I'm sorry for the vanity post.

I'm not afraid of dying, but I sure as heck want my children to enjoy the fruits of this country as long as I have.

It's unbelievable that our great nation will only survive a little over 200 years and fall as Rome did....to the barbarians at the Gate.

bumping

bumping for the 2nd Amendment.

This is the perfect time to do something that will be positive concerning the original intent of the founders of this Republic, that is, every person a militia member.

There has never been a better time to apply pressure and see Gephardt sweating up there when he is forced to accept the premise.

In addition, this would be a wonderful time to make sure the victimization advocates (name your favorite) be declared terrorist for giving aid and comfort to the enemy.

Keep the Faith for Freedom

MAY GOD BLESS AND PROTECT THIS HONORABLE REPUBLIC

Greg

Well you can always go down to the recruiting station and sign up for the Guard/Reserve. You'll get pretty good training but I've heard it's been slipping lately.

Quite frankly I've taken a rather jaundiced view of many of these militia outfits over the years. I think a lot of them wanted nothing more than to drink beer and bitch about the "gubmint". Now is actualy a good time for them to show their stuff. If they truly see themselves as a "well regulated militia" they ought to put their money (and their time) where their mouths are. They could organize water patrols near dams which could be targets (we all know the militia guys have bass-boats). They could put their outdoorsman skills to use by patrolling power lines, and generally cover a great deal of territory that the cops and other folks can't get to.

I mean if they're not willing to go do the "well regulated militia" thing at this time in our history then they don't deserve the right to have guns.

P.S. I'm a gun owner so don't even try to roast me for being some lefty. I just think some people talk the talk without being able to walk the walk if you know what I mean.

bttt... for the 2nd Amendment.

Well, I'm 55 years old, and am an independent businessman. That means I don't qualify for unemployment insurance.

I am directly repsonsible for 3 households full of people as an employer. If I don't devote personal attention to my business (real estate sales), everybody goes down the tubes.

I'm not shirking your suggestion that I volunteer. I just don't know how much time out of a normal day I could play soldier.

Why roast you as a lefty when you expose yourself as being unfamiliar with the words used in the Constitution? You might do a study of the word "regulated" as to what it meant in 1776.

What you are saying is just wrong

1-If you thing the govt is going to let self proclaimed militia units "patrol" power lines etc,,,,,,,your ignorant

2- By joining the Guard / Reserve you are more likely to be sent to Bosnia as a peacekeeper protecting Muslim KLA than go to Afghan. Md's 29th (of DDay history) currently has thousands of MPs and Infantry in the Balkans.

I'm a 82nd vet and former NG, if you want to do it, thats great and patriotic, but dont think you will be going to the Middle East or Afghan. any time soon.

Well, ask Bush, he is our commander in chief...

I'm not afraid of dying either. But I am disgusted at the fact that we are being suckered by our own political correctness. It's political correctness that is paving the way for the next massacre of Americans. If we weren't being so politically correct, we'd do the right thing and send a million potential terrorists home, right now.

I was just thinking the same thing today. Seriously! This "war" is not like any other. Our defenses must focus on the resources and infrastructure of our cities and towns nationwide. Things like utility plants, airports, water reservoirs, agricultural lands, schools and more. There's no way that the DOD could provide the resources to accomplish this. Volunteer citizen militia's could be organized to accomplish this AND coordinate efforts to help families become educated on disaster-preparedness tactics (which are not one-size-fits all, they will vary depending on the neighborhood, etc.) This volunteer should work in cooperation with & be partially funded by the Office of Homeland Security. Maybe we should start a petition to send to Tom Ridge on this issue.

Just like the National ID card, I think this is one of those things that may seem like a good idea now, but in the long run maybe needs more discussion. For example: what if the info connected with your ID card fell into the wrong hands (like the FBI files "fell" into Clinton's), or what if criminal groups (e.g., the Crips) decided to call themselves militias?

I wrote this on the 6th and titled it "Ideas on HomeLand Defense".

OK... I’ve gotten somewhat over my initial distress and anger and have began to think, hopefully, more rationally. So I’ve been thinking along the lines of, “what can I (ordinary guy) do... there must be something”.

Your ideas are welcome, and as with all brain storming sessions, no idea is a dumb idea, unless of course it’s a dumb idea.

My Idea... “Deputy Dog Me”, I’ll be eyes, ears, and feelers for our nation’s, my city’s and my neighborhood’s security. Make me a legal voluntary deputy of the law.

This would be a national program. There could be perhaps three levels of deputization, all three would require certain levels of training and obligatory periodic meetings.

Level One could function like the neighborhood watch chairman. This level would involve nothing more than learning how to be watchful of criminal type behavior (character profiling if you will) and fast reporting to local police via a special type of phone distributed by law enforcement.

Level Two and three would be for the purpose of arming the deputy with a concealed weapon. A person would only graduate to level two if he intended to move onto level three. Level two would require training in the area of criminal law similar to what is required for the local police department. The primary focus however, would be training in the use of a concealed sidearm.

Level Three should speak for itself. A person is deputized by the local police department to carry a concealed sidearm. This person would not be obligated to put his life in harms way, but the person would have the capacity to ward off deadly aggression with deadly force.

Sign me up... I’m there...

Re: ""what if criminal groups (e.g., the Crips) decided to call themselves militias?

If the Crips or any other group wants to fight our common enemy, they should be welcome as they are already part of the militia. If they act as the self serving criminals they are, they should be treated as criminals. In war the penalty for crime can be very severe.

If you thing the govt is going to let self proclaimed militia units "patrol" power lines etc,,,,,,,your ignorant

Does this ring a bell? - "... 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.

If you thing the govt is going to let self proclaimed militia units "patrol" power lines etc,,,,,,,your ignorant

The key here is "self-proclaimed." For the militia to have legitamacy it must be chartered by the local city council or county commissioners, and it must have a defined relationship with existing law enforcement. I personally think training our citizens to have a full-time volunteer law enforcement obligation would do a lot to cut down on all kinds of domestic crime. In the 18th century, when a horse was stolen, the owner advertised to the citizenry, and each citizen was empowered to arrest and secure the thief in one of his majesty's jails, (or "gaols" as they spelled it then). The era of specialization has left us with the debilitating notion that only trained law enforcement should attempt to enforce the laws. We saw the folks on that Pennsylvania flight put the lie to that notion, as, indeed, we do everyday. The most effective front line against crime are the citizens who witness it.

Arm them, give them authority, and watch the bad guys crawl back into their holes.

yes...and if you think the government is going to let people do that I'm afraid your thinking is not based on any concept of reality........Do you disagree with the statement????

You don't need three levels. You already have the right to "keep and bear arms." The problem is that our fathers allowed the politicians to define what that meant. Now is the time to set the politicians straight.

This would be a national program.

I guess I favor local programs with defined state and federal obligations. As soon as the "sky marshall" debate began, AOL was posting articles on the subject of "new federal jobs in national security." One of the most important contributions we can make to the homeland security debate is the notion that we don't need a new class of pensioned Samurai. We need to advance the notion of arming (and training) all Americans to fight terrorism, foreign and domestic. If we don't do this, the new professional class of law enforcement will begin seeing domestic gun owners as the enemy. Furthermore, the more local control, the better. Citizens will volunteer to protect their neighborhoods--and that's where they would be the most effective.