We Stand Apart

I will be accused of divisive behavior for this post. I will be accused of having lost perspective. I'm sure there will be a few more accusations. I will not respond to them. I will not engage this topic further, in any venue.

I know the truth, and that is always enough for me.

Here's a statement I bet you never thought you'd see written by my hand: Mike Vanderboegh was right.

I'll wait a moment to let a few folks recover. OK...

Mike was right in his conclusion that Tom Baugh is a bad influence on the Liberty Movement. Mike was wrong about his reasoning, Mike was wrong to make up lies about Tom, but correct in his conclusion. With MBV de-throned there was a vacuum, and Baugh sought to return and capitalize.

I am going to discuss three people below: Baugh, AP and CA.

This is not about the Constitution. This is not about Restoration. This is not about personalities or anything except one single issue: Intellectual Honesty.

There was a kerfluffle over at WRSA last week, as most folks know. I limited myself to just two comments, both engaging only Concerned American. The reason I refused to engage Baugh and AP is because of details most folks reading that post could not know: The back-story.

That post at WRSA was never meant to be an honest discussion. It was meant to remove an impediment to an agenda being put forth by AP/Baugh and Crew.

I was that impediment. My position on Restoration is an impediment to the Baugh agenda. He claims "Restoration as a waypoint" is great, yet every action he takes is designed in contradiction to that statement.

It is not about Restoration. It is about honesty. Remember that.

I encouraged Baugh to speak and take part in the community at one point a few months ago. I changed my mind on that point very quickly, after a few email interactions revealed Baugh's fundamental nature to me. I found him to be dishonest and deceitful.

I went to TL's Summit in Mercer, planning to stay no more than an hour or so. I ended up staying much longer. I had hoped to see CA there. He did not attend. I had no idea Baugh would be there. Baugh requested an hour to address the group of 40+ Patriots, and it turned out to be an infomercial more than anything else. I discussed this at CA's place, no need to repeat here.

I took exception to several points in Tom's speech at Mercer, voiced my opposition (in his precious MeatSpace), told him to leave me out of the games he detailed. Then I went home. I never mentioned any of those details publicly or privately.

Here is what many of you probably do not know: A small group of folks who think themselves to always be the smartest men in the room deign to control "The Message" across the blogs of our community. This small group of bloggers, anchored and orchestrated by Baugh, decided to assign community blogs in a "Tier" system, a ranked hierarchy. Additionally, these folks deigned to determine which blogs would receive visitors based on their own value system. The intent is to sweep visitors into the proper "bin", according to the decisions taken by the smartest guys in the room.

It is a classic "Good ol' boys" system, a hierarchy of insiders attempting to control who succeeds and who fails, who says what to whom, based on "Their" desire to control "The Message".

In a community supposed to be about honesty, integrity, morality and Liberty, the mere hint of such reindeer games is offensive.

I had to piece together the information from Tom's speech at Mercer and a few other sources, because I was not "In the loop". I rather suspect that was deliberate, because folks know I do not play such reindeer games. In fact, my tendency is to crush them.

So, my position regarding Baugh is clear: He is the only person I have yet met seeking to personally make a profit from Patriots. His fundamental approach is based on manipulation and deceit (he calls it "Sales & Marketing"). I have zero use for him.

Now to AP: I stopped associating with Justin after a year and a half for a reason that is not part of the above discussion. I told him to go away. He persisted privately but until the thread last week at WRSA, had been silent publicly. At CA's place he chose to take a few cheap shots, which I had come to expect.

I have found that Justin will parrot whoever is in his ear at the moment. I have found that Justin will attack in public, yet only apologize in private. I have found, and anyone who has followed his blog for a while knows, his position on issues changes as frequently as the weather in DC. For a while we generally agreed on many issues. We disagreed on more than a few, including Judicial Review (which, as mentioned above, he attacked in public but months later and only in private admitted my argument had been correct). I have found that Justin will seek a coalition of support in private before he is willing to take any controversial public stand. I learned that over the MBV topic. He is a pack animal and relies on the security of a group before speaking up. I have told Justin most of this in email.

A year ago he contributed to III to Liberty and strongly advocated Restoration. About 2 weeks ago his parroting of Baugh's talking points culminated in his post abjectly refuting Restoration. Fine by me. He calls it "growth".

Here is what surprised me: Justin chose to parrot Baugh's erroneous anti-Constitution talking point that the Constitution is a morally corrupt document, and Restoration is not possible because it means a return to imposed slavery and a return to women as second-class status. With some folks I have learned he will excuse his public statement by privately explaining that the public dishonesty is justifiable because "...that's what our enemies will say about Restoration..."

Sorry folks, intellectual honesty is a fundamental requirement. When you choose to surrender honesty, you may win the argument (because of deception) but you lose the right to preach morality to anyone.

I do hope Justin recovers his compass.

Concerned American: This is the one that hurts my heart.

That CA chose to publicly support the erroneous assertion regarding Restoration and slavery/women was the most profoundly disappointing aspect of that entire ordeal for me. I would have bet my life he would not have done so.

Remember, this is not about the Constitution or Restoration or anything except the honesty of debate among us.

For the sake of "The Message", he too surrendered intellectual honesty on the point. I spoke with him in email afterward, and he admitted that my position is correct (that Restoration does NOT return us to a state of slavery or return women to second-class status). Yet publicly, he took the opposite position.

I watched CA stand on Principle during the ordeal with Vanderboegh when Mike was lying about me. I watched CA challenge Mike to present evidence or STFU. When Mike refused to stop gratuitously attacking and smearing me, I watched CA lose his friendship on the points of Principle involved. That is why I was stunned when CA wrote publicly to support "The Message": Clarity. (Regarding Justin's erroneous assertions)

Add another group identity to AP’s point – that of Team Female (pronounced, as a Latina cop once taught me, “fee-MAH-lee”, as in “tamale”).

Do YOU want to tell Tam, Miss Violet, and other armed ladies that in the Glorious Restoration-To-Come, they and their kind will be subject to The Rule of Teh Menfolks?

How about the woman/women in YOUR life?

Let me know how that goes.

CA knows that is a misleading, incorrect and intellectually dishonest statement. He affirmed in email with me that my position is correct.

I noticed over at Bill Nye's place today CA disavowed the Tier system. Is it truth or "Sales & Marketing"?

I hope it is the former, and not the latter. But I do not know.

More than any single person the "Liberty Movement" needs honesty. When SHTF and people seek allies, we on the Liberty side of the equation already have the entire disinformation machine of the Left/Establishment against us. We can not afford to prove them correct by being caught in lies.

Conclusion: The tiers, the bins, the use of deceit in the name of "Sales & Marketing", and the abandonment of intellectual honesty by a few, on occassion, and the attempts to steer "The Message" are fundamental corruptions of the Community.

I do not care if you love or hate the Constitution, whether you support or oppose Restoration, whether you want to secede or not. What I care about is that we are honest about it. I will stand with anyone and everyone who wants Liberty...until the moment they are dishonest.

These acts surrender our most precious commodity as we move forward in the fight for Liberty: Legitimacy and Honesty in the eyes of those who will look upon us for an answer to the chaos that is imminent.

My sincere hope is that these lapses are but momentary.

Until I know for certain, we stand apart.

Kerodin
III