Alright, if you thought my last column was disjointed and poorly presented, you were right!
It seems that the last third of my essay was lost in the ethereal world of the Internet. Yup, just gone with the wind. However, the editor suggested I try to incorporate it into this column and tie it together. Let's just do that. My original foray into the world of paranoiacs was intended to explore why and how novelists drew such fascinating pictures of alternative futures. My thesis was they drew upon observations of their worlds and created a future based on those rules. "Brave New World," "1984" and "Atlas Shrugged" are the novels I used as examples.
So what did the final third contain? My observations about our current state of affairs and what will unfold in the near future. All attributions are from government documents.
First question: Is our government trustworthy?
Transparency was promised by our emperor. Black Panthers threatening voters? Case dismissed - lack of evidence despite videos of the event.
Benghazi - lied to by the administration and the 30 or so eyewitnesses are still being held incognito and unavailable for questioning.
Gun running to Mexican drug dealers - stonewalled and claiming executive privilege despite thousands of Mexican deaths and our Border Patrol agent dead.
How about the sequester? All agencies will get more money in 2013 than 2012. Ever heard of baseline budgeting? However the supreme commander chose to "make the people suffer" in order to further his agenda. You know - close White House tours, National Park openings delayed, releasing prisoners and furloughing, FAA air controllers to name a few. But our imperial lord and his retinue has taken multimillion dollar vacations while we peons suffer the consequences. The sub-emperor spends two nights overseas and we pay over a million dollars! So much for austerity. Damn it, I forgot - we are the ones who have to tighten our belts!
Let's get to the crux of this mess. Data that follows has been verified with government documents. My paranoia has morphed into "conspiracy theory" and not by choice. It is readily apparent to critical thinkers that 90 percent of the gun-control laws being considered or passed, like those our governor has signed, are ineffective. That's not Larry T's analysis; that is data compiled by the Feds.
"Something must be done" is the rallying cry of the gun grabbers.
BS! How about enforcing existing laws?
Of close to 150,000 fraudulent applications for gun purchase, only 63 were prosecuted - what? I have a concealed carry licensee. How will further restrictions on my rights stop Evan Ebel from killing Clements?
I have a few more tidbits to tickle your neurons.
Joint urban warfare military exercises have been held in Florida, California and Texas involving live-fire and helicopters. The Department of Homeland Security has recently purchased 2 billion rounds of ammunition. That's enough to fight 20 years of Iraqi warfare. They have also purchased 2,000 assault rifles and 2,700 heavily armored vehicles for use by local forces. And then there is the contract to law enforcement targets, Inc., from DHS. This is a $2 million buy for "non-traditional threat" targets. These depict 1) a pregnant woman, 2) an old man with a shotgun, 3) a little boy, 4) a young mother on a playground, 5) an old woman, 6) a young girl. I quote from the company's website "these are meant to help the transition for officers faced with these unusual targets for the first time." What?
Do you remember when the emperor said, "We cannot continue to rely on our military to achieve the national security measures we've set. We've got to have a National Civilian Security Force that is just as powerful, just as strong, just as powerful."
And finally from military manual FM-3-39.40 Internment and Resettlement Operations. The manual states "DoD support to U.S. civil authorities for domestic emergencies, manmade disasters, accidents, terrorists attacks, and incidents."
It allows for detaining and resettling civilian internees and using Social Security numbers as identification. A PsyOps manual discusses the retraining of individuals that require a more amenable attitude.
Have you noticed the heightened emphasis on gun control? The authors of the Constitution were explicit about the need to defend oneself from tyranny. That was the purpose of the Second Amendment.
So now, let's talk about gun control.
Larry Tradlener lives down McElmo Canyon.