The article linked to an InfoWars headline entitled “Homeland Security Funded Exercise Portrayed Homeschoolers as Terrorists.” Normally I don’t read InfoWars because it’s a bit too conspiracy-laden for my taste, but once in a while they break amazing stories. As a homeschooling mom, this one made my jaw drop.

“In 2004,” notes the article, “cops in Muskegon, Mich., conducted a ‘mock attack’ on a school bus as part of a terrorism response exercise. The terrorists portrayed in the exercise were not fanatical Muslims or even phantom right-wing extremists – they were said to be fanatical homeschoolers. … According to the Muskegon Chronicle, the exercise was a simulated ‘attack by a fictitious radical group called Wackos Against Schools and Education who believe everyone should be homeschooled,’ Homeschool World reported in September 2004. The simulated attack was funded by the Department of Homeland Security.”

Um, what? Fanatical homeschoolers? What next, drills against radical Chess Club members? Extremist patrons of the New York Philharmonic?

Look, I’m the first one to admit that I’m rather zealous about the subject of homeschooling. I firmly believe it’s the best educational option available today, followed closely by private schools. I genuinely wish everyone could homeschool or privately school, and thus shut down the unconstitutional Department of Education whose refusal to allow educational competition is one of the biggest reasons for America’s academic decline.

But homeschoolers attacking a school bus? C’mon. That’s about as believable as zealous Chess Club members kidnapping cheerleaders off the football field in order to force them to master the Ruy Lopez Steinitz Defense. Or as believable as obsessive patrons of the New York Philharmonic kidnapping some Garth Brooks fans and forcing them to attend a performance of Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.

In other words, what a STUPID drill. Pointless. Absurd. Unrealistic. Above all, frightening.

This exercise was conducted in 2004; I don’t know why it was mentioned again this week, except to illustrate a growing trend to conduct many DHS terrorist drills and exercises to acclimate Americans to martial law. (Boston home invasions, anyone? Pregnant women gun silhouettes?)

I have no problem with running drills for terrorism. It is, indeed, quite conceivable that a school bus could be attacked, hence the need for emergency personnel to understand logistics and techniques. As the Sandy Hook shootings tragically demonstrated, soft unarmed targets such as schools and school buses are at risk from deranged groups or individuals. And I clearly remember the Chowchilla kidnappings from 1976, so I understand the necessity of training for such a scenario.

But as hundreds of offended parents protested in the aftermath of this drill, it was the choice of mock terrorists that was insulting. How many homeschooling parents have knocked over school buses and shot children? Zero. “It has not been homeschooled children who have walked in public schools shooting everyone and anyone,” noted Homeschool World Magazine, “but rather public school children.”

It’s no secret that most (not all, but most) homeschoolers are conservative. Homeschooling parents have values we want to pass on to our children, values we don’t want watered down with revisionist history or moral relativism. We homeschoolers love our children so much that we’re willing to sacrifice our time, our resources and often a second income to keep them from being indoctrinated with the progressive propaganda rampant in government schools. And for that, we’re ridiculed, mocked and called everything from child abusers to (apparently) potential terrorists.

Gee, who else should we classify as terrorists? Wheelchair-bound grannies in airports? Kindergartners who nibble their Pop-Tarts into guns? Injured vets with colostomy bags?

Homeschooling has been steadily increasing over the last two decades (we only have to look at the quality of public education to understand why), and I acknowledge that the government reaction to this trend has ranged from barely tolerant to outright hostility; but the very notion that “fanatical” homeschoolers would murder children on a school bus is vile to the point of evil.

The significance of this drill isn’t lost on many people. You see, it’s part of a larger DHS plan to treat anyone and everyone on the right as a potential terrorist.

Let’s face it, it’s getting to the point where government officials are attempting to classify anyone who disagrees with them, no matter how law-abiding and innocent, as potential terrorists. Worse, they’re preparing to fight that enemy, even when the “enemy” has done nothing wrong. It is frighteningly reminiscent of the USSR’s psychological warfare tactics in which anyone who disagreed with the Communist government was, by definition, insane and could be locked up in a psych ward. Can no one see these parallels?

The attitude toward conservatives, libertarians and constitutionalists has turned vicious in the last few years. I don’t see Homeland Security proposing drills with militant vegans attacking a McDonald’s to force everyone to eat tofu, yet DHS is consistently profiling anyone who hails from the right as an unparalleled threat. As one commenter noted, “Those homeschoolers are dangerous people. They are forcing their children to learn to read, do simple math, and think for themselves. All of that makes their children potential terrorists.”

I suppose I must accept the fact that the America of today is no longer the America that exemplified the concept of liberty. In this new Amerika, the non-brainwashed are a threat to the socialist paradigm. The elites need subjects who will not question either their motives or their morality. The Patricians want drones who will acquiesce to IRS profiling, Obamacare and government stockpiling of ammo. They want Stepford citizens who shrug their shoulders and ask “what difference does it make?” with regards to Benghazi, Fast and Furious and wholesale tapped phone lines.

No wonder homeschoolers are a threat.

So as a homeschooling mom and a constitutional conservative, I offer greetings from your friendly neighborhood terrorist. We homeschoolers are all over the place, frightening our politicians by winning spelling bees and whupping test scores. My rebel kids are doing things like putting on writer’s workshops and music recitals, writing 90,000 word novels in a month and watching calves being born.

Care to join us? Or are you too busy watching your children learn to put condoms on bananas?

Viva la revolution.

On May 5, President Obama gave the commencement speech at Ohio State University and actually said the following (emphasis added):

“Unfortunately, you’ve grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They’ll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can’t be trusted.

“We have never been a people who place all our faith in government to solve our problems. We shouldn’t want to. But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems, either. Because we understand that this democracy is ours. And as citizens, we understand that it’s not about what America can do for us, it’s about what can be done by us, together, through the hard and frustrating but absolutely necessary work of self-government. And class of 2013, you have to be involved in that process.”

The president advises that we “should reject these voices” that suggest tyranny is always lurking around the corner. Right. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain – he’s only there to help you, not terrorize you into undertaking pointless and dangerous quests like Oz did to Dorothy. And above all, whatever you do, don’t listen to those silly tinfoil hat wearers who accuse the government of tyranny.

What is wrong with people that they can’t recognize tyranny even when it bites them in the butt? Stalin had nothing but contempt for the “useful idiots” who supported him. These pawns promoted his goals but did not perceive the bigger picture, and Stalin murdered them once their usefulness ended. Similarly, our politicians court the votes of the useful idiots on the left who are unable to grasp the finer points of what an economic collapse will be like and the horror of the Stalinesque government that will rise from the ashes. Instead, they cheer it on and call it “progress.”

I have no doubt that Stalin told his people, with a straight face, that they should reject the voices that warned of tyranny lurking around the corner. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

Obama’s remarks underscore the disconnect between the type of government outlined in the Constitution and the type of government we have today. The “self-rule” Obama mentions does not mean government rule. It means the power is in the people, not the government. Duh!!

Self-rule means the government’s sole and exclusive purpose is to safeguard our God-given rights, and that’s all. When it expands beyond that, then it does indeed become a “separate, sinister entity that’s at the root of all our problems.”

So what are some problems, both here and in Europe, that are rooted in government? Obviously the list is huge, but here’s a start:

Despite its massive unpopularity, Obamacare is being forced down our throats. Not only does this program jeopardize doctors and patients, but it will vastly reduce medical research and innovation. When asked to describe the current medical system in America, a physician friend said, “Costly and imperfect, but dynamic and innovative. In surrendering individual responsibility (to the government), you also surrender individual autonomy. Ask the government to assume responsibility for your life and it will do exactly that. You will belong to it.”

This doctor has worked in other countries where socialized medicine is the norm. What’s it like to practice under national health care? “I was prohibited (prohibited!) from performing caesarian sections, from ordering CT scans or echocardiograms. … I had to work from a ridiculously limited prescription formulary. The hoops that had to be jumped through to get anything done were time consuming and demeaning. The system infuriated patients and providers alike.”

In England they’re killing off the elderly and infirm in droves to save money and free up hospital beds, while endless others are dying of neglect. This is what happens under socialized medicine.

“But we don’t think the government is the source of all our problems,” said Obama in his commencement speech. Death panels are fake, and anyone who disagrees is wearing a tinfoil hat.

In fact, we can look to socialist Europe as an excellent precedent for the type of government we can expect if the progressives have their way. Sweden and Germany are unspeakably brutal to homeschooling families – people who love their children so much they want to teach them themselves. For this crime, socialist governments cruelly rip families apart, impose fines and jail time and claim it’s for the good of society.

Meanwhile, in the insane push to remove guns from the hands of American citizens, the government is ignoring the truth: Areas with the highest gun violence are areas with the strictest gun laws. This is because criminals (I know this will shock you) don’t pay attention to gun laws. “The gun ban had an unintended effect,” wrote journalist and attorney Jeffrey Scott Shapiro, speaking about gun control in Washington, D.C. “It emboldened criminals because they knew that law-abiding District residents were unarmed and powerless to defend themselves.” Duh!

Now we learn the Europe Commission is proposing legislation that would make it illegal “to grow, reproduce or trade” any vegetable seeds that have not been “tested, approved and accepted” by a new EU bureaucracy named the “EU Plant Variety Agency.”

Illegal?! I’m sorry, do backyard vegetable gardens pose a continental threat that needs to be addressed by the European Commission? Are “unapproved” plants a big problem in Europe? How can anyone claim this legislation is even remotely necessary? While it remains to be seen whether this legislation has a snowball’s chance in hell of passing, I must seriously question the sanity of whoever proposed it. But meanwhile, can’t you can see Monsanto salivating at the thought of bringing this kind of legislation to the U.S.?

See? As Europe has learned, and we’re finding out, government tyranny is always lurking just around the corner. Europe is ahead of us, but the pace is increasing here. And anyone who claims otherwise, like Obama, is no more believable than the Wizard of Oz instructing Dorothy to pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

So when Obama says we should “reject these voices” that “warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner,” what he’s really saying is, “Pay no attention to us as we systematically dismantle the Constitution and Bill of Rights and turn America into Europe. And if you do look behind the curtain and see us pulling the levers, we’ll accuse you of being tinfoil-hat-wearing racists.”

I have a feeling the solution is a little deeper than clicking our ruby slippers and saying, “There’s no place like home.”

Embarrassed that we hadn’t thought to wrap our pipes (we were naïve young newlyweds), we called a neighbor who was a plumber. Despite the fact that it was Christmas Day, he left his family celebration and came to our aid.

That was the start of my admiration for blue-collar America.

If ever there was a group of unsung heroes on all fronts, it’s the blue collars of this nation. Without complaint and often while enduring the derision of the “better educated,” they form our country’s bedrock. They’re the ones that keep us moving smoothly and (mostly) without interruption.

This past week on our farm, we had two steers butchered. A family-run mobile butchering service did the job (you can see the butchering process here – WARNING: GRAPHIC PHOTOS). These men take a dirty job and do it quickly, humanely, and cheerfully. While they worked, our conversation touched on politics. Their insight on the difficulties America faces was spot-on and very accurate. And when they drove off to service their next customer, I was once again reminded why blue-collar workers make this nation great.

There are many people in America who – instead of holding out their hands for a government check – dive in and get those hands dirty. They clean toilets, repair engines, mow lawns, pull weeds, butcher livestock, run electrical wires, plow fields, drive trucks, build furniture, weld metal and sew upholstery. Despite the baffling propensity of highly educated white-collar workers to look down at these occupations, blue-collar workers are proud of what they do. They know how important their work is.

And have you noticed that most of the blue-collar workers in this nation are overwhelmingly conservative? Why do you suppose that is? It’s because they’re the ones getting their hard-working hands dirty providing the goods and services that keep this country running.

These are the people on the ground floor of America. Whatever administrative policies our government enacts, they’re the ones who ultimately have to live with it. Poorly represented and often voiceless, they are buffeted by the ill-winds of “hope and change,” enduring taxes and governmental restrictions their fathers never had to face.

But once in a while the blue collars gain a voice. A famous example of this is Joe Wurzelbacher, otherwise known as Joe the Plumber. In 2008, his life changed when Barack Obama walked into his front yard on a campaign stop. This “lowly” blue-collar worker had the audacity to ask Mr. Obama why he wanted to raise taxes. Obama said he wanted to “spread the wealth.”

The truth came blurting out. Busted.

Whether he wanted it or not, this short discussion changed the course of Joe the Plumber’s life. Desperate for damage control, the mainstream press descended like a pack of wolves and tore Joe to shreds. He was put under a microscope, and endless lies and insinuations about him were put in print. They hinted that his lowly occupation precluded intelligence, political acumen and, above all, a voice in our system. He found out firsthand just how vicious and unforgiving the elites can be when challenged with a simple question.

But it is, of course, the Joe Plumbers of the world who have to live with confiscatory taxes and punitive regulations. They’re the ones watching their wealth being snatched away from them. People in the lofty halls of Washington or in the ivy towers of academia rarely see life from the street level. Therefore they can afford to spout their progressive agenda in blissful ignorance of what it’s like to actually LIVE it.

But Joe the Plumber lives it. I live it. You live it. Endless millions of blue-collar workers in America, between washing dishes and fixing leaky pipes, must live with whatever unfair and unconstitutional legislation gets passed.

It’s no wonder Joe the Plumber became something of a folk hero. Here was an ordinary guy who was no longer voiceless. Joe realized that, unlike the politicians and elites trapped in their ivory towers, he had a real perspective of America: that of a plumber. An ordinary working man. A “nobody.”

I recently had the pleasure of talking with Joe the Plumber. Though we’ve never met, we had the instant affinity one blue-collar person has for another. We chatted like old buddies. So I asked him: Why does a blue collar guy see this government’s failings more realistically than a politician or an academic?

“They think too much,” he said. “They try to make things more difficult than they really are. Blue-collar workers get to see what’s actually broken, and that it can often be fixed with a $5 part. But the politicians NEED things to be difficult so they can justify their existence. That’s why they institute $100 million dollar programs to fix a $5 problem.”

“They’re so far removed from what you and I do every day,” he added. “You and I live modest lives, trying to pay the bills, buying food, working hard. These are the things everyday average people do. Whereas the people in Washington, D.C. – I swear they think it’s the United States of Washington D.C. They forget that states came together and created the federal government – not the other way around.”

Our conversation touched on the “Occupy Whatever” crowds who have actually flown communist flags. We both sputtered our disbelief that these poor ignorant fools could ever believe communism works. I have three foreign-born sisters-in-law who escaped communist regimes to find freedom in America. These women can plainly see where America is heading as our progressive brethren can’t.

“But people romanticize what they’ve never experienced,” said Joe.

And elites claim blue-collar people are dumb. Ha. They’ve never talked to someone like Joe the Plumber.

If I wanted to argue what dumbs down Americans, I would say it has a lot to do with the notion that government dependency is somehow lofty and good, and fierce independence and a don’t-tread-on-me attitude is suspicious and bad.

A funny thing happened after Joe the Plumber met Obama. He discovered that he had a voice, and he wasn’t afraid to use it. Now he is striving to give a voice to a voiceless America (see his website at JoeForAmerica.com).

Let’s hear it for all the plumbers, construction workers, butchers, farmers and garbage collectors who unite to make America great. And if you don’t agree, next time your car won’t start or your roof springs a leak or your pipes malfunction, try calling a bureaucrat.

Me, I’d rather call Joe the Plumber … because I know he’ll EARN my money, not confiscate it.

That was then. This is now.

Today we have two nations, peopled separately by what I’ll call the Patriots and the Patricians.

Patriots (We the People) work hard, raise our kids, build businesses, don’t take government handouts and otherwise engage in mature, responsible lives. Patriots don’t look to the government to bail us out of our mortgages, pay for our health care, or otherwise nanny us. Historically, we are the folks who made America thrive.

Then there are Patricians, leaders of a separate America, the core of which consists of less than 600 people in the three branches of government. Patricians now occupy the Patriots’ America, utilizing millions of useful idiots who support everything the Patricians do, no matter how intrusive and anti-constitutional it may be.

Patricians don’t allow their subjugated Patriots to do anything without begging permission. If someone wants to start a business, build a house, partake of a medical procedure, sell a food item, or purchase a rifle … he can only do so after wading through massive bureaucratic red tape designed to make people “safe.” Additionally, Patricians force Patriots to pay for the useful idiots’ illegitimate babies, college educations, mortgages, health care, food and anything else their greedy and fertile minds can imagine. They believe Patriot pockets are bottomless and abundant, and Patriots should empty those pockets without question or complaint.

The least infraction (such as a kid wearing an NRA T-shirt) will trigger a resounding punishment calculated to instill maximum fear. Patricians feel entitled to intrude into every facet of Patriots’ lives. And if Patriots object, Patrician stormtroopers kick in their doors. Where does safety end and tyranny begin?

Additionally, in a classic Cloward-Piven strategy, Patricians create chaos, incite restlessness, overwhelm the system and create so much pain that Patriots will accept anything to make it stop. H. L. Mencken said, “The aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed – and hence clamorous to be led to safety – menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.”

As the recent lock-down in Boston illustrated, martial law has become frighteningly easy to impose. Innocent people can be ripped out of their homes at gunpoint in the name of “safety.” There need be no warrants and no probable cause – only fear. Supported by the media, Patriots are being conditioned to accept governmental lawlessness. Boston was merely a beta-test.

Now we have Patrician Mayor Michael Bloomberg stating that the country’s interpretation of the Constitution (which Patricians loathe anyway) will “have to change” to allow for greater security in order to stave off future terrorist attacks. Who determines the “change”? And remember, “change” will only affect law-abiding citizens. For criminals and terrorists, it’s business as usual.

“Sometimes it seems the war on terrorism is really a war on the people of the United States,” noted Joseph Farah, “and, particularly, on their liberty, as DHS and other agencies target entire classifications of law-abiding Americans rather than those who pose the gravest threat.” [Emphasis added.]

If there is one flaw common to Patriots – a flaw the Patricians exploit with enthusiasm – it’s a failure to understand how evil, calculating and far-seeing Patricians really are. Part of that failure happens when Patriots give over their children’s education to Patrician schools. As Thomas Jefferson said, “An enlightened people cannot be enslaved.” Patricians strive (successfully) to keep Patriot children unenlightened, the better to enslave them.

The Patricians delight in enacting tyrannical laws all Patriots must follow, while making themselves exempt (see examples here, here, here and here). Their oath to support and defend the Constitution from all enemies foreign and domestic mean NOTHING to them. Why should it? Patricians do not support individual liberty and freedom. They are the domestic enemies. They believe only in power. Their power.

Patriots, ever hopeful, believe they can persuade the Patricians to see the error of their ways through letters, emails, phone calls and votes. But Patricians don’t listen. During recent gun-control debates in Colorado, “… the vast majority of citizens testifying before the legislature were opposed to any new gun control laws. However, frequently their testimony was dismissed and treated with disdain by Democratic lawmakers who seemed to have already made up their minds about passing the laws.”

In short, the only voices the Patricians listen to are the voices of other Patricians. When occasionally their drive for power is thwarted legislatively (such as massive gun control), then the Patricians simply bypass the legislative roadblock with an Executive Order to force the legislation through against the will of the Patriots.

“The two enemies of the people are criminals and government,” said Thomas Jefferson, “so let us tie the second down with the chains of the Constitution so the second will not become the legalized version of the first.” No wonder Patricians loathe Thomas Jefferson. He and the other founders knew them for the criminals they are.

To see the Patrician future of America, we need look no further than California, a state that is bankrupt, tyrannical, restrictive and expensive; a place where people are defenseless by government edict and crime runs rampant; a place where the slightest desire to do something independent and self-sufficient (raise some chickens? start a small business? build a shed? plant a garden? homeschool your kids?) requires so much Patrician boot-licking that people often give up in despair. In a collectivist society (a Patrician utopia), there simply isn’t room for people who want liberty. Too many Patriots finally just surrender. It’s easier.

I fear we will soon become One Nation once again, a nation where Patriots are forcibly subdued and Patricians (and their useful idiots) will have dominion. But it sure as heck won’t be a nation under God.

The solution, of course, is revolution, just as it was in 1776. But need it be violent? Could it be a “Ghandi” revolution? What if 225 million Patriots simply said “NO”? NO to Patrician threats. NO to government usurpation of God-given Rights. NO to the chains of tyranny. No No NO!

If Patricians have one flaw, it is arrogance and overconfidence, and the resulting underestimation of the resolve of Patriots. For too long Patriots have been quiet. For too long we’ve been cowed. For too long we’ve been naïve. But that time is done. And Patriots everywhere, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, are once again pledging to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

Thomas Jefferson said, “What country can preserve its liberties if its rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance?”

Patricians, pay heed. Your time is nearly done.

In this, CNN is merely following the trend over the last five years or so in which the government tries to criminalize anyone who disagrees with it. Therefore it should come as no surprise that Americans who support the Constitution and Bill of Rights are now being reclassified as domestic terrorists, despite the fact that we haven’t done anything wrong.

In the 148-page straw-man document entitled “Challengers from the Sidelines: Understanding America’s Violent Far-Right” (published Jan. 15, 2013), author Arie Perliger identifies three groups who “self-identify with the far-right of American politics” who are responsible for “the dramatic rise in the number of attacks and violent plots.” These groups listed are 1) the racist/white supremacy movement; 2) the anti-federalist movement; and 3) the fundamentalist movement.

The first category, the racist/white supremacy movement, is fairly self-explanatory, though I question how many people actually belong to this group.

The third category, the fundamentalist movement, is defined as “mainly Christian Identity groups such as the Aryan Nations [which] fuse religious fundamentalism with traditional white supremacy and racial tendencies, thus promoting ideas of nativism, exclusionism, and racial superiority through a unique interpretation of religious texts that focuses on division of humanity according to primordial attributes.” Once again, I question how many people actually belong to this group.

However the second category, the “anti-federalist movement,” is the one I found most disturbing … because it could conceivably include literally half the population of America.

Perliger writes: “Violence derived from the modern anti-federalist movement appeared in full force only in the early to mid-1990s and is interested in undermining the influence, legitimacy and effective sovereignty of the federal government and its proxy organizations. The anti-federalist rationale is multifaceted, and includes the beliefs that the American political system and its proxies were hijacked by external forces interested in promoting a ‘New World Order’ (NWO) in which the United States will be absorbed into the United Nations or another version of global government. They also espouse strong convictions regarding the federal government, believing it to be corrupt and tyrannical, with a natural tendency to intrude on individuals’ civil and constitutional rights. Finally, they support civil activism, individual freedoms, and self government. Extremists in the anti-federalist movement direct most their violence against the federal government and its proxies in law enforcement.”

Similarly obsessive sentiments can be found in 2009 DHS document “Rightwing Extremism: Current Economic and Political Climate Fueling Resurgence in Radicalization and Recruitment.”

In short, anyone who disagrees with the government is now considered a potential domestic terrorist. But WHY do people believe the federal government is corrupt and tyrannical? Let’s examine some evidence.

• Vice President Joe Biden calls for the creation of a new world order. In a 1990 speech, so did George H.W. Bush.
• A training presentation in the U.S. military defines “evangelicals” as an extremist threat to America, ahead of groups like the Muslim Brotherhood, KKK, Nation of Islam, al-Qaida, Hamas and others. (Training presentation can be seen here.)
• SWAT teams raid dairy farms for the horrible crime of selling fresh raw milk to willing customers.
• The IRS is bypassing warrants and sifting through the email and other electronic communications of American citizens.
• In early 2009, the Missouri Information Analysis Center called for careful observation of people sporting third-party candidate bumper stickers, since they could be identified as potential domestic terrorists.
• The federal government is sending drones into our skies to spy on American citizens.
• The government believes that confiscating our guns will make us safe against criminals who have guns.
• Our children are being brainwashed with a federally driven progressive public school agenda of revisionist history, socialist propaganda, gender neutrality, anti-religious views, anti-family literature, the evils of the Second Amendment and the convenience of abortion.
• The abortion industry (often government-funded) hides hundreds of thousand of cases a year of statutory rape against young girls.
• One of the premier magazines in the nation publishes an article indicating that deeply held religious beliefs are a sign of mental illness.
• Police are becoming increasingly militarized and performing unconstitutional raids on legitimate businesses and private individuals.
• MSNBC host Melissa Harris-Perry claims children do not belong to their parents, but to the “collective.” And the federal government acts under this premise while attempting to repeal the previously-granted asylum of a German homeschooling family.
• The government forcibly passes Obamacare, despite the fact that 67 percent of people oppose the program’s individual mandate.
• Executive Orders, which bypass Congress and circumvent the Constitution, are commonly used to implement unpopular or unconstitutional laws.
• Mental-health issues are being nationalized, setting the stage for Soviet-era-style psychological warfare on American citizens.
• The current administration is arming foreign terrorists.
• The current administration wants to invite millions of illegal aliens to settle permanently, most of them on welfare.
• Those who like being prepared for hard times or emergencies – in other words, those who prefer not to seek government help – are see as “extreme” and are painted as suspicious and potential terrorists.

I could bring up literally dozens – hundreds – more examples, but I’m limited to 1,000 words in this column, so I had to stop somewhere. (Feel free to add your own.)

So, based on the cases listed above, do you understand why “anti-federalists” believe the federal government is corrupt and tyrannical? Because let’s be honest: IT IS. As the saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean you’re wrong.

Demonstrating that these issues are age-old, consider the words of Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman Citizen (106 B.C.–43 B.C.): “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague.”

Now I ask you: who is working to bring down America, to rot the soul of our nation, to bring treason from within? Who is working to fracture our families, undermine our national security and crash our economy? Who is working to penalize small businesses, prosecute producers and reclassify innocent people as domestic terrorists at the stroke of a pen?

In short, who are the REAL domestic terrorists in America?

Mary leaned forward. “You know, you could get a government grant and use that money to send your daughter to school.”

I lifted my eyebrows. “But that’s government money. We don’t take government money.”

My friend was shocked at my lack of interest. “But it’s free money!” she protested.

“No it’s NOT free money,” I said. “It comes out of everyone’s taxes. Why should you or anyone else have to pay for my daughter’s education? At the very worst, we’d take out student loans, but we’ll try to avoid that, too.”

“But student loans have to be paid back.”

“Yes, I know.”

“But a grant doesn’t have to be paid back. It’s free.”

“It’s NOT free. It’s someone else’s taxpayer money. We won’t do it.”

“But you’re low-enough income that I’m sure you’d qualify.”

“I’m sure you’re right, but we won’t take any government money.”

“The amount of money it would cost to send your daughter to nanny school, spread out per person over the whole country, is just a drop in the bucket. No one will even notice.”

“Maybe THEY won’t, but WE will. That’s just the way we are. We won’t take government money.” Mentally I was shaking my head, thinking, You just don’t get it.

Unwilling to let the conversation delve into the unpleasant, we dropped the subject. But I know Mary was genuinely baffled at my hostility toward “free” government money.

And here’s the clincher: Mary is not progressive. She’s reasonably conservative – yet she saw nothing wrong with taking “free” government money.

Some people have a “stick it to ‘em” mentality when it comes to government goodies. Some “occupy” types are out to get the rich by forcing them to fund the poor. But Mary isn’t like that. She works hard and leads a responsible lifestyle. But she just wasn’t thinking through the broader implications of her suggestion.

And I believe this, more than anything else, is what I found most disturbing about my conversation with Mary. And it’s not just Mary – many people are the same way. They just don’t see the broader ramifications of taking “free” government money. To them, it’s free. It somehow materializes out of thin air or grows on trees. It doesn’t harm anyone to take it. Mary’s suggestion wasn’t born out of an “occupy” mentality – she just wasn’t thinking.

The problem with the thoughtless acceptance of government money is it can become a habit. If we take money for our daughter’s education, why shouldn’t we take money to buy a car? Or a house? Or how about “free” health care?

Where does the “free” end? As generations of welfare recipients can testify, it doesn’t.

Freebies destroy motivation. If we could fall back upon “free” government money to fund our daughter’s plans, we would not develop the discipline to save that money ourselves. Or our daughter would never learn to work and save for her education. Or we would miss out on the opportunity to budget and penny-pinch to save up the money.

In short, the exercise of funding our family’s plans and projects is beneficial to us. “Free” money would deprive us of the opportunity to creatively apply ourselves to a solution. Instead, it would force everyone else (via taxes) to be responsible for our decisions.

And worse, it would give our daughter the precedent that “free” government money is not only OK, it’s expected. Even – drum roll, please – a “right.”

I’m strongly of the opinion that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. So what’s the catch? What’s the drawback to this “free” money?

On the surface, perhaps, nothing. My daughter might indeed qualify for her “free” education. But what will that teach her? It will teach her to be a taker, not an earner. It would teach her that she’s “entitled” to something that other people (taxpayers) have no choice but to give her, simply because her parents aren’t rich. It would teach her that if she plays the victim card, she can get something for nothing.

No thanks. I like to think we raised her better than that.

Look, if it was a matter of life or death for our children, we would accept government money. We’d be ashamed to do so; but as my husband puts it, we can eat shame for our child’s life. But continuing education is not a life or death situation. And if my husband and I want to set the example for our girls that independence, resourcefulness and personal responsibility are the goals they should strive for as adults, we sure as heck aren’t going to achieve that by taking “free” this and “free” that.

Slavery in American history meant people were captured on foreign shores, transported like animals, and forced to work away their life for someone else’s gain. We had a very bloody war, in part, to end this abomination.

But there’s another way to become a slave. You can sell yourself. You can sell your soul to the government in exchange for freebies. You can sell your motivation, your work ethic, your personal responsibility, your dignity, even your patriotism. All in the name of free stuff.

You can bleed America dry one drop here and one drop there, and justify it by saying it’s just a drop in the bucket and no one will ever notice. Who cares if we apply for taxpayer money? After all … it’s FREE.

Generations of Americans have been poisoned with the notion that the government “owes” them – all because of freebies.

But just remember this: You get what you pay for. And if you’re not paying for it, you just don’t get it.

• What’s the current situation with Lindsay Lohan’s rehab?
• Who won the latest “Dancing With the Stars”?
• Name five celebrities with “baby bumps.”
• Explain how the Cypriot banking crisis could impact the European economy.

If you answered the first three questions but are clueless on the fourth, you’re in good company. Estimates are that up to half the population in America is ignorant about the situation in Cyprus. Oh sure, they hear snippets on the evening news, but since it’s far away and happening to other people, they don’t worry about it.

These people are suffering from a Normalcy Bias.

Just what is a Normalcy Bias? Wikipedia defines it as a mental state that “causes people to underestimate both the possibility of a disaster occurring and its possible effects.” It’s sometimes called the “It can’t happen here” syndrome. The assumption is that since a particular disaster has never occurred before, it never will. Any disturbing indications that something bad may happen are dismissed or trivialized.

Originally, the Normalcy Bias referred solely to natural disasters. The scale of devastation and societal disruption from Hurricane Katrina can be attributed in part to a Normalcy Bias – the refusal of the people of New Orleans to believe their beloved city could ever receive a direct hit from a major hurricane, despite its physical vulnerabilities. I distinctly remember seeing a live news report from New Orleans on the evening of Aug. 28, 2005, that showed people partying in the street with a (then) Category 4 hurricane hours away from landfall. Disaster? Nah. It can’t happen here. Gimme another beer.

But the Normalcy Bias has been extended to include political and social disasters as well. The most extreme example is Jews (and to an extent, some Germans) during the reign of the Nazis. Despite all the warning signs, many people remained in denial. Concentration camps? Genocide? Nah. Too crazy. It can’t happen here.

When we hear the mainstream media assuring us in soothing, condescending tones that we’re in an economic “recovery” – despite all evidence to the contrary – we want desperately to believe them. We don’t want anything to disrupt our ordinary, comfortable lives. We genuinely believe that if we cling to our normal way of life and habitual methods of doing things – despite overwhelming proof that something dangerous is looming – then everything will be OK. It can’t happen here.

But the situation in Cyprus is potentially international in scope. North Korea is doing some serious saber-rattling. America’s debt is so out of control that an economic crash is a statistical certainty. Sweeping anti-gun legislation is being enacted in various states even as we speak. As Ayn Rand so memorably put it, “You can ignore reality, but you can’t ignore the consequences of ignoring reality.”

Right now life is still pretty good in America. Grocery stores are well-stocked, restaurants are busy, movie theaters are full. Some people know that perhaps they should think about putting some of their retirement savings into tangibles or buying up some ammo, but what’s the hurry? The government won’t seize our assets or take away the Second Amendment. It can’t happen here.

But underneath our feet there is a low-grade ominous rumbling, something perceptive people detected many years ago. All is NOT right in America and in many other places in the world. Something bad IS heading our way. People need to prepare – physically, financially and spiritually.

Canada Free Press (which is not afraid to print in-your-face stuff about America) published a fascinating article on how the U.S. government has an agenda to kill the dollar. “The ultimate objective is to implement an international currency in tandem with a system of global governance,” writes Doug Hagmann. “The problem is that most people are not thinking large enough, nor do they understand the magnitude of the lie. They are not seeing the larger picture as their focus is diverted elsewhere. For example, they focus on various tentacles of the octopus such as the gun confiscation initiative, the DHS armament acquisitions and economic woes as independent and unrelated events. They are not. … Many will die from what is coming. The level of evil behind this plan is incomprehensible to the normal human mind.”

See? Normalcy Bias. People continue to cling to the notion that our leaders are working for us, not for themselves. So people sit on their butts watching “American Idol” or reading about celebrity baby bumps. Can the U.S. economy crash? Nah. It can’t happen here.

There are many people who just can’t “see” anything wrong with our country. Any restrictions to our constitutional freedoms and liberties are justified as “necessary” to ensure domestic tranquility. When the TSA performs atrocities on children, the elderly, or the disabled, they are excused as simply being overzealous for our security. When the federal government buys billions of rounds of hollow-point ammunition or mandates another offensive policy for kindergartners or places drones in American skies, we close our eyes and pretend it’s all for the common good. And for those who claim deep dark conspiracy theories? Take off your tin foil hats. It could never happen here. Everything’s fine.

And when something big and bad does happen, these people will be surprised. What will they say if savings accounts or pensions are confiscated (Hungary, Argentina, Cyprus)? If door-to-door gun seizures occur (England, Australia)? If dissident camps aren’t rumors after all (Cambodia, China, Russia)? Where did this come from?

“Denial is an integral part of atrocity,” wrote the late Iris Chang, “and it’s a natural part after a society has committed genocide. First you kill, and then the memory of killing is killed.”

The fact is, very little happens that doesn’t give some sort of advanced warning. All it takes is vigilance and a determination not to depend wholly on the mainstream media, which tends to filter world and national events to support their agenda.

So what can be done about all these dire things? Well, the first thing to do is strip away your Normalcy Bias and acknowledge that the smoke on the horizon means a fire is coming. Awareness, as they say, is half the battle.

And then prepare yourself physically, financially and spiritually. Learn how to safeguard your home and family; learn how to safeguard your money; and learn how to safeguard your soul.

But most of you won’t. You’ll have endless excuses why it’s not necessary, at least not yet. You’ll remain in denial. You won’t do anything.

Shrug. I tried.

Oh really.

Needless to say the person who wrote this was an avowed atheist (notice the small “g” in “god”) trying to justify his unbelief by implying that a celestial being would never stoop so low as to punish anyone, no matter what. This, in his mind, is what goodness and justice is all about – a lack of punishment.

So let’s do something. Let’s substitute “father” for “god” and see where it takes us. So now the statement reads, “A good and just father does not punish.”

If a father has established guidelines that the child violates, what happens if the “good and just” father doesn’t punish his child for disobeying? The child realizes that the rule won’t be enforced, and he’ll be emboldened to break another rule. And another. And another. The child will come to view his father as weak, useless and emasculated.

It’s all downhill from there. The child will grow cocky and disrespectful and will flout all parental authority. He will come to believe that he can behave however he wants while still under his father’s roof, yet his father must still provide him with the necessities of life (food, clothing, shelter, medicine, etc.).

We see this time and time again when a parent refuses to punish his children for misbehavior. Though the father is forced by law to support his kid, the child grows into a monstrously ungrateful brat.

And often, when the father reaches the end of his rope and finally doles out punishment, the kid whines to Child Protective Services, who then informs the father that if he ever lays a hand on Junior again, he’ll go to jail. Now think what happens to Junior’s attitude.

Now let’s go back and reexamine this scenario again, only with a father who does punish his child.

From an exceptionally young age – certainly by one year – children begin to understand rules and can start to control their behavior. I clearly remember my husband reprimanding our 18-month-old daughter from climbing on a friend’s bookshelf, and she obeyed him.

Adherence to Proverbs 22:6 (“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it”) can save both father and child a world of hurt. A good and just father wants what is best for his children, and in his wisdom he knows that a kid has to obey the rules of the house and the rules of the parents to learn discipline and self-control. Punishment doesn’t necessarily mean a spank on the bottom. It can also mean withholding parental blessings (use of the family car, electronics, etc.).

This learning is essential for adulthood, when the now-grown child is launched into the world. There are rules in the world, as well – and adults must obey those if they want to lead a productive life. If an adult willfully refuses to obey the rules of society, he will be – wait for it – punished.

Without obedient children, a home becomes a place of anarchy and chaos. It may seem counterintuitive to some people to realize that children want and need boundaries. Children thrive in a home with loving structure and strict parameters, enforced by a good and just father. Fathers who don’t punish their children for transgressions raise horrible brats, who are eventually released into society, where they wreak havoc.

Boundaries for children are good. Boundaries are needed. Punishment for flaunting those boundaries is necessary to teach children how to be competent, mature and responsible. Boundaries are equally important for adults. It is adult rules and regulations that define civilized behavior.

So why should it be any different for God and His children?

The ground rules originally laid down for the Israelites set those people apart and elevated their behavior to reflect high standards for the times. Jesus strengthened and fulfilled the boundaries set up by God and guided people toward a remarkably civilized way of thinking and behaving. In obedience to his Father’s will, Jesus then became the ultimate sacrifice for our sins and showed us what was needed to reach God.

Right now in modern America, we are witnessing what happens when people flout the rules God set up. We are acting like rebellious children who think rules are unnecessary and stifling. We are free to mock, sneer and taunt the Almighty, yet we still feel entitled to receive His blessings.

No longer do we thank God for His bounty. Instead, we take it for granted. No longer do we work hard, live frugally and save up to acquire things. Now we go into debt or steal or expect others to provide for us.

Someone who claims that “a good and just god does not punish” simply doesn’t want to believe in a God who justly restrains His children in any manner. He just wants a god who lets him do whatever the heck he pleases. Anything goes. There are no consequences. There is no punishment.

We’ve seen how well this works in raising children. How much larger are the implications for all of mankind?

It is because God is good and just that He gives us rules to live by. Adults need boundaries just as children do. And punishment from God doesn’t necessarily mean a lightning bolt from on high. It can also mean withholding godly blessings. God wants what is best for us. He doesn’t want us wallowing in poor choices, sinful ways and bratty behavior. If we live by the “anything goes” rule, how long can our culture sustain itself? (Stand by for a few more years and you may get your answer.)

Mankind is “being trained up” under the tutelage of God. We are imperfect and always striving. It’s a sad person who never outgrows childhood and stays in perpetual self-indulgent juvenile limbo, unable to reason or think logically. God is pleased with mature, self-controlled adults who are humble enough to realize the rules will always apply to them. We ignore these rules at our peril.

I, for one, am very glad to have a good and just God who metes out punishment when necessary. And thanks to the sacrifice of His Son, which we celebrate this weekend, we can be glad for a chance to redeem ourselves as well.

Similarly, governments thrive on chaos. If there isn’t enough occurring naturally, the government may well manufacture it, just to keep themselves in business. A couple weeks ago I saw a comment that read, “Without chaos, government has no future.” This was later amended to, “Without chaos, even if intentionally orchestrated, government has no future.” This is vastly true.

It’s kinda like computer techies. My husband and I have a private theory that, since computer techs must justify their positions within a corporation, they are forever creating “new and improved” computer programs that do nothing but obfuscate, confuse and complicate what had previously been a simple software function that non-tech people could use without a problem.

I don’t mean to pick on computer tech people (except when I get annoyed because Blogger “improved” its services by making things worse) since this tendency is endemic for nearly every innovative occupation. People must do something to justify their paycheck; and what they do is make “new and improved” [fill in the blanks] that are often more complicated, less functional and less user-friendly than before.

Government is the same. It must “improve” the lives of its citizens by creating solutions where there are no problems; or worse, creating problems where none exist in order to justify their solutions.

The difference between computer techs and government, however, is coercion. If I don’t like the new software a company creates, I don’t have to buy it. But only the government can put a gun to my head and force me to accept the “solutions” to their problems.

Thomas Jefferson said, “The policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free, neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.” This, let me remind you, was the original vision of America: a land of limited government interference. LIMITED. Got that? LIMITED.

But politicians simply can’t be content to keep the government within the narrow parameters set up by the Founding Fathers. They always want to “improve” it. They can’t allow free markets to be free; they have to jump in and level the playing field or give backroom sweetheart deals to big businesses, or otherwise interfere. They can’t allow the states or the free market or ordinary citizens to handle health care, gun laws, schools and other critical issues; they must make them a federal matter of strict bureaucratic control.

“Each government program carries within it the seeds of future programs that will be ‘needed’ to clean up the mess the first program creates,” writes the late Harry Browne in his superb book “Why Government Doesn’t Work.” “No matter how much mischief it causes, government always shows up in a cavalry uniform – riding in to rescue us from the problems it created.”

Mr. Browne identifies four reasons government grows:

• The failure of each government program leads to demands for new programs;

• Everyone wants special privileges he sees others getting;
• “Public servants” seize on every problem as an excuse to expand their powers; and
• The “Dictator Syndrome,” which is the belief that all suffering or damage can be eliminated by government programs, which only work under dictatorial power. (Don’t believe me? See what happens when you have a “wetlands” on your property.)

One of Washington’s greatest desires is to save us from ourselves. We are no longer permitted to suffer the consequences of our own actions. Instead, the government must sponsor programs or introduce legislation to rescue us from any and all stupidity, coercing the whole to accept solutions for the problems of the few.

Government cannot thrive without coercion. But since coerced people resent being forced into compliance, government coercion breeds envy, hatred, anger and other vices, which further divides us and sets group against group. No problem. The government has a “solution” for that, too.

This cycle repeats itself, endlessly. And government programs (and the accompanying taxes) are never, ever eliminated. Ever. More programs cause more chaos, which causes more programs, which cause more chaos, and government grows and grows and grows.

See? Without chaos, government has no future. And let me be crystal clear: This applies to Democrats, Republicans and everyone in between. It is absolutely endemic in the political machine.

And it all began because people couldn’t accept Thomas Jefferson’s words: “The policy of the American government is to leave its citizens free, neither restraining them nor aiding them in their pursuits.”

This insane out-of-control system with which we’re now saddled began when people foolishly thought it was the business of the government to help those who couldn’t help themselves. “Once that door was open,” noted Harry Browne, “once it was settled that the government should help some people at the expense of others, there was no stopping it.”

And now the sky is falling on America. But Chicken Little, please note, wasn’t working to make the sky fall. The government IS, by enthusiastically taking advantage of every tragedy in order to save us from ourselves, with the ultimate goal of dismantling the Bill of Rights and thus achieving total control.

Somebody wrote a succinct and frightening plan of where our country is headed, to wit: Pass gun control. Nationalize the gun and ammo manufacturers. Enact martial law. Confiscate guns house to house. Exterminate the resistance.

Does this sound like the kind of America you want? Is this the kind of America our forefathers envisioned? Because, make no mistake, that’s where we’re headed.

Right now our government is still afraid of We the People (since we’re armed) and is creating as much chaos as it can to splinter us into factions (divide and conquer). If the government succeeds in disarming America, it will no longer have reason to fear us.

I’ll end with yet another quote from Thomas Jefferson, who had the astounding ability to look 250 years into the future: “When governments fear the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the government, there is tyranny.”

Do you really want tyranny?

You’re not imagining things. It’s happening. And a great deal of this strife can be directly or indirectly traced back to the government and its programs.

How? Let’s examine this.

It is the natural course for government (any government, really) to gain power by dismantling or neutralizing any restrictions placed upon it. In America, those restrictions are found in the Constitution and Bill of Rights.

But the government can’t just declare the Constitution null and void. Too sudden, too dangerous. Instead, it must incrementally remove these restrictions by fomenting dissension among citizens, using divisive tactics, and then proposing the suspension of certain liberties in the name of “safety” or “fairness.”

The plan is deceptively simple. The first thing to do is create dependency whenever possible. The government has done this by pushing (actively pushing) welfare on any and all who want it. By removing the incentive to work, eradicating the need for fathers and subsidizing unwed motherhood, the government has created a multi-generational dependent class rife with poverty, apathy, violence and criminal behavior.

Next, nurture distrust between economic levels. By implying that the economic playing field should be leveled (regardless of effort) and the rich should “pay their fair share” (regardless of reality), the twin sins of envy and greed are cultivated. Productive citizens are punished for their success, and unproductive citizens are encouraged to take without earning. Imagine what this does to personal incentive on either end of the spectrum.

Next, discourage entrepreneurship by imposing insane and unnecessary bureaucratic red tape on businesses to keep us all “safe” from any harm and make things “fair” to anyone whose feelings get hurt. This discourages the free market and makes room for state-controlled monopolies.

Next, reduce the need for self-control. By removing the consequences of poor decisions, the government breeds indulgence, decadence and selfishness. Self-disciplined people are self-governed. Those without self-control need strong government to control them. The more personal responsibility our government can convince us to surrender, the more power it obtains over us.

Next, cultivate hatred between racial groups. “Obama has repeatedly returned to the well of racial divisiveness to serve his political ends,” notes Ann Coulter, and this administration has certainly seen far more racial violence and tension than any time since the Civil Rights Movement of the ’60s (but without the noble motivation).

Next, take hold of the children. Progressive indoctrination in government schools has been taking place for decades. Children are imprisoned and subject to mind control to the extent that even nibbling a Pop-Tart into the shape of a gun can get a kid into trouble. Children are trained to passively submit to violations of their free speech (stifling any references to God, pro-life sentiments, or patriotic expressions) and to submit to violations of their persons and property (metal detectors, locker searches, urine tests). And they are taught only a progressive agenda, often in defiance of parental values and always in defiance of civilized and decent behavior.

Next, plunge the nation into debt so massive that an economic collapse is a statistical certainty. The scale of societal upheaval (in commerce, transportation, and justice) in the aftermath of such a collapse has no precedent in America.

Next, water down the right of self-defense by claiming certain pieces of metal are evil in and of themselves, and therefore illegal for any civilian to own. Only elites and their guards are permitted to own them.

Next, demonize gun owners. Categorize trained veterans as mentally unstable and therefore unfit to possess firearms. Confiscate weapons from any citizen speaking his mind in public or seeking medical care.

Next, use crude, offensive and sneering labels for anyone who opposes these tactics. The most popular labels include racists, birthers, teabaggers, right-wing nutjobs, fanatics, tinfoil hat wearers, conspiracy theorists, etc. I’m sure you can think of more.

And above all, be patient. The government can afford to take 50 years to create a dependent class. It can afford to wait a few generations to breed out any vestiges of pride or self-reliance in children, their parents and their grandparents.

These divide-and-conquer strategies work. They keep the masses bickering among themselves. And while we the people quarrel with each other, our attention is diverted away from the government, which is gradually dismantling the Constitution and implementing anti-constitutional legislation to control us. All for our own good, of course.

When the dependent class gives in to violence and begins rioting, the government will find it convenient to intervene. Perhaps they will implement martial law or impose gun confiscation on everyone (not just rioters) to calm the masses and reduce strife… the very strife the government purposely created.

Always, always, it comes down to self-defense. As long as its citizens are armed, no government can succeed to despotism. That’s why they spend generations training children about the evils of guns. That’s why they’re hostile to patriotic families. That’s why they sneer at veterans and tell them they’re too mentally unstable to own firearms. That’s why our politicians, public schools and other federal branches demonize guns and gun owners at every possible opportunity. The government must disarm us, whatever it takes.

But I have hope for our future, and I’ll tell you why: America is unique among nations. We do not have deep roots of meek obedience and passivity in the face of government abuse. At heart, we remain a stubborn and independent people. While the flicker of autonomy has been forever quashed in some, for most of us that irrepressible spark can never be fully eradicated. Our heritage of freedom, liberty, self-reliance and sheer orneriness will eventually rise.

When it does, our own government might be shocked and appalled at the unified spirit of opposition that will sweep our country, bypassing liberal bastions but rooting deep in the heartland.

And if the government elites come for our guns, they’re going to find themselves facing a conflagration larger than anything they could ever imagine. By and large, the heartland of America hasn’t been brainwashed into the progressive groupthink that’s been so successful in the cities.

When it comes time to reclaim our country, we’ll be ready. We’ll no longer be brother against brother, blacks against whites, rich against poor, elite against the masses.

We’ll be patriots against tyranny. Just as America has always been.