Landmines
by Hellesponte & Kerodin
November 16, 2010

This website is not about me.

Here, we consider the challenges facing the republic and explore possibilities with like-minded Patriots.

But this particular column will be about me, and I hope you can walk away with useful information.

As those who have read Our Fathers Weep, or have read this page for a while, or ever bothered to Google me, it is common knowledge that I have a perspective of the system that I hope no Patriot will have to learn first-hand. The Hard Right understands that Government is a beast. We write and talk all the time about prosecutions that should never happen. Paul Copeland. David Olofson. The list is quite long. We know that Business and Government have an unhealthy alliance.

The practice is known as Lawfare.

I'll share a few insights about my own experience in hopes that one of you may avoid stepping on a landmine as you move through the avenues of Restoration. I have been on the radar since my teens, during my twenties and thirties I was active in the political realm, little of which matters for this discussion, but to note that I had been moving in patriotic circles that caused notice. Politically active folks with my particular skill set get noticed by all the wrong people. I'll leave it at that...

Keep this in mind: The US Code is to Patriots as is prostate cancer to men...if you live long enough, you're going to catch a case.

Following 9/11 I decided to take my Patriotic activities to the front lines and business sector, so I started a small security consulting firm in the DC area. Knowing that I was certain to annoy various elements of the violent Muslim world, I went to court and legally changed my name. The concept was that when I ticked off the Muslims and they came looking for me, they would not show up at my parent's home or sister's home, endangering my family. There would be a disconnect between the name Kerodin and my family. It wasn't foolproof, of course, since such records are public. But it was better than painting a bulls eye on the homes of my family in the area.

I think we were all motivated in those days to make a contribution to our collective safety. I possess an eclectic skill set, developed since my misspent youth that includes physical and organizational security, executive protection, electronic security systems, general electronics, electrical controls, fluid dynamics (compliments of an HVAC background), martial arts, firearms, and a general understanding of how to break things in spectacular fashion, facilitated by a general understanding of chemistry.

My first contract was to assess the physical security of a major shopping center and the corporate offices of the parent company. It went well. I got paid (well), presented my report to their leadership and moved on.

I was tapped to give a speech to a high-level group of security professionals, alongside a rather significant official at Treasury. The date was set for a few months out.

I wrote an industry White Paper about the general state of security in shopping venues...that was met with a surprising level of push-back from the industry. The push-back was so intense, it pissed me off. The industry circled the wagons, declared their security measures to be state-of-the-art.

So...

I ran a series of Red Team operations across the DC area at our most distinguished malls. I documented every single Op with video. Then I wrote it up in another White Paper report...and all hell broke loose. You see, state-of-the-art security is not quite the description an organization can use when the security office at your facility has been Red Teamed, on video that includes an unidentified camouflage backpack being set in plain site against the security office door...for 30 minutes...in the months following 9/11!

That was just one video snip.

Do you have any idea what effect such a report can have on the trading price of a Forbes 50 company?

I do.

I demonstrated that security measures in every facility were a joke. I had video and countless still images.

Soon after the release of the report I received a call from a very large mall owner, with properties across the country. We negotiated a contract over a few weeks, as I was preparing a third report. Once the contract was negotiated, I decided to delay my third report. I was going to be too busy to focus on the report.

I met with a company VP, signed the contract, accepted the retainer check...and quickly met a geared-up Fed team and the business end of many service pistols & SMG's.

Mind you - Extortionists do not accept checks, in case you are considering a career change. Real extortionists get cash.

In hindsight, I would have done only three things differently - the first of which would be to have a corporate attorney on my side. I should have had an attorney, who would have surely waved me off a few business practices regarding my marketing. I was marketing aggressively, and in hindsight, when one overlays the reports with the marketing, it paints a picture that could not reasonably be defended without a mens rea defense.

Mens rea is dead, in case you don't know. You see, to be convicted of a crime, you must possess mens rea, which is essentially a guilty mind, or the intent to commit a crime. That's the philosophy, anyway. In real life, it no longer exists as a realistic defense.

I would have also had my attorney look over the contract. I would have also publicly announced my intent to cancel my third report.

But, hindsight is 20/20.

The Feds hit me with an extortion charge. Not a violence related charge, mind you. Did you know that if one instills the "...fear of economic harm..." in a person or a corporation, you have stepped on a legal landmine that opens you to the Federal charge of Extortion?!

Well, I stepped on that landmine.

20 years.

But wait, there's more!

Firearms owners: Are you familiar with the legal concept of Constructive Possession? I learned that if you own a typical AR-15, 20 inch barrel, blah blah...and you own a short barreled upper, even if that upper is in another home, in another state, you are guilty of the constructive possession of a short barreled rifle?

10 years.

I had become a financial nightmare for the national retail industry, during the holiday shopping season. I had become a political problem in a post-9/11 environment when the Government was most interested in calming nerves of the general public.

When you become a real threat to Government or a real threat to the flow of dollars to big business, you will earn genuine attention. They will find a way to take you out of play. The goal is to ruin your credibility.

You see, all those reports are now meaningless, because the guy writing them is a right-wing gun nut who extorts business.

Do you understand?

Next phase: You are in the system and then you begin to truly understand the power of Government.

Are you familiar with the phrase: You don't know what you don't know?

Trust me...you simply can not understand the power of the Government until you are in the system.

I ask you: Just how dangerous does the Government really think a right-wing gun-nut extortionist really is, if they offer him a 24 month plea deal? Sign the paper, you'll do 18 months in a camp, and it's over.

And if I don't sign? What if I take it to trial? Surely I can just tell the judge and jury my side, they'll understand...

OK, we can do that. Here are the facts, says my attorney. Your case is part of the Rocket Docket in Northern Virginia. You can not use a mens rea defense. In this part of the country, and particularly in this court, the average juror tends to have strong predisposition to Government, either through military or civilian experience.

Go to trial and they will win, and you'll get at least 10 years. Yes, they punish you if you force them to spend the money on a trial.

Not done yet. DOJ runs between 95% - 98% conviction rate.

Sign the plea before the Prosecutor goes on Christmas break, or they'll add another 6 months for not having readily accepted guilt.

Still hesitant? You married just before the case.

Can you say Conspiracy?

Do you understand?

Patriots: What you must take from my experience is simply the understanding that you will be ignored by our Masters until you begin to have a real impact on dollars and/or careers. That you are motivated by a desire to help protect your Countrymen, or are motivated by a desire for Restoration, whatever your motivation they will ignore you until they choose to no longer ignore you.

I stepped on two landmines: ...the fear of economic harm & Constructive Possession.

The US Code is filled with countless landmines for the average Citizen.

They do not care if you stockpile rice & beans or firearms and ammo. They don't care if you blog or write books about Restoration. They do not care if you write snarky little letters or emails to agencies you do not like. There is a natural check in the system of bureaucracy that usually prevents a low-level minion from acting out against you for personal reasons. You see, his boss, or his boss two levels up the chain, has more to lose by letting a loose cannon come for you without genuine cause.

But when you rattle the cages at the very top of the political or business ladder...

Usually, they will be content to simply prosecute you so that your credibility is forever ruined in society.

It is a powerful tool.

I learned so very much about the system during my unexpected conflict.

I learned much, much more about the system during the two years that followed my wife driving me to Pennsylvania and dropping me off for my Federally imposed Time Out.

I learned about shadow economies.

I learned a lot about snitches.

My wife picked me up in Pennsylvania two years after dropping me off. She is my best friend, and we are connected on levels that I never knew existed.

Today, we own several different businesses. I don't see any reason to apologize for earning money...ever.

We are in the process of setting up a charity to help DC families that are having a rough time.

We are also setting up a non-profit to help felons recover their civil rights after having finished their sentences. There is a very large population among us who have ruined credibility as a result of their beef with Government. They are treated like second class citizens, at best.

No Patriot should be cool with that.

Real opportunities for most of these folks to break into productive professions are almost non-existent. I already offer HVAC training to many such guys and gals in hopes they can catch a break at a real life. Our goal is to help them through the process of restoring their civil rights, and ultimately their 2A rights as well.

There is a mechanism for Federal Felons to recover their firearms rights, used notably by Alan Gottlieb, that has been unfunded by Congress for quite a while.

I am exploring the possibility of being a test case for Alan Gura or someone like him to use me to challenge several aspects of firearms rights recovery for Federal felons.

I have decided to write a book about the III Percent.

As you watch the world around us spin toward ruin, just remember that you can not control what anyone else may do or say. It doesn't matter. Inside, you know the truth.

Protect yourself.

Nothing else matters.

Kerodin
III

Excerpt: There comes a time when civility is no longer appropriate as the only option on the table. Dare we not offend the sensibilities of Liberals, Socialists, and Communists in our midst who are ruining and destroying our republic? Are we to cower and sheepishly genuflect when we are scolded for the tone or choice of our words in the face of ruin, poverty, tyranny, and death?!

Are we so frightened of chastisement from insignificant men and women of the political Left with stained and darkened souls that we turn from our duties of Patriotism and shun our sacred obligation to support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America? We ask you, is not our republic worth the risk of being castigated? Is the soul of our mighty nation no longer worthy of our fortunes, our lives, and our Sacred Honor? Have we lost so much of our heritage, our courage, our mettle, and grit that we will stand idly by and permit the foolish and the stupid, who work hand-in-hand with evil people in our nation, that we will permit them to send us into eternal slavery and tyranny as the world has never before witnessed?

Excerpt: You are a fool if you do not believe that elements of the Left would use force, if they could, to compel you to comply with many of their edicts. In drafting healthcare reform, they use the threat of financial fines, felony conviction and prison if you refuse to buy health insurance!

How is that not only a degree or two removed from a pistol to the head? We are undeniably heading toward the same tyrannies known to Russians, Germans, and the Chinese. It starts with Liberalism, advances to Socialism, and ends with Fascism, Communism, or some other tyranny…and death.

Excerpt: We have a culture of people whose first response to a physical threat is to dial 911, or worse, a lawyer. We have a nation of people who will dump hot coffee on themselves, then sue the restaurant – and win! We have a nation of educators who suspend children for drawing a picture of a handgun or for bringing a Boy Scout knife-and-fork kit to show and tell!

We have a nation of people so removed from the food chain that many would starve to death if the local supermarket closed. We have a nation of people who cannot truly grasp the hardships faced by most of the people in the world every day, and as a result we have a nation of people who have lost fundamental common sense.

Excerpt: The Bill of Rights articulates the natural rights of man, rights that are not bestowed by government, but rights that are innately ours as human beings. These rights may not be taken from us. These rights were written in plain language so that no clever interpretation and manipulation of the intent was possible. These rights may not be restricted, narrowed, or infringed. Any attempt to do so is a violation of the relationship between Man and Creator.

Every narrowing, restriction, infringement, and clever interpretation imposed upon us in the years since our Constitution was ratified is simply a violation of our natural rights.

We hold that every violation of the Constitution and Bill of Rights by those in Government is an act of Treason, as these violations are unjust, undermining the fundamental foundations of our republic, breaking the pact between citizen and government, and desecrating the relationship between Man and Creator. Any man or woman who enforces these unconstitutional laws on behalf of government is a treasonous soul and an enemy of Liberty and humanity.

Sons of Liberty Flag

Try not to make it to the Big League before it begins.

How do you know when you have made the Bigs?

You catch a Federal case.

When you earn real attention from our Masters, you'll know it...usually after it is too late. Our Masters will tolerate quite a bit from folks, even Patriots who are rabble-rousing. They really don't care if you are stocking up on rice and beans, even rifles and bullets. They don't care if you call them names or incite a few misdemeanors or send them snarky little letters. If you are trying to get their attention and you have not yet caught a Federal case, it's still amateur hour...or maybe you are valuable to them...

It's when you start to have an impact on the flow of dollars that you will earn real interest. Write a report that negatively impacts the stock value of a few Fortune 50 companies, and you will soon have a genuine understanding of the term Lawfare.

You may also be schooled on Constructive Possession.

There are many lessons you may be taught. Right Now.

You will learn inside baseball details about the US Code that will make you ill.

The world begins to move very, very quickly.

You will be faced with stark choices that have never entered your mind, because you think you understand the rules.

You do not understand the rules, until you have been inside the machine.

Then your options are put on the table: 2 years if you take the deal, or 20 if you fight...and we'll add a Conspiracy case for your little dog, too...

You will learn that the power of a US Attorney is crushing.

Do not make it easy to take you out of play, Patriot.

And, it is oh, so easy...if they ever decide to do it.

The choice is theirs...not yours.

Truth, Justice & the American Way?

Not so much.

The DOJ conviction rate is 95% in a bad year, and pushes above 98% according to some stats. The deck is not only stacked in their favor, they own the deck. And the card table. And the casino. Do you understand?

Can you name any Federal bureaucracy that runs at a minimum 95% efficiency rate? What does that tell you?

Do not make the mistake of thinking that you intimidate them just because they have not yet chosen to come for you...

The Point: If you are trying to incite Big Brother to notice you, go for it! But, man up and roll bigger dice.

If you would prefer to make your preparations for it with relative impunity, just go about your business and avoid taking actions that will make it easy for Them to take you out of play, and do not give them a reason to take you out of play. Don't telegraph about the details of your preparations or defensive measures. Don't put a pistol in your belt, against your local laws, unless you are willing to use it when LEO spots you in the convenience store. Avoid gratuitous violence.

Do not draw hyperbolic lines in the sand. When you draw lines in the sand that you do not defend, it reveals you for what you are deep in your Soul...and some of that bad energy splatters on us, too.

There will be plenty of opportunities for a fight, if you want one, soon enough. Be smart, stay off the radar, so that any fight you engage will be on your terms.

Simo Häyhä: One Man, One Rifle

262,000,000 people were murdered by governments during the 20th Century.

The Constitutionalist, written by TL Davis

Get your head on straight, Patriot!

Following the counsel of idiots and hollow heroes regarding SHTF circumstances will get you dead...and if you can't tell the difference between serious men and hot-air machines, you're already half way to a mass grave. Growling on blogs about how you will not yield one more inch, or one more of your gun rights, then letting LEO have your pistol during a traffic stop makes you a pathetic joke, not a Leader worthy of serious consideration.

Hyperbolic proclamations about what you will do to any Alphabet Agency team making a dynamic entry to your home is hardly helpful to the Patriot cause.

If you draw a line in the sand, defend the damned line! Do not whine and make excuses later about the better part of valor! Your poor judgment (drawing the line) and cowardice (choosing not to defend it) colors us all.

Man up and think for yourself, or you are wasting perfectly good air, and feeding those who depend on your intellect and common sense false hope.

Mr. Kerodin is an Author, Columnist, available Speaker & Speech Writer.

"This is Washington DC, my friend - when you play at a certain level in this town, you will be elected, or convicted. Sometimes, both. The order of events is irrelevant." - Kerodin

Required Daily Reads

Drudge Report

Market Ticker
Karl Denninger

Gun Rights Examiner
David Codrea

TL in Exile
TL Davis

Western Rifle Shooters Assn

Washington Rebel

Cliffs of Insanity
Alvie

War on Guns Blog
David Codrea

Gun Rights 4 US

Sipsey Street Irregulars
Mike Vanderboegh

"Liberalism, and Liberals, are ruinous to the republic, and must be marginalized if America is to survive. Patriots must step to this challenge and risk the wrath of the Politically Correct, and do the work that must be done to honor our Fathers. Liberals must be stopped, at any cost." - Kerodin

"No, I apologize for nothing. I know the truth, regardless of what may be in the press. I know that when I stand before Saint Peter, I will be granted passage. If I am ever granted audience with God, I have nothing to fear. I have lived the life He chose for me, and I still have much work to do..." - Kerodin

"No man looks forward into life when young and can imagine for himself the life I have lived. But I am better for it. I have been places never anticipated. I have had experiences never dreamed. I have met people who would have never otherwise been in my social or professional circle. I have, many times, leaned upon the words of Winston Churchill - 'When you are going through Hell, keep going!'" - Kerodin

My family continues to promote my values where I can not. They are Patriots. If you ever meet my wife, you will meet the most loyal wife and Patriot in America. She is brave, brilliant, and bold. We fight Liberal stupidity together through the First Amendment. Laws change - and one day I will stand with her again in the Second Amendment fight that she carries on when I must stand aside." - Kerodin

Current political leaders are only the face of the problem confronting America today. The underlying cancer eating the American Soul is Liberalism. But for your Liberal neighbors, Liberal politicians would never be elected to office.

It is not sufficient to simply defeat Liberal politicians at the polls. Liberalism must be defeated in our society and Liberals must be marginalized, or this disease will kill the republic.

Every patriotic business owner should immediately fire every Liberal on staff and hire an employee who respects the nation and our Constitution. Why should any business owner suffer an employee who will simply vote for politicians who further ruin the company?!

The Liberals in your community must be ostracized and denied entry into your social circle. These stupid people are responsible for the insanity that affects everything from your property taxes to the curriculum taught to your children. Why would you break bread with them, when they are the reason your bread costs too much? Why would any parent permit them access to their children, when they are responsible for ruining your child's future?

Excerpt:

This book may not be for you.

If you consider yourself to be a Liberal or Progressive, go away. You are not permitted to buy this book. This book is written by patriotic Americans for patriotic Americans. This is a discussion among ourselves, and if you are a Liberal politician or you vote for Liberal politicians, (Of the genus Stupidus Liberalis) you are not invited to participate.

First, we will demonstrate that all politicians, judges, and government employees at the Local, State, and Federal levels who support federal Healthcare Reform, the Assault Weapons Ban, TARP, Stimulus I, Free Trade Agreements, PATRIOT Act, the new “Jobs” bill, or a host of other such Federal programs or initiatives, are guilty of Treason against the United States of America.

Secondly, businesses, multi-national corporations and special interest groups that support Liberal politicians and/or Liberal programs, Cap & Trade, Global Warming legislation, et cetera, are committing Treason against the United States of America.

Finally, we will demonstrate that those private Citizens who support or vote for any of these politicians—once the nature of the politician is known to the public—or programs are equally guilty of Treason by knowingly lending material aid and support to a Traitor.

Excerpt: The five most expensive parts of our national budget are:

1. Social Security

2. Medicare

3. Medicaid

4. Defense

5. Interest on the National Debt

Numbers 1, 2 and 3 are wholly unconstitutional and brought to us by Liberals.

Number 5 is wholly a result of numbers 1, 2 and 3!