Dear Reader… Apparently I am an “extremist”. I did not seek out this moniker; it has been foisted upon me by our regime and its harpies. What is my egregious threat to the Republic? I believe in individual liberty and an originalist Constitutional construct.

Sac re bleu!

Here are some other examples of famous “Right-Wing Extremism”:

“Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness.”

(Ugh! How vile!)

“Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.”

(ARGHHH!!!!!)

“Almost always, the creative, dedicated minority has made the world better.”

(How can this stuff be put in print?!?… Social media platforms are seconds from banning me!)

The first quote comes from President Washington’s farewell address upon leaving office, the second came from Benjamin Franklin and was his choice for our national motto, and the last is from the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe they are all spot on.

It is one of the reasons I have become so disheartened this last week. The inspiration for this blog post comes from two missives I read. One from an article in Foreign Affairs by Cynthia Miller-Idriss and Daniel Koehler entitled, “A Plan to Beat Back The Far Right”, and the second was an article written by Scott Morris in the Open Vallejo entitled, “Solano Deputies, Vacaville Council Member Promote Anti-government Militia”, sent to me by a Solano County deputy.

Let’s start with Ms. Miller-Idriss’s and Mr. Koehler’s misguided missive:

Their article begins with a discussion of a demonstration that took place in August of last year in Germany. Protesters, angered over the closing of the country due to Covid-19, began demonstrating in Berlin. A small group broke off and approached the German Parliament carrying the infamous Reichsflagge (the banner of WWI Imperial Germany, and some would say a precursor to the Nazi flag.) The small group made entry to the parliament building and were stopped by German police and security. The distinction between the Reichsflagge and the Nazi flag was lost to the writers. They both represented the same ideology as far as they were concerned.

They then pivot to the attack at the US Capitol this year. They see little distinction between the group they have conflated as equivalent of Nazis in Germany to the “Right-Wing Extremists” in Washington, D.C.

Their solution to this “Right-Wing Extremism” problem? Simple… get rid of the Bill of Rights. First, Fourth and Fifth Amendment protections only serve to weaken the State and, thus, must be abandoned in favor of a greater good.

…This begs a bigger question though…what exactly is “Right-Wing Extremism”?

Ms. Miller-Idriss and Mr. Koehler feel that an extrapolation of Imperial Germany to Nazi belief systems is entirely reasonable. I do not. Nazism, is a totalitarian philosophy which is based on racial superiority. Nazism only works if there is a perceived existential threat based on a dilution of racial or ethnic purity. Outside of this rubric there is a myriad of political philosophies that have literally nothing to do with race. Yet… anything that acts as an impediment to government control and coercion is now branded as Nazism, Fascism, or the now more fashionable label, “Right-Wing Extremism”.

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This brings us to that other article written by Mr. Morris.

Evidently, Mr. Morris is deeply concerned (as should the public be), that “Right-Wing Extremists” have wormed their way into the Solano County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the Vacaville City Council.

His evidence?… Daniel “Cully” Pratt’s side business.

If his name sounds familiar it is because Mr. Pratt’s brother is the actor Chris Pratt. Mr. Pratt works for the Solano County Sheriff’s office and does a side hustle making patriotic wood “things” (signs, gun racks, stuff like that). Many of his items have imagery of the dreaded III Percent logo, or the even more evil Gadsden Flag (the Don’t Tread on Me Flag). His most egregious example of “Right-Wing Extremism” is a recreation of the California flag as a gun rack with the bear removed and replaced with an AR-15 and the star replaced with used shotgun shells in a circle surrounding the Roman Numeral III (basically a rift on the Betsy Ross flag). Under the AR-15 reads the words “Will Not Comply”.

In the article, Mr. Morris references the III Percent movement as a “Right-Wing Extremist” militia movement. He says members look at the Federal Government with suspicion and see many of the rules and regulations of government as being tyrannical.

Yes, Mr. Morris… they do. I do. Even you do, you moron, when your political party is out of power!

I am prepared to give Ms. Miller-Idriss and Mr. Koehler the benefit of the doubt since they are writing from a European perspective where people are subjects of their State and individual liberty is something to be dispensed downward from the government to the people. Mr. Morris, on the other hand, should know better. Or perhaps he does know better, and simply does not care.

If I articulate a philosophical or political position that degrades the fundamental dignity of any individual for the benefit of a collective, I should be called out, rebuked, and challenged. On the other hand, if I were to say something like:

“The powers of the federal government should be limited to the articulated powers of the Constitution.”

Or worse:

“The Bill of Rights serves as a restraint on governmental authority, not as something to be ignored when expedient.”

I should not, cannot, by definition, be called a “Right-Wing Extremist”.

Quite the contrary, Mr. Morris (and Ms. Miller-Idriss and Mr. Koehler you may want to pay attention here too): When people support the expansion of government, any government at the expense of the individual, they are advocating for “Right-Wing Extremism”!

The sales pitch that government offers is utterly irrelevant to the underlying tyrannical tendencies. Once a government controls, all the best you can hope for is a benevolent dictator. For the only way a government can ultimately compel people to alter their behavior to comport with government edicts is the implicit threat of violence on the part of the government itself.

Sure the trains may run on time… but at what cost the soul of the individual?

Resistance to tyranny is the most noble of endeavors. It always has been. Sometimes those seeking to resist are tyrants themselves looking to overthrow the government to advance their own agenda of control. We have seen this with the religious right in America, we have seen this with Neo-Conservatism, we have seen this with Socialism on a world scale, and we have seen this, most recently, in America with the rise of Neo-Liberalism.

People who join groups that use violence to overthrow the established order in a democracy have no place in polite society. Those who would shun, cancel, or ostracize others because their political views differ from the majority, have completely abandoned the tenants of classical liberalism, or even free and independent thought.

Put bluntly… they are the “Right-Wing Extremists”.

To those who would attempt to marginalize anyone who disagrees with “approved orthodoxy” of the established regime, I refer you to Pogo… “We have met the enemy and he is us.”