The Sarasota Observer declares war

Given how much we love reading The Sarasota Observer around here, I can't believe it took me till now to get around to writing about the latest ludicrous editorial in the newsweekly's pages. If you picked up the April 9 issue, you probably already know which editorial I'm talking about: the one in which the editorial board of the newspaper calls on its readers to begin fighting our federal government and to sacrifice their very lives if need be.

Think I'm exaggerating? Well, you haven't been reading the Observer lately. (Or watching Glenn Beck, I suppose.) Let's break down the publication's argument.

The editorial is unsigned, and credited to the entire paper (which means it most likely comes from the pen of Editor/Publisher Matt Walsh), and it is titled "Live Free Or Die," after the famous quote from Revolutionary War hero Gen. John Stark. The piece begins by summing up where we stand right now in America:

Our new president, the Democratic majority and our activist judiciary are on an unabashed, unabated mission to wield their powers to dictate equality of incomes and outcomes throughout America.

They, not you, will dictate what is "fair." You will have no choice.

More than ever in our modern history, they will dictate -- at the point of a gun! -- how much all of us who have freely worked for our property will be forced to give to those who do not have as much.

The argument continues in this vein, with a list of things "they" are going to force you to do, and concludes with this statement: "This is Marxism. This is Socialism. This is tyranny."

The editorial rolls on, with the almost obligatory quote from Ayn Rand, before concluding with a reference to Stark's words:

[Stark] closed his letter, with the famous line:

"Live free or die: Death is not the worst of evils."

Tyranny would be worse.

We must reverse the tide. Take back our freedom.

Let's overrule the logical part of our brains and take the Observer's two main points seriously. They are: One, America today is a tyrannical state, and two, it is better to die fighting a tyranny than to remain alive under the power of one. Conclusion? The Sarasota Observer thinks you should take up arms against our federal government right now, and that you should be willing to sacrifice your life in the fight.

I wonder if Comandante Matt Walsh has already put on his camouflage, cleaned his M-16 and headed for the hills.