Brother Jude On TR, Individual Accountability and Civility

TRL Contributor Jude Cuddy has penned another very well-crafted examination of culture and politics. This time, in one of his "My View From Behind The Berm" essays, Mr. Cuddy's focus is on "Politics and Policy -- Then and Now"

"Consider the debates between and among the Presidential candidates on the issue of individuals and the ability to own and carry firearms. To the casual observer, the concept of individual responsibility and self reliance would indeed appear very foreign. However, this great Republic once had leadership that not only embraced self reliance, but encouraged individual responsibility when it came to firearms.

"President Theodore Roosevelt had much to say regarding this subject. His foresight ushered in an era of discipline and familiarity with firearms that served this country admirably through two World Wars and countless engagements across the globe. Our soldiers in theater and citizens at home equally benefited from the skills that are today ignored wholesale.

"There was a tacit understanding that a lack of resolve indicated weakness. A weakness that those that would do an individual - or a nation - harm, can and will swiftly exploit to advantage. President Roosevelt had this to say in 1906:

"The Congress has most wisely provided for a National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice...we should establish shooting galleries in all the large public and military schools: maintain national target ranges in different parts of the country and in every way encourage the formation of rifle clubs throughout all parts of the land...we should encourage rifle practice among school boys and, indeed, among all classes...if a soldier has the fighting edge, and the ability to care for himself in the open, his efficiency on the line of battle is almost directly proportionate to excellence in marksmanship."

"This policy had lasted for almost one hundred years, until the encroachment of the now popular appeasement philosophy. It did not work for Neville Chamberlain - "We have peace in our time", and it won't work against our enemies today. Sadly it does not work with the miscreants on our streets either. The less civil our society becomes the more we are expected to believe that we are safer - as we divest ourselves of the very skills and implements that are necessary to discourage illicit behavior.

"When we return to holding individuals accountable for their actions we can return to a higher degree of civility and safety. All the dialogue about the right to possess firearms should not be about the instrument, but about the person who wields that instrument – for good or evil. Pointing to the firearm as the root of the ills in our society is yet another feeble attempt to distract us from the true reason that crime involving firearms shall continue to occur.

"The thinking man and woman do what they must. The best deterrent to crime is the certainty of negative consequences, such as one who is able to vigorously defend themselves right there where it occurs, at the point of attack. A determined, prepared citizen is the most effectual means, either on a national or individual level. Adopting any other policy is to ignore reality - with fateful consequences to American citizens both as individuals and as a country."

Semper Fidelis,

Jude T. Cuddy

Thank you, Sir. Very well stated.