Over at Ace of Spades HQ, Buck Throckmorton makes a provocative claim. Here’s how he opens:
Tyranny doesn’t end because citizens overwhelm the tyrant’s troops and then storm the tyrant’s fortress. It ends when the tyrant’s enforcers refuse to shoot ordinary civilians. And the reason they choose not to shoot civilians is because they’ve made a calculated decision that it is now their most prudent course of action.Newsom, Whitmer, de Blasio, and all the other tyrants born of Covid are drunk on the power they’ve claimed during this “emergency.” They have claimed that by winning an election – once - they may now assume dictatorial powers, ignore existing laws, and suspend the Bill of Rights. Chief among these powers is determining which businesses and lives they can destroy with a simple decree.
Most of the police and city employees enforcing decrees that shut down businesses are just “following orders.” Although they may not identify as bad people, they are engaging in evil behavior and they must be compelled to stop doing so. And they can be compelled to stop. [Emphasis added by FWP.]
They can? Without bloodshed? Hm. “Compulsion” usually involves at least the threat of bodily harm – and American cops do carry firearms. Buck’s prescription has a strong resemblance to the New Left’s notions about “monkey-wrenching.” Please read it there, as I don’t want to copy most of another blogger’s column. Here’s how Buck winds up:
Peaceful people seeking to stop the tyranny will not initiate violence, but will not back down at the threat of it either. It might be a more prudent choice for the tyrant’s ground troops to just not enforce these unlawful decrees after all.
That’s a statement of hope, not of fact. Hope is wonderful – it’s one of the three theological virtues — but as has been said many times, it’s “not a strategy.”
Remember always that people normally pursue their chosen occupations at least as much for the inherent satisfactions those occupations provide as for the wages they pay. Cops don’t become cops mainly for the spiffy uniforms or the defined-benefit pension plan. Some are genuinely motivated by a desire to serve the public...but quite a few choose the job because it allows them to exert authority over others, and to back it up with force.
Always be extremely cautious about assumptions concerning armed agents of the State. Some of them might be okay, but some are just looking for a reason to pull the trigger. Remember Waco and Ruby Ridge. These days, you need a program to tell who’s on the side of the angels.
What that guy on Ace doesn't realize is:
ReplyDeleteThe Pollice Abuse cases only gained national attention because they were permitted - even encouraged - to be posted. The social media censors PUSHED them onto the national arena.
Unlike the top 5 opposition stories on Parler, Gab, YouTube, and MeWe. Which, no one is seeing, other than those who haven't - YET - been kicked off.
They have control over what news reaches us. They've manipulated the outlets, until there is no more.
FoxNews had some cred, for a while, because of the fact that they put opposing viewpoints on. Last night, there was a showing of Bombshell, the Leftist version of the story about Roger Ailes, Gretchen Carlson, and Meghan Kelly. According to the story, the reason for the takedown of the FoxNews head was sexual harassment.
But, I seriously doubt that.
Oh, I don't doubt that he pressured women to have sex for a job. But, they also made that choice. Which, distasteful as it is to state it, sex for money - prostitution. There is no evidence that he forced unwilling women to go along. If they resisted, they still kept their job - but, without promotions.
Crude, and an HR violation. But, not a crime, except in the minds of women who don't recognize the quid pro quo nature of many jobs.
Why then?
Because the Left PLANNED to neuter the most effective counter-voice to the otherwise Leftist viewpoint that dominates television.
Apparently, Gretchen Carlson PLANNED this some time ago. She made audio tapes of their meetings for over a year. Anyone want to bet that she curated the tapes to select the most damaging? Maybe even selected edited them?
Why did she do it? Was she in the pay of the Left?
Doubtful. Mostly, it seems to be a calculated decision that she was near the end of her on-screen career, and she had little to lose. Gretchen is smart - not as smart as SHE thinks she is, but smart enough. She managed to rope Ailes in, hogtie him with the tapes, and cash in.
So, what about Megan Kelly?
I think she was influenced by the Left. They steered her towards coming forward, and helped provide her with a relatively soft landing at NBC News, until they no longer had use for her.
But, they got what they were aiming at - the de facto end of FoxNews. Since then, the channel has oozed to the Left, with a vengeance. And, other than NewsMax and OANN, we have nothing.
How are we to get the word out?
Indie News. Short pieces, that permit easy download (perhaps for subscribers only, or limited per week). Audio (podcasts), video, and written in e-book formats. Small enough to be passed by flash drives. Easily concealed or transferred. Usable on an air-gapped machine.
Over the air - CB, GMRS, ham. Primarily mobile - harder to shut down. Think pirate radio, to the max.
Face to face. Small groups meeting in public, with no apparent agenda. Informal, until that person is vetted (here's where social media openness works against them). Book Clubs/Study Groups - teaching the foundations of Non-Leftist Dissent (NLD).
We will need to become Winter Soldiers. Or, perhaps, just a few lads/lassies gathering down at Pubmaster Revere's place. Just having a few drinks and whispering rebellion.
" Always be extremely cautious about assumptions concerning armed agents of the State. Some of them might be okay, but some are just looking for a reason to pull the trigger. Remember Waco and Ruby Ridge. These days, you need a program to tell who’s on the side of the angels."
ReplyDeletetrue enough. do these people "just looking for a reason" live in a vacuum? do they have a house in the city or town they rule? do they sleep there? do they have a family that can be ostracized at the grocery store? on the soccer field, at school?
"It might be a more prudent choice for the tyrant’s ground troops to just not enforce these unlawful decrees after all."
ReplyDelete"That’s a statement of hope, not of fact."
I always assume that sane people work in their perceived self-interest. It's not in anyone's interest to be shot. Not even bullies want that. It's not a statement of hope, to realize that.
Part of their calculation has to be the probability of being shot. Cops in places like England have very low probability, low enough to be ignored. Cops in America - IN NORMAL TIMES - also have little to worry about. But that is because they can dog-pile onto anyone who they think needs correction.
Soon we will not be in normal times. The dog-pile will not be available, because there will be far too many people needing correction, and there just aren't that many cops. That's when cops will start thinking, "I might not make it home tonight. I'd better ease up and just watch what is going on."