Waco: The Sacred and Profane | Sipsey Street Irregulars

Waco: Where the legislative initiative to disarm the government afterwards?

Waco: The Sacred and Profane.

I came out the little driveway on the side of the building and got onto the main driveway that ran along the front of the building.   As I turned the corner . . . one of the agents outside a tank started screaming at me to come over to him.   My left ankle was all blistered, the skin was rolling off my hands, and my face was burned down the right side of my neck where the mask had been.   I guess I took the mask off after I got out. It was kind of melting onto my face. . . .  He was cussing me out, telling me if I made a false move he was going to blow my so-and-so head off.   But he said: you’re gonna remember this day for the rest of your life. I thought: at least that is a true statement.

via Sipsey Street Irregulars

On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs | LTC (Ret.) David Grossman

On Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs By LTC (RET) Dave Grossman, author of “On Killing.”

Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always,even death itself. The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for? – William J. Bennett – in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me:

“Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another. Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.