Originally published at Notes from the bunker…. You can comment here or there.

Wanna see some interesting contrast? Check this out:

The Secret World Of Extreme Militias

versus

Chavez: Civillian militia should be armed full-time

The Time article is your usual blather than they dredge up every now and then when they need some filler for the magazine. These articles have been popping up once or twice every administration since the early 90’s. Militias are racists, rednecks, gun freaks, conpiracy freaks, etc, etc. They usually pick some whackjob to photograph and interview and project him as the average milita member, reference gun laws and Randy Weaver, throw in a quote or two from the pimps at the Southern Poverty Law Center and youve got the formula for the usual Times’ article on militias.

You know, I’ve met people in the ‘militia movement’ back in the 90’s up through today. Remember Groucho Marx’ statement about not wanting to belonging to a club that would have someone like him as a member? I’ve met the guys in surplus woodland BDU’s carrying SKS rifles and running around the hills. They are, by and large, a harmless bunch who, when the novelty wears off, wander off to do other things as real-life responsibilites cut in on their ‘training’ time. Now, that isnt to say that there arent some very well-run, very slick, very proffessional outfits out there…its just that if there are, then you’ll never know about them.

I’m not a joiner. I have no interest in this sort of thing except for a voyeuristic interest in how they do things. By my way of thinking I’m already part of the militia as its defined in the constitution. I don’t feel the need to dress up in camo and pretend to ambush UN vehicles on some logging road somewhere. The way I see it, if youre in an organization that has shoulder tabs, your own ‘unit’ flag and that sort of thing you’ve gotten too big and too noticeable.

Of the ‘hardcore’ militia types I’ve met very few ever got past the camo-n-Kbar stage of things. Most were the type of person that stocks huge amounts of ammo but didnt have a weeks worth of food in the house, more than half a tank of gas in their car, or any real plan about taking care of themselves beyond looting the corpses of foreign invaders. It used to be that any given ‘militia meeting’ was usually made up of at least one or two people working for the fedgov…as the Hutaree circus shows, that still seems to be the case. Joining a ‘formal’ group or organization is just asking for trouble. If you really need to get your pack mentality fix, do it on a casual level. Grab four or five friends who think alike, form your own little group, be as serious as you want but never give it an official name or any other structure that makes it look like anything more than a half dozen good friends who like to go in the woods and camp and shoot guns. And never, ever discuss anything illegal…because even if you never do anything other than talk out loud about it the goons will hit you with a ‘conspiracy’ charge and your life will never be the same.

Now, dont get me wrong…Im all for an armed citizenry with training in military tactics and weapons. What I find amazing is that communist goon Hugo Chavez feels the same way. According to the article linked above, “Men and women in the militia regularly attend weekend training sessions where they learn to fire cannons, mortars and machine guns.” Thug-in-charge Chavez says  “The militias are the people with weapons in hand,” and “We need to break old paradigms because we’re still seeing the militias as if they were a complementary force, some battalions that get together once a month over there, or go and march somewhere,” Chavez said. “No, buddy. The militia is a permanent territorial unit and it should be armed, equipped and trained”.

It is a very strange thing to emphatically agree with a communist thug.