Are Americans ready to accept a police state?

By Chuck Baldwin

Are Americans ready to accept a police state? Are pastors and Christians ready to accept a police state? Are Republicans and conservatives ready to accept a police state? Are Democrats and liberals ready to accept a police state? Are there truly enough people left in this country who even understand what a police state is, and if they do, would they really support it?

I can hear many readers shouting, "No!" But I truly wonder just how many Americans have already accepted the police state in their hearts and minds. It is absolutely true that before despots and tyrants can put shackles around men's necks, they must first put them around men's hearts. So, just how many of the American people are walking around every day with shackles already around their hearts? How many pastors mount the pulpits with shackles around their hearts? How many teachers enter the classroom with shackles around their hearts? How many State lawmakers walk into their various capitols with shackles around their hearts? How many police officers get into their squad cars with shackles around their hearts? How many military personnel put on their uniforms with shackles around their hearts?

Those of us who are passionate about the freedom fight spend a lot of time discussing and debating the nuances of how best to protect liberty. Except for a precious few, our State governors, attorney generals, legislators, senators, mayors, county commissioners, city councilmen, etc., are doing a fantastically lousy job of honoring their oaths to the Constitution and to the principles contained in our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights. Except for a precious few, our pastors, deacons, elders, and church leaders are doing a fantastically lousy job of defending freedom principles. Except for a precious few, our civic and business leaders are doing a fantastically lousy job of defending liberty. And needless to say, you could put the people on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., who are even doing diddly-squat about preserving liberty into an old-fashioned phone booth.

Republicans? Most of them have never seen a bill that expands the police state at home and foreign wars abroad that they did not absolutely love. Democrats? Most of them have never seen a bill that expanded government (any government) that they did not absolutely love. Yes, yes, I know that there are a few – a precious few – exceptions to the above, but not many.

But are the American people truly ready to accept a police state? A recent report at InfoWars.com is quite shocking to those of us who tend to believe that most of our fellow Americans would recoil at the thought of an open police state.

Reporting for InfoWars.com, Paul Joseph Watson writes, "After illustrating their enthusiasm for repealing the Bill of Rights, a video shows Americans happily signing a petition to support a 'Nazi-style Orwellian police state,' in what easily represents the most shocking footage of its kind to date.

"Citing issues with how the government shutdown has impacted the ability of the police to 'keep the community safe,' [Mark] Dice tells San Diegans that there is a need to 'increase the Orwellian system.'

"'Not a problem,' responds one man as he signs the petition.

"'We just want to model it after the Nazi Germany system to keep people safe and secure,' Dice tells another individual.

"After signing the petition to 'implement the Orwellian police state,' another man responds, 'You find the pot of money though,' apparently more concerned about how much a Nazi-style police state would cost than its actual consequences.

"'They're trying to cut the budget by 20 per cent so we just want to make sure that we can model the police state after the Nazi Germany system,' Dice tells another couple who sign the petition, before adding, 'Thanks for supporting the police state.'

"'We're going to model it after the Nazi Germany-style police state,' Dice clearly tells another man who signs the petition.

"'We need this Orwellian-style system to keep everybody safe,' Dice tells a woman as she is signing the petition, to which she responds, 'Yeah.'"

See Watson's report at:

Americans Sign Petition to Support "Nazi-Style Orwellian Police State"

So, how many of your friends, relatives, co-workers, neighbors, fellow club members, fellow pastors, and fellow church members would be willing to sign such a petition as mentioned above? Probably more than you would think. Why don't you use Mark Dice's technique and go stand with a petition on a street corner in your town or on a sidewalk outside the entrance of your church and find out? But be prepared for a shock. It is not just San Diegans that are already wearing the shackles around their hearts.

Those of us in the liberty movement are knocking our brains out trying to devise the best strategy to preserve the vestiges of freedom that are left in this country. The assaults against our liberties are ubiquitous – and so are the battlefronts upon which our fellow freedom-fighters are tirelessly and relentlessly defending the hill. Thank God for every one of them! I may or may not agree with each strategy or the people who come up with them, but if they are in the liberty fight, they are my brothers and compatriots.

But it is time for us to ask ourselves, are we living in a country in which a sizeable percentage of people do not care about, and may actually not WANT, liberty? Are we living in a country in which a sizeable percentage of people have already accepted the shackles of tyranny around their hearts?

I'm talking about Democrats and Republicans; Christians and unbelievers; pastors and pagans; liberals and conservatives; whites and blacks; educated and illiterate; rich and poor; men and women; northerners and southerners; easterners and westerners; military and civilians. How many are already wearing the shackles of tyranny around their hearts? I'm afraid far more than most of us want to admit.

At this point, I must make the following observation: if you are living in a State that does not recognize your right to keep and BEAR arms, if you live in a State that significantly impedes your right to possess and CARRY arms, if you live in a State that is unfriendly to the Second Amendment, you are living in a State in which a majority of lawmakers and citizens are already wearing the tyrant's yoke around their hearts – and they want you to wear it, too. And if you live in a large metropolitan city anywhere, you are living in one of liberty's most inhospitable and hostile places. In all candor, one of the chief reasons why my family and I moved to a small town in a rural State (the Flathead Valley of Montana) is because of what I'm talking about right now.

For more information on our move to Montana, please go to this web page:

Baldwins' Move To Montana

I realize that we have our share of big-government weenies here in Montana, too. I know we have a bunch of politicians and people who carry the shackles of tyranny around their hearts. I won't argue that. But I also know that if police agencies in this area attempted a military lockdown such as took place in Boston after the marathon bombings, they would start a modern-day revolution. I KNOW that the majority of people in the Flathead Valley would never submit to such a police state. I also believe that the vast majority of law enforcement officers in this area would never attempt to enact such a police state.

As an example, according to published reports, the average home in the State of Montana has 27 firearms in it. Yes, you read it right: 27. I dare say that the average pickup truck in Montana has more guns in it than the average house in just about any other State.

Ladies and gentlemen, Thomas Jefferson was right: big cities are the "bane" of freedom. And those states that are controlled by big cities are also a major culprit in the demise of liberty.

Several years ago, Boston's Gun Bible (BGB) ranked the states in order of their recognition of the right to keep and bear arms. According to BGB, the freest states are:

1. Vermont

2. Idaho and Kentucky (tie)

3. Louisiana and Alaska (tie)

4. Wyoming

5. Montana

And, again, according to BGB, the least free states are:

1. New Jersey

2. Illinois

3. Hawaii

4. Massachusetts

5. New York

Now, I would personally argue BGB's ranking of Montana as number 5 in the list of freest states – especially when it comes to the Second Amendment. Regardless, notice the absence of the dominance of big-cities within the list of freest states, contrasted with the obvious dominance of big-cities within the list of least free states. In the list of freest states, only Kentucky and Louisiana have a metro area with over one million population. And in the case of Vermont, Idaho, Alaska, Wyoming, and Montana, the State with the largest population is Idaho with just over 1.5 million – in the ENTIRE STATE. The conclusion should be obvious: big cities equal less freedom; rural states equal more freedom.

Ladies and gentlemen, this divergence of philosophy and the willingness or unwillingness of people in big city states and rural states to either accept or reject tyranny is a boiling pot that at some point is going to spill over onto the eye of the stove. Notice that Mr. Dice's petition was asked of people in one of America's largest population centers: San Diego, California. Take that same petition to the streets of Kalispell, Montana; Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Cheyenne, Wyoming; or Wasilla, Alaska; and the response would be MUCH different.

I don't believe tyranny will come to America all at once; it will come piecemeal, city by city, State by State, and region by region. And liberty will be preserved the same way.

So, are Americans ready to accept a police state? It all depends on where you live.

P.S. This weekend, selected cities across the country will be privileged to see the premiere screening of James Jaeger's fantastic new movie, "MOLON LABE: How The Second Amendment Guarantees America's Freedom." The film features such notable freedomists as Pat Buchanan, Ron Paul, Larry Pratt, G. Edward Griffin, Alex Jones, and, yes, yours truly – along with several others. It is terrific film. The people of the Flathead Valley in Montana are fortunate to be able to attend this premiere showing at the Mountain Cinema 4 theaters in Whitefish, Montana, at 11am Mountain Time, this Saturday, October 26. If you live within driving distance, you are invited to attend this premiere screening. DVDs of the film will be available at the showing.

If you are not able to go see MOLON LABE this weekend and would like to order the DVD of this new film, you may do so NOW. Order the MOLON LABE DVD here:

MOLON LABE

© Chuck Baldwin