Molon Labe! (15 page)

Concentration of numbers with a singular mission can accomplish most anything in politics. The concept was solid, and there were sufficient numbers of people keen to relocate to a freer state. All that was lacking was the planning and leadership to make it happen.

Preston understood the shrewd organization the Wyoming project required and recalled his MBA program study scheme. Taking 15 credit hours per semester, he endeavored to pull a 4.0 which meant A's in every class. But not all A's were alike. A for A, a 90 was the same as a 100. Thus, it made no strategic sense to make high 90s in four courses but allow the fifth course to be dragged down to a B+. Better to spread out the semester effort in order to make low 90s in all five courses. So, Preston kept a running weekly account of his grades so that he could calculate just how much or little effort each course required in order to land a low 90. For example, if he had a 96 in Managerial Finance before going into the final exam (which was 25% of the course grade), he knew that he could make as low as a 72 on the final and still get an A for the class. Thus, he could use some of that study time for another class which needed a higher grade on its final exam.

So, his study load was spread exactly as needed — neither too thick nor too thin in any course. After two semesters he had perfected his system, and began to take 18 credits. The faculty and students thought him crazy for shouldering six courses (and all on Tuesdays and Thursdays, so as to give him 4-day weekends), but he managed the burden just fine. Privately, he thought such a heavy course load was the best way to keep him fully interested in his studies. Only challenges kept him interested.

Wyoming was such a challenge.

He would need fresh and accurate county data regarding population, percentage of eligible voters, percentage of registered voters, historical vs. expected voter turnout, absentee voting numbers, etc.

The relocators had to be coordinated and then "posted" wherever they were most needed. He was under no illusion as to the difficulty of directing the immigration of thousands of freethinking and independent Americans. Having once chaired a libertarian conference, he likened it to "herding stray cats." To command staunch individualists as a collective had never been done, but that was precisely what the project depended on: loyal allied troops under a General Eisenhower. Some soldiers would have to drop behind enemy lines before D-Day, others would have to hit the beach under fire, and still others would land only after the beachheads had been won.

It was a monumental undertaking. It had never been attempted, much less accomplished. The stakes were grand, but so was the prize — a free state.

Preston's dozen key people had assembled in the game room. Trophy heads from Wyoming, South Africa, and Tanzania covered much of the north wall. A rifle rack stretching across the entire 24' length of the west wall was filled with historical, military, and hunting long guns. Preston was especially proud of his chronological collection of semi-auto battle rifles. Not carbines, but full-power rifles. Beginning on the left with a Model 1890 7mm Mexican Mondragon, it extended to a 6.5mm Cei-Rigotti, a .276 Pedersen T2E1, a 1939 gas-trap M1 Garand, an M1941 Johnson smuggled back by a WW2 USMC paratrooper, an SVT40 Tokarev with Finnish capture stamp, an AG42B Ljungman, Walther G41(W) and G43, an FN49 with Luxembourg crest, a MAS 49/56, a TRW M14 with welded selector switch, a Spanish CETME 7.62, a BM62, a SIG 510-4 and SG542, a 50.63 para FAL, an HK91, a 1961 Portuguese variant AR10 with an American TELKO semi-auto lower, and even a 1980s HAC7 from the defunct Holloway Arms Corp. Most unique was a 1954 Brazilian copy of the G43 in .30-06, one of just 300 made.

Most of them had their original sling and bayonet, as well as other accessories when available. All were in at least 90%, if not 95% condition. Many gun collectors thought Preston's wall a more complete collection of battle rifles than even the Buffalo Bill Firearms Museum in Cody.

One gap left to be filled was a .308 Ljungman, the FM59. Only ten were converted in 1959, and just three made it to the USA. The other seven were in Europe. The last known price for one was $8,650 in 2002.

Also, he very much wanted an FG42 but they were Class III full-auto guns, and Preston didn't want to go through the ATF hassle. (Some relocated Canadians with money and CNC mills were toying with the idea of making a semi-auto version, and Preston had lined up to buy one of their first guns.)

Some rifles were duplicate models just for shooting, like the .308 Korean War Tanker M1 Garand converted by Smith Enterprise.

Preston's favorite medium game rifle is a .308 M98 Scout, with a custom laminated wood stock and a Burris 2-7x Scout Ballistic Plex scope in a Leupold Quick-Release mount.

The first big game rifle he took to Africa, now relegated as a loaner for friends, was a Winchester Model 70 Classic Super Express in .416 Rem Mag topped with a Burris 1.75-5x20mm (3P#4 reticle) in Talley QD rings.

His favorite big game rifle (a gift from father) is a Dakota 76 African in .450 Dakota topped with an illuminated 1½-6x Zeiss. A custom rifle case in Cape buffalo hide was a gift of his wife Juliette. His best friend and hunting partner chimed in with a hundred handloaded 500gr Swift A-Frames. His son and daughter had a handsome buffalo hide sling made. The rifle was Preston's most prized possession. He was found admiring it at least weekly.

Preston smiles as he enters the game room, it being full of his favorite rifles, hunting memories, and friends.

"OK, we've got excellent footholds so far. Five sleepy counties which nobody paid much attention to. We also have Senate District 1 and House Districts 2, 20, 27, and 40. Excellent work, people!"

Heads nod as soft applause fills the room. The election had gone precisely to plan, and everyone has a happy glow of satisfaction about them.

Preston continues. "Now, let's discuss what we need in January's general session. First, our proposed constitutional amendment. Second, . . . "

2007

The masses have always been as if one person, and this has further intensified since the advent of mass media (and our inevitable control). Our data proves that the homogeneity of Americans approximately doubled from the years 1950-2000. Accordingly, we can now quantify within 95.44% certainty (i.e., 2 standard deviations from the mean comprised by Bell Curve distribution) the range of typical American activity. Undesirable activities outside that 2 sigma can safely be (from a political standpoint) targeted for gradual regulatory restriction and, ultimately, prohibition.

Activities outside of 3 sigma (which is 99.72% of Bell Curve distribution) are considered (by their very rarity) extremist in nature, and can be immediately targeted for prohibition (regardless of whether they are innocuous or patently undesirable).

The point is this: extremist behavior in any guise is not long to be tolerated. The public must be constantly shown that their safety lies only within 2 sigma of the sociological mean. Stray too far from the collective norm whether you collect cars, guns, or wives and society will suddenly disown you.

Evidence has shown that anything participated in by less than 5% of the population has very little political support, and such participated in by less than 0.3% has none at all. Without a significant sociological base, any undesirable activity or belief can easily be eradicated by legislative decree. Britain's leaders understood this perfectly as they have succeeded in disarming the marginal gun-owning population, who by 2000 constituted only 4% of households, thus outside 2 sigma of the sociological mean.

If, for example, rockclimbing were outlawed, less than 1% of the people would be affected and the remaining 99+% would have little knowledge of the prohibition. Even if they were aware of the prohibition, that 99+% would not understand or empathize with the rockclimbers. They could not even sympathize conceptually as fellow oppressed, since the masses have little or no conscious feeling of being oppressed.

To prove the matter from another direction, if the viewing of professional sports or the drinking of cheap beer were severely restricted by regulation, there would be a revolution the next morning. We ride a rough, simple beast, and we must take care not to interfere with its coarse (and largely harmless) prerogatives. Yet we must also continuously herd the beast within its allowed pasture, all the while shrinking the boundaries inch by inch, day by day.

How far can it be shrunk? To zero. As the Nazi concentration camp technicians scientifically proved, the human spirit can be squeezed right out of its fleshy host. Whether or not this is desirable is a
political
question, but the
science
of doing so is well understood and completely reproducible.

— Julius N. Harquist,
The Gaian Convergence
, p.146
River Lethe Press (2007)

A voice murmured, "Let's run away." But other voices answered, "Where to? Wait and see! There will always be time later." Nobody wanted to revolt. You don't revolt against the unknown.

— from
Treblinka
(1967), by Jean-Franτois Steiner, p. 22

Wyoming

January 2007

The new county government officers are sworn in, and life pretty much goes on as usual. It soon becomes apparent that the new folks in office possess an unusually high degree of competence and integrity. They seem likely to do their jobs well, so their odd rise to power is quickly forgotten.

Cheyenne Sentinel

February 2007

In its biennial general session the 59th Legislature today proposed that Article 20, Section 1 of the Wyoming Constitution be amended with the following language (new text in bold):

Any amendment or amendments to this constitution may be proposed in either branch of the legislature..., and it shall be the duty of the legislature to submit such amendment or amendments to the electors of the state at the next general election,
or at the next special election convened by the governor, which shall in any event take place within one hundred and eighty (180) days of passage by both houses.

The speaker of the house explained,
'This proposed amendment will allow our constitution to be improved by the voters more quickly in case of extraordinary events or unforeseen pressures."
The governor hailed the proposal as, "
A necessary amendment to keep government responsive to the people during these dynamic times."

Voters are expected to ratify the proposed amendment in the next general election in November 2008.

Washington, D.C.

J. Edgar Hoover FBI Building

March 2007

The FBI Headquarters was completed in 1975 just before Hoover's death. A massive tetrahedron concrete bunker, its 2.5 million square feet filled the entire block from 9th to 10th Streets and north to E Street.

Because of Pennsylvania Avenue height restrictions (so as not to block the Capitol) it was only seven stories on that side, but four stories higher at the rear northern face. Visually, it looked like gargantuan toaster with two slices of bread sticking out. It was, by all accounts, a brutal and hideous edifice posing as an impregnable fortress, dispensing with any Art Deco touches enjoyed by the Department of Justice Building across the Avenue. Rows of trees did no more to soften the FBIHQ's image than a dress on Janet Reno.

The interior was no less unattractive. A drab rabbit warren of white corridors and anonymous doors, teeming with almost 8,000 employees. Agents generally loathed the building.

The public knew only of the large E Street entrance near Ford's theater, used by the tri-hourly tour groups. After tramping through the building past the third-floor glass-walled Crime Lab (the "Fish Bowl") and Firearms Exhibit (featuring over 5,000 guns), the tour highlight was an MP5 submachine gun demo straight out of the movie
Brazil
.

Your FBI At Work
that sort of thing.

The public was never shown anything really sensitive, such as the Strategic Information and Operations Center (SIOC). SIOC is the FBIHQ's command post on the 5th floor, a large windowless room full of computer terminals. Agents called it "the submarine." When any large or multiple ops were running, SIOC was a very busy place. Headed up by a Criminal Investigations Division (CID) unit chief, the post was one of the most dreaded in the FBI. Lots of responsibility, but little real authority.

Special Agents and expected visitors used the Penn Avenue entrance on the opposite side of the building. To prevent drive-through attacks, the entrance was guarded by three sturdy reinforced-concrete planters. Just inside is a comfortable reception lobby with couches, coffee tables, and stuffed chairs. Facing the entrance behind the sign in desk is a large one way mirror. Hanging on the wall are three portraits: Hoover, the President, and the AG. Only Hoover's portrait is screwed into the wall; the other two are hung by wire. Hoover is eternal; politicians come and go. In the left wall are two elevators. The right wall is plate glass looking onto a small brick courtyard with park benches and a fountain. It was apparently just for show, as nobody had ever been seen using it.