5 Shots of Optimism for Freedom Lovers

Allow me to state three personal beliefs:

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1. I see no truth in the political left’s insistence that history marches inexorably toward some Marxist utopia. Those who most often resort to ludicrous claims that their opponents are “on the wrong side of history” usually have little to no understanding of anything that has taken place before their adolescence. I do believe there is an uncanny repetition throughout human history in which many of the same ideas and conflicts emerge, burn brightly, and rudely disappear until they are made new again. The fight for human freedom is a fundamental part of this cycle, and the political left continues to be on the wrong side of liberty.

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2. I believe that freedom and personal liberty are natural rights that come from God, yet unscrupulous people use deception and force to keep others in bondage. I believe that history is dotted with hard-fought struggles for freedom achieved by people who slowly take for granted freedom’s existence and forget the dear price once paid before languishing and allowing themselves to be enslaved yet again. I also believe, however, that every population exposed to freedom, when finally awakened to its disappearance, will struggle for its return and pass that fight from one generation to the next over the course of decades, centuries, and even millennia. There is a powerful drive within the human soul to be free.

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3. I believe that good ultimately triumphs over evil, but man is not in charge of that timeline. I do not pretend to understand God’s will. I do not know whether God’s gift of freedom will triumph over evil in this lifetime, or whether the events of today will only be referenced in the future, long after we are gone, as inspiration for final victories we’ll never see. I believe that part of the moral legitimacy behind any fight for freedom comes from acknowledging this uncertainty — that the fruits of our labor might be enjoyed only by future generations not yet with us.

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That said, I cannot help but get a little giddy when I see Americans standing up for their God-given rights and against growing government abuses. Consider these five interrelated events part of a growing trend that should give even the most cynical a shot of optimism:

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1. More and more counties across the country are passing resolutions as first steps to secede from home state governments that have become too oppressive. A proposed bill by a state senator from Roswell is pushing for several New Mexico counties to become part of Texas. Seven counties in Oregon have voted to secede and become part of Idaho. Citizens of Weld County, Colorado are thinking of joining Wyoming, and counties in western Minnesota have proposed leaving for South Dakota. What was once merely a dream of northern Californians to break away from Democrats by forming the new state of Jefferson has turned into a national movement. And after years of actively trying to secede from dark blue cities, even neighborhoods are redoubling their efforts. In the face of skyrocketing murders, rising violent crimes, and a fading police presence, the Buckhead community of northwest Atlanta is doing everything it can to escape the dangerous policies of Atlanta mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms by declaring its independence and hiring its own law enforcement. The only way for communities and counties to survive in the face of crime waves and political tyranny unleashed by Democrats is to divorce from those who cause them harm and fight for freedom on their own terms.

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2. Because the federal government has failed in its duty to protect American lives and property and seems intent on creating the worst border crisis since the Mexican-American War, Arizona and Texas bypassed the feds on June 10 and sent a distress call seeking help from any state willing to engage hostile forces waging war against American citizens. Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts both answered the call, because only a coalition of free American states can pick up the slack when the federal government aids drug cartels, human-traffickers, and criminal gangs across the country. Texas governor Greg Abbott has announced that Texas will build its own border wall and finish the job that President Trump started. When the federal government abandons its post, a coalition of the willing must fill the gap and seal the breach.

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3. After a controversial national election in which the dubious use of mail-in ballots and suspicious voting irregularities in Democrat-controlled counties of battleground states combined to produce a Biden victory with a margin of roughly 40,000 votes spread across three states, a majority of Americans believe that vote fraud occurred in the 2020 presidential election and support a full forensic audit of the election results. Arizona has answered those concerns by initiating a secure and transparent audit of its ballots in Maricopa County. How has the federal government responded? Attorney General Merrick Garland has threatened states and auditing teams that scrutinize election results with the possibility of civil rights charges.

The Department of Justice has made it clear that it is more interested in punishing Americans for uncovering vote fraud than in punishing Americans for committing vote fraud. Intimidating Americans to cover up past crimes sounds a lot like aiding and abetting criminal activity, and Arizona wasted no time making that plain to the feds. State senator (and former fighter pilot) Wendy Rogers fired back: “You will not touch Arizona ballots or machines unless you want to spend time in an Arizona prison.” Then, just to make sure she had hit the target, she added, “Maybe you should focus on stopping terrorism. The Justice Department is one of the most corrupt institutions in the USA.” If Senator Rogers’s response to federal interference in state election issues was not sufficiently robust, Arizona attorney general Mark Brnovich addressed A.G. Garland directly in a letter warning, “My office is not amused by the DOJ’s posturing and will not tolerate any effort to undermine or interfere with our State Senate’s audit to reassure Arizonans of the accuracy of our elections.” State sovereignty has never been more important.

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4. Likewise, both Missouri and Texas have responded to Democrats’ national gun control push by building a “barrier around gun rights.” Governor Mike Parson and Attorney General Eric Schmitt of Missouri have vowed to “fight tooth and nail” against “federal overreach and encroachment on Missourians’ Second Amendment rights” and have succeeded in passing legislation that “draws a line in the sand.” While the DOJ plans to nullify both states’ gun rights protections, Missouri and Texas have been resolute: molon labe.

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5. And in my favorite act of defiance against illegitimate government overreach, two counties in Nevada — Lander and Elko — have declared that the Bill of Rights will be “upheld in their jurisdictions, even if it means standing against unconstitutional acts by state and federal authorities.” In their counties, no federal officer or agent will be permitted to exercise powers not specifically enumerated by the U.S. Constitution, and all other powers not retained by the state of Nevada will be presumed to belong to the citizens as specifically protected by the Ninth Amendment.

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As I’ve said, there are no certainties as regards how history unfolds, but I have an awful lot of faith that good always triumphs in the end.

By: J.B. Shurk