Posted on 09/15/2001 2:40:14 PM PDT by cc2k
Obviously, the suicide terrorists that hijacked the airplanes are directly responsible for the deaths of Americans this week. And, there seems to be evidence that they had accomplices. These accomplices are also guilty of murder in the Tuesday massacre.
But who is ultimately accountable for defending the soil of our nation from enemy attacks? Whose duty was it to fend off the attack, either by preventing the hijackings in the first place, or by thwarting the hijackers in the air?
We live in a Constitutional Republic. In this country, 'We the people' are the sovereigns. All power in this country is vested in the people. The people delegate powers and authority to the states and the federal government, but these powers ultimately reside in the people themselves.
Those unfortunate airline passengers who perished Tuesday were failed by our culture. Over the years, we've lost our culture of liberty and duty. We've failed to pass on the understanding of who has the power and where it comes from, and of what the price of that power and freedom is.
Our constitution states, in the tenth amendment, "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
We delegate these powers to the government. We don't abdicate them completely. The power to defend our country is our own power. We delegate this power of national defense to the Federal government, but in the end, we as citizens are responsible for making sure that the nation is defended.
Our forefathers (and foremothers?) used to teach their sons and daughters this. Every able bodied citizen of this country is a member of the citizen militia. This was intended to be the primary defensive force for our nation. Our founding fathers had a strong distrust for standing armies. They didn't intend for the Congress to be able to have a federal standing army for more than two years.
I said that every able bodied citizen is a member of the citizen militia. They don't have the option to join a citizen militia. They have a duty to act as a member of our national defense. That includes all of the airline employees, ground crews, airport security screeners (if they are United States citizen). Also all of the passengers, flight crew and cabin crew who were United States citizens also were members of our citizen militia and had a duty to defend our nation and our fellow citizens.
I'm not 'blaming the victims' here. I'm blaming the loss of our culture of freedom. I'm blaming our society. I'm blaming our education system, our political leaders at all levels and even our parents.
Where our forefathers taught their children that they were the free, sovereign individuals, and that they had both liberties and responsibilities, we now teach our children that the government is responsible for their defense from criminals and from foreign and domestic enemies that might wish to harm the. We teach our children that they should call 'the authorities' and wait, rather than defending themselves and this nation.
100 or 150 years ago, if someone tried to kill a bunch of American citizens, the American citizens would stand together and protect each other. Today, we have let our 'leaders' and 'teachers' brainwash us into believing that 'the authorities' are responsible for our safety, security and defense. Hogwash. We are responsible for our own safety, security and defense. We delegate some authority to them to aid in this defense, but ultimately when they fail, we are responsible.
We are responsible for our own defense, the defense of our families, the defense of our communities, the defense of our states, and the defense of our nation. We choose to delegate some of our defense responsibilities, delegating authority to our state and federal governments. We delegate the authority for them to form police departments and military units. These police and military units are delegated the authority to defend us and our states and our nation. They defend this on our behalf. But we have not abdicated accountability to these police and military units. We are not at their mercy. They are not ultimately responsible for our defense. We are ultimately responsible for our own defense.
If this cultural heritage of freedom and responsibility were still taught to all of our children, what happened Tuesday could not have occurred. Terrorists would know that if they even attempted to harm one single American citizen, every American citizen that was in the area would take defensive action against the terrorist. Even if the terrorist could overcome that, all Americans would work with their police (and military if necessary) to find them and bring them to justice.
Ultimately, I believe that some people on Fight 93 (the one that went down in Pennsylvania) discovered the truth. It was too late to prevent the hijackers from taking control of the plane, but they heroically prevented the hijackers from killing anyone on the ground. Every passenger and crew member on that flight should get a medal for their actions in defense of this nation.
I also think that many airline passengers today also have figured out this truth. Unfortunately, our government and our leaders are fighting against this. They are trying to further prevent American citizens from having defensive tools available to them on airline flights.
The government and the airlines have proven that they are failures at defending the lives and property of all Americans. On Tuesday, not only did they fail to protect the passengers of those airliners. They also failed to protect the lives, property and livelihood of those on the ground.
We all need to stand up and say "enough is enough." This affects everybody. It doesn't matter if you fly or not. You are endangered when 'the authorities' fail in their delegated job of defending this nation. We the people need to let Congress, the President, the FAA and all the so called 'law enforcement' agencies know that we as American's are not happy with the poor job that they have done. We also don't appreciate their interference in our sovereign right to defend ourselves and our nation.
We also need spread the word to all of our children and all of our friends, business associates and social acquaintances understand that it's our duty as Americans to defend themselves and this nation. 'The militia' isn't some radical organization that you join when you hate the government, it's us, you and me and every citizen of this country. We don't have an option or a privilege to have arms to defend ourselves and our nation, we have a duty to have those defensive tools.
--- A Concerned Patriot ---
Perhaps I should have claimed it as my own and posted it as a vanity.
Local militias, answerable to local authorities such as the police, the government ranging form town to state and federal, are an idea whose time has come once again.
Local militias would be responsible for local law and order. They would have to supply their own clothing, supplies, weapons, and other expenses. They should be made up only of LOYAL, carefully screened MEN. Anything less is nothing at all.
Arming of local militias should mean that our currently silly, deadly, so called "gun laws" should be repealed. People in this country should be able to own any firearm of their choice, including automatic weapons and mortars if they so desire. It was a traditional town militias prerogative to own cannons, and I can't see any reason not to allow this again.
An LOYAL disciplined, armed people will be necessary in the terrible days to come. But out of this should come a much lowered crime rate--no criminal, or criminal gand--would challenge a strong local militia very long, especially if the town and police leadership demand their help in controlling crime.
Let's try it. Afterall, it once worked very well.
I believe that we should raise local militias, which is also the thrust of the author.What I got from reading it is that the author thinks that every one of us as an American citizen is 'a militia of one.' There's no way to avoid it. It's a duty of citizenship.
The airlines have been taking a ot blame, rightly so, for the lax security at airports.This is something I know a little bit about.
Tuesday, there was no security at airports, only minor inconveniences.
With the new rules, there is no more security at airports now than there was Tuesday, just more inconveniences.
When I was in the military fifty years ago, team and unit work was proven to be far more effective than a single armed person was. I believe that since we're going to be working for and with a community, state, and nation, we should seek out others who are willing to be part of something larger than one man. The first step is being armed, ready, and willing; and I am that. Talk to you later when some of this starts getting sorted out and jelled. I'm sure other FReepers are doing something positve and practical. In fact I believe this will become another positive patriotic service that FR is already noted for.
I hope you find it interesting.
We must be ever vigilant in protecting our inalienable rights as enumerated in the Constitution and BOR.
Luke 22:36 (KJV) --Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one.
Got sword? (M1 Garand ==>CMP)
No mercy, no quarter!
May the jihadists burn in hell for eternity!
Help speed them on their way!
Molon Labe!
Poll: bin Laden's skull can be best used as an ....
I saw your comments on the other "Militia" thread and thought you might be interested in this.
When I vote, I consider it an act of hiring my employees.
Tell me what you think.
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