The Rifleman  

"Death to America!!!!" these are the words on the lips of all of America's enmies. Foreign and Domestic If we completely forget for a moment about the millions and millions of Americans enemies that are waiting with baited breath for America to stumble, to let her defenses down for just a moment, in order that they can come streaming across the borders en masse and make good infidels and capitalists of us all. 

Let us forget about them entirely for a moment and just concentrate on the Domestic threat we face. Good heavens, that alone is enough to sink us. We face an unprecedented crisis in America where the country is torn asunder in a partisan fashion by our own citizens. I do not feel that they are all directed by an evil design, though some most definitely are, but by ignorance of what being an American is, by massive ignorance of our history and what we have done, why we did it and what the actual documents which govern our nation say and mean. By the damnable reluctance of good men to step up and do something to oppose evil and ignorance.

And that is where we come in. We are here to signal the alarm and let folks know that the time to answer the call of your country is right now!

Right now

The time to answer your nations call, is right when she calls, not when the nation is hangng on by a thread and the outcome is uncertain. The time to put out the fire is right when it starts. There will be plenty of time to discuss what we should do after the fire is out, after the fire is out. The time to get involved is now, when you nation needs you. Answer the call. 

I was lucky recently to be an instructor at the Project April 19th, 1775 Appleseed in Harvard, MA.

Lucky not only for the usual reasons (which are many) but because it put me a few miles from where it all begin - Lexington and Concord.

Coming into town Friday PM, I had just enough time to revisit the National Minuteman Center, and stop at the North Bridge.

Sat was Appleseed instructing, so I missed the renactments set for that day, but Sunday morning, April 19th, before dawn, some of us Appleseeders met at Lexington Green, to be there to mark the occasion, and to fill our minds with the “murky half-light” of pre-dawn described as Capt John Parker assembled his men that long-ago morning.

We were the only ones there.

If only Elton John had been there, or some other music star…

But it was only us.

To be honest, I can see how it would have been a very scary morning - drums beating, the alarm bell pealing, people running to and fro, papable tension humming in the air. Clearly, the immediate future, if the redcoats showed, could be fraught with grave consequences for everyone there.

After the sun was well up, we partook of another growing Appleseed tradition - to stop at the North Bridge and collect a sample of river water - AFTER it flowed under the bridge - it’s heavier, and more sparkly-like, then.

Yep, we’ll take that water all over the US, and sprinkle some of the magic everywhere there’s an Appleseed.

Then it was back to teaching Appleseeders for the rest of the day.

Monday, before dawn, I was back at Lex Green for the reenactment - and what a difference! Could hardly get next to the Green, as maybe a thousand people jammed to watch the redcoats arrive, Parker’s men forming up and answering the roll-call, and then the first shots of what turned out to be a fateful day in world history.

As interesting was to hang around afterwards, and listen to the redcoat reenactors answer questions. Seems if you want to be a Rev War reenactor, being a redcoat has it’s advantages. The guy who was talking was in real life a lawyer, but as a redcoat he’d been to England, paraded before the Queen, and traveled to Bermuda and other places, just to do his stuff.

He mentioned that when the redcoats formed on Lexington Green to do their “fix bayonets” advance, the script called for someone to fire a shot from Buckman Tavern on their third step of the advance as a cue to start firing. One year, no one fired the shot - so on the fifth step, he fired his musket and, as he said, “I started the War, that day - I fired the first shot!”

From there it was steps to the graveyard where Capt John Parker is buried under a modest headstone, and I was able to witness a wreath-laying ceremony at his grave, followed by a musket volley - and a subsequent wreath-laying at the grave of an unknown British soldier. A representative of the British consulate in Boston was the ceremonial wreath-layer.

From there, quickly over to the North Bridge, for a ceremony by a redcoat unit rendering honors to both the American memorial, and the British graves on the near side of the bridge. They have an impressive ceremony called “Mourn Arms” where, lined up at attention facing the memorial, they slowly reverse their muskets until the muzzle in on their toe, then slowly bow their heads.

Just prior to that, they marched down the road to the bridge, and I have to give credit to the “British officer” leading the unit, as he had the swagger down so well you kinda wanted to throw something at him - in fact, someone watching yelled, “You’ll get yours!” - prob another Appleseeder…

One amusing aspect: When the British unit marched down and crossed the North Bridge, fifes and drums going, there was a group of uniformed navy people clustered on the far side of the American monument. When it looked like the British were going to march into them, they scattered like chickens - or school kids. Of course, the British at the last second turned to march around the monument, but still…I doubt John Paul Jones would have approved.

Later came the Concord parade, heavy with reactment units marching with fife and drum, some very professional, others more home-spun. All of it colorful and entertaining.

Of interest was the number of females dressed as men in the units - maybe there’s not enough Mass men to fill out the units? T’wouldn’t be much of a surprise…

One women spectator had a UN flag - maybe she wanted to show where her real loyalties lie?

On a prior visit to Lexington, a banner was draped across the front of a house only steps off the Green: “UN Save US!”

Guess someone really needs to come to an Appleseed, bad, and find out how we save ourselves?

Lunch at the Colonial Inn, existent on 4/19/75, just across the street from the hasty grave of a British soldier shot at the North Bridge - prob a member of the 4th, 10th, or 43rd Light Infantry - now and forever lying between the curb and the sidewalk in Concord town.

From there to Harwell Tavern on the restored Battle Road, a place that will make you think you’ve gone back in time two hundred years. Shots were fired at the Redcoats by at least one militiaman from behind the Hartwell barn - exciting times, indeed!

There we ran into a ranger who was 100% Appleseed - maybe we’ll have a special “rangers” Appleseed in nearby Harvard, some time!

A trip to where it all began is a trip every American should make at least once in his life. It would be hard to see everything in one weekend; plan on a week if you can - and read up on April 19th before you go, so it has more meaning to you, to actually be there.

I doubt there’s any place in this country with more concentrated history - heck, just touring the sites relating to one day - April 19th - trying to understand and picture what it was like - seeing muskets which were present - and fired - on Lexington Green at sunrise on April 19th - it’s more than you can deal with, if you care about your history and your heritage.

With the wolves at the door you would think that freedom minded people would gather together, stand together, to defend their rights, but you would be wrong.

Let’s assume, just for the moment, that recent events in this country have left you with the feeling things are spinning rapidly out of control.

Let’s go a bit further, and assume - just for the moment - that you feel you are on the deck of a ship - and the ship is sinking.

Now, for the big question: What are you gonna do about it?

Oops, bad question, jumping the gun.

The first question is, “are you going to do anything about it?” Never mind the “what”, yet - just “what are your intentions?”

If you chose to do nothing, under the momentary assumption we asked you to make, you are on the deck of the sinking ship, and are planning to do nothing about it.

Nothing to stop the sinking. Nothing to save yourself, or any family that may be important to you.

After all, if the ship goes under, you’re in the water - not a positive prognosis for your future, to be sure.

So, let’s assume “doing nothing” is out as an option.

And let’s assume you know what to do - something like grabbing a bucket and starting to bail - and maybe yelling at the others standing around on the deck to grab a bucket and get to bailing!

Now that image is great - it’s even noble. Noble, to refuse to go under without a fight.

Heroic, even.

But that’s in your imagination.

In real life, you’re not on the deck of a sinking ship. No sir, you’re at home, or at work, or en route between the two.

In real life, you’re probably not lifting a finger to help save the sinking ship.

Mainly because, the water not being in front of your nose, and hypothetical to boot, it’s easy to ignore doing anything about it.

It’s also easy to ignore because, having lived over a decade (or nearly) in 21st-century America, you don’t really know how to ‘do anything’, any more (more correctly, you never knew - not you forgot ‘how to’, or that you are ‘rusty’ - simply that you never learned).

Plus, you simply don’t have time to do anything (and may not have the energy, either!).

Between work and family, there doesn’t seem to be much spare time to bail any hypothetical ship.

Man, life’s a beach, ain’t it?

Just when you want get concerned about the future - really concerned - everything conspires to keep you from doing anything.

No time. No clue as to ‘how to’. No energy.

Yet the ship is sinking, and you know it.

Maybe even feel bad about it - and even worse (is that possible?) you aren’t lifting a finger.

At Appleseeds (www.rwva.org), when I tell the story of April 19th, 1775, and mention the fact 14,000 armed Americans turned out on six-hours’ notice to defend their liberty - and question whether we could repeat that in today’s America, I raise another question: “How do you measure the value of liberty to a society? Would you measure it by the number of people willing to turn out to defend it?

“In that case, what does it tell us if 14,000 of our ancestors were willing to turn out on a few hours’ notice a couple of hundred years ago - without cell phones, internet, fax, etc - and most of us doubt that could ever be repeated today?”

If you look on liberty as being one of the things under attack in current affairs - in other words, as one aspect leading to the “sinking ship” conclusion - then you have to also (it seems to me) look at what you are doing - or not doing - to defend it.

Let’s suppose you can donate two hours a week to defending liberty - whether it’s writing your congress people, talking to people to try and wake them up to the threat, or something else (we at Appleseed can show you how a couple of hours on your computer a week can have a measurable impact on the battle to save this country - or the ship, if you prefer) - are you doing it?

Are you spending two hours a week to help save the ship?

I’m willing to bet the answer is “No” - and I’m willing to bet it’s for one of the reasons mentioned earlier - you don’t know what to do, you don’t have the time, etc.

The average American, we are told, spends 40 hours a week in front of his TV.

Ouch! That’s about all the time you have, when you’re not at work, or sleeping.

Some family life - huh?

Now, I’m willing to bet your grass (should you have a yard) is nicely mown.

And it prob takes a couple of hours a week to keep it that way.

If you don’t have time for saving the ship, and yet your yard is nicely mown, what does that say?

Does it say you value a fresh-mown yard - over liberty?

You have a choice of what to do with two hours of your time each week. The choice is 1) mow the grass, or 2) work to save the ship.

You don’t have to answer what your choice is - I can see the fresh-cut yard.

Now, how does the fact that, when given the choice between cutting your grass and saving the ship, you choose to cut the grass - what does that say about you?

That you’re short-sighted, putting a fresh-cut lawn as more important than liberty?

That you’re too stupid (remember, I’m simply asking this, hypothetically) to know what’s more important, and what’s not?

That you’re ignorant, not being aware of what’s happening to our liberty, while you mow your yard?

So we can change the old saying, “fiddling while Rome burns”, to “mowing, while liberty fades…”?

Maybe it’s possible you can do both - have a fresh-cut lawn AND donate a couple of hours a week for liberty? Maybe by cutting - gasp! - a couple of hours of TV-time?

If you truly understand and believe how close the ship is to sinking, and believe that us Americans should do something about it because 1) it’s the only ship we have - there are no others, and 2) it’s a fine ship, built with old-world craftsmanship, and t’would be a shame to let it sink, then you must realize most of your fellow Americans treasure laziness (if we can be so bold as to say laying on the couch in front of the tube consitutes same) over liberty, and ignorance over all.

If you understand that, you understand what we few who are concerned for the future face.

So maybe the choice in life comes down to this, if you are really pinched for time: a fresh-cut lawn, or some time devoted to keeping the ship from sinking?

Ask yourself: “How would the founders of this country answer that question?”

Which option would they want you to take?

If Project Applesseed is successful, is it possible uncut scraggly lawns could become a new status symbol?

Each day Americans are informed of more regulations covering every aspect of their lives. Each day the U.S. government grows at an exponential rate. It is not as if this can continue indefinitely, something will eventually have to give. What can you do to help change the course of history? How can you as one person make a difference? Let us start with the assumption that you want to do something about what is happening, because the majority of Americans do not want to be disturbed by having to think about these things. We will discuss upcoming events, directions the program is going and how you can help, not just with Appleseed, but with your family, your community, your county, your state and your country.

Where are we in the current Revolution and what does it mean for you. We are in the dark days of the winter of 1776 and what happens in the next few weeks will determine how the story ends this time. Why you should never let your ego get between you and the m,ission, and what exactly IS the mission. I am trying to get Rifle Woan to come on and give us an admin update and I am going to appeal to the audience to use all the current forms of electronic news spreading software to push the Appleseed Project.