Don't make enemies over politics

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 28, 2022)

Politics divides.

If you distrust your neighbor because of political differences, it's not your neighbor-- or you-- who's at fault. It's politics. Some would have you believe we are at war with each other, but your neighbors aren't the enemy, even if they follow the enemy. Or if you do. Don't let politics make you hate each other-- that would be a tragedy.

I've heard people claim "everything is political". This is not a healthy way of looking at life-- it's not even a smart claim. Things are only political if someone makes them political by threatening to use government violence against any who disagree with them. That's what politics is.

The major political parties infesting America are both guilty of antisocial behavior. Whichever side has the most government and corporate power at the moment is usually the worst offender, but this top position never lasts. Currently, it's the left, but this hasn't always been the case.

Nothing should have been made political to begin with. It was and we are paying the price.

A new cold virus shouldn't have been made political. People could have been warned it existed, then allowed to decide what to do with the information. Medical advice based on the best guesses could have even been offered. This wasn't what happened. Instead, some people decided government should be used to force everyone to do what those in power imagined was the best thing to do. Control-freaks among us helped government tyrants impose their will on the people.

Now the economy is damaged; inflation has frittered away the value of our money, and broken people point fingers at each other instead of blaming the guilty ones who caused it.

I always try to assume the best of people until they show me this trust is misplaced.

Unless a person comes up to you on the street and shoves a gun or a law in your face, assume they aren't one of the bad guys. If they treat you right by respecting your liberty, give them the same courtesy.

Those who won't respect your liberty may not understand the harm they are doing by supporting a political policy. They may not have considered the effects, only believing the lies told to them by the political criminals they follow.

Let's not treat each other as the enemy. Our real enemies don't want us united. They feed on the power you give them, so starve them instead.

-

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Pelosis in the news

Do you like this photo of a couple of my homemade Pelosis?

-

If I've earned your support, consider subscribing or donating.

BATFE is a crooked gang of molesters

It's more clear than ever, that-- besides being entirely illegal/unconstitutional-- The BATFEces crime gang doesn't act in good faith.

To fight against the new Texas suppressor freedom law, the parasites of the ATF are arguing that they can "tax" and control suppressors because suppressors aren't firearms and therefore aren't protected by the Second Amendment. 

I'm sure you see at least one flaw in that dishonest argument. Well, there are more.

If suppressors aren't "firearms" then why does the illegitimate Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives think it should have any say in them? Suppressors are also not alcohol, tobacco, or explosives. They aren't the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, not-firearms, and Explosives. If they aren't firearms then the thugs at the ATF need to shut up and leave them alone.

Even if they were firearms, the ATF gang is legally prohibited from doing anything about them. Not that this stops that criminal gang.

They are also claiming that Texas residents can only challenge the petulant BATFEces' unconstitutional enforcement of its unconstitutional suppressor rules if they've applied for permission to pay the suppressor tax and... what? Been denied or arrested, or ?? The entire point of the new law is that the ATF goons have no jurisdiction, so why would anyone apply to a criminal agency without jurisdiction for permission that the law says isn't required? Their argument makes no sense. Not surprising, is it?

But what would you expect from a criminal gang whose entire existence centers around directly breaking the law and molesting non-criminals?

-

Thank you to those who have honored me with your support by subscribing or donating.

I really, truly appreciate it!

Me, being me.

I've never blocked anyone on Twitter, but recently decided I was just seeing too much stupidity there for my own good, so I started muting a lot of the accounts that were pushing politics too hard. Just to stop seeing so much negativity.

I'm not sure what the difference is between muting and blocking, other than it seems I can still see the tweets if someone I follow is laughing at something they tweeted.

Sometimes, before I mute a dumb political account, I respond to that which brought them to my attention in the first place. With this account, it was the first thing of theirs I'd ever seen. It was enough.

I have to admit, I'm kinda happy with that one.

-

Please support the Tobbles Memorial Cat & Kitten Rescue Project on Patreon

How to destroy your mind in one easy step

(But, topped with monkey poop)

Politics makes people stupid.

I know I say this a lot, but that's because it keeps proving true.

Take the recent debate in Pennsylvania between political criminal wannabes Fetterman and Oz. 

Each side says, apparently without irony, that "their guy" destroyed the other guy.
Both really can't be true, but that's how minds crippled by politics see it.

Put down the crack politics pipe. It's not doing your mind any favors.

-

Thank you to those who have honored me with your support by subscribing or donating.

I really, truly appreciate it!

2ndAmendmentShirts.com

If you like pro-gun (and pro-2A) and pro-liberty shirts (and flags) you might like to check out the wares at 2ndAmendmentShirts.com.

The store is from the folks at Ammo.com and Libertas Bella. They reached out to me to ask if I would let you know about their products, possibly in exchange for a shirt as thanks. I am glad to do so, shirt or not. I've worked with them, linking to several of their excellent posts, in the past. They seem pretty solid friends of liberty.

I like to see businesses that promote liberty thrive. How about you?

-

If I've earned your support, consider subscribing or donating.

"Doom!" Or, "Don't worry; it has never happened"

Anytime I see some report that says "[X] is the worst it has been since [some year I lived through]", I think "So?" I made it through that one and I think my chances are pretty good to make it through this, too. 

On the other hand, I also remember lots of times people said "[X] has never happened; it's not going to happen now" just before it happened.

Will TSHTF? Probably not in the next year-- it hasn't yet (although 2020 was a limited practice run). Am I going to be complacent because I think TEOTWAWKI is unlikely? Nope. I'm going to prep like I know it's coming next week. Just because it hasn't happened yet is no guarantee it won't ever happen. In fact, over the long term, it's probably inevitable. I just don't know when.

If something kills me in the midst of the present or future "interesting times", it will probably be something ordinary and boring (to observers), not anything unusual and interesting. Part of me would prefer to go out fighting to survive a Mad Max world instead of some mundane health issue. I suspect a lot of people may feel the same way. But that's unlikely.

To those who fear TEOTWAWKI, I say you probably don't have anything to worry about. Prep anyway since it will soothe your worries a little. And if I'm wrong, prepping is what you should be doing to get ready. Whatever comes, your response should be the same: prep.

-

Please support the Tobbles Project on Patreon

Here come the Betophiles

Beto O'Fakehispanic irritates me more than most political criminal wannabes. 

Much more. It's how I imagine TDS sufferers must feel when they see or think of Donald Trump.

It's not just his face, but his smug anti-gun bigotry, which is pretty much the only song and dance he seems to know.

I've come up with a name for his supporters that I use on social media: Betophiles.
It fits and is 100% accurate and honest. And it's catchy. His campaign should send me a huge check as thanks for coming up with this.

I say his supporters should stand up and loudly proclaim in public that they are proud Betophiles. I think they should adopt the hashtag #Betophiles to identify themselves. They need to let themselves be seen and heard for who they support.

Wouldn't that be fun for everyone?

-

Thank you to those who have honored me with your support by subscribing or donating.

I really, truly appreciate it!

Politicians aren't better than you

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 21, 2022)

It seems it should be obvious to everyone by now: those who seek positions of political power can't even run their own lives; they certainly shouldn't be allowed to run yours. No one is less qualified to do so.

Just look at the news. Locally, nationally, and internationally-- those with political power are drawn to criminal behavior like Junebugs to porch lights.

They are not better than you. They are not smarter or wiser, more moral, or more expert. They aren't entitled to decide how you should live your life. They shouldn't have power over a hamster, much less over other humans.

Sometimes, what they want you to do (or want you to not do) is the same thing you already want. Letting them believe they are governing isn't going to hurt anything too much-- other than perhaps making them bolder. All too often though, they demand you behave in ways which aren't in your interest. Things which will actually hurt you in some way. Complying with their demands may be safer than defying them. but you lose either way.

These arbitrary demands are usually in their interests, though, and they'll dream up excuses to pretend they aren't arbitrary. Their real reason is less noble.

What they demand you give up for them-- for "the good of society"-- invariably gives them more power and usually enriches them in some way as well. They exempt themselves from the rules they impose if these rules would hamper their own ambitions too much. They believe they are a higher class of human.

They commonly frame their policies as good for society, but this is a lie.

If something isn't good for individuals, it isn't good for society. Society is nothing but all the individuals and their actions combined. It's not something politicians can, or should, control.

People who seek political power are the last people who should be allowed to have it. The temptation to misuse this power is too great. You've heard the old saying about power tending to corrupt people and absolute power corrupting them absolutely. If you respect someone, why would you put them in the position to be corrupted and ruined? This is why you never vote for someone you like. Never vote for anyone you don't like, either.

You have the right to run your own life, even if you are fooled into giving up control to politicians. Don't be fooled.

-

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

"Quiet quitting"? I would prefer quiet rebellion

To some extent, you get the "laws" you comply with.

I feel bad for Canadians, especially after Fidel Trudeau's handgun freeze, but they've been too compliant over the years and it has led to this.

Of course, I think Americans are also too compliant.

They were too compliant when driver's licenses were imposed. They were too compliant when the National Firearms Act was imposed. They were too compliant when government sent them to die for the military-industrial complex. They were too compliant when "social security" and income taxation were imposed.

And they are too compliant now with just about everything from the Covid shot and mandates to whatever is happening in gov-schools.

America was founded on rebellion and without rebellion ceases to exist. Is it too late?

I want to see some rebellion. It doesn't even need to be violent rebellion-- if enough people would just ignore the wishes of the political criminals so that their plans fail I'd be thrilled. Even if it included issues I would be on the other side of.

Call it quiet rebellion. Just stop acting as though the political criminals own you-- because they don't. They are the bad guys. 

-

Thank you to those who have honored me with your support by subscribing or donating.

I really, truly appreciate it!

When someone says "our democracy"...

Any political person who uses the term "our democracy" has instantly lost any hint of credibility on that topic. It's so dumb it's laughable.

-

If I've earned your support, consider subscribing or donating.

Choosing the best situation for yourself

I suppose it's good that you can still choose a location that respects the rights that are most important to you. At least, to some extent.

I'm not concerned with abortion access personally (which may or may not actually be a right-- depending on how you see it), but I am adamant that my right to own and to carry weapons be respected. So, small-town Texas is better for me than big-city California. Even here, I'm not going to tempt the Blue Line Gangsters by flaunting my rights in their faces. I don't trust any cops, anywhere, ever.

Other people are free to choose differently if they rank their own rights differently.

I feel bad for those who feel stuck in a place that violates their rights in ways that bother them the most. I was once in their place and I hated it. I felt trapped and couldn't wait to get back to freer territory. Those who had lived there all their lives didn't even notice what was so oppressive to me. I couldn't ignore the authoritarianism. I had to escape from the East.

Are there freedoms that could make other places more attractive to me? Yes. Without a doubt. 

For one thing, I miss the Rocky Mountains a lot. The freedom of wandering the wilderness, and all the joy that brings. But Colorado has changed too much since I lived there and I'm not sure I would feel as free there anymore. I admit, I (and everyone else I knew) basically ignored Denver's authoritarian edicts, so I wasn't as affected as I could have been. But even as badly as I miss the mountains, I'm not sure I would be a good fit there now. Of course, the Rockies cover a lot of territory, so maybe someday I'll head back to some part of them, but in a place not so polluted by transplanted California tyranny.

At least for now, that option is still open. I don't take it for granted that this will always be the case.

-

Please support the Tobbles Memorial Cat & Kitten Rescue Project on Patreon

"I'm NOT going to read some rando's blog post!"

And that's why you'll continue to be ignorant.

I get this response over and over when in the middle of a discussion someone says something I've already addressed in a blog post (or several) and I link to it so the explanation can be laid out in detail. Yes, I could type it all out again, or I could copy and paste the whole post, but why?

Well, one reason to do so is that most people seem to refuse to read a blog post that applies to the situation. That seems odd to me. I've never refused to read anything sent to me to explain someone else's position or beliefs. Not once. If it's especially long, I may skim it-- but I have never "yelled" at anyone for sending a link, whether to a blog post or an article, yet that happens to me all the time.

I suppose the difference might be that I always want to know if I'm wrong. If there's a valid point that I'm missing that bolsters the other side (or destroys my side), I want to be aware of it. It may or may not change my mind-- to do so it would have to present something new that I hadn't already considered-- but I still want to know what the arguments for the other side are.

So many others don't seem to think the same way. It seems this is because they would rather make claims, not a case for what they are saying.

Recently, after a guy attacked someone for observing that cops are a threat, I spelled out-- carefully and completely-- to him why there are no "good cops" and why there can't be. He really balked when I posted a link to something relevant I had written before on the topic, telling me he didn't care what someone had written in a blog. All he could manage was to was claim, over and over again, that there are good cops (because one had helped him once) and tell me it wasn't a "hegemony" (not sure how that applied to my observation that police are a criminal gang) and that I was using false equivalencies and straw men. 

But he never even tried to address or refute my points or to make some of his own, even admitting that taxation is theft-- but he'll accept it because it funds police.  (He is also a "Constitutionalist", so that might be part of the hangup.) It was just too obvious to him that cops are the only thing keeping us from all killing each other-- using the chaos in gun-free utopian cities that "defunded police" [sic] as his evidence. When I pointed out that this is the inevitable result in places that violate the right to own and to carry weapons, with or without cops. he threw around his favorite words some more and refused to stop and think.

I have figured out that most people simply don't go through the same mental process that I do when evaluating something. That's not wrong, even if it's different, but it means they'll never be convinced in the same way I have been convinced. If they are to be convinced, it's going to take someone whose brain works more like theirs does. That's not me.

-

If I've earned your support, consider subscribing or donating.

The rise of the spoiled idiots

Pouring soup on an old painting that people generally like, or pouring milk over food and the floor of your local grocery store, to convince people it's wrong to use petroleum or dairy products is just going to make smart people dislike you. 

Gluing your hand to the wall of the art gallery after trying to ruin a painting with soup, or to the road so that you can more effectively block traffic with your pre-corpse, may even be more stupid-- it looks like you don't realize how easily skin can tear off. And those who you've made into your enemies aren't really going to care if ripping off your skin to move you out of the way causes you a lot of pain. They'll correctly point out that you did this to yourself.

Stunts like these make everyone who isn't a spoiled idiot see you as the spoiled idiot you are.

If you don't like the way something is going, or wish things would change faster, speak up smart. Make your case. Don't do things so stupid that you inspire people to push back harder. Which is the unfortunate response I've seen most often.

Also, it might help if you had a clue about economics. I'm sure that's asking too much of these products of gov-school, though.

It's interesting that this is happening in the UK where the natural human right to defend property has been turned into a "crime".

-

Thank you to those who have honored me with your support by subscribing or donating.

I really, truly appreciate it!

Liberty trumps rule of the majority

(My Eastern New Mexico News column for September 14, 2022)

According to a recent poll, a majority of New Mexico voters approve of stiffer anti-gun legislation.

This is why the US Constitution exists, and why America was established as a republic, not a democracy: to protect individual rights from majority opinion. It places human rights beyond the reach of politics. You don't get to vote on liberty.

Whether or not this works in practice could be the subject for another conversation.

Invariably, the anti-gun faction claims that "in spite of" all the legislation they've imposed, the crime rate remains high. The truth is, the crime rate is pushed higher by those laws. Bad people will continue to break laws, no matter how harsh the consequences. Part of being a bad guy is the belief that you'll get away with it-- and a lack of consideration of consequences. This is why harsher legislation and nastier penalties will always hurt good people more than they will discourage criminals.

Democracy is nothing but mob rule; might through superior numbers makes "right". It is nothing to celebrate or fetishize. Those who place faith in democracy are telling you they don't understand what rights are, nor do they understand the dangers of letting the mob decide which rights to respect and which to ignore.

It doesn't matter what everyone wants if everyone wants to violate someone's rights.

Imagine slavery somehow makes a comeback, or at least becomes something most people are willing to consider again. It's obviously illegal-- prisons excepted-- to enslave people. What if the people demand to vote on the matter? Could an election make slavery OK? What if the vote was 99% in favor of re-instituting slavery?

If you don't have the right to do something to someone, winning a majority vote on the issue doesn't create this right. You have no right to tell anyone they aren't allowed to have some sort of gun or otherwise violate their natural rights or enslave them. No legislation, election, or majority opinion can change this.

You might still have the power to do it anyway, just as governments had the power to prop up slavery throughout most of human history. This doesn't make it right. Try it and the abolitionists will rise again, with their new version of underground railroads. The bad people will call them the "criminals", as they always do when good people defy bad government rules. I can live with that.

-

Thank you for helping support KentForLiberty.com

Don't be a creepy cancel ghoul

I really hate the whole "cancel culture" thing. Bad.

I don't even care one bit who it is being canceled. Currently, it's mainly those who aren't Left-statists who are getting canceled, but flip the polarity and it wouldn't make it any better. I would still oppose it because it wouldn't be a bit more legitimate.

I don't care if it's Donald Trump, Alex Jones, Stephen King, or AOC. Don't do it. 

Even if you are on the correct side, you make me think you know you aren't when you "cancel" someone. If you don't like what someone says, make a better argument for what you'd say instead. Canceling them is admitting you have no argument.

It's a weak move. A dishonest, creepy, authoritarian move. I probably hate you more than whoever you canceled just because you canceled someone.

The cancel creeps don't have to care what I think, but I'm going to let them know anyway.

-

Please support the Tobbles Memorial Cat & Kitten Rescue Project on Patreon

Cops have only themselves to blame

Sometimes, as I drive or walk around town, I see prisoners being used as slave labor on the grounds of the local cop-shop-- I mean "law enforcement center". It disgusts me to see this.

They are dressed in the old black and white striped prisoner uniforms. I've read the local police reports, so I know it's not likely that any of them violated real laws; most likely counterfeit ones. I mean, it's probably not going to be the truly rare dangerous prisoner used for outdoor slave labor, right?

Which brought a thought to mind the other day as I walked past.

If I saw a prisoner escaping from the local jail, I wouldn't help the cops catch him. I'm certainly not going to report a sighting to them if I think I saw him somewhere else. 

This doesn't apply if I know, for myself, that he committed an actual crime. I'm not prone to believe what lying cops say about what someone did. Nor am I going to be convinced by a report in the paper since those usually just parrot whatever the cops want printed.

Legislation enforcers today have discredited themselves so badly by enforcing counterfeit "laws" that my default assumption would be that the prisoner is being held unethically. I'm not going to help them violate someone. They've done this to themselves and have only themselves to blame.

-

If I've earned your support, consider subscribing or donating. Please!

When you are the source of the problem

There is a campaign ad I've been subjected to on some streaming service. I can't remember who it's for, but it has a couple of stereotypical Texas sheriffs yapping about the Fentanyl crisis and "our borders". (I looked-- it's an ad against the fake Hispanic anti-gun bigot.)

Assuming there is a Fentanyl problem-- and how would I know either way?-- people like them are the reason for it. They caused it.

Fentanyl happened due to prohibition. 

Those who declared (or supported) the War on Politically Incorrect Drugs are directly at fault. If you make things illegal, people will pay smugglers (market merchants) to supply them. If you double down on catching the merchants, smaller packages become safer, maybe even essential-- which means a stronger product. A stronger product is more dangerous because it is easier to overdose on.

Yet, instead of realizing their mistake and their complicity (and it may be too late to fix it), they go down another wrong path because of the issue they created in the first place. This is why I don't always get along with "conservatives"-- when they are wrong, they are just as wrong as their supposed opposite.

-

Thank you to those who have honored me with your support by subscribing or donating.

I really, truly appreciate it!

What police ARE obligated to do

Police have no obligation to protect you or any specific individual. This is something which courts have repeatedly ruled on. It completely destroys the anti-gun argument: "you don't need to carry a gun; the police are there to protect you". They aren't, and they probably can't and won't.

Copsuckers try to make the claim that a duty to protect the public or the community is the same thing as protecting the individuals who make up the public/community. It's not.

However, police do have an obligation to not prevent you from protecting yourself; to not get in your way. Even if no courts (yet) agree. It simply can not be otherwise, especially in light of what courts (and the police) say is the situation.

If you decide you need to carry a gun in order to protect yourself, a cop is obligated to respect your choice. Ethically, if not "legally"-- and if "the law" says otherwise, it is worse than useless. It is actively harmful.

-

Please support the Tobbles Memorial Cat & Kitten Rescue Project on Patreon

You don't license rights

I saw that the criminal regime in Florida is "legally" kidnapping people for repairing hurricane-damaged roofs without being "licensed" by the state. That's criminal behavior and should be treated as such-- not the carpentering, the kidnapping.

It has always aggravated me when some out-of-control government thugs decide they have the "right" to force you to license your rights before you're "allowed" to exercise them. 

It goes against the very concept of rights. Only a true villain would do this to anyone.

No one has the right to require a license before you are allowed to speak your mind. Nor before you go to church. Nor before you drive a car, earn money, or carry a weapon. No one has the right to demand you get a license first before you exercise any of your rights because there can be no such "right" to do so. There is no such thing as the "authority" to require a license for a right, either.

People accept some of these licenses without much fuss when they would freak out over other licensing scams that are no worse. It is no more ridiculous to demand a license to go to church than to drive-- both should be completely unacceptable to reasonable people. Yet, people buy into the government lie that "driving is a privilege" when they'd never accept the same lie if it were told about going to church. Why is this? Looks identical to me.

-

If I've earned your support, consider subscribing or donating.