A Gun Nut's Notion of "Subtlety"

[paft.livejournal.com]

Adam Kokesh: We will march with rifles loaded & slung across our backs to put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated & cower in submission to tyranny. We are marching to mark the high water mark of government & to turn the tide. This will be a non-violent event, unless the government chooses to make it violent. Should we meet physical resistance, we will peacefully turn back, having shown that free people are not welcome in Washington, & returning with the resolve that the politicians, bureaucrats, & enforcers of the federal government will not be welcome in the land of the free.

So Adam Kokesh has a GREAT idea! A thousand men marching on Washington DC on July 4th, carrying loaded weapons.

Kokesh says that his intent is "to put the government on notice that we will not be intimidated [and] cower in submission to tyranny," which is pretty rich coming from someone whose response to legislation he dislikes is to wave a loaded gun at the legislators. It's especially interesting, if not especially reassuring, to read his comments about the marchers' commitment to non-violence.

There's a remote chance that there will be violence as there has been from government before, and I think it should be clear that if anyone involved in this event is approached respectfully by agents of the state, they will submit to arrest without resisting. We are truly saying in the SUBTLEST way possible that we would rather die on our feet than live on our knees.

All of which, of course, depends on every single marcher's interpretation of being approached "respectfully." This frankly sounds more like a barely veiled... excuse me... "SUBTLE" threat that Kokesh thinks they should start shooting if things don't go the way they want it to.

He elaborated further on that same Facebook page:

(Emphasis Added) Now that it's undeniable that this is going to happen, allow me to make clear how. There will be coordination with DC law enforcement prior to the event. I will recommend that they do the best they can to honor their oaths and escort us on our route. Failing to provide that commitment to safety, we will either be informed that we will only be allowed up to a certain point where we would be arrested. If this is the case, we will approach that point as a group and if necessary, I will procede to volunteer myself to determine what their actual course of action with someone crossing the line will be at which point fellow marchers will have the choice of joining me one at a time in a peaceful, orderly manner, or turning back to the National Cemetery.

Okay, Everybody clear on this?

I am a woman who wrote graduate papers on Henry James. I attend a Bloomsday celebration of Joyce's Ulysses on a regular basis, and listen with pleasure and comprehension to the readings. I've read every word of Mrs. Dalloway, The Sound and the Fury and The Life and Opinions of Tristam Shandy. Mandarin writing holds no terrors for me. But I have to confess Adam Kokesh's "subtlety" here defeats me. As near as I can figure out, he's saying that, as the leader of a thousand individuals marching with loaded weapons into our capital, he will generously instruct the DC police on how to deal with someone "crossing the line," backed up by lots of armed marchers crowding around and helping him in this negotiation.

As Crooks and Liars Crooks and Liars puts it -- What could possibly go wrong?

Especially given what he Tweeted last week:

When the government comes to take your guns, you can shoot government agents, or submit to slavery.

Comments

[brother-dour.livejournal.com]

Just don't conflate 'gun nut' with 'gun owner' (as the Left is so willing to do). Hell, I even think Adam Kokesh is a lunatic.

I do think that the government needs a reminder of how many of us do own firearms and do value that right deeply. I would recommend everyone put a picture of a firearm that they own on a protest sign, though. We really don't need a thousand survivalist wannabes running around blatantly breaking the law (and I'm pretty sure open carry breaks the law in most places, not just DC).

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

I think GLBT folk, Native Americans and atheists should adopt this same tactic. In fact, we should all march on Washington fully armed.

[404.livejournal.com]

I will for now on label anyone who calls for more gun control "anti-gun nuts."

[devil-ad-vocate.livejournal.com]

I think Mr. Kokesh needs to contact his local VA clinic and get some mental help. I'd be willing to bet money that some of the people who want to march with him will be hoping for a violent confrontation.

[underlankers.livejournal.com]

Sigh, goddamn redneck peckerheads gonna get people killed in yet another rendition of "Let's all go shooting at the guys with the tanks and the rocket launchers. Surely 150 years ago and the Bonus Army thing were flukes."

[dreadfulpenny81.livejournal.com]

A thousand men marching on Washington DC on July 4th, carrying loaded weapons. - And why not? It's their right to do so. His post on Twitter is asking for trouble, but there's nothing wrong with a PEACEFUL demonstration.

[spiffynamehere.livejournal.com]

aaaaand in what world does a peaceful protest need LOADED weapons?

[yes-justice.livejournal.com]

Kokesh does have the balls to do this and I'd say the Iraq war he served in really radicalized him.

[sophia-sadek.livejournal.com]

His mentality about weapons and slavery is somewhat medieval. In those days, free people learned how to wield weapons of war. Serfs could only use pitchforks and scythes. Philosophers had a different attitude. To them, a free person was someone who could travel freely with neither a weapon nor a security guard.

[meus-ovatio.livejournal.com]

Any fools who carrys a gun without intent to use it needs to give up their weapon or only take it out when necessary. They aren't toys, they aren't slogans, and they aren't political fucking props. Fuckers like to play. Just a bunch of kids pretending to do something.