DON’T GET COCKY: Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

GETTING IT WRONG: Judy Thomas is a good reporter, and she’s interviewed me in the past without problems. But this article on militias and “state defense forces” is just a mess. In my experience, when that kind of thing happens it usually means that an editor rewrote the story, though that’s just a guess here. Anyway, some clarification follows.

When I spoke to her, my key point was that State Defense Forces, or “State Guards,” aren’t militias at all. Militias are under Article I, sec. 8, and 10 U.S.C. sec. 311. State Defense Forces are “other troops,” under Article I sec. 10 and 32 U.S.C. sec. 109, which provides:

In addition to its National Guard, if any, a State, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, Guam, or the Virgin Islands may, as provided by its laws, organize and maintain defense forces. A defense force established under this section may be used within the jurisdiction concerned, as its chief executive (or commanding general in the case of the District of Columbia) considers necessary, but it may not be called, ordered, or drafted into the armed forces.

These are not — as you might think from reading the article — renegade “militias” organized by anyone who might want to. They are Congressionally authorized military forces, supposed to be there for use within a state if the National Guard is overwhelmed or unavailable because of foreign deployment, etc. Unfortunately, this discussion gets all mangled in the article and the distinction isn’t clear at all. So, here’s a nutshell summary:

We have the armed forces of the United States. Those include the National Guard, which — though occasionally called “the militia” — is really troops under federal control, as made clear in Perpich v. DoD, which held that National Guard units may be sent abroad over the objection of their governor. (Technically, National Guard members are enrolled in both their State’s National Guard, and the National Guard of the United States, but the latter trumps in the event of a dispute).

The State Defense Forces are troops raised by states with the consent of Congress. They’re not militias, either, but they have no dual Federal role, and can’t be “federalized” as the National Guard can.

We also have, again as recognized by both federal and state statutes, an “unorganized militia” of the states, and of the United States. This includes most male adults and — in some states — females, too.

Some folks in what remains of the “militia movement” favor the establishment or expansion of State Defense Forces in their home states. They may want to join them, too. Nonetheless, those Forces aren’t militias, any more than the membership of “militia movement” folks in police forces makes the police a militia.

Despite the obligatory SPLC scaremongering about militias and State Defense Forces, there are undoubtedly more militia members belonging to law enforcement — and there have certainly been far more incidents of law enforcement misconduct of various kinds around the country — than State Defense Forces.

States could, of course, go back to the traditional militia structure, which obtained until the passage of the Dick Act and related changes in the early part of the 20th Century. In that setting, prominent individuals might raise a regiment and serve as its colonel, all under the supervision of the state. That’s how things used to work. I doubt that will come back, though if states get broke enough, who knows . . . .

UPDATE: Reader Arnold Steed writes:

I was happy to see your post on “state defense forces.”

I’m a member of the Texas State Guard, and it is the policy of the Guard not to recruit anyone who is a member of a gang or a paramilitary (militia) group. We’ve recently had a lot of training along the lines of recognizing such individuals so we don’t recruit them inadvertently. The concern is that members of these groups are trying to get into the Guard in order to receive training and bolster their credibility by affiliation with the official State Guard. I think the latter is the main motivation… we don’t do much weapons training and focus on disaster response: shelter management, search and rescue, etc.,

(Incidentally, you’re responsible for my seeking out the Texas State Guard in the first place. I had no idea such a group existed until you did a post about State Guards several years ago. I have a history of asthma, which kept me out of federal service even though it’s no longer a problem.)

There are a lot of people who aren’t eligible for the military for age or health reasons who’d still like to serve. This provides another possibility.

SOMEBODY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT OF THIS SOONER: Gawker: We Will Pay Donald Trump To Shut Up.

POLL: Statistical Dead Heat In Delaware. But O’Donnell is ahead by three, which is within the margin of error.

BREITBART AT 9/12 RALLY: ‘I want to save the country with you!’

GERARD ALEXANDER: Conservatism does not equal racism. So why do many liberals assume it does? Because they’ve got nothing else, and their self-esteem is threatened.

THE ECONOMIST calls for memories of 9/11, and the comments fill with anti-semitic rants.

UPDATE: Reader David Block notes that the antisemitic comments have now been deleted. That was fast.

DANA LOESCH photoblogs today’s St. Louis Tea Party rally.

UPDATE: Calling Out The Fakes. Had to grab a screenshot:

ANOTHER UPDATE: A report from Chicago.

BORING. “Obama’s public persona is so predictable and his image so overexposed that even the left is over him. He’s gone from fascinating and cool to a crashing bore in less than two years. . . . Obama was in essence the latest trend, equivalent to this season’s fashion or the newest cell phone, which they had to have. But trends by definition come and go.”

AUSTRALIAN LAW PROFESSOR SMOKES KORAN IN A JOINT. “While an American preacher placed himself at the centre of an international storm by threatening to burn copies of the Koran over the weekend, a University of Queensland academic has posted an internet video of himself using a page from the Muslim holy book to roll and smoke what appears to be a joint.”

Related item here.

CHEERY: “The economy and the markets are broken.” Not sure I buy this analysis.

AUSTAN GOOLSBEE: No Relief Coming In The Jobs Market.

LIKE TOTALLY 80S: How To Look Like Joan Jett. Actually, the photo is an improvement over the original, and I say that as big Joan Jett fan. (I’d post the story about my friend Ralph and Joan when she played at Toad’s Place, but it’s probably not suitable for a family blog . . . )

OF COURSE! IT MAKES IT . . . DELICIOUSER! “You’re adding Crisco and powdered sugar to Marshmallow Fluff?”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: Where The Money Goes.

The book this comes from is worth a read, if you’re interested in this stuff.

FLAILING: Ohio’s Ted Strickland Cries Context After Rant On GOP Patriotism.

IT’S FOR THE CHILDREN “EMERGING ADULTS!”

TALKING ABOUT the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement.

WITH ALL THE CAMILLE PAGLIA / LADY GAGA TALK, I thought it was worth reposting this:

By Molly Lewis.

HAVING FUN WITH personal camera drones. Where were these things when I was a kid?

THIS MAY BE ANOTHER REASON TO DONATE BLOOD: Iron overload may accelerate Alzheimer’s.

UPDATE: Reader Jim Martinec writes with a correction: “As a hospital blood bank manager I always appreciate your messages promoting blood donation. However, I think you may have misstated the thrust of the article on iron overload and Alzheimer’s. In the paper brain cells become overloaded with Iron because the transport channel to remove iron becomes damaged by zinc. Blood donation won’t help with this particular issue and, unfortunately, there is no indication that removing zinc from one’s diet would be helpful either.”

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Bribing The Public With The Public’s Money. Hey, if politicians had to buy our votes with their own money, it’d be a whole different ball game . . . .

“DO I NEED A SPAGHETTI SPOON?” Yes, yes you do. They’re great. You’ll never go back to colanders.

READER JOSEPH GERWIN sends this picture of the St. Louis Tea Party rally under the Gateway Arch.

And there’s much more coverage at — where else? — Gateway Pundit.

UPDATE: Also, Stacy McCain et al. report from the D.C. Rally.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Liveblogging from Sacramento.

MORE: Reader Bill Lux reports from the St. Louis Tea Party:

I just spent a couple hours there. Wow. What a difference from the first one. Back then, it was just over 1000 people standing on the steps listening to speakers who were standing among them using a cheap bullhorn. Now, well look at the pictures. Full stage. Music. Concessions. And still just the nicest bunch of people you could possibly meet. A great time.

Yes, people have learned how to put on an event, and the base of support has gotten a lot bigger.

STILL MORE: A reader from DC writes:

At the 9/12 rally in DC the only people with inflammatory signs were the LaRouche democrats (Obama with a Hitler moustache). It was unfortunate, as they will probably be portrayed by the media as Tea Partiers – which, when I objected to their sign, they told me clearly they were not.

Yes, the press won’t try to provide “context” here.

HAZARDS OF TRAVEL: Road Warriors vs. The Bed Bugs. “By knowing what to look for and taking a few easy precautions when you travel, you can easily reduce the probability of bringing home one of these nasty bugs — or kill them before they have a chance to infest your house. . . . Use the luggage rack for your suitcase, and keep the suitcase off the floor or an extra bed. Don’t put clothes in the hotel dresser or drape them on hotel furniture. Consider setting your suitcase on the bathroom counter, where it’s less likely bugs will be. Inspect the entire bed area.”

Not the sorts of concerns I expected in the 21st Century. . . .