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Quote of the day

"Anti-racism will be for the 21st century what Communism was for the 20th century: A source of violence." French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut

"Anti-racism" is just as contrary to human nature as communism. Only an authoritarian government can prop them up -- but only for a while.

Federal deficit worse than expected

Remember all that bad news about the out-of-control Federal budget? Turns out those reports were written by dewy-eyed optimists:

President Obama's proposed budget would add more than $9.7 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, congressional budget analysts said Friday. Proposed tax cuts for the middle class account for nearly a third of that shortfall.

The 10-year outlook released by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office is somewhat gloomier than White House projections, which found that Obama's budget request would produce deficits that would add about $8.5 trillion to the national debt by 2020.

The ship of state is now the Toyota of state.

Tea Party leader paid by GOP-run campaign to promote party goals

The Borg continues to assimilate authentic conservatism:

One of the Tea Party's top leaders was recently paid $7,500 by a campaign run by a California Republican group to promote one of their ballot initiatives.

Mark Meckler is a spokesman for the Tea Party Patriots and had publicly distanced himself from the Republican Party. But state records show that he accepted the money for "petition circulation management" from the "Citizen Power Campaign Supported by the Lincoln Club of Orange County."

"The Lincoln Club." Of course.

And by "assimilate," I mean "suck the life blood out of it."

2050

There's an embarrassingly amateurish new site anticipating that glorious future when whites are no longer the majority in the United States.

Here's a response from a well-done new site called Alternative Right.

The South shall rise

And it shall rise. All we need are enough hands on the levers of power. This report, snarky as it may be, still shows that there are those willing to take a stand in the arena: (and do note the link meant to embarrass him):

Loy Mauch of Bismarck filed for House District 26, as a Republican. (If only the CSA had a party.)

Regular readers of the D-G letters page (those with strong stomachs, in other words) know the name. There was his protest, along with his Sons of the Confederate Veteran chapter, over a statute of Abraham Lincoln on display at the Hot Springs Convention Center. There's his veneration of the Confederate battle flag, as evidenced when James Vandiver lowered the D.C. flag and raised the Dixie banner over his motel.

For Loy Mauch of Bismarck in Hot Spring County, the Confederate flag is a symbol of America’s Christian roots, from which he believes the nation has strayed.
“The government has lost its moral authority over God-fearing Americans and I wish more patriots like James Vandiver would take their stand for what the Confederate Battle Flag truly symbolizes,” Mauch wrote.

As Jesse Helms would always say, just make sure you spell the name right.

Pitching for America

This blunt assessment of the mess DC has dragged us into should be mandatory reading. Since it deals with reality instead of the usual "Go, USA!" mindlessness, you know it comes from Pat Buchanan:

To balance the budget this year would require a 43 percent across-the-board cut in every category of federal spending — defense, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Homeland Security, highways, etc. — or, if one used taxes alone, a 72-percent increase in federal tax revenues.

Budget cuts of that magnitude are impossible. They would cause a revolution. And any attempt at tax hikes of that magnitude would drain off all available consumer capital and hurl the economy into another Depression.

For the foreseeable future, then, this nation is going deeper into debt

And when Harry Reid and colleagues wave through yet another $10 billion for unemployment checks and making sure farm folks get yard dishes to see reruns of “The Sopranos,” the United States must go to Beijing, Tokyo or Riyadh and borrow the money.

This city does not seem to grasp that the days of wine and roses are over. We are not in the 1950s or 1960s anymore.

Of course Congress isn't going to reverse course. Yeah, the Titanic is sinking, but look! The all-you-can-eat buffet table is still open!

Rash of Scandals Tests Democrats at Sensitive Time

When Republicans were in power, they abused it. Now that the Democrats hold power, they're proving to be just as corrupt. Both parties accuse each other of total incompetence.

I say they're both right.

Southern music break

Hey, it's Friiiiiiiday, y'all!

Time for something a little different. Tom Petty's a Southerner, and lyrics like these are chicken soup for the Rebel Soul:


Well I won't back down
No I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

No I'll stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin me down
gonna stand my ground
... and I won't back down

Well I know what's right, I got just one life
in a world that keeps on pushin me around
but I'll stand my ground
...and I won't back down

The States Can Stop Obama

You just know the Sun King will have his way with Congress sooner or later, and both socialized medicine and amnesty for illegal alien invaders will slip through eventually.

And then it's a done deal, right?

Not hardly, argues Sheriff Mack. The people have one last line of defense from an increasingly irresponsible central government, and that is their sovereign State governments:

[Federal] commands are fundamentally incompatible with our constitutional system of dual sovereignty. It is rather obvious that nationalized health care definitely qualifies as a “federal regulatory program.”

Thus, the marching on Washington and pleas and protests to our DC politicians are misdirected. Such actions are “pie in the sky” dreaming that somehow expects the tyrants who created the tyranny, will miraculously put a stop to it. Throughout the history of the world such has never been the case. Tyrants have never stopped their own corrupt ways.

However, in our system of “dual sovereignty,” the States can do it. If we are to take back America and keep this process peaceful, then state and local officials will have to step up to the plate. Doing so is what States’ Rights and State Sovereignty are all about.

"Dual sovereignty" is a good thing when you're dealing with two fiscally responsible, civic-minded units of government. But when one part becomes consumed with greed and power, it's time to rid ourselves of the "dual" part of the arrangement.

Obama looking to give new life to immigration reform

And we all know what the Feds mean by "reform," don't we? When Obama forces his socialized medicine scheme through Congress -- and he will -- upwards of 20 million grateful new "Americans" will be eligible for benefits:

Obama took up the issue privately with his staff Monday in a bid to advance a bill through Congress before lawmakers become too distracted by approaching midterm elections.

In the session, Obama and members of his Domestic Policy Council outlined ways to resuscitate the effort in a White House meeting with two senators -- Democrat Charles E. Schumer of New York and Republican Lindsey Graham of South Carolina -- who have spent months trying to craft a bill.

It's bi-partisan, so it must be a good thing, right?

Why liberals hate the Tea Party

It would be hard to find a more naked display of liberal paternalism than this:

Most Tea Party activists are opposed to universal health care, stimulus packages, bailouts, the federal income tax (and therefore, Social Security and Medicare), and the Federal Reserve. ...

I really don’t trust people to take care of themselves. The income tax forces them to set aside money for their future by taking away some money now; without it, I see a good deal of manipulation and exploitation by private companies, and a whole lot of bankrupt, health care-less elderly citizens.

Instead of the federal government, a good lot of the Tea Party activists promote secession, nullification of federal laws, citizen militias, and tax boycotts. They like privacy, and they love the Constitution. They would die to protect it from harm (aka Obama).

I think they’re advocating for anarchy, but I’m not entirely sure.

The heart of the Tea Party uprising is resistance to government domination over society -- which is precisely what liberals dream of. After all, government supremacy IS for our own good, since we can't be trusted to take care of ourselves.

In the minds of liberals, all order flows down from DC, the seat of sovereignty, so any attempt to prevent it from performing its vital job is, in their minds, anarchy.

I think it's good to know the mind of the enemy.

Blogger problems

Blogger has been acting up today. I've lost some posts, as well as some reader comments, and have been unable to view posts I know I uploaded. I hope the system is working properly now.

Sovereign citizens?

Here's a group that's intent on supplying ammunition to the pro-government left:

Indiana RTV6 reports that “an increasing number of Indiana residents” are taking radical right-wing “tenther” beliefs to their logical extreme, declaring themselves “sovereign citizens” exempt from federal law and from paying taxes. These individuals claim their homes are embassies and have started “using identification cards that show them as diplomats.”

The state reports that about 10 people a month have been asking for an official seal which supposedly exempts them from paying taxes. Some “sovereign citizens” have even refused to use drivers licenses or plates. When challenged by police, they show a homemade ID and claim that “no one can delay, detain or arrest them without facing damages of $2 million” ...

These so-called "sovereign citizens" are NOT the champions of the Tenth Amendment; instead, they are the fellow travelers of left-libertarians, who dismiss the natural ties of heritage and society, and claim only the individual possesses rights.

Furthermore, these people cannot claim to be conservative, either. Conservatives point to the history of humanity, rather than philosophical abstraction, to define human nature, its wants, values, and needs. What historical society has ever existed composed of hermits, sharing no culture, no shared history, no mutual loyalties, no community?

I've dealt with this sort before, and have a pretty good idea of what drives them. They're products of modernism, demanding an instant solution to the problems of an overgrown, unconstitutional government. They don't want to do the hard work that patriots of old had to endure. That want it now, and they want it focused on them -- hence the fancy titles, and claims of being the only "legal" sovereign of one's own country. Real patriots are not this self-centered, nor are they so foolish as to confront an authoritarian government with home made ID badges and exotic arguments. It takes patient communication, difficult organizing, and compromise with fellow patriots to build a freedom movement. William Wallace, George Washington, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Michael Collins, and Lech Walesa were heroes, and true freedom fighters. They knew what had to be done, and did it.

These "sovereign citizens," on the other hand, are "Me-generation," TV-dinner, Dungeons & Dragons play-actors. If you want to proclaim yourself to be the President, sole citizen, and UN Ambassador for the Republic of Bob, that's fine. Just don't claim to be one of us.

German MPs suggest cash-strapped Greece should sell islands

Not a bad idea! Greece's deficit is 12.7% of its gross domestic product, and is at crisis stage. Selling deserted islands would be a win-win.

But the US is at 10.5%, and not that far from the economic precipice itself. So why shouldn't the US sell off useless properties to pay its enormous debt?

Nothing's more useless than Washington, DC, and I'm sure those gold-rich Chinese would be glad to take it off our hands. Maybe they could turn it into an amusement park.

Then there's New York City, Miami, Detroit, most of California -- at least San Francisco -- and before you know it, we're free of the most morally blighted hell-holes, plus, money in the bank! Another win-win!

Anger at D.C. Shapes Races

No, I didn't write that headline. The resurgence of localism is REALLY picking up steam:

Candidates across the U.S. hope to capitalize on the anti-Washington sentiment that helped Texas Gov. Rick Perry win the GOP primary Tuesday. Candidates across the country are taking a page from Mr. Perry's playbook this year and running on platforms that are strongly anti-Washington, going after the Obama administration and both parties in Congress.

Candidates with Washington ties are responding by emphasizing their local roots. Mr. Brownback's campaign manager, David Kensinger, said the senator and his family still live in Topeka and Mr. Brownback regularly tours every county in the state, so voters don't view him as a Washington politician. "He's in touch," Mr. Kensinger said.

Anger at Washington is undoubtedly strong. A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll conducted in late January showed that just 28% of Americans believe the federal government is "working well" or "okay."

Washington deserves all the enmity aimed at it, and then some. Sooner or later, a majority will see the logical next step in their resistance to DC.

Occupy California

That's the logo of Marxist student groups occupying university buildings to protest tuition hikes.

Can you imagine if anti-tax protesters used such a blatant symbol of violence in flyers advocating the occupation of public buildings? The SPLC would crow that the "populist right" was on the march. Charles Johnson would have to be placed in restraints.

Voters: Illegal immigration is killing the economy

Have Americans re-discovered their collective backbone? From examiner.com:

According to a new poll by Rasmussen, a staggering 67% of voters now reject illegal immigration, seeing it as a major, needless strain on the economy in the middle of a severe recession. 68% also oppose sanctuary cities, while 74% say government isn't doing enough to secure our borders.

Additionally, 68% think businesses who hire illegal immigrants should be punished, 69% believe illegal immigrants should be prosecuted and 56% support an enforcement-only approach.

I do believe the American people are getting riled up ...

Time for the nuclear option, Obama declares

Forget Obama's earlier pledge not to ram socialized medicine down our throats. He has an agenda to complete, and he's willing to do whatever it takes to get 'er done -- even breaking another promise:

White House officials tell ABC News that in his remarks tomorrow President Obama will indicate a willingness to work with Republicans on some issue to get a health care reform bill passed but will suggest that if it is necessary, Democrats will use the controversial "reconciliation" rules requiring only 51 Senate votes to pass the "fix" to the Senate bill, as opposed to the 60 votes to stop a filibuster and proceed to a vote on a bill.

To which I say: Please, please, please, pretty please! Obama has already ripped the pretenses away, revealing the Federal Leviathan for what it is. Those States that have invoked State sovereignty to resist threatened gun restrictions and Obamacare will deploy their own nuclear options, and the Tea Party protests of the past will look like Democratic Party Conventions in comparison with what hits the streets in response.

Thanks to Obama & Co., Americans have gotten in touch with their inner Rebels. If he makes this colossal blunder, he'll see just how rebellious they can be.

Grand Jury to Indict Edwards

To read the latest scandal on John Edwards, click here. To join the John Edwards presidential campaign, and help John enact "truly universal health care" and "eliminate poverty within a generation," click here!

For some reason, I feel pretty ...

How SPLC Hypes the Hate

The Southern Poverty Law Center has amassed a fortune by terrorizing gullible liberals with spine-tingling tales of armies of Klansmen, skinheads, and Mary Kay sales reps storming their gated communities. How do they do it? Here's how, courtesy of The Other McCain:

OK, so let’s ask a question: How does the SPLC get these numbers? Do a “find” search on the their list of “Patriot” groups and you discover:

* 37 listings of the John Birch Society;
* 48 listings of We the People;
* 49 listings of Oath Keepers; and
* 50 listings of the Constitution Party.

According to the SPLC’s math, then, state-by-state representation of these four organizations count as 184 “Patriot groups” — 36 percent of the SPLC’s total. Let’s ask a few more questions:

* Are these groups dangerous?
* Are they criminal?
* Do they pose a threat to public safety?

Of course, it doesn't matter that the groups are law-abiding, peaceful dissidents. But in the fevered world of the SPLC, patriot = nativist = anti-government = libertarian = conservative = racist = skinhead = right-wing terrorist. And the donations flow down like waters.

World War II trivia

- The first German serviceman killed in WW II was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937); the first American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians (Finland 1940); highest ranking American killed was Lt Gen Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.

So much for allies.

- It was a common practice on fighter planes to load every 5th round with a tracer round to aid in aiming. This was a mistake. Tracers had different ballistics so (at long range) if your tracers were hitting the target 80% of your rounds were missing. Worse yet tracers instantly told your enemy he was under fire and from which direction. Worst of all was the practice of loading a string of tracers at the end of the belt to tell you that you were out of ammo. This was definitely not something you wanted to tell the enemy. Units that stopped using tracers saw their success rate nearly double and their loss rate go down.

- German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet. (There goes the myth of German engineering!)

And saving the best for last:

- Following a massive naval bombardment, 35,000 United States and Canadian troops stormed ashore at Kiska, in the Aleutian Islands. 21 troops were killed in the assault on the island.

It could have been worse if there had been any Japanese on the island.

Thanks to Dan for forwarding!

It’s Up to the States and the People!

The title says it all. And my, but doesn't this sound awfully familiar! From the Tenth Amendment Center:

This is not to say the two parties are the same. They’re not. The (R) vs. (D) rivalry, constantly stoked by the media, exploits the differences between the parties and distracts us from noticing that the truly important contest is the one between Washingon and the rest of us… And Washington is winning that one. The two parties complement each other to form a power grabbing whole. They decry the other party’s actions when they’re out of power, but they never correct them when they’re in power.

Don't miss the quotes from Obama, Pelosi, and Reid about the TERRIBLE assaults on American liberty by the Bush/Cheney regime's USA PATRIOT Act -- then decide for yourself whether it's tragic or comic that a Democrat-controlled House and a Democrat-controlled Senate renewed that unconstitutional act last weekend.

How long does that train of abuses have to be before we scrap this back-stabbing, self-serving regime?

Economists Warn Another Financial Crisis on the Way

Not "might be on the way" but "on the way":

Even as many Americans still struggle to recover from the country's worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, another crisis – one that will be even worse than the current one – is looming, according to a new report from a group of leading economists, financiers, and former federal regulators.

Think the spiraling Federal debt might be a millstone on the economy? Maybe?

Wake school board passes neighborhood school resolution

The political tidal wave of localism continues to sweep away the centralizing mistakes of the last 40 years. Here's the latest victory for liberty from Raleigh, North Carolina, of all places:

Amid a conflict-filled meeting that sometimes recalled the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, Wake County’s new school board majority took the first step today toward implementing neighborhood schools.

By a 5-4 vote, the board gave the first of two approvals needed to pass a resolution calling for abandoning busing for diversity in favor of assigning students to schools in their community. Supporters hailed it as a step toward providing families more stability while critics complained it would lead to resegregation. ...

The vote came after more than 50 people spoke out in front of a standing-room only crowd. Passions repeatedly flared during the discussion with critics of the resolution making up a majority of the speakers.

“If you expect to go to hell, don’t take our children with you," said the Rev. Curtis Gatewood, who was gaveled out of order by school board chairman Ron Margiotta.

Gatewood, who called Margiotta a “white racist,” refused to stop speaking after his time ran out, prompting security to confront him. After a 10-minute recess, Margiotta allowed Gatewood, the second vice president of the state NAACP, to finish speaking.

"Racism" supposedly explains and condemns ANY resistance to the leftist multicult agenda. People are sick and tired of the same empty charges just because they want what's best for their families, and are FINALLY taking action despite the name-calling. The charge of racism is so overused, it's now totally meaningless.

Funny how the "diversity" crowd fears freedom of choice -- which should tell us something about the artificiality of their agenda. Diversity's desperate advocates know it can only be propped up by government force.

Tenth Amendment Summit Offers Solutions

Yet another sign of a resurgence of liberty:

"This is real hope," one enthusiastic attendee told this writer during the First Annual Tenth Amendment Summit held in Atlanta, Georgia, February 25-26. Sponsored by Georgia gubernatorial candidate Ray McBerry and the Tenth Amendment Center (Los Angeles), the summit was attended by a capacity crowd of 400 who all seemed to share the same sentiment — and who cheered as each of about two dozen candidates used his three minutes to pledge adherence to the ideals of liberty and state sovereignty if elected to office.

Next time, gentlemen, rent a bigger auditorium!

Flags of the Rebellion

The kites were flown at Folly Beach, SC a few years back when my family went on vacation. This afforded me an opportunity to share the Southern message with quite a few folks as they passed by and asked what the “strange flags” were.

I’m working on a 9 foot diamond kite of Big Red.

Dixie!

Teddy

Thanks, Teddy! It's cold here, and slush is dripping down from a leaden sky. I needed that picture of Southern flags flying in a blue sky at the beach!

Send me your flag pictures at rebellionblog@gmail.com

The Invading Gangs of Middle Tennessee

From the "About Gangs" special feature of the Tennessean:

Gangs have existed for decades in heavily populated cities such as New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. As post-World War II America became more complex and migratory, gangs continued to spread to other areas of the country.

By "more complex and migratory," they mean "more multicultural and rootless."

From the prophetic "I'll Take My Stand":

... and if the present system persists, in another generation nothing will remain of the local color, the diversity, the humanity, the charm of our South, and we will become assimilated outwardly and inwardly to the street gangs of New York and Chicago.

All the 12 Southerners left out was "Los Angeles."

Arizona may criminalize presence of illegal immigrants

Citizens who can no longer stomach DC's lies about border security are taking matters into their own hands:

The proposal would make Arizona the only state to criminalize the presence of illegal immigrants through an expansion of its trespassing law. It also would require police to try to determine people's immigration status when there's reasonable suspicion they are in the country illegally.

An estimated 460,000 illegal immigrants live in the state.

"The greatest threat to our neighborhoods is the illegal alien invasion," said Republican Sen. Russell Pearce of Mesa, sponsor of the proposal, explaining that some illegal immigrants who are criminals bring violence and other crimes to the United States.

Forget DC -- it's entirely up to the people of the sovereign States to take action against the Latinization of America.

America, the fragile empire

The readers of Confederates in the Boardroom will recognize what
Niall Ferguson is talking about here: All systems, human or natural, rely on the internal freedom of their components to keep the whole operating. Without the adaptability that comes from decentralization, a system atrophies and dies:

If empires are complex systems that sooner or later succumb to sudden and catastrophic malfunctions, what are the implications for the United States today? First, debating the stages of decline may be a waste of time -- it is a precipitous and unexpected fall that should most concern policymakers and citizens. Second, most imperial falls are associated with fiscal crises. Alarm bells should therefore be ringing very loudly indeed as the United States contemplates a deficit for 2010 of more than $1.5 trillion -- about 11% of GDP, the biggest since World War II.

These numbers are bad, but in the realm of political entities, the role of perception is just as crucial. In imperial crises, it is not the material underpinnings of power that really matter but expectations about future power. The fiscal numbers cited above cannot erode U.S. strength on their own, but they can work to weaken a long-assumed faith in the United States' ability to weather any crisis.

One day, a seemingly random piece of bad news -- perhaps a negative report by a rating agency -- will make the headlines during an otherwise quiet news cycle. Suddenly, it will be not just a few policy wonks who worry about the sustainability of U.S. fiscal policy but the public at large, not to mention investors abroad. It is this shift that is crucial: A complex adaptive system is in big trouble when its component parts lose faith in its viability.

States' Rights isn't just a theory, it's a survival tool. Will our leaders recognize this in time?