...you can't take the sky from me.

“Storm’s getting worse,” said River.

“We’ll pass through it soon enough,” the captain replied.

It’s a tough time to be a freedom loving individual, thanks to the goings-on in government, but in both bad times and good we need to remind ourselves what we stand for, and from where we derive our faith.  Our happiness doesn’t come from D.C.; America is not found in its government.  Our reason for living is in God, family, and friends; never in politics. That's for the dirty damn Marxists, for whom everything’s political.  The modern leftist seems to think every encroachment of government upon the individual which reflects their own personal convictions is a victory.  Might still doesn’t make right, though.  Politics can never be better than a sordid compromise, and at its worst, tyranny.  Leftists can hang all their hopes on politics, and force government into every facet of our lives, but this only turns them into the fascists they claim to hate, and they will be ultimately disappointed – just witness the aging leftist nihilist.  They’ve sold themselves to the government, and for them will there only ever be a whore’s reward.  All the political victories in the world will never be enough.

“You’re fighting a war you’ve already lost,” reasoned the operative.

“Yeah, well, I’m known for that,” Mal replied.

For us, though, is Life and Liberty.  Freedom.  Maybe it’s not selling so well this year.  Maybe it’s flat out getting its butt kicked.  Doesn’t mean it ain’t the best show on earth.

“May have been the losing side. Still not convinced it was the wrong one,” said Captain Reynolds.

Hell’s to the yeah!

Remember, kids, in real life, sometimes even the good guys lose.  That’s when you pick yourself up, dust yourselves off, and get right back to living the good life.  Grab yer guns and Bibles and all those books on freedom.  Jefferson, Mises, Popper, Rothbard, Heinlein, Locke, Rand, Hayek, and Bastiat – everything’s on the table.  We’re gonna need a lot of good reading material to get us past this dark night, but just remember what Bill Whittle says – you only get to be Churchill when the times are dark.

“You had the Alliance on you, criminals and savages... Half the people on the ship have been shot or wounded including yourself, and you're harboring known fugitives,” Simon observed.

“Well, we're still flying,” answered Mal.

“That's not much,” said Simon.

“It's enough”.

Oh, and to all my fellow Right-Wingers who think this is the time to throw a pity party, just ask yourselves:  WWGPAJWACKD*?

Probably something awesome, that’s what.  So cheer the hell up, and get back to doing what we do best: God, family, and friends.



And, just so’s we all leave here today with the right attitude:





*What Would General Patton And John Wayne And Captain Kirk Do?

(h/t to Jonah Goldberg for posting that Deadwood clip on his blog within minutes of the bad presidential election news, and thus snapping me out of a potentially embarrassing sad panda parade)

Gun Control Works About As Good As Marihuana Control

Giving criminals exclusive access to drugs is a fairly benign act, IF you're okay with the whole part where it denies individuals the basic right to choose what they do with their own bodies.  Giving criminals exclusive access to guns, though - are you freakin' kiddin' me?  Seriously, what sort of evil sadist does that?

Next time you start whining about how "society" somehow lets bad people do bad things, think about how much better it would've felt - not to mention how much more productive - to have been there on that terrible night in that Colorado theater and to have put a bullet through that sick psycho's idiotic gas mask.

If you wanna help humanity out, how's about spreading the philosophy of individual empowerment?  Or of self reliance and the active defense of the innocents around you?

How's about spreading the philosophy of liberty?

ACT OF VALOR

I finally went to the movies to see "Act of Valor".  I seldom go to the movies, preferring instead to wait for them to come to Turner Classics.  In this particular case, I shouldn't have waited so long.  It was absolutely phenomenal.  By snubbing the cocktail commies and snob socialists of elitist Hollywood, opting instead to cast actual active duty Navy SEALs, the filmmakers achieved a realism that I personally have never experienced in a war movie - and I love war movies.  Real life heroes of the highest order portraying heroes on film.  It has been done before - Audie Murphy, may God bless him, portrayed himself in "To Hell and Back"; Harold Russell turned in a staggeringly moving performance in "The Best Years of Our Lives".  "Act of Valor", however, has heroes in spades.  I've seen a few mainstream reviews describing the performances as thin and wooden.  To those big-shot big-city movie critics, I would recommend they spend some time in real America, with real Americans.  I would also recommend they get real jobs.

There is yet another element to the appeal of "Act of Valor".  War films too seldom include the reasons why we fight, often opting instead for cheap sexual interludes thinly veiled as romance.  I'll put 10 to your 5 that "Pearl Harbor" illustrates the point nicely, though I haven't bothered to watch it.  "Black Hawk Down", "Saving Private Ryan", "Band of Brothers", and "The Pacific", all great modern war movies, but all fail in what I feel to be the critical element of a Great American War Movie.  It is here that "Act of Valor" doubles down on pure awesomeness.  The soldiers are fighting for their country and their families and for the flag that symbolizes the greatest freedom and prosperity the world has ever known.  Period.  "Act of Valor" is a stunning tribute to the members of our beloved armed forces who have been willing to lay down their lives so that the innocent folks back home wouldn't have to.

I do not have the honor of signing off here with the Navy SEAL motto, so I will instead think back to the Sailor's Creed, as we recited it way back in basic training:

I am a United States Sailor.

I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America and I will obey the orders of my superiors.

I represent the fighting spirit of the Navy and all who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world.

I proudly serve my country's Navy combat team with Honor, Commitment, and Courage.

I am committed to excellence and the fair treatment of all.

- - - - - - -

I would be remiss if I did not give a hat tip to Bill Whittle and his PJTV video "Han Shot First!", for bringing my attention to this movie.  I don't keep up with new movies, and might've missed this one entirely.  Check out his film production project, "Declaration Entertainment", and support his efforts to bring meaningful non-Hollywood films to the big screen.