RKBA is a DKos group of second amendment supporters who also have progressive and liberal values. We don't think that being a liberal means one has to be anti-gun. Some of us are extreme in our second amendment views (no licensing, no restrictions on small arms) and some of us are more moderate (licensing, restrictions on small arms.) Moderate or extreme, we hold one common belief: more gun control equals lost elections. We don't want a repeat of 1994. We are an inclusive group: if you see the Second Amendment as safeguarding our right to keep and bear arms individually, then come join us in our conversation. If you are against the right to keep and bear arms, come join our conversation. We look forward to seeing you, as long as you engage in a civil discussion. RKBA stands for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
The first duty of a citizen is to defend the state. Democracy was born in the cauldron of war and the state is its bulwark.
The phalanx, maniple, pike square, and musket line all had leveling effects on the men in formation; equal risk demands equal reward. It's part of the best traditions of the progressive movement, too -- the Civil Rights Era began with Americans returning from the rank and respect of wartime service only to suffer the indignities of Jim Crow.
It's a theme that shows up in the flag of the United States Army: the weapons on the Army flag are types George Orwell described as inherently democratic. They are mostly small arms. The greco-roman breastplate armor invokes the ancient foot soldier; the sword, pike, and musket make any wielder equally deadly -- just as a pistol allows a five-foot policewoman to be the equal of a large man. Artillery is the unmaking of kings and castles. The army of our democratic republic puts the same iconography on all of its drill sergeants.
I learned all of this from my dad, who suffers my mother with his need to collect things: LPs, books, stamps, and flags.
Almost twenty years ago he installed a 30-foot flagpole to indulge his passion for flags of all kinds; my grandmother would visit us from Canada, and there would be a Canadian flag. The Queen of England visited, lending excuse for a Union Jack. He has been fearless about this, too, celebrating the UN's anniversary with a UN flag and Bastille Day with a French tricolor even in the dark days of "Mission Accomplished."
When mother's linen closet was filled with flags, my father declared he would make his hobby into a business. This reassured mother that her house would not, after all, become a gigantic flag display case.
He began with renaissance fairs, then Octoberfests, then campus events. He has indulged his instincts as a history professor by offering history lessons to Civil War reenactors (in costume and bearing arms!) who were looking for genuine cloth 3x3 battle flags. (We only carry nylon, unfortunately.)
It has been an inherently political business. I was questioned derisively about an Earth flag at an Earth Day event -- by a business professor, naturally. This not five minutes after Chinese ESL students giggled like children at flags of Taiwan and Tibet.
A man living ten minutes from my house flew his American flag upside-down for the entire duration of Bill Clinton's presidency -- and has been flying it upside-down since November 5th, 2008...alongside a Confederate flag. It's a tricky business selling a wide selection of flags to a Southern clientele; but I tell anyone angling for offense that I have a rainbow flag, a Soviet flag, a Polish Solidarity flag, and a Spanish soccer flag. If you're a ninja, I even have a Jolly Roger to exercise you. I'm able to piss off almost anyone and that makes me feel happy inside.
Mind you, my dad's mini-lectures are enjoyed and enjoyable; and of course I have been obliged by familiar obligations to hear them over and over again...which is why I am taking my father's business to a gun and knife show this weekend.
Gun shows have developed a poor reputation with some, but in fact a gun show is a great opportunity for progressive action in the form of education. Furthermore, it's a natural fit for sale alongside items that are inherently political. For example, it's time that someone told the whole story of the Confederate flag.
First of all, there is no "the" Confederate flag. There are Confederate flags, and I have them all. The flag most often mistaken for "the" nonexistent Confederate flag is actually the second Confederate naval ensign.
Sure, I have one for sale. I also have the first Confederate naval ensign. No, that is not the flag of the European Union; it's a Confederate flag:
If you are interested in something with genuine historic value, I'll be glad to show you what the Confederate States of America called their National Flag...and then their "First" National Flag. It's better known as the "Stars and Bars:"
I also have the Second National Flag -- the one the CSA came up with when they decided to show the Union they weren't Americans anymore. Sadly, the CSA's second attempt at vexillography had a major shortcoming: what was left of the Confederate Navy felt it too strongly resembled a flag of surrender.
So if you'd prefer, I have the Third National Flag where they added a bar of red to the fly end of the flag.
But if your purposes are for displaying musketry, I also have a three-foot by three-foot Confederate battle flag. I, too, honor my ancestors (a Texas volunteer and a Union general) with displayed weaponry and the flag of my choice.
You already have one! Excellent. Then what about a unit flag? I have the Irish Brigade flag. I can order General Bragg's flag of the Army of Mississippi for you -- it has six-pointed stars on it because (he whispers) Bragg was a Mason!
I get by, but have been wondering if I'd have to hitchhike to Netroots Nation. I have decided now that no matter how I get there, I shall arrive with all flags flying. Gun owners are not ignorant rubes, but as a group they are subjected to an incredible amount of disinformation by the merchants of fear; progressives need to stop demonizing them and start educating them.
Speaking of which: someone alert Alex Jones and Glenn Beck to this eerie similarity:
Spooky!
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