The Sons of Liberty were responsible for many events that helped to define the issues and direct the actions leading to the Revolution.  Protests to the Stamp Act defined the premise of the argument - that Americans should be self-governed without the tyrannies known to the world.  The Boston Tea Party and the burning of the HMS Gaspee represent direct action. 

Paul Revere, Patrick Henry, John Hancock, John Adams, Sam Adams, icons of American Liberty, were members and leaders of the Sons of Liberty.  These men and many like them shaped and directed resistance to the Crown and the minions of the Crown who would see their Countrymen under the yoke of tyranny.

The original Sons of Liberty set a high bar for those who would follow.  They targeted the symbols and means of the Crown, and even Loyalists, with great understanding of the political realities of conflict.  Burning effigies, tarring and feathering, Liberty Poles, and the occasional burning of a Governor's Mansion were all approved methods of resistance...in moderation and only with great consideration of political fallout. 

Our Founders and Framers understood human nature.  They could have set mobs to challenge the Crown carelessly, yet they were wise and prudent enough to use force in an effective and restrained manner.  Scorched Earth policies would have been counter-productive.  Endless violent attacks against Loyalists would have quickly lost their fear factor.  Gratuitous violence quickly leeches the value of violence from a political struggle.

As a people Americans have little patience for unnecessary collateral damage. 

That a return of the Sons of Liberty mindset is necessary today for the survival of the republic is not in question.  That our governments have become unnecessarily intrusive, obstructive and challenging to Liberty is a given.  From the local city government to the federal level, on issues from business licenses to Stop & Frisk, assault on every one of the ten amendments in the Bill of Rights and the intentional perversion of the plain language in the Constitution, it is pointless to debate the matter of government encroachment to the level of tyranny.

The III Community is coalescing around the simple and noble cause of Restoration - a restoring of respect for the founding principles articulated in the Declaration, Constitution and Bill of Rights.  No more, and no less.

This is good.

How is the question.  The debate rages within the III Community.  Most of the III Community is stocking up on essentials for a protracted period of time that may find significant disruption of services and civility.  Food, weapons, medications, et cetera.  Most assume that the response of government during a crisis will be overbearing and heavy-handed.  Most also assume that the Political Class will use such a crisis to hunt down and incarcerate or kill Americans possessed of the III mindset.

The trigger may be man-made or natural.  The trigger event is almost meaningless.  Whether another 9/11 or an EMP strike over Kansas, whether a false-flag operation or a legitimate Al-Qaeda attack, whether a Katrina or Waco, it is the response of government that is meaningful to the III Community.

The scenarios envisioned range wildly.  Some see a full-scale civil war pitting Patriots against Government, including blue-hats from the UN.  Some see intermediate steps as government attempts to slip the collar around the neck of the population by swarming on known III-type Americans, labeling them Domestic Terrorists and such.  Some see Katrina-esque door-to-door sweeps by government storm troopers and government security contractors to collect weapons in the name of public safety.  Some see civil disorder as just-in-time delivery systems fail and the population begins to get hungry, bringing troops to every street corner in major population centers.

There are many serious adults who define themselves as members of the III Community.  These folks understand the the political realities of the conflict, the subtlety and sophistication required to turn the battleship of public sentiment without alienating that portion of the population that is essential to victory, but who will not pick up a weapon and challenge the storm troopers.

If the III Community today is the modern incarnation of the Sons of Liberty, then it may be fairly stated that the citizens today who consider themselves to be members of the Tea Party represent the roughly 20% of Colonists who supported the cause of the Revolution.  Make no mistake, but for the support of the people, at least a significant portion of the people, Restoration to constitutional principles is unattainable.  General Washington could not have prevailed if 97% of the country had disapproved - unless he applied the tactics of Stalin, Hitler, Mao, et al.

Today the internet is filled with voices, as it were, who fancy themselves modern Sons of Liberty and call for a wide range of open, immediate and violent acts to resist the encroachment of government.  Such men were in the ranks of the original Sons of Liberty.  But their energies and actions were guided and directed by cooler, more intelligent Leaders.  It is imperative that leaders today in the III Community exercise the same leadership as was demonstrated by Patrick Henry, et al. 

Restoration will not come to be, indeed, it can not come to be, if those who advocate Restoration apply random and gratuitous violence.  The community will be marginalized and successfully stereotyped as fringe and extreme, lacking principles and void of legitimacy. 

The reason American commandos are so successful is because they operate intelligently.  Small units and individuals can engage much larger forces because they hit at vulnerable points, at vulnerable moments, with deadly intent.  Small units and individuals have a smaller profile as well, providing a smaller target. 

Operational Security is easier to maintain in a compartmentalized, small unit environment.  There is no room for a centralized structure in the III Community.  The conflict for Restoration is one of small groups of like-minded Patriots and the lone operator, working across the nation for a simple and articulated goal, engaging the symbols and mechanisms of government, ever-mindful of collateral damage and public sentiment.

There is a presence within the III Community that is not helpful: Keyboard Commandos.  Tough talk is easy to generate from a keyboard, far removed from proponents of countering viewpoints.  Talking about potentially engaging members of the US military, should they be deployed domestically against citizens in contravention to all things moral, is easy for a couch-bound Keyboard Commando whose greatest accuracy results are realized when lying prone with his new AirSoft M4, shooting at the cat's butt.

The decision to take arms is one that far too many Keyboard Commandos advocate, most often coupled with a complete absence of violence in their personal experience.  Those who are usually quickest to advocate violence, rebellion, revolution, forming militias, defiance in the face of government force are, usually, people who have no personal or professional experience with violence and the ruinous hardship that always accompanies violent conflict.

Keyboard Commandos too often rush to the Second Amendment and issue boisterous and unrealistic threats toward those whom they perceive to be tyrants.  But the true power of the Second Amendment is deterrence.  It is a silent power, and need not be shouted from the hilltops.  Pulling the trigger is the last line of defense, literally and philosophically. 

To those Keyboard Commandos who are eager to pull a trigger and start a ruckus, you would do well to perform a simple internet search on poverty in a country such as India or Bangladesh.  You may not be able to connect the dots, so we will do it for you.

Pick any major US city, and envision it as a hot combat zone akin to almost any of the scenarios in your head about the coming conflict with government.  It is Patriots versus Storm Troopers.  Patriots target symbols and mechanisms of Government - dog catchers, beat cops, health inspectors, tax collectors, their buildings, their cars, politicians, et cetera. 

In return, Government targets Patriots and known alliances.  That means Government will come after your family and friends to apply pressure to you.  Government also has a long history of fighting for hearts and minds.  One aspect of the strategy is simple: the Patriot is made out to be the bad guy.  It is because of the Patriots that Government can not patrol the streets, ensure the safety of trucks, generate electricity, et cetera.  Therefore, citizens, turn in your local Patriots and life can return to normal quickly. 

The first thing Government will do is control the environment.  Roadblocks.  Inspections.  Power generation.  Water supply.  This means the flow of goods and services will suffer, or collapse.  How long do you think it will take before green beans are not making it to the shelves at the corner grocery store?  How long before Grandma's heart medication becomes unavailable?  How long will it take before you look into the eyes of your child who has a mind-numbing toothache or earache and can't get antibiotics because you started a ruckus without regard for the fallout?

Are you prepared to watch your family suffer?  Are you prepared to let your child go to bed hungry?  Are you prepared to have your children in the crossfire when Government finally learns your identity and comes for you? 

Not to worry, say you, because I have stores of rice and grain and antibiotics.  Really?  Do you have enough, for years?  Do you have enough for your nieces and nephews, grandchildren, and the other children who live on your street?

Not to worry, say you, because Government can not sustain a fight of such magnitude across the nation if everyone rises up at the same time?  So the fight will be brief and then everything will go back to normal pretty quickly.  The unrealistic optimism in this response flies in the face of the pessimism that would be needed to pick a fight in the first place.

Not to worry, say you, because you are part of a militia and you'll kick butt!  You and your boys will square away your AO and keep the supply lines open!  You'll patrol and enforce good behavior.  You have fast-reaction teams to handle a crisis.  Hell, you even have a few guys who call themselves snipers!

One of the oft used phrases in the III & Tea Party communities is It can happen here, usually referencing tyrannies such as Mao, Hitler, et cetera, when speaking to some idiot who says that tyranny could never happen in America.

Something else that can happen here, quickly, is hunger, disease, misery and death.

The Keyboard Commando has an unrealistic and sanitary vision of conflict against Government.  They have no real-world frame of reference available to comprehend that in any fight against Government, real suffering of Americans as not known since the Civil War can descend upon the population in days or weeks, taking generations to recover. 

The Second Amendment is the last line of defense to be employed against tyranny.  The First Amendment and the ballot box, coupled with the silent power of the Second, is where the battle for Restoration should be fought.

It is up to the serious adults in the III Community to muzzle the Keyboard Commandos in your AO.

Later columns will explore tradecraft, doctrine, strategy, tactics, weapons, targeting the cogs of power, and the other matters of vital importance to the Patriot.

Sam
III