Articles by Herschel Smith

SputnikNews.com:

Father José Antonio Fortea, a leading Mexican exorcist, who once ordered the mass exorcism of the whole country, has warned of an increase in satanic ritual killings.

Hey, I have an idea.  Let’s throw open the borders and let them all come here.  We can give them free medical care, SNAP checks, welfare, and the right to vote.  That will fix everything.  In the mean time, we can hire them all to paint and roof houses and work at Mexican restaurants.

At Mike Vanderboegh’s place, good grief.

David Codrea:

There is a group working right now toward restoration of the Constitutional Militia and other goals, and it’s sharing that message and hoping to recruit members and support: AmericaAgain! I was approached by their founder a few months back and, while I found merit in many of their ideas, had concerns about the way they were presented.  I see they have a reworked video message which merits being shared, because it opens the door to discussing what one group is going forward with to make the Militia as articulated in the Constitution a reality.

Read the whole thing, including the comment that prompted David’s column.  I’m all for this kind of thing, except for one stipulation.  The second amendment discusses the right to bear arms and be free of federal interference in the context of the states’ desire to keep that interference from happening.  That is the historical milieu in which it was written.  The founders only needed one excuse to prevent federal government interference with the states on firearms, and they chose the most likely and obvious choice, i.e., the militia.  The second amendment is not a treatise on the foundation of liberty.

It’s an illogical jump to cast that as the only reason for the right to own and bear arms.  If you had discussed regulation on the right to own and use a tool of their trade to protect their families, hunt, and ameliorate tyranny with a colonial man, he would have buried you under the remotest prison.  God gave us our rights based on man being created in His image and the expected duty to work and subdue the earth to His glory.  The militia was a convenient excuse for a certain clause in one part of the constitution.  Limiting our rights to our understanding of that clause is a mistake.

Nice Holster.  I’d take it is someone like say, Red’s Indoor Range, wanted to gift it to me.

This is a twisted tale, and you will want to stay tuned until the very end.  But in order to set this up, you first need to read this stunningly good article posted at National Review.  It is written by Lisa Smiley, entitled True Pro-Life Convictions Are Non-Negotiable.  We’ve covered this before, my readers and I.  Trump is a believer in abortion and Eugenics viz. Margaret Sanger.  But put aside my pedestrian writing for a moment.  Read all of Lisa’s piece.

Lisa is not just a Proverbs 31 woman.  She is a warrior, a stalwart of the faith, and a thousand times more of a man than any of the male Trump supporters to come in and throw comments around like monkeys jumping around in cages and throwing their feces.  The commenters (those who are detractors) are screeching gargoyles, worthy of your most sincere disapprobation and disgust.

I commented about this article that hell would freeze over before I ever vote for a man who supports abortion and eugenics.  Some particularly stolid comments still don’t understand that this has only partially to do with whether he has actually performed abortions.  First it has to do with policy as it concerns judicial appointments and support for candidates for the Senate and House.  Secondarily it has to do with moral judgment.  In any case, I pointed out that the GOP is on its own should the voters elect Trump as their candidate (and I do blame the voters as much as I do the establishment – no one is holding a gun to their heads and forcing them to vote for Trump).

More specifically, I said this.

Thank you. If bamboo splints are shoved under my fingernails, my toenails are pulled off, I undergo dental work like I was in “Marathon Man,” and I am beaten until dead, I will never, under any circumstances, for any reason, not if hell freezes over, vote for a man who supports abortion and believes in the eugenics of Margaret Sanger and the Nazis. If the voters are without scruples enough to make this awful man the GOP candidate, it is no longer my party. I’ll never return to the GOP. It will have lost me forever. Whether it wins or loses will be immaterial to me. it can all burn to the ground. In an analogy I once drew with the Texas A&M bonfire, it will be a wonderful thing to behold, beautiful and stunning. I’ll light the match, or pour gasoline on it. God bless the fire. I hope to see it.

Enter a commenter using the nom de guerre empirical101, who said this according to Disqus.

You are unhinged and full of BS if you believe what you just typed out, LOL.

Except not really.  Disqus remembers everything, even when you delete your comment, or most of it.  You see, it sends you the real text of the comment via email when it is posted, and when it was posted by empirical101, it went like this (I don’t intend to use sic for every spelling and grammar error since that would break the flow of the comment).  Remember folks as you read this, Herschel is the one who is unhinged.  I’m unhinged.

You are unhinged and full of BS if you believe what you just typed out, LOL.

If the we lose to Hillary, because you keep f ing around screwing around with the front runner, then i will help her take all you old farts Social Security by never get another inflation pay increase.

I will help legalize all the young illegal so they will vote in the marxist syste m to screw you.

I will help school Hillary’s people on how best to completely turn the U.S. military into a Soviet style police force. I served 20 years and did half of it in man power.
I know exactly were to go to stack the officer ranks with hard core marxist/communist filth.
It will take 8-10 years more and you turds will be total slaves.

Bring it,
I have been in war twice and still young enough to help them drag you to prison, i will convert and help them. Got nothing to lose at that point and got nothing to live for but revenge.
You want it turds, then you will get it.

This country will burn and i will laugh in your faces.

5:01 p.m., Thursday March 10 | Other comments by empirical101

There you have it friends.  A Trump supporter, threatening me with enslavement if I don’t support Trump.  Now, to be sure, I am not in the least worried about his threats.  He doesn’t know anything about me, whether I can still hump a 60 lb. backpack, shoot an AR-15 or 1911 or take care of myself.  Nor does he know anything about my beliefs, commitments or value system.

Furthermore, with the military increasingly imbibed of feminism with females in every MOS, transgender and homosexual coming out parties in the Pentagon, and the pathetic Ashton Carter at the helm, I am more amused than anything else at his threat to use the military against anything at all.  I hope he doesn’t mind if I chuckle a bit.  My former Marine son chuckled at this post when I read it to him.

But this does go to show his mental weakness and moral value system (or lack thereof), that he would immediately rush to thoughts of enslavement and collectivist force to ensure that his leader’s wishes were followed.

Can anyone say “Fascist?”

Breitbart:

Police confiscated firearms from 74-year-old Ralph Gilbertsen, although he is not a felon or domestic abuser, and he has never been ruled dangerous to others because of mental illness.

Gilbertsen, who lives in Richfield, Minnesota, believes in Bigfoot and UFOs. And while he does receive treatment for a “mild” mental health disorder, the Star Tribune reports that a psychologist sent a letter to the judge in the case, stating that “Gilbertsen is compliant with his medications and poses no danger to himself or others.”

A former Marine, Gilbertsen is also a concealed carry permit holder, which means he passed the in-depth background check required to obtain such permit, and he was the proud owner of three handguns, until the police knocked on his door.

He came to the attention of authorities after individuals at his apartment complex reported that he constantly talks about the government watching him; he particularly voices concerns that the CIA is spying on him. The Hennepin Community Outreach for Psychiatric Emergencies (COPE) called police about Gilbertsen after his apartment managers expressed concern about a series of letters he had written on CIA spying. COPE handles roughly 13,000 cases–only a third of which are face-to-face–and they asked police to escort them to Gilbertsen’s apartment in 2015. His guns were subsequently confiscated.

Richfield Police Department spokesman Lt. Mike Flaherty said, “Officers are often forced to make snap judgments about an individual’s mental health.” He added, “The street cops nowadays have to be a psychologist. People don’t wear nameplates saying ‘paranoid schizophrenic.’ So the police have to go in there and make judgment calls.”

Lt. Mike Flaherty is a paid, professional liar.  Officers aren’t forced to do anything of the sort he mentions.  There is no law requiring police officers to make any kind of judgment concerning mental health, much less “snap” judgments.  Street cops don’t have to be psychologists – he is lying and he just made that up to sound intelligent and defend his officers.

No, people don’t wear nameplates saying anything, because that would be illegal and stupid.  Besides, mental health is not an indicator of propensity to violence – so says the mental health profession of which the officer fancies himself and his officers.  So I guess they aren’t such great mental health professionals after all.  Perhaps they should stick with policing rather than trying to add to their jobs by doing illegal things like confiscating property that isn’t theirs.

The victim isn’t a felon.  He isn’t a domestic abuser.  His property was stolen – stolen by the very people who are supposed to hunt those sorts of criminals.  Throw the cops in jail with the general prison population, give him his guns back, and fire all of his colleagues who helped him get away with this theft.

CNN:

Bold move for a politician? Perhaps.

But the decision reflects Cruz’s deepening alliance with the powerful gun lobby and his effort to cast himself as an unapologetic warrior for the Second Amendment.

A CNN review of speeches, interviews and court filings shows that Cruz has spent years forging ties with defenders of the Second Amendment — including a group to the right of the NRA. Some of those he’s allied himself with disdain all gun control, including gun-free zones at schools and other government buildings. Cruz has embraced those relationships as an aspect of his candidacy that sets himself apart from his rivals.

[ … ]

Throughout the primary process, Cruz has touted his endorsement by the Gun Owners of America, a gun-rights group that boasts a “no compromise” stance on gun control.

In an election season that has defied all odds, the gun-rights debate has not followed a predictable path in the primaries. And while Cruz has worked to establish his Second Amendment bona fides, some establishment figures in the Republican Party see this alliance as one of the most serious problems he would face in broadening his appeal if he reaches the general election.

“This is a group that could be portrayed as extreme, and off in a ditch,” said South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a former 2016 presidential candidate who has tangled with Cruz in the Senate but now sees him as a preferable alternative to Trump. “Anybody they endorse will have to carry those bags.”

[ … ]

The group’s executive director, Larry Pratt, opposes all gun control and sees massacres like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School as evidence of the need for more, not fewer weapons in America.

Pratt has little tolerance for those who oppose his views, including the President and members of Congress. He said “it’s kind of a good thing” that politicians who favor gun control are in fear of being assassinated or deposed.

“That’s what the Second Amendment is,” Pratt said, “It’s a warning.”

There is much more at CNN.  It’s a very lengthy article, and good except for the assumption that Cruz has triangulated his position rather than holding it outright.  I wouldn’t expect much more than that from the MSM.  But read the rest of the article.  His position on gun rights goes way, way back, well before he ever even got into politics.

As for the awful little woman Lindsey Graham, his hand-wringing over the baggage associated with Larry Pratt is amusing and pitiful.  Larry is right.  The second amendment is a warning – a warning to people like Lindsey Graham to stop lording it over the people and do their bidding.  That’s why Graham is so uncomfortable with it.

As for what people thing about Pratt’s endorsement, my God.  What a bunch of little girls.  What happened to the men of America, who would stand on principle and say what they thought, back it up, and refuse to equivocate?  It appears we’ve lost most of them.  Cruz is one of the good guys, one who has never backed away from gun rights.

Jeremy Bryant makes a 420 mile trip through Oregon to his grandfather’s funeral open carrying a .357 Magnum, hitchhiking all the way.  This is well worth watching in its entirety.  And Jeremy has given me a brand new expression which I will shamelessly parrot until I no longer have breath.  “For the peace, good and dignity of the country and the welfare of its people.”

Tenth Amendment Center:

In “What Did “Bear Arms” Mean in the Second Amendment?” Clayton E. Cramer and Joseph Edward Olson provide solid historical context proving that the phrase was used repeatedly when referring to non-military individuals possessing weapons.

“Those who argue that the original meaning of the Second Amendment was only to protect a collective right, either of the states to maintain militias, or perhaps of citizens to jointly form militias, assert that “bear arms” refers exclusively or at least overwhelmingly, to the collective, military carrying of weapons,” they write. “If ‘bear arms’ referred only to the military carrying or use of arms, then the right protected by the Second Amendment would not be an individual right to possess or carry arms for personal self-defense. The right would be for a government organized militia, or at best, to exercise what the Tennessee Supreme Court acknowledged was a right to revolution.”

While pointing out that historical documents written at the time of the Second Amendment referenced by many scholars generally used the phrase “bear arms” to refer to military uses, Cramer and Olson say that this is due to a bias selection problem.

“Searching more comprehensive collections of English language works published before 1820 shows that there are a number of uses that are clearly individual, and have nothing to do with military service. Some of these uses are by authors and in contexts that give special weight to an individual rights understanding.”

Among their historical evidence is a law written in England during the reign of King Henry VIII making it unlawful for any Welsh resident to “bring or bear, or cause to be brought or borne to the same Sessions or Court, or to any place within the distance of two Miles from the same Sessions or Court, nor to any Town, Church, Fair, Market, or other Congregation . . . nor in the Highways in affray of the King’s Peace, or the King’s liege People, any Bill, Long-bow, Cross-bow, Hand-gun, Sword, Staff, Dagger, Halberd, Morespike, Spear, or any other manner of Weapon . . . .”

“The specific problem that the statute sought to correct was not even Welsh rebellion,” Cramer and Olson write, “but simple criminal actions interfering with the operation of the courts.”

Another English statue intended to disarm Scottish Highlanders also uses the term “bear arms” in referring to requirements for amnesty (emphasis added).

That from and after the time of affixing any such summons as aforesaid, no person or persons residing within the bounds therein mentioned, shall be sued or prosecuted for his or their having, or having had, bearing, or having borne arms at any time before the several days to be prefixed or limited by summons as aforesaid, for the respective persons and districts to deliver up their arms. . . .

This is a good essay.  While I do not ever advocate deference to international law or precedent, not even from our own English heritage, it is quite useful to understand the common usage of words and common practices of the times that led to the documents to which we are all supposed to live.

One can also see the nibbling around the edges of gun control, even in these words above, with the worst of it being gun control as a catalyst for the American war of independence.  Our forefathers fought against the notion of the divine right of kings and for the idea of covenant as seen in the light of continental Calvinism.

Don’t forget Who said it, Trump or Kanye?, or Who tweeted it, Trump or Kanye?  No indication yet whether Trump is going to select Kanye as his running mate.  I think it’s a match made in heaven.  Well, now there’s the Trump twitter bot.  I agree with one of the commenters here.  I don’t really think this is AI (artificial intelligence).  I don’t think it sounds intelligent at all, which is why it sounds so much like Trump.

Oh poppycock.  I don’t really think Trump is trying to make a photo look like Sieg Heil!  I think he is goading people to make (Biblically) unlawful oaths or vows.  Those folks don’t know everything about the candidate, and it’s foolish for them to swear to vote for a man who may later turn out to violate a tenet of their own conscience.

Trump wants to torture.  It will make us stronger, says he.  But then he won’t require any Soldier or Marine to do anything against the law (as if they would even be tempted to disobey the UCMJ and have their First Sergeant beat the hell out of them before they go to Leavenworth).  But he wants to change the law so that we can torture (what R. J. Rushdoony says about torture in The Institutes of Biblical Law comes to mind here).  So if you’re against torture, the good news for you is that Donald Trump is too.  On the other hand, if you’re for torture, the good news for you is that Donald Trump is too!

Trump is a Rorschach ink blot.  You get to project what you want.  He is your wildest imaginations, all of your hopes and dreams, the caretaker of your concerns, and in short, everything to everyone.  And he’s going to make America great again.  I can’t wait for the advertisement.  “Join the Army, drive bamboo splints under fingernails, watch the sobbing, hear the screams!  Kill women and children.”  It’ll be awesome.

Folks sure appear to be explaining their morals in this election cycle.  Ann Coulter apparently said, “I’d be happy to support Trump if he wanted to perform abortions in the White House.”  Well, there you go.

Uh Oh!!! Guess who’s a HUGE fan of immigration work visas?  That’s right, your favorite savior, Trump!  Please don’t tell me everyone knows he’s a fraud?  I just don’t think I could take not doing these little Fun With The Candidates pieces!

Fun With The Candidates, Part I

Fun With The Candidates, Part II

The National Association of Evangelicals (USA) has gone on record saying that there should be no religious test for “refugees.”

“Religion should not be a litmus test for receiving aid,” said Leith Anderson, president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE). “Most evangelical leaders believe compassion and security can and should go hand-in-hand.”

While the NAE races down the road to irrelevance, take note of this news from Austria:

Austrians fear parts of Vienna are becoming no-go areas after a father was attacked by a ‘Sharia patrol’ when he told them to stop threatening his wife and daughter for not being correctly dressed.

As various factions of migrants stake claims to territory in the city, it has been reported that the self-styled Sharia patrols have been visiting clubs and bars in the Millennium City area to make sure Chechen women were properly dressed and acting appropriately.

However, when one Austrian man tried to step in to stop the patrol from hassling his Chechen wife and daughter, he ended up being hospitalised.

I’m not a lawyer and cannot give legal advice.  But if such a person comes up to me or my family in that manner, I’m going to say “I feel threatened, back off.”  If they don’t, I will shoot them (hopefully before they close the gap, which means we will be backing up to keep distance).  After I do that, I will never talk to the police.  That will be done by my lawyer.

You should make plans of some sort for dealing with aggression such as this.  And do not ever give up your guns to anyone, for any reason.  I’m not just talking about your modularized-up, tricked out AR-15, with the tactical light, pressure switch, reflex sight and flip-to-side magnifier, because you don’t carry that with you everywhere you go.  In fact, you rarely carry it anywhere.

When you go about your business every day, you carry a tactical knife and a handgun, perhaps a compact 1911 or a small airweight .38Spl revolver.  The best gun in your stable of firearms is the one you have with you when you need it.  I love the gun I carry, because it happens to be the one I am carrying at the time.

David Codrea:

That would seem to indicate that the issue isn’t “lax gun laws,” at all, as the majority segment of the population behaves remarkably peaceably around all those guns. The implication is what Michael Bloomberg articulated a few years back, when he advocated for cities to enact special race-based disarmament edicts aimed at “minority” males up to age 25.

I think the primary motive in gun control is simply control, including over peaceable and law abiding folk.  The next motive, and it can be seen everywhere there is gun control, has a race component, where one goal is to solve the problems created by progressive policies in the inner city.

Lost in the wilderness with only a single piece of gear.  I’m not sure my choice would have been a hand axe.  I would probably have chosen a fire starter.  If I get a choice of two pieces, the next would be a large, fixed blade knife.

Bob Owens on the Baltimore PD FN handgun issue.  I don’t do the Bob Owens scene where I blame striker fired pistols.  This isn’t new for Bob, having blamed Glocks in the past, especially for short trigger stroke and light pull force.  I tend to stick with the booger hook on the bang switch theory.

Bang Bang!  It’s the gun’s fault!