Somewhere out there, a regular reader of Ubi Libertas Blog opened this post and wished fervently that I was done with “politics.” Between my five-day pause and yesterday’s lengthy travelogue, they hoped that maybe my fever had broken and I’d go back to writing exclusively about softer subjects.
Well, that’s not gonna happen. The stakes are too high for me to be silent.
Our trip to The Mountain and back, beyond the personal refreshment it offered, was a complete validation of our decision to move to The Ozarks of northern Arkansas. We spent most of our time in The South, where People and culture actively resist the madness infecting the rest of America.
Gas prices were a useful barometer. Of the six states through which we traveled, three — Ohio, Indiana and Illinois — have been sitting above the national average for some time. We made a conscious decision not to refuel in those states.
Crossing from Illinois into Missouri last Wednesday, right away we noticed that advertised prices west of the Mississippi River were 70 to 80 cents lower. In Arkansas they were lower still, by a nickel or two, a trend that holds throughout the southeast tier (with the exception of Florida).
But none of it’s good, of course. As of this morning the national average price for a gallon of regular gas is $4.919. Ohio is at $4.968 and we’re paying an average of $5.033 here locally. The difference between Illinois and Missouri, by the way, now is almost a dollar per gallon.
The average in Arkansas is $4.45. Even though that’s the second-lowest in the country, people there are hurting. Prices on everything are way up, just like everywhere else.
“Today, thanks to the economic plan and the vaccination plan that my administration put into action, America has achieved the most robust recovery in modern history.”
the current occupant of the Oval Office, yesterday, via Twitter
The ruling regime in DC has engineered our national hardship, and everyone (with a brain) knows it. The progressive cabal launched their assault on America’s economy and culture on day one and it hasn’t let up.
It should come as no surprise that over 72% of Americans say that the country is on the “wrong track.” I mean, who’s dumb enough to believe we’re on the “right track”?
Fifty-one percent of Democrats, that’s who. This is why we can’t have nice things.
Inflation is quadruple what it was during the Trump years (even excluding the WuFlu effect) and gas prices have doubled. America has sacrificed energy independence in favor of begging global enemies for oil and gas. Crime is out of control. Illegals flood the southern border, the regime flying or busing thousands of them far into the Heartland.
Every bit of that was created by The Anti-America Party, more than half of which thinks it’s all perfectly fine. It’s the sort of destructive incompetence that has the “leader” of that party invoking wartime powers — the Defense Production Act of 1950 — to prop-up production of solar panels in response to skyrocketing gas and utility prices.
I want to be clear — solar has its place. Deb and I have experimented with it for the bus and we may employ a small system on The Mountain. But it’s immature technology, especially in terms of storage, and it’s ludicrous to consider solar even a partial solution the current crisis.
The regime’s answer to the spike in violent crime, naturally, is to disarm law-abiding Americans. Democrats and other progressives want to ban the private ownership of firearms, ultimately, and they’ve changed the definition of “mass shooting” to pave the way for their unconstitutional agenda.
They know, however, that their goal is (probably) politically unattainable right now. So what they’ve decided to do, apparently, is — here comes a talking point — “tinker around the edges,” pursuing what they sell as “minor” infringements like “red-flag laws” and raising the minimum age for purchasing a long gun. The legislation certainly will include a “poison pill” (school security, e.g.) and Republicans will vote for it.
We’re supposed to be glad about that, or relieved, or something. Another “assault weapons ban” is said to be unlikely. Ditto a federal limit on magazine capacity. It could’ve been worse, they hope we’ll say.
We can’t afford to adopt that attitude. We can’t be in this to lose anything, to settle for whatever Liberty the State sees fit to allow. Infringement of any sort is unacceptable. “I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed,” George Patton famously said, and that summarizes my reaction to anyone who compromises on matters of essential Liberty.
No matter what you’ve been told, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are absolute.
A progressive elite is unmaking America, one “minor” infringement at a time. We must stand and fight their every attempt to dismantle our country.
It doesn’t belong to them.
So my five-day excursion deep into Free America only strengthened my resolve to raise my voice in opposition to the enemies of Liberty. The future of our country depends on People like you and me, true Americans, standing up and speaking out.
One year ago today we made a 100-mile run, battling more weather and more construction to get to a dealer and have the fridge swapped — but they were short a tech and pushed us back a day.
Take care of yourselves, Patriots. Stay calm. Stay sharp. Stay free.
#WiseUp #LibertyOrDeath
#LetsGoBrandon #FJB