Which Way Are You Inclined?

     I know a fair number of people who are utterly confident that President Trump will be re-elected in November, that the Durham investigations will produce massive numbers of indictments of former Obama Administration insiders, that the economic rebound after the Wuhan virus panic will break all records, and that there will be a meaningful World Series this coming October. I also know a fair number or people who are utterly despondent, as they’re convinced that President Trump will lose to Senile Joe Biden, that the Durham investigations will sputter out without meaningful consequences, that the economy will linger in the doldrums for many more months, and that baseball as we have known and loved it is but a memory.

     I belong in neither of these groups. I won’t predict any of the outcomes they foresee. I wait, watch, and wonder whether all is not as it seems.

     What about you, Gentle Reader?

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     John Wilder opines thus:

     How did the Modern Sporting Lawyer make you feel?

     That’s why he and his wife are condemned. That’s why they have vowed to cancel him, to make an example of them, to find a way to charge them with crime. They are the opposite of demoralization.

     The Modern Sporting Lawyer and his wife drive the Left crazy. Here, their desire to destroy as a senseless mob was turned back by only two people.

     Can you imagine if the Right was united? I can.

     Wilder is cheerfully optimistic, despite his warning that we in the Right must stop fighting amongst ourselves. I like the tone of his piece and the direction of his sentiments, but I can’t fully share his optimism. As a wise man once said:

Confident is how you feel
Just before you get blindsided.

     (Who was that wise man, I hear you ask? I think it was me.)

     To that effect, we have this recent development:

     Law enforcement officials in St. Louis have allegedly served a warrant on the St. Louis couple who recently defended their home when a large mob of angry demonstrators allegedly trespassed onto their private property.

     “5 On Your Side has learned St. Louis police officers executed a search warrant Friday evening at the home of Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the Central West end couple who confronted protesters with weapons in June,” KSDK News reported. “Sources tell 5 On Your Side police seized one of the weapons, the rifle, from the couple and they told police their attorney has the pistol seen in photos.”

     Fox News host Shannon Bream confirmed the news in a tweet, writing, “BREAKING: Warrant reportedly served on St. Louis couple who stood outside their home with weapons as protesters approached. We’re told weapon(s) seized. We’ve got the warrant and pictures for you at 11p – PLUS, Missouri @AGEricSchmitt joins us LIVE…”

     So the “forces of order” in St. Louis have disarmed a couple targeted by a violent and destructive mob. That couple is the very same one Wilder referred to in his optimistic piece. As this news was broadcast on St. Louis media, the mob now knows that the McCloskeys have been shorn of the power to resist them. What would you predict from these conditions?

• Will the McCloskeys ever get their weapons back?
• Will they face charges for having dared to defend themselves?
• Will other St. Louis residents dare to defend their property with weapons?
• Will the mob attack the McCloskeys’ home now that they’ve been disarmed?
• Will the D.A.s of other riot-torn cities react similarly toward armed defense of private property?

     It doesn’t look good to me – certainly not as rosy a picture as John Wilder has painted.

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     The central unanswered question throughout the riots has been “Which side is officialdom on?” It must be answered locale by locale, of course. In some areas, the answer has been heartening: no one in Coeur d’Alene has been harassed by the police for having defended that city from the rioters who tore up Spokane. In others, the answer appears to be the reverse: in St. Louis, defending yourself against criminals is being treated as a criminal offense. Here on Long Island, the chips have yet to fall.

     A great rearrangement of regional populations is underway. Large numbers of Americans are departing from long-time homes on the coasts, especially in and around the major cities. They’re moving to less densely populated areas that have not yet been targeted by the Black Lives Matter / AntiFa / Communist coalition. Many are giving up a great deal – careers, neighborhoods they’ve loved, proximity to family and friends – in a quest for greater safety from the rampaging mobs. That constitutes a barometer of popular sentiment: yea, even among those who voted for the very officials who have sided with the mobs and against peaceable citizens.

     As soon as I can manage it, I will be part of that population rearrangement. I want to believe that all will be well, as John Wilder has predicted. However, belief must give way before the evidence – and just now the evidence does not inspire confidence:

• The mass army of the Right John Wilder envisions is not yet in evidence.
• Police forces in riot-torn cities have stood aside before the rioters.
• D.A.s would rather prosecute the peaceful and law-abiding.
• No federal response to the riots is in prospect.

     So: How do you see things working out, Gentle Reader? If you’re a resident of – or proximate to – one of the riot-torn cities, what are your strongest inclinations concerning the safety of your home and family? What conceivable developments would cause you to alter those inclinations?

     Please let me know. What you can tell me about conditions in your district, and how you’re minded to meet them, is information of value to others in similar circumstances. Lives could be at stake.

“Just In Case”

     Recently I’ve been humming or softly singing “Cleaning My Gun” pretty much continuously as I go about my day. It’s not a “traditionally catchy” song, but it lodges in the memory, especially a memory like mine, which seems to trap everything and hold onto it all indefinitely. It’s especially appropriate to today, here in the Land of the Formerly Free.

     The verse that really resonates with me is, of course:

We had women and a mirror ball, we had a DJ
We used to eat pretty much all came this way
Ever since the goons came in took apart the place
I keep a tire iron in the corner just in case

     Sounds like they were having fun...before the “goons” came in. Which “goons” he has in mind, Mark Knopfler never specifies.

     Maybe he felt no need. We each have our own “goons” in mind. Whether they’re an appropriate focus for one’s fears, no one else can say. But the “tire iron in the corner just in case” is a unifying theme. And in this Curmudgeon’s not particularly humble opinion, it’s an appropriate one.

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     I’ve written before about how individual freedom today is largely a matter of contriving not to be noticed. If you’re too conspicuous about doing what you please, you’ll attract attention. I hardly need to detail the possible consequences of attracting government attention. But there are other kinds of attention most Americans would rather not receive.

     (Somewhere in my humor archives, I have a bit titled “You Know It’s Going To Be A Bad Day When,” which lists a few items just about anyone would find ominous. One of my favorites is “You get to work and find a 60 Minutes camera crew in your office.” I think we could get general agreement on that being a harbinger of pain and sorrow to come.)

     Neighborly attention is generally regarded as harmless most of the time. There are exceptions, of course. No one wants to find a neighbor rummaging through his toolshed, regardless of how well the two of you get along most of the time. But in recent years it’s become steadily more important to limit the amount one’s neighbors know about one’s activities and affinities.

     Do you own a gun or two? These days a lot of people get unduly nervous about living near someone who owns guns. Never mind that the typical armed criminal is unlikely to live in a typical suburban subdivision. (If you’re a city-dweller, the probability that you possess guns drops sharply.) Never mind that we’ve all been indoctrinated about the safe storage of guns to the point that the only sort of jerk who’d leave one lying about, ready to anyone’s hand, would be a lunatic...and he tends not to live in a typical suburban subdivision, either. Brings the property values down, don’t y’know.

     Maybe you like your spirits. Maybe you like them enough to purchase them in case lots, from distant vineyards and distilleries, and get them delivered by UPS. You might not want your neighbors to get too interested in that, either. There’s a pretty strong correlation between addresses that get frequent parcel deliveries and addresses that suffer frequent break-ins. Sad in this day of Amazon.com, but true.

     Is your spouse unusually attractive? Does she frequently wear expensive clothing or jewelry? Those are markers for lots of attention you might be better off without. Even omitting the break-ins possibility, they often excite unhealthful envy – specifically, unhealthful for its target. It’s always been considered foolish to own the best house in the neighborhood; this is merely an extension of the underlying principle.

     Time was, these things would have been innocuous. Today, we keep a tire iron in the corner...just in case.

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     Gadding about isn’t something we do as casually as we once did, either. The typical American making his way down a public street is more “situationally aware” than his father and grandfather were under similar circumstances. The likelihood of being the victim of a mugging or a purse-snatching is on a lot of minds. It’s particularly acute for women, which has caused women to cluster more frequently than in previous generations. And no one sends an unaccompanied ten-year-old down to the corner store for a pound of cheese any more.

     Driving an expensive car is another factor that elevates the hazards. A few years ago we saw the rise of “bump-and-rob” incidents on the streets. Innocent citizen Smith is unable to proceed because of the car in front of him when the car behind him whacks his rear bumper hard enough to leave the dreaded “hidden damage.” Smith is advised to stay in his car. The drivers of the cars confining his movement just might be armed and unfriendly.

     I don’t think I need to say anything about travel by air. Let it suffice to say that I haven’t boarded a plane since 1990, and I don’t think I will ever again.

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     Whatever you’re doing, wherever and with whomever you’re doing it, it’s not as safe to be noticed as it once was. Envy is rampant. So are young men from...interesting cultures. And so are persons willing to tattle on you to the Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnibenevolent State for something or other. A low profile is just about the only way to keep such persons out of your hair and wallet.

     It’s not enough to deflect inappropriate inquiries from physicians, school officials, and the takers of opinion surveys. A lot of people are looking for a reason to take offense and itching to do something about it. You don’t want their attention. Trust me on that.

     But of course, one cannot lead one’s life under a cloak of invisibility. (The damned things are heavy and hot.) Any interaction you have with anyone could touch off a series of events that would eventuate in sorrow. You knew that before starting to read this essay.

     That’s why you keep a tire iron in the corner. Just in case.

Creating children vs. protecting them

Thanks to a post a few days ago at Western Rifle Shooters, which revealed the Nanny-Statist mentality to me in a whole new way, I reacquainted myself with the NRA's "Eddie Eagle" four step gun-safety program. Here's where I discuss the UK's "Stay Safe," guncrime safety program. All the pertinent links can be found below the YouTube video.