The New Global Fascism: AntiFa

There's a new fascism in town folks. That's right, I said it. Fascists. Remember reading about them in history class? Fascism is defined as " the regime/ideology of anti-democracy. The state is absolute and totalitarian and all citizens must follow the state." What's interesting is that this definition may apply to a regime or also to an ideology advocating this form of regime. In other words, do not question the authority structure or ideology, do not support capitalism, do not hold to any type of pride in your nation, only hold to the principles of revolution and anti-capitalism.

What do fascists do? Well for starters, they offer themselves as an alternative to individualism. They are engaged in group think. They describe their "black block" protests as a sort of hive mindset where the group moves and breathes as one. They silence individual expression and conformity is the rule. Secondly, the suppress Human Rights under the guise of protecting them. One writer has stated that in Fascism "There is an inherent disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights - Because of fear of enemies and the need for security, the people in fascist regimes are persuaded that human rights can be ignored in certain cases because of "need."". Our modern day homegrown fascists believe that because of a rising threat (anyone they disagree with, or tries to exercise free speech) that these people have forfeited basic human rights (liberty, the freedom of expression and speech, the pursuit of happiness and even life). Thirdly they identify people as scapegoats.They identify certain people or peoples as a means of rallying or unifying people to their cause. And finally, they try to suppress media they are not interested in. Media that disagrees with them, they have certain media spokespeople and believe in censorship. There is no discussion or debate with them and their statement from one page is "no more conversation, our reply is violence".

There are more, but I think this is enough for now. Let me explain where I am going with this. There are growing groups of people around the world and here in the United States, indoctrinated by liberal college professors and leftist politicians that have a globalist agenda bent on stealing and undermining the very principles this country was founded on. Primarily college aged men and women upset with capitalism. The very capitalism that gave them the streets they protest on, the Starbucks they gather in and later smash the windows out of, the colleges they go to that their parents pay for, and the cars and public transportation they arrive at the protests in.

Antifa is the group I am talking about. They hate our government, disdain our military men and women and hate anyone who disagrees with them. A simple YouTube search for "antifa" will help sharpen the focus of what I am talking about. These Anarchist-Communists (this is really what they are and openly stand for), have no problem sucker-punching someone, gang-jumping someone, or throwing bricks, glass bottles or M80's into a crowd. They carry boards and sticks and bats to their protests. One counter protester was recently hit in the head by one such antifa protester. Eric Clanton, a professor of ethics at a San-Francisco based college, assaulted a counter protester while he was speaking with another person. Clanton broke through the crowd, hit the man with a bike lock and ran back into the crowd.

This isn't isolated. It has happened several times in Berkeley, Boston, Portland, and in many places around the world. They are our growing domestic terror threat. They cover their faces to hide their identity to protect themselves from legal repercussions of violence, destruction of property and other crimes. They are emboldened by their numbers and are only brave in groups. They are cowardly middle and upper class youth who hide behind a mask and cry for social justice while repressing the rights of anyone they disagree with.

Think it can't happen in your town? Our capitol, Richmond, Va has a chapter. The Virginia Antifa page has over 100 members. From Virginia and DC,  California to North Carolina, to Ohio and New York, these communist anarchists are infiltrating and trying to take over the country. They think they are on a righteous mission to silence anyone who does not agree with their alt-left views.

Here's the problem. In a lot of areas, the police are being told to stand down and not interfere with these violent protesters. Liberal local governments are giving them a pass on their criminal activities for fear of looking like a totalitarian state. A lot of folks were worried about the coming revolution. That there was going to be rioting in the streets, that we would be left on our own. Here we are. We are at the beginnings of a Revolution. It starts like all revolutions. It is a battle of ideas, of ideologies, of world-views. It has started with the progressive left and spread to the media and now our youth.

Just remember the words of Irish Parliamentarian Sir Edmund Burke: All that is required for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.

Honor, Courage, Commitment: Always Faithful?

Those of you who know me, know that I served in the Marine Corps, active duty from 1988-1992. I served proudly and I love the Corps nearly as much as I love my country. I don't usually post blogs back to back, but I felt this was really important.

I just watched a documentary called Semper Fi-Always Faithful. It is about the water contamination at Camp Lejeune, which one scientist described as possibly one of the worst in the United States. Contaminants in the Water supply existed from roughly 1953-1987, with some contaminants registering between 80 and 3,400 times above the safe levels. The  drinking water was contaminated with industrial solvents, benzene, and other chemicals.

The presumptive diseases are:

• Adult leukemia
• Aplastic anemia and other myelodysplastic syndromes
• Bladder cancer
• Kidney cancer
• Liver cancer
• Multiple myeloma
• Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, and
• Parkinson’s disease

According to the Wikipedia listing: "In 2007, Jerry Ensminger, a retired Marine master sergeant, found a document dated 1981 that described a radioactive dump site near a rifle range at the camp. According to the report, the waste was laced with strontium-90, an isotope known to cause cancer and leukemia. According to Camp Lejeune's installation restoration program manager, base officials learned in 2004 about the 1981 document. Ensminger served in the Marine Corps for 24 and a half years, and lived for part of that time at Camp Lejeune. In 1985 his 9-year-old daughter, Janey, died of cancer"

I had the honor of being one of Top's Marines. I never knew top personally, but had the greatest respect for him. He was a Marine's-Marine. He embodied the principles that the Corps prides itself on... Honor, Courage, Commitment. Always Faithful. I have lost track of a lot of my brothers from the Corps over the years and was excited when I discovered that Top was in the documentary. What I didn't know until I began watching it was that my beloved Corps had failed its Marines. They denied culpability, they hid the contamination, they refused to cooperate and had to be forced to contact the Marines who were stationed there during this time. It simply wasn't on their radar. Top Ensminger however, had decided to follow through with the battle. He had lost his daughter to Leukemia, and as he began to discover what was going on, he decided to fight on behalf of those who needed to be defended. 

In 2014, the Janey Ensminger Act was signed into law, but the fight continues. While care is being provided for the military members, spouses still struggle to get care. Look, I could go on, but watch the documentary. It does a much better job than I ever could. You can watch it on Amazon.com, or from their website, http://semperfialwaysfaithful.com/,  which has vital information you need to know. Did you know 1 in 10 Americans live within 10 miles of a contaminated military site? It might affect you. Even if you live over seas. 

Can you do me a favor? Can you watch this video, share this post and help spread the word? Please help us be Always Faithful, Semper Fi!

A little bit of us dies each time.

Today marks 26 years since I came home from the first Gulf War. In many ways it seems like it was a lifetime ago. Heck, it feels like 3 lifetimes. The world has changed a lot in 26 years. Then, very few were protesting the war in Kuwait. Now, they are protesting democracy and free speech. It seems like the country was united then. Now we are divided with a civil war of conflicting ideologies. On one side we have those who work every day, they love their country and what it was founded on, and on the other side are those who want nothing more than to live free without consequence and feel safe to do anything they want.

I remember coming home, thinking everyone and everything would be the same. I was wrong. Things were different. Not in any major way, but in a way that was just significant enough that I had trouble reintegrating into life once I was back. I remember how angry I was that everyone had changed around me. My friends and family, my neighbors. The only people who didn't really change were my buddies.

Well, the truth is, I had it backwards. We were the ones who changed. The truth is, whenever you are in a high stress situation (like a war or something similar in its stress levels), a little bit of you dies there. You never come back the same because you really aren't you when you get back. My brothers who served after me and those who went before had it much worse. There are no safe places in trauma centers or during war. There are no safe places for first responders (fireman, cops and EMS).

Is it any wonder that so many who have served end up homeless or divorced? We live in a world where college kids need a safe space when the VP wants to come to their school and give a speech, they need safety pins to reassure them that their silly little ideas that their professors are feeding them are ok when they experience a conflicting worldview and they need to hug a puppy when the real world hits and they don't get a participation trophy for their candidate coming in 2nd place.

How does someone live and cope in a world so diametrically opposed to everything they left home for? Think about it. Our troops and soldiers and first responders are sacrificing their lives every day. They don't have the luxury of hugging a puppy when their sensibilities are offended. They aren't living in a world where a conflicting idea is presented in a classroom, it is presented on the street or battlefield where their lives are at risk. Conflicting ideas means death to those that serve. It means a gun fired at a cop or EMS worker, it means an IED or sniper fire for the soldier or sailor.

And I wonder... Everytime we see a tragedy on TV like a cop being gunned down, and innocent child caught in gangland crossfire, news about X number of soldiers dying in battle, does a little bit of us die each time? Are we so immune that our compassion has died?

I had a conversation with a Deacon in our old church. He once told me that there is no such thing as a "poor person" in America anymore. Only people who have done themselves harm. I won't tell you what my initial reaction was, but I remember restraining myself quite nicely and gritting my teeth to reply: "It must be nice to have always had enough to have never struggled in your life." Not directly related, but it illustrates my point. Are we so insulated that we've forgotten compassion? Have our ideologies become so ingrained that we cannot have civil discourse and are instead hell bent on a path to civil war? It's not a war progressives want. They don't want to piss off the vets, the first responders, the EMS, the people that have kept them safe and allowed them their (wrong and misguided) opinions.

I see what's coming and I don't think it is going to be pretty. I pray that our civil servants will respond and intervene before it comes to a head. I have had enough happen in my life that I look back and mourn the death of my own self, knowing that every time something happens that is major in my life, a little bit dies. I'm not the same dude I was 3 years ago, 10 years ago, 26 years ago. Every event has killed a little bit of me. I mourn the fact that so many of my friends are the same.