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HJL’s Preface: The arguments laid out in this letter are good arguments, and they make sense for the most part. However, SurvivalBlog speaks with one voice and one mind on the issue of voting in the upcoming elections. There are some issues that are so important that compromise is impossible. The political establishment has created an atmosphere where practically all issues are on the table. There is very little difference between the Democrat and Republican parties today (except, perhaps, for the speed at which they push this once great country into moral oblivion.) A prime example of this would be the caving of the GOP to Obama’s demands in passing the recent Omnibus spending bill. Many have stated that if the political winds don’t change, this country will be headed for God’s judgment, but I would suggest to our readers that it is already under God’s judgment. When God judged a nation in the Bible, He usually did it by giving them a “bad king” and they wreaked havoc on themselves, suffering the consequences of their own actions. As Paul points out:

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.” – Romans 1:18-25

I believe that America has had a string of “bad kings” and what makes it worse is that He allowed us to give ourselves these bad kings. We have placed ourselves willingly under God’s judgment.

That being said, I have determined that I can no longer vote for “the lesser of two evils”. I can not stand before God on judgment day and attempt to justify my actions in casting a vote for any leader who compromises the commandments of God. If the political establishment can not put a candidate in place who is willing to stand for righteousness, then they will not get my vote. If that means I don’t vote for anybody, so be it. The commandments of God supercede the laws and traditions of man, and when the two diverge I choose the commandments of God.

To make it easy for establishment to understand, I am willing to simplify my demands of a candidate to these two:

1. The candidate absolutely must stand for life. That means first and foremost, the candidate must be pro-life/anti-abortion. The taking of the life of a baby (as early as conception) belongs only in the hands of God. There are other issues involving the stand for life, but that one stands tall.
2. The candidate absolutely must stand for the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights.

It is incumbent upon us to let the establishment know that we will no longer accept a compromise on those issues. As long as we accept a compromise candidate and cast our votes in their favor, the establishment will never produce a candidate that stands principled in their ethics.

o o o

Hugh,

“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote” – George Nathan, 1955.

Mainstream news sources are currently providing heavy coverage of Democrat candidates coming out about their gun control intentions. In Virginia, the Governor acted by executive order to ban guns in all state offices. On the campaign trail, Hillary Clinton appears to have said an Australian-style forced gun buyback and elimination of unregistered private ownership nationwide is “worth considering”.

Now that the Democrat candidates have tipped their hands and their intentions are no longer hidden by creeping incrementalism, Second Amendment supporters are declaring the imminent demise of the Left, that the Democrats have finally been given enough rope to hang themselves and the Democrats will surely lose the election in a landslide.

While the foregoing might be true in a nation of well-educated, free, forward-looking people or where keen students of history understood tyranny and the threat of good intentions, you have to ask yourself to be honest: does that seem like the nation today? Or is this nation composed of a shockingly high number of people who are beholden to the government and will do whatever it says, no matter what? Are there more knee-jerk reactionary, emotionalist, mathematically ignorant people who feel that government will keep them safe from ridiculously remote threats if they sacrifice their freedom?

We must not commit the cardinal sin of pride or over-confidence. We cannot simply assume that rational thought, calm discourse, or good policy will prevail. It will require effort from the Second Amendment supporters, from lovers of liberty and good government, and from people who want their children to be able to enjoy freedom to preserve these things we hold dear. That effort involves actually going to the voting booths in a few weeks for states that are holding elections this year, and gathering strength over the next year until the national elections in 2016 and voting again.

Some people aren’t comfortable with this concept for several reasons. Let’s spend a moment to understand what is at stake before talking about why it must be done and how. First, people need to remember that the District of Columbia v. Heller decision from the Supreme Court in 2008 was decided in a 5-4 decision. One justice was all that stood between the statists who wanted to disarm everyone except formally registered state militias, like the National Guard, and the traditional right to keep and bear arms, which can be exercised by any citizen. One vote would have changed everything.

The average age of sitting U.S. Supreme Court Justices is 75. Four are over 80 with Justice Ginsburg the most senior 87 years of age, and she’ll be 88 next March. These are lifetime appointments, after all. The youngest justice is 55, followed by the next youngest two justices who are both 60, and another at 65, but even so there are a few of the “younger” justices who are said to be in poor health. The point here is that odds are extremely high the next President gets to nominate at least one and probably several candidates for the Supreme Court.

In its most simple terms: lose the Presidency in 2016 and Hillary Clinton or another gun-grabbing Democrat will appoint justices who will use their lifetime tenure on the Supreme Court to gut your right to keep and bear arms and possibly many other rights as well. There’s no protection from the Senate confirmation either, because it is a simple majority vote. Currently, there are 54 Republican Senators, but lose just four seats or have just a few defectors and there will be no stopping that candidate or any other that gets nominated. Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, or some other hard-core liberal will have your right destroyed. This is clear and present danger to a Constitutional right that teeters on a single Supreme Court vote.

More than one website has suggested that the People would fight before they would give up their rights. Let’s consider that proposition for a moment. To preserve the right, a person merely needs to get up, travel a short distance to a polling station in a heated vehicle, check in to the warm, well-lit polling station, cast their vote, and return home.

If they won’t get off the sofa to do this simple, easy task, how can anyone think that same person would give up all material comforts, career, savings, and property, face primitive living conditions, starvation, freezing field conditions, and the constant prospect of death from drones, helicopters, aircraft, snipers, artillery, and the full might of the federal government armed forces in order to keep what they already have? That is a proposition that defies logic, so if you are one of the rational people who can carry a coherent thought, you can see it is a non-starter. If they won’t vote, they won’t fight. This is what the gun-grabbers are counting on.

The only way to stop that mindset, the only way to convince the Democrats to recalculate their strategy is by a massive show of force at the voting booth this November and next November. We all need to go to our friends and get their friends too and make sure everyone is registered to vote in a timely fashion, has a ride to the polling station and will get up, go to the polls, and cast their vote. If they’re going to be out of town, get them an absentee ballot. Turn the so-called Blue and Purple states red with votes, before it is too late.

The bare prospect of registering to vote scares a lot of hold-outs who will claim that they don’t want to register to vote or actually vote because it puts them on the grid, in the sights of the establishment, or because it gives legitimacy to a regime that has departed from the Constitution. Here’s the bad news: if you think the State doesn’t know about you from online activity, phones, utilities, school enrollments, or other public activities, the State still knows by property records, tax records, purchases with “saver” cards at stores, by subscriptions, club memberships, drone overflights, and by State informants. They already know or can find you with no meaningful effort whatsoever. They also don’t need the vote of the hold-outs to establish their legitimacy. Masses of people on government aid will gladly give the State all of the support it needs to continue. The only way that will change is if you get up, register, and vote for candidates who want to restrict the warrantless searches and unlimited data retention, and who will campaign for real freedom and restriction of State power.

This is a struggle that affects us all. Every single vote counts. Many of the state and local elections in the last cycle were won or lost by a few hundred votes, some by a few dozen. Your vote, and those of your friends, family, and connections, can tip the balance. So bring them with you and help them make it a reality. After all, if you can’t win a vote, how could you win a war? – K.A.