Thread by @ThyConsigliori

6 March 2021 #MAGAanalysis

The Local Patriot’s Required Reading List

When I was coming up, no one taught me that reading is preparation for action. I was taught reading as a religious/spiritual requirement. I learned to read the Bible, and it remains my most important text.

2) It is famously difficult to hold two contradictory thoughts in one's mind at the same time. The term for this is Cognitive Dissonance. I lost my faith 40 years ago and have never regained it since. At least, not in the same way. Yet the Bible still heads up my list.

3) The vast majority of my followers are Christians and the truest of true believers. To each of you I ask, do you know how to read, study, and pray with the Bible? Do you know how to turn to it each morning as your daily devotional? If not, now is the time. This is the moment.

4) I don't have many Islamic followers to my knowledge, and I am sad about that. Many of you will disagree with the following statement. I love the Islamic religion. The very meaning of Islam is surrender to Allah's will. Allah is simply their name for God. Work with me on that.

5) I have attempted many times to read the Koran. Of all scripture in the world, it is the one that I am least able to embrace. Yet, of the few true Muslims I have known and loved, it is to them only book that requires reading. They are people of the book.

6) If my audience was Islamic, I would heartily encourage more than just reading, but memorization of the entire text. I hope you can honor that the act of memorizing one's own entire Bible is laudable. But, I am not a qualified student of the Koran and it does not make my list.

7) To my beloved Jewish followers, I embrace the Torah with all my heart. I challenge you in this way. Do you know what a Phylactery is? For all who don't, it is a leather box with segments of Torah inside, with leather straps to tie to one's head and hands.

8) I cannot add to this list Eastern Scripture such as Lao Tzu's Tao Te Ching, or the ancient text of the I Ching, but I can add...

Master Sun Tzu's The Art Of War.

For me, following the Bible, Sun Tzu's Art Of War is the single most important book a local patriot may read.

9) Back to the Bible for one more moment. I read ONLY the King James version. And if I have to pick just a single chapter of the entire Scripture, it is Ephesians 6, verse 10 - 20. These verses must be included here. I turn to them now.

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

21) To understand this Patriot's Required Reading List, you must be able to picture Saul, now called Saint Paul, as he sits in a prison in Rome, about to be tried for his faith, and crucified for his inability to forswear his faith. Fly back with me to that moment and witness it.

22) When you read the Book of Ephesians, that is how you do it. You step into Saint Paul's situation, hear his words, and imagine those who read it as his audience. How did this letter affect them? That is true reading.

23) Before turning to our next book, I must ask. Are you an ambassador in bonds as was Saint Paul? Whatever your situation, this is why you read. Reading, you are preparing your soul for any challenge you may meet as you prosecute your patriotic mission.

24) It must be stated again. Why read? In order to prepare for victorious action. Look at any General you may know. They all have advanced degrees. Why? The art of reading is mandatory for any military general. Imagine that. These good souls read.

25) So where is our fight? It reveals itself at four levels:

1/ National
2/ State
3/ County
4/ District

To think of a district, just picture a school district and you're there.

Currently, my own focus is on #3, the County level and here's why...

26) I'm probably wrong. That is, perhaps the District is vastly more important than the County. There is a reduction of scope required to focus on District as opposed to County. Here's my pass. I have no children of school district age.

27) The thing is, Sheriffs are County Level Magistrates. They are elected officials, serving NOT their appointers, but rather those who elected them. Until a week or two ago, I had no idea of how important that is.

28) As you've gathered, I often read for historical comprehension of a topic. The most important topics are almost never those that just arose yesterday afternoon. We'll talk about action again rapidly. But here's book on history you need!

amazon.com/dp/B07ZXKMBTN/…

29) Imagine an elected official, the highest Law Enforcement Office of the County, who swears an oath to protect and serve the Constitution of the United States, so help him God. Here is that very oath…

30) I do solemnly swear that I will support, protect and defend the Constitution and Government of the United States; that I am duly qualified to hold office under the Constitution of this State; and that I will well and faithfully perform the duties of County Sheriff...

31) …on which I am now about to enter. So help me God.

If you read Bowker’s book, you’ll see that there are 3,083 counties in America, of which 98% or better are elected officials, owing their obligation, after the Constitution to their voters.

32) We have two more books to discuss. Before we do, we have an immediate action to take. I have joined an organization called Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers of America. CSPOA.org. You should too. It is the most important association in America today.

33) America faces the greatest Constitutional threat from within, right now, that it has ever faced. The greatest election fraud in our history has been perpetrated. A landslide election has been stolen. The far-reaching consequences of this are almost impossible to imagine.

34) It is on us, now, to rise up. We, We The People, we must say: You Shall Not Pass. We will NOT allow them to destroy our Constitutional Republic. We will NOT allow them to destroy our Democracy. In this, we must be BOTH tactical and strategic. That is where we turn, now.

35) My new hero Gene Sharp is, indeed, a strategic thinker of the highest order. Yet, for all his strategic genius, his greatest impact is tactical. He spent his life analyzing the fight against and the overcoming of dictators. What an amazing way to invest one's life!

36) Still, I offer his great work more for its tactical mandate than its strategic significance. Here's why. His ultimate principle is the superior power of Non-violence over Violence.

Legal, non-violent action is the MOST powerful action there is.

37) If you're willing to follow my advice, Sharp's book is absolutely available free of charge, here. I have it on my Kindle, where I paid a tiny amount for the privilege. But here's the free link:

aeinstein.org/wp-content/upl…

38) Here's what's been missed. You and I, at the lowest level of the chain of command in America, it's on us to true America's course. Forget the President. Consider your local Sheriff. That is where the action is. And here's why.

39) It's called The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrate. In a word, it simply means that when a Higher Magistrate issues an unlawful edit, the Lower Magistrate is lawfully constrained to oppose it. Application? Our County Sheriffs MUST oppose unlawful mandates from DC.

40) The great key here is that this is a LOCAL and NOT a Federal battle. Let the Feds do what they will, unconstitutional as it may be. No matter. We have a corps of Constitutional Sheriffs across our 3,083 counties who will NOT let this stand.

41) The one book that most well explains how this works is called: The Doctrine Of The Lesser Magistrates. America is NOT defined by Washington DC and its impenetrable swamp. It is defined locally, not nationally. The Lower Magistrates are more important than the Higher ones.

42) Here's the book. If I were getting started, this is the one book I'd read first. It may not be the most important book of all. But it is the one I'd commence reading today, as I said, were I just now getting started:

amazon.com/Doctrine-Lesse…

43) I have many other titles to offer. As I do, I'll offer also the reasons why they're so important "in my book," if you will. I'll take a short break now, and then come back and speak again to the importance of reading, itself, but ONLY in advance of action.

44) The next text is one by a great friend and teacher of mine, @shestokas. Reading it gelled my awakened patriotism as no other. It's called: Creating the Declaration of Independence. Here's the link:

amazon.com/Creating-Decla…

45) If there's a single thing that @shestokas taught me, it is this. The Declaration of Independence is a legal document. It takes its form from such, but more. It is a legal complaint against a wrongful magistracy. King George III has surrendered his right of rule.

46) It was love for law that led our forefathers to found this nation. Freedom is, in fact, a legal idea. Without law, there can be no freedom. To break one's freedom is an ILLEGAL act. If there were no law, it would not be a crime to infringe another's freedom.

47) This brings us Bastiat's great book: The Law. Inspired by our Declaration and by our Constitution, the great French theorist wrote the most powerful explanation of law itself yet written. It's free, here:

cdn.mises.org/thelaw.pdf

48) This list will be added to as time goes by. A few we cannot take time to discuss, but which you may wish to consider, are Machiavelli's The Prince, Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui"s Unrestricted Warfare, and everything Saul Alinsky wrote.

49) In future conversations, we'll walk through all of those, and explain why every America First Patriot should familiarize himself with those works. Last, for today, I turn to the work of @KateScopelliti and myself, America First: The MAGA Manifesto.

amazon.com/America-First-…

50) The MAGA Movement is so much more than its detractors would have us believe. It is grounded in the truths that founded our nation, and made it great in the first place. To the degree we succeed, Kate and I explain this with historic perspective and philosophic depth.

This thread, and our required reading list ends for today at #50.

Please remember you may pick any of these, or other sources at your pleasure. And, read any in as slow or fast a pace as suits you. Just always read with action in mind.