I'm Starting a Left Wing Militia. Wanna Join?

[Joanne98]

For OpEdNews: John Blumenthal - Writer

The Righties have militias so why can't we? After all, the Second Amendment is for all of us, not just for them. Granted, we Lefties don't own guns because we're the ones who try to pass gun-control laws, so it would be hypocritical for us to own guns. Unlike the Right, we're not quite as willing to accept hypocrisy as a lifestyle choice.

But that doesn't mean we can't start a militia (which is what the Second Amendment is really about.). It'll be fun! We can begin by recruiting people from book discussion groups, and those who give money to Amnesty International.


Our first mission would be to disrupt the Righties wherever they rear their ugly, racist heads. For example, at their rallies, we can broadcast Pottery Barn music or humpback whale sounds. And I'm talking LOUD. Once they've been disabled, we can force them to watch reruns of "West Wing."

We'll need signs too, but nothing as pathetic as the Righties badly-scrawled racist slogans. How lacking in creativity! Our signs would be colorful, like Matisse prints, and say stuff like: "Rush Limbaugh Is a Big Fat Carbon Footprint!"!" or "Glenn Beck Drives a Gas Guzzler!" or "Bill O'Reilly Doesn"t Use Cloth Bags When He Shops for Groceries."

We'll get our revenge rightwing rabble-rousers by littering Sean Hannity's front lawn with hundreds of empty Pinot Grigio bottles. Or throw organic veggies at Lou Dobbs on his way to work. As for Rush Limbaugh, I have two words. Duct tape.

And since we're probably a lot better at Photoshop than the Righties, we could make a convincing forgery of Ronald Reagan's birth certificates, showing that he was actually born in Minsk. Ha! That would throw them for a loop!

Of course, our movement will need a strong leader. Dennis Kucinich would be superb, except he's way too gnome-like. On the other hand, it would be delightful to see Rachel Maddow gag Ann Coulter with a sock, but Rachelis more useful to us on from MSNBC. Keith Olbermann would be forceful, except his striped-jackets-and- dotted-tie ensembles are too gauche and would embarrass us.

Barney Frank is my choice because when the rest of us can't make it to rallies because our Priuses need to go in for warranty checks or if Trader Joe's is having a sale on Pellegrino, Barney can rally the troops and slap us into action. I'm speaking figuratively here of course, because we could never, ever condone violence. As always, we must use our words.

Onward brothers and sisters! Lefties unite!

http://www.opednews.com/articles/I-m-Starting-a-Left-Wing-M-by-John-Blumenthal-091221-348.html

[midnight]

1. I love this last paragraph the most.

Barney Frank is my choice because when the rest of us can't make it to rallies because our Priuses need to go in for warranty checks or if Trader Joe's is having a sale on Pellegrino, Barney can rally the troops and slap us into action. I'm speaking figuratively here of course, because we could never, ever condone violence. As always, we must use our words.

[Raster]

2. We'll need a GLBT faction to this left wing militia. May I suggest...

the Gay Beret. Stylish, fabulous and ready to kick ass!

[ck4829]

3. There's nothing hypocritical about a lefty owning a firearm

In this Jim Adkisson/Keith Luke/Scott Roeder/James von Brunn world where people will kill you just because you're different... or a liberal, it seems like a thing that some liberals should be interested in.

Other than that, K&R.

[sasquatch]

17. +1

[boomerbust]

4. I'll bet

There are more lefties with guns than without.

[Mopar151]

6. I am not sure about that

But the moderate - to left crowd are better shots, and they choose more effective weapons. "Compared to a hot-loaded .44 Magnum, an old deer rifle is a super-weapon" (My progressive, atheist, bookworm, computer scientist friend - who averages 3 deer a year) (and he is right - look up a spec on "muzzle energy")
I was taught to shoot by my dad - a decorated, disabled combat veteran/"BAR man". His contention was that pistols should be outlawed because they were too inacurate to be effective - he would have put a carbine in every cop car, next to the shotgun.
And, FWIW - Clyde Barrow's weapon of choice was not the Thompson submachine gun, but the "BAR" - Browning Automatic Rifle, which was much more powerful and accurate, and, in those times, easily stolen from the National Guard.

[old mark]

5. Actually quite a few lefties own and use firearms - if you look in the dreaded "Guns"

forum, you will fine that most posters there really support the 2nd amendment.

There is a nationwide movement called "Appleseed", which teaches people to shoot rifles well. It seems to have been RW in origin, but a large percentage of people who have taken the classes are lefties, just don't talk about it too much while in attendance.

Also, the largest gun control organizations were founded and are run by.....republicans!!!!
Democrats just get blamed for wanting gun confiscation.

Buy guns and learn how to use them well. The RW republican idiots all do, and many of them seriously want to kill us.


mark

[happyslug]

7. Modern Militia always start as groups who think alike

As oppose to traditional Militias which were organized along local lines (and which still appear every so often as "volunteers" to help themselves and others during times of crisis such a flood or other nature disaster, 99% of the times without any weapons except spades and other tools).

Please see my comments in the following in 2004 thread pointing out we need to ORGANIZE first, and that Organization is more important then weapons:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=118x41313#41365

[yurbud]

8. the Russians overthrew the last of the commie hardliners without weapons

when the troops decided to side with the public instead of those supposedly in power, they were no longer in power.

If you act with violence, they are ready for you, and the police and military have an automatic, programmed response.

When you act with non-violence and mass action, it's a little harder to pull the trigger on someone who isn't shooting at you.

[bertman]

13. Your last sentence is correct for sure, yurbud. That's why they pay agent provocateurs.

OPEN FIRE!!! They're shooting at us.

[happyslug]

18. But Russia has Universal Military Service so the people and the army are one

Now the Military hierarchy is different then the how people are organized in Civilian life, but if the people and the army are the same people that base will NOT shoot itself. This can be seen is how the Eastern European Communist states fell, all feel peacefully EXCEPT Romania. Romania had the largest Police per population in Eastern Europe and the Police was tied in with the Ruling Clique. On the other hand the Romanian Army was Universal Military Service and thus had the same base as the people. When it came time for the Government to fall, the Army backed the people (For the people and the army were one and the same) but the Police backed the Government and did all it could to stay in power. This combination lead to a violent revolution in Romania for force had to be meet with force.

As I stated in the paper I wrote that I cited above, peaceful revolution is preferred but you have to be willing to meet force with force IF THE PEOPLE YOU ARE OPPOSING DECIDE TO USE FORCE AGAINST YOU. It does NOT pay for a revolutionary to be the first to use force, for then the Police and Army will react to that attack as their have been trained to do (And the press will write up the use of Force by the Police and Army as "Necessary" and thus justified). On the other hand, if all you are doing is REACTING to force (even if the force is done by the Police and/or Army) then people will understand that all you were doing is defending yourself (please note this is NOT personal self-defense, the people who are protesting MUST be willing to take the first hit, to appear to be the reasonable ones, and only when it is CLEAR you HAVE to use force just to defend yourself, do you use force AND once force is no longer needed you hang up the gun). The classic situation is Martin Luther King and Gandhi, both kept looking like the one who was reasonable and the side opposing them with force were acting unreasonable. As long as that was the image they was NO NEED for Violence (in fact violence would have been counter-productive). Now, in Northern Ireland such protests were tried AND FAILED. The British came up shooting and then said the protested open fire with a M1 Carbine (This was later determined to be an out and out lie). The lie took hold and peaceful protests were viewed through the media as violent protests. It is only after the Government of Northern Island not only refused to talk, they accused anyone protesting of supporting violence. This opened the door to the Provisional IRA who became a serious source of violence in the 1970s do to the failure of the peaceful protests (and the government's resort to violence to suppress the peaceful protests). I will not go beyond the 1970s in regards to Northern Ireland for do to the violence the Irish Government had to make compromises with the Catholics and this slowly drained the support for the IRA.

Given the above the reason Russia and its Warsaw Pact Allies could NOT stop the revolutions of the late 1980s and early 1990s was that they did NOT have the FORCE to suppress the PEOPLE for the PEOPLE and the ARMY were one and the same. That is NOT the case in the US today, the Army is hired domestic mercenaries (And with the lack of enlistments more and more foreigner are joining, just like how Rome's army converted from Domestic Mercenaries to Foreign mercenaries in the 300s when the wars of the time period cause domestic recruitments to fall (and the refusal of land landholders to permit their peasants to enlist) so Rome resorted to recruiting foreign mercenaries. That is occurring today, through it seems to have only started but it creates an Army loyal to its paymasters NOT the people and thus may have to be violently overthrown (I hope not, but I fear that it will have to be violent, but as I point out try peaceful methods first and ONLY when the Government opts to Violence time after time do you resort to Violence).

Side Note: The IRA, starting in the 1980s, then fell into a trap of many resistance groups, such groups often go into illegal activities, generally smuggling, to finance they fight. As the fight drags on people who are good at the illegal activities are promoted do to their ability to raise money. Such people then promote people like themselves and slowly take over the resistance group. This is NOT intentional, it just happens for any army needs funds. If the Resistance groups does NOT take over after a few years it becomes more known for its illegal activities then its resistance efforts. With the IRA this took about 20 years, a generation, which appears about right. By the mid 1980s the IRA was more in criminal activities like drug running then being a resistance group. By the time of the 1990s the leadership saw this occurring and realized the IRA had to cease to exist or just become a criminal organization (This above procedure is believed how the Mafia started in Sicily, The Mafia probably started as a resistance groups to Moslem rule after Sicily was taken in 865 AD by the Arabs but was unable to overthrow the Muslims and slowly became a criminal organization. This continued under Norman Rule starting in 1072 then when that ended to rule by the French, then Naples, then Modern Rome (See the Kingdom of Sicily for details). Now the Mafia may even be earlier, staring when Justinian re-took in in 565 AD from the Goths, and was ruled as a Catholic Area under Orthodox Constantinople till the Arab conquest in 865, then the Normans in 1071, then 1266 by the French Angevins, and 1282 by the Spanish Aragons, then Italian Savory in 1720. Again by Spain in 1735, and then by Napoleon in 1799. Then the Island was turned over to Naples who ruled it till Italian Unification in 1861. Any of these changes of Government could have lead to a resistance movement that later became the Mafia, but the Mafia views itself as Italian NOT Spanish, Greek, Arab, French or Norman, (and NOT Naples) and that leads to resistance against any and all of these outsiders, but the start probably was during Moslem rule (and the replacement of Moslem Rule by Norman rule did NOT make the life of most Sicilians better thus the resistance continued afterward). Whenever the Mafia started, it started as a resistance group but within two to three generations became a criminal organization and remain one to this day.l Just pointing out the the IRA was on the same route by the 1980s and their realization of that fact was one of the reason the peace deal was made in regards to Northern Island and the IRA.

[Lost Jaguar]

9. I am a Buddhist and a Life Member of the NRA...

...probably a small sub-group. I have considered many times leaving the organization, as they continually espouse "Freedom" while simultaneously endorsing politicians who have contempt for all the other rights in the first ten amendments. Yet I remain.

As a Buddhist, I advocate non-violent resistance to tyranny. However, in my judgement, love and compassion for all sentient beings does not preclude violence as a last resort of self-defense. One must accept the karma of one's actions. If violence can actually save more lives than it takes, then it may be prudent. I remain, however, cognizant of the dreadful consequences of any violent act, no matter how expedient or necessary the action may seem at the time.

I also love my country unconditionally, as one would love one's family.

[The Green Manalishi]

14. Fascinating and enlightened take on the subject.

I'm an ACLU and an NRA member.
In fact I consider myself a first and second amendment absolutist.
I know I'm dealing with an ignoramus when they trot out the 'can't shout 'fire' in a crowded theater' canard (used as justification in WW1 to jail anti war protesters).

[earcandle]

10. Yes! No one needs to know we are non-violent. We will wear guns (without ammo) just to look good.

I think we do need to do something to show off our
intelligence and make obvious their double talking lying ways.

[StillHopingForChange]

11. I'm in....

But I refuse to carry anything other than a water pistol filled with kool-aid.

[BluDemocratGirl]

12. I do!

I'll carry a colorful, old school Super Soaker full of Red Haterade to sprinkle on those RePUKES and Teabaggers. Don't forget those ignorant batards are having a so-called Tea Party Convention in February or March in 2010! When can I join? 'Cause I'm ready for thos right-chicken wingers.

[winyanstaz]

15. As a leftie...I am proud to be for the right to bear arms....

And its not a bad idea to form your neighborhood militias...you never know when one might come in handy.

[Demeter]

16. All Facetiousness Aside, This Is Exactly What Is Needed

and Barrack Obama need not apply, because he wouldn't qualify as a Leftie.

[jotsy]

19. Sign me up, but know this.

I don't want to be left, I don't want to be right, I want to move forward. Archaic aristocracies are as axiomatic as they are ancient and must be escorted eagerly to their extinction.