scenario.  Have a little faith that reasonable voices will be heard.  Pray for those who have fallen in all of the past senseless violence.  If you know of someone who is talking about murdering people, by all means tell the police before it is too late.  Better safe than sorry.  Do not sell or give or loan guns to convicted felons or people you know cannot be trusted with them.  I recommend not selling any guns at a flea market or yard sale, as you do not at all know who you are selling them to.  Teach responsible firearms use and ownership to your young.  Keep your weapons and your ammo in separate, secure places.

Teach respect towards all and a personal responsibility for the actions of the individual, for only these two things if held in universal regard by all can prevent future tragedies.  Let your Congressmen know that policies that provide hope to those without hope are the only ones that will make a difference.  This means creating jobs for the jobless, developing economic opportunity for all in this country and not overseas, and the dismantling of a system that disproportionally favors and rewards the very accumulation of vast amounts of wealth.  That would be a true Revolution.  Desperation, after all, originates in despair.

Expect the best; assume the worst.  These are words to truly live and prepare by.

Good luck, America.

Gary W. Harper

n.harper@frontier.com

1-10-13