Actually, it was Finnick who said that line, but it is a great line used to jog her memory of when Haymich told her the same thing as they parted in the training center.
Cheers

One of my few friends is an Irish-Catholic turned agnostic from New York City and a man that I mentored in business. He never truly converted from socialist to objectivist, but after working with me for about ten years had a strong conversion to free market capitalism. It frustrated him to no end to find that he enjoyed the give and take of capitalist business because of his socialist upbringing. We've been friends for 30 years and we still enjoy jabbing each other but there's no hate or dislike there. He's one of the very few men that's ever 'gotten' me.

BOTH! Excellent synopsis!
The danger is not those that continue to support a government that is opposed to We The People... the danger is those of We The People who do not recognize that threat and therefore do not take action to prevent it. They are ignorant of the reality of the situation. Does that make them the enemy? No! But it certainly does make them complicit with the enemy.

Sorry, when I hear a so-called "friend" say something perversely evil I find it impossible not to call them on it. Going along, to get along, is how we got here in the first place. I do have friends, but none of the kind I have to tiptoe around.

It's clear that you and your ex-friends did not share the most important thing: values. Name calling (ad hominem) and personal attacks have no useful purpose in rational discourse. You are better off without them. One question, however; in retrospect, were you surprised after the break occurred?

The problem with California is that it is a "may issue" state and most sheriffs simply won't.

Any government that doesn't restrict itself to the legitimate role of furthering and protecting the individual rights of the people is indeed an enemy.

You've been watching "The Hunger Games: Catching Fire," I see. In the climactic scene, Peeta Mellark shouts to Katniss Everdeen, "Remember who the real enemy is!" Whereupon she changes the plan by the electronics genius to electrocute the non-allied Tributes with a wire conducting a lightning strike their way. Instead, in a twist on Ben Franklin's lightning experiment, she shoots an arrow into a dome. An arrow carrying a wire from a tree due to get a lightning strike. Thus carrying the war to the enemy. Literally.

That aside: there would seem to be three parties:

1. The government,

2. The body of voters who keep electing a government that will give them free soup and free stuff of other kinds, and

3. The real ruling class, the james Taggarts and Orren Boyles and Wesley Mouches and Floyd Ferrises, who manipulate Class 2.

John Galt, in his speech, mobilized the last of the like-minded. But is that enough? Can we pick off some adherents of Class 2 above by reminding them Class 3 might help them cope with poverty but will never get them out of it?

This comment is much closer to how we need to view the steady march to a statist takeover of our representative republic as created by our founders. These liberal politicians don't offer the greedy constituency of the left anything that they don't demand of them to begin with.

The government's policies are a direct reflection of the desires of it's population. I submit that the real enemy, is the one's seeking entitlements. It seems that we are rapidly approaching, (or have surpassed) the time in which the takers have the majority. I don't believe that anyone that does not own property, should have the right to vote. If that were the case, we would love the policies and our government, because it would serve US, (not them)!

I like your thinking.

Greetings...been out..weather in south county today is nice.

I didn't think you were going to like the mall. That's why you're better off driving down to Ft. Collins and hitting the mall there. Plus, Ft. Collins is only 4200 feet, so a bit easier for breathing. Ft. Collins is also a college town, so be on the watch for collegiate cuties. :)

Besides the Twin Dragon, diagonally across from it is the coffee & tobacco shop ~ City News. It was the only one in town when I was last there in Feb 2007, so I imagine they should still be in business. They have great coffee and the magazine & book selection is pretty good too. The tobacco offerings were decent, but don't expect to be impressed.

That's all I can think of at the moment. Oh, for quiet walks, I'm sure you've already discovered the park with the pond in the middle. Other than that, I think you've seen all that Cheyenne has to offer. But 2007 is getting back there, so I'm sure there are new things to do since my clan and I left.

Good luck on getting the truck. Expect to pay premium prices, no matter how old or how many miles.

I agree with DrZarkov. We are not in a tribal society; we should refrain from thinking in tribal terms. The fact that these people were friends for 15 years may mean that you were deceived by them for a long time...or it may mean that you had - and still have - a lot in common. Except politics.

This is my case with many of my friends. If I get my chores done today (moving 6 large bookcases upstairs by myself), then I will be going to a party tomorrow. Pretty much everyone there is a flaming liberal. They know my ideology. So far, this has not been a problem. (I have known most of the folks there for 20 years plus...I know, not very Californian of me to have long term friends...)

In such an environment, I chat happily about advances in the technology of medicine, they talk with me about aerospace and physics and lasers. Then we discuss heraldry, strategy, renovations, martial arts, linguistics, primitive textiles...There is a lot we have in common. If the topic of Obama comes up, I say, "Ya'know, it is a hell of a thing to think that all that History will say of you is, "The important thing about Obama is that he was the first black president of the US." "

I will add that did my friends reject me for my political beliefs, I would consider it their responsibility to mend the breach.

Jan

The people will vote themselves into slavery, whether out of greed or ignorance (or both) it is difficult to say. Only when the shackles are slipped on, only when there is the midnight knock on the door, will they wake up. Atlas Shrugged probably had the right idea as a fitting conclusion--a strike. Not a bad literary device, but highly improbable in the real world.

The national media is the enemy. Statists such as Obama, Clinton, Reid, Boehner, Pelosi, etc. do exactly what you expect from communist`s,marxists, socialists, etc., But, they are ONLY successful if the media, who is the only " institution" named for protection in the Constitution, is derelict in their DUTY to inform the people with simple and complete facts. That they act willingly against the people through lies and selective reporting to support an ideology, is nothing short of treason.

Perhaps, real friends don't usually yell at you and tell you to shut your mouth, calling you nasty names, just because they disagree with you. And they especially don't do so in your own house. It became a personal attack. They left and I haven't heard from them again. Only knew them about 15 years. Does it bother me, well, yes, in a way, but mostly a political way. Would I take them back, no, not unless I got an apology and they told me they had their heads up their sas. I wonder how they can continue to support this administration. Perhaps not a real friend after all. We still have some friends that we totally disagree with but they don't make personal attacks on us.

I have a friend from 55 years ago. We're still great friends. About 50 years ago he called me a PSAFB, a pcirk siht sas fekcur bstarad (you get the political correct spelling here). We came up with the acronym soon after. We've never forgotten it, we still laugh and joke about it today. He did so in a fit of anger, forgot what is was about, not over any particular issue, he just got mad.

Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude. Tocqueville
Americans are so enamored of equality that they would rather be equal in slavery than unequal in freedom. Tocqueville
I know of no country in which there is so little independence of mind and real freedom of discussion as in America. Tocqueville
I don't think it can be better said, in answer to your question, than Tocqueville says it in these three quotes. In simpler terms it is the age old question concerning the relationship between chicken and egg.

It certainly is a chilling thought. The current regime in Washington is the more immediate danger, but the entities of entitlement will continue to be alive and well even if they are ousted from power. They'll always be baaack. If this November doesn't get them to be the minority in both house and senate then it is too late in any case. We're just flapping our lips. If it comes about that more conservative types win in '14 and get the presidency in '16 there is a glimmer of hope.

The moochers never go away, they just regroup. They are already deeply into the education systems and hard at work subverting children. Without looking it up, I think that around 45% of people are employed by the government in one way or another and Washington, D.C. provides the highest incomes of any other location. Lots of work to be done. Can it happen? Maybe, if we tirelessly keep working at it. If not, and Atlantis is the major effort, then be prepared to be an enclave in a long regressive civilization.

The government is people. We often forget that those people are our neighbors, our relatives, even our family members.

As to losing friends, maybe they weren't so much friends as they were acquaintances, but there are new friends to be found.

While those who support our oligarch government are "enemy combatants" our worst enemy is the apathetic fools who are too lost in their own small considerations and self-aggrandizement to have an educated opinion and who fail to strive for what in their opinion, is the common good.
Buttrock Obummer's 'Landslide' [The mendicant media's term, not mine.] was composed of a ill-gotten majority made up of 47.3 percent of eligible, registered voters.
Therein is our most severe difficulty are the disenfranchised voters who are too caught up in their own concerns to, if they have an opinion, vote.
If we could franchise the disinterested majority none of the criminal proceedings conducted by Capital Critters Class in Washington and other places would occur, being watched, and knowing it, they would be much more likely to vote their conscience, not the 'party line.'
When asked, "What sort of government is the convention debating?" by a woman, he answered, "A Republic, madam, if you can keep it!" and therein lies the challenge, for the electorate has largely fallen asleep, and therein is the solution, we must wake them up.

How is treason defined today. Under old standards the Prez and his cabinet (mostly Muslins) would be considered treasonous. They do NOT support the ideals on which this country was formed, the seem to seek to destroy it. If they are not the enemy, who needs an enemy. Russia, what difference between their government and ours, except the names. I ff those who support current government refuse to be educated, then yes, they are traitors as well.
I have had some apathetic friends who say send only happy e-mails, and yes, I drop them. On the other hand, if I see a spark of interest in being educated, I can wean them into the full truth. It is a slow battle, fought one person at a time, but not doing so is a gloomy alternative.

Both are dangerous. The government follows and enforces the insane ideas of all those who support it. It will get worse as we get closer to the election. Desperate libs will come out of the woodwork to scheme their plots for illegal voting, making up lies and tearing the ones apart who may actually have a true love for America. And Obama and his cronies will try to shove through any and all things on his "America destroying agenda."
If I lose friends over the issues so be it. If they really feel they need to support what has been going on in the last 6 years than they do not love the country they live in and they do not have pride in all things that helped make America the best place on earth to live.
We have so much to do to prevent our demise that I am truly at a loss when it comes to answering that question. I don't know where to begin so I have to begin with the beginning by saying, "God help us!" I do believe that he has faith in America and the good things we have always done to build this country. So we have to go back and do what we have always done, "In God We Trust".

Agreed. But when "I have to" frequent their business, I carry concealed, respecting my right to survival a notch higher.

I respect their right to their property.
I just don't frequent their businesses unless I absolutely have to.

No Weapons? What is it, a free-range zone for terrorists?

Anyplace that believes in unconstitutional values is, by definition, unamerican, and I try not to patronize unamerican places.

Say what you will, but at east in California it is a "preference" sign, not one that carries the weight of law...