This day, April 19th, was also the day that the Federal Government ended the siege near Waco Texas.

The Branch Davidians, a group of people simply wanting to be left alone, were attacked on Feb 28th 1993 by the BATF….and they defended themselves.

This, of course, led to the FBI and the US Marshalls service getting involved (happens a lot with the ATF, doesn’t it?

Eventually, on April 19th, the Feds, under the guidance of Janet Reno The Federal agents decided to “Launch a  teargas attack”  (and, oddly, starting fires in 4 separate places in the compound….) that ultimately burned down the compound, resulting in the deaths of 78 residents, including 25 children. It did appear that the time that the fire fighting apparatus we prevented from entering the compound to fight the fire, but this cannot be proven.

It is believed that the entire raid, and the subsequent deaths, were intended to send a message to a segment of the citizens that did not like the government. Instead it galvanized the citizenry against it.

Ultimately, what happened was that the ATF launched a raid on a bunch of people that just wanted to be left alone to worship and live in peace. They could have handled this in many ways, but they chose brute force and were repelled.

This was, of course, during a time when most Federal agencies were trying to increase their power, backed by a government that was inclined to let them: they were becoming the Jackbooted thugs that many people feared a government could morph into….

The Waco Raid had many issues, and should never have happened, But the final moments of the raid,  galvanized a nation and caused change….not by revolution but rather by the return of the rule of law. Overreach and ham handedness will do that. Media coverage of atrocities against American citizens will do that.    After the fact, the coverups included allegations that there was Child Abuse and other such complaints, and that the raids were in response to that….but the ATF was the raiding agency….No one bought the story, despite the media pushing it.

However, none of the Law Enforcement people involved in the deaths of those 78 people were ever punished for their participation in the raid or the subsequent deaths.

But this too, on April 19th, helped change the nation and protect freedoms.

On this day on 1776 1775, the nation we now call the United States was born. Yes, I am talking about the battle to keep the powder and shot, where the colonists chose to defy the British Army and the orders of General Gage. Many heroes were made that day. While many consider the date of signing of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence to be the birthday of our country, I also consider today to be a part of that birth.

Of course, the evening before there were heroes as well…. we have all heard about “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere”. (But don’t forget William Dawes and Samuel Prescott, both of whom also were a part of the warning that made it possible for the colonists to be ready for the British)  Prescott was likely responsible for more warnings than Revere and Dawes, but Revere got his story told

Either way, the colonists were warned and at both Lexington and Concord, the british were driven off.

Note that the first battles were over arms, without which the Colonists would not have been able to resist the British army. It always comes down to who can defend themselves from tyranny and who cannot. Who controls the weapons, be they swords, bow and arrow, or firearms. Who can wields more force. Freedom does not happen for long without the ability to defend it.

So I go out for breakfast the other morning.

In the parking lot of the diner is a lady standing by her car with a jack under the left front tire.

I asked if she needed any help

Apparently the rust had gotten under the wheel nut cover and had swelled it such that the lung wrench would not fit onto the wheel nut.

I offered to pull out some sockets from my truck and pull off the offending nut, but she said her son had gone to the local Home Improvement store to buy the proper socket wrench and would be back soon. She thanked me for my offer of help and I went in to have breakfast. If she had help coming, fine, I won’t leave a woman on the side of the road helpless, but she said she had it in hand, so…..

I ate a leisurely breakfast, and when I came out of the diner and she and her car are still there. As is a 25 year old or so man. He looks exasperated and was doing something with a tool in one hand.

I amble over and see that he is trying to pry a socket off of the ratchet handle with a screwdriver..

I go over and ask if he need any help. Apparently he had put the wrong size socket on the ratchet handle and now could not get it off. He had tried prying with a screwdriver, but no joy. (Note that this was a brand new store brand socket and ratchet set). I reached out, took the ratchet from him, pushed the button on the back of the ratchet and the socket fell right off. Dude was shocked, he had no idea that that was how it worked.

I decided to stick around for a minute. He put the now correct socket onto the ratchet handle, and tried to move the nut. Nope, on there pretty tight. He tried to  step on it (at least he had some idea of what was needed) but the socket slipped.

I took the wrench from him, pulled the jack out, put it under the head of the ratchet, and pushed down with my foot. Boom, one loosened nut. Again, he was dazzled by my knowledge….I used a hammer (from my tools) on the end of his ratchet on one other stubborn nut to get it to turn.

He was worried about the fact that she might not get home with a missing lug nut, but I pointed out that there were 4 others to hold the spare tire on, and he could always tighten the swelled up nut and use it again since he now had the correct socket and the knowledge to use it….

He was unsure how to reverse the direction of the ratchet, so I showed him that as well.

Dude was well over 20 years old and had no knowledge of how to use basic hand tools.

Looking at his mother, it is obvious that she “didn’t need a man in her life”, and likely raised him by herself.

Sad….really, really, sad. I knew more when I was 12 than this dude knows at twice that age.

I made sure the tire was installed correctly and suggested that maybe he look at all the lug nuts and replace those that were swelled (or maybe all of them)….. Plus maybe use a bit of oil on the threads when he out them back on himself… He said he “didn’t have any oil”. I suggested he could buy some and an oil can. Or they could have a professional look at it and do the work.

How does a boy get to be that age and not have basic knowledge of hand tools? I can understand no Dad, but did he and his friends never do anything besides play video games? I find it frightening that he had zero knowledge of basic tools.

Except it isn’t any accountability.

DOJ in final stages of settlement negotiations with victims of Larry Nassar over FBI misconduct:

Th Taxpayers are footing the bill for this.

Not the agents, nor their supervisors, have been fired. No agents nor management will pay a dime. No one loses their retirement funding to help pay the settlement. No one loses their house nor is in any way on the hook financially for their screw-ups. No one is under criminal charges for failing to do their job, or even bother to investigate. No agents have been jailed.

There is no accountability for the people who ignored the complaints.

Unless, and until, the agents, their supervisors, and the upper management are broken for the failures, there is no accountability and no incentive to actually do their job.

I mean, its bad enough that the cops just stand around when some bunch of assholes blockades a road or access to a building or whatever.

But for most of us, if we try to remove the blockaders, we have a legitimate fear of arrest and felony charges.

Sen. Tom Cotton to people stuck behind “pro-Hamas” road blockades: “take matters into your own hands to get them out of the way”

But Sen Cotton says we SHOULD take matters into out own hands abd move the blockaders out of the way (I think I’d take MC’s advice and carry a bunch of big zip ties to tie them to some immovable object so they don’t just walk back into the road and block it again)

But if they protesters struggle, can I use force to subdue them? If so, how much? Can I just run them over? (That’d get them out of the way!)

How about when the cops try to intervene when we remove the irritating little protesting assholes from the path? Can we “Take matters into our own hands” there as well?

Can I use the Senator’s words as a defense when I get arrested?

Just wanting the ROE to be clear.

The protestors claim a First Amendment “Right to protest”…but does that include blocking rights of way or other travel? Is that blockade a “peaceful” protest? I think not. Blocking my right to travel is a form of violent protest. If they wish to stand on the side of the road and chant while holding a sign, I fully support their right to do so. If they block the path of people, is that still “Peaceful”?

They claim us Right Wing folks are the violent ones.

But it’s always someone like this that plants a bomb or does something else like this:

Nonbinary Antifa Agitator Charged with Detonating IED Outside Alabama Attorney General’s Office

(Link found via Knucledraggin’

If the Right side folks did it, the explosion would not just be for show, nor would there be no casualties. Just like gun violence, it isn’t us or it’d be much more effective.

But, as pointed out in the article, a lNon0Binary Left winger-Antifa type doesn’t fit the narrative, which is why it isn’t all over the media.

I’m talking the Hard Left Believers like Ms Misfit (and those who tell her what she should be thinking this week) ranting like this

And nearly all the current Hard Left people pulling Biden’s strings. and the ones who actually run the DNC.

I laughed.

The sad part is that they hate him, and in their mind that makes him “Guilty” no matter what. They don’t even know why they hate him, they just do.

I had over 600 pieces of spam in my comments this afternoon.

If you commented and it didn’t show, well, sorry about that. I deleted pages “en masse”, and there may have been some legit comments that got caught up in the removal.

Feel free to re-comment if that is the case for your legit comment.

How far the Democrats have fallen. I didn’t like William Jefferson Clinton, but even a crooked dude like him knew the truth about illegal immigration and the effects on the country. (and he didn’t even mention how it would affect the Census data). Somehow his Democratic party has been taken over by the Cloward-Piven folks who see Illegal Immigration as the path to success

I cannot argue with those who believe that Joe should be tarred and feathered for his stance on illegal immigrants.

Maybe some broken ribs and a bunch of punches to the face too:

Shocking moment vandals destroy protected and delicate natural rock formations in Nevada national park

If someone were to intervene to stop ’em , though, they’d likely get jail time themselves.

And that’s part of what is wrong.