2-21-25

There is a song that I love by Christian artist Michael W. Smith…..its only a few

years old even though he’s been recording for 40 years….its called

“Surrounded….This is how I fight my battles”……but when you hear the song you

realize that that’s just the way he likes it….”it may look like I’m surrounded, but

I’m surrounded by you”…..

Liberals thought that they had us surrounded…..maybe they did, and too often we

acted like it…..liberals made us disjointed…..we suffered some losses…..but I’m

telling you I’m sensing more resolve than ever ……what we are watching right now

is exactly what we voted for and don’t let ‘em tell you any different……but we’re

not done, and we’re going to have to stay in this thing…..using every tool, every

trick, every technique and tactic……unified under one banner…..This is how we

fight our battles…….This is how we win…..but it doesn’t start with all targets that

surround us being taken out all at one time…..the push back, the regaining of

ground, the ability to retake that which was lost, it usually starts with one warrior

hitting one target and inspiring others to do likewise…..sometimes that is really all

it takes…..one person squaring off to one of the enemies that surrounds them and

removing that enemy with extreme prejudice…..and I think that is the underlying

story of what is happening with Trump right now….yes, he’s a Republican….yes,

he's fixing things in DC and elsewhere…..yes, he’s bringing back common

sense….but he’s doing it from a position of strength…..and the inspiration that we

feel about it right now is more than just political….it’s more than just putting

liberals in their place…..we see someone who was viciously persecuted,

frivolously sued, falsely indicted…..someone who was lied about, defamed,

maligned……someone who was subjected to potential financial ruin, his family

mocked, his name lampooned in the media…….he was yelled at, and shot

at…..and he kept getting back up and getting right back in the fight……it is THAT

inspiration that I believe is taking America by storm…..sure we want to see the

executive orders, and the realigning of government…..but we also take heart in

seeing him completely surrounded……all of us completely surrounded…..and then

squaring off to the enemy and fighting back……

It's that battlefield inspiration…..it means something…..to see someone face down

an opponent against what seems like overwhelming odds….. A friend of mine

served in Kandahar Afghanistan at the beginning of the war there. He told me a

story of one of the Special Forces guys that he was with getting attacked in close

quarters in the streets of Kandahar and suffering a shot to the face……but the

Green Beret immediately assessed his own wounds……slapped something on it to

stem the blood flow, acquired his target and took out the enemy shooter. My

friend told me that the word on the street thereafter was “these Americans…..you

can shoot them in the face and they will just fix themselves and then kill

you!”…….makes me laugh….I was all the way up in Kunduz, hours away, and when

I heard that story it gave me an extra dose of moxie……but that was also his

training…..his training was designed to make him ready to stay in the fight, against

all odds, square up to his target and take it out….this is how we fight our

battles…..but if you noticed, I keep using that phrase “squaring off to the

target”…..what is that? What does that mean?......its an important aspect of

facing an enemy……and it is intimidating to do, and even more intimidating to the

enemy to see…..

In some of the instruction that I used to provide to troops I would show them a

video…..its still out there on youtube…..just google “This is why the US Military

wears body armor”…….its a blurry video of a young Army trooper in Iraq standing

guard next to his Humvee on a city street……but you quickly realize that the video

is being made by insurgents who are targeting this soldier…..a shot rings out and

the young troop drops like a rock…..but he immediately gets back on his feet, with

his weapon up and looking to acquire a target to return fire…..the enemy round

had hit him square in the SAPI plate of his body armor and he was fine…..it

knocked him down like he had been hit with a bat….but he was fine. (oh and they

got the bad guy by the way) ……I’m going to tell you, every Joe who saw that

video stopped griping about having to wear his ballistic vest……

If you’ve ever had any experience at all with firearms then you know that like

anything else shooting is an acquired skill…….I’m sure knowing this audience that

we have a whole passle of 2 nd Amendment friendly Rightside Ruffians who listen

in…..everything from the casual gun-owner who just keeps a firearm or two on

hand for home protection or hunting of some type all the way up to the serious

collector and those who participate in various shooting sports…..basic shooting

comes down to the basics…..things like proper use and care of your weapon, body

position, sight alignment, breathing control, trigger squeeze……but shooting at a

fixed target at a known distance in the prone position under highly regulated

conditions is just the introduction……the real fun comes when you get to the point

that you’re able to conduct things like reflexive fire training……being allowed to

shoot, move and communicate under more stressful conditions and with the

brain more fully engaged……like tracking your rounds, reloading while still

maintaining a fighting posture, learning to stage your magazines so that you can

reload with your eyes closed or in the dark……and one of the most unnatural

aspects of that is squaring off to your target……

Here’s the thing…..if you’re in an armed confrontation and cover and

concealment is not an option then how you present yourself to the opposing

target matters…..the natural inclination is to slim your profile….provide less of a

target yourself by turning to the side…..but when you are in combat and wearing

body armor the side panels of your ballistic vest provide very little high impact

protection……the true ability of body armor to shield the wearer comes from the

protective inserts…..the SAPI Plates…..that cover the vital organs in the front and

rear……so the training for those who wear armor is to adopt a stance that squares

your shoulders to the enemy …….it’s also a stance that shows the enemy that you

mean business…..its also unnatural and requires some training….and truthfully it

requires a measure of faith…….

But here’s my point….. it takes training to remember the value and the use of the

armor….and it takes faith to trust that it will work if you square off to the

enemy……

You see, what I’m saying is that life is going to be filled with challenges and even

enemies….some of which are self-created…….and some from outside of your own

control……but they are there…..Jesus said that in this world you will have

trouble….but fear not I have overcome the world…..a clear acknowledgment that

life can get a bit dicey at times……

How you are when the moment of conflict or confrontation or challenge arrives is

going to be largely dependent upon the level of preparation you have put into

such an occurrence well before it happens…..and how much you are willing to

trust that the armor you have prepared to use on that day will actually provide a

measure of protection……

I don’t know what it is….but I feel certain that in an audience of this size that

some of you are having life challenges or see some coming…..I want to encourage

you to know that you don’t have to be perfect at handling them on the first day

that you make a decision to improve….you just have to start the process of

preparing and trusting…..just start…..take the first simple steps…..know one

becomes a Green Beret on the first day in the Army…..they all start with basic

training……

Is it a job skill…..start…….is it overcoming an addiction…..just start……is it

improving or even saving your marriage…..just start…..is it going for that degree,

or that job change, or that political office……you prepare well in advance, and

build your character, and your skill, and your faith in the ability to move

forward…..you actually need both……training and faith……you can have all of the

gee whiz education, equipment and resources in the world but if you don’t

believe in your ability to make use of them then what good are they…..likewise

you can be a reckless individual who leaps without looking, or performs without

practicing and your likelihood of success or survival is diminished……

Squaring off to the target is both unnatural and needed……it takes practice, but it

also takes believing that the armor will work……

Life is also like that. …….so pick lay out your plan, practice and prepare, move

toward the target with your shoulders square and get er done

And that’s a wrap for the Rightside Way