Back in 1997, Claire Wolfe wrote an article for the Loompanics Unlimited catalog entitled "Making Necessary Noise".  I knew when I first read it that she'd hit on something very important, and that conviction has grown in the years since.

There has been a lot of "necessary noise" made since President Obama was elected. The "Tea Parties" are a great example, and the open carry movement that is gaining strength throughout the nation are another. The Free State Project here in New Hampshire is quite possibly one of the most effective so far, in ways that may not be apparent to those living elsewhere. You got a pretty graphic example of that success the other day at the President's town hall meeting on health care, when William Kostric openly carried his handgun while holding a sign proclaiming "It is time to water the tree of liberty". The pistol and the sign attracted the attention of MSNBC, and Kostric ended up being interviewed (badgered, really) by Chris Matthews on Hardball - and I thought handed Matthews his head.

David Codrea has already collected a lot of very good information on this, so I'll just point you there if you want to see it for yourself. I want to concentrate on the idea of "making necessary noise", and probably more importantly on the "Men Who Would be Kings" reaction to that "noise".

The video of Chris Matthews badgering William Kostric says it all. He was all but foaming at the mouth over the audacity of a CITIZEN bringing a gun to a presidential event. I have to admit to being pretty amused at his outrage, since I figure that there were easily a thousand or more guns carried by citizens at that event the MSNBC cameras DIDN'T see - and I can confirm two from personal knowledge.

Lets just think about this, though. The hoplophobes would dearly love to have seen this fellow hauled away. I'll guarantee you that they tried to get the police to do exactly that. Portsmouth is not exactly one of the more conservative towns in New Hampshire, yet good citizen Kostric was not cuffed and shoved into a squad car. Nor, since he appeared on "Hardball" later, was he "neutralized" by a Secret Service sniper.

Just as our esteemed editor related in her "Another Open Carry Day" article a few days ago, a freedom loving citizen quite openly carried his personal weapon for all the world to see - in this case well within the protective perimeter of the ultimate "Man Who Would be King". The only punishment he suffered was to be grilled by the Leg-Shaker in Chief. Admittedly, that in itself may well have violated Mr. Kostric's 8th Amendment protection against "cruel and unusual punishment", but he seemed to bear up well under the torture.

We see the same pattern in situation after situation lately. The statists have complete control of the most powerful military-industrial-political complex on the planet - and they're afraid to use it as they so clearly would love to. Speaker Pelosi splutters and fumes about the "un-American" protests at the town-hall meetings; but they keep having the meetings, and congers-critters keep getting (verbally) crucified by their constituents. Police chiefs in Wisconsin and California scream bloody murder about open carry - but both state's attorneys general have officially ruled that it is LEGAL₁.

Stop and think about this, folks. The statists have more power in their putrid grasp than any sane human would want - and they are reduced to nothing but impotent name-calling, while the tides of public opinion continue to swing our direction. They are afraid to pull the trigger, because they know what will happen if they do. An encouraging thought, so far as it goes.

We're not out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination. There's plenty of "Men Who Would be Kings" too stupid to imagine what might happen if they push things, and plenty more who just plain don't care. But every way I look at it, I keep coming back to the fact that those who believe in government control of our lives are deathly afraid of the freedom loving Americans.

What I find interesting, and a bit depressing, is how often people ostensibly "with" us are just as afraid of open, principled action. In all the examples I've mentioned here, you can easily find people criticizing those taking action. "Making necessary noise" seems to really worry some folks who claim to support liberty.

One thing that supporters of personal freedom are going to HAVE to get through their heads is that if everyone is truly free, that means that a lot of them are going to be doing things you don't agree with. Get over it. You can't claim to believe in freedom, and try to tell other people how to live.

Are they going to mess up sometimes, and perhaps even indirectly cast your actions in a bad light?

Yeah, that will happen. Is it any more right for YOU to tell someone else what to do than it is for the statists? Worse, really, since you are violating your own beliefs, where they are affirming theirs. If you think someone is making a bad move that's going to hurt the cause, fair enough, let them know, but if they STILL choose to put their life, fortune, and sacred honor on the line, it's time to make lemonade outta lemons, folks. Keep your eyes on the prize, and find a way to make everything possible work for us while still allowing others the freedom to thoroughly screw up their lives if that's what they wanna do.

It appears to me at least that we've moved into an "end game" phase. A lot of important issues are coming to a boil simultaneously, courtesy of the marxoid Obama crowd. A lot of very ugly things could still happen, depending on the wisdom of decisions and actions by people on either side of a multitude of causes. At the same time, as both MamaLiberty demonstrated in that Wal Mart and William Kostric showed us on "Hardball", opportunities can arise such as we've never had a shot at before. Be vigilant, be prepared, and be free.

[Added by the editor for clarity]

1. Open carry "legal" with significant restrictions
Wisconsin is an open carry state. They have complete state preemption for firearms laws. However, you may not openly carry a firearm in a vehicle.
 
California is not a traditional open carry state. Open carry is generally prohibited except in unincorporated areas where the county has not made open carry illegal, or, pursuant to a CA open carry permit issued and valid only in a county with a population of less than 200,000 persons. (Openly carried firearms must also be completely unloaded, according to OC activists in that state.)