Excerpts from Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, crossposted from the Firearms
& Politics Internet Mailing List
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                        Jeff Cooper's Commentaries
                        Previously Gunsite Gossip
Vol. 4, No. 8
July, 1996
                            The Glorious Fourth
As we look forward to our celebration of our 220th birthday, it is
interesting to consider how much we may have achieved in the search for
the optimum balance of order and liberty, which the Founding Fathers
sketched out for us.
Certainly, in terms of physical well-being, we have surpassed any
political achievement in history, but whether we have made much
progress in our search for personal liberty remains an open question.
We can still vote, but sometimes one wonders whether that is enough.
No king or emperor from the past ever attempted to heckle, harass and
regulate the personal behavior of his subjects the way our bureaucracy
does now.  On top of the millions of authorized busybodies on the
public payroll, we now have seen erected a sort of informal "thought
police" which makes a joke of the idea of free speech. Only those who
do not hold jobs may now speak their minds without fear of
administrative punishment.  It was Socrates who was put to death
(gently) for speaking too freely in ancient Greece.  We have not yet
begun to execute the politically incorrect, but the example of Marge
Schott certainly gives us cause for alarm.
So let us by all means celebrate our nation's Independence Day (without
privately operated fireworks, of course), but while we take pleasure in
what we have achieved, we must not forget what we have lost.  The
handwriting is certainly on the wall.  Let us take heed!
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War Cry:  Second Term or Second Amendment.  Take your pick!
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In this dreary period in history where cowardice is a virtue,
prevarication is normal, perversion is flaunted, and even our thoughts
are censored, my own principal escape lies in hunting.  When you get
out in the woods, rifle in hand, in pursuit of noble prey, you can put
the evils of the age to one side and dismiss them from your thoughts
for the duration of the experience. Fishing doubtless provides a
similar release, though I am not enough of a fisherman to know, but I
must feel sorry for the non-hunters (and fishermen) for whom there is
no window on the real world.
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We thought that everybody knew that you do not point toy guns at
people, but it appears that an awful lot of people do not know what
everybody should know. Some loony recently made this mistake in Phoenix
and got himself shot dead by the police.  Another thing we thought was
common knowledge is that if you choose to fight with the police, you
should be aware that the results can be pretty serious -- like fatal.
We just had a junkie attempt to take on the whole legal and judicial
establishment by extraordinary force and violence, including spitting
on the judge.  Our most prominent journalistic bleeding heart in
Arizona professed to be much put out when the miscreant wound up dead.
He declaims that being a junkie is not a capital offense.  It is not,
but fighting with the police very well may be.
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Please Note: These "Commentaries" are for personal use only.  Not for
publication.
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
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