A passage from a journal

It's late and sleep eludes. So I'm reading some passages from the journal of Albert Jay Nock, 1873-1945. This one I'd like to share with you.

"Lord, how the world is given to worshiping words! Eschew the coarse word slavery, and you can get glad acceptance for a condition of actual slavery. A man is a slave when his labour-products are appropriated, and his activities are governed by some agency other than himself; that is the essence of slavery. Refrain from using the word Bolshevism, or Fascism, Hitlerism, Marxism, Communism, and you have no troubles getting acceptance for the principle that underlies them all alike--the principle that the State is everything, and the individual nothing."

Nock, a friend of William Jennings Bryan and one of the lights of the early Progressive movement, eventually found these advocates of "change" and "reform" to be "political Frankensteins." In the State, he held no trust. He viewed Statism as a cancer that would eventually throttle the power of independent moral judgment in its citizenry.

Give him a teleprompter or something ...

Uhh, perhaps, uhh ... the's president's low, uhh ... approval ratings, uhh ... could, uhh, I'm sorry, uhh ... pick up, uhh ... 20 points, if he embraced, uhh ... a robust process to, uhh ... find a press secretary to replace, uhh, Robert Gibbs.

A Prediction and an Apology

I, at this time more than 48 hours before the official announcement, predict Chicago will not make the final cut for the 2016 Olympics host city despite the redistributive-changer-in-chief's visit to Copenhagen to sway the International Olympic Committee.

Keeping President Obama's UN speech in mind, I'm also apologizing to our poor, huddled, exploited, global brothers and sisters--particularly the citizens of Madrid, Rio and Tokyo. Our president's old-fashioned wielding of power isn't any way to "embrace a new era of of engagement based on mutual interests and mutual respect

" or forging a future out of deeds rather than speeches. No wonder the world may sometimes view the United States of America with "skepticism and mistrust" for this isn't a shining example of change in word and deed--"a new era of engagement with the world."


A Democrat, former House Speaker Tip O'Neill, once said, "All politics is local." In any attempt to understand the timing of President Obama's trip to Copenhagen, keep in mind he's an old-school, Chicago politician, i.e., a "community activist." He's doing the bidding of the Daley machine.

Strange Sake?

Japan's first lady, Miyuki Hatoyama, is one multi-faceted lady. She's traveled to Venus, knew Tom Cruise when he was Japanese, and has been abducted by space aliens. She also serves as Yukio Hatoyama's, her husband and prime-minister-elect, chief stylist.

Maybe Cristophe, hairstylist who's groomed many high-flying politicos such as President Bill Clinton, should open up a sixth salon on Venus.

WWJP: What would Jesus Pack?

I have no doubt Jesus, as range master, oversees a deluxe firearms training facility in Heaven. When he comes again, he'll be toting heat. After all, what we know about Jesus Christ from scripture reveals he was a practical, tactical thinker when he walked among us.

Worship planners at a Louisville, Ky., church held a service June 27 where all were invited to carry their personal sidearms, albeit unloaded. The church also raffled off safety lessons, a concealed carry class and a new handgun.

I'm armed when attending church. I don't check the ammo at the door, either. It's always been peaceful at my church, and it doesn't bother me in the least that the people around me might be carrying as well. When I was in law enforcement, it didn't alarm me when I encountered law-abiding, ordinary Americans, who our current president says he understands, carrying weapons. In fact I assumed my fellow citizens were not much different from me--most of us own firearms and have been using them safely since we could hoist and level one at a target. As far as distrusting or fearing these armed, peaceful, outstanding people, it's not my nature to do so.

Granted, there are some who, in the pursuit of nefarious ends, have abused the power that flows from gun barrels. Despots, felons or any individual or group who takes their freedom to pursue life, liberty, and happiness to the point of stripping others of their same freedom readily seek such power for themselves. Then there are cretins who happen to possess guns along with other useful but dangerous objects such as golf clubs, baseball bats, a bathroom door ripped off its hinges, or extension cords that they use to maim and kill others.

Fortunately none of the latter have shown up in any church I've frequented. It is true a small number of cretins roam our communities, and sometimes they do come into worship centers shooting. If so, it would relieve me if the preacher, Aunt Mabel, or someone in the choir could make a clean, safe hit on him if I couldn't. To lump my fellow citizens in with the cretins as people to be distrusted or feared doesn't make sense.

It does encourage me to see fellow Christians who truly love their neighbors even when they're wearing handguns. I'd never ridicule, raise objections or consider a brother or sister in Christ an "extremist" or "gun nut" for taking steps to protect themselves and others from evildoers. When I pass the peace to other members of my congregation, I truly mean it. To let my fear, mistrust and desire to control others make them more vulnerable in the face of evil--how would that reflect my level of discipleship and faith? So, by all means, bring your guns to church. Hey! Don't forget to load 'em.

This is Independence Day. I'll close with thoughts Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence, shared at his inauguration as our third president in 1801.

"Sometimes it is said that man can not be trusted with the governance of himself. Can he, then, be trusted with the government of others? Or have we found angels in the form of kings to govern him? Let history answer this question."

Guns in church, along with so many other things, is a matter of trusting ordinary Americans to govern themselves, a practice Jefferson considered democratic. Aristocrats practice the opposite, as he explained in an 1824 letter to Henry Lee. Trust or distrust? Jefferson's question of liberty will truly be answered in time. That's change we can believe in.

Reforming U.S. health care

Transparency in government hasn't extended to health care reform. Politicians in both the executive and legislative branches talk about reform, but just how it's going to be done hasn't trickled down to the masses. All we know is that the system is broken. All we're told is that it's going to be reformed by the end of the year while there's still political capital, or momentum, to do it. Anyone who questions how health care should be reformed is labeled as a fear monger, deceitful, or defender of the status quo.

Some of the most-balanced information--provided by both liberal and conservative thinkers--I've found about health care reform is here.

Protest funded in part by George Soros

If you're looking for the brand of change advocated by ACORN, AFL-CIO, AFSCME, Americans United for Change, Campaign for America’s Future, Center for American Progress Action Fund, Campaign for Community Change, Children’s Defense Fund Action Council, Communications Workers of America, MoveOn.org, NAACP, National Council of La Raza, National Education Association, National Women’s Law Center, SEIU, UFCW, USAction, and Working America, go to this site. It's utopian plus being quick and painless.

There are some potential reforms not advanced by the president and Democratic members of Congress such as tort reform, moving the U.S. toward a stronger dollar that buys more, and letting the basic economic laws of supply and demand work. Who pays Medicare write-offs, a prime example of government price fixing? We all do. Costs for services not covered by Medicare go up. Any person who pays out of pocket or participates in a private health-care insurance program makes up the gap. When any person buys goods or services from a corporation or small business, they pay more for those items in order to cover the hike in health-care costs paid by those employers. If those higher costs can't be met by price increases, businesses close or move elsewhere where costs are less.

The U.S. health-care system does resemble one of my father's patched-together, stop-gap fences. It does need reform. Some "reforms" have already been tried--they aren't change. Keeping the nation's rapidly growing debt in mind, government's past reform efforts have failed. I'm indeed a cynic when it comes to blindly trusting the president or any members of Congress, Republican or Democratic, to pull it off before 2010. The only fix I can be optimistic about is to reduce government price meddling and regulation (Can you imagine just what the paper costs that health care providers give us to comply with HIPAA?) so that the laws of supply and demand work.

Reform starts with the individual. If the true costs of going to the doctor, not exercising, drinking sugar-loaded soft drinks, smoking, and all the pills the medicos push become evident, an individual will be at liberty to spend less and live better. That's true change.

Engine of Opportunity

Eliot Spitzer, former New York attorney general and governor, is trying to rebuild his battered reputation after resigning as governor last year. The reason? "Private failings," is the one he offered. In case one doesn't remember, he was being wiretapped by the feds, who were trying to figure out why so much money was flowing in and out of Spitzer's bank account. It turns out he was spending it on hookers.

Day of Resignation: Spitzer and his wife, Silda. They are now in couples therapy.

Spitzer, once heralded as the future of the Democratic Party, has taken up writing opinion pieces. Here's one published April 29 in Slate that Spitzer co-authored with trial lawyer Peter B. Pope, "Gun Control Without Gun Laws: How Obama can use government procurement regulations to limit gun violence."

Keep the following Spitzer quotes in mind while you read.

“I stand before you today because this vision of government as the engine of opportunity is what I believe in.”

“As a citizen, and as the state's lawyer, I believe in an evolving Constitution. A flexible Constitution leaves room for us to consider not merely how the world once was, but how it ought to be.”

"I have always stated that I want ethics and integrity to be the hallmarks of my administration."

"Listen, I'm a fucking steamroller and I'll roll over you and anybody else."

The Reformers: "Il faut cultiver notre jardin."

I stumbled upon this quote by Albert Jay Nock, a devotee of Voltaire.

"The only thing that the psychically-human being can do to improve society is to present society with one improved unit. In a word, ages of experience testify that the only way society can be improved is by the individualist method which Jesus apparently regarded as the only one whereby the Kingdom of Heaven can be established as a going concern; that is, the method of each one doing his very best to improve one."

I'll have to find more of Nock's work. It will be good reading during the 100-day party. It is change I can believe in.

Let's Sue AIG

I'm outraged. AIG, of which we the people own 80 percent as the result of massive infusions of monopoly money, is still contractually obligated to pay incentive and retention bonuses to some of its past and present employees.

This burning rage is something I share with President Obama and many members of Congress such as House Financial Services chairman Barney Frank. The Honorable Frank said this morning that taxpayers should file lawsuits to kill the bonus payments.

Last weekend, President Obama said:

"This is a corporation that finds itself in financial distress due to recklessness and greed," he said, in a rare flash of public anger, at a White House event with owners of small businesses.

"Under these circumstances, it's hard to understand how derivative traders at AIG warranted any bonuses, much less 165 million dollars in extra pay," Obama said.

"How do they justify this outrage to the taxpayers who are keeping the company afloat?" he said, adding half in jest that "I'm choked up with anger here" as his voice caught at one point.

Perhaps the word, "outrage", repeatedly flashed in red on his ever-present teleprompter.

Barney has a good idea, and it needs to be moved forward a step. We the people should file lawsuits to recover every penny AIG has paid out to politicians. Barry, write a $101,332 check to the U.S. Treasury. If not, we the AIG stakeholders will have to get a court order to garnish your White House paycheck.

The Speaker's Carbon Footprint

It's not smart for bailout-seeking, corporate executives to take business jets to D.C. to appear before Congressional committees. Americans learned this firsthand from those House Financial Services committee meetings last fall.

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo. It kind of makes you a little bit suspicious," Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) told Detroit's Big Three auto execs. "Couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here? It would have at least sent a message that you do get it."

Ackerman's house boss, Nancy Pelosi, doesn't get it. She has an affinity for travel on U.S. Department of Defense Gulfstream V long-range business jets, which are designated by the military as the C-37A. When told no "G5s" were available for Memorial Day travel, a house staff member, Kay King, said it would result in a very unhappy [sic] "peaker."

Ridin' High: Nancy on board?

Nancy, keep it up. All the carbon from the government jets in the gulfstream will impact weather patterns and throw the Earth into a Algore-anticipated heat wave. It will cause more mudslides, fires, water shortages, coastal flooding and other calamities that require massive infusions of federal assistance.

If not, people might lift up their heads from the slop trough long enough to see. When angry people go to the polls in mid-term elections such as those in 1994 and 2006, the House speaker has to downgrade.

New Year's Resolutions ...

are something I don't make. I'm planning to live the way I've been accustomed, which has worked fairly well the past few years. I do plan to increase my carbon footprint this coming year by burning some gunpowder. I'm also going to upgrade my National Rifle Association membership from life to endowment next spring.

Keeping in shooting practice is still more expensive despite drastic decreases in cost for metals such as copper, lead and brass since last summer. Copper prices have dropped more than 70 percent. Aluminum is worth less, too. Unfortunately the price of ammunition, reloading components, and AR-15 receivers haven't went down.

No doubt the change.gov types, in the pursuit of their perception of "social justice", will try to thrust their ways upon individuals. These "progressives" represent little change from their 20th-century-socialist ascendants except for new names and faces. There hasn't been a body count in the millions in this country unlike elsewhere. The people haven't been completely disarmed and re-indoctrinated yet.

Keep shooting. Don't forget to take some friends. Don't let the expense or the unfriendly political climate squelch your passion and drive. Exercise those options, which Barack Obama declared as "negative liberties" in 2001, enumerated in our constitution or lose them.

"Do not separate text from historical background. If you do, you will have perverted and subverted the Constitution, which can only end in a distorted, bastardized form of illegitimate government."--James Madison, father of the U.S. Constitution

"Always Lawful"

"It kind of smells like Nixon and Watergate. But I don't care whether you tape me privately or publicly, I can tell you that whatever I say is always lawful."

--Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, Dec. 8, 2008

Apparently the feds don't agree. Blagojevich and his chief of staff, John Harris, were arrested earlier today in Chicago. One may follow Operation Board Games here.

Rod is now estranged from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and friends Rahm Emanuel, who is now Prez-elect Obama's chief of staff, and David Axelrod, Obama's senior advisor. It will be interesting to see how this will play out.

Gov. Lawful has long waged a campaign against Illinois firearms manufacturers such as Rock River Arms, Springfield Armory, Armalite and Les Baer.

Be True to Your Party or Pay: Kansas Politics

I read this column by Mike Henricks of the Kansas City Star even though I'm not a fan. The head comparing the Kansas GOP to Stalin hooked me.

It details political payback, the branding of traitors by both the Democratic and Republican state leadership. Certain people delete those branded from their smartphones. These traitors cease to exist: no chance of being sent to national conventions, no phone calls or e-mails answered, no invitations to Kansas Day ceremonies at the state capitol every January, and no lovely holiday cards from the powerful. It is worse than being sent to the gulag for a politico. A bullet in the back of the head is certainly more merciful.

I've been a registered Republican since 1979, the Jimmy Carter era. However, I have a strong libertarian streak. I never vote for a candidate who says more "common sense gun safety laws" are needed. Criminals by nature fail to abide by the law. There's plenty of laws on the books that can be used to stop their rampages. So I naturally draw the conclusion those candidates don't trust me or most of my country folk.

If politicians do not trust the ordinary citizens they want to represent, I'm not about to trust them. No matter if they are a Democrat or Republican, why would anyone elect a representative who allowed mistrust to stand between them and their constituents? If sent to any seat of government, they will only answer to party insiders, the big contributors, the lobbyists, and the moguls. The trinkets, junkets, private jets, chauffeurs, interns, hookers, easy cash and power will lure them until they're indicted or voted out of office into a firm of lawyers and lobbyists.

I'm not about to let party loyalty blind me from identifying with the natural and civil rights of individuals. Both parties are bankrupt. There is a reason why the founding fathers, who struggled and made provisions for the preservation of the "inalienable rights of man" did not make a single reference to political parties in the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Dear Leaders, the loyalty squad works via a secret ballot at every election. The Stoic philosopher, Seneca the Younger, said, "Every reign must submit to a greater reign." For those who have left the ranks for a position of authority, Seneca's words are good ones to study.

Eric Holder, the Next Attorney General?

Prez-elect Obama has supposedly asked Eric Holder, former deputy Attorney General during the last months of the Clinton Administration, to serve as the nation's Attorney General. The Senate must confirm the appointment.

For those who haven't heard, Holder played a part in the pardon of Marc Rich, a fugitive commodities trader and Democratic contributor. Rich's ex-wife Denise spent some time in the Lincoln Bedroom when Barbra Streisand and other Clinton donors didn't have it booked. Jack Quinn, Rich's attorney and Clinton's former White House counsel, lobbyied for the pardon directly through Holder.

In January 2008, Holder joined a few other former Justice Department officials including Janet Reno, Attorney General during the Clinton years, in filing a brief in support of the District of Columbia's gun ban in District of Columbia v. Heller. Holder has been the Obama campaign's senior legal advisor since January 2007. He'll follow Obama's lead in viewing the U.S. Constitution as a "living" and evolving document.

Two bright spots in the economy

McDonald's same-store sales rose 8.3 percent in October, beating its own estimates. Most other restaurants reported declining sales.

Every vendor I've checked are out of stock of Magpul polymer, 20 or 30-round AR-15 magazines and 30-round mil-spec aluminum magazines. And the National Shooting Sports Foundation reports firearms sales are 10 percent higher this fall compared to the last. October sales are 15 percent higher than October 2007. Ammunition sales were up 14.2 percent in the second quarter of 2008 despite price increases caused by a global metals shortage.

Trial lawyers, one of the major blocks of the Democratic Party, have long waged wars on fatty food and guns. I don't see McDonald's and the firearms industry faring too well this time next year. Neither will find love when seeking federal bailouts unlike Detroit's no-longer-big-three automakers and AIG.

In the meantime, the Change Administration is going retro. Obama isn't a socialist--he's a monarchist. He's going to be a king, according to his spokesperson , Valerie Jarrett, who appeared on Meet the Press yesterday.



Ms. Jarrett is "the other side of" President-elect Obama's "brain", believe it or not.

ABA names "Lawyers Who May Run America"

The 408,000-member American Bar Association plays a non-governmental and little-noticed role in the process of filling vacancies in the Supreme Court. You can read more about the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judiciary here.

The ABA Journal cover story for November is The Lawyers Who May Run America. Today it published an article by Martha Neil, Obama Announces Transition Team; Lawyers Proliferate. The stories are filled with names of Obama's fellow Ivy-League attorneys, and the current dean of Harvard Law, Elena Kagan, will possibly be nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court during the next four years. Seth Waxman, a Yalie who 88-year-old Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens once said was the most brilliant young lawyer he's ever heard, may be nominated to replace Stevens.

Here's the members of Obama's transition team "triumvirate": Valerie Jarrett and John Podesta, old Chicago hands, and Pete Rouse, Obama's Senate chief of state and a former staff member for ex-Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. Rouse has worked continously on Capitol Hill since 1971 and has been called the "101st Senator."

Podesta was the fourth and last chief of staff for the Clinton White House. He's the author of a book published earlier this year, The Power of Progress: How America's Progressives Can (Once Again) Save Our Economy, Our Climate, and Our Country.

Three other attorneys on the senior staff are Cassandra Q. Butts and Chris Lu, both classmates of Obama's at Harvard Law, and Michael Strautman, Obama's general counsel in the Senate.

Here's some of the faces of change, those who will restore the American Dream. They've promised to "restore our Constitution to its proper place in our government and return our Nation to our best traditions."

Attorneys will run America. We the servants should know our leaders. Lawyers are people, too, so I guess one could argue the Obama Revolution is still people powered.

"It's the silly season"

Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer thinks most gun owners, particularly the ones with blogs, are partisan, delusional, users and silly. He's "concerned about the backlash against Dan Cooper." You'll find it here, in a follow-up USA Today story.

Cooper has either resigned or has been ousted in order to put distance between him and his company. He said there is nothing he won't do for his 38 employees, innocents who had "internet anger" turned on them. However, he didn't answer any questions regarding his plans regarding his stake in Cooper Arms of Montana, Inc., and other roles he might play with the company.

Of course, Bob Ricker, executive director of the anti-Second Amendment front group, American Hunters and Shooters Association, had nothing good to say about any gun owner who objected to Cooper's poor public relations and business decisions.

Cooper is right. He's the victim. The paying or potential customers who complained are wrong. They are paranoid and are too silly to understand. And anyone who e-mails or posts different points of view such as Sebastian of Snowflakes in Hell are white, racist, gun nuts.

I can't speak for Sebastian. He writes and posts more effectively. But when I watched the 1994 Biden Crime Bill, which contained a ban on firearms solely for subjective, cosmetic reasons, pass through Congress to rapidly be signed into law by President Bill Clinton, I knew it was a first step toward a total ban on firearms ownership. I watched it unfold on C-SPAN Sept. 13, 1994.

It wasn't a delusion. Still flushed from celebration, the antis leaked plans for "reasonable, commonsense" restrictions such as arsenal taxes, restrictions on the amount of ammunition and reloading components one could possess in their homes, one-gun-a-month limits, a broader Brady Ban II, and efforts to demonize the "gun culture" such as discouraging people from wearing camouflage clothing and exploiting division in the ranks of gun owners.

Never again! If foreign interests or a nice guy like Dan Cooper buckle under or sell out the workers and consumers of companies such as Smith & Wesson in 1999-2000 or Cooper Arms of Montana, Inc., in 2008, there's going to be a lot of gun owners watching, writing and spending money elsewhere.

Dan, WAKE UP! You endorsed and funded the same candidate Sarah Brady is backing! Have a few of your 38 employees draw you pictures or slap you back into reality. Talk to some other people in your industry. Know your customers.

Your fancy, wood-stocked rifles possess barrels made by Wilson Arms, the outfit that made my AR-15 barrel. A Cooper rifle can kill at too far of a range, are deadly sniper rifles, and can penetrate body armor. Cruel white guys used them to slaughter poor Bambi on government land. When the Obamacons come for my AR-15, your fine hunting rifles aren't that much farther down their list.

Dan, stop blubbering to USA Today and humbly apologize to your 38 workers, your network of dealers, your suppliers such as Wilson Arms, and your industry. Then, made amends to the honorable people that helped you in your climb from mowing yards to heading a company making fine rifles.

Dan, those people are noble, tough, smart, and will prove forgiving if an apology comes from the contrite heart of a fellow rifleman. They're straight shooters. The antis, including Sen. Obama, will maim you at a time and place not of your choosing.

Cooper Firearms of Montana statement

This is a statement I found today on the home page of Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc., regarding Dan Cooper's statements to USA Today and his personal, financial support of the Obama campaign:

"The employees,shareholders and board of directors of Cooper Firearms of Montana do not share the personal political views of Dan Cooper.

Although we all believe everyone has a right to vote and donate as they see fit, it has become apparent that the fallout may affect more than just Mr. Cooper. It may also affect the employees and the shareholders of Cooper Firearms.

The board of directors has asked Mr. Cooper to resign as President of Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc.

Daily operations will continue with the competent staff currently in place in Stevensville, MT producing the finest, most accurate rifles money can buy.

Dan Cooper has spentall of his working life producing the highest quality rifles built here in the USA. He started with nothing but the American Dream and built that into firearms company anyone would be proud of. We firmly believe Dan stands by the 2nd amendment. We wish him all of the best in his future pursuits.

In response to the recent article highlighting Dan Cooper’s personal political donations, the board of directors, shareholders and employees of Cooper Firearms of Montana, Inc would like to issue the following statement."

Bank that cash ... in a state senator's brassiere

Baby, what a big surprise!

Right before the FBI's video eyes, Bay State Senator Dianne Wilkerson allegedly negoiated a series of legislative influence-peddling deals. She allegedly padded her foundational undergarment with consideration of $1,000 last June. Wilkerson allegedly was teaching an apprentice, her granddaughter, The Art of a Deal: Boston Illegal, when taking delivery of another $1,000 at the Fill-A-Buster restaurant across the street from the Massachusetts state capitol.

Alaska Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty by a Washington, DC, jury. He had a lot of help remodeling a house and was gifted a massage chair and gas grill. Then he allegedly made a paperwork error when not reporting it. He will appeal. ... Allegedly.

Support those who support the Second Amendment

Someone expressed their distrust of Larry Potterfield, founder of MidwayUSA, in comments left regarding Dan Cooper, president and CEO of Cooper Arms of Montana, at Snowflakes in Hell.

If you're concerned if someone you trade with is undermining the Second Amendment, go to the Federal Election Commission and do a search. Enter your own name as well. Who knows? Maybe an ACORNer or your house cat has assumed your identity.


Anyhow, here's my comment regarding the Potterfields and other people who I buy guns, ammo, and other related items from:

"BTW, Brenda and Larry Potterfield of MidwayUSA have donated thousands to pro-Second Amendment candidates in Missouri. I will continue to redistribute wealth to to them and their employees, all fine people, as I have done since the inception of their mail-order business. I have a MidwayUSA order right in front of me. The add-a-buck option to the NRA that MidwayUSA and a growing number of other companies such as Brownells offers to customers is always a plus for me. And I've never seen an NRA contribution can sitting on the sporting goods counter at Wal-Mart. Gun stores that support the Second Amendment in any way such as funding 4-H shooting sports deserve our wealth."

If you don't want to redistribute your human and financial resources to one particular group or another, there's a wide range of good choices. Help out your state rifle association, Gun Owners of America, the Second Amendment Foundation, the CCRKBA, a Junior USA Shooting Team program, or the shooting sports efforts of Boy Scouts of America. Teach, score a junior competitor's target, oppose range closures, and set good examples. There are thousands of ways to extend the freedom we enjoy to others now and generations to follow.

Don't despair. Distrust shouldn't put us in blinders. Do some research. Take positive action. Don't let up. The 2008 presidential horserace will soon be soon be over. Our campaign isn't.