Smells Like Liberty

On Wednesday, April 28, 2010 President Obama came to Quincy, IL to deliver a speech aimed at fanning the flames of his Liberals’ class warfare against Wall Street. He delivered his rant at the Oakley Lindsay Civic Center to a crowd that included at least four busloads of supporters brought in from Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield and Chicago.

As one would likely expect, outside the Civic Center some 200 Tea  Party supporters held a protest. What few people expected was the response to this protest by Team Obama. Upon seeing the Tea Party supporters nearing the civic center sometime after Obama’s motorcade had arrived and the attendees of speech had entered the building, they summoned a squad of riot police to deal with the Tea Party.

Many Americans are outraged and more than a little scared by the use of such levels of force and intimidation against what was an entirely peaceful protest. The massacres of protesters by agents of the law in Orangeburg, SC, Kent, MS, and Jackson, OH are still, decades later, part of America’s national consciousness.

Certainly, outrage is in order, as is a certain amount of well-founded concern for the safety of those who dissent against President Obama’s agenda to reconstruct the foundations of America. But the Obama regime’s recourse of using riot police to attempt to intimidate some 200 peaceful Tea Party protesters is also cause for joy. It means we, the People a making strides in our war to maintain American liberties.

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.

Attributed to Thomas Jefferson

The government’s – in the form of Obama’s administration – fear of we, the People was quite in evidence in Quincy, IL. The heady scent of liberty was thick in the air as President Obama’s cadre called out the police from several jurisdictions in full riot gear to quell and intimidate the Tea Party protesters Oakley Lindsay Civic Center during President Obama’s visit.


Illinois Riot Police Summoned To Block Tea Party

Not Quite The Scary Image The Media Has Fabricated
Maybe If They Had Those Little Yappy Dogs…


Team Obama Deploys Riot Squad vs. Peaceful Protesters

So the American people should be somewhat joyful. We have struck a certain amount of fear into the government. Since fear is one of the few things governments – especially Obama’s pseudo-messianic regime – listen to, this is a sign that we’re winning the war for our children’s nation.

But, Some Needed Perspective

Some people – many actually – have claimed that the police called out to block off and intimidate the Quincy Tea Party were SWAT. This is erroneous at best, mendacious at worst. The law enforcement detail assigned to this event was the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS) Mobile Field Force Team (MFFT) 8. They are equipped for- and trained in crowd control not, in the sort of aggressive tactical operations undertaken by SWAT teams.

My condolences to the family and teammates of MMFT 8 Team Member Sheriff’s Deputy Lamont Reid who passed away Monday April 26 while working an assignment in E. St. Louis

If they had been SWAT the armor would have been largely the same but their weaponry would have been much deadlier and far more in evidence since SWAT teams are used for offensive missions instead of defensive and containment ones. Indeed, even for riot police MFFT Team 8 came significantly under-armed if they expected to encounter any trouble at all – which they at least obviously didn’t.

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7 Responses to “Smells Like Liberty”

  1. zhann Says:

    While you have a point, there is no question, the scary truth of the matter is that I would have done the same.

    I know this sounds strange, and not totally off subject, but I am seriously contemplating buying a gun … not because I like guns, mind you, I would love to see them banned outright. But, I am honestly becoming paranoid about the far right. Not the 95% of the GOP, but that crazy 5% out there that are becoming vocal about violence in general. Say what you will, the tea-baggers have quite a colorful crowd, many of whom I wouldn’t really want to discuss politics with one on one.

    Of course, the easy argument is the fact that the media is doing such a good job portraying the GOP in such a manner. While this may be true, the GOP aren’t really doing a great deal to contradict this image.

  2. jonolan Says:

    Did you watch the videos, zhann? Did those people look in any way threatening?

    But fine; you’d do the same. In a sense that’s good since it shows that you
    re afraid of the People and their will, which is something that the government – especially Obama and his sort – need to be. It just might limit their atrocities enough that it won’t be necessary to kill them outright.

    One thing is humorous to me though; you’re contemplating purchasing a firearm because you fear the Right – even though you’ve always, by your own admission, wanted firearms banned.

    Amazing isn’t it that you fall back on the 2nd Amendment that you’ve wanted curtailed when you feel threatened. How do you feel now about the rest of us who wish to keep possession of firearms for protection from people who might do us harm?

    A note though – I’m not sure why you’re afraid of the Tea Parties. There has never been a case of violence from them at their protests and never a case of unfocused violence from the Right at all. Even when those on the Right resort to violence, it’s always been targeted against the specific offenders. People such as yourself have always been left unharmed.

    On the other hand, there’s been repeated – under-publicized – incidents of violence from Obama’s supporters, the Left, and their minority tenants in general throughout history and into the current day.

  3. Guy Says:

    I certainly agree with you that the govt. often responds in an overly heavy-handed way to protests and the like. And I appreciate your mentioning the Kent State killings in that regard. One benefit of the recent tea party functions is that many on the right have suddenly embraced protest as patriotic, despite having previously viewed it (when it was the left who was protesting) as treasonous. So I’m glad folks seem now to be on the same page about that variety of free speech.

    Regarding this last comment of yours, however, can you please explain what you mean by there having been no “unfocused violence” from the Right? How was the violence perpetrated by Timothy McVeigh, killing 168 and injuring 450, “focused” at guilty parties or in any way justified? On the contrary, it was just more rightwing hatred of the federal government and its authority, the overthrow of which he sought to inspire. Similarly, for the attack upon the IRS? And upon countless abortion clinics around the country? The list goes on and on, and vastly dwarfs anything one could muster from “the left” in the U.S., esp. of the last 3 decades. Whereas, even in the present tea party “movement” (air quotes since it’s primarily a repub. phenomenon), there has been report upon report regarding its threats of violence–making zhann’s fears rational indeed. Rachel Maddow alone has done several pieces on it, e.g.:

    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/04/07/maddow_right-wing_threats_of_violence_intensify.html

    http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385×436602

  4. jonolan Says:

    Sure, oh government-loving Guy; I’ll explain the context of what I said to zhann.

    The Right, even on those occasions when they resort to violence, focus it on a target as opposed to rioting in the streets or engaging in random attacks vs. the citizenry. That makes zhann’s sudden desire to arm himself, while intrinsically laudable, largely unnecessary – especially vs. the Tea Parties – since he is unlikely to be targeted.

    I admit freely though that McVeigh’s actions were grossly inappropriate and rightfully condemned. Using that magnitude of explosives on a multi-use target filled with innocent “collaterals” should, in most cases, be avoided.

    BTW: Citing Rachel Madcow is essentially the Socialist version of citing Glenn Beck. With your apparent intelligence, you should be able to better than that, Guy.

  5. zhann Says:

    I think you slightly misunderstand my point of view.

    Recently, there was a Gun Rally inside and bordering Washington, DC, which is where I live. Gun rallies are common place, but the mere concept of bringing a mob of armed men to the capital, in a time when our government is in a constant struggle against terrorism, is just stupid … plain and simple. While the protesters weren’t allowed armed into DC, they huddled around in Northern Virginia.

    What message are they trying to send? The message I got, American’s are crazy and see no problem going to DC armed, in spite the fact that this is wrong on many levels. This immediately got me thinking that the far right (please don’t think I consider you in this group) are not just crazy, they are crazy and potentially violent. With that kind of tinderbox sitting atop the worst financial crisis of the planet, living in a country where all the rednecks are armed forces me to consider arming myself.

    Now, I am not worried about what will happen so long as law and order are maintained, but I must entertain the possibility that law and order may not be maintainable if this crisis gets substantially worse … which seems possible (although not too likely). If such a case occurs, the armed rednecks ‘may’ cause problems to those that disagree with them … and if I am unarmed, I will be at the disadvantage.

    So, its not that I believe that arming myself is important to maintain a safe USA, its what I think is necessary if the USA is no longer safe.

    Further to the point, the video presented here is a peaceful video. But, I can show numerous videos that are far from peaceful, maybe not in action but definitely in words (which is sufficient). If I were Obama, or any president in this current environment of threats by Americans against Americans, I would do the exact same. Say what you will, but never have I seen Americans hate their kin as they do now. This environment is incredibly aggressive, and I blame the teabaggers … hence, I want to be armed in case they push things over the limit.

  6. jonolan Says:

    Here’s a funny thing about that “gun rally,” zhann:

    Dozens of Second Amendment rights activists holstered their handguns and slung unloaded rifles over their shoulders Monday at a gun rights rally in northern Virginia, while hundreds of like-minded but unarmed counterparts converged in the nation’s capital.

    The gun-toting protesters in Virginia were within the bounds of the law but promised to keep the weapons unloaded. Those in Washington, D.C., chose not to carry any firearms in compliance with the district’s strict gun laws, even though many believe the rules are unconstitutional.

    And that was from HuffPo. If even they couldn’t find much bad or scary to say about the rally, then it rather had to innocuous.

    Then again, you live a DC and, as such, probably should be armed in order to protect yourself from a great number of it’s residents. I know; I worked in DC for some time and lived outside of it. I remember the crime and violence.

  7. zhann Says:

    Thats not really the point. The fact that men brought guns to the capital left me with one impression. As far as I’m concerned, the only message I got from these people is, “We have guns, take a good look. And, if pressed, we aren’t afraid to use them.” This is a dangerous message to push on your own nations capital.

    Now, I know thats not the message they were aiming for, but that is the message I got from it … hence, I want to be armed in case those people snap.

    Its funny, though … I have done my research in my local gunshops. It is remarkably easy to arm yourself. Handguns require a ‘cool down period’, but thats about it. Personally, I really wish more checks were done before selling a gun to anyone … but, again, thats just my preference.

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