Tuesday, January 21, 2020

Scattered Thoughts

     Today promises to be a taxing one, so here are a few squibs from miscellaneous observations to tide you over until I’ve got all my ducks in a row.

     (Apropos of nothing, where does that idiom come from? What’s the point of lining up all one’s ducks? Economizing on shotgun ammo, perhaps?)


1. “Small Arms.”

     Courtesy of David L. Burkhead, we have this column from Michael Z. Williamson about the utility of small arms in resisting invasion. Here’s a taste, but be sure to read the whole thing:

     What about [the invader’s] tanks and planes?

     What about them? First they have to get here, then they have to have a secure facility. Modern planes are very susceptible to damage. Rifle fire can destroy engines, airframe integrity, avionics. It can kill all the necessary support personnel--up to 100 per craft. This means the aircraft must be outside of rifle range of the perimeter, or protected by a revetment constructed by engineers. Those engineers and security are susceptible to rifle fire, while any remaining operational military elements bring mortars or drones into play.

     As far as tanks...they have to have a place to laager every few hours, and the tankers have to get out. Then they're as susceptible to attack as any other troop. And that laager will need security and a perimeter. This gets insanely expensive very fast, as many liberals have noted with the operation in Iraq..which they insist the US lost.

     Take particular note of Williamson’s mention of support personnel. It takes more bodies to keep a tank in operating condition, and lots more bodies to keep a military aircraft airworthy, than it does to operate each of those systems in combat. Because of my former trade, I know that well. Kill enough support personnel and the war systems will grind to a halt...and those personnel are quite vulnerable to partisans equipped with the much-derided “small arms.”

     What applies to the defeat of an invasion applies with equal force to resistance to a tyrannical government. Keep your rifles, Gentle Readers. Keep them clean, and stay well-practiced in their use.


2. The Wall.

     Never imagine that the Democrats who oppose the wall being constructed on our southern border are against it because it’s “ineffective.” They want the migrant horde it’s retarding, they want it all, and they want it now:

     The number one policy initiative that helped President Trump win election in 2016 was his promise to build a southern border wall. Several hundred miles of the new border security barrier have been completed with several hundred more in various stages of construction.

     During the VICE News Brown & Black Democrat Presidential Forum today, 2020 candidate Bernie Sanders said he would “look at” tearing it all down.

     If you want to hear Sanders say it, here’s the video.

     The Democrats have learned one giant lesson from the 2016 elections: the majority of actual Americans oppose their agenda. As they have no prospect of converting us, they must replace us, or outnumber us – and the way forward is through uncontrolled borders.

     Finish the wall, Mr. President. Please. Quickly!


3. The Rally In Richmond.

     The Left wanted violence and disorder. They didn’t get it.
     Ralph “Blackface” Northam wanted a “Reichstag fire.” He didn’t get it.
     The mainstream media wanted to prove that Second Amendment supporters are violent racist rednecks. They didn’t get that, either.

     Here’s what we got:

     RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Tens of thousands of gun-rights activists from around the country rallied peacefully at the Virginia Capitol on Monday to protest plans by the state’s Democratic leadership to pass gun-control legislation — a move that has become a key flash point in the national debate over gun violence

     The size of the crowd and the expected participation of white supremacists and fringe militia groups raised fears that the state could see a repeat of the violence that exploded in 2017 in Charlottesville. But the rally concluded uneventfully around noon, and the mood was largely festive, with rally-goers chanting “USA!” and waving signs denouncing Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam.

     Note the down-in-the-mouth tone of the Associated Press’s reporting. The reporter is plainly disappointed that the slanderous notions he and his colleagues had been spreading about “white supremacists and fringe militia groups” proved utterly false. But wait: there’s more!

     But Democratic lawmakers — including House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn and Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw — told AP the rally wouldn’t impact their plans to pass gun-control measures, including universal background checks and a one-handgun-purchase-a-month limit. Democrats say tightening Virginia’s gun laws will make communities safer and help prevent mass shootings like the one last year in Virginia Beach, where a dozen people were killed in a municipal building.

     And of course Governor Blackface had to claim credit for the peacefulness of the rally:

     Democrats lie. They do so for many reasons, but above all, this one: they are incapable of admitting to error.

     Virginia must turn these bastards out of office this coming fall.


     That’s all for the nonce, Gentle Reader. It’s time I got to work on...well, a lot of stuff, including a novel the C.S.O. has been pestering me to finish. (There’s a first time for everything.) See you tomorrow.

1 comment:

daniel_day said...

My guess about the "ducks in a row" expression is that it comes from the traditional shooting gallery target of rows of painted steel ducks moving across in front of the shooter.