I decided that this march was a horrible idea long before I knew who or what Kokesh was. He is not the reason that I hate this march. Finding out about him just confirmed my initial take. If he ends up in jail on the fourth, this march still happens, and the nicest guy in the world takes over lead, let's say JmE, I'll still be vehemently opposed to it as detrimental to the restoration of Liberty.
Thank you for the stealth compliment, my friend.
This last statement about being vehemently opposed to the march makes the most sense to me. I can now see that it isn't about the man. I understand your POV more even if I don't agree.
Remember that I was vehemently opposed to pushing for concealed carry licensing laws in Ohio. However, I did NOT publicly stand in the way of other patriots who, for one reason or another, felt it was prudent. I certainly wouldn't have joined forces with the government in armed opposition to them. I would never stand with the government in opposition to patriots under any circumstances. Although individuals joining together to fight for the restoration of Liberty in our Republic have come a ways from a few decades ago, I see that, IMHO, the movement still has much to learn about loyalty and priorities. I'm no longer confident that the RKBA movement has anyone's six.
On another note and in the interest of disclosure for the thread... I'm now 'officially' not attending the march. I was re-considering after seeing how there was such an interest in a protest
denouncing the march and Kokesh. If patriots marched in opposition to other patriots then it would render the march on DC somewhat pointless and publicly reveal the most crippling weakness in the movement. In addition, yesterday evening my travel and lodging plans fell through so it seemed that the writing was on the wall, so to speak. Unfortunately, this means that I'll also need to re-consider my involvement with OC demonstrations in general. If open carriers can so readily turn on others interested in the restoration of Liberty then I'm not so sure how much of my own skin and reputation I may want to lend to future events. I'll certainly look at each future event with far more scrutiny and ask if it's worth the personal risk.
Through the 1990s I suggested OCing in Ohio to fellow patriots (many people carried concealed anyway, relying on a 'prudent man' defense). The response was consistently negative; "It's too dangerous", "We will be shot", "We'll end up with felonies", "It will bring about more gun laws", "FEMA camps", etc. As an alternative, I suggested empty holster carry. That tended to garner even more negative responses. Not long before Ohio passed its CC law these same patriots began expressing interest in Ohio having a concealed carry license system. I was opposed. For one, I felt that the tendency would be for many to embrace the privilege (CC) and fail to protect the right (OC) or even fight against others exercising the right. However, I felt that speaking out publicly against their CC law desires wasn't the right thing to do. So, my condemnation of a licensing system to carry remained in private. Now we have a group of people making a non-violent protest march on our nation's capitol. Some of the same arguments that have been used against us open carrying have been leveled against this march. Firearms are tools and possession of one does not automatically make one hostile nor their intentions such. The actions of law enforcement are their own responsibility. Likewise with our legislators. The sheeple will believe what the sheeple will believe; most of those beliefs will be provided by mainstream media and entertainment. There is an opportunity to get an answer to a question this July 4th; "Are we a free people?" It's a shame that so many people felt a need denounce this march. They didn't need to. They could've spoken their minds and given latitude to other liberty minded people. Instead, patriots, risking their lives and freedom for something they believe in, were met with the same sort of obstructionism that OCers have seen from fellow gun owners.
Whether I stuff and mount him depends solely on the number of points. I am pretty sure he has exactly two on the top of his head, one on his tail, and three on his trident. Is a six-pointer worth mounting?
Lol. Such a trophy would undoubtedly be a conversation starter.
