Government Without Effective Oversight an Invitation to Tyranny

So Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) wants to make the claim that it's convention for junior staff to write memos to the AG that he'll never read.

Let's take him at his word. There's no way one man can read everything that comes across his desk. And even if he does, he might only skim it.

So what is Whitehouse suggesting? Maybe that government is just do flippin' big? I doubt he's suggesting that, but it's a fair question.

Any government institution that is so big that it cannot be effectively overseen by one man appointed by the president and answerable to the president, Congress, and the American people, is, by definition, to big.

I posit that it is pretty much guaranteed that a government too big to oversee is a government on the path to tyranny.

Spread This Wide and Far

I haven't even read all of this yet, but given the excerpts at Michelle Malkin's place, it sounds like a good start. Also be sure to check out the video of Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) being kicked out by Schumer staffers. Such slime in that swamp we call Washington, D.C.

I love that Mike Lee proceeded with the meeting in a location outside of the control of those so corrupt, so evil, that they DO NOT want to hear from constituents.

I've heard some fiscal conservatives say that they'd like to see the size of the federal government cut in half. I'd call that building momentum. At about 5% of the current size, I'd say we're finally winning. And yet, even then I'd say it wasn't time to quit fighting to reduce it more.

Our baseline budget to start cutting should be '08.

1908.

(That last line shameless stolen from Knitebane.)

Battered Utopia

The collectivists of today may not want us to consider that the government of every socialist hellhole in more than the last century has not just seen it necessary to slaughter a goodly portion of the humans inhabiting the land they saw themselves fit to rule over, but actually glorified their obliteration.

Today's would be rulers want us to think that it's just a small matter of the wrong people being in charge.

So what happens next time the liberty stealing pigs bump up against those of us who only want to be left alone?

My advice? Don't try to find out.

Your utopia has been beaten to a bloody pulp and left for dead. And we'll stand guard over its body while it bleeds out the way the Pima County SWAT team stood over its prey, Jose Guerena after riddling his body with government bullets for no good reason.

May your hopes of a utopian workers' paradise die a vicious death. It deserves no sentimentalism.

h/t Mike for the Daily Iowan link.

Stay in the Fight!

Had a great time at the TigerSwan class last weekend that Sean at the NCGUNS blog arranged. Some of it was a refresher of some techniques in the basics from classes I've taken in the past from David Bramble of Shoot to Live who teaches his classes out of Personal Defense and Handgun Safety Center on Tryon Road in Raleigh. There were some differences, but none of any real significance. Grip, trigger control, sight alignment, stance were all basically the same.

But an interesting thing happened to me near the end of the all day class. We had just finished up with some shooting from retention exercises.

We would stand about two feet from the target in front of us, within hands' reach, and at the buzzer, draw but not extend the gun out. If you do extend it, there's a good chance your assailant is going to be able to hit the gun away or possibly wrench it away from you and maybe even break one or two of your fingers. So you draw, and keep the gun at our hip, possibly wedging it between your holster and your side, being careful not to hold it in a position that would cause the slide to hit you and cause a malfunction.

You fire three rapid shots, then back up at about a 45 degree angle and fire three more shots to center of mass while on the move. In this situation it's often better than backing up in a straight line as it might be unexpected and forces your assailant to reorient a bit and either shoot at an angle (if he's also armed) or change his stance. This may give you a slight advantage especially if he's already been hit by your previous shots, but is still a clear threat.

So onto the last course of fire we worked on which was extreme transitions. There were four targets probably less than eight feet away, two on the left and two on the right. The angle between the two targets farthest from each other (with respect to angle) was about 120 degrees. You would fire two shots per target. Outer targets first, forcing you to move between the furthest targets, leading with your eyes/head first and then moving the gun to reduce the chance of over travelling and missing the second target. Then transition back to the other side and shoot the targets that are closer together.

Well, immediately after I drew and before I was on target, I let my first round off, about two feet in front of me into the ground. Yes, I believe this could rightly be called a negligent discharge. No one was hurt and no property was damaged, but I did violate rule 3. My sights were not aligned with the target. There was another time during another training class where this almost happened to me, but in that case it was actually a good shot. So it was probably more of the training working out well, as I was doing what I was supposed to nearly automatically. Not this time, though.

I'm guessing the previous exercise where we were shooting from the hip had me slightly conditioned as to when to pull the trigger.

But it was what happened afterward that concerned me even more. I was startled enough by the errant shot, that I froze. Brian Searcy, the teacher (who is also a co-founder of TigerSwan) said "Stay in the Fight." Only after he said that did I continue with the course of fire.

I knew in my head from other training that an important mindset to develop for survival in a defensive situation is to Stay in the Fight no matter what. Don't give up. Tam linked to a rather remarkable self defense event in this post. Two injured and bloody hands AND a shot above his left pec (that he didn't realize until it was all over) and he still stayed in the fight.

No need to send him a pair of these, I guess.

Even if it was the only insight I gained (and it certainly wasn't), it was worth the time and money spent. I need to work on not being concerned about shots already fired that weren't perfect (or were pretty bad, as in this situation) and stay in the fight and continue engaging threats until there are no more threats.

So thanks to Sean and all the good folks at TigerSwan for a Saturday well spent.

Smoking Guns

Wow, just wow.

Q: What do the FN57 pistol, AK-47 pattern rifle (WASR-10, specifically), Draco pistol (also an AK pattern), AR-15, and 50BMG rifle all have in common, other than the fact they are all firearms?

A: They are all among the most hated by subversive, liberty-stealing, anti-freedom, bigots AND also the most common ones purchased under the 0bama administration's vile Watergate-esque-with-dead-bodies scandal AND mostly not that desired by the cartels.

Bob Owen's hits another homer.

Article here.

h/t Mike

Going to a TigerSwan Pistol Class

Much thanks to Sean for arranging a class with an outfit he's take a class with before (and highly recommends). I'll be join several other bloggers and some other friends of Sean's.

I'm missing my usual monthly Vintage Rifle Match for this class, but I have a hunch it's going to be worth it.

I'll post a review of the class some time after the weekend.

Below are a few pictures of the facilities.





PS: I will likely still post some pictures and/or video of our Bacon and Boomsticks shoot, even though it's been over six weeks. I want to be sure to clear it with the subjects of those images before posting.

QotD 09/15/2011

From Sean, discussing Colin Goddard:

Many people, when thrust in a dangerous situation find God. Colin has discovered the State.