ElectricSailboats wrote: Tue Oct 13, 2020 2:11 pm
I am the OP and have stayed off this as the reactions I got were different than what I expected. But I want to bring it back to the original topic with some caveats so that everything is crystal, crystal clear.
1. I do not expect any veteran poster here to be overly kind, I just request you not be immediately dismissive
2. I do not want violence after the election nor do I want to prepare for it. I do want liberals with guns to be organized so as to give conservatives pause so they do NOT resort to violence after the election - something I fear. An opportunist, like Trump, basically does things not based on right or wrong, but if one can get away with it or not. I want the opportunist conservatives out there to think twice about initiating violence.
3. Of note, I have heard something interesting that gives me greater confidence in post-election stability. My cousin is about as Republican as they get but he is voting for Biden. The reason is that he has a number of friends at the Colonel/equivalent ranks and up levels in the military who have told him that despite the upper echelons of the military being mostly Republican, they are mostly voting for Biden because Trump is such a threat to national security as commander and chief. That gave my cousin great pause and he is going against his conservative roots to vote for a Democrat for the first time. But, it is the analysis of the upper military levels that gives me more faith that even if there are calls to violence by Republicans or right-wing militias, the military will not be a puppet of Trump's to undermine democracy and stay in the White House despite an electoral win by Biden.
4. I view liberal militia organization as both a discipline (for myself in staying on top of my accuracy, etc), organization for our country in line with the US Constitution, a social outlet (and the value of this is important) and a vehicle for helping liberals understand guns and not see gun ownership as a conservative only thing. It also would help conservatives see gun owners who advocate for waiting periods and background checks but who do not want to take everyone's guns away as many conservatives falsely believe.
I realize my reach out about liberal militias won't go anywhere as they don't exist, but I also think some of the veteran posters on here should see it's worth organizationally and not as a call to violence.
The benefit I see of a militia is, at a minimum, it would motivate participants to maintain some of their skills. The Democratic/media bloc would have us believe "militia" is _equivalent_ to a group of seething rednecks bent on taking over the government when in reality the collection of militias in the US merely _include_ groups of seething rednecks bent on taking over the government.
But government, by its nature, seeks to control. Thus, any militia you were to join that leveled-up to a point that would enable them to knock over a gumball machine would likely end up with an informer or a federal agent. So if you're participating on the basis of making what you see as a positive contribution, be aware that the member next to you in training might be
a) a kook who just wants to kill people he/she dislikes;
b) an informer or federal agent who has an army of people dissecting your life without your knowledge;
c) an informer or federal agent who has an army of people dissecting your life without your knowledge and is trying to set up a canned hunt;
d) an informer or federal agent who has an army of people dissecting your life without your knowledge, is trying to set up a canned hunt, and is happy to serve you up to please his/her superiors
even if you have nothing to do with anything illegal.
Here is a straw man opinion piece written by a policy wonk that know-nothings on the Internet are using as their evidence that even belonging to a militia is illegal in all 50 states.
The Plot Against Gretchen Whitmer Shows the Danger of Private Militias
In the swirls of disinformation that now pollute our political discourse, one is particularly dangerous: that private militias are constitutionally protected.
Although these vigilante groups often cite the Second Amendment’s mention of a “well regulated militia” for their authority, history and Supreme Court precedent make clear that the phrase was not intended to — and does not — authorize private militias outside of government control.
Indeed, these armed groups have no authority to call themselves forth into militia service; the Second Amendment does not protect such activity; and all 50 states prohibit it.
Here are the state sources cited. Note the context is the presence of militias at polling places, which is not the topic I am addressing.
https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/our ... ct-sheets/