Thursday, January 20, 2011

The cradle and the grave of liberty.

As anyone who knows me can tell you, I have a prickly disposition.

Since commencing the writing of this blog, I have typed out explicit wishes for harm on a variety of people. Recently I suggested that people who put too much credence in horoscopes should go huff exhaust fumes in a locked garage. When Dick Cheney dusted his hunting buddy with his fowling piece, I wrote that his only real crime was shooting a lawyer in Texas without a lawyer stamp on his hunting license. In a two-day period last November, I hoped aloud that Sen. Chuck Schumer, everybody at the FDA, and an anonymous TSA agent would all die in a fire, screaming. I've used the phrase "Die, hippie" with a specific hippie as the referent more times than I can count.

And I still have my guns.

This is apparently mostly because I don't live in Arlington, Massachusetts.

Travis Corcoran, proprietor of Heavy Ink Comics, whose nom de blog is "TJIC" does live in Arlington, Massachusetts. Travis identifies himself as an anarcho-capitalist; I'd say that on the philosophical axis, the pelt on his wookie suit is longer and more luxuriant than mine, if not quite as splendid as Billy Beck's.

In the wake of the recent shooting in Tuscon, Travis put up a post on his blog about how he didn't particularly feel like shedding any tears over the shooting of a politician, entitled "1 down, 534 to go!" Provocative? Inflammatory? Even tacky? Sure. But it was just speech. Political speech. The kind that's protected under the 1st Amendment, even when it's about politicians further up the food chain than congresscritters.

Comic readers tend to trend younger and lefter than the norm, and some of his customers found out about his post and decided to organize a boycott. I have no problem with boycotts; lord knows I've called for the boycotts of businesses that did things that annoyed me, such as using murderers for pitchmen. Some people were so butthurt, however, that they went to the authorities, and Travis received a knock on the door: It was the Arlington, MA po-po, there to relieve Mr. Corcoran of his guns, his ammunition, his firearms license, and his 2nd Amendment rights, all for having the temerity to use his 1st Amendment rights in the former Cradle of Liberty, now its grave.

Folks, if Travis committed a crime, then I'm a criminal, too. To quote another famous Bay Stater (who would no doubt be disgusted with the current state of affairs there)
"Under a government which imprisons unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison."
I am TJIC.

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wookie gotta pay the Wookie tax!

genedunn said...

You, "prickly"? Never! It must be a lie!

ZK said...

I have it on good authority from "a friend" that Massachusetts gun owners, even those that consider themselves otherwise stalwart and honorable men, are scared shitless by the fact they their right to keep and bear arms is revocable for any reason, and sometimes choose silence over advocacy because of this.

Cases like this might one day provide a window to end this state of affairs.

Stan said...

I think at this point the rage-o-meter needle is broken and the shaft is spinning somewhere short of 90% of c

Borepatch said...

Welcome to the Army of TJICs, Tam!

TotC said...

The sweetest irony is to go buy a comic written by Paul Cornell through Travis' online comic book store. Thereby using the fruits of a bigoted fool's labors to help Travis practice unabashed capitalism.

TJIC said...

Thanks for your support, Tam - it's appreciated.

Re: TotC: Thanks!

Btw, if comic books aren't your thing, I own and run a second business: SmartFlix.com.

Sign up for Combat Pistol University

http://smartflix.com/store/video/6303/Combat-Pistol-University

... or Gunsmithing University:

http://smartflix.com/store/video/6614/Gunsmithing-University

...or one of the others:

http://smartflix.com/store/universities

So instead of entertaining yourself with the latest Spiderman, Batman, etc., you can get yourself some practical knowledge from a variety of subjects.

ASM826 said...

I contend that the 2nd Amendment is completely infringed in Massachusetts. To have a permit just to possess a gun or an empty piece of brass, and to have the permit revocable on the whim of the authorities is no right at all. It is a privilege being granted to you by those who make decisions for you.

I certainly would not have said what he said, but I think he has a right to say it.

I also think that everyone who pays taxes in Massachusetts should move and let the state collapse trying to fund it's socialist programs without any income.

ViolentIndifference said...

...with Freedom and Liberty for All.*


*Offer does not apply in MA.

Anonymous said...

I will admit to thinking that if all it takes to suspend Congress for a week is shooting a Congresscritter, then perhaps 51 more names are needed...

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Eck! said...

I forget it if was Rob or Sebastian that described gun rights as a cake that when the anti 2A people are done most are left with crumbs.. Here in MA the cupcake was so taken that we get the dried paper it came in.

What passes for Due process here is a joke. Criminals run free and people get railroaded. The real wonder is if they find in TJICs favor will he get it all back and how much will have gotten "lost" in the property room?

And VI, it's not:
*Offer does not apply in MA..

Liberty and freedom for all.*
*offer void where prohibited and participating states only. Please read fine print.


Eck!

NotClauswitz said...

Go TJIC!

Firehand said...

Well, I guess it's a good thing I wasn't in the PROM when I made those statements about tar and feathers, and ropes, and- maybe I ought to...

Oh, hell with it. I think the other had something to do with defenstration as a treatment for politicians become too full of themselves.

Anonymous said...

TJIC'S only problem is that it was a Liberal who got shot. Many called for the assassination of Bush for years and years and no action was taken. If you publish now that you want to kill Boehner, it's protected free speech. If he had said, "Kill all Republicans," nothing would have happened.

theirritablearchitect said...

Speaking of, "politicians further up the food chain;" I am to understand that Loughner is currently facing only federal charges, and that the death penalty will probably be sought.

Now, I'm not one to let this shit-stain on history get off lightly, and I am also fairly convinced that he is indeed worthy of riding sparky or getting the needle or whatever the means may be, but, as I see it, getting the death penalty at the attempted assassination of a federal official gives me more than a bit of cause for concern.

Why?

If it had been John Q. Public, instead of one of what I can only term, The Anointed, who'd taken a bullet to the head, and survived, we'd not be looking at the same charges, would we?

Two classes of people in this country, the Lords and the Serfs, plain and simple.

That should make your skin crawl.

Netpackrat said...

Well said, Tam. Not that we expected anything less.

Tam said...

theirritablearchitect,

"...getting the death penalty at the attempted assassination of a federal official..."

Attempted murder of a congresscritter is not a capital crime.

Murder of a Federal judge is.

staghounds said...

"It was a crime to sass a Federal Judge a hundred years before it was a crime to kill the President".

I'm TJIC too.

Bram said...

My wife was offered a job in Boston a couple of years ago. Our families in MA asked why we wouldn't move back. My list was long and laced with profanity - and just got longer.

I wouldn't even be able to bring back the guns I bought there legally 20 years ago.

And I'm not sure I could bring myself to go down as peacefully when the local Gestapo / NKVD comes knocking.

Even if he is cleared, he won't see those guns again for a decade if ever.

Anonymous said...

Eck,

"I forget it if was Rob or Sebastian that described gun rights as a cake that when the anti 2A people are done most are left with crumbs"

http://thelawdogfiles.blogspot.com/2010/09/ok-ill-play.html

Jay G said...

Count me in as one of those MA gunowners who is scared shitless by this.

Now, it ain't gonna stop me from flapping my gums, but you had damn well better be sure that I will be looking over my shoulder a lot more.

And working on the Mrs. about GETTING THE HELL OUT...

Anonymous said...

Just to remind...in the end, the Romans crucified all the ones that said, "I'm Spartacus!" Even Spartacus himself.

We need to be clear about what we are asking for.

jd

Tam said...

jd,

Yeah, and...?

Anonymous said...

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants"

It doesn't say "ONLY with the blood of tyrants" jd.

George said...

But ... but ... the Lame Stream Media (H/T Michelle Makin) is all atwitter about the prospect of Mass.'s favourite political family coming back to Congress. It seems that it's something of a state chagrin that Mass. doesn't have a Kennedy at your federal trough.

As for TJIC's problems, boy does that sound familiar to the Great White North.

Regards.

dave said...

"If they ever make me carry a rifle the first man I want to get in my sights is L. B. J."

Per Watts v. United States, 394 U.S. 705 (1969), "whatever the 'willfullness' requirement implies, the statute initially requires the Government to prove a true 'threat.' We do not believe that the kind of political hyperbole indulged in by petitioner fits within that statutory term. For we must interpret the language Congress chose 'against the background of a profound national commitment to the principle that debate on public issues should be uninhibited, robust, and wide-open, and that it may well include vehement, caustic, and sometimes unpleasantly sharp attacks on government and public officials.' New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254, 270 (1964). The language of the political arena, like the language used in labor disputes, see Linn v. United Plant Guard Workers of America, 383 U.S. 53, 58 (1966), is often vituperative, abusive, and inexact. We agree with petitioner that his only offense here was 'a kind of very crude offensive method of stating a political opposition to the President.' Taken in context, and regarding the expressly conditional nature of the statement and the reaction of the listeners, we do not see how it could be interpreted otherwise."

It's going to cost him a lot of money in legal bills, but I suspect Travis will end up winning if he presses far enough. Frankly, if we can get him through the courts, this could be very useful in defining just under what circumstances the state may deny a person his 2nd Amendment rights.

theirritablearchitect said...

"Murder of a Federal judge is."

My point stands.

If it had been you or me, I'm less than optimistic of the charges being filed and the indicment pushing through as it has.

We have a tiered class of citizens here, and it stinks.

Tam said...

theirritablearchitect,

Arizona has executed 24 people since capital punishment was reinstated there in 1992 and has a further 135 on death row. I'm pretty sure none of them busted a cap in a federal judge.

Despite owning a wookie suit, I can see the logic behind making the murder of a federal judge a capital crime (as staghounds pointed out, killing the judge has been a federal crime longer than killing the president has...) Applying that logic, the killing of anyone currently sitting on a federal jury would be an automatic capital crime, too.

I don't know if that's how the laws would be in Tamaraland, but they are internally consistent and not entirely objectionable.

theirritablearchitect said...

Tam,

This is exactly what I'm talking about...I disagree on the basic premise of differentiating between persons who get offed by madmen. It makes a mockery of the basic structure of, "all men are created equal," bit.

It shouldn't make any difference who you are, be it federal judge, President...of your local Union of Pipefitters, homeless dood, or what have you. It's devisive to suggest that, in the eyes of the law, there are those who "deserve" some sort of special treatment, and I think that basing capital punishment eligibility on such titles is complete horseshit.

Earl said...

Well, maybe I understand why the village of Menotomy changed its name to Arlington - they didn't want to have a repeat of April 19, 1775. Would rile the neighborhood, wouldn't it?

kishnevi said...

Irritable A:

If you murder a sitting judge (or, as Tam noted, a sitting juror) you're attacking the structure of law and the idea of rule by law.

That is something quite different from merely wandering around the street and killing random people who get in your way.

And while "Ego sum Spartacus" is a good line, it's possible to take it too far. The real life Spartacus not only got to be the world's second most famous crucified person (without the benefits of being raised on the third day), but was apparently in his pregladiator days the sort of person you definitely don't want to meet on the streets of Broad Ripple at 2 A.M.

ViolentIndifference said...

kish: Not arguing about what you are saying, but the lunatic wasn't "attacking the structure of law" he was "killing random people who get in your way". I doubt that chuckles had any idea who his supplemental victims were (or would be) after he shot his #1 target. He just turned and fired at people near him.

In fact I think he fired to the right (civilians) and turned and fired to the left (judge) - or possibly left then right - which would mean he was shooting indiscriminately.

Not saying I don't want to see a cannon fired up his ass.

Tam said...

tia,

Shoot me an email; these text boxes are too small. ;)

Ian Argent said...

Murder of a federal judge "in the performance of his duties" is the charge, allowing the feds to claim juristiction. Murder of a 9-year old is not a federal crime due to lack of juristiction, much less murder of you or I.

It's not so much that he's special as a judge, but he's special as a FEDERAL judge. And that is right and proper. Likewise offing PFC Snuffy "in the performance of his duties" would be a federal crime, or even if that census worker (Constitutionally-authorized function) had turned out to have been a murder rather than suicide.

Be there a class of federal murder charge that does not carry the potential of a death sentence? I think the federal equivalent of premeditated unjustified homicide is a capital charge no matter if you are judge or Jane Doe.

SiGraybeard said...

Travis identifies himself as an anarcho-capitalist; I'd say that on the philosophical axis, the pelt on his wookie suit is longer and more luxuriant than mine, if not quite as splendid as Billy Beck's.

And writing like that is why I come here every day, usually more than once.

The fact that our wookie suits are apparently about the same length of fur is just coincidental.

YAT (Yet Another TJIC)

1894C said...

Best wishes to this fellow. As a former resident of the Peoples Republic of Massachusetts I understand the frustration.

Hold Fast!
III

1894C

staghounds said...

I said it was a crime to merely SASS, that is be verbally rude to, a Federal Judge long before it was a crime to kill the President.

It was a crime to kill a Federal Egg Inspector before it was a crime to kill the President, too.

Speaking as a special, death eligibility included for killing me person, I think it's evil to differentiate.

I'm just some bureaucrat, that pipefitter is a CITIZEN.

Alright, my captcha is DOOFU. How does it know it's me?

Justthisguy said...

I would like to live in Tamaraland. However, I would like Roberta to intercede for me in any disputes I might get into with Tamara.

Tango Juliet said...

“The conclusions seem inescapable that in certain circles a tendency has arisen to fear people who fear government. Government, as the Father of Our Country put it so well, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. People who understand history, especially the history of government, do well to fear it. For a people to express openly their fear of those of us who are afraid of tyranny is alarming. Fear of the state is in no sense subversive. It is, to the contrary, the healthiest political philosophy for a free people.” – Jeff Cooper's Commentaries, vol. 4, no. 16, December, 1996

mike said...

I'd never heard of TJIC until reading about him the last couple of days, and being a Brit and on the other side of the world I'm an "outsider", in more than one sense, and enough so to disqualify me from the intended range of Martin Luther King's words when he wrote "..."Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality...", but I say that, in the relevant ethical sense, his delimitation of those remarks to the borders of the United States was wrong: I'm TJIC too.

Anonymous said...

One ought to have some guns in PVC pipe buried somewhere. Sure, let the jack-booted thugs "disarm" you. Make sure you get their names. Then dig up your stash and take the bad guys out one by one, then their boss, and their boss's boss, all the way up the chain of command.

I have no criminal record and am to this date a law-abiding citizen, but even nice guys can only be pushed so far. And I've always been passive-aggressive anyway, haha.

::G

Robert Langham said...

The basic American Idea was: All are equal before the law. Anything counter to that is subversive and offensive.