Molon Labe! (18 page)

Therefore, it required a precise coordination of relocators. It was very tricky work, especially in conjunction with saturating the counties.

3) Elect the state executive officers in 11/2014.

This was, obviously, the plan's
coup de grâce
. A state governor backed by an allied legislature and judiciary could accomplish far-reaching reforms affecting all but the most federal of oppression.

Although it was a most ambitious project, it wasn't "all or nothing." If ⊂ did not happen, then at least they had most of the counties and the majority of the legislature. If ⊄ and ⊂ did not transpire, then at least most of the counties were in their hands.

Even if not all 16 counties were taken, at least
several
would have been. Accomplishing only "2½" of their 3 goals still would have created several thousand square miles of freedom in America. Aim at the horizon, and you'll just clear your feet. However, aim at the stars and you'll reach at least the horizon, maybe farther. In short, the project could not
utterly
fail. Acquiring even just
one
county was one county more than they had.

The whole thing suited Preston perfectly. He was a superb planner and organizer, one of those rare people who could zoom in and out of a concept. He neither got lost in the big picture nor mired in the details. His mind worked like a spreadsheet: change one value and he would instantly understand how it affected everything else. After three years of planning sessions, his colleagues grew in awe of his talents and called him "The Wizard."

But how to "herd stray cats"? First, Preston and his team had to learn more about their relocators. Many questions were asked of them:

In which election year could they move? 2006, 2008, etc.?

How many voting age family members would they total?

Are they financially independent (business, investments, etc.)?

If a business owner, how many jobs could they supply?

If not financially independent, what employment would they need?

Rural or urban preference of living?

If rural, which first 3 choices of counties? Last 3 choices?

If urban, which first 3 choices of cities? Last 3 choices?

What monthly rent/mortgage could they afford?

Home: hacienda, house, cabin, apartment, trailer, community?

Willing to take in renters? If so, how many and for how long?

So that the relocators could choose amongst the Wyoming counties and cities, detailed information was supplied. They got not only statistical abstracts, but digital videos of walking tours and even overhead flights, as well as interviews of residents explaining what they liked best and least about their area. Unpleasant facts were not glossed over folks got the whole picture, warts and all. For example, everyone knew that Niobrara county was Nebraska's topographical twin and used logging chains for windsocks which sort of helped to explain why fewer than 3,000 people lived there.

Some relocators liked the quaint little town of Buffalo, some chose Hot Springs and its therapeutic waters, while others preferred the quiet wooded terrain of Crook county. Some relocators even liked the wind-swept desolation of Niobrara.

Their mosaic answers formed the initial rough image of what Preston and his team had to work with. Naturally, not every relocator preference could be met (
e.g.,
far too many wanted to live in Sheridan or Casper), but probably 70% of a relocator's overall desire was assuaged.

Business owners were given first priority, then those with large families or contingencies, and then those who were financially independent.

Single employees had the least bargaining power, which was fair as they had the least to offer. Those who preferred a rural life had more clout over urbanites, as filling up the county around the larger cities of Gillette, Casper, Sheridan, Riverton, and Lander (all of which comprised at least one House District) was more difficult than relocating people to those cities.

Granted, any-liberty minded American was free to move to Wyoming whenever and wherever he wanted, and thus not be subject to any relocation restrictions. However, he would be outside the "fraternity" and thus not privy to the many co-ops and business opportunities available to those within the project.

Intrastate relocation flexibility was somewhat limited. The issue was not just to get relocators to Wyoming, but to place them within the proper counties and legislative districts needed to progressively win the state. For example, it would accomplish little to install 2,000 relocators in Weston county in 2010, only for most of them to move to Sheridan and Cody the next year. They needed to
stay
in Weston county long enough to keep it under political control until a statewide victory was won.

Relocators voluntarily obliged themselves to being "posted" (almost like being in the military) and they had to commit themselves to at least two election cycles — meaning, a minimum 25 month "enlistment." After that, they could relocate elsewhere in Wyoming, or even leave the state. For example, one could arrive in October 2006 just in time to register for the November election, and move after voting in the November 2008 election.

People differ wildly in their personalities. Some can "delay gratification" in exchange for a larger payoff later (in business this is called the "back end"), while most others must Enjoy Now/Pay Later ("front end"). Still others will exchange a theoretical ideal for the security of the middle. So, for their 25 month hitch, several arrangements were offered:

1) Guaranteed
arrival
in one of your top 3 counties/cities, but only if you agreed to move (if deemed necessary) after 12 months to wherever posted (including one of your 3 least favorite choices). Thus, you could arrive in Jackson and be posted to Lusk the next year, but it was also possible that you might not be reposted anywhere, much less to one of your bottom 3 choices. This appealed to 30% of relocators. Gamblers.

2) Guaranteed later posting to one of your top 3 choices of coun ties/cities after your first 12 months, but only if you agreed to
arrive
wherever posted (including one of your least 3 favorite choices). Many single relocators chose this option, likening their first year as a sort of "boot camp." After that, they'd be living in a preferred area and ready to start a family there. 40% chose this Pay Once Now/Enjoy Later Forever option.

3) Guaranteed not to be reposted within your 25 months in exchange for not arriving in one of your least 3 favorite counties/cities. Thus, you arrived somewhere in the middle of relocation choices and never had to move. 30% of relocators chose the security of the middle.

The relocators' picks for/against certain counties/cities were on file
before
they were told of Options 1 3. That way, they could not skew relocation to their advantage by fudging on their choices.

Options #1 and #2 (mirror images of each other) comprised 70% of relocators, all of whom were available for the less popular areas. Thus, they experienced the highs and lows of Wyoming life.

Option #3 comprised 30% of relocators, who "fattened the middle" of the county/city choice. They wouldn't enjoy the Big Horn or Teton mountains, but they also wouldn't have to endure the Thunder Basin National Grassland of Campbell and Converse counties, either.

Every relocator "paid their dues," whether by cover charge, balloon payment or monthly installments. It was at least tolerable to everyone.

Not all of the counties were included in the project. It had been decided at the outset that such would be a pointless attempt to saturate the staunchly democratic counties of Sweetwater, Carbon, Albany, and Laramie. Uinta was still up in the air until after the 2010 election.

Those remaining counties (
i.e.,
those as much or more Republican than the state average) are available for relocation only on a staggered schedule. The project goal was not simply to move a bunch of people into Wyoming, but to fill up particular counties in a particular order. In 2006, just five counties could be saturated with the number of available relocators: Niobrara, Hot Springs, Sublette, Crook, and Johnson. Relocators wanting to end up in Jackson, Cody, or Sheridan had to bide their time as the respective counties of Teton, Park, and Sheridan were not available until 2010 and 2014.

The smart relocators chose Option #2 and moved to Wyoming early, thus assuring their place in a top location when the time came later. This incentive to early migration was built into the plan by Preston and his team. The more relocators who arrived early, the better chance of success the project would have. Early relocators also made data projection much easier.

Preston continues with the business at hand. "Now, let's talk about Phase 1b in 2008 and Phase 2a in 2010. With our five counties, we have, as planned, checkerboarded the counties of Fremont, Washakie, Campbell, and Weston. They are next for 'contagion' in 2010."

Preston often employed viral metaphors, and emphasized the value of picking counties for their "opportunistic infections" of neighboring counties. Although a low population base was critical, the number of contiguous counties with a high Republican percentage was a vital criterion. Once a particular county had been taken in 2006, holding it in 2010 under an incumbent government would not require as many voters (because many of the indigenous voters would support reelection). So, for example, Crook County could spare in 2010 some of its relocators to neighboring Weston.

The notion was military in theory: holding a hill required fewer soldiers than taking it in the first place. Fight, win, hold, move to the next hill.

Repeat until victory.

"In the 2008 elections, we plan to win Senate Districts 2, 18, 20, and 22, as well as House Districts 1, 26, 27, 28, 30, and 50. Such will prepare us for winning the related counties of Weston, Big Horn, Washakie, Park, Converse, and Lincoln in 2010.

"A successful election sweep in 2008 will give us a running total of 5 Senators and 10 Congressmen a 16.7% block in the legislature. Then we can control most swing vote issues. That will very likely wake up the powers that be, even though the counties and districts of capital and minerals are still in their hands. So, from November 2008 on, we should expect increased scrutiny. It may get a little dicey after that."

"You never promised us green lights and blue skies, Jim," says a hand-some woman in her fifties.

Preston smiles. "Just remember that in about four years, Margaret."

A balding accountant-type asks, "What about the districts in 2010?"

Preston replies, "Ah, Phase 2a. In the 2010 elections, we plan to take Senate Districts 3, 16, 19, and 23, as well as House Districts 4, 6, 21, 24, 25, 51, and 54. A successful 2010 election will give us a total of 9 Senators and 17 Congressmen — a near 30% block in the legislature. We will also have 11 of the 23 counties, which will then include Weston, Big Horn, Washakie, Park, and Converse. Goshen may also be within our grasp by 2010. At that point, having doubled our geographical and political power since 2006, we will have become an entrenched force in Wyoming.

"This is when the political climb grows increasingly uphill. From 2011 on, we will need to court national capital and expertise to see us to 2014. Remember your Revolutionary War history? Louis XVI let the Continental Army fight on its own for nearly three years before deciding that they had proven themselves worthy of support. Only after they had defeated Burgoyne at Saratoga in October 1777, taking 3,000 prisoners, did the French sign a pact with them the next February. So, ladies and gentlemen, for the first half of this struggle we're mostly on our own. After the 2010 elections, however, we'll need some OPM.

"Capital is the biggest skeptic and the petroleum and cattle money will need convincing that we are here to stay. Only then can we take on Sheridan, Campbell, and Natrona counties in order to win the state in 2014.

"Nevertheless, by 2010 we expect to have the upper half of Wyoming. Geographically and politically, that will be quite a stronghold. Even if we cannot take the state in 2014, we
will
be able to significantly direct, if not control, its politics.

"Personally, however, I believe that we'll pull it off."

2007 USA political news

[T]
he
(Supreme)
Court is the battering ram of revolution.

— Pat Buchanan,
The Death of the West
(2002), p.253

When words lose their meaning, people lose their liberty.

— Confucius

The famous 2nd Amendment case
Stanley v. US
is at last heard by the US Supreme Court, which in a 7-2 decision partially affirms the 2002 5th Circuit Court ruling that to keep and bear arms is indeed an individual right, but not a fundamental one because of modern police protection and the national guards. Justices Scalia and Thomas bitterly dissent, arguing that the 2nd Amendment
is
a fundamental right. All nine Justices, however, ignore the pesky
"shall not be infringed"
verbiage.

Once alienated, an "unalienable right" is apt to be forever lost, in which case we are no longer even remotely the last best hope of earth but merely a seedy imperial state whose citizens are kept in line by SWAT teams and whose way of death, not life, is universally imitated.

— Gore Vidal,
Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace
(2002), p.20

Reaction from gunowners is resoundingly acrimonious.
"The gloves are off!"
is the common sentiment in the Rural South and Inland West.

Perhaps an elected official will one day simply refuse to comply with a Supreme Court decision.