Neanderpundit

for recoil pads.

Fifty rounds through a steel-butted K31 is about like a half hour of involuntary CPR.

I loved the hell out of it, though. Couldn’t convince Partner to shoot with me, though he came and laughed at how much I suck. And he was right to do so, at 100 yards I was lucky to get them all on the paper, offhand.

Used to be I’d sit and hold a rifle for hours to get the muscle memory used to doing it, but I haven’t for a while, because of the pain in my hands and arms. Need to get bakc to doing it.

Probably won’t take my division like I have in years past, but at least I’m pretty sure I didn’t embarrass myself.

Military match this morning, Indy 500 this afternoon. Hopefully the match will be finished quickly so I can get back and see the race.

I got it on the DVR in any event.

One of my greatest failings, and one of the things I have the most trouble with, is Hatred.

I work very hard not to develop hatred, and I am not always successful. When I do manage to accumulate some, I do my level best to shed it as soon as I can.

Hatred is a pair of blinders, a way your enemies (and darker forces) have of preventing you from thinking clearly.

THis is not the same as anger, though anger can have the same effect if you allow hatred to be involved. Anger should not, properly speaking, be an overwhelming force; I tend to think that if anger overwhelms it is because it has opened a door for hatred to enter.

I have never served in the military. Generations before me saw to it that it was unnecesary for my generation, though plenty of others have since. What I observe, and certainly, my observations are those of an outsider who has not been there, is that hatred is not an asset under fire.

What I do know its this: Whether hunting, or pest control, or slaughtering farm animals, it’s a job. I suspect it’s the same in the military, though as I say, I have no personal experience to relate in that manner.

There is a common theme among all who would not have us defend ourselves definitively, and it is “If we do X we become JUST LIKE THEM”

Well, if we do not do X, we become them. If we do not do X, our way of life is in some grave danger.

And it is specifically because of people who cannot envision doing a tough job when it needs to be done, people who feel the need to wait until hatred overcomes them before they can do a hard job. There is no room for hatred anywhere. There is neither room for believing that you must hate to stop someone from harming you or your loved ones. You have to do that dispassionately, because it is just a job, like making sure termites don’t eat your walls or rain doesn’t wash away your foundation. Do it and get on with your life. If you wait for hatred and anger and fear to give you a reason to act, you have waited too long, and the very hatred and fear and anger you espouse as the only legitimate reason to act will blind you and render you incapable of doing what needs to be done, when you need to do it. Just my .02