The babble in the blogosphere over perceived legions of Glenn Beck sleeper cells (meeting in their Chuck Norris footie pajamas) arming themselves for treason and sedition misses a major point (why am I not surprised?). Part of what is stirring these folks up is a belief that the Federal government is busily making contingency plans to declare martial law. Consider John Whitehead of the Rutherford Institute : Bush expanded presidential power to, among other things, allow government agents to secretly open the private mail of American citizens; authorize government agents to secretly, and illegally, listen in on the phone calls of American citizens and read our e-mails; assume control of the federal government following a "catastrophic event"; and declare martial law. Thus, the groundwork was laid for an imperial presidency and a potentially totalitarian government-- a state of affairs that has not ended with Barack Obama's ascension to the Oval Office , despite hopes to th...

... no matter how some of our more reactionary friends would like to fantasize about it. From (faux)Libertarian Republican : But 56 million Americans voted against Obammunism and that’s who is retreating from the markets and stocking up on guns and ammo in record numbers. They are preparing to protect their earned property, by force if need be. No, they're not. They're purchasing ammunition because we're sure to see an increase in the taxes on ammo. Why they buy it, they're planning to stockpile it for use in hunting, target shooting, and personal defense... exactly as they always have . They're purchasing handguns and rifles because they're afraid of increased Federal regulations that will make it more difficulty if not impossible to acquire them. When they buy them, they're going to use them in hunting, target shooting, and personal defense... exactly as they always have . Yes, the advocates of extremist gun control are closer to the halls of power tha...