Ramblings
- From Paul Harvey . . .
- Back in 1969 a group of Black Panthers decided that a fellow Black Panther named Alex Rackley needed to die. Rackley was a fellow Panther suspected of disloyalty. Rackley was first tied to a chair.
- Once safely immobilized his 'friends' tortured him for hours by, among other things, pouring boiling water on him.
When they got tired of torturing Rackley, Black Panther member Warren Kimbo took Mr. Rackley outside and put a bullet in his head. Rackley's body was later found floating in a river about 25 miles north of New Haven, Conn.
Perhaps at this point you're curious as to what happened to these Black Panthers. In 1977, that's only eight years later, only one of the killers was still in jail.
The shooter, Warren Kimbro, managed to get a scholarship to Harvard. He later became an assistant dean at Eastern Connecticut State College.
Isn't that something? As a '60s radical you can pump a bullet into someone's head,and a few years later, in the same state, you can become an assistant college dean! Only in America!
Erica Huggins was the lady who served the Panthers by boiling the water for Mr. Rackley's torture. Some years later Ms. Huggins was elected to a California School Board.
How in the world do you think these killers got off so easy?
Maybe it was in some part due to the efforts of two people who camr to the defense of the Panthers. These two people actually went so far as to shut down Yale University with demonstrations in defense of the accused Black Panthers during their trial.
One of these people was none other than Bill Lan Lee. Mr. Lee, or Mr. Lan Lee, as the case may be, isn't a college dean. He isn't a member of a California School Board. He is now head of the U.S. Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
- O.K., so who was the other Panther defender? Is this other notable Panther defender now a school board member? Is this other Panther apologist now an assistant college dean?
No, Neither!
The other Panther defender was, like Lee, a radical law student at Yale University at the time. She is now known as The "smartest woman in the world." She is none other than the Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from the State of New York----our lovely First Lady, the incredible Hillary Rodham Clinton.
And now; as Paul Harvey says; you know "the rest of the story
Considering Backing Gun Control Laws?
Are you considering backing gun control laws? Do you think that because
- you may not own a gun, the rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment don't matter?
CONSIDER THIS...
In 1929 the Soviet Union established gun control. From 1929 to 1953, approximately 20 million dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
In 1911, Turkey established gun control. From 1915-1917, 1.5 million Armenians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Germany established gun control in 1938 and from 1939 to 1945, 13 million Jews, gypsies, homosexuals, the mentally ill, and others, who were unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
China established gun control in 1935. From 1948 to 1952, 20 million political dissidents, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
- Guatemala established gun control in 1964. From 1964 to 1981, 100,00 Mayan Indians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Uganda established gun control in 1970. From 1971 to 1979, 300,000 Christians, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
Cambodia established gun control in 1956. From 1975 to 1977, one million "educated" people, unable to defend themselves, were rounded up and exterminated.
- That places total victims who lost their lives because of gun control at approximately 56 million in the last century. Since we should learn from the mistakes of history, the next time someone talks in favor of gun control, find out which group of citizens they wish to have exterminated.
- It has now been 12 months since gun owners in Australia were forced to surrender 640,381 personal firearms to be destroyed, a program costing the government more than $500 million dollars. The results Australia-wide;
Homicides are up 3.2%, Assaults are up 8%, and Armed robberies are up 44%.
In that country's state of Victoria, homicides with firearms are up 300%.
Over the previous 25 years, figures show a steady decrease in armed robberies and Australian politicians are on the spot and at a loss to explain how no improvement in "safety" has been observed after such monumental effort and expense was successfully expended in "ridding society of guns."
It's time to state it plainly; Guns in the hands of honest citizens save lives and property and, yes, gun-control laws only affect the law-abiding citizens. Take action before it's too late, write or call your delegation.
Paul Harvey's comment on the Columbine High School shootings:
- How can we blame it all on guns?
For the life of me, I can't understand what could have gone wrong in Littleton, CO. If only the parents had kept their children away from the guns, we wouldn't have had such a tragedy.
Yeah, it must have been the guns.
It couldn't have been because half our children are being raised in broken homes.
It couldn't have been because our children get to spend an average of 30 seconds in meaningful conversation with their parents each day. After all, we give our children quality time.
It couldn't have been because we treat our children as pets and our pets as children.
It couldn't have been because we place our children in day care centers where they learn their socialization skills among their peers under the law of the jungle while employees who have no vested interest in the children look on and make sure that no blood is spilled.
It couldn't have been because we allow our children to watch, on the average, seven hours of television a day filled with the glorification of sex and violence that isn't fit for adult consumption.
It couldn't have been because we allow our children to enter into virtual worlds in which, to win the game, one must kill as many opponents as possible in the most sadistic way possible.
It couldn't have been because we have sterilized and contracepted our families down to sizes so small that the children we do have are so spoiled with material things that they come to equate the receiving of the material with love.
It couldn't have been because our children, who historically have been seen as a blessing from God, are now being viewed as either a mistake created when contraception fails or inconveniences that parents try to raise in their spare time.
It couldn't have been because we give two-year prison sentences to teenagers who kill their newborns.
It couldn't have been because our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have evolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud by teaching them evolution as fact and by handing out condoms as if they were candy.
It couldn't have been because we teach our children that there are no laws of morality that transcend us, that everything is relative and that actions don't have consequences. What the heck, the President gets away with it.
Nah, it must have been the guns -
- - Paul Harvey . . . GOOD DAY!
Freedom Is Never Free!
Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence?
Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and tortured before they died.
Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.
Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the Revolutionary War.
They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor.
What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists. Eleven were merchants, nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well educated.
But they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well that the penalty would be death if they were captured.
Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.
Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family almost constantly.
He served in the Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from him, and poverty was his reward.
Vandals or soldiers looted the propertiesof Dillery, Hall, Clymer, Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton.
At the battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr, noted that the British General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his headquarters.
He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.
Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy jailed his wife, and she died with in a few months. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying.
Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later he died from exhaustion and a broken heart.
Norris and Livingston suffered similar fates. Such were the stories and sacrifices of the American Revolution. These were now wild-eyed, rabble-rousing ruffians. They were soft-spoken men of means and education. They had security, but they valued liberty more. Standing tall, straight, and unwavering, they pledged: "For the support of this declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of the divine providence, we mutually pledge to each other, our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."
They gave you and me a free and independent America. The historybooks never told you a lot about what happened in the Revolutionary War. We didn't fight just the British.
We were British subjects at that time and we fougnt our own government! Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn't.
So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday and silently thank these patriots. It's not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!
Subject: Change (Generation Gap)
- I was talking to my Dad about current events the other night. I asked him what he thought about the shootings at schools, our immoral President, the computer age and just things in general.
- He replied: ..."Gee, let me think a minute................... I was born before television, penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees and the Pill. There weren't things like radar, credit cards, laser beams or ball-point pens. Man had not invented pantyhose, dishwashers, clothes dryers, electric blankets, air conditioners and he hadn't walked on the moon.
"Your Mom and I got married first-then lived together. Every family had a father and a mother, and every kid over 14 had a rifle that his dad taught him how to use and respect. Until I was 25, I called every man older than me 'sir'; and after I turned 25, I still called policemen and every man with a title, 'sir.'
"In our time, closets were for clothes, not for 'coming out of.' Sunday's were set aside for going to church as a family, helping those in need, and just visiting with your neighbors. We were before gay-rights, computer dating, dual careers, day-care centers, and group therapy. Our lives were governed by the Ten Commandments, good judgment and common sense.
"We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong, and to stand up and take responsibility for your actions. Serving your country was a privilege, living here was a bigger privilege. We thought fast food was what you ate during Lent. Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins. Draft dodgers were people who closed their front doors when the evening breeze started. And time sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends-not condominiums.
"We never heard of FM radio, tape decks, CD's, electric typewriters, artificial hearts, word processors, yogurt or guys wearing ear rings. We listened to the 'big bands', Jack Benny and the President's speeches on the radio. I don't ever remember any kid blowing his brains out listening to Tommy Dorsey.
"If you saw anything with 'Made in Japan' on it, it was junk. The term 'making out' referred to how you did on your school exam. Pizza's, McDonald's and instant coffee were unheard of.
We had 5 and 10 cent stores where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice cream cones, phone calls, rides on a street car, and a Pepsi were all a nickel. And if you didn't want to 'splurge,' you could spend your nickel on enough stamps to mail a letter and two postcards.
"You could buy a new Chevy Coupe for $600, but who could afford one. Too bad, because gas was 11 cents a gallon. In my day 'grass' was mowed, 'coke' was a cold drink, 'pot' was something your mother cooked in, and 'rock music' was your grandmother's lullaby. 'Aids' were helpers in the Principal's office, a 'chip' meant a piece of wood, 'hardware' was found in a hardware store and software wasn't even a word.
"We were not before the difference between the sexes was discovered, but we were surely before the sex change, 'Billy' having two mommy's, and pornography in a family home and at newsstands. And we were the last generation that was so dumb as to think you needed a husband to have a baby.
"No wonder people today call us old and confused, and there is such a generation gap. ..... and I'm only 53!!!"
....did you dig that, Son?
- SAFE GUN HANDLING IN THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
- 1) HUD Secretary Andrew Cuomo's bodyguard left his .38 in the HUD cafeteria. Again. He carries it in a small bag marked US Department of State Diplomatic Security Service and this is at least the third time it has been left. (Why does HUD need bodyguards?)
- 2) Hillary's Secret Service Agent protector had her gun stolen at a Chicago bar last fall. It's OK. She was off-duty at the time!
- 3) A Tucson teacher shot herself to "highlight the lack of security" at Pima County's La Cima Middle School. She reported she had been shot by a young Hispanic student.
NATIONAL REVIEW April 17, 2000 Issue
An Army of Gun Lies How the other side plays. By Dave Kopel Antigun advocates have always faced an uphill battle in this country. Americans have, to begin with, a constitutional right to gun ownership. Today, half of American households exercise this right, owning a total of about 250 million guns; and over 99 percent of those households do so in a responsible manner. To fight for major restrictions on an item that plays such a valued part in the lives of so many people looks like a nearly impossible task. So if you're really committed to the effort, and you want to win, what do you do?
Simple: You lie.
A full listing of the lies told by the antigun lobby could fill a book.
A short list of the more popular ones would have to begin with the canard about the number of children killed by firearms. We are told repeatedly that 13, or 15, or 17 children every day are killed by guns. This factoid is used to conjure up pictures of dozens of little kids dying in gun accidents every week.
In truth, the number of fatal gun accidents is at its lowest level since 1903, when statistics started being kept. That's right: Not only is the per capita accident rate at a record low, so is the actual number of accidents-even though the number of people and the number of guns are both much larger than in 1903. The assertions about "X children per day" are based on counting older teenagers, or even people in their early twenties, as "children." The claims are true only if you count a 19-year-old drug dealer who is shot by a competitor, or an 18-year-old armed robber who is shot by a policeman, as "a child killed by a gun."
As for actual children (14 years and under), the daily death rate is 2.6. For children ten and under, it's 0.4 per day-far lower than the number of children who are killed by automobiles, drowning, or many other causes.
If the statistic about child gun deaths is the most notorious lie, one of the most frequent has to do with gun shows. All of the antigun groups repeat, incessantly, the phrase "gun-show loophole." As a result, much of the public believes that gun shows are special zones exempt from ordinary gun laws. Handgun Control, Inc., the major antigun group, has an affiliate in Colorado that claims that the "vast majority" of guns used in crimes come from gun shows, while the Violence Policy Center calls gun shows "Tupperware parties for criminals."
This is all an audacious lie. First of all, the laws at gun shows are exactly the same as they are everywhere else. If a person is "engaged in the business" (as the law puts it) of selling firearms, then he must fill out a government registration form on every buyer, and get FBI permission (through the National Instant Check System) for every sale-regardless of whether the sale takes place at his gun store, at an office in his home, or at a gun show. Those who are not gun dealers by profession, but happen to be selling a gun, are not required to follow this procedure. To imply that gun dealers can go to an event called a "gun show" and thus avoid the law is absolutely false. Also false is the charge about Tupperware parties for criminals. According to a National Institute of Justice study released in December 1997, only 2 percent of guns used in crimes come from gun shows. The gun-show charge has great currency in the media, but it is not very important in itself. How about the more serious charge that guns are basically dangerous to society?
Public-health experts and gun-control lobbyists will tell you that most murders, including those involving guns, take place among acquaintances and are perpetrated by ordinary people; these facts supposedly indicate that ordinary people are too hot-tempered to be allowed to have guns.
The facts tell a different story: 75 percent of murderers have adult criminal records. As for the rest, a large number either have criminal convictions as juveniles or are still teenagers when they commit the murder; laws dealing with access to juvenile-crime records prevent full access to their rap sheets. Furthermore, the category of "acquaintance" murders is misleading. It includes drug buyers who kill a drug dealer to steal his stash, and thugs who assault each other in barroom brawls.
There's also a sad irony here. Domestic murders are almost always preceded by many incidents of violent abuse. If a domestic-violence victim flees the home, and her ex- husband tracks her down and tries to rape her, and she shoots him, the killing will be labeled a "tragic domestic homicide that was caused by a gun," rather than what it legally is: justifiable use of deadly force against a felon.
The famous factoid that a gun in the home is 43 times more likely to kill a family member than to kill a criminal is predicated on a similar misclassification. Of the 43 deaths, 37 are suicides; and while there are obviously many ways in which a person can commit suicide, only a gun allows a small woman a realistic opportunity to defend herself at a distance from a large male predator.
Emory University medical professor Arthur Kellermann is a one-man factory of this type of misleading data. One of his most famous studies purported to show that owning a gun is associated with a 2.7 times greater risk of being murdered. Kellermann compared murder victims in several cities with sociologically similar people a few blocks away in those cities, who had not been murdered.
The 2.7 factoid was trumpeted all over the country; but the study is patently illogical. First of all, Kellermann's own data show that owning a security system, or renting a home rather than owning it, are also associated with equally large increased risks of death. Yet newspapers did not start running dire stories warning people to rip out their burglar alarms or to start lobbying their condo association to dissolve.
The 2.7 factoid also overlooks the obvious fact that one reason people choose to own guns, or to install burglar alarms, is that they are already at higher risk of being victimized by crime. As Yale law professor John Lott points out, Kellermann's methodology is like comparing 100 people who went to a hospital in a given year with 100 similar people who did not, finding that more of the hospital patients died, and then announcing that hospitals increase the risk of death. Kellermann's method would also prove that possession of insulin increases the risk of diabetes.
The media are complicit in many of these lies. Take, for example, the hysteria about so-called "assault weapons." Almost everything that gun-control advocates say about these firearms is a lie. The guns in question are not machine guns; they are simply ordinary guns with ugly cosmetics that give them a pseudo-military appearance. The guns do not fire faster than ordinary guns. The bullets they fire are not especially powerful; they are, in fact, smaller and travel at lower velocity than bullets from standard hunting rifles.
The media have succeeded in giving a totally different impression-through deliberate fraud. The CBS show 48 Hours purported to show a semiautomatic rifle being converted to fully automatic-i.e., turned into a machine gun-in just nine minutes. But the gun shown at the beginning was not the same gun that was fired at the end of the demonstration. An expert from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) later said that such a conversion was impossible. And in Denver, KMGH television filmed people firing automatic weapons and told viewers that the guns were semiautomatics.
The chief culprits are not the media but the antigun lobbyists themselves, some of whom have very little compunction about lying-even in cases where it can be proven rather easily that they are aware of the truth while spreading the falsehood. For example, in February 1989, a former BATF employee who had become a paid consultant for Handgun Control testified to Congress that "assault weapons" were rarely used in crimes. (He wanted to ban them anyway, as a precautionary measure.) Nevertheless, within weeks, Handgun Control was running an advertising campaign insisting that assault weapons were the criminal weapons of choice.
The most dangerous dishonesty concerns the ultimate intentions of the antigun forces. Handgun Control claims that it merely wants to "keep guns out of the wrong hands"; yet in 1999, it lobbied hard to preserve Washington, D.C.'s outright ban on handguns. Back in 1976, the group's then leader, Pete Shields, explained the long-term strategy to The New Yorker: "The first problem is to slow down the number of handguns being produced and sold in this country. The second problem is to get handguns registered. The final problem is to make possession of all handguns and all handgun ammunition-except for the military, police, licensed security guards, licensed sporting clubs, and licensed gun collectors-totally illegal."
Sarah Brady, the current chairwoman of Handgun Control, has said that people should not be allowed to own guns for self-defense. Yet in debates, employees of the group steadfastly deny that the organization believes in the policies articulated by its leaders. In short, they are lying about what they want to accomplish. This is understandable, to be sure; but not honorable, or right for the country.
Mr. Kopel is research director of the Independence Institute, a free-market think tank in Colorado.
There is something radically wrong here! In Russia all high school students are REQUIRED to have training in the use of the AK 47 . Here rifle shooting programs of any kind are being removed wholesale from the schools. Someday these chickens may come home to roost!
Way back when -- when we were a lot poorer but didn't know it because we were happy and life was good -- there was a famous neighborhood orator who was also a United States Senator.
As a young boy always available to do odd jobs around the neighborhood, I was required to attend a rather large outside function one beautiful June day. The Senator spoke of the joy of being an American, love of country, duty to God and country, and how proud he was of all of us for joining various civilian national defense related programs that were still around after the Second World War.
Then, a surprising thing happened: His booming voice cracked and tears came to his eyes as he started to read the names of local boys killed in the Korean Police Action. He, too, knew some of those guys.
And then, just when we thought he was done, he started on Liberty.
Freedom and Liberty were a big deal with us back then. There were a lot of people in the neighborhood who had lived under Hitler and most of us lost relatives over there. So, when that serious stuff started, we kids knew that was not the time to be rustling around -- lest the nearest adult give us a healthy smack across the head.
That day, it was a repeat of his famous "box" speech I had heard before and we had also discussed thoroughly in school.
Of course he talked of the "ballot" box. I'm not sure, but it may have been an election year -- not that it ever mattered in his case. He was "Our Senator," everyone liked him, and that was that.
Then he said, "I have the soap box," and went on to explain to us how important it was that we also use our freedom of speech to get our political points across. The old folks loved that. Especially the ones who recently arrived from Europe.
But, when he got to the "jury" box he diverted from the law a little, some said. Apparently, he too agreed that a jury must not only judge the guilt of the person being tried, but also the applicability of the law in the matter before the jury. "That helps keep government in check," he said to thunderous applause.
Soon thereafter, a little joking around started and the band was playing, so I bugged out to the refreshment stand for a large cherry Coke. Even then, though, I knew he missed something. The speech was not complete. All of the "Boxes of Liberty" were not properly related.
The audience was greatly interested by the time I got back. That old guy didn't forget at all. The joking and the band playing were cover, marking time, while people he wanted came up to the bandstand.
The last Liberty Box, as we all knew very well back then, was the cartridge box. And so, after another five or ten minutes on the methods of protecting Liberty, the Senator made many mothers in the audience proud by personally giving awards for expertise and proficiency in the use of personal firearms.
Boy Scouts, student ROTC members from high schools and colleges, police officers . . . he lined them up and pronounced every name correctly (difficult, in that neighborhood) as he personally handed each of them an award.
By their presence on that platform, each was proclaimed to be a good, honorable and useful member of society. They were "the protectors of Liberty." So said our Senator.
Therefore, it must be true. That is how it was back then, when things were simpler and life was good. People said they could hear that final standing ovation two miles down the road that afternoon.
Because, there was another important thing we all knew for certain, deep in our own hearts: No Nazi Gestapo types or Stalinist commie pinko punks would be taking over OUR neighborhood anytime soon. We had our own own army! And anyway, even us kids had guns and knew how to use them. Me too, I felt with pride.
A Polish Catholic Priest and a Polish Jewish Rabbi were to finish out the afternoon with some words and a prayer or two. Both were very memorable with their freedom and Liberty oriented mini-sermons and their semi-nondenominational prayers. Again, there were tears evident in many of the older folks; those who lost family and friends to the Nazi jackbooted Gestapo horrors just about a decade earlier. The younger among us always thought it unfortunate that the war stories kept getting rehashed. But, unless the older folks said something, it was not our place to mention it.
Then, as the flags came down, a very tall police officer sat at attention atop his beautiful thoroughbred horse and blew a very chilling rendition of Taps and the Boy Scouts fired off a twenty-one gun salute in honor of those boys the Senator mentioned who were recently lost in Korea.
Back then, we all knew that the soap box, the ballot box and the jury box were the basics of freedom and liberty and must be appreciated and used properly. They defend liberty in a free society. It's when a society becomes less than free -- when government gets crazy and the other boxes no longer work properly -- that we must reach for that cartridge box.
As those two great religious leaders painted so dramatically in word pictures that fine June afternoon many years ago, one only needs to read the story of the Warsaw Ghetto for an indication of just how quickly and easily the necessity for the cartridge box can occur.
There was one thing everyone readily agreed on back then. Liberty requires work. These "Liberty Boxes" are not just rights, they are also our civic duties.
FROM MOUNTAIN MEDIA FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED JAN. 23, 2000 THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz
- Is it possible David Koresh didn't lose his confrontation with the Godless state he and his followers identified as "Babylon," at all?
Throughout their 51-day Texas standoff in the spring of 1993, Koresh and his followers repeatedly compared their plight to that of God's people facing the "flaming chariots" of Babylon in the biblical prophesies of Nahum and Habakkuk. A follower says Koresh believed he would be the one to "bring down Babylon" by sacrificing himself and his denomination.
Will it turn out that -- like an earlier group of Texas martyrs who died buying time for Sam Houston at the Alamo -- the Branch Davidians still retain the power to reach out from the grave and smite their oppressors?
After completing the documentary "Waco: The Rules of Engagement' -- nominated for an Academy Award -- researcher Mike McNulty continued to delve into the central mystery of Waco: Why would scores of perfectly sane and decent Christian Americans apparently choose to condemn themselves and their "unusually bright and well-treated" children (per Texas child welfare authorities) to death in the flames, rather than coming out and surrendering to the federal tanks and helicopters that surrounded them?
Mr. McNulty appears to have found some answers at least to the extent anyone still can, given the determined after-the-fact efforts to bleach and bulldoze the "crime scene." Those answers are offered in the new video: "Waco: A New Revelation," directed by Jason Van Vleet.
The documentary is not strident. If anything, the new evidence is piled up in such a measured and matter-of-fact way -- superposed with the sneering denials of FBI spokesmen and apologists like U.S. Rep. (now Sen.) Charles Schumer -- that its full impact may not register without a second viewing.
But at that point, any thoughtful viewer of conscience must wonder how willfully the Congress and populace of this country must want to ignore the truth, to be able to close their eyes to facts like the following:
On the evening of Feb. 28, three Branch Davidians who had not been present for the initial BATF raid and shoot-out attempted to get home to their wives and children in the Mount Carmel church. They were intercepted and fired upon by 17 agents "dressed as trees."
Two were captured, but Michael Dean Schroeder -- not charged with any crime -- was shot seven times and killed. As the other two Davidians were led away -- after Schroeder was down -- they report hearing two final shots behind them, in quick succession. An autopsy showed Michael Dean Schroeder had two neat bullet holes immediately behind his right ear.
His body was left lying in the ravine for five days.
Far from inviting an exodus and surrender, tape recordings reveal that by late March, FBI negotiators told the Davidians:
"No one is authorized to come out of there for any reason. The patience of the bosses is no longer what it was. If anyone tries to come out, they will be treated in such a way that they'll be forced to retreat."
Former FBI Director William Sessions wanted to fly to Waco to negotiate with David Koresh face-to-face, but the Justice Department refused to let him board his plane. Sessions' wife, Alice Sessions, explains: "The FBI did not want it negotiated. They wanted to show they could win with military type tactics; it was a paramilitary organization."
When the final government attack with toxic and disabling CS gas finally began early on the morning of April 19, the buried school bus was gassed first, forcing the women and children to retreat to the reinforced concrete records vault, which the FBI referred to as "the bunker." Gas was then pumped into the bunker, which had no ventilation, for two hours. Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., tells Congress: "At the very least that resulted in the babies and children being tortured for at least three to four hours."
Manning sniper post Sierra 1 in the "undercover house," Lon Horiuchi (who eight months earlier had shot the unarmed Vicky Weaver as she stood holding a baby in her kitchen in Ruby Ridge, Idaho), "accompanied by most of the FBI team from Ruby Ridge," swore he did not fire into the church on April 19. But other FBI agents swore they heard fire from his position, and four expended .308 shell casings were later found there.
At 9:02 a.m. on April 19, a Branch Davidian is spotted trying to exit the building across the roof. "Falcon 2," an FBI helicopter, is seen approaching in ground-level footage. It hovers, and muzzle flashes can be seen from its port waist gun. Dr. Edward Allard, formerly of the U.S. government's Night Vision Directorate, says his analysis shows at least three, five-shot machine gun bursts. "It's indicative of a machine gun firing 600 rounds per minute," he says. "It's impossible for these to be solar flashes."
Other close-range video -- not high-altitude footage -- clearly shows full-sized machine guns in cradle mounts in the waist doors of the FBI helicopters, which the government long swore were unarmed.
Branch Davidians Phillip Henry and Jimmy Riddle appear to have been shot behind the building at this time. Neither had soot in their lungs or carbon monoxide in their blood -- both died before the fire. An autopsy showed half of Riddle's body torn away, which the medical examiner said could have been consistent with "an encounter with a tank tread."
However, when the family re-opened Riddle's casket for a follow-up examination of his fatal bullet wounds, the evidentiary portion of his skull was missing. The widow says the local medical examiner was instructed by Texas authorities and U.S. marshals not to release his autopsy results to the family.
The film's researcher, Mike McNulty, tells me the most likely scenario is that Henry and Riddle were shot behind the building by government agents around 9 a.m. A lull followed, as the FBI pondered what to do. Then, closer to noontime, their bodies were bulldozed back into the church dining room by tanks, and the final government assault -- with machine guns and incendiary grenades -- began in earnest.
Viewing the government's high-altitude infrared footage of the final battle, Dr. Edward Allard, formerly of the U.S. government's Night Vision Directorate, explains: "What we have here is a tank-infantry type of operation. As the tank advances, two men have dropped out of the escape hatch. They then roll over, and as they roll over they open up with automatic gunfire. The shots occur at one-thirtieth of a second. There is absolutely nothing in nature that can cause thermal flashes to occur in a thirtieth of a second."
Dr. Allard reports he stopped counting the gunshots into the dining room -- the last available escape route from the building after the fire broke out -- "after 62 individual shots."
The filmmakers report Maurice Cox, a former analyst with the U.S. intelligence community, determined that for an aircraft circling at 9,000 feet to pick up rhythmic flashes at a rate of 600 per minute from "reflected sunlight" as the government claims, the reflective surfaces would have to be placed in a precise array, and the aircraft would have to be traveling at the absurd speed of Mach 1.8.
FBI officials have refused to respond to Cox's findings, and have dragged their feet in the face of demands that they re-create the footage to see if sunlight reflections can be made to look like the flashes in the Forward-Looking Infrared (FLIR) footage.
Absurdly, the FBI claims cameras like the one used in 1993 can no longer be obtained.
Meantime, ground level footage -- not distant aerial shots -- clearly show men in Kevlar army helmets firing projectiles from an M-79 grenade launcher into the church's storm shelter the morning of the final assault.
Seconds later, white smoke pours from the shelter.
Although the government has consistently denied the Army's Combat Applications Force -- the "Delta Force" -- was present at Waco, previously classified Army documents reveal that four Delta Force "observers" were deployed to Waco on March 21. Gene Cullen, a senior case officer with the CIA's Special Forces Group, reports on camera he was "initially told they would just be observers. But at (an April 14) CIA briefing, we were told there were more than 10, and that they would be actively participating" in the April 19 attack.
March Bell, who headed the staff of the last congressional investigation into Waco, tells the filmmakers: "They were in the tanks and the sniper posts. They were not giving advice back in some conference room -- they were working shoulder to shoulder with the (FBI's) Hostage Rescue Team."
Rep. Stephen Buyer, R-Ind., explains that it is a federal crime -- a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act -- to use any part of the Army or AirForce "to enforce the law in this country."
But CIA agent Cullen says he met Delta Force operators in Europe who "told me not only were they forward deployed at Waco, Texas, but they were actually involved in a gunfight with the Branch Davidians."
Steven Barry, a retired Special Forces sergeant, concurs: "I did talk to some Combat Applications Group guys, and they did confirm that, yes, portions of B Squadron were there pulling triggers."
Most chilling of all, Sgt. Barry reports: "Their operators had penetrated the building on several occasions, and on one occasion, late April 17 or early on the 18th, they saw Koresh within six feet of them. They radioed back to the Tactical Operations Center for permission to grab him, and within minutes the word came back from the Justice Department, 'No, we already have a plan in place,' that being what happened on April 19."
"People ask why we didn't let the children out," sobs Davidian survivor Clive Doyle. "If they saw all that was happening, and they were there with their children, would they have sent them out to the animals outside that were shooting at them and doing all those terrible things? No. ... When there was shooting going on it's kind of tongue in cheek to then turn and say, 'Well, why didn't you come out?' "
Although the government long denied its agents fired any incendiary projectiles into the church -- which was lined with hay bales against government gunfire, heated with kerosene heaters after the government shut off the electricity, and then flooded with combustible propellant for the CS gas -- photographs taken after the fire clearly show a U.S. military Mark 651 pyrotechnic CS gas projectile lying in the ashes.
When researcher McNulty finally broached the evidence room with the aid of the Freedom of Information Act in 1998, the pyrotechnic devices visible in those photographs were missing from the evidence boxes. But two additional pyrotechnic 40mm devices were found.
The film's investigators also found -- mislabeled as gun parts or silencers -- six spent government flash-bang grenades, which were recovered from the dining room, the chapel, and the southwest corner of the building -- "all three points of origin of the fire."
Asked at a press conference whether she is embarrassed that independent filmmakers could find this evidence, when the FBI had been unable to turn it up in six years, Attorney General Janet Reno responds: "I'm not embarrassed. I'm very, very upset."
At 12:10 p.m. on April 19 the overhead FLIR footage shows at least two automatic weapons being fired into the rear of the dining room, the only remaining undamaged exit from the now-burning building. According to a Justice Department report, at least 15 people were found shot to death at this location. The FBI conducted ballistic tests which the DOJ later termed "inconclusive and rudimentary at best."
"I cannot remember anything more sickening" than watching that gunfire into the building's last exit, comments Dr. Allard.
Asked whether the Davidian gunshot victims appeared to have committed suicide, a former FBI forensic crime scene analyst who preferred to be filmed only in silhouette responds: "The majority of people, the bodies that I saw, were clear-cut homicide victims....I don't know who fired the bullets into their bodies. So in fact what we have here is an open homicide."
Congressional investigator March Bell says the treatment of those bodies was "very troubling. The bodies were preserved in a semi-frozen state in two trailers for the purposes of investigation.
For some reason those trailers under the control of the FBI were allowed to not have any electricity running to them and the bodies deteriorated beyond the point where any sort of forensic evidence could be gathered. We were very disturbed by that."
Indeed, the scene of the massacre was declared a "bio-hazard," and since the FBI had predetermined this was a mass suicide, "The FBI investigators were instructed to sift, wash, and bleach the evidence associated with the bodies, destroying much of its evidentiary value."
The large hole in the roof of the concrete records vault where the women and children were sheltering -- the rebar bent downwards as though from an external blast -- has never been explained.
Military explosives expert Brig. Gen. Benton Partin, USAF retired, says "What it tells me is that you had a demolition charge that went off on the roof."
The FBI bulldozed the "bunker" to rubble. Six years later, in 1999, when Davidian attorneys were granted permission to recover the portion that might bear traces of the explosive used, that portion of the bunker ceiling was found to be missing. Gen. Partin concludes the rudimentary gunpowder possessed by the Branch Davidians would not have been capable of blowing that hole through six inches of reinforced concrete.
Special Forces Sgt. Steven Barry reports the damage inside the records vault was "consistent with a shaped charge," as does retired USAF ordnance engineer Col. Jack Frost.
"In military operations, it's standard procedure to do this," Barry explains, in order to reduce casualties among the attacking forces.
The FBI's White House contact during the Waco operation was presidential aide Vince Foster, who committed suicide 90 days later. His widow told the FBI that the Waco tragedy was "very high on his list of concerns." She says he told the FBI he "believed everything was his fault," though Foster also commented: "The FBI lied to me."
After his suicide, the White House kept the Department of Justice and the Parks Police from reviewing Foster's files.
Witnesses saw Maggie Williams -- Hillary Clinton's chief of staff -- removing Waco files from Foster's office. The staff was told "The contents of the box needed to be reviewed by the First Lady."
Sgt. Barry of the Special Forces: "If the Special Combat Applications Group were on the ground that day actually pulling triggers, the origin of that operation would have come from the White House. It would have come from the president. Because the Special Combat Applications Group is, for all intents and purposes, the president's private army."
So: The ATF, the FBI, and the Army Combat Applications Group (the "Delta Force" -- which can only have been dispatched to the scene by the special authorization of William Jefferson Clinton) stand accused of murder at Waco.
Why are there still no trials?
"Waco: A New Revelation" is $30.90 postpaid.
Dial 1-877-GET-WACO; or go to web site http://www.waco-anewrevelation.com
Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal. His new book, "Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998," is available at $24.95 postpaid from Mountain Media, P.O. Box 271122, Las Vegas, Nev. 89127; by dialing 1-800-244-2224; or via web site http://www.thespiritof76.com/wacokillers.html.
WHAT IS A VET?
- Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them: a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.
Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking. What is a vet?
He is the cop on the beat who spent six months in SaudiArabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.
He is the barroom loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks,whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in thec osmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38th parallel.
She - or he - is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.
He is the POW who went away one person and came back another- or didn't come back AT ALL.
He is the Quantico drill instructor who has never seen combat-but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account rednecks and gang members into Marines, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.
He is the parade - riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbonsand medals with a prosthetic hand.
He is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.
He is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized withthem on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.
He is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket -palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death campand who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him whent the nightmares come.
He is an ordinary and yet an extraordinary human being - a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.
He is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more than the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.
So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say "Thank You."
That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they could have been awarded or were awarded.
Two little words that mean a lot, "THANK YOU."
- Remember November 11th is Veterans Day.
"It is the soldier, not the reporter,
Who has given us freedom of the press.
It is the soldier, not the poet,
Who has given us freedom of speech.
It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,
Who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.
It is the soldier,
Who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag."
Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC
Washington Post, November 2: "Al Gore acknowledged Suday that he hired controversial feminist Naomi Wolf for a $15,000-a-month consulting fee, saying the author and columnist is a 'valued adviser' who has helped him target younger voters. Gore has gone to great lengths to conceal Wolf's role, funneling her payments through other counseling firms so her name would not appear on financial reports filed with the Federal Election Commission."
IS ANYONE SURPRISED?
Associated Press, Portland Oregon, October 23: "When legislators passed a law requiring schools give students time to say the Pledge of Allegiance each week, their motivation was simple: to nurture patriotism. It got complicated quickly.
To comply with the law, which goes into effect today, schools had to scramble for flags, which were either in tatters or ABSENT from the classroom. Now the banners are hanging, but some students aren't cooperating. They claim that language in the pledge, which mentions 'God' and 'liberty and justice for all', conflicts with their religious beliefs, personal philosophies--and for some, is just PLAIN BORING.
'It is a complete waste of time', said one seventh grader, ' I just stand there and move my lips and think about what I am going to do after school.'
Republicans proposed the bill to get the pledge back in the classrooms where it used to be part of the DAILY morning ritual"
What a stain on the memories of all who died to protect that liberty and justice !! When I was in grade school way back when, we recited the pledge and the Lord's Prayer every morning, yes it was a public school, and marched out each evening to The Stars and Stripes Forever. Of course schools were an extension of the family, patriotism, and were not afraid of the mentioning of God. What was one principal's excuse for the present situation? "I think the focus became more on instruction" GOD HELP US ALL!
Bill O'Reilly was questioning a Democratic strategist about the difference between Al Gore and Bill Bradley. "Oh Bradley is much farther to the left. He wants gun registration, gays to openly serve in the military, and would have voted against welfare reform."
Now we know.
SANTA CRUZ-- Ben Chirco figured he was within his rights when he pulled his rifle on four kids breaking windows on his trucks on his rural property, called the cops, dragged one roughly to the road and left him there handcuffed to a gate. "
Boy was I wrong," Chirco said. "It's more like a People's Republic here. Folks are real anti-gun, anti-property rights."
Chirco begins a 6-month sentence this month after pleading guilty to misdemeanor brandishing a firearm and felony assault with a firearm. The report doesn' t say what happened to the the kids.
ISN'T THERE SOMETHING WRONG HERE? THE STUPIDITY OF POLLS:
My wife received a poll in the form of one question at here office this week. The question, to be answered by phone or FAX , was simply "DO YOU BELIEVE IN MORE EFFECTIVE GUN CONTROL LAWS?"
Now just what does that mean? Every anti-gunner will say yes but I also believe in more effective gun control laws. It would be quite easy to replace the tens of thousands of laws we have now with a very few (that could be counted on the fingers of one hand) that simply keeps guns out of the hands of violent criminals by locking them up. Period. For good. If all polls are this stupid it is easy to see how Slick maintains a favorable rating.
Politics Is the Art of Deception!
Al Gore gave a big speech this week about how his faith is so "important" to him. In this attempt to convince the American people that we should consider him for president, he announced that his favorite Bible verse is John 16:3. Of course the speech writer meant John 3:16 but nobody in the Gore camp was familiar enough with Scripture to catch the error. Do you know what John 16:3 says?
"And they will do this because they have not known the Father or me."
IF I WERE THE DEVIL
by Paul Harvey
I would gain control of the most powerful nation in the world.
I would delude their minds into thinking that they had come from man's effort, instead of God's blessings.
I would promote an attitude of loving things and using people, instead of the other way around.
I would dupe entire states into relying on gambling for their state revenue.
I would convince people that character is not an issue when it comes to leadership.
I would make it legal to take the life of unborn babies.
I would make it socially acceptable to take one's own life, and invent machines to make it convenient.
I would cheapen human life as much as possible so that the life of animals are valued more that human beings.
I would take God out of the schools, where even the mention of His name was grounds for a lawsuit.
I would come up with drugs that sedate the mind and target the young, and I would get sports heroes to advertise them.
I would get control of the media, so that every night I could pollute the mind of every family member for my agenda.
I would attack the family, the backbone of any nation. I would make divorce acceptable and easy, even fashionable. If the family crumbles, so does the nation.
I would compel people to express their most depraved fantasies on canvas and movie screens, and I would call it art.
I would convince the world that people are born homosexuals, and that their lifestyles should be accepted and marveled.
I would convince the people that right and wrong are determined by a few who call themselves authorities and refer to their agenda as politically correct.
I would persuade people that the church is irrelevant and out of date, and the Bible is for the naive.
I would dull the minds of Christians, and make them believe that prayer is not important, and that faithfulness and obedience are optional.
I guess I would leave things pretty much the way they are.
California now joins three other states with the "one gun a month" plan. With my wife and I both into sixguns, that would be 24 per year. I'm glad I don't live in any of those states. Don't think I could afford it!
The elusive, imaginary(?) Budget Surplus. The Democrats are against tax cuts because "the surplus may not be there" but they want to fund new programs with the money that will be accruing from the surplus. Isn't this what in simpler times would have been called speaking with forked tongue?
A pastor recently offered this prayer:
God give us men...ribbed with the steel of Your Holy Spirit...men who will not flinch when the battle's fiercest...men who won't acquiesce, or compromise, or fade when the enemy rages.
God give us men who can't be bought, bartered, or badgered by the enemy, men who will pay the price, make the sacrifice, stand the ground, and hold the torch high.
God give us men obsessed with the principles true to your word, men stripped of self-seeking and a yen for security...men who will pay any price for freedom and go any lengths for truth.
God give us men delivered from mediocrity, men with vision high, pride low, faith wide, love deep, and patience long...men who will dare to march to the drumbeat of a distant drummer, men who will not surrender principles of truth in order to accommodate their peers.
God give us men more interested in scars than medals, more committed to conviction than convenience, men who will give their life for the eternal, instead of indulging their lives for a moment in time. Give us men who are fearless in the face of danger, calm in the midst of pressure, bold in the midst of opposition.
God give us men who will pray earnestly, work long, preach clearly, and wait patiently. Give us men whose walk is by faith, behaviour is by principle, whose dreams are in heaven, and whose book is the Bible.
God give us men who are equal to the task. Those are the men the church and the world needs today.
His name was Fleming and he was a poor Scottish farmer. One day while trying to eke out a living for his family he heard a cry for help coming from a nearby bog. He dropped his tools and ran to the bog. There, mired up to his waist in black muck, was a terrified boy screaming and struggling to free himself. Farmer Fleming saved the lad from what could have been a slow and terrifying death. The next day a fancy carriage pulled up to the Scotman's sparse surroundings. An elegantly dressed nobleman stepped out and introduced himself as the father of the boy Farmer Fleming had saved.
"I want to pay you" said the nobleman. "You saved my son's life."
"No, I can't accept payment for what I did" the Scottish farmer replied waving off the offer. At that moment the farmer's own son came to the door of the family hovel.
"Is that your son?" the nobleman asked.
"Yes," the farmer replied proudly.
"I'll make you a deal," said the nobleman. "Let me take him and give him a good education. If the lad is anything like his father, he'll grow to a man you can be proud of."
And that he did. In time Farmer Fleming's son graduated from St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London and went on to become known throughout the world as the noted Sir Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of Penicillin.
Years afterward the nobleman's son was stricken with pneumonia. What saved him? Penicillin. The name of the nobleman? Lord Randolph Churchill. His son's name? Sir Winston Churchill.
Someone once said: "What goes around comes around. Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance like nobody's watching."
PRAYER FROM THE KANSAS STATE LEGISLATURE
NOV. 30, 1998
This prayer was actually spoken before the Kansas State Legislature.
When minister Joe Wright was asked to open the new session of the Kansas Senate, everyone was expecting the usual generalities, but what they heard instead was a stirring prayer, passionately calling our country to repentance and righteousness.
The response was immediate. A number of legislators walked out during the prayer in protest. In six short weeks, the Central Christian Church had logged more than 5,000 phone calls with only 47 of those calls responding negatively. The church is now receiving international requests for copies of the prayer from India, Africa, and Korea.
Commentator Paul Harvey aired the prayer on The Rest of the Story on the radio and received a larger response to this program than any other he has ever aired!
THE PRAYER Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, "Woe on those who call evil good," but that's exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We confess that:
*We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism.
*We have worshipped other gods and called it multi-culturalism.
*We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle.
*We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery.
*We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation.
*We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
*We have killed our unborn children and called it a choice.
*We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable.
*We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem.
*We have abused power and called it political savvy.
*We have coveted our neighbor's possessions and called it ambition.
*We have polluted the air with profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression.
*We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment.
Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; Cleanse us from every sin and set us free. Guide and bless these men and women who have been sent to direct us to the center of Your will. I ask it in the name of Your Son, the living Savior, Jesus Christ.
Amen.
With the Lord's help, may this prayer sweep our nation and wholeheartedly become our desire so that we again can be called a Christian nation that fears the Lord!
No one among the elitists in the major news(?) media ever points out that guns were more easily accessible when I was a kid. I could buy a sixgun or rifle at age 16 without filling out anything without a background check, without a waiting period. Kids took their guns to school and checked them in with the teacher or principle so they could go hunting after school. A kid walking down the road with gun in hand was not a cause for alarm. The liberal solutions to everything have brought us to this point. SO what is their answer? More of the same. Even the dumbest among us surely knows enough to say STOP when something doesn't work decade after decade after decade... That leaves us with only one solution. They do not want to solve problems they only want to create more and more problems so they can have more and more control.
The following words were spoken by Paul Harvey on a recent program:
"For the life of me, I can't understand what could have gone wrong in Littleton, Colo. If only the parents had kept their children away from the guns, we wouldn't have had such a tragedy. Yeah, it must have been the guns.
"It couldn't have been because of half our children are being raised in broken homes. It couldn't have been because our children get to spend an average of 30 seconds in meaningful conversation with their parents each day. After all, we give our children quality time.
"It couldn't have been because we treat our children as pets and our pets as children.
"It couldn't have been because we place our children in day care centers where they learn their socialization skills among their peers under the law of the jungle while employees who have no vested interest in the children look on and make sure that no blood is spilled.
"It couldn't have been because we allow our children to watch, on average, seven hours of television a day filled with the glorification of sex and violence that isn't fit for adult consumption.
"It couldn't have been because we allow our children to enter into virtual worlds in which, to win the game, one must kill as many opponents as possible in the most sadistic way possible.
"It couldn't have been because we have sterilized and contracepted our families down to sizes so small that the children we do have are so spoiled with material things that they come to equate the receiving of the material with love.
"It couldn't have been because our children, who historically have been seen as a blessing from God, are now being viewed as either a mistake created when contraception fails or inconveniences that parents try to raise in their spare time.
"It couldn't have been because our nation is the world leader in developing a culture of death in which 20 million to 30 million babies have been killed by abortion.
"It couldn't have been because we give two-year prison sentences to teen-agers who kill their newborns.
"It couldn't have been because our school systems teach the children that they are nothing but glorified apes who have evolutionized out of some primordial soup of mud by teaching evolution as fact and by handing out condoms as if they were candy.
"It couldn't have been because we teach our children that there are no laws of morality that transcend us, that everything is relative and that actions don't have consequences. What the heck, the president gets away with it.
"Nah, it must have been the guns.
"Good Day!"
Can any of us even begin to imagine what it must have been for the parents whose children were slain at Columbine? Rachel Scott was one of those who died at the hands of the two brutal assassins. Her father, Darrel Scott testified before the House Judiciary Committee on May 27, 1999.
Listen to his powerful words: "Since the dawn of creation there has been good and evil in the heart of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher and the other wonderful children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers. The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain's heart.
"In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA-because I don't believe that they are responsible for my daughter's death. Therefore I do not believe they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel's murder I would be their strongest opponent.
"I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy-it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of that blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best. This was written way before I knew I would be speaking here today .
- Your laws ignore our deepest needs
Your words are empty air.
You've stripped away our heritage.
You've outlawed simple prayer.
Now gunshots fill our classrooms
And precious children die.
You seek for answers everywhere
And ask the question WHY?
You regulate restrictive laws
Through legislative creed.
And yet you fail to understand
That God is what we need!'
"Men and women are three part beings. We all consist of body, soul, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our makeup, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual influences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation's hsitory. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is historic fact.
"What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God and in doing so we open the doors to hatred and violence. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villian lies within our OWN hearts. Political posturing and restrictive legislation is not the answer. The young people of our nation hold the key. There is a spiritual awakening taking place that will not be squelched!
"We do not need more religion. We do not need more gaudy televison evangelists spewing out verbal religious garbage. We do not need more million dollar church buildings built while people with basic needs are being ignored. We do need a change of heart and a humble acknowledgement that this nation was founded on the principle of simple trust in God.
"As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any politician or law to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America and around the world to realize that on April 20, 1999 at Columbine High School--prayer was brought to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your conscience and denies your God-given right to communicate with Him.
"To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA - I give to you a sincere challenge. Dare to examine your own heart before you cast the first stone! My daughter's death will not be in vain. The young people of this country will not allow that to happen."
GOD BLESS YOU DARREL SCOTT! I pray that the House members listened to you!
"It was while at this ranch that I perfectd the fast draw which saved my life on several occassions in later years. While I could hit anything I could see with my rifle, I was not satisfied. With my Tombstone background and oft-repeated tales of some renowned fast-draw man prodding me I made up my mind to be the fastest in the world. Scrimping and saving I managed to get hold of a pretty fair single action, Colt's .44. Hueco helped me build my first holster, and from then on I spent my spare time practising the draw-and-shoot. Needless to say, I tried many different styles of holsters, and I got to be fairly fast. Jerking and shooting as a jack rabbit leaped in front of my horse afforded the best possible practise. My hand was not shaped right for speedy thumbing the hammer with the ball of my thumb, so I learned to fan after the first shot, which means of course, hitting the hammer back with the free hand while holding the trigger with the other. Much has been written pro and con about the merit of speed with a six-shooter, and the right and wrong way to handle one. I've read of men who declared speed was of no value--that the man who won his fight was the one who who took his time, but I never heard a real gunfighter make that statement. yes, it is all right to take your time--if you shoot first. Believe me the man who builds his fire first has all the best of it in a gun fight. About fanning: No man with an ounce of brains will tell you that a man can do straight shooting at a small target and fan a gun. But when the odds fronting you at from five to thirty feet consist of four, six, or a dozen men bunched against you, a fanner can sure blast an awful opening in his opposition. As to the fast draw, there is no right or wrong way. Whatever way comes natural is the right way. It only remains to develop speed. Back through the years I have tried every holster and draw I ever heard of, belly draws, the cross draw, from beneath the arm or shoulder, from low-hung tied down holster, and from the breed or swivel holster. They are all good if they suit your particular style and you can develop speed. My fastest draw was always from a low-cut holster held fast against the hip by a tightly buckled belt. I never raise a gun, never throw it down, but cock as I pull, shooting as the muzzle clears leather" ...Jack Ganzhorn, Arizona Gunfighter and Spanish American War Vet.
The politicians are always trying to interpret the Constitution and Bill of Rights and tell us what the Founding Fathers "really meant." Listen to Thomas Jefferson: "The Constitution of most of our states, and of the United States, asserts that all power is inherent in the people; that they may exercise it by themselves; that it is their right and duty to be armed at all times."
"It is not the critic that counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly, who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds"...Theodore Roosevelt
"The man who knows the truth and has the opportunity to tell it, but who nonetheless refuses to, is among the most shameful of all creatures. God forbid that we should ever becomes as lax as that."...Theodore Roosevelt
"We must diligently strive to make our young men decent,God-fearing,law-abiding, honor-loving, justice-doing, and also fearless and strong, able to hold their own in the hurly-burly of the world's work, able to strive mightily that the forces of right may be in the end triumphant. And we must ever be vigilant in so telling them." ...Theodore Roosevelt
" A nation needs heroes. It needs examples of valor so that it will know just how it ought to behave"...Theodore Roosevelt
The following was written by a man named Clarence Schultz, a minister and retired Navy Chaplain. Lots to think about. Pass it on if you think it has merit.
I think it started when Madeline Murray O'Hare complained that she didn't want any prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you had better not read the Bible in school. The Bible that says "thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself." And we said, OK.
Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem. And we said, an expert should know what he's talking about so we won't spank them anymore.
Then someone said that teachers and principals better not discipline our children when they misbehave. And the school administrators said no faculty member in this school better touch a student when they misbehave because we don't want any bad publicity, and we surely don't want to be sued. And we accepted their reasoning.
Then someone said, let's let our daughters have abortions if they want and they won't even have to tell their parents. And we said, that's a grand idea. Then some wise school board member said, since boys will be boys and they're going to do it anyway, let's give our sons all the condoms they want, so they can have all the fun they desire, and we won't have to tell their parents they got them at school. And we said, "that's another great idea."
And then some of our top elected officials said that it doesn't matter what we do in private as long as we do our jobs. And agreeing with >them, we said it doesn't matter to me what anyone, including the President, does in private as long as I have a job and the economy is good.
And then someone said let's print magazines with pictures of nude women and call it wholesome down-to-earth appreciation for the beauty of the female body. And we said we have no problem with that. And someone else took that appreciation a step further and published pictures of nude children and then stepped further still by making them available on the Internet. And we said they're entitled to their free speech.
And the entertainment industry said, let's make TV shows and movies that promote profanity, violence, and illicit sex. And let's record music that encourages homosexuality, rape, drugs, murder, suicide, and satanic themes. And we said it's just entertainment and has no adverse effect and nobody takes it seriously anyway so go right ahead.
Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves. Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with... "we reap what we sow."
My two teenage granddaughters are finishing up the school year with grade point averages hovering right at 4.0. Lately I have caught them involved in doing homework and even reading books. What is this younger generation coming to?
Our esteemed public servant Charles Schumer admits that the gun control sentiment is mostly coming from those in the Congress and White House and not from the general public. Think that will stop him from having a "passion to legislate"?
Time is running a new gun poll. We are winning BIG. Log on at http://www.pathfinder.com/time/polls/gunpoll.html
Are you teaching your kids and grandkids the responsibility of having firearms, the proper use of firearms and also how they will have to continue the fight to keep them? The Schumers of this world never give up.
The dinosaurs did not become extinct. They simply got fed up and left.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the Constitution
