Chivalry and the Modern Age

 

I was researching another post and I ran across this post I posted back in 2014 and I decided it was worthy of reposting, especially with what I have seen of todays society.

     I have been told that I am a throwback to a bygone age ,my mannerism and vocabulary are archaic from what I was told.   I am a firm believer in manners, I like to quote "Lazarus Long" a character that Robert Heinlein created.  Basically Lazarus Long was an immortal and he would keep notes of his experiences and observations.  
    "Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untraveled, the naive, the unsophisticated deplore these formalities as “empty,” “meaningless,” or “dishonest,” and scorn to use them. No matter how “pure” their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best."

     I will use other quotes from Lazarus here and there to make a point, Robert Heinlein  besides being a prolific writer was prescient also, but I digress.  The point I was making and he was with that quote is basically manners are the social lubricant for interactions with other people.  I have told my son more than once, to be nice to people and remember your manners, you get more accomplished with a kind word than being a jerk.  
     The Act of Chivalry as practiced long ago is no longer there, It used to be stressed as part of our culture, the culture of the West.  But it is no longer practiced because people out there believe that all cultures are equal and if you display chivalrous manners, you are denigrating other cultures.....Are you kidding?   The same people that denigrate Western Civilization, are the cultural marxist and their fellow travelers that use what is called "Constructive criticism" to challenge the beliefs of a culture.  This is from the Frankfurt School of Neo Marxist social theory.  Once you have forced a society to question it's long held belief system, you can then replace it with one that is more conducive to the goals of the marxist.  The Marxist believe in social and economic equality...the end results...Having one culture being superior to the other cultures kinda upsets the social applecart.  The lack of manners that is being displayed today is a result of this.  Remember back in the Victorian era, the manners were expected of all , even the "low class people" and if somebody gave you an affront, you were expected to deal with it yourself.  Usually with a duel or fisticuffs I believe it was called.  Even when I was in school, if somebody was bullying you , you either sucked it up or you beat the bully.  Now they want you to go tell an authority figure instead...People are afraid to do anything unless they have the power of the state behind them.  People are afraid to stand on their own two feet.  That is what the social reconstruction has wrought.
     This ties in with the decline of Western civilization.  

     "The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of “loyalty” and “duty.” Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute--get out of there fast. You may possibly save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed. "

Another quote from Lazarus, Remember that the idea of duty and loyalty are denigrated in today's society as being "outmoded" and old fashioned. "  Duty is very hard to describe, Robert E. Lee had commented that " Duty is sublime and the harshest of mistresses".  Duty is difficult to describe, but duty is basically your obligation that you place on yourself as what you owe to society by your standards.  Duty is part of a person's personal code of honor and integrity.  Words that you don't see much of anymore.  People do " what feels good", not thinking that they are doing is contributing to the decline of Western Civilization.  Loyalty is another word that is not used anymore except to yourself.  People nowadays are taught by the decline of societal norms that  it is OK to "let it all hang out" where in the past such behavior is frowned upon.  If you did something that was frowned upon by society, you got the message pretty fast, this contributed to a code of conduct or behavior that was expected of all gentlemen.  Now it is OK to be a thug.  Again this is by design, if a society cannot remember its past or the moral upbringing, than they will accept anything that the statist put out there.

"All societies are based on rules to protect pregnant women and young children. All else is surplus age, excrescence, adornment, luxury or folly which can--and must--be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function. As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible. Attempts to formulate a “perfect society” on any foundation other than “women and children first!” is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal. Nevertheless, starry-eyed idealists (all of them male) have tried endlessly--and no doubt will keep on trying"

     Another quote from Lazarus,   It does harken back to the Victorian age of "Women and Children First".  Because in that time, they knew that it was the job of all men of virtue to ensure that the women and children survived, it was a way to guarantee their culture.  It also taught a person to put the needs of the society above his needs.  I always liked the phrase that the veteran at one time handed the government a blank check that would include payment including life if necessary.  people that are willing to out the needs of the country above their own are a rare breed,
     I remembered when I was in North Georgia College, the Military college along with VMI, the Citadel, and Norwich.  There was a painting on the wall that discussed  the rules of Gentlemen.  

    

1. Be gentle to the fairer sex, it's in the name.
2. Dress well no matter the occasion.
3. Pride is dangerous, be careful.
4. Be humble, be grateful
5. Opening the door or giving up a seat for a lady isn't up

for discussion.
6. Work hard, that is if you want to own anything worth having
7. Starting / instigating a fight is for school boys, but men obtain the power to end one.
8. Ignorance isn't bliss, knowledge is power.
9. Suit up (make sure they're tailored to fit)
10. Confidence is a gentleman's trademark.
11. Comfort zones are for the weak, men aren't weak.
12. Foul language is for the less educated.   

13. Make Eye contact and mean business.

14. Lower your standards for no one.

15. Being romantic doesn't make you a woman.
16. Stay groomed.
17. Admit when you're wrong
18. Always make the first move, you're the MAN
19. Handwritten "Thank you" cards aren't outdated. Use them.
20. Chivalry is not dead, there are just too many boys.
21. It is said you can tell a lot about a man through his handshake, so make it strong and firm.
22. Leave her breathless
23. Judge no one, just improve yourself.
24. Speak your mind, don't hesitate.
25. Offer your arm to a lady while walking, they'll feel secure.
26. You're the man, you pay.
27. Women love compliments, gentlemen provide them.
28. Never wear your hat indoors, it's disrespectful.
29. Make sure everyone has their plate before you start eating.
30. We don't always have to be the center of attention, but we are always noticed. It is our signature as gentlemen to come, make a statement, leave, and be remembered.
31.  Never discuss the virtues of your women with other gentleman, it is crass and beneath you.

  A gentleman is a successor of the knights that were sworn to defend the weak against injustice , this was a noble endeavor, it showed what it took to be the best of us, what made us more than mammals interested in the here and now.  A Knight was supposed to represent the best of their society by words and deeds.

   I don't know what will it take to bring back the old norms, it will take generations to undue the damage done to Western civilization by the Marxist and their fellow travelers.  I don't know if we as a society have the mental fortitude to make the proper call.  I almost think of the 40 years in the desert like the Israelite did after leaving Egypt until all that remembered the bondage was no longer there and the ones that were there grew up in freedom and adversity.

"What if the government Abolished your 401K? "

 

This is another rant coming on....I see another group of government affiliated Economist making noise about going after the "Hoi Pelloi" 401K's again...I have"ranted before" about government being interested in our 401K's
       I will rant some more after this article....

What if the government abolished your 401(k)? Economists say accounts aren't worth it

The federal government should stop allowing pre-tax contributions to retirement savings, abolishing the 401(k) and Individual Retirement Account, two economists from opposing ideological camps argued in a research brief in January.

Allowing people to shelter their retirement money from taxes is a policy that largely favors the well-heeled, they said. Congress could use that money, nearly $200 billion a year in lost tax dollars, to shore up the underfunded Social Security program.

Their suggestion created a stir. One social media post has drawn more than 700,000 views.

"We do not think that this subsidy, which you can only rationalize if it increases saving ... we don't think it does increase saving very much," said Alicia Munnell, an assistant treasury secretary under President Clinton. She co-wrote the brief with Andrew Biggs, a senior fellow at the right-leaning American Enterprise Institute.

Here's why economists are coming for your 401(k)

Why, then, are economists coming after your 401(k)?

That employee retirement plan and its personal savings counterpart, the Individual Retirement Account, were created to help Americans save for retirement.

But federal data suggests tax-favored retirement accounts help only some Americans, and wealthy Americans in particular.

For households in the top 10% by income, the median retirement account held $559,000 in 2022, according to the Survey of Consumer Finances. An overwhelming 93% of those households held retirement plans.

For middle-income Americans, those in the 40th to 60th percentile by income, the median retirement plan held just $39,000, and nearly half of that group had no retirement savings.

Many smaller employers don't offer 401(k) plans. Even when they do, workers might balk at participating, because they can't spare the income or they're afraid they might need to withdraw it later on, triggering tax penalties.

"Income for a lot of workers is very unpredictable," said Monique Morrissey, senior economist at the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

A looming crisis in retirement savings

Many researchers believe America faces a crisis in retirement savings. Fewer than half of us have retirement accounts, Census data show. Even among those nearing retirement, ages 56 to 64, the share with retirement accounts lagged below 60% in 2020.

Without a retirement account, most retirees depend on Social Security. But monthly Social Security checks averaged about $1,800 in 2023. The typical household run by someone 65 or older spends $4,345 a month, according to a BlackRock analysis of federal statistics.

The 401(k) and IRA emerged in the 1970s and gained popularity as tools for Americans to build savings for retirement. Over the years, the plans have gradually replaced traditional pensions, which deliver monthly benefits to retired workers. From 1975 to 2019, active private sector pension participants dwindled from 27 million to fewer than 13 million, according to a congressional report.

As investments, tax-advantaged retirement plans are “a really good deal,” said Damon Jones, a University of Chicago economist. The government doesn’t tax income contributed to a traditional 401(k) or IRA. You pay taxes when you withdraw the money in retirement.

The tax breaks cost the federal government about $185 billion a year in lost revenue, according to Treasury Department estimates for 2020.

Yet, millions of Americans don’t take advantage of tax-favored retirement savings − or can't. Nearly half of workers have no access to a retirement plan at work, according to one AARP analysis.

The 401(k) and IRA emerged in the 1970s and gained popularity as tools for Americans to build savings for retirement. Over the years, the plans have gradually replaced traditional pensions, which deliver monthly benefits to retired workers. From 1975 to 2019, active private sector pension participants dwindled from 27 million to fewer than 13 million, according to a congressional report.

As investments, tax-advantaged retirement plans are “a really good deal,” said Damon Jones, a University of Chicago economist. The government doesn’t tax income contributed to a traditional 401(k) or IRA. You pay taxes when you withdraw the money in retirement.

The tax breaks cost the federal government about $185 billion a year in lost revenue, according to Treasury Department estimates for 2020.

Lower-income Americans miss out on retirement tax breaks

And many lower-income Americans have more pressing priorities.

“Most people, middle-class or lower, struggle to put food on the table and a roof over their head, and they don’t have the money left over to save,” said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Wealthier Americans, on the other hand, tend to take full advantage of the tax perks. According to research by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, three-fifths of the retirement savings tax benefits go to people in the top 20% of Americans by income. More than four-fifths go to people in the top 40%.

“The fundamental problem with our retirement system is it rewards people who need no help,” Rosenthal said. “All the schemes are oriented toward rewarding those who have the savings or the income to reap the benefits.”

The whole point of the tax subsidies was to encourage more Americans to save for retirement, say the authors of the research brief, published by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

But that hasn’t happened. From 1989 to 2022, the share of workers ages 25 to 64 who participate in employer-sponsored retirement plans has risen 2 percentage points, from 51% to 53%, the researchers found.

“They’re basically saying we ought to call it quits on our retirement tax system because it’s broken. And it is broken,” Rosenthal said.

Many in the financial industry applaud tax-favored retirement plans

Agreement on that point is far from unanimous, and some in the retirement industry greeted the new research with vitriol.

Brian Graff, chief executive of the American Retirement Association, flagged the paper on LinkedIn with the comment, "No, it's not April 1st. . . and I personally cannot think of a more preposterous idea."

Much of the financial services industry applauds tax-favored retirement plans, saying they deliver a dignified retirement to millions of lower- and middle-income Americans.

“It’s not only the rich,” said Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, a nonprofit that works with benefit providers. “A lot of middle-class people have 401(k)s, and typically, that’s the bulk of their savings outside of their homes.”

“Most of these plans wouldn’t exist if there wasn’t a tax preference for them,” he said.

Abolishing the tax subsidies “is not going to hurt the wealthy,” Copeland said, “because the wealthy are going to save. It’s going to hit those middle-quartile people” − the middle class.

Even the economists who wrote the brief concede there’s little chance Congress will abolish tax-favored retirement savings anytime soon.

“I know they’re not going to repeal it tomorrow,” Munnell said. “But it should be part of the debate.”

Instead of eliminating the tax benefits, the economists say, Congress could modify the subsidies so the programs reward responsible saving without lavishing tax breaks on the wealthy.

For example, the tax subsidy could be capped for savers who amass $500,000 or $1,000,000 in retirement money. Or, the tax benefit could be limited to the first $10,000 or $20,000 in annual contributions.

'The economy is different now':Parents pay grown-up kids' bills with retirement savings

Alternatively, Congress could lower the age by which savers must begin drawing down their retirement accounts. Instead of lowering that age, Congress has been raising it, from 70½ in 2019 to 75 in 2033.

“If you’re troubled by how large these retirement plans are, you can limit what goes in,” Rosenthal said, “or you can limit what comes out.”

Daniel de Visé covers personal finance for USA Today.

Strip away the tax benefits, Copeland says, and employers would lose their incentive to offer retirement savings in the first place. Companies use 401(k) plans to attract workers, and employers reap their own tax savings by administering the plans.

  I saw this article on the "Bing" page when I opened my browser, and I read it and I got pissed, it reminded me of the same people that say that we regular people need to move to "Move to 15 minute cities and eat crickets to save the planet" crap that our "betters" want to foist on us,  somehow we will be affected but the "cloud people" will not, they have strip us of our wealth and the 401K is a huge part of our wealth.  Individually we don't have as much as the "cloud people" but together we have a lot of money, and a lot of us have clout, we vote, we are involved, and a lot of us are armed, we are the check in the overbearing ideas of the people that believe that in their schooling, family, and wealth, they should rule like the feudal lords of old and if we "dirt people" would get with the program, things would get soo much better, their college professors said so.    Well I don't cotton to those beliefs, poor people are beholding to the government for survival and they will do what "the man" says to keep the government cheese coming, we in the middle class can tell "The man" to stick it.

       The government leaning economist have been eyeing the 401K system for quite a few years, they don't like the idea of all that money out there that the government can't get their hand on, imagine what the government could do with all the money from the 401K system?  All the social programs it could finance to "help the poor in the name of fairness" or "shore up Social Security" in the name of "fairness and equity", basically to me that is giving freeloaders my hard-earned assets that they didn't earned due to some marxist belief.  People have told me that they could never do a 401K because they never had the money, and yet I saw all the poor money decisions, 

          The same people that say that they never have money to put away for retirement, seem to have money to get hammered every weekend, get new tattoos, the latest technology,  trade in a car every year or 2 or lease one and rent an apartment or house and not buy one and so forth, am I making assumptions...you betcha but there is truth in what I say.  I started my 401K back  when I started at Ford Motor Company, yes they gave me a 401K option and a pension, and I started as soon as I was eligible and started maxing it out as much as I could, and when I lost my job at Ford due to "The Way Forward", and I rolled my 401K away from Ford and I was then hired by my present employer and they also have a 401K, so I have 2 of them, one is managed by the financial company that my employer works with the other is a local wealth management firm. 

      The point I am trying to make is that you have to prioritize what you want to do, and do it.  What I like about the 401K is that if I croak, my wife or my kid get all of it, try that crap with social security......Yeah right....your spouse gets $255 in death benefits from the SSA and that is it, any other money that you earned in your lifetime....Ha, they keep it to give to illegals and to people that never paid in the the system, and these government related economists want to make a case to take your 401K and dump it into SS? all because soo many people didn't and it ain't "fair".   You know the same people that want you to Live in "15 minute cities, and eat cricket burgers....yeah them people....but the cloud people...they will be exempt from that little requirement.  It is just new feudalism all over again where we can't travel far, but they can. 

We are pretty good about living under our means.  That is why I have a 25 year old F-150, Hey it works well and the occasional repair is much better than a note.  The spousal unit drives 4 year old Edge, she does the same at her place of employment,  we don't carry a balance on our credit cards..we have only 2.  I do new hire tours at my place of employment and I explain the magic of compounded interest in their financial future.  I use a phrase a good friend of mine used when I first met him 14 years ago.

 My Friend goofing off, this was about 14 years ago

"Nobody takes better care of a old you than a young you, take advantage of the 401K match and every time you get a raise, you bump up your your percentage. so when you retire, you ain't shopping for cat food to supplement  your social security"  I get some strange looks but they remember that and that is the intent.  If you have financial freedom, you have a lot of options."

     I keep equating us to the modern day "Kulaks", the modern statist want the government to break us like their hero Stalin did to the Kulaks of old.  If they can take our money and wealth, they can control us.  You notice the 68,000 IRS agents that pedo joe talked about getting all those tax cheats?  you notice that all those cash transferring services have a $601 cap now before you have to declare it to the IRS?  The cloud people will have tax lawyers to protect them....we won't have anybody, they will come after us instead, easier than dealing with the lawyers of the "cloud people".

I recall that NY Governor Hotchel has asked people to shelter Illegals in their homes, how much longer before it is no longer a an "ask" but a "demand", remember to a democrat, especially a big state democrat, all the assets you own belong to them, you just don't know it yet, but you will.  and thanks to the crappy civics lessons we have had in the school system, they don't realize that one of the amendments kinda play into this...

the 3rd amendment, granted it was soldiers back then, but the principle was the same

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

A smart lawyer can use this to stretch this to cover "illegals" also, the principle is the same, the government is demanding that you house people in your home and you have no say in this.

     I ain't bashing the rich, I just don't want to be ruled by them. We have to keep paying attention to what those clowns in D.C are up to.  If the Donks get a super majority, I am afraid they will try to push through legislation and couch it in the language of "Fairness" or "equity" and tap into the "class envy" that they play on and really are successful at.   

Instead of eliminating the tax benefits, the economists say, Congress could modify the subsidies so the programs reward responsible saving without lavishing tax breaks on the wealthy.

For example, the tax subsidy could be capped for savers who amass $500,000 or $1,000,000 in retirement money. Or, the tax benefit could be limited to the first $10,000 or $20,000 in annual contributions.

“Most people, middle-class or lower, struggle to put food on the table and a roof over their head, and they don’t have the money left over to save,” said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow in the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center.

Relics from the Long forgotten past....

 Thank you to every one for their comments of condolences of us loosing "goofy", they were much appreciated.

Well we were in Puerto Rico and I saw something in the bakery where I was getting really good coffee..

    Yeah I was trying to wake up so I asked for a "Coffee Grande" and that is what I got, Man my heartbeat sped up just sniffing it, LOL   It was GOOD but anyway I saw this on the wall..

  Well anyway I saw those relics from a long forgotten past....lol

   Then I saw this on St Thomas USVI(U.S. Virgin Islands)

   I had a lot of "Post with my many opinions on masking...all bad, I hated the damm things" and I mocked the "CovidKarens"  incessently.   What prompted this post was that I found this.

 while cleaning out my F150 A..K.A ' The Precious" or my stand, or my work platform or whatever I use her for.

    YES, My "Essential Worker Letter", I had in the truck back in the scary old days of yore when the CDC was trying to scare the crap out of people in preparation to screwing President Trump over to supporting their Political Masters the Democrats. when they finally rolled out the "mail in ballots" and flooded in the voting in stations with fake ballots supporting that dottering old meat puppet that presently resides in the white house.  I wonder what they will roll out in 2024 because there is another election and I keep hearing of "another variant" and Phiszer" and the other big pharma companies are rolling out the booster shots ads big time trying to drum up the fear and demand for their product....again.   I didn't take the initial and I sure will not take anything this time.   It will be interesting to see how it plays out the next coming months..

Goings on at Casa De Garabaldi.

 

Apologies for not posting for almost a week.  We had some things going on here, besides the ever present Overtime, this is the background.  Remember My wife and I went on the cruise and we had my son stay behind and basically babysit the house and "Goofy" A.K.A  "D.O.G" pronounced DeeYooGee.  Now DeeYooGee is 14 years old and until recently has been in good health and is the quintessence  counter surfer, until recently where he started to have "incontinence" issues so my son took him to the Vet  and they scheduled an ultrasound after our return,   They did do an Xray and it showed something but it was inconclusive. so when we returned we had the ultrasound scheduled for this past Wednesday week.   The Wife dropped him off and I picked him up, when we got off work.  we already had the diagnosis, and it was bad.

     "Goofy" had 4 huge tumors on his spleen, they had metastasized to his lungs and abdomen.    I was given the option of "putting him to sleep right then" by the vet, she also told me that we could do the oncologist route, and he may or may not survive the operation to remove the cancers, and then the treatments would be painful for him and give us only 6 months due to the type of cancers they are and the age of the dog.  I decided to take him home and let us love on him for a few days then return on Saturday and prepare to have him cross the rainbow bridge. and that is what we did.

                                    Sleeping off the the Food Coma, from the eggs.

     I brought him home and we proceeded to spoil that dog on Wednesday, Thursday morning, my son made him 5 eggs and a whole ring of kielbasa for him for breakfast.  Well of course the dog liked that idea, LOL.  I got home from work, spoiled him.  Friday I got off work early, and went home and grabbed him and took him to give him a bath.

     He had that long suffering Lab look, but the amount of hair....I felt bad for whomever had to clean the drains at the pet stores.  

   Goofy trying to leave with the towel while I was trying to dry him off...it always is a game with him.

       We went back home where my son fed him a steak.. Like I said, we went out to spoil him

    Saturday morning arrived, our appointment is at 11:30, so I and my son took :D.O.G to the park for a walk, I went by Chicfila, got us breakfest and goofy got some chicken nuggets.  We went to the park, and D.O.G wasn't doing good, but he was game so we slowly walked the route.

D.O.G  Finally ate his nuggets and we felt better as we were walking.   Finally we got to the end of the route and D.O.G was wore out.  We got home around 11:12 and waited for the spousal unit.  She came downstairs and I took a quick picture of "goofy", as he was asleep by the back door.

   My Last Pic of "Goofy" A.K.A   D.O.G pronounced "DeeYooGee"

      We went to the vet and they were very supportive and the Vet again told us in this case, we were making the right decision.  Man it was hard, I stayed with goody until the end petting him and telling him that he is a good dog.  God it was hard.   The Vet asked us to wait outside for 15 minutes as they prepared the remains and transferred him to a biodegradable box, and they put it in the Wife's Edge.  We then drove goofy home for the last time.   We buried him in the back yard where he liked to roam as is proper.

     It has been strange, the house is soo quiet, no collar jingling, or goofy begging for snacks..or getting into mischief.

    I'm gonna miss him, I do believe that when we cross over and go to heaven, we will see our pets because heaven is perfect, and perfection will have to have our furry friends there to keep us company.  I know it sounds corny, but it is what I believe.

     "

"How Do People Believe that 2nd Amendment protect the 1st........"

 Yeah, I shamelessly clipped this off Quora, it was a good response, it has been discussed amongst us bloggers for several years, especially when we hear from the lefties " you can't fight the Apache Helicopter and the atom bomb" or some such nonsense...Our response is, "we don't fight them, we fight the logistics, and you do know that pilot that fired that hellfire into that house.....betcha he has a family....you think that family will be safe?, you lefties use violence like a volume knob to suit your political purposes, to us it is "on-off" switch, we flick that switch, it will make the genocide in Rwanda look like a kindergarten spat, so be careful what you wish for.

To read the article where I pulled the meme from is "Here", yes I wrote it back in 2019 after President's first impeachment.

How do people that believe the Second Amendment protects the 1st, and ignore the fact that no amount of firepower they possess would protect them from the US military if their country became dictatorial?

Troy Becker

Author has 2.9K answers and 1M answer viewsUpdated Nov 25

Are ya sure?

Ever seen this guy?

Viet Cong. They were the guerilla forces on the side of these guys:

The USA and those guys fought a war. The USA was better equipped, funded, trained… better everything.

I assume you know who won.

In more recent history, ever see this guy?

He was a Taliban fighter, on the side of…

… well, uh, more Taliban. They were fighting the US for 20+ years. And the USA outmatched those guys WAY more than they outmatched anyone in Vietnam.

Remind me, who runs Afghanistan today?

But what about in America? What would resistance look like in America? I know, I know, the meme is the “muh-lish-uh” is entirely this guy…

And yeah, I too roll my eyes when someone like that talks about tyranny and resisting it. I, too, wouldn’t even trust him with logistics supplies. If they involved food, anyway.

But.

What about this guy?

I pulled that picture from an Amazon movie about American hunters. Do you think he knows his way around the back country and similar to Viet Cong or Taliban? Think he’s a good shot? Think he might know a thing or two about tactics, or could at least learn relatively quickly? Something tells me he does, is, and could.

But that’s not all.

What about this guy?

His name is John Lovell. You may want to mock him for all his tactical gear, because who does he think he is, what a poser… Well, he’s a retired Army Ranger.

And make no mistake, I’m not speaking for him. But IF tyranny really hit the US and IF he were to get involved- again, not speaking for him, but IF- I know whose side he’d take. I can guarantee, if he got involved, whose side he’d take.

It wouldn’t be tyranny.

But that’s still not all!

American soldiers- the ones who do the fighting, not the political brass or the desk jockeys- tend to overwhelmingly swing one direction, politically. And I can tell you this: push come to shove, a lot of them aren’t going to tyrannize their fellow citizens. They may at first, a little, because circumstance and nuance and confusion and so on.

But give it some time. See what happens.

Mark Milley, here?

You’re right. That coward will bend the knee to tyranny in no time. And yes, I do call him a coward, because he already bent that knee. For nothing more than career advancement during peacetime. Any military guy who publicly states he’s “concerned with white rage” because it’s the woke talking point of the day and the current administration, well, they’ll turn on the people for sure. I’ll grant you that.

But this guy’s nothing without these guys here:

They do the actual fighting. Maybe some will also bend the knee. But many are going to feel the way Mr. Lovell up there feels. I promise you that.

And this guy…

… he’s going to be more than happy to work with them. He wanted to be left alone, but someone brought tyranny to his land.

And in the off chance those army guys up there didn’t bring their rifles when they deserted their newly-turned-completely-tyrannical leaders? Good news! He’s already stocked up on extra rifles and tons of ammo.

Go ahead, parrot the stupid line about “we have nukes and F-15s!” (that was Biden who said that, YouTube it) and think that matters. We can even pretend that the F-15 pilots will all happily drop bombs on their fellow Americans without hesitation, too. Let’s grant that just for sake of argument.

Okay. F-4 Phantoms didn’t stop the NVA and Viet Cong. Twenty years of Black Hawk helicopters dropping Rangers and Seals to conduct raids and the C-130s dropping countless bombs and US army occupying every major city and the Predator drones assassinating countless jihadis and on and on and on… we had F-22s by that point along with F-15s, F-16s, A-10s, the F-35s were rolling out… well, all that didn’t stop people who literally often couldn’t even do jumping jacks or count. I’m not joking.

Behold, the ultimate tool of tyranny!

And, apparently this.

Truth is, an F-15 doesn’t occupy a street corner.

This guy does.

These guys are who you call to do that…

… but even these guys just might end up siding with, well, this guy…

… if it came down to it. Because, frankly between, say, Milley and fatty up there? Bottom line, fatty isn’t trying to bring tyranny to anyone.

But worry not, all you minutemen, the soldiers will have that guy stay home. Maybe instead the soldiers turning against tyranny will coordinate some guerilla style raids with his best buddy growing up down below, and toss in some training while they’re at it.

And believe me, the odds are that guy with the tripod can already shoot way better than most soldiers, let alone those who stay, let alone enlist or respond to a draft after tyranny arrives.

So, god forbid we have to find out, but considering the success of the Taliban, the Viet Cong, the obvious reluctance of most American boots-on-the-ground to tyrannize their own… who would you put your money on?

I know my bet.