Mar 30, 2010

Hutaree and me

I reserve judgment. Some of these guys seem to be guilty enough of something, but from the evidence so far shared with us it seems to max out at giving life to nocturnal emissions inspired by bad teevee movies and cheap video games. If they're what the cops imply, fine, take them off the streets, but it would be nice to see evidence of some specific crimes beyond extended emotional adolescence and aggravated Bubbaness.

It's useful to remember that "conspiracy" is about the easiest charge to level against some kook you don't like.

The wires emphasize the alleged perps began undergoing military training a couple of years ago.

If so they're pikers. At age eleven the Boy Scouts put me in a khaki uniform with a dangerous knife sheathed behind my right hip. We saluted the flag a lot. We had a special hand shake, and we pledged ourselves to religious values and to The United States of America. Every day at summer camp we marched to the rifle range for basic training in careful one-shot marksmanship.* A couple of times a year we'd even have a potluck with our parents present, and they would applaud as older men awarded us badges and medals for various militaristic achievements which could easily be turned against established authority. Shooting. Fire building. Stalking. Orienteering. And so forth.

No wonder we turned out to be such problems for the more elevated and sensitive elements of our society.

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*I really miss those Mossy 144LS rifles, especially the one I bought and then idiotically sold. If you happen to have one, talk to me. I have cash aquiver for even a reasonably decent example.


4 comments:

JohnW said...

So, you admit to membership in a religious-based paramilitary organization, eh? Guns, uniforms, meetings, the whole package? I'll just bet you went to "training" camps. too. Boy, if anyone comes forward to say you've uttered a critical word about our government you're in Big Trouble.

Jim said...

Absolutely. The primary training camp was deep in the woods, and sniper indoctrination was held at an isolated rifle range built by the local militia, called, I believe, the National Guard. Scout's honor. They showed up on a Friday night and by Monday morning we were teaching kids to shoot from a covered redwood deck with tables, locked storage, and other shooty amenities. The local paper printed an approving article. Any wonder so many of us turned out so bad?

JohnW said...

You sure you don't mean Mossberg *44*s? Gunbroker's got a slew of 'em.

Jim said...

No, I covet the 144LS. The main difference, I think, is the 144 has an adjutable hand stop on the forearm. The LS denotes Lyman sights, and you got a bunch of cute -- but mostly useless -- inserts that fit into the front hood.

Pretty picture at:

http://www.box54.com/kevin-144ls.jpg