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UPDATE!!! Welcome to the readers who may have found me via Atlas Shrugs and thanks to Pamela Geller for the link!!! Welcome also to the readers who might have wandered in from Conservative American News, too!!! Yeah, it was a long day, but it was surely worth it As I said in an earlier post, Saturday’s plan was to attend the Showdown in Searchlight and send a message to Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barack Obama, and the rest of the miscreants in Congress. My itinerary was to leave Vegas at about 0730, get down to Laughlin at about 0930, attend a mini rally at Harrah’s, and then caravan up to Searchlight. Well, that was the plan… I got on the road about 0745 and headed towards Laughlin. Passing through Searchlight, there was a group of about 50 or so Harry Reid supporters at the intersection of the highway and Nipton Road. One of them stepped into the street nearly in front of me with a Harry Reid campaign sign and I swear I nearly hit her, but I braked and swerved while she stepped back onto the sidewalk. I could’ve just gone to the Searchlight rally, but I wanted to be part of the start down by the river, so I continued on south.  27 March 2010 - the Tea Party Express buses at Harrah's in Laughlin  27 March 2010 - Tea Party Express bus at Harrah's in Laughlin  27 March 2010 - Tea Party Express bus at Harrah's in Laughlin They say no plan survives first contact with the enemy and this was no different  27 March 2010 - Andrew Breitbart at Harrah's in Laughlin Lookie who I got to meet and shake hands with  27 March 2010 - Showing the flags on the way from Laughlin to Searchlight I couldn’t tell you how many cars, trucks, and motorcycles were decorated for the event, but I got a picture of this one  27 March 2010 - Some of the people walking to the rally from miles away By the time I got back to Searchlight, parking was a bit of an issue to say the least. I managed to get a spot about 2 miles or so away from the event site. I had my Kel-Tec on my hip which drew a very few comments (and a couple of compliments), but I had originally planned to sling my new Mosin and carry that to the rally as well. The problem with the Mosin was the weight. I’m pretty sure it weighs somewhere between 10 and 15 pounds. Of course, I wouldn’t have it loaded for a host of reasons (at least the trigger is covered by the holster for the PF-9 and it’s under tight control on my hip), but I’d still want to have ammo – a rifle’s a paper weight without ammo. That means carrying six stripper clips in a double ammo pouch on my belt – another couple of pounds there. I knew how far I’d have to hike and it’s not all that easy for me without a rifle and ammo. So the rifle stayed in the car and I went to the rally.  27 March 2010 - This car belongs to a soldier as shown by the decal on the windshield  27 March 2010 - They might have driven all the way from Alaska! People came from far and wide to attend the Showdown in Searchlight. The car above is from Alaska, but I heard on the radio that people drove in from St. George, UT and someone even flew in from Georgia!  27 March 2010 - Great signs on parked vehicles  27 March 2010 - Rally participants take a break along the walk to the event  27 March 2010 - I wonder if the owner of this truck has an opinion  27 March 2010 - Traffic was backed up for miles - flags and signs were common  27 March 2010 - Yeah, I agree with that one!  27 March 2010 - Another proud American Patriot owns this truck  27 March 2010 - This sign was on the back of the truck in the last pic You might think from the pics above that people had a few opinions on current events and you’d be right  27 March 2010 - They even had skywriters!  27 March 2010 - More skywriting The action wasn’t confined to the ground. No, we even had skywriters at this event  27 March 2010 - Not everyone supported the rally and some seemed less than mentally complete The sign above shows that these people have a different opinion than most of the people within 20 miles (or even further), but it’s their right to freely express their opinion. It’s also my right to express my opinion and say that they’re freaking morons for thinking the way they do. But the sign wasn’t the extent of their demonstration of mental deficiency. No, these guys came over to the other side of the street and tried to start a fight with a group of bikers on Harleys. Normally they’d have become part of the pavement in short order, but today was their lucky day as the bikers didn’t want to see any bad press, so they refused to take the bait.
 27 March 2010 - Plenty of helicopters buzzed overhead - this one was from LVMPD Sure, the local TV stations and law enforcement had their helicopters overhead to record the event, but there was also at least one Cessna that was filming the event from above as well. Did I mention this was a BIG event?  27 March 2010 - Did I mention there were signs all over the place??? Some people never even got out of their cars due to the traffic and parking situation, but they still made themselves heard  27 March 2010 - I finally reached the entrance to the rally site! After quite a hike, I finally made it to the rally site. NHP stopped people from entering in vehicles at about 0930, but we still made it in on foot.  27 March 2010 - The rally site from a distance This ought to give you a bit of perspective on just how big the event was.  27 March 2010 - Another indication of a Veteran in attendance Oh yeah, there were quite a few active duty and retired military guys and gals there, too  27 March 2010 - VP Biden's latest gaffe didn't go unnoticed  27 March 2010 - More signs  27 March 2010 - More signs And yes, it seemed like everyone had a sign or three on their cars.  27 March 2010 - Walking into the rally site with a bunch of like-minded people This pic was taken at around 1230 hours – after Sarah had already started speaking. People kept coming like this for quite a while.  27 March 2010 - I got to see Sarah speak! Look where the arrow is pointing  27 March 2010 - A little wider perspective of the stage from my point of view I know not everyone is a fan of Sarah Palin, but I am one of her fans. No, I don’t agree with her on John McCain, but I do agree with most of the rest of what she stands for. I like the fact that she’s unapologetic about her hunting, her family, and her opinions. It’s one of those things I find missing in so many people these days that just bugs the heck out of me.  27 March 2010 - Panorama - A view of the stage and the crowd I didn’t have a chance to really move around much – it was jam packed and standing room only! I spent much of my time with a guy named Jeff (good name!) who’s working on a new electric car that resembles a golf cart in some ways, but that’s street legal if not highway legal. I got his card and there will be much more about him, his partners, and their project in some posts in the near future.  27 March 2010 - This was a family event It shouldn’t surprise me, but it did anyway. There were families everywhere! Young kids, parents, and grandparents. People in wheelchairs with oxygen. They all said it was important enough to drive out to the middle of nowhere that they were willing to do whatever they had to just to attend this event.  27 March 2010 - 1955 Thunderbird - The owner drove down from Montana! See that T-Bird? I saw a news report where they interviewed the owner. He drove down in that classic car all the way from Montana just to be a part of this day. That’s not easy or cheap in a car like a 1955 T-Bird, but it was important enough for him to make it a priority.  27 March 2010 - View from the entrance to the event site I headed back towards the car at around 1430 or so and the traffic still hadn’t let up on the highway.  27 March 2010 - "Smokey" - a great guy from Vegas with an opinion and no problem sharing it 8) This is Smokey. Smokey’s a biker from Vegas who has a few opinions and is almost as shy as Glenn when it comes to sharing them  27 March 2010 - Work on the Hoover Dam Bypass is proceeding nicely Y’all are probably wondering right about now just why I would have ended up on Hoover Dam when it’s a straight shot south from Vegas to Searchlight. OK, some of you probably just think I’m a bit out of spec when it comes to “normal” and wouldn’t be surprised by me doing much of anything  27 March 2010 - I just had to show off what I wrote on my car  27 March 2010 - I just had to show off what I wrote on my car  27 March 2010 - I just had to show off what I wrote on my car
I didn’t think to take pictures near the event, but I wanted to show off my car anyway So that’s how yesterday went and I’d say it was a success all around 8) Somehow, I don’t think it’s the last event for Searchlight between now and election day – it’s such a great place to hold a rally Have fun, everyone  Folks, today is going to be rather busy. Today’s the day for the Showdown in Searchlight – the first stop for the Tea Party Express My car has been decorated, I’ve got just the shirt for today, and the camera batteries are 100% charged and ready to go Have fun and I’ll see y’all later I just got this in the ol’ email inbox from Glenn and I shall forever curse him for he has given me yet another reason to go to southern Arizona  Klavan on the Culture - Click on this image to watch the video Folks, there’s not much more that I can say about this except WATCH THIS VIDEO!!! Andrew Klavan has done it again with this witty piece of satire that would be hilarious if it weren’t quite so true. I know I’m sick and tired of the press these days and it only seems to be getting worse. Whether it’s their failure to cover the whole Acorn video saga or the recent unsubstantiated reports of racial epithets being hurled at members of Congress (who were carrying video cameras but have not come forward with any evidence) are only a couple of the things that have nearly made me sick. Good job, Andrew!  1943 Izhevsk Mosin Nagant 91/30 purchased from Infinite Arms I know it’s not the best picture in the world, but it’s what I could do in the time I had and I wanted a pic in the box before I even took it home Have fun, everyone Yes, there will be pictures later tonight, but I at least wanted to post something now I was down at New Frontier Armory / Infinite Arms last night to get some pics of my AK-47 up on the wall, but then Adam told me he’d just got a couple more Mosin Nagants in… And now I’m the proud owner of a 1943 91/30 which is absolutely gorgeous But that’s not why I bought it. I bought it because it’s absolutely gorgeous Granted it’s been reworked in the arsenal, but still, you don’t see many like this! I’m thinking the arsenal rework is where it got a somewhat used but nice stock and possibly had the receiver and barrel refinished. I think the stock might have two scratches while the metal is all nearly perfect. The stock has so many inspectors’ cartouches that I don’t think I’ve found them all yet. Oh yeah, the bolt works like a dream, too. Now, the bore is dark and looks like it has some pitting, but so what? I didn’t get this rifle to use as a competition target gun Something rather fun about this was the way I bought it. It was past time for the background check system, but that didn’t matter in this case – I’m an FFL and Adam has my license on file so I just paid and walked out with my purchase I can’t wait to go and shoot it I am re-posting this entry due to recent events. Here’s hoping someone out there gets it. Originally posted 27 September 2009 ————— Barack Obama was on the news the other night and this exchange took place: I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve got more than a few problems with this vision of our sitting President. Let’s get started with the thought of treating mandating health insurance like we mandate car insurance in most places. Comparing the two is comparing apples to oranges. Sure, they’re both insurance. The problem here is that you and I have a choice of whether or not we want to own or drive a car. We can choose to take a bus or the subway. We can walk. Without committing suicide (which I do not plan to do myself, advise others to do, or condone), we cannot decide whether or not to live. We will not have the freedom to choose. On top of that, there’s the matter of the level of government at which the laws have been made. All those insurance mandates were made at the state level as provided for in the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. From Archives.gov:
Yes, the States have the legal right to mandate car insurance. They can also mandate health insurance as has already been done in Massachusetts. They’ve also mandated helmets for motorcyclists and seat belts for people in motor vehicles. Those mandates came about because of the cost to taxpayers of emergency care and other services rendered to the uninsured. BUT THEY HAPPENED AT THE STATE LEVEL!!! Mr. President, why don’t you just follow the current law? Why can’t you let the states decide? Getting past that point let’s examine the definition of a tax. And no, Barack, this ain’t a foxtrotting stretch! From Reference.com:
So as we’ve seen, the President has said that even though you will be required by law to buy health insurance, it’s somehow not a tax. The government is demanding money for a specific service. It doesn’t matter who the recipient of that money is, it’s still money being demanded to be used in a manner prescribed by the government for a service. I call bullshit on that one. But what if you don’t want to buy insurance? What then? This is “what then.” From Politico.com:
Maybe someone just misconstrued something here. Everyone’s human, right? We all make mistakes after all. Senator Ensign followed up with Mr. Barthold. He requested written confirmation so as to remove all doubt. And he got it:  Written confirmation of Tyranny In the interest of transparency, I’m posting two links to the original .pdf file. Click here to download the .pdf from Politico.com or click here to download it from this site. Get this into your head right now. If you don’t allocate these funds from your budget as the government mandates, you will be charged with a misdemeanor. If you don’t go along with that idea, the federal government will come after you with guns. I covered this in an earlier post:
So now we’ve established that this “individual mandate” really is a tax and that the government will use fines, jail, and even deadly force to ensure your compliance in paying it. We’ve established that there’s no way to opt out of paying this tax. If you’re breathing, you’d best pay up. We’ve also established that this tax comes directly from the federal government and it is not based on the income of an individual. That last part is one of the biggest problems with this whole Charlie Foxtrot that’s supposed to be a “health care plan.” You see, there are specific limitations placed on federal taxes by the Constitution which is why we have the 16th Amendment. From Archives.gov:
Before the 16th Amendment, we had only Article I, section 9 of the Constitution. Again, from Archives.gov:
———————– Again, let’s review. This “individual mandate” is a tax. It is a direct tax on individual Citizens of the Sovereign States by the federal government. It is not based on those Citizens’ income as allowed by the 16th Amendment, nor is it “in Proportion to the Census or enumeration herein directed to be taken” as spelled out in Article I, section 9 of the body of the Constitution itself. This “individual mandate” is therefore by definition Unconstitutional. It is Tyranny. If the legislature can pass this, if the President can sign and enforce it, and if the Judiciary allow such actions to take place, there is nothing the federal government cannot control. There is no part of the Constitution they cannot ignore. The Constitution will be as ineffective and impotent as a document I might draw up declaring that I am God. Without a functioning Constitution, the Republic that is the United States of America will for all purposes cease to exist. We will no longer be a nation under the Rule of Law, but instead under the Rule of Men. There were supposed to be protections built into the Constitution – checks and balances on the distribution of power. The President was supposed to protect against Unconstitutional bills from Congress becoming law. Just look at the Oath of Office of the President of the United States of America as set forth in Article II, section 1 of the Constitution. From Archives.gov:
And yet, having taken that Oath, we have a President who is agreeing to even debate the merits of such a demonstrably Unconstitutional piece of fertilizer of bovine origin proposed legislation. Rarely is such blatant hypocrisy on such public display from such a high ranking public official. I’d love to ask President Obama how this fits in, but he’d just deny that it’s a tax again. Never mind that it would be the same thing as saying the moon is really made of paper, he’d continue with the line his focus groups deemed best for swaying the masses. Our last hope for a peaceful, Constitutional resolution to this situation lies in the Judiciary. It lies with a group of nine men and women who decide what the Constitution means. If the Judiciary fails us, we will have a couple of choices. We can pay or we can refuse to pay because of our dedication to the Constitution. If we refuse to pay, we can choose to go to jail or we can resist. If we resist, we have the choice of facing the guns of the federal government or facing our own guns. Folks, I’ll be writing my Congressional Representative, Senators, and the President about my concerns. I will also be emailing, faxing, and calling them. I will demand answers. You will see the content of that correspondence on this site in the near future. I call on you to join me, no matter what your party affiliation or your outlook on the issue is. Let them hear from The People for whom the Constitution was created. After thinking this through, writing it down, and re-reading it, I’m in a bit of a melancholy mood. Please excuse me for a bit while I go check on the comments and the rest of the blog before I head out into the desert for some trigger time and recoil therapy. I just need to clear my head. See y’all soon. Take care of yourselves and each other until then. Hat tip to Weasel Zippers I am re-posting this entry due to recent events. Here’s hoping someone out there gets it. Originally posted 14 September 2009 ————— I’m currently re-reading a Tom Clancy book called Executive Orders. I’ve loved Clancy ever since I saw The Hunt for Red October in the movie theater after which Dad bought me the book. I started going through Clancy books at about a book every two to four weeks. Keep in mind that this was March of 1990 which means I was 13 years old at the time. Some of my teachers thought I was just faking it, at least they did at first. Getting back to the whole reason for writing this post, I was reading Executive Orders and the main character who is now President of the United States was giving a televised address in which he quoted President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.
I was struck by the difference between that time and now. That was 20 January 1961. That was forty-eight years and eight months ago. So much has changed since then. We have safer cars, safer airplanes, and safer roads. We have better medicine, incredible technology, and greater access to information than anyone in history. But we also have a government with a view of the world that seems to have changed 180º from President Kennedy’s ideals. We have a government that is for all intents and purposes saying, “Ask not what you can do for your country–ask what your country can do for you.” We see this in the bailouts and the “stimulus plan.” We can most clearly see it in the current health care “reform” plan. The people in government keep telling us that they know better what to do with ourselves and our money than we do. We’re no longer being told that we should work hard to build our wealth and buy a house. We’re being told that the government should take some of the money from the “rich people” and give it to the rest of the people so that they can afford a house. We’re not being told work hard in school so that we can get a good job with health insurance. We’re being told that the government should take even more money from the “rich people” so that the government can give everyone “free” health insurance. That sounds a lot like, “From each according to his ability to each according to his need,” doesn’t it? Do you know who said that? It was Karl Marx. For those of you who slept through high school, Karl was not one of the comedic Marx brothers. Here’s the whole quote:
Make no mistake, this is a path to ruin. It’s a road to perdition. It doesn’t matter if it’s paved with good intentions because it still leads straight to utter ruin. Think about this scenario. You’re Joe Six Pack who’s in a certain tax bracket. If you make a bit more money, you’re in a higher bracket. At some point, the increased income just is not worth the extra work. Why work so hard if the government is merely going to take that extra money at gunpoint? If you’re not willing to put in the extra work to start or expand a business, where will the jobs come from? If there aren’t as many jobs, how are you supposed to find employment? Would you suggest a government job? If so, where would your paycheck come from? The “rich” people? What happens when they’ve gotten too fed up with having the fruits of their labor taken away and no longer have the wealth to be taxed? No, before you even start thinking about telling me there are no guns involved, stop right there. You know just as well as I do that taxes are not optional. If you decide not to pay them (and you’re not a member of Congress or a Presidential appointee), the government will take action to collect the money that you owe by law. If you still refuse, they will arrest you on criminal charges. If it comes to the point that you’re going to be arrested and facing those federal criminal charges and you resist, they will use force. If you choose to escalate your resistance to using deadly force to prevent being taken into custody, they will respond in kind.  I don't think they've given them away, either. Getting back to the actual subject of this post, I have a question for my elected representatives and for my President as well. There will be emails, faxes, and letters sent to their offices. Do you respect President John Fitzgerald Kennedy? Do you believe as he did that we should ask not what our country can do for us, but rather what we can do for our country? If you do believe this, how would you square that belief with the current ideas I hear coming from Washington, D.C.? If you think that we are asking what our country can do for us, do you see this trend as being analogous to Karl Marx’s famous quote? If not, how do you come to your conclusion? How is it that you are not asking what our country can do for us when we see the federal government giving taxpayer dollars to private individuals in the troubled “cash for clunkers” program? How about the push for federal “health care reform” which would require that citizens purchase health insurance which would be overseen by the federal government itself? I could go on and on with the list of ways the current federal government has gone out of its way to exert influence on and interfere with the daily lives of just about every Citizen of the United States, but I won’t. It’s too late and I’m getting tired as well as nauseated by thinking about the wretched state of our government. Before anyone out there starts screaming from the roof tops about how I’m some sort of racist,fascist, anarchist, Nazi, Republican hack who’s out being paid to spread hate and discontent and to help AstroTurf the issue, let me remind you of a few things.
Folks, it’s time we started asking ourselves and our elected representatives in D.C. what happened and what can be done to turn it around? President Kennedy had it right. We should ask not what our country can do for us, but instead what we can do for our country. You’ve heard the phrase to be hoisted on one’s own petard, right? But did you actually know where it came from or what it means? Back in medieval times, they actually did have gunpowder. Yes, it was black powder, but it’s still explosive. Aside from firing cannons and other guns with it, those warriors would make bombs which were called “petards” – a term which comes from the French word for a fart. Now, these wouldn’t be considered very high tech today, but they still could do some damage. Trouble was, you had to light a fuse to set off a petard. They weren’t the most reliable things and sometimes the person setting off the petard would instead become one of its victims. Occasionally, they would be thrown through the air or “hoisted” by their own petard. Now you know the back story and you can laugh a bit more as you think of what the Democrats have just done by passing their “health care reform” in the face of overwhelming public disapproval |
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As always, click on the pictures for full size 
The mini rally didn’t happen and the caravan didn’t fare much better, either. But the trip was not wasted 
!!! Yep, that’s Andrew Breitbart 
I decided I didn’t want to deal with that much stop and go traffic, even if I’m used to dealing with the Strip in my stick shift HHR, so I headed on down to Laughlin, over to the junction with Highway 93, and on up over the dam instead. It added a bit of time and a few miles to the trip, but it was worth it – there was still a traffic jam at the northern end of the highway by Boulder City as I passed the junction up there.