What the books are about, and why I wrote them:

I began writing Enemies Foreign And Domestic in 2000, after too many years of watching our constitutional republic morphing into a police state. These novels, based upon nearly a half century of carefully studying historical patterns, are my attempt to shine a light forward in time. My goal is to warn my compatriots that we are inescapably losing our freedom, one ratchet-click at a time.

The Muslim terror attacks on 9-11 kicked the process into high gear. But instead of new laws targeting our actual enemies–radical Islamists bent on the global spread of their Sharia Law nightmare–the new police powers were aimed equally at all Americans. Projecting forward, the inevitable outcome will be to turn the United States into a dictatorship–the USSA, if you will.

The federal government, under the rubric of fighting a generalized terror threat, has for many years been providing local police departments with high-grade military weapons, equipment and training. The quid-pro-quo for this federal largesse is unquestioning local cooperation with federal law enforcement agencies, turning thousands of local police SWAT teams into force multipliers for burgeoning federal police power. In the name of fighting a murky and undefined “war on terror,” we have allowed the creation of a militarized national police force, something which our Founding Fathers explicitly warned us against and tried their best to prevent.

During the same period, our debt-based economy has nearly reached the bitter end of the fiat-currency road. It is only a matter of time until America experiences an economic crisis on the level of what is currently taking place in Greece, or even far worse. If and when federal entitlements, food stamp payments, housing allotments and all the rest are curtailed, I believe our major urban areas will explode in riots beyond anything America experienced in the 1960s. This will cause a breakdown in the national distribution of food, fuel and other commodities necessary to sustain life. At that point, some form of martial law will be put into effect, and our newly-militarized national police forces, along with active-duty military units, will be called upon to “restore order.” In so doing, the last nails will be hammered into the coffin containing our legacy of American freedom.

Obviously, I don’t desire to see this happen, but if such an outcome is preordained, I want at least to shine a beacon into the future. My goal is to provide my readers with some possible alternatives that will be less horrible than the worst-case scenarios, which otherwise shall be arrived at by chance and happenstance.

This is why I prefer to write what I call semi-dystopian novels, set in the near future. The post-apocalyptic genre has been beaten to death, and life in the rubble at a bare survival level provides few practical lessons. To me, the slide is more instructive than the post-collapse period. The often-repeated historical process of economic collapse and the loss of freedom is what interests me the most, and that is why I am driven to write these novels. I hope that you enjoy them, and that you gain some insights which might prove of value during the tumultuous years ahead.

Matt has figured out a way to use that book to bring much needed attention to “Gunwalker.”  For those of you who don’t yet know, the official name for Gunwalker was Operation Fast and Furious.  David Codrea has an excellent resource on what happened at this link.  Gunwalker is a whole load of B.S. as you can see from David Codrea’s work.  It’s being covered up by the Department of Justice and the Mainstream Media.  For example, U.S. Representative Darryl Issa has subpoenaed nearly 80,000 pages of information about this operation from the Department of Justice.  He has only received about 6,000 pages and those were heavily redacted.  I have yet to hear a massive clamoring in the media screaming about a cover-up.  I really haven’t heard much at all.

So what did Matt Bracken decide to do?  He decided to give away free e-book downloads of Enemies Foreign And Domestic on Amazon.com in an effort to draw attention to the situation:

Communiqué #1: D-Day Minus Seven, February 23

Want to join a beat-up old ex-Navy SEAL, ocean sailor and book writer on a real-world covert cyber operation?

I knew you did. So here’s the deal. The idea is a national clandestine psyop, using my first novel as a vehicle.

On next Thursday, March 1, Enemies Foreign And Domestic will be put into Amazon Kindle’s free library.

Where EFAD’s free download promotion will be different from those of the thousands of fantasy/romance/vampire novels currently offered on Kindle, is that I’m simultaneously coordinating a mass plan to ensure that Operation EFAD goes hyper-viral on all constitutionally-oriented, freedom-loving, and Second Amendment websites and blogs at the same time.

Or on at least on as many as I can reach, and that is where you come in. There are literally hundreds of patriotic websites and blogs, and I can only reach a few. You can reach them all, every last one. And then some. More about this in the next communiqué on D Minus Six.

Despite its many limitations, Twitter will be useful for rapid tactical coordination. Operation Enemies Foreign And Domestic will be code-named #EFAD, in order to use Twitter as an always-open back channel for project updates and participant feedback. By typing #EFAD into the Twitter search field, you will find every new message related to the operation. I am @MattBracken48 on Twitter, I am Matt Bracken on Facebook, and I can be reached by email at steelcutter48 at gmail.com.

My goal is to make the spike in the number of free Kindle downloads for Enemies Foreign And Domestic so dramatic, that the national media will notice the passionate interest in this “dangerous and seditious” novel among the bitter clingers. But this is just the first step of a jiu-jitsu move. The light thrown on EFAD’s sudden nationwide surge in popularity will then be mirrored back onto the federal government’s most egregious usurpations and abuses, and on the mainstream media itself.

The idea is to force open a long overdue national conversation that the elite MSM very much wants to ignore. In large strokes, it is about our federal government morphing into a socialist tyranny before our eyes, a tyranny that is no longer soft, but getting harder with every passing month. Which is it to be: freedom, or tyranny?

The first step in forcing open this dialogue will be to explore the mainstream media’s active collusion in the cover-up of a scandal that is demonstrably orders of magnitude worse than the worst previous scandals, such as Watergate, which was “a third-rate burglary” where nobody was killed. To date, the DOJ’s Operation Fast And Furious has resulted in hundreds of murdered Mexicans and at least two dead U.S. federal agents. But instead of providing real news coverage, the MSM feeds America the pabulum of celebrity worship and an artificially-contrived debate about artificial birth control.

Imagine for a moment if President Nixon’s men, when called before the congressional committees invistigating the Watergate scandal, had provided nothing but thousands of pages of fully blacked-out paper. In effect, a giant, bored, “F— you, what are you going to do about it?” to Congress. Then imagine if the Washington Post, the New York Times and the television networks never mentioned Watergate or the hearings, except rarely, and then only to call the congressional investigators partisan hacks who were bent on destroying our beloved President Nixon.

Reverse the party polarity, jump forward through the time warp, and you have the current reality, where gangsters rule the federal government from the White House, the Fast And Furious congressional investigators are impotent buffoons, and the MSM is fully in on the cover-up. Nobody died at the Watergate, but recall what the hysterical 24-7 news coverage of the Watergate scandal and hearings accomplished: the end of a presidency, pronto. And an Attorney General in prison.

In the modern case of Operation Fast And Furious, hundreds of Mexicans were murdered as the result of a diabolically evil plot laid with the sole purpose of discrediting the Second Amendment, by deliberately funneling semi-automatic rifles to known drug cartel killers and assassins. Their goal was to bury our Right to Keep and Bear Arms beneath a mountain of Mexican corpses.

Folks, it doesn’t get much more evil than that.

And we know why these socialist dictators-in-waiting want us disarmed.

In 2012, the fictional premise of Enemies Foreign And Domestic, that a small clique of senior BATFE officials might conspire to arrange a mass shooting into a packed football stadium (also with the intention of discrediting our Right to Keep and Bear Arms), suddenly seems much less far-fetched.

So here’s the plan: on Thursday, March 1, we will engineer a stratospheric spike in the number of free Kindle downloads of Enemies Foreign And Domestic, and continue this operation for up to five days, the max allowable under the terms of the free download program. Then we will sit back and watch the bewildered and alarmed MSM explore this sudden and frightening phenomenon erupting among the unwashed gun nuts and wild-eyed Constitution fanatics. You know, us. Real Americans, out here in fly-over countery.

And when they predictably condemn EFAD for its fictional assassinations of government officials, and the rest of the story that they will pretend to find so abhorrent, we will shine their own spotlight right back on them, and yell Fast And Furious in their faces!

“Really? Enemies Foreign And Domestic is a terrorist manual? Well, I’ll see your fictional stadium massacre, and raise you a real-world conspiracy to murder hundreds of Mexicans for political purposes. If you would ever cover the story, instead of covering it up!”

And this can all happen by getting a million or so gun owners and other freedom lovers to download EFAD, totally for free, beginning on March 1st. This will be a coordinated “time-on-target” fire mission. Further communiques will be forthcoming from EFAD HQ. Search keyword #EFAD on Twitter for other operational updates, including links.

If you email me (steelcutter48 at gmail.com) , please include #EFAD somewhere in the subject line, so that I will know that you have been briefed to this point and are up to speed. And keep in mind that while you are all my patriotic friends and loyal readers, at various time I may know you by a screen name, a real name, a website name, or an email address name. It gets mighty confusing, so forgive me if I can’t keep all of your various handles straight. And remember: D-Day is March 1.

Matt Bracken—Out.

There’s much more information at this link.

Please go download your free copy of Enemies Foreign And Domestic at Amazon.com and share the word about Operation #EFAD.  This needs to get out and go viral.

24 December 2011 - Good times and gun smoke at the Clark County Shooting Park

 Well, today I managed to get out to the Clark County Shooting Park with my AR-15 and Heritage Rough Rider revolver   Feeling the recoil, hearing the report of the shots, and smelling the gun smoke all helped bring about a nice feeling of calm   Someone down on the rifle side of the facility even had a machine gun!  It’s been too long since I’ve heard automatic weapons fire which is always comforting to me for some strange reason

24 December 2011 - My wonderful bike with a new bit of luggage

 What was even better today than a normal shooting trip was that I managed to do it on the V-Star

The inspiration for this trip came from my need to test a new bit of kit for the bike that I’ve recently acquired.  You see, on a long trip I have motorcycle stuff like a quart of oil and alternate shield in one of the saddle bags and the CPAP takes up 90% or so of the other one.  That means I have to find another way to carry all my clothes and such which has always meant using a back pack.  It’s worked, but it’s not the most comfortable thing in the world.  I’d rather have that load on the bike somewhere.  I’ve looked at luggage racks and a few other things, but they tend to be expensive and they’d be useless if I get a different bike in the future.

My solution was to purchase a pair of Rok Straps from my friends at BMW Motorcycles of Las Vegas and a 35 liter Sea To Summit Big River dry bag from the nice people at REI.  The Big River dry bag has something I felt was rather important for my travels – tie down points on the sides of the bag.  The less expensive version doesn’t have these and I’d rather be able to pass my tie down straps through something like the attachment points on the Big River than to trust only friction and compression.  I figured this system would keep the load on the bike instead of on me and would keep the clothes dry without using a trash bag inside of the main bag.  I also noticed that the bag looked just about big enough for my AR-15′s upper half…

Yep, it fits   OK, so it is just a little tight   The load in the dry bag drew no notice and the trip validated my theory of going cheap and adaptable vs. buying an expensive and specific sissy bar bag or top box

I’ve got quite a few pictures all edited and ready for posting, but it’s getting a bit late.  I’ll be back with more pics tomorrow, but until then I’ll wish everyone a very Merry Christmas

18 January 2011 - Heading to SHOT Show 2011 at the Sands Expo

I think this was when it finally hit me that I was really going to SHOT Show.  Look at those banners

18 January 2011 - Gemtech G5 and HVT - 5.56 and 7.62mm quick disconnect suppressors

At the beginning of my first day, I was really looking at different options for a suppressor for my AR-15 and the Gemtech HVT was very high in the running.  It’s not too heavy, it’s quick disconnect, and it’s 7.62mm which would be nice for multi-caliber usage

18 January 2011 - Troy Industries Covert Approach Pistol - Integrally suppressed Ruger MK III

Something really cool and new from Troy Industries was this integrally suppressed .22 pistol.  I imagine it’s very quiet and I like the glass breakers on the muzzle too.  It’s a bit out of my price range, but maybe sometime in the future…

18 January 2011 - Nemesis Arms multi-caliber takedown precision rifle

18 January 2011 - Nemesis Arms multi-caliber takedown precision rifle receiver

The Nemesis rifle is a really neat piece of equipment.  Swap barrels and magazines and you’ve just changed calibers.  Of course, you can also break it down small enough to fit into a back pack.  This would be nice for a few reasons such as allowing a SWAT officer to make a discrete entry into a building.

18 January 2011 - Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic in Duracoat digital camouflage

18 January 2011 - Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Part of a set along with a Tactical Rifles bolt gun

I can’t leave out Coonan Inc.   Dan Coonan is a really great guy as were the other members of the team.  When talking about the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic, I have to paraphrase Ferris Bueller – If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up

Switching between .357 Magnum and .38 Special is a simple matter of swapping out a recoil spring.  Really, it’s soft shooting and a tremendous amount of fun.  Pricing starts at around $1,200 but this is one of those rare times when I’d be quick to say that it’s entirely worth the money

18 January 2011 - Yankee Hill Machine - Titanium 7.62mm and stainless steel 5.56 mm suppressors

18 January 2011 - Yankee Hill Machine - Titanium 7.62mm and stainless steel 5.56 mm suppressors

Yankee Hill Machine brought out a few new suppressors for SHOT 2011 – in titanium!  YHM makes products the way I like them – functional and affordable   I have a YHM Diamond free float quad rail and I was seriously considering one of their suppressors.  A stainless steel YHM 5.56mm suppressor will set you back about $500 before the $200 NFA transfer tax which is considerably less than you’d pay for a similar suppressor from other manufacturers.

18 January 2011 - A new, more secure case from OTIS Technology

I’ve written before about OTIS cleaning kits for guns – they’re my choice   If you’ve not noticed from past postings, I’ve owned guns in .22, .32, 9mm, 7.62mm, 5.56mm, 7.62mm, 7.5mm, and 12 gauge.  The kit you see above is similar to mine – compact, light, and it will clean all the guns I own   This kit is actually improved over mine – the brushes and other accouterments are are all held in place much more securely.

18 January 2011 - Prototype .22LR version of the STG-44 from German Sport Guns

German Sport Guns (GSG) is the company that made my 1911 pistol in .22 LR and American Tactical Imports brought it in.  They actually make a whole line of guns in .22 that are quite different from your average rimfire.  Think MP-5 and AK-47, but lighter, cheaper to shoot, and much less expensive than the real thing   This is a prototype of something they hope to bring to the U.S. sometime late this year or next year and I wouldn’t mind having one at all

18 January 2011 - Black & tan Kel-Tec PF-9

18 January 2011 - Coyote Tan Cerakote Kel-Tec PF-9

18 January 2011 - The KSG - Kel-Tec Shotgun

And there’s no way I could forget to include Kel-Tec here!  I confess that I really was overwhelmed by all the stuff going on at SHOT and I didn’t get nearly all the pictures I’d have liked.  Still, I managed to get a couple of cool ones from Kel-Tec   You’ve seen a few pics of the KSG before and you know my PF-9 but I hadn’t seen them done in desert tan Cerakote

Folks, that’s all I’ve got for Day One of SHOT 2011.  There will be more when one of my friends gets the pics off of his camera

Have a great night

I wrote an earlier post about the fun we had on 17 January, but I have more pics now thanks to Oleg Volk   Oleg was kind enough to allow me to post these for my remembrance and your enjoyment.  He took the pictures and I did the editing   Here’s hoping you like ‘em

Dan Coonan of Coonan Firearms with the Kel-Tec KSG - Kel-Tec Shot Gun - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan of Coonan Firearms with the Kel-Tec KSG - Kel-Tec Shot Gun - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan of Coonan Firearms joined Oleg Volk, Glenn Bellamy, our friend Mike, and yours truly out in the desert for some fun and photography.  Oleg had the new Kel-Tec Shotgun (KSG) on loan from the good folks at Kel-Tec and we got to play with it.  I think it’s safe to say that we all liked it

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy modeling the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan and his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan and his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg took quite a few photos of the Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic and I can see why!  This pistol is based on the 1911 platform, but fires either standard .357 magnum or .38 special rounds.  All that’s needed to switch between calibers is a different recoil spring   The 357 Magnum Automatic isn’t an inexpensive gun, but you surely get what you pay for

The model for the day’s photo shoot was Glenn Bellamy who’s an intellectual property attorney and a truly nice guy   I had a great time getting to know him out there.

Dan Coonan firing my Kel-Tec PF-9 - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan firing my Kel-Tec PF-9 - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

We brought out an assortment of firearms aside from the KSG and the 357 Magnum Automatic.  I brought all four of my pistols and a few rifles.  We had a darn good time all around with everything

Glenn Bellamy with the KSG - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy with the KSG - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Is it just me, or does Glenn look like a natural with the KSG and vice versa?

Dan Coonan and his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan and his 357 Magnum Automatic – Quite a pair of American classics

Yours truly with my Fuji digital camera - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Yours truly with my Fuji digital camera - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg was also kind enough to take a couple of pictures of me and I think they’re some of the best I have from any recent outing

Oleg Volk with an Infinite Arms PPSh-41 - Photo and editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg Volk firing an Infinite Arms PPSh-41 - Photo and editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg Volk firing an Infinite Arms PPSh-41 - Photo and editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg Volk firing an Infinite Arms PPSh-41 - Photo and editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Oleg had always wanted the chance to fire a PPSh-41 and Infinite Arms made that a reality   Of course, he couldn’t run the camera and the gun at the same time.  I was honored to take over camera duties and get these pictures for him   Oleg told me these are my images and I have the rights since I took them and I told him he’s welcome to use any of my pictures at any time for any reason.  I’m thankful to have had the opportunity and I look forward to helping Oleg out again in the future

Glock 17 with an Infinite Arms auto sear - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy firing a Glock 17 with an Infinite Arms auto sear - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Yours truly firing a Glock 17 with an Infinite Arms auto sear - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Infinite Arms showed up later in the evening and brought a few fun items for us to enjoy as well   Here we have some great shots of a Glock 17 producing a fountain of spent shell casings at a rate of somewhere around 1,200 per minute

Dan Coonan firing his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan firing his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan firing his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Dan Coonan firing his Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Improvised flash bang anyone?  Yep, that’s what it looks like when you fire a Coonan 357 Magnum Automatic in the dark

Infinite Arms M92 Krinkov after dark - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Mike firing the Infinite Arms M92 Krinkov after dark - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Glenn Bellamy firing the Infinite Arms M92 Krinkov after dark - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

Another rather enjoyable item brought to us by Infinite Arms was the wonderful M92 Krinkov   If it looks like a really short AK-47, that’s because that’s what it really is.  Oh yeah, this one’s full-auto too

Someone else asked me how we managed to attach a flame thrower to the gun and I had to explain what they’re seeing here.  That fire is the remainder of the burning gunpowder and the hot gases from the round that was just fired.  It’s so much more pronounced with a short barrel because there’s not enough room for it to really expand and burn before the bullet exits the muzzle.  You don’t really see it much in daylight, but as you can see it is rather pronounced at night

Sig Sauer and an Infinite Arms auto sear on a Glock 17 - Photo by Oleg Volk, editing by Jeff Hollenbeck

And yes, this really is how some of us go to dinner – armed with an openly carried handgun   The Glock with the auto-sear was just along for the ride and was unloaded.  It was thought best not to leave it in the car

Dean’s Place was the restaurant we chose for a great Italian meal after a long day in the desert.  The food’s great as is the service and it served as a perfect end to the day

That’s it for tonight.  I’m still sick and I need some rest before work tomorrow.  Have a great day everyone

Links to people and businesses in this post:

Oleg Volk – www.olegvolk.net

Infinite Arms – www.infinitearms.com

Coonan Inc. – www.coonaninc.com

Kel-Tec – www.keltecweapons.com

Oleg Volk and the PPSh-41

Folks, I haven’t forgotten you   Life’s still been rather busy all around and work as well and posting has suffered more than I’d like.  I have plenty of pictures to share and a new and a new addition to my AR-15 that’s more functional and money saving than cosmetic as well

This is just a first picture from the last week and I hope you like it   Working on photography and going shooting with Oleg Volk was a great time as I’ve said before.  Of all the pictures I took of him, I think this one has to be my favorite because he looks like a kid on Christmas morning   Oleg said he’d always wanted to fire a PPSh-41 and Adam, owner of Infinite Arms was able to make that happen

That’s it for tonight, but I’ll be back soon