Merry Christmas! From the Texas Sheepdawg.

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Merry Christmas! From the Texas Sheepdawg.

Postby Texas Sheepdawg » Tue Dec 24, 2013 12:33 am

I want to wish each and every one of you guys a very Merry Christmas and a safe and happy new year. This year, and the last five years too, have been a challenge for all of us. Finding rifles, parts, ammunition, and reloading components has been pretty frustrating at times, and our Second Amendment rights have been besieged by the tyrants. Even as we enter into this period of holidays, we need to stay diligent and continue to fight for our right to keep and bear arms. Stay focused on issues that affect our Second Amendment. Do not let that lame stream media distract you from what's going on under the table. So, enjoy this forum and we hope to learn as much as we can here.
You guys are awesome and it is YOU....the members here, that make this forum the treasure that it truly is.
The other day, I posted my final commentary for the year on my Face Book page and even though it's a compilation of a handful of my previous posts here, I tried to meld my thoughts together as a summation of my observations throughout the last year. Yes, it's lengthy but it's a learning opportunity for those of you who don't know me. It's NOT politically correct and I don't mince words.
It was published as follows.
December 19, 2013
As we approach the end of 2013, I've decided that it's time to let all of you take a rare stroll through my head and see what I've been thinking for the past few months. So grab a pot of coffee and take this opportunity now. Because I don't normally do this. If you're lucky, you might actually learn some things about me that will surprise you. But I hope that this will help some of you to understand and learn better, who I am and why I am the way I am. I'm not doing this in hopes that it will make you like me or look up to me, on the contrary, people who do know me, know that I really don't give a flying lip lock what you think, especially if you think negatively of me and my gruff sense of humor or my passionate love of my country and my rights as an American. I've just come to a point where enough is enough. I'm sick and tired of people telling me to sit down, shut up and keep my opinions to myself. I'm tired of friends & family treating me like I'm some kind of loony, misinformed gun powder snorting relative that is merely another gun nut and a closed minded redneck that calls himself "Texas Sheepdawg". I'm sick and tired of everyone saying that I'm jaded and cynical, (although this may be true to a point and soon you'll find out why), and not considerate of other peoples' feelings and needs when I spent the better half of my spare time in the early years of my life, serving the needs of my community. (Usually for no pay.)
So sit back and read this compilation of notes that I've taken in recent months. Soak it up and really think about where YOU stand in the big picture when it comes to love of God, your country and your family.
While we still have some symbolance of Freedom of Speech in this nation, I need to say this and get it circulating in people's minds.
When I look at certain groups of Americans, I'm noticing that some of us are extremely alarmed, weary and stressed and extremely pissed off. Me included. Then there are some folks who are in full blown tunnel vision, just trying to survive yet the blinders are so narrow, they can't see the reasons why. Others seem to be oblivious that this country is in real trouble, but they can name all the players and all of the NFL teams and quote their stats or tell you everything you wouldn't want to know about American Idol, Ladie GaGa, and the Mangy Twerking Poodle. Then there a lot of lost balls in high grass that are participating in this "Polly Anna" routine, scoffing at those of us who are trying to sound the alarm that something has gone terribly wrong in our country. Then there's the "party" crowd telling the rest of us we need to lighten up, take a chill pill, eat drink and be merry, and enjoy this government sponsored "ride".
Some folks are even exhibiting a combination of all these symptoms described above. Everybody is working for the weekend to party and to drink.
Well I'm not buying into it. It's time to grow up.
Interestingly, I've noticed a huge drop in activity right now on both of my FaceBook groups and also on my AR 15 forums, one of which I am a moderator. However, in this case, I think the drop is more of a political climate anomaly and nothing personal. I think that some of the people in my circle are in sensory overload trying to keep up with all of the tactical distractions being thrown at Americans by this administration via the lame stream media advertisers and leftist TV show producers in an attempt to draw our attention away from Bengahzi, Fast and Furious, obamacare, the thousands of obamas executive orders and the other "fleecings" of this corrupt administration. It's a Propaganda Stampede.
Some people have just stopped reacting and responding because they are exhausted. But they are still there.... In receiving mode only. Kind of like a transceiver who's finals have overheated from transmitting, so the protective circuit has tripped out until the finals cool. But it will still receive signals.
This tactical misdirection that I am speaking of is one of the Lefts' attempts to condition us into just tuning out. That's what they want us to do. I've addressed this on several occasions to my folks on my other "outlets". It's called Cloward and Piven. Google it. Your education and knowledge is your responsibility. I'm just here to point out the warning signs. But what I've learned is this. This man Obama and his minions think thusly...
If you can't fool the people into tyranny. Overwhelm them with so much drama that they stop paying attention. Deliberately creating one scandal after another so that the opposition, (us), scramble, seemingly turning us into harpies at every turn, making us to look like chicken littles and the child who cried wolf. We get so wrapped up in all the scandals, that the people see and hear nothing but our warning, sirens and battle cries. They grow so weary of it, they just tune out and tune into lady gaga, or the spazzing twerking poodle.
It's all a part of the Cloward and Piven theory play book.
Some of us are complaining about no energy. I'm afraid that I may be experiencing similar sentiments. I've even lost a GF cuz of my lethargic attitude. I crave to do things but I can't motivate myself because I feel like the things I enjoy doing just don't have the same attraction. I've not even tried to deer and hog hunt much in the past several years. I don't go fishing anymore. I haven't done much of anything on my yard. I let the goats keep my back yard and rifle range in check but my front yard looks like a jungle. I've searched and tried to find reasons for what seems to be my apathy. It all comes back to one thing. I feel like I'm being smothered. As I look around, there's very little tangible evidence of any one thing or one person. But there is one thing that I am very very stressed about. The future of my country. That's my obsession. All of my recreational pursuits have taken a back seat because of the indirect attacks on my disposable income, my fuel consumption, my ever present bullet consumption addiction, and my right to keep and bear firearms. The constant attacks on my way of life. The attacks on my Christianity. The attacks on the Constitution. I really do feel overwhelmed. I can't even keep up with all of the breaking reports of how the Obama administration is destroying the American way of life on an hourly basis. It's Cloward and Piven by the book and it's OVERWHELMING. So it seems that I am in a sort of defense mode while surrounded by a crowd of bullies..... A Gestapo at the gate. They can't quite get their hands on me but they are there, just the same. Saber rattling and posturing and threatening me. Intimidating me. Their constant attempts to provoke me and my brothers in an attempt to incite us to make a careless move. I'm like a rattle snake in a rat hole with a jack booted thug outside with a shovel. My only defense is to conserve my energy and my resources and wait it out. I am in defense mode. Because I know that going into an offensive mode is EXACTLY what the tyrant wants. And that's not a message for this patriot to send. So I have coiled myself up in a corner waiting for the righteous fight. A defensive strike. But to be ready...... I have to conserve my energy. So I feel like I'm doing nothing. And for that, I feel guilty.
But I do know this as a fact. If we lose the Second Amendment, there will be NOTHING standing between our Constitution and Tyranny and we and our way of life will be plowed under like September corn stubble. There will be nothing to protect our free speech. Nothing to keep our government from establishing a national religion.
Nothing to protect our children and our families from pillagers, rapists, murderers and marauders.
Nothing to protect our property rights.
Nothing to keep the tyrant from marching us all into a boxcar.
Nothing to protect any of our other rights and laws established by our Founding Fathers.
WE WILL LOSE EVERYTHING. The Second Amendment was put in place as the Second Amendment for a reason. The First Amendment was placed first for a reason.
1- Talk and negotiate FIRST.
If that fails
2- FIGHT. Period.
That's the message that our Founding Fathers wanted us to understand.
I know this is going to make some people very mad and it might even cause me to have a weaponized drone flown down my throat, but I believe this is too important to let pass. If you're a Sheepdawg, you have chosen God,Country, Family.
In that order of priority. Because you fight for the future of your family by defending your country. But you make this choice even knowing that your family does not want to lose you. But in spite of the fact that your family doesn't want you putting yourself in harms way, you put a lower priority on family wishes because you know, without a country..... You betray the future of your family.
That's my path.
God is first because God has given us the rights, freedom and a country to live in. It's our duty to preserve Gods gifts. Gods gifts include:
Our rights, our lives, our liberty and our PURSUIT of happiness, and He also gives us our families.
We must do our duty to defend the gifts of God. Without a country to exercise these gifts, we have abdicated our duty. We took an oath to preserve, protect and defend. Our family includes all family and a tight network of true friends. Some of them WILL NOT understand about sacrifices. But we must do our duty in spite of some of our families' wishes. There is an element of emotion in this mindset. It's not your family that you are betraying. It's not betrayal at all. It is merely the refusal to allow emotions to jeopardize the future of the country that they will have to live in, if indeed, we end up feeding the tree of Liberty. If you choose to put family before country, you and your whole family may feed the tree of Liberty. Or you can step up and answer the call to defend your families' future by defending your countries' future.
In the end, you will be judged by this. Did you do nothing and because of that, you lost not only your country, but your family and you ended up being herded onto a train car headed for a FEMA Camp?
Did you step up, fight the righteous fight and lose your life and in so doing, secured the future of your country and your family?
Or did you step up and fight for the future of your country and family and even though it was a valiant fight, you lost your life and the battle and your country? Where would your family be then? Your family would still be there to carry on the fight or end up on a train to their own fate.
So it's God, Country, Family. Maybe we should be asking victims of the Holocaust... I don't know.
I am an American and I love my country. I became a volunteer fire fighter in 1983 and progressed in the field, getting my medical training as a first responder in two states, Louisiana and again in Tennessee when I worked for Shelby County Sheriffs Dept. Emergency Services Division as a Corporal, then got my EMT license and attained the rank of Sargent. I served in this position until 1992. (The whole time, I also had a full time regular job in the hardware and lumber business.) I tried to enlist in the Army in 1994 but was told that my hearing deficit was too great to serve in any field capacity, so that just didn't work out. In 1998, I was asked by a former chief of Shelby County Sheriffs Dept. Emergency Services Division to serve as a reservist coordinator for Emergency Management in Memphis/Shelby County, Tennessee and there again, I had to swear the Oath. At this same agency, there was a Fire Chief from a neighboring community in Fayette County who took an interest in my background. He asked me to hop on board with his city fire dept that was a "paid on call" dept and also to act as an volunteer EMA agent for that small town. This man sent me to Tennessee State Fire School where I became a certified firefighter. I served in that capacity until 2001 when I moved here to Texas to take a job with a Texas School District. I ended up buying a small farm in a rural town where I returned to the volunteer fire services, went to several TX fire service college courses and also got my Texas ECA. I served my community from 2004-2010. I consider my Oath to be binding and never ending. That it crossed county lines in Tennessee and state lines in 2001 when I came to Texas. I still believe it to be my duty, even in this "semi-retired" status, to live up to my oath. I am a Sheepdog. I smell trouble and it's becoming clear that we have real enemies, preparing to throw America into chaos. One only has to look back at obamas' recent shutdowns of our memorials. That act was clearly an act of terrorism.
What we have experienced here is a Hostage situation. Obama took our National Monuments and shut them down, barricaded them up, using The Peoples' own tax dollars to execute this act of aggression against The Peoples' precious resources, in effect, taking OUR OWN National Monuments and Parks Hostage! His Gestapo harassed military veterans at the memorials. He declared that he would give us back our National Monuments if the Republicans allowed him to fund his beloved obamacare. He also inflicted as much pain as he could through other means during that shutdown. But he opened it up for an Amnesty rally... (The rat Bastard). His goons gunned down an unarmed mother with a baby in the car right there on the streets of DC. Her crime? She panicked. Instead of using restraint and a Taser or OC spray, the Gestapo used unwarranted deadly force on someone and later justified it by merely saying shoot first ask questions later. (But our men in Bengahzi never got that kind of protection). What is it with this asshat that he prefers to harm Americans instead of destroying the real threats to Americans? My only conclusion is that he is sympathizing with the enemy.
A Traitor committing Treason by siding and sympathizing with known Terrorists.

What is the definition of terrorism?
TERRORISM
—noun
The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.
The state of fear and submission produced by terrorism or terrorization.
a terroristic method of governing or of resisting a government.

Ladies and Gentlemen! Congressional Leaders and Senators!
This was an act of terrorism and treason against The People of the United States of America. It's time to impeach Obama and all of his administration and file criminal charges against them!
He talks like a sniveling, craven rat to Syria and Iran, and bows to foreign leaders, he bowed and shook the hand of Raul Castro, but he talks tough and threatens his own citizens and political adversaries.
He's more ready to destroy Americans than he is willing to destroy the real enemy. And you think the Tea Party is the problem? Call your congressmen! Demand that impeachment proceedings of the president begin and that criminal charges be levied upon Obama!
There. I said it. Impeach Obama. There. I said it again. I can't make it any clearer.
I AM the Texas Sheepdawg and I'm proud of that. Yes, I am jaded and yes I am a cynic. Yet I'm humbled and honored to have been able to serve my fellow citizens in whatever limited capacity that I did serve and God willing, if called to the sound of the chaos, I will serve once again.
Now that I've got that out of the way, I'm gonna go look outside to see if there's any weaponized drones flying over my AO.... (I says, laughingly).
Meanwhile, I want to share with you, something that I read long ago that really hit home with me and it fired me up.
Some of you have probably read this but there may be a few newbies out there that still have not.
MOLON LABE.

-Robin B. McConnell

-----------
Taken from Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, it's worth the read, hope y'all enjoy.

On Sheep, Wolves and Sheepdogs
(From the book, On Combat, by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman)

"Honor never grows old, and honor rejoices the heart of age. It does so because honor is, finally, about defending those noble and worthy things that deserve defending, even if it comes at a high cost. In our time, that may mean social disapproval, public scorn, hardship, persecution, or as always, even death itself.
The question remains: What is worth defending? What is worth dying for? What is worth living for?"
- William J. Bennett
In a lecture to the United States Naval Academy
November 24, 1997

One Vietnam veteran, an old retired colonel, once said this to me: “Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident.” This is true. Remember, the murder rate is six per 100,000 per year, and the aggravated assault rate is four per 1,000 per year. What this means is that the vast majority of Americans are not inclined to hurt one another.

Some estimates say that two million Americans are victims of violent crimes every year, a tragic, staggering number, perhaps an all-time record rate of violent crime. But there are almost 300 million Americans, which means that the odds of being a victim of violent crime is considerably less than one in a hundred on any given year. Furthermore, since many violent crimes are committed by repeat offenders, the actual number of violent citizens is considerably less than two million.

Thus there is a paradox, and we must grasp both ends of the situation: We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people who are not capable of hurting each other, except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.

I mean nothing negative by calling them sheep. To me it is like the pretty, blue robin’s egg. Inside it is soft and gooey but someday it will grow into something wonderful. But the egg cannot survive without its hard blue shell. Police officers, soldiers and other warriors are like that shell, and someday the civilization they protect will grow into something wonderful. For now, though, they need warriors to protect them from the predators.
“Then there are the wolves,” the old war veteran said, “and the wolves feed on the sheep without mercy.” Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.

“Then there are sheepdogs,” he went on, “and I’m a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf.” Or, as a sign in one California law enforcement agency put it, “We intimidate those who intimidate others.”

If you have no capacity for violence then you are a healthy productive citizen: a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined an aggressive sociopath--a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? Then you are a sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the hero’s path. Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.

The gift of aggression

"What goes on around you... compares little with what goes on inside you."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone has been given a gift in life. Some people have a gift for science and some have a flair for art. And warriors have been given the gift of aggression. They would no more misuse this gift than a doctor would misuse his healing arts, but they yearn for the opportunity to use their gift to help others. These people, the ones who have been blessed with the gift of aggression and a love for others, are our sheepdogs. These are our warriors.

One career police officer wrote to me about this after attending one of my Bulletproof Mind training sessions:

"I want to say thank you for finally shedding some light on why it is that I can do what I do. I always knew why I did it. I love my [citizens], even the bad ones, and had a talent that I could return to my community. I just couldn’t put my finger on why I could wade through the chaos, the gore, the sadness, if given a chance try to make it all better, and walk right out the other side."

Let me expand on this old soldier’s excellent model of the sheep, wolves, and sheepdogs. We know that the sheep live in denial; that is what makes them sheep. They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms and fire exits throughout their kids’ schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kid’s school. Our children are dozens of times more likely to be killed, and thousands of times more likely to be seriously injured, by school violence than by school fires, but the sheep’s only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their children is just too hard, so they choose the path of denial.

The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic such as ours.

Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land. They would prefer that he didn’t tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports in camouflage fatigues holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go, “Baa.”

Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog. As Kipling said in his poem about “Tommy” the British soldier:

While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind,"
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir," when there's trouble in the wind.

The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances they would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them. This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001, when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Remember how many times you heard the word hero?

Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be. Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter: He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed right along with the young ones.

Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day. After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America said, “Thank God I wasn’t on one of those planes.” The sheepdogs, the warriors, said, “Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference.” When you are truly transformed into a warrior and have truly invested yourself into warriorhood, you want to be there. You want to be able to make a difference.

While there is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, he does have one real advantage. Only one. He is able to survive and thrive in an environment that destroys 98 percent of the population.

There was research conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory acts of violence: assaults, murders and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said that they specifically targeted victims by body language: slumped walk, passive behavior and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.

However, when there were cues given by potential victims that indicated they would not go easily, the cons said that they would walk away. If the cons sensed that the target was a "counter-predator," that is, a sheepdog, they would leave him alone unless there was no other choice but to engage.

One police officer told me that he rode a commuter train to work each day. One day, as was his usual, he was standing in the crowded car, dressed in blue jeans, T-shirt and jacket, holding onto a pole and reading a paperback. At one of the stops, two street toughs boarded, shouting and cursing and doing every obnoxious thing possible to intimidate the other riders. The officer continued to read his book, though he kept a watchful eye on the two punks as they strolled along the aisle making comments to female passengers, and banging shoulders with men as they passed.

As they approached the officer, he lowered his novel and made eye contact with them. “You got a problem, man?” one of the IQ-challenged punks asked. “You think you’re tough, or somethin’?” the other asked, obviously offended that this one was not shirking away from them.

“As a matter of fact, I am tough,” the officer said, calmly and with a steady gaze.

The two looked at him for a long moment, and then without saying a word, turned and moved back down the aisle to continue their taunting of the other passengers, the sheep.

Some people may be destined to be sheep and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I’m proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.

Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When he learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd dropped his phone and uttered the words, “Let’s roll,” which authorities believe was a signal to the other passengers to confront the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers--athletes, business people and parents--from sheep to sheepdogs and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.

“Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”

"There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men."
- Edmund Burke
Reflections on the Revolution in France

Here is the point I like to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They didn’t have a choice. But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision.
If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you. If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down and you will never have rest, safety, trust or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior’s path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.

For example, many officers carry their weapons in church. They are well concealed in ankle holsters, shoulder holsters or inside-the-belt holsters tucked into the small of their backs. Anytime you go to some form of religious service, there is a very good chance that a police officer in your congregation is carrying. You will never know if there is such an individual in your place of worship, until the wolf appears to slaughter you and your loved ones.

I was training a group of police officers in Texas, and during the break, one officer asked his friend if he carried his weapon in church. The other cop replied, “I will never be caught without my gun in church.” I asked why he felt so strongly about this, and he told me about a police officer he knew who was at a church massacre in Ft. Worth, Texas, in 1999. In that incident, a mentally deranged individual came into the church and opened fire, gunning down 14 people. He said that officer believed he could have saved every life that day if he had been carrying his gun. His own son was shot, and all he could do was throw himself on the boy’s body and wait to die. That cop looked me in the eye and said, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself after that?”

Some individuals would be horrified if they knew this police officer was carrying a weapon in church. They might call him paranoid and would probably scorn him. Yet these same individuals would be enraged and would call for “heads to roll” if they found out that the airbags in their cars were defective, or that the fire extinguisher and fire sprinklers in their kids’ school did not work. They can accept the fact that fires and traffic accidents can happen and that there must be safeguards against them. Their only response to the wolf, though, is denial, and all too often their response to the sheepdog is scorn and disdain. But the sheepdog quietly asks himself, “Do you have any idea how hard it would be to live with yourself if your loved ones were attacked and killed, and you had to stand there helplessly because you were unprepared for that day?”

The warrior must cleanse denial from his thinking. Coach Bob Lindsey, a renowned law enforcement trainer, says that warriors must practice “when/then” thinking, not “if/when.” Instead of saying,“If it happens then I will take action,” the warrior says, “When it happens then I will be ready.”

It is denial that turns people into sheep. Sheep are psychologically destroyed by combat because their only defense is denial, which is counterproductive and destructive, resulting in fear, helplessness and horror when the wolf shows up.

Denial kills you twice. It kills you once, at your moment of truth when you are not physically prepared: You didn’t bring your gun; you didn’t train. Your only defense was wishful thinking. Hope is not a strategy. Denial kills you a second time because even if you do physically survive, you are psychologically shattered by fear, helplessness, horror and shame at your moment of truth.

Chuck Yeager, the famous test pilot and first man to fly faster than the speed of sound, says that he knew he could die. There was no denial for him. He did not allow himself the luxury of denial. This acceptance of reality can cause fear, but it is a healthy, controlled fear that will keep you alive:

"I was always afraid of dying. Always. It was my fear that made me learn everything I could about my airplane and my emergency equipment, and kept me flying respectful of my machine and always alert in the cockpit."
- Brigadier General Chuck Yeager
Yeager, An Autobiography

Gavin de Becker puts it like this in Fear Less, his superb post-9/11 book, which should be required reading for anyone trying to come to terms with our current world situation:

"..denial can be seductive, but it has an insidious side effect. For all the peace of mind deniers think they get by saying it isn’t so, the fall they take when faced with new violence is all the more unsettling. Denial is a save-now-pay-later scheme, a contract written entirely in small print, for in the long run, the denying person knows the truth on some level."

And so the warrior must strive to confront denial in all aspects of his life, and prepare himself for the day when evil comes.

If you are a warrior who is legally authorized to carry a weapon and you step outside without that weapon, then you become a sheep, pretending that the bad man will not come today. No one can be “on” 24/7 for a lifetime. Everyone needs down time. But if you are authorized to carry a weapon, and you walk outside without it, just take a deep breath, and say this to yourself... “Baa.”

This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes-no dichotomy. It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-grass sheep and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between. Since 9-11 almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously. The degree to which you move up that continuum, away from sheephood and denial, is the degree to which you and your loved ones will survive, physically and psychologically at your moment of truth.

-Lt. Col. Dave Grossman,
-Texas Sheepdawg

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Re: Merry Christmas! From the Texas Sheepdawg.

Postby kobraken » Tue Dec 24, 2013 7:41 am

I think AMEN says it all. Ken
Here piggy,piggy,piggy, I got something for you.
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Re: Merry Christmas! From the Texas Sheepdawg.

Postby jerdebson » Tue Dec 24, 2013 7:19 pm

Thank You TSD, from one old dog to another. Merry Christmas to you and yours. I must go "Prepare" for Christmas Eve services.
Jerry

NRA Benefactor Member, Whittington Center Life Member, USPSA Life Member, SASS Life Member, LJRC Life Member

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
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Re: Merry Christmas! From the Texas Sheepdawg.

Postby commander faschisto » Wed Dec 25, 2013 10:01 am

Yep...Amen, again!
Isa Akhbar!
NRA Life Member
Oklahoma Rifle Association member

Heavily armed; easily pissed.
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Re: Merry Christmas! From the Texas Sheepdawg.

Postby MarkCO » Wed Dec 25, 2013 1:24 pm

I started to read this yesterday and realized I wanted more time.

Just took that time after time with God and Family on this, Christmas Day.

Thanks for the encouragement and speaking the truth TSD.

A very Merry Christmas to all.
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