If we are to be protected, we must rely upon ourselves.

On September 7, 1876, three men rode into the bustling town of Northfield, Minnesota. Several townspeople thought they looked suspicious because their horses were of unusually high quality and they wore matching dusters (to cover their weapons).

These riders (who eventually grew to number eight men) were Jesse and Frank James, the Younger brothers (Cole, Jim and Bob), Charlie Pitts, Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell. They had come to rob the bank.

The towns folk had other ideas.

To this day, teller Joseph Lee Heywood is a local hero, shot dead by Frank James as Heywood repeatedly refused to open the bank safe after being beaten to the floor and threatened with death. James fled the bank with only $26.70.

Townsmen (many who were Civil War veterans) grabbed old but serviceable weapons and began firing at the outlaws on the street while yelling at townspeople to clear the area. The shocked robbers fled the town leaving two dead (Clell Miller and Bill Chadwell), with every member of the gang wounded except Jesse James. Two townspeople were also dead, the teller and a Swede who apparently became confused and couldn’t understand the shouts to get out of the street to avoid the shooting.

In describing the scene, Western story teller Louis L’Amour liked to say the gang was “shot to doll rags.”  It took just seven minutes for the robbery to fail because of the swift actions of the men in the town in spotting the robbery and acting.

The citizens were relentless. As many as 2000 men from Northfield and neighboring towns chased the gang members for weeks, eventually capturing the Youngers (and killing Charlie Pitt). The James brothers escaped after splitting from the others a week after the robbery.

We can learn much from this historic narrative. It runs contrary to the fictional western movies where a band of outlaws come in and take over a town and terrorize the helpless citizens, a popular Hollywood theme.  In reality an armed citizenry, leavened with battle-seasoned veterans, sized up the situation and took immediate action, sheltering their women and children and dealing swift and unrelenting justice to the barbarians who threatened their civilization.

Our fight against the global Islamic jihad has had a number of paradigm shifts. Prior to 9/11, pilots and flight crews were trained to go along with hijackers as the best way to protect passengers. The historic object of the hijackers was to safely get to a location with hostages or make demands for their release. After the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center, that all changed. In real time, some passengers on Flight 93 learned on their cell phones what had happened in New York and Washington at the Pentagon and overwhelmed any terrorists in the passenger cabin and were assaulting the cockpit door when the terrorists decided to crash the plane in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The paradigm shifted in real time.

The Paris attacks gave us another paradigm shift (or should have). There was talk about the “hostages” at the Bataclan concert hall while the event was unfolding, but we should really know better by now. Islamic terrorists do not take hostages in the middle of such attacks; they massacre people. When they have the leisure to do so they may take women or girls to sell as sex slaves or men and children to behead at a later time for propaganda purposes, but in a terror operation where they are certain to be killed in the middle of a city like Paris if they stay put for very long, there is no recent history of hostage taking, just slaughter.

When journalists suggest that they are taking hostages, they are reporting the last war, a failure of imagination.

Northfield in 1876 teaches four lessons we must learn if we are to defend ourselves in this new reality.

1. The government cannot protect us in our homes, work or leisure.  No sheriff stopped the James-Younger gang. Even if we are willing to give up all of our civil liberties it is doubtful Big Brother could have averted the San Bernardino attack. Destroying IS, ISIL, ISIS, Daesh or whatever you want to call it in the Middle East might slow recruitment of jihadi wannabe attackers here and around the civilized world but will not eliminate them completely. We have entered a world of perpetual martyrdom, of lunatic Islamists who believe not only in their holy cause of jihad and their other-worldly reward but that their martyrdom will ignite further revolution. Even if we someday elect leaders at all levels with spine, it will take a long time to minimize the existential threat of random violence. These San Bernardino terrorists do not appear to have a large digital footprint that could have been detected. There was apparently an illegal straw man gun purchase of at least some of the weapons by a friend. It could not have been detected, and it could not have been responded to quickly enough.  Even when police responded, they could not just charge in. They did not know how many terrorists there were. They did not know if doors were mined with IEDs that could kill or injure officers or civilians if breached (that apparently was the case; the bombs did not detonate). They did not know if quickly breaching could result in greater civilian casualties. Time was needed – even if they arrived instantly on the scene – to gather intelligence, assess the situation, formulate plans, and implement them. Time had to pass, and in such situations every minute means innocent lives lost as terrorists engage in their massacres.
2. Vigilance cannot be trumped by political correctness.   The San Bernardino massacre might have been averted had the neighbor(s) who noticed something suspicious actually reported it, but they said they did not because they were afraid of being accused of racial profiling. And that’s not an unreasonable fear. When the U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch makes a big deal about violence against Muslims in the wake of 9/11 (where there was an astounding lack of anti-Muslim backlash violence in the U.S.) and says her “greatest fear” is anti-Muslim rhetoric, then people have reason to fear reporting suspicious activities. When she pledges to prosecute people for discrimination against Muslims, this trickles down not only to civilians but all levels of law enforcement.    That means that even had the neighbors reported their suspicions to local law enforcement or federal authorities, those reports might not have been effectively acted upon.       Nonetheless we must report what we see without fear of reprisals from Social Justice Warriors like the Attorney General, and fight to support those who do make such reports.  Making reports, even if they prove to be unfounded, should not be discouraged.
3. Restricting gun ownership is the opposite of what is needed.   That is like saying we should lock passengers into their seats in airplanes in response to the heroes in Shanksville, so only those terrorists with box cutters can cut their way out and roam the plane. First responders cannot arrive in time and gain enough situational awareness to know to storm a building as quickly as armed people inside can respond to the situation. Cops cannot be everywhere, and every event cannot have enough armed guards to make a difference. A few armed, trained civilians could have taken down the shooters and saved many lives before the police arrived on the scene both in San Bernardino and at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. The terrorists’ bulletproof vests (if they had them; I’ve also seen them described as tactical vests for holding ammo clips) would not protect the legs or head or arms, or keep the shooter from being knocked down and being injured by the hydrostatic shock of impact. While many people would never consider carrying a gun at a holiday party, those folks wouldn’t have to; it would only have taken four or five armed citizens to insure these two were taken out, wounded, scared off, or sent out wounded to leave an easier trail for law enforcement. These terrorists had experience with target practice but expected a soft target; probably the shock of being shot back at would have disrupted their attack or even caused them to abandon their weapons.  As Bruce Lee said, boards do not hit back.
4. Open carry is not the answer; concealed carry is.  The James-Younger crowd rode into a town they thought was filled with farmers and merchants. They had sized up a number of towns before deciding on this one and had chosen it as a “soft target.” The guns were out of sight. Open carry makes the armed person the terrorists’ first target. Concealed carry leaves the terrorist wondering who might be armed and who isn’t. This is why air marshals are in plain clothes. Would-be terrorists do not know who is armed or if there is one on a flight. A soft target becomes a potentially hard target. The San Bernardino terrorists apparently had another attack planned after this one, possibly a police station or military target; some theorize they chose this target first so they were guaranteed a soft target success in case they failed in the second. If they knew that there was a possibility that there were armed people at this party they would not have considered this a soft target.  Open carry advertises what is a hard or soft target; wide-spread concealed carry makes ANY target potentially hard and may discourage attacks.

I’m sure my friends on the Left would say that we cannot go back to the wild west or vigilante justice. They are ignoring the fact that the Islamist terrorists have already brought us back to the seventh century with their jihadi assaults. Vigilante justice was often an organized community response to the barbarism of the outlaw when no law enforcement was available. Life is not always what it appears in a Hollywood western.  For example, San Francisco citizens joined together several times in an organized Committee of Vigilance  (vigilantes) when the existing civil government was not handling problems (or was part of the problem).

We have to arm ourselves and be prepared to defend ourselves. As it happens, I was born about four miles from where those two terrorists went on their rampage last week. I grew up in San Bernardino (none of us from there pronounce the second “r” either, so don’t feel bad). This kinda hits home and tells me it can happen anywhere. There are no safe places. But I cannot legally carry a concealed weapon in California (California is not big on reciprocity for CCPs).  If I had had the misfortune to be at the Inland Regional Center December 2, I would have been as unable to defend myself and others as anyone in that hall because California politicians have determined to keep folks safe from gunslingers like me.

I’m only in California a few days a month these days. But I’m going to look into finding a sympathetic jurisdiction for a California CCP. I don’t want to be a mourned victim but a proactive defender – wherever I am.

My Background

Back when I was a Democrat I was elected to a minor political office in Nebraska. More importantly, I worked at the same law firm as Ben Nelson when he ran for Governor. I also had a role in a complicated and high profile lawsuit involving a recount in the Democrat primary in his first race. Ben Nelson went on to serve as Senator and his experience there is instructive today.

Ben’s background was the insurance industry and on a national scale at the highest level. The people of Nebraska were solidly against Obamacare, but Ben was the fifty-first vote in its favor. It is now clear that Obamacare is not only a failure but crony capitalism of the worst sort for the insurance industry. Not to put too fine a point on it, but Ben Nelson sold out the people of Nebraska for the Democrat party and his insurance company cronies. He tried to soften the blow by negotiating the “Cornhusker kickback” so small town hospitals wouldn’t go bankrupt, but the polls showed he had no chance for reelection so he retired from the Senate and went back to the insurance industry.

My lesson? We need a real outsider as President.

The Scope of the Problem

I submit that foreign affairs are at the most dangerous point ever in the history of the world. Russia is resurgent. The Chinese are restless. Religious zealots in Iran and Syria have the money and means to get nuclear weapons. Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan never had such weapons. Surprisingly the appeasing architect of these failed policies thinks she can fix it.

On the domestic front things are really not much better. The recovery has been the most sluggish ever. We are lucky to have 2% growth. The latent problem is the national debt at nearly $20 trillion. The full magnitude of the debt problem is masked by the Federal Reserve’s zero interest rate policy. Once interest rates normalize, then interest payments explode. When the national debt well exceeds GNP then the economy really slows. The only solution then is massive inflation by devaluing the dollar or tax rates through the roof.

What We Need

In my view we need a servant leader and doer with solid conservative principles who is also an outsider.

Carly frequently uses the phrase “servant leader.” The cynic might say it is poll tested and the cynic might be right. I, on the other hand, take her use of the phrase to be authentic, genuine and direct from her heart.

Grant me dear reader a slight indulgence. On November 15th of this year, my teacher, mentor and friend Fr. John P. Schlegel, S.J. passed away. He was assigned to Creighton University three times and last served as its President for over a decade. During his time as Creighton’s President, he raised nearly $500 million. Most people probably know Creighton for having a pretty good basketball team but it is way more. Through his enormous talent he transformed my alma mater and Omaha. He was a friend to students and millionaires alike. He said Mass regularly and feed the homeless. He was an athlete and scholar. He focused all of his ability to become a man for others and Carly has that “others” focus. She doesn’t use “I” or “me” constantly like the current President. She appears to me to be sincerely interested in making America a better place for average persons. How novel.

Carly might not be a perfect conservative, but she is as conservative as any candidate and no moderate like Jeb Bush or John Kasich.

The Opponent

Hillary is old, tired and out of shape. Mrs. Clinton’s closest aide wrote in an email that was never supposed to see the light of day that Hillary was “confused” about some basic tasks at State. Hillary also needs naps.

The first time I saw Carly in July, her first appearance was at 7:00 am and she worked all day. One time she told a story about how she had climbed a ladder in New Delhi, India to get on a roof to meet some people. There is no way that Hillary would or could do such a thing.

Hillary is not very smart at all. If a person is going to run a secret multi-million dollar bribery scheme that is nearly treason then a smart person would spend some real money to make sure the private server was completely secure and that the contents of the emails never saw the light of day. Hillary didn’t do so. Incredibly stupid. Head-slapping stupid.

Bobby Jindal was a Rhodes Scholar. Ted Cruz was one of the smartest students at Harvard Law and argued cases before the Supreme Court. The GOP field is exceptionally talented, but I would rank Carly as the smartest and I don’t make that claim lightly. She really is a very quick study across a range of topics. Running HP with all of the different disciplines she had to master proves how intelligent she is.

Right now there is a serious criminal investigation ongoing against Hillary Clinton but it concerns her mishandling of national secrets. She has received a complete pass from the Obama Justice Department on the thinly disguised bribery scheme she conducted with her husband and the Clinton Foundation. For purposes of her candidacy the danger here is that if she is elected we will never know if she will sell out the American people’s safety and security for money. It is a small move from allowing the Russians to nearly corner the world’s uranium market to something more consequential.

She is a liar and not even a very good one at that. She is now praised for her prevarications. How perverse is that?

And what kind of woman stays married to a man who sexually humiliated her in front of the entire world? Maybe the Monica incident and her reaction was understandable, but by all accounts Bill has continued with his behavior. The answer to the question is that only a mortally craven or mentally unbalanced person would stay married to Bill Clinton.

Carly’s Rise

She really did rise from secretary to CEO of one of the biggest tech companies in America. And tech is our greatest industry. That is an extraordinary accomplishment that could only happen in America. She rose by merit at a time of extreme difficulty and transition. The internet was just coming on the scene. She was friends and competitors with Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Michael Dell. That’s the tech equivalent of George Washington, Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. She probably learned a few things from those guys.

Here’s a point that the regular press and American public really doesn’t appreciate. Every single quarter HP has to publish its financial results. There is a scorecard to compare to what Wall Street had expected. She then was subjected to really tough questioning on major and minor points by the Street. This is a rigorous process and not only did she have to master the facts but she had to be quite sophisticated in answering tricky and often compound questions and with follow-ups. Meet the Press is child’s play compared to quarterly conference calls.

When Carly joined HP it was in trouble. She had to make tough decisions. Not every one worked out, but the important thing is that she took action. She didn’t talk about taking action like what the Senate does. The “knock” on her is that she had to layoff people after the Compaq merger and she was subsequently fired by her Board. What is vital to know here is that Board member and legendary Silicon Valley venture capitalist Tom Perkins recently wrote that the HP Board made a mistake in firing her and he had voted to fire her at the time. It is also worth noting that the HP Board was dysfunctional and later became embroiled in its own scandal.

Lesson for voters today? Carly will challenge and change the status quo in Washington. She is an accomplished executive outsider. She is not tied to the old way of doing things and that is to the good as DC has failed and needs fundamental change.

Carly first came to my attention with her declarative statement that Hillary Clinton must not be President. The directness and boldness of her statement was refreshing but also the fact that she knows what is important. Her real opponent was not Scott Walker who was then leading in the polls. Since then she has largely focused on her three page tax code and zero based budgeting proposals. There is great power and significance in these two ideas but she hasn’t really gone into much detail. I think that she is prudent and smart not to do so because with fine details the special interests will mobilize and oppose her.

She distinguished herself in the debates by the force of her intellect and personality. That’s no small feat considering she had limited political experience and was competing against the best field ever. She didn’t rest on her laurels but got right after it on the campaign trail. I have seen her four times in person and, to put it nicely, the people of Iowa are not a Georgetown crowd. She chatted up the crowd at the Norwalk fire station and at a tent meeting with average Iowans. She is friendly and approachable but still business-like. Three times I have seen Mrs. Clinton and she never took questions from voters. Hillary appears like a queen talking down to her subjects.

What Carly Needs Now

Right now Carly has stalled in the polls. Part of it is due to the large field and part of it is due to her lack of political experience. The other nonpoliticians also have a sizable percentage of the vote. I also think at this point she desperately needs some new material that is consistent with her conservative principles. Here are my proposals: A tariff on OPEC oil and a full frontal assault on the climate change/Green movement.

West Texas oil is now at about $40 bbl and gasoline in Omaha is at $1.95. Our American oil producers need WTI at between $60-$70 to make money. We are only 7 million barrels per day away from North American energy independence. Our “friends” the Saudis are pumping full bore in order to crush our new fracking industry and they are achieving success. Just today I read a report that there has been 250,000 worldwide layoffs in the energy industry and more to come. One oil company has already filed for Chapter 11 and at this rate it won’t be the last.

We make bad trade deals and Trump used that fact as one of his key campaign themes at the beginning. What have the Saudis ever really done for us? We protect the world’s sea lanes for free. We defeated Iraq when Saudi Arabia was threatened. Some of the money we send to OPEC ends up with ISIS and Al Qaeda. I submit that a $20-25 bbl tariff on OPEC oil would be in the self-interest of the United States. Let’s save our oil companies and the jobs here in exchange for a reliable and terror free supply of oil and $3.00 gasoline. OPEC needs our food, tech and pharmaceuticals way more than we need their oil. It is time to turn the tables on those ingrates after forty years of abuse at their hands. And ingrates and abusers they are.

While the Left proclaims that climate change is the number one threat to the world today and a source of Islamic terrorism it is crystal clear to the average voter that the Democrats are clueless. Carly should use Alinsky-like techniques and ridicule them as they are ripe for parody. Why are we spending billions now to prevent a 0.018 increase in temperature in 2100? Tehran could nuke DC well before 2100.

The Greens are a key constituency of the Democrats. Their misguided climate change regulations are a huge drag on the economy and it will only get worse. If Obama’s Clean Power Plan regulations go into effect we are looking at hundreds of thousands of people losing their jobs and a 300% increase in energy costs like in Germany. In Europe, average people call it “energy poverty.” We don’t need that here at all. It is wholly unnecessary.

Carly should just call for a “Green Freeze and Rollback” on all of Obama’s energy and environmental policies. The word “freeze” is a reference to the nuclear weapons moratorium that the Left wanted with the USSR in the Carter years. The word “rollback” is a nod to Wal-Mart’s old policy of rolling back prices. It will resonate with Wal-Mart voters. Our environment is clean enough. Let’s declare victory and not try to clean that last 1% at a high cost in jobs and money. Why don’t the Chinese clean up their own environmental mess? Let’s enjoy our success and use the money savings to defeat radical Islam. Radical Islam is a clear and tangible threat to the United States. Global warming is not.