What Will Be Your Braveheart Moment?

 In the movie Braveheart starring Mel Gibson, the real life character William Wallace is living under English tyranny. He and his Scottish compatriots resent it to be sure but have done little to resist. Wallace, in order not to be forced to share his wife with the local English noble, marries in secret. (There is no historical evidence Wallace was married but the murder of his wife is suggested in a 15^th century poem about him.) But there is a scuffle in the village and his new bride is murdered by an English soldier. Next thing we know Wallace is wreaking his vengeance upon the garrison in town and starts a guerrilla war that leads to a the first full scale Scottish rebellion. Another great Mel Gibson film, The Patriot, has a similar plot line. Our fictional character, a southern plantation owner, is living under British tyranny. He considers it bearable, even voicing his opinion against a vote for independence. Then the soldiers come to his home, kill his young son and take another prisoner. Next thing we know the hatchet comes out and he kills a squad of soldiers to rescue his son and then leads the local militia in a guerrilla war against the British.

Two characters, one fictional and one not, living under tyranny, putting up with it, grumbling about it, avoiding it, but doing nothing of substance until it comes to their doorstep in the ugliest and most horrific way. The murder of Wallace's wife may or may not have been the catalyst for his actions but what if that, or some other tragedy, had never happened? Would we even know his name? He became a courageous and great man still revered in Scotland today but why did it take a personal tragedy to motivate him to become that man? Now I am not picking on Wallace. The fact that he did something puts him in rarefied air. How many would have, and did, grieve for the victims of tyranny and do nothing? Most. Most people are cowards. But for those who act with substance against tyranny, and by that I mean those who risk life, liberty and fortune, I dare say that those who fought alongside Wallace showed a greater principled courage. They did not need a horrific personal tragedy to motivate them. They only needed to see the injustice done to their neighbor to throw in their lot. Wallace may have been, in part, motivated by a personal vendetta; those who followed did so for more principled reasons. On the other hand, they did nothing until Wallace showed them tyranny could be fought successfully. Unfortunately, a catalyst is almost always required for others to find their courage.

The point is this; why does tyranny have to get so bad before anyone stands up to it? There are so many little capitulations and accommodations on the road to tyranny before it gets that bad. We just celebrated Independence Day. Have you read the Declaration of Independence lately? Not just the parts King Joe doesn't seem to remember but the list of grievances. It is a list we could write today against our own government! Taxation without representation. There's a big one. Does the fact that my taxes are going to bail out the stupidity of California, New York of Illinois fair? I had no say in their disastrous policies yet you and I are paying for their failure. Or that our taxes pay for failed states around the world and even end up in Communist China! Then there is the fact that taxation, particularly income taxation, is theft and we capitulate to it every day, every year. And the tax code is not just facilitating theft, it exists to exert control. Under Obama the IRS was weaponized specifically against his political opponents and average citizens who were part of the TEA Party movement. Now King Joe wants to add 80,000 agents to the IRS to steal more of our property and punish any who dare object to what the government does. They are still trying to get President Trump this way. And we can't forget about the theft the Fed is responsible for through inflation, a theft that is becoming more apparent to all.

If the daily theft of our property were not enough, how about the fact that one of the largest bank heists in history was just carried out by the FBI! Yes, on March 22 the FBI just walked into a private bank vault in Beverly Hills (which incidentally voted for Trump in a big way) and emptied every single safety deposit box stealing more than eighty million dollars worth of cash, gold, jewelry and other valuables. This was done because one or more of the owners of the vault was under sealed indictment but the boxes themselves were specifically exempted in the warrant. The FBI ignored it and seized the contents anyway and have no intention of giving back the cash and valuables. None of the box holders have been charged with a crime yet they have lost their property-life savings, heirloom jewelry, stuff they stored there because they didn't trust banks or the government. Wonder why?! This is asset forfeiture in the U.S. and it happens on a smaller scale every day all around the country. Yes, the government can take your property without even charging you with a crime and you'll rarely, if ever, get it back.

We have a two tiered justice system, the very definition of government oppression. People who entered the capitol or were even around the capitol on January 6^th are being rounded up. Some of them have been locked in solitary confinement for six months, beaten, denied proper food and medical care and access to their lawyers. But the Vice President of the United States raised money for bailing out rioters who have actually attacked federal buildings, burned, looted and murdered police officers! In New York, all charges have been dropped against rioters there. Hillary Clinton, James Comey, Anthony Fauci and others who are part of the tyranny can lie to congress and break the law in other ways and are never charged. But those who are critical of the government or the deep state are prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and beyond. This is especially true now that the Biden administration is openly calling any of his opponents potential domestic terrorists and has promised to use all the resources of the government to root them out.

We now have show trials of political opponents. How many elderly men need to be dragged out by swat teams in the middle of the night until we realize we are living under a real tyranny. The U.S. Private Vault case referenced earlier; the FBI ignored the law-the terms of the warrant-to do as they please and get what they want. Sound familiar? This is exactly what they did to President Trump to spy on his campaign and attempt a coup. If they can do it to the president, do you think you are safe? There are more than enough examples of malicious prosecution of “conservatives”, to use a broad term, to make anyone question whether they should raise their voice. In Loudoun County Virginia the school board, not liking the public comments they were receiving, declared the regularly scheduled public meeting an “unlawful assembly” and arrested at least two who would not disperse. And I hardly need to remind you of the absolute despotism shown by state and local governments around the country during the pandemic. Policies that have and are leading to actual injury and death. Our government at every level is out of control and tyrannical. This is not what freedom and the America ideal is supposed to look like.

The abuses of power by our government, particularly the Federal government, are legion. They are violating every one of the amendments contained in the Bill of Rights. They are choosing which laws and regulations to follow and when, ignoring the law when it suits their objective; the acquisition of more power and control. Look at the border crisis. All you proponents of Critical Race Theory who believe that our nation is irredeemably scarred by the institution of slavery, look at it! The Democrat Biden administration is aiding, abetting and participating in the largest human smuggling and sex trafficking (i.e. slavery) operation in the world at our southern border! Do you get the point? The theft, the selective prosecutions, the enslavement, the murder; all perpetrated by our government upon the citizens it is supposed to be serving. All policies embraced by elected officials and bureaucrats and implemented by other bureaucrats and law enforcement agencies. And other than the rare lost election, they are never held accountable, there is no justice for the victims of their abuses of power.

Don't you see that under our current system of tyranny you live your life by permission? If you have something they want, they will take it. The Kelo decision by the Supreme Court expands eminent domain to allow property seizure for almost any reason. Civil asset forfeiture takes care of the rest. If you are becoming a threat, there are a multitude of ways to hurt you. The IRS code exists for this very purpose, ask Trump and any of his friends and allies. All the rules and regulations we are unaware of, they are merely traps to be sprung at the right time. None of us are innocent of breaking some law or regulation. It is only a question of if they choose to come after you. “Show me the person and I'll find the crime” is now the FBI's motto. And they are enlisting their “woke” allies in the civil society and corporate world to help them with their spying, now including the use of hotlines. You can hope that if you keep your head down and mouth shut they won't bother you but is that they way we're supposed to live?! Isn't that the way it was in the Soviet Union or is under the CCP? Is this America?

Perhaps none of this has yet touched you in a way that really hurts. You allow the daily theft of your property through taxation, you follow the idiotic Covid regulations, you acquiesce to all the absurdities of the woke movement, you ignore the surveillance. The money you allow to be taken pays for ever heavier chains and your capitulation to their demands allows them to bind you ever more tightly. What, if anything, will it take for you to have your Braveheart moment? Will it be the death of your child when they rolled up their sleeve to get a “vaccine” they didn't need because the school bribed them with free ice cream? Will it be when they come for your property through asset forfeiture or the IRS just cleans out your accounts? How about when they come for your guns? When your wife or husband is murdered by a criminal alien let out by some Soros paid prosecutor or city council that declared a sanctuary city? How about when grandma is murdered by a governor putting sick people in with your loved one in a nursing home? Any of that can happen right now to any of us. It has already happened to thousands of our fellow citizens. What about what's coming? If we continue to capitulate it will only get worse. Vaccine passports controlling our every movement and ability to work or even purchase the necessities. A digital currency that enables complete control of your economic choices. A social credit score that will dictate your ability to do almost anything. The tighter the control, the more abusive the tyranny. So what is your line? Have you already seen it crossed in the lives of others? Do you really believe that when they come to your door you will refuse their demands and defend your liberty knowing that your life as you knew it will be over?

When our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence they knew they were saying goodby to the lives they knew. To England and King George they were traitors to the crown. They put it all on the line knowing that if things didn't work out, they would be fugitives the rest of their lives, their property would be confiscated and if caught, hung from the nearest tree. They believed freedom was worth it. They also understood that the only language the tyrant understands is force. The same is true today. Biden and his minions will not hesitate to use it against us, his recent comments confirm his commitment to continue to use the power of the government, military and otherwise, against us. Why are we so hesitant to defend ourselves against tyranny and injustice? We know that if the government decides to direct its attention to any of us as individuals there will be no fair play, no justice. The justice department, the courts, have been weaponized against us; the outcome of any prosecution will be predetermined. So why surrender to an illegitimate, tyrannical authority?

It is time to come out and say it. If the government shows up at your door to rob you of your essential liberty or property, you will have a choice to make. It will be your Braveheart Moment; you will exercise your right under the second amendment to the Constitution or you will allow them to do as they please. You will choose to defend yourself and your loved ones against despotism or you will decide your currently comfortable life as a slave is OK and are willing to suffer ever more indignities if necessary. But the police (or soldiers), they are just doing their job, it wouldn't be right to harm them. No. They took an oath to the Constitution, not to Joe Biden or some despotic governor. If they are there to carry out an unconstitutional order they have crossed the line and become a tool of the tyrant. They made their choice and you must make yours.

The question is, are you ready to make that choice? If you are not ready to defend your liberty with force then all the talk about the second amendment is just a lot of hot air, it may as well not exist at all. But why should we let it get to that point, why should any of us have to make that decision alone on the fly? If we would all recognize the tyranny under which we live, if we would see the suffering and death of our neighbors under it and do something substantial as a community of freedom lovers, if we would all say no, stop contributing to our enslavement and acquiescing to their demands with real conviction, willing to back it up with a double barreled NO if necessary, it would not have to get to that point for anyone alone.

If we don't band together now and say no the tyranny will only get worse. Eventually the Bravehearts will emerge, rising from personal tragedies perpetuated by an absolute despotism. With nothing left to lose they will wreak vengeance upon those responsible no matter how well insulated. At that point, when the tyranny has reached a level that creates these men and women, they will either flame out as lone shooting stars for liberty or ignite a fire among their compatriots who will wade through the blood of tyrants to restore their freedom.

Learn how the combination of non-compliance and a vigorous defense will restore our liberty. Request your free copy of “Hashticharot's Revolution” be sending an e-mail request to mike@michaelcalpino.com