I must post an explaination or retraction quickly!

First, I totally appreciate the job done by our National Guardsmen and women and all other volunteers that put themselves in harms way to protect us and our way of life! I also appreciate the work done for the community by all civic minded individuals.

I also believe that if we as individuals become totally dependant upon others to protect us from harm then we will continue to vote for legislation that enlarges the role of all forms of legislation, regulation and policing at the cost of liberty and individual responsibility. When the bartender has to go to court because his patron kills someone on the road it is beacuse the society needs to feel protected and is unwilling / unable to protect itself. The more resilient and independant individuals are; the more capable of supporting and defending themselves individuals are the less they will vote for legislation that infringes their liberties in order to get that warm feeling of safety that they crave.

It is always through these sorts of fears that totalitarian fascists regimes come to power. IMHO, we, in america, are on the edge of sliding down that same slope. Everything from politically correct speach legislation == censorship to the Patriot Act authorization of extended detention of the unaccused.

If we come to live in a society where our fears combined with our individual inability / unwillingness / ignorance re self defence and self reliance cause us to hand over our liberties in an effort to get safety it will be the jack-booted Nat'l gaurdsmen who provide us with all the warm fuzzy safety that can be had.

I posit this scenario not because I think that the extreme will likely come to pass but as a backdrop to view the alternative of personal responsability and the duty to become independant and self reliant.

Remember the Nazi's were voted in. They didn't take power through military coup.