In Respectful Defense of the Militia
One of the most despicable and yet successful Orwellian maneuvers committed by the power’s that be in destroying this once great republic, has been the complete erasure of the militia as an essential element in the birth and developmental growth of the United States of America. Children, as well as most college students studying history in America’s public education system, are given a brief summary of the militia and are told that these men were of little value to American history…end of story. This edited approach to American studies is relatively new in our national history and yet has been quite successful in coloring the views of most Americans regarding the militia. An entire generation of Americans buy into the negative propaganda espoused by the Anti-Defamation League, the Southern Poverty Law Center, and the national mainstream media, that the militia is nothing more than a quasi-terrorist organization composed of radical racists, anti-government conspiracy theorists, and violent gun-toting survivalist kooks. This view is sad and greatly ignores the value of the militia in our national history as well as its place in our lives today.
Jefferson, Madison, and Franklin were all brilliant men who collectively drove the intellectual framework for American liberty and freedom. In recent years these men have been accused by elements within our own government of being radical extremists, but they are still held in moderately high regard as great champions of liberty. What most people overlook is the fact that the blueprint of freedom presented to the American people by these men was utterly meaningless without the instrument of a dedicated militia, armed and willing to sacrifice everything that they had to give teeth to these principles. It was the militia, the armed populace of the American colonies, not the intellectuals that gave us a nation. History teachers and the mainstream press certainly do not advertise this, do they? Nor do the power’s that be tell you that the militia is older than the country or the Revolution, do they? They also dust under the rug the fact that it was not Jefferson or Madison or Franklin that actually began the Revolution, it was the Massachusetts militia that fired the shots heard ’round the world. Yes indeed, the militia, men who were fed up with an overwhelming and tyrannical British government that was violating their constitutional rights, took up arms, organized themselves into regulated (or functional) militia units, and said NO to King George III on April 19, 1775 with lock, stock, and barrel. These same men fought, sustained, and won the Revolutionary War (the Continental Line, or the American regulars which became the nucleus of the regular Army and garner most of the attention in history books, were nothing more than militiamen who committed their services to the Continental Congress for the duration of the war). If you appreciate your freedom and national sovereignty as sovereign citizens, not British subjects, thank the militia.
Modern history books give little or no attention to the importance of the militia, and after the obligatory chapter concerning the Revolutionary War, the militia is rarely, if at all mentioned. But did the militia fade quietly into the swan song of history as the text books would have us believe? Heaven’s no! The Founding Father’s embraced the militia and were rightly afraid of maintaining standing armies. Richard Henry Lee, a Virginian and signer of the Declaration of Independence, was very adamant concerning the importance of the militia:
Militias, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves and include
all men capable of bearing arms. To preserve liberty it is essential that the
people always possess arms and be taught alike, especially when young, how
to use them.
This was quite an eloquent defense of the militia and its importance for the security of the new nation. George Mason, another Virginian, and one of the founders often forgotten or conveniently written out of history books, was even more to the point when he said: “I ask, sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people, except for [a] few public officials.” Elaborating on the arguments of Lee and Mason, on August 17, 1789, Representative Elbridge Gerry stated:
What, sir, is the use of a militia? It is to prevent the establishment of a
Standing army, the bane of liberty….Whenever governments mean to
Invade the rights and liberties of the people, they always attempt to destroy
the militia, in order to raise an army upon their ruins.”
Collectively these were strong arguments for a permanent citizen militia composed of all of the people. So strong were the arguments, that James Madison penned the Second Amendment to the Constitution, preserving the right of the people to keep and bear arms, making the citizen militias viable and functional. Furthermore, the Second Amendment bolstered Article I, section 8, clause 15 of the Constitution which provides Congress the authority for “…calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections and repel invasions.” As an execution of the Second Amendment, the Congress passed the Militia Act of 1792 which required that able-bodied males age 17 through 44 to “keep a good musket or firelock, a sufficient bayonet and belt, two spare flints, and a knapsack, a pouch, with a box therein, to contain not less than twenty four cartridges, suited to the bore of his musket or firelock…” This act most certainly did not exclude those younger than 17 and older than 44 as well as some women who served in various capacities.
This militia system served the United States well, gaining victory for the country in the War of 1812 (Andrew Jackson’s overwhelming victory at New Orleans, the only major land victory for American arms during the war, was fought by volunteer militia), the Mexican War, the Civil War (the overwhelming majority of both Union and Confederate forces were organized state militia forces), the Indian Wars, and the Spanish American War. In essence, the Posse Comitatus (power of the county) Act of 1878 was nothing more than the Congress stripping the domestic policing powers of the Federal Army (powers that were grotesquely abused during Radical Reconstruction), and turning those powers back over to the local militias as prescribed in Article I, section 8, clause 15 of the US Constitution.
In 1903, the Congress revamped the definition of the militia with the Militia Act of 1903, or the Dick Act, which redefined and recategorized the militia. Under Title 10, section 311, paragraph A, the militia was defined as “all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become citizens of the United States and female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.” (Section 313 of Title 32 refers specifically to people with prior military experience who can serve as officers of the militia, and remain members of the militia until the age of 64). Paragraph B of Title 10, section 311 states that the “classes of militia are: (1) the National Guard and the Naval Militia, and (2) the unorganized militia who are not members of the National Guard and Naval Militia.” Basically, part two of paragraph B says that every able-bodied male citizen of the United States between 17 and 45 are part of the unorganized militia. This revamped system was really nothing more than the implementation of the Prussian military model requiring the National Guard to conform to standardized Regular Army protocol in a more efficient manner with presumably better trained troops than the old system outlined in the Militia Act of 1792, while maintaining the ready reserve citizen militia as it was established prior to the Revolution. Many scholars have rightly argued that this law allowed far greater direct federal control over the organized state militia than was intended by the Founding Fathers. Events in the future would prove this fear true.
This newly defined militia system also served the U.S. well in World Wars I and II. Only after the misadventures in Korea and Vietnam, did the Federal Government launch a frontal assault against the traditional militia. Following the turmoil and economic mess of the 1960s caused by the creation of a corrupt and completely fiat monetary system that had expended America’s gold reserves, the prospects of an aware citizen militia were threatening. In 1973, coinciding with the end of the Vietnam War and the end of conscription, the Defense Department implemented the Total Force Policy. This policy united the National Guard, the organized state citizen militia, with the regular army, effectively allowing the Army and Navy to absorb the organized militia, establishing the Army National Guard. For the Constitutional scholar, this action was dubious at best as the Constitution itself specifically establishes a clear difference between the “armed forces of the United States” and the “state militia” and allows no mechanism for the permanent uniting of the two institutions. Unfortunately, during the 1990s, the Supreme Court has essentially upheld the Total Force Policy through several rulings overriding the states’ ability to prevent the forced Federal nationalization of their guard units (for more information, see Perpich v. Department of Defense).
After 1973, the militia was also systematically written out of our school’s history books and various “activist” groups and like-minded politicians have waged an unrelenting war against the right of the people to keep and bear arms using such thuggish organizations as the B.A.T.F., all with the full and complete assistance of the mainstream media as well as all of the institutions of the Federal Government. By the 1990s, the term militia had become something akin to a curse word in the newly politically correct, bleached, and historically ignorant American culture. When brave and outspoken individuals attempted to band together and form Constitutional organized militias to protect their homes and communities from tyrannical and murderous government operations such as the murder of Gordon Kahl, Ruby Ridge, and the massacre at Waco, the first thing to be broadcast on the mainstream media was an endless spew of propaganda deriding these brave individuals as kooks and extremists, living on the fringes of society. The great irony of this accusation is the fact that still to this day under Title 10, section 311, paragraph A, all able-bodied males between 17 and 45 are members of the unorganized militia! You are members of the unorganized National Guard! One can even take this back further, as mentioned earlier, to George Mason who said the militia was “…the whole people.”
More capable scholars than I could make further impassioned defenses of the militia to the average citizenry, but that is not the objective of my little rant. Rather, my greater challenge goes to the self-proclaimed “truth movement.” After the obvious government staged attack against the American people on September 11, 2001, thousands of people have awakened to the maniacal activities of the American police state that has been waging an unrelenting war against the traditional liberty of the United States and attempting to force us into what many call the “New World Order.” With unabashed enthusiasm and tireless energy, many of these young “truthers” have risen rapidly to prominence in Patriot radio, hosting their own shows and challenging the people of America and the world to resist the leviathan of the New World Order.
No doubt, these people have the best of intentions, but what greatly disturbs me about nearly all of these young truthers is their obvious reluctance to have any connection with the militia movement. I have often heard some of these young radio hosts refer to members of the militia movement as “militia types,” an obvious media driven stereotype, sign of ignorance, and a psychological maintenance of the ingrained fear of the militia. Even as the Federal Government moves to consolidate the United States, Canada, and Mexico into a North American Union, even as the Congress and President pass such dictatorial measures such as the PATRIOT Act, the John Warner Defense Act, H.R.-1955, and while police openly taser/torture American citizens while millions of illegal aliens overrun our communities and destroy our traditional American way of life, these truthers repudiate and distance themselves from the militia and refer to those of us who exercise our Constitutionally mandated obligation as “militia types!” They repudiate the very organization that started our American Revolution, won the war, and maintained our freedom so well by keeping the Federal Government in check. As John Adams stated:
Arms in the hands of the citizens (in other words the maintenance of the
citizen militia) may be used at individual discretion for the defense of the
country, the overthrow of tyranny, or private self-defense.
James Madison, author of both the Constitution and the Second Amendment was even more specific concerning the role of the militia for the security of a free people in Federalist 46:
Besides the advantage of being armed, which the Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation, the existence of subordinate governments, to which the people are attached, and by which the militia officers are appointed, forms a barrier against the enterprises of ambition more insurmountable than any which a simple government of any form can admit of. Notwithstanding the military establishments in the several kingdoms of Europe, which are carried as far as the public resources will bear, the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms. And it is not certain that with this aid alone they would not be able to shake off their yokes. But were the people to possess the additional advantages of local governments chosen by themselves, that could collect the national will and direct the national force, and of officers appointed out of the militia, by these governments and attached both to them and to the militia, it may be affirmed with the greatest assurance that the throne of every tyranny in Europe would be speedily overturned in spite of the legions which surround it.
Rather than following the advise of the Founders and guidance of the Patriot Movement, a movement that far pre-dates the Truth Movement and September 11, 2001 and is historically synonymous with the militia movement, these truthers, again all well meaning, tell their loyal listeners to stay away from the “militia types.” Adding insult to injury, many of these truthers are prone to tell their followers that the “militia types” are being manipulated into starting a shooting war so that the government can step in and take away our individual right to keep and bear arms. Instead, they tell their listeners to wage an “infowar!” What is more interesting to me is that these same people tell us that we are winning this “infowar.” I find this reasoning to be unusual at best.
Firstly, those “militia types” are, in the words of George Mason, the whole population including the truth movement. Secondly, the militia is not being manipulated into doing anything. We who are active in the militia (i.e., those doing their Constitutional civic duty), are defending the Constitution as well as our homes and families against what we have known for years before 9-11 to be a tyrannical government and the enemies of liberty. Thirdly, no government can take away your right to keep and bear arms as a right is something that is granted by God, not by governments or men. The ungodly attack upon the Second Amendment has been ongoing since the 1930s and has greatly and rapidly intensified with the erosion and existence of the militia from our national memory. If it had not been for the existence of us “militia types” putting pressure on politicians and letting the power’s that be clearly understand that we would fight the government violently if necessary to maintain our God-given right to possess a firearm, the Clinton administration would have instituted gun confiscation in the 1990s and there would be no radio truth movement.
Just as with the infowars waged by the Founding Fathers, the infowar being waged today is useless without the force of the militia standing behind it. The writings of Jefferson, Franklin, Madison, and Paine would not have been worth their weight in paper without the existence of the colonial and later American militia. To those in the truth movement, I would ask you simply to open even the most sanitized modern American history book. You will quickly note that His Royal Majesty King George III did not back down and pull his British Regulars from the colonies when presented with the truth. Instead, as we all know, it required an eight year war for our truth to be victorious and vindicated. It is always the same in history with tyrants, the only language that they understand is force, not logic and truth….if they understood logic and truth they would not be tyrants. The same theorem applies today. Do you, members of the truth movement, honestly believe that the American minions of the New World Order will simply turn tail and fade quietly into the night if enough people know the truth? Of course, the answer is no. These wretched villains have far too much invested in their plans to be inconvenienced by the truth and as I think we all know, America stands as the final obstacle in the way of the creation of the New World Order. The major bump in that obstacle is the existence of the armed citizen militia. As in 1775 America, at some point we the people, the citizen militia, armed and determined, will be forced to drive these vermin and their supporters from the sacred soil that our forefathers died to preserve for us.
For many, this may be too much to take. I hate to disrupt the party, but I am speaking simple truth and cold hard fact. We “militia types” know this fact very well. For those who persist in advertising and espousing the path of the infowar and picket signs, I would simply remind you of those children, all speaking the truth, holding signs, and acting peacefully, that were gunned down at Kent State on May 4, 1970. One might fast forward a little further into the future to the infowarrior truthers who were peaceful, disarmed, holding signs, and were massacred by Communist tanks and guns at Tiananmen Square in 1989….and more recently the Buddhist protestors who were gunned down by the totalitarian military regime in Burma just a few weeks ago.
I do not mean to suggest that everyone who reads this take up arms and march on your local courthouse or police station. As Mark Koernke, co-host of the “Intelligence Report,” longtime activist in the militia movement, and a man whom I consider to be one of, if not the leader of the Patriot movement, has said–we don’t get to pick when this battle will begin. It will begin when it begins. With that said, I think it is the responsibility of everyone in the truth movement to encourage their friends or listeners to arm themselves and, above that, learn how to properly and effectively use those firearms so that they can be a well-regulated and functional member of the citizen militia. For those still in doubt, I would simply point you in the direction of Patrick Henry’s “Give me Liberty, or give me Death” speech delivered on March 23, 1775, less than a month before the militia began the American Revolution. Henry, as well as others, had waged a 12-year infowar against George III and his puppet Parliament. After reading his speech, even the most suborned doubter should be able to determine that Mr. Henry knew that the time for additional petitions for redress of grievances was over and it was the time for the instrument of liberty’s voice, the citizen militia, to be heard.
Keep up the good work, truth movement. I think that you are doing a good job disseminating information to a broad and diverse framework of the population that is hungry and yearning for the truth. Be bold, be energetic, and scream the truth to the highest rafters, but never forget to support the very vehicle of your liberty teeth, the American citizen militia. If I might quote Patrick Henry I would say: “Give me Liberty, or Give Me Death!” Cast your lot with the militia and life and liberty.
God Bless the Republic,
Reb
December 20, 2007
