Wednesday, November 16, 2005

The Hart-Rudman Militia

I received an email request from a fellow activist seeking to pin down the origins of the Department of Homeland Security. One of the places I suggested looking was the Hart-Rudman Commission (formally, the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century), a bi-partisan 14-member panel established by Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich in 1998.

I was vaguely aware of the commission, but like most Americans, oblivious to many of the specifics. It's not like our "official media" keep us informed of threats to our right to have arms. So the following was, I confess, new for me:

SEEKING A NATIONAL STRATEGY: A CONCERT FOR PRESERVING SECURITY AND PROMOTING FREEDOM
The Phase II Report on a U.S. National Security Strategy for the 21st Century
The United States Commission on National Security/21st Century
April 15, 2000
[p.15--DC]
America must also enhance the civil (that is, non-military) aspects of homeland security. These functions must be adequately funded and organized along appropriate lines of authority, responsibility, and accountability. The National Guard, successor to the militia, and acknowledged in the Second Amendment as the historic defender of the Republic, must be trained and equipped to assume, among its other responsibilities, a significant role in defending the homeland in the 21st century.

You got that nice bit of deception formulated by 7 Democrats and 7 Republicans, right?

It is with chilling irony that I see later on the page they quote Isabella from Shakespeare's "Measure for Measure":
O! it is excellent
To have a giant`s strength; but it is tyrannous
To use it like a giant.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice! The politicians glibly slipped THAT one in. Shows what practiced liars they are!

Of course, the National Guard is NOT the "historic successor" to the militia; it is another branch of the standing army. It doesn't even qualify for the "states can have militias; individuals can't have guns" argument about the 2A, because it's federally funded, staffed, and on federal property.

I don't know whether the politicians started this lie, or they picked it up from the Bradys, but either way, they now believe it to actually be useful in stopping crime, (Suuure, they do!) or they see it for what it is: a way to inflict tyranny on us without fear of reprisal.

The politicians have bought the lie, for whatever reason, and they are in a position of power. They can (and will!) act on it, and THAT is what is scary!

E. David Quammen said...

Stupid me! All this time I had thought that WE were the militia! Funny, but that's what our FOUNDERS seemed to think as well;

The militia, who are in fact the effective part of the people at large, will render many troops quite unnecessary. They will form a powerful check upon the regular troops, and will generally be sufficient to over-awe them."

- Tench Coxe, Delegate to Continental Congress, Oct. 21, 1787

Oh well! I guess they were just as stupid as I?

Anonymous said...

Stupid me, too, Dave! In fact, I STILL believe the Founders, in that we the people are the militia, and the gov't thugs will NOT get my guns, no matter what lies they tell about the 2A!