( - promoted by Dean Barker)
(h/t Kirth) ova at BMG.
Let me be up front, in the Army, I lived with weapons all around me. I was an Infantryman. So, when Mr. William Kostric tells his story of how he openly carried a gun to an area well outside the "bubble" provided to POTUS by the Secret Service, I "hear" it differently.
Well, the slightest sympathy that I had for Mr Kostric and the movement he represents, just went out the window.
Please note the photo:
If you don't know that T-Shirt, please follow me below the fold. |
| The T-Shirt above belonged to Timothy McVeigh.
The Oklahoma City Bombing & The Trial of Timothy McVeigh
by Douglas O. Linder (2006)
A bomb carried in a Ryder truck exploded in front of the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995. The bomb claimed 168 innocent lives. That a homegrown, war-decorated American terrorist named Timothy McVeigh drove and parked the Ryder truck in the handicap zone in front of the Murrah Building there is little doubt. In 1997, a jury convicted McVeigh and sentenced him to death. The federal government, after an investigation involving 2,000 agents, also charged two of McVeigh's army buddies, Michael Fortier and Terry Nichols, with advance knowledge of the bombing and participation in the plot. Despite considerable evidence linking various militant white supremacists to the tragedy in Oklahoma City, no other persons faced prosecution for what was--until September 11, 2001--the worst act of terrorism ever on American soil.
No matter how cozy my rapport is with weapons and any sympathy I may have with Liberty activists, there are lines that are not crossed. Along with all enlisted members of the US Armed Forces, I have sworn an oath:
I, John Mark Mitchell, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.
Further note:
I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic;
It is very likely that some of the "Free Staters" have similar sentiments. The definition of "domestic enemy" may be codified somewhere, but it is, to your average Joe or Jane, in the "eye of the beholder." When I see flags that say, "Don't Tread On Me," again some sympathy dwells within me. Once more, however, we have extremists that break any bond that I may have with them.
I hope this diary finds the more level headed folks out there. There is much a stake. I propose you ratchet back the show of force.
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