THE THREE PERCENTERS RANT

     Have you ever heard of an outfit called the, “Three Percenters?”  Yeah, me either.  They are sometimes referred to as, “Threepers” or “lll %ers.”  Still doesn’t ring any bells or set off any sirens for you?  That’s really not all that surprising because apparently almost no Americans have ever heard of them or know what they stand for and represent.  If you were to take a random, unscientific survey of, let’s say, one hundred people in your immediate vicinity or neighborhood literally none of the participants would respond in the affirmative.  You would certainly get many quizzical looks and much shrugging of the shoulders but it’s a pretty good bet that no one would know anything about the group.  Even those folks who may have heard the name “Three Percenters” wouldn’t know much about them and what little information they possessed would invariably be absolutely incorrect. Likewise, most folks wouldn’t know much about organizations like the NRA, the Tea Party, or the Oath Keepers but while they may not be all that well known, I’m damned glad they’re out there.

     First and foremost, it should be understood that they are what can aptly be termed modern-day patriots who are terribly upset, frustrated, and angered by what they correctly see as the complete and utter destruction and decimation of the country they love and cherish.  They view themselves as direct linear descendants of our Founding Fathers who risked life, limb, property, and reputation to forge a new nation the likes of which had never before existed in the annals of mankind.  Not only are they serious about that spiritual-historical bond, but they are damned proud of it!  They are more than just a tad bit enraged by what they correctly see as the loss of our cherished and God-given rights and freedoms and by the destruction of our Constitution, our Bill of Rights, and the very essence of our Declaration of Independence which is easily one of the single most important and impactful political documents and philosophies ever created by the hand of man.  They are thoroughly disgusted by the continued growth of a seemingly all powerful and omnipresent central government that is Hell-bent on micromanaging every aspect of the lives of the citizenry and they are supremely cognizant of the fact that this is the exact antithesis of what the Founders intended and fought a bloody revolution to prevent.  The Founders, as do the Three Percenters, knew that by its very nature government, all government, garners more and more power unto itself at the expense of individual liberty and freedom.  They know that this is what’s happening to the United States and that it has been going on for far too long.  They are justifiably afraid that we are losing our country as historically founded and presently constituted and that those in charge of government are turning our country into something it was never intended to be.

     These guys are damned serious about what they believe and they don’t seem to give a rat’s ass who knows it.  They are unabashedly and unashamedly patriotic in their love of country and seem willing to fight, if needs be, to preserve and nurture the heritage and spirit of the nation’s Founding and First Principles.  Predictably, therefore, they are mocked, ridiculed, and disparaged by those oh-so-sophisticated urbane and condescending types who make up what is commonly referred to as our Political Class or Inside the Beltway Crowd who are perennially in charge of running this nation straight to Hell and gone and it really doesn’t seem to matter what side of the aisle they’re on.  All of them seem to have been hopelessly and thoroughly seduced by the power that comes with being a Washington insider, a player if you will.  They seem to be less concerned with the good of the nation than they are with remaining perpetually ensconced in positions of power and influence.

     Those in the professional political class simply can’t be bothered with folks who profess patriotism and a love of country.  They view them as unsophisticated yokels, rubes, and hicks who should be content with their lot in life and simply stay home, read their Bibles, and clean their rifles.  They should absolutely not, however, presume to impose their will and desires on those who were elected to represent them!  Just where in the Hell do these back-woods types get off expecting their government to actually do the bidding of those who put them in power anyway?  Man, you talk about not knowing your place – well, I guess!  The “sophisticates” among us view the modern-day patriots as misanthropes, as out of place and time.  They are but throw backs to a by-gone age in our history that no longer has relevance or meaning in the 21^st Century.  They are nothing more than an embarrassment when they sound off about such “nonsense” as love pf country, patriotism, and smaller, less intrusive government.

     Don’t these anachronistic assholes realize that we live today in a global and globalized world where nationalism and patriotism are merely meaningless concepts that no longer fit the current global template and condition and that it’s time they got with the program?  Don’t they realize that their ever so quaint notions of things like borders, language, and culture have been replaced by concepts of globalism, one-worldism, and moral relativism?  Aren’t they aware that the governing principles of today’s life and times have nothing at all to do with America’s First Principles which made the United States the single greatest nation the world has ever seen?  Do they not comprehend that governance in 21^st Century parlance translates into controlling all aspects of the lives of those who are governed and notions like the will of the people or popular sovereignty are anathema to those statists and authoritarian types who hold the reins of power?

     Those who would control us do not understand the concept of limited government and, therefore, cannot grasp the meaning of the American Revolution which was fought in large measure to establish just such a government.  Those who would control us cannot fathom concepts like individual rights and freedoms which are cornerstones of the American experience and have historically defined who we are as a nation and a people.  They cannot comprehend the idea of placing limits on the power of government and, by definition, are antithetical to our Constitution and Bill of Rights which for the first time in world history did exactly that.  They view our Founding Documents as nothing more than impediments and obstacles to their objective of creating complete  and utter control over a subservient, obedient, complacent, and docile nation of automatons who exist solely to do the bidding of those who occupy positions of power, wealth, and influence.

     The Three Percenters and other patriotic groups that exist out there are afraid of losing their country and refuse to simply go quietly into the night like sheep being lead to slaughter.  They wish to assert their rights  as American citizens and demand that the nation and its leaders return the United States to the kind of government bequeathed to us by  the Founders instead of the giant, freedom-destroying, rapacious behemoth that it has become.  For this quite simple demand for fealty to our historic roots and principles, for this desire to return our nation to the concept and reality of American Exceptionalism they are, of course, mocked, ridiculed, and minimalized.  They are made to look like no more than gun-toting Neanderthals who mindlessly wave the flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, and honor our nation’s history and traditions.  Why are they characterized so negatively and scurrilously?  Simple.  They are viewed as a threat.  They are viewed correctly as an entity that refuses to conform to or accept the status quo as it currently exists in the United States in the 21^st Century.  They will not merely passively or meekly surrender what they see as their birthright to the forces among us that want nothing more than to destroy this nation and all that it stands for and represents.

     Who are those that would transform our country into something it was never intended to be?  Who are those who would betray their own country, deny the concept of American Exceptionalism, and teach our young folks that America is and always has been the world’s greatest evil and the cause of all planetary suffering, torment, and turmoil?  Again, simple.  They are America’s Liberals and their weapon of choice, of course, is Liberalism.  They were born, raised, and bred here and, tragically, have grown to loathe and despise the nation that gave them everything they have – especially their freedom.  They truly believe that the United States does not deserve the success it has had and that, indeed, we have become the world’s most powerful and wealthiest nation in history by nefarious and underhanded means.  According to these anti-American types, we have roamed the planet pillaging and looting the wealth of others to enrich our own coffers.  We have raped, killed, and enslaved the poor on a global scale but never more egregiously than within our own borders.  They claim that we hate all those who are not Caucasian and that we view so-called people of color as somewhat less than human.

     For these and other sins too numerous to mention the United States must be brought to its knees, destroyed as it presently exists, and be reduced to the level of Third Worldism to which the vast majority of mankind has been consigned since the beginning of recorded history.  These are America’s real enemies and are far more dangerous to our existence than the emergence of forces like ISIS or Mr. Putin in Russia.  Liberalism is the force that will destroy the United States not some foreign enemy or threat.  The forces of globalism and one-worldism within our nation are far more dangerous to our survival than some bomb-tossing maniac who wants only to die for Allah!  It is the Liberals in our midst who represent the ultimate threat to America’s continued success and prosperity not some foreigner bent on territorial expansion or ideological hegemony!  Most Americans, however, simply cannot conceive of this.  They can’t wrap their minds around the concept of American citizens hating America much the same way they don’t get the notion that Americans have actually twice elected a President who literally despises America.  It just doesn’t compute.  It makes them uncomfortable, as it should, and they therefore tend to ignore and underplay it and that’s what Liberals and Liberalism bank on.  By the time most of us wake up to the threat that is Liberalism, it will already be too late and the country that we love will be gone.  All we’ll be able to do by that point is ask ourselves, “What the fuck happened?”

     Not so the Three Percenters as well as other groups out there (see, for example, The Oath Keepers Rant: Not On Our Watch! of 11/30/09).  They are very well aware of the nefarious forces that threaten us from within and are not at all shy about sharing that knowledge with anyone who cares to listen.  For this and other reasons, they are invariably portrayed as nuts, kooks, and ne’er-do-wells by those who do not understand their Paul Revere like warning or by those on the other side who do their damndest to shut them up and shut them down!  A piece entitled, “Anti-Government Hate Militias OnThe Rise (http://cnn.com),” points to the rise of, “a new breed of anti-government paramilitary organizations that have proliferated during the Obama presidency.”  It continues that, “their members are self-styled patriots armed and ready for a new American Revolution.  They warn of martial law, seizure of guns, and imposition of global government complete with forced internment camps and mass executions.”

     The article goes on to introduce a term that I’d never before heard when it explains that, “when love of country is mixed with fear of the government and hate for the president, that’s when you become a Hatriot.”  Hatriot?  Now there’s something to think about.  If one professes to love the United States but is afraid of a virtually uncontrolled, unlimited, unchecked, and unfettered federal government then that qualifies one as being a Hatriot – a hater?  Well, let’s see here.  I love my country and realize that without it my life would be absolutely and irrevocably impacted for the worse.  I also simultaneously hate, loathe, despise, and fear this massive, out of control, freedom-destroying federal monstrosity in Washington, DC, that resembles not at all the one created by our Founding Fathers all those years ago.  Does this qualify me as a Hatriot?

     Well, there are certainly things going on in present day America that I do hate so maybe I can correctly be called a genuine, bone-fide hater if not an actual Hatriot.  I hate Liberalism and those who champion that loathsome, destructive, and un-American philosophy.  I hate the concept of an all-powerful, out of control federal government that is rapidly destroying individual freedom and rights in this nation.  I hate those individuals and groups that either can’t or won’t recognize the greatness that is America or the concept of American Exceptionalism.  I do indeed hate those who purposely distort and blatantly lie about America’s history and historic role in the world to our younger generations in order that they never develop a sense of patriotism or love of country.  I hate the idea and reality that more and more Americans have become utterly dependent on government for virtually all of their wants and needs and have completely eschewed long-held and cherished American traditions like self-reliance, rugged individualism, and personal responsibility for their actions.

     Additionally, I hate those self-serving and self-aggrandizing politicians who so routinely turn their backs on their electorate and who refuse to defend us from enemies of the Constitution be they foreign or domestic.  I hate the fact that today’s immigrants no longer come here to be Americans but rather to grab the goodies available to them but believe they owe nothing in return – including loyalty to the United States.  I hate the fact that our President is fulfilling his promise to fundamentally transform America into something that more resembles some Third World Socialist Shithole rather than the greatest nation that God ever gave mankind.  I hate the fact that those among us who loathe and despise America as historically founded and presently constituted are succeeding in destroying it while at the same time most Americans, tragically, in lemming-like fashion seem content to blindly rush over the precipice to their own demise.  This, by the way, constitutes but the short list of the negative currents and trends that I notice in the United States today and have come to firmly believe that it is getting to the point of no return and that fixing what has gone so terribly wrong may no longer be possible.

     Well, the Three Percenters out there do not fall into the lemming class.  They will not lose the country they love and revere without a fight and while they may go down one day, I doubt they’ll go down with their hands in the air!  People who are this serious about defending their God-given rights and freedoms tend not to “fit” the norm and are seen as way out there on the fringe of American society.  They do not conform to the sadly correct characterization of the fat, happy, complacent, and lazy American of the 21^st Century.  They are unwilling, to put it mildly, to give up what so many before them fought and died to establish and preserve.  They are not buffoons, clowns, or caricatures and are more than just a tad bit serious concerning their devotion to this country and all that made it great.

     A piece entitled, “The Three Percenter’s Make-Believe Army (http://www.captainsjournal.com),” quotes an article from Politicus USA, which dismisses and disparages groups like the Three Percenters.  It maintains that, “a child’s imagination, fantasies, and make believe is a wonder to behold but when grown men that should be holding down a real job instead of fantasizing they are in a revolutionary war against the United States government and use firearms to confront refugee children, their fantasy makes them traitors against America and cowards for laying in wait for child refugees fleeing violence in Central America.”  Traitors?  Cowards?  That’s pretty damned strong language especially when whoever wrote the Politicus screed offers not a single shred of evidentiary support.  Referring to the recent flood of illegal alien children crossing our southern border, I defy anyone to point to even one instance of the Three Percenters confronting children with firearms.  Any takers out there?  I didn’t think so.  As far as the charge of treason goes, I’m sure that our founders and many who fought and died for the American Revolution were referred to as traitors to Great Britain but that didn’t make them wrong.  They fought for what they believed and their eventual victory made the world a far better place both then and now.

  

     The same article goes on to say that the Three Percenter’s, “core belief is a willingness to offer violent resistance to the United States government, something definitely NOT in the U.S. Constitution they support.”  No Shit, Sherlock!  Ya Fucking think!?!  It may not, in fact, be in our Constitutin but it sure as Shit is right there in our Declaration of Independence written in bold and uncompromising English for all the world to see!  If the numb-nut fool who wrote the above quoted drivel had ever bothered to read the Declaration he’d know that Mr. Jefferson insisted that when a government – any government – attempted to destroy the rights of the people then the people had a moral duty and obligation to destroy that government and establish a new one that would preserve and protect those rights and freedoms.  It used to be that any well-educated sixth grader would have known that but apparently this is no longer the case.  The author of the Politicus piece concludes that Three Percenters and their ilk, “need to be crushed with tanks and gunships. You can’t let these anti-American domestic terrorists get away with anything,” and that these, “folks are completely delusional if they think for one moment that they can successfully go up against a government with the ability to squash them like the roaches they are with all of its firepower.”

     Squash them?  Roaches?  Tanks and gunships?  Wow!!  I posited earlier that those who vehemently oppose Three Percenter types do so because they view them as a viable threat.  Herschel Smith who authored the Make Believe Army piece notes that for, “readers of Politicus, USA, I won’t try to educate you on the finer points of the foundations for civil society, but I will simply say to you the following:  you have no idea what’s coming, how bad it’s going to be, or how to stop it once it begins.  And there is nothing make believe about men who are morally committed, called by God, and dedicated to the very end to ideals you treat as a mere punchline.”  Very well said, indeed, and thoroughly accurate and on point.  The Liberal Pukes in our midst do in fact treat concepts like patriotism, nationalism, limited government, and First Principles as no more than punchlines with no more relevance or meaning than some late night talk show monologue.  The fact that we’ve fallen so far from the days of our Founding is a tragic commentary on the state of the nation since the the American Revolution.

  

     For those out there who are curious, the name Three Percenters derives from the 3% of the colonial population who not only supported the cause of independence from England but were willing to fight and die to make it a reality.  The traditional breakdown of the colonists regarding independence usually runs that something like one-third favored independence, one-third wanted to remain a part of the British Empire, and about one-third didn’t give a damn one way or the other.  Of that one-third who favored a break from the Mother Country, roughly 3% were willing to violently oppose English tyranny, thus the name of the group under consideration.  This time, however, they are not fighting some distant, far away colonial power but our own government which they view as equally oppressive as that of old King George.  A piece entitled, “Sipsey Street Irregulars (http://sipseystreetirregulars.blogspot.com),” explains that during, “the American Revolution, the active forces in the field against the king’s tyranny never amounted to more than 3% of the colonists.  They were in turn actively supported by perhaps 10% of the population.  In addition to these revolutionaries were perhaps another 20% who favored their cause but did little or nothing to support it.”  Thus we get the traditionally accepted number of about one-third of the colonists who favored American independence.  The piece goes on to say that, “History, for good or ill, is made by determined minorities.”

     The author explains that, “We are one such minority,” but, “so too are the current enemies of the Founders’ Republic.  What remains then, is the test of will and skill to determine who shall shape the future of our nation.”  The future of our nation.  Now there’s a concept that most Americans don’t really think about all that much.  After all, why should they?  Most of us today are just too busy with life’s more mundane trials and tribulations and, quite simply, have more immediate problems to confront and overcome.  How secure, for example are their jobs and businesses in today’s economic environment?  Will they be able to pay the mortgage and utilities this month and where’s the money coming from to pay for the kid’s college or private school education?  Will they be able to afford gas for the car or put food on the table given what’s going on at the pumps or in the meat aisle of the local super market?  Will I be able to afford the ever-growing tax burden that government at all levels seems to willy-nilly and with no rhyme or reason place on the backs of ordinary American citizens who are just trying to make ends meet the best they can?

     Most of us today simply don’t spend a lot of time worrying about lost rights and the slow, steady erosion of freedom.  Daily life just seems to get in the way of such weighty and lofty considerations.  That’s why groups like the Three Percenters and others are more important than most of us seem to realize.  They act as a thorn in the side or perhaps a burr under the saddle, so to speak.  Their presence reminds us that all is indeed not well and these folks know it and are warning the rest of us out here, a minority though they may be, that their anger and frustration are growing beyond the point of containment.  Yeah, yeah, so what?  These guys are just a tiny percent of the population and certainly can’t represent a credible threat to the status quo, can they?  Remember the mark referenced above about the role of determined minorities.  Remember too, our own Revolution, the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Chinese Revolution, and the numerous Mexican and Latin American Revolutions.  All of them were initiated by small, tiny minorities who had reached the point where they believed they had absolutely nothing to lose and everything to gain by overthrowing the existing power structure.

     These Three Percenter types, then, are not without successful historical precedent.  The article goes on to note that the, “Three Percenters are gun owners who will not disarm, will not compromise and will no longer back up at the passage of the next gun control act.  Three Percenters say quite explicitly that we will not obey any further circumscription of our traditional liberties and will defend ourselves if attacked.”  Additionally, “we intend to maintain our God-given natural rights to liberty and property, and that means most especially the right to keep and bear arms.”  It seems that we have here a bunch of folks who are more than thoroughly fed up with the direction in which our nation has evolved since its Founding, have drawn the proverbial line in the sand, and are apparently very well armed.  This, by the way, is how any revolution begins and those out there who mock, ridicule, and dismiss these American citizens had perhaps better start taking them seriously.  Just a thought.  The piece concludes by warning that, “we are committed to the restoration of the Founders’ republic, and we are willing to fight, die and, if forced by any would-be oppressor, to kill in defense of ourselves and the Constitution that we all took an oath to uphold against enemies foreign and domestic.”  You think these guys are just kidding?  I sure as Hell don’t.

     That groups like the Three Percenters are routinely and casually misunderstood, maligned, and slandered is not at all surprising.  Any person or group who dares to challenge the status quo is normally scrutinized carefully by those who have a vested interest in maintaining and perpetuating business as usual.  Today’s patriotic organizations are consistently lied about, targeted, and pursued by agents of the government that view them as even a remote threat that must be constantly watched, surveiled, and even harassed.  The current administration, however, has raised this kind of activity to new heights.  Groups like the Tea Party, for example, are constantly audited by Obama’s IRS goons and are routinely denied tax exempt status which effectively stops them from organizing politically and raising funds to promote their causes.  Obama and the Boys have gone way past the point of mere paranoia when it comes to individuals and groups who disagree with them and think absolutely nothing of destroying their rights as American citizens in order to shut them up and make them go away.  That’s about as un-American as it gets and yet those in power seem perennially surprised and shocked when outfits like the Three Percenters raise their voices in protest against the heavy-handed tactics employed by government.

     Our Socialist-in-Chief seems not to realize or comprehend that there still exist out here Americans who jealously and zealously want to preserve and protect our freedom and liberty.  A piece entitled, “The Patriot Movement-The Three Percenters (http://mymindwon’tstop.blogspot.com),” speaks directly to this point.  The author notes that the, “the patriot movement has been gaining a lot of steam lately. With the insanity surrounding the current administration, it’s no wonder people are waking up to the fact that they are at risk of losing the basic liberties that we’ve all taken for granted for so long.”  The piece continues that, “so far this year, I’ve witnessed our President, as well as local governments, put our right to assemble, due process, keep and bear arms, right to be free of unwarranted searches and seizures, right of state sovereignty, as well as a litany of other essential liberties being threatened and perverted in such a manner that the Founding Fathers would be rolling over in their graves right now.”  Each of these violations of our Constitutional rights, by the way, can be easily documented and verified should you choose to spend the time doing so.

     The article goes on to note that the Three Percenters have been falsely maligned and dismissed as nothing more than a bunch of dissatisfied racists and wild-eyed anti-government conspiracy nuts with just too much damned time on their hands and not enough to keep them busy.  This characterization may be convenient but it is certainly for the most part not true and is used to paint a picture of them as nothing more than a bunch of crazed, Far Right radicals who hate everyone and everything that doesn’t fit their concept of what America should be and who Americans really are.  In fact, the author of the piece does a very credible job of dispelling that myth and explaining who the Three Percenters actually are.  He notes that if one goes to the website of the Utah State Militia, for example, you will actually find a, “warning to racists, anti-government, potential terrorists, and hate mongers alike.  It clearly states that while they may not like those who are currently running the government, they respect the system and the seats in government. In short, the Utah States Militia is an organization dedicated to the preservation of our form of government.” How does that fit the stereotype normally presented to us of these modern-day patriotic groups?

     Additionally, the author explains that, “modern patriots, by and large, are not racists.  We are not hate groups.  We are not anti-government.”  Who, then, are these folks?  The piece notes that we, “are families.  We are husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters who care about this country and we are concerned about the direction it is heading.  We are hard working, independent thinking people.  We are your neighbors.”  Furthermore, we are, “the people who come to your house when your furnace breaks down, or the real estate agent you know.  We are the people up the road that you can count on when you need to borrow an egg or a cup of sugar.  We are the first ones you call when you need a quick hand with a project in your back yard.”  Do these guys sound so fearful and threatening that the government needs to watch them and place them on lists or do they sound like people you know in your town or city?  So, then, wherein lies the difference between “them” and most of the rest of us? 

     Here it is in a nutshell.  The writer explains that the, “difference between us and the rest of the mainstream people is that we are awake now, and we are concerned about what is happening to our country and liberty.  We are afraid that if we don’t make a stand now by actively engaging in our political process, demonstrating, protesting, and voting, we will lose what little we have left in terms of essential liberties that are supposed to be inalienable.”  Sounds to me like we’re dealing with a bunch of concerned Americans worried about the condition and future of their nation.  Does this sound particularly radical, revolutionary, or outrageous to you?  No, me either.

     The Three Percenters seem adept at recognizing the current state of affairs in America and are adamant in their refusal to silently acquiesce to a status quo that seems Hell-bent on destroying the heritage and traditions that have made the United States such a great and unique country.  They desperately want to hold on to and preserve that nation and will not give it up without a struggle – no matter what the cost.  They also seem to believe that most of us want to get back to the concept of a limited government and not, “some overgrown monstrosity that serves to do nothing more than run our lives from cradle to grave and tax & fine our very livelihood every step of the way.”  Is there anyone out there who could seriously disagree with that last comment?  Well yeah, there are literally tens upon tens of millions who would.  Why?  It’s not because the statement isn’t true or can’t be proven.  It seems, rather, to be a function of a vast ignorance and malaise that grips our population to the point of complete apathy and inaction.  Sadly, even tragically, most Americans no longer know our own history and could not tell you what’s in our Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or the Declaration of Independence.  They simply have no idea and therefore are completely unaware that they are losing their rights and freedoms because they no longer know what they are.  That is a sad commentary for a nation famous for championing and espousing individual rights and freedoms and has always been the leader of the world in defending and maintaining them.  A nation that has abandoned its past can lay no claim to a secure and bright future.  A country that ignores and rejects its founding has no right to expect anything from leaders whose sole purpose seems to be nothing more than solidifying and expanding their own power.  Groups like the Three Percenters are mortified by this turn of events while most of the country does not seem to share or even understand their concern and therefore don’t take them seriously.

     The author of the article notes that, “most patriots agree, this nation has way overstepped its constitutional limitations.  And most patriots agree, it’s our own damn fault.  We have been asleep at the wheel far too long.”  There it is folks.  We as a nation have stopped vigilantly guarding our precious rights and freedoms and once we are no longer willing to defend them, we will inevitably lose them.  Well, groups like the Three Percenters do guard those hard fought for rights and freedoms and are warning the rest of us to wake the FUCK UP!  Folks like the Three Percenters maintain that they are, “liberty loving men and women who want to see the rights we have enjoyed for so long preserved for our children and their children.  We are engaging politically.”  What further sets them apart, however, is that they are also, “preparing for a worst case scenario.  Much like the men and women of colonial America, we are not going to be caught off guard or left unprepared.”  Does this last statement contain what might be construed as a veiled threat or warning?  Well, actually yes it does.  The article goes on to inform us that, “By bullet or ballot, we threepers are dedicated to the cause of liberty,” and, “to put it bluntly, we have not ruled out violence as a last resort in our political process.”  Well, there you have it.  If push ever comes to shove, these guys are ready to push and shove back.  The rest of us may laugh and snicker at people like these but they are certainly neither laughing nor snickering.  They truly believe that, “when tyranny becomes law, rebellion becomes duty.”  For those of you who think that this sentiment sounds vaguely familiar, I congratulate you for it hearkens straight back to our Declaration of Independence and perfectly paraphrases the words of Thomas Jefferson.  Some of you out there may have actually heard of the man.

     Thus far, the Three Percenters sound like particularly concerned American citizens who are afraid that the country is quite literally being stolen away from them by forces antithetical to the very principles that the nation was founded upon.  They are frustrated, fed up, and increasingly angry at the impotence and apathy evinced by most Americans out here.  They do not understand and cannot comprehend the idea of American citizens not defending and safeguarding our precious rights and freedoms.  They are totally flummoxed at the inability, the utter refusal, of most Americans to even recognize the fact that our Republic is indeed in dire straits and is actually in danger of disappearing altogether.  They are also fed up by those on the other side characterizing and dismissing them as merely anti-government nuts and crazies who roam the countryside frothing at the mouth while firing bullets into the air.  These guys are, in fact, pro-government and want to return America to something that at least faintly resembles the government so brilliantly crafted and created by our Founding Fathers more than two centuries ago.  What seems to put most people off is the fact that the Three Percenters are gun owners who claim that they will in fact use those weapons to defend and uphold the Constitution and all that it embodies and entails.  The “complacent” American is simply not used to this type of rhetoric in the age of Big Brother, unconstitutional Executive Branch power grabs, and self-serving political leadership.

 

     A piece entitled, “What Is A Three Percenter? (http://americanwarning.com),” maintains that most, “people who claim to be Three Percenters have a fairly strong handle on history and the context with which it brings.  They are responsible, freedom loving Americans.  They are family oriented.  They care, because they want our nation to last, not fail.  Many are also highly educated or have some kind of foundation that allows them the appropriate context necessary to align themselves with such ideals.  But anti-government?  Racist?  No way!”  Furthermore, the article explains that rather than being anti-government, “Three Percenters are very much pro-government – that adheres to constitutionally authorized functions.  This basically defines equality, unalienable rights, and civil liberties.  They are not hot heads seeking a fight.”  Additionally, “Three Percenters are about restoring Popular Sovereignty, Limited Government, Separation of Powers, Checks and Balances, Judicial Review, and even constitutionally aligned Federalism – a system of government where sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (such as states or provinces), but where states hold the power as defined by the 10^th Amendment.”  (see the Tenth Amendment Rant of 9/20/11)

     I really can’t find much to criticize about a group that loves this country and wants to return it to its historic roots.  I really can’t find much to criticize about a group that understands the ideal of American Exceptionalism and demands a return to it.  I really can’t find much to criticize about a group that would defend our nation as historically founded and presently constituted.  I do know that without groups like the Three Percenters safeguarding and defending our precious rights and freedoms and warning us of their eminent demise by a monstrously out of control federal government, we’d all be much worse off and will have come that much closer to losing the country we love.  Have you ever heard of the canary in the coal mine?  Be real careful when the birds stop singing!

Much Luv Y’all and Have a Great Day!

The Fifth Horseman

(Dr. David M. Rich, Ph.D.)