Banish politics for the holidays

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for December 18, 2019)

The Holiday Season is the main time of year when traditions come alive. Everywhere you look, someone's tradition will be on display; from house decorations, to clothing, to food and music. These are the ones visible to the world-- many more traditions are practiced at home among family and friends. Almost everyone has some sort of holiday tradition they've passed down through the generations.

Holiday traditions can be a lot of fun. They provide a common thread running from the past to the present and into the future and they give people something familiar to anticipate. Even kids who complain that a tradition is silly might be secretly disappointed if it were skipped.

My family looks forward to our old traditions, and we've gained a few new ones over the years, too. I miss the traditions which have died out during my lifetime, but some were so tied to family members who are no longer with us that there's no way to revive them.

Traditions don't have to be the same for everyone. If you enjoy it, keep it up.

Holiday traditions remain a positive experience because they are voluntary. Even if you don't particularly enjoy one or two specific practices, no one in your family is likely to hold you at gunpoint to make you participate. They may use guilt, but you can always opt out and deal with any fallout later. It's still your choice.

And if it isn't your choice, maybe you need less controlling family members.

One thing I find sad is when people mistake stagnation for tradition. "This is how it has always been done", so there's no reason to look for a different or better way.

Political traditions are of this sort. Not only are they stagnant, but those who follow them want to use force to make everyone else follow them, too. Sometimes this force is in the form of legislation; other times it skips that step and goes straight to physical force to encourage compliance. Imagine a tradition so weak it can't survive without being forced on people. I have no use for this kind of thing.

If you want to follow coercive political traditions, at least go into them with your eyes open. And respect those who don't wish to participate.

I hope you are able to banish politics from your holiday season... and from the rest of your life. It could be the start of a worthwhile tradition.

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Hey, Northam: Sic semper tyrannis!

Have you been paying any attention to the gun-owner revolt in Virginia? They are calling it a "Lobby Day". I mostly avoid political news, but this has been forcing its way into my consciousness, partly because I worry about some of those who are affected.

Governizer Northam-- the little Hitler in the Virginia governor's mansion-- along with his co-conspirators in the state legislature, has imposed a bunch of anti-gun legislation on the people of "his" tax farm. The people aren't happy about this slap in the face and insult to natural human rights. They plan to complain to the political parasites Monday, as they have every right to do.

So, the political parasites decided to declare a "state of emergency" and "ban" guns from the capitol grounds during the protest (or lobbying?) triggered by his archation. He's going to try to protect his worthless skin with metal detectors and searches.

I would like to see the people of Virginia ignore this little Hitler's proclamations and use their "banned" weapons to remove him from the governor's office and to prevent someone else from filling that office once he's gone.

That's the whole reason the right to own and carry weapons matters-- for situations (and tyrants) just like this: threats to life, liberty, and property. The Virginia government is posing a credible threat to all three. There need to be consequences for tyranny-- it needs to be too dangerous to be a tyrant.

If Holy Documents matter to you, it's obvious he's violating both the US Constitution and the Virginia constitution... and just being a run-of-the-mill dictator... with the collusion of the legislature. If the people of Virginia want to show the world they won't tolerate a Hitler-lite, this is their time to act. Otherwise, it's just empty complaints (for those who are politically active, I mean) and they might as well roll over and comply with whatever he demands from now on.

Now it appears the US feral government is taking sides against the people of Virginia by having the FAA declare a "national defense zone" over Richmond, Virginia. during Lobby Day. I'm not going to research exactly what that means, but I don't need to. You and I both know it means more power to government and less to the people. Every time.

I worry for the people of Virginia. I don't know what I'd do in their situation. I wouldn't comply with the edicts, but I probably wouldn't bother to go to Mordor, Virginia to protest, either. My rights don't depend on government's opinions or its threats of violence.

When I lived in Colorado, no one I knew cared about or obeyed the legislation coming out of Denver concerning weapons. We did what we wanted. I realize that's probably a different situation-- a much bigger state with a much lower population density. It was safer for us to ignore Denver, which was 200 miles or so away, across the Continental Divide. Denver was pretty irrelevant to life.

That's sort of the situation in this part of Texas, too. Austin is so far away, it's not even the same world, really. What New Mexico does affects my life more, but Santa Fe isn't close, either. We do, however, have anti-liberty legislation enforcement goons hereabouts, so they are probably happy to violently inflict Austin's (and Santa Fe's) opinions on us.

But eastern states are different-- generally worse in that department. I get that. I don't know what the solution might be, but it won't be pretty for someone. I know which side I want to see score a decisive win.

If you go to Richmond, Virginia for Lobby Day, I wish you success. Take care and get it done. Sic semper tyrannis!

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