June 28, 2005

Not Applicable?
By Lady Liberty

Of all the horrible things that Nazi Germany showed the world, perhaps the saddest was summed up by the Reverend Martin Niemoller in 1945 when he wrote:

First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.

In just a few sentences, Rev. Niemoller conveyed the tragedy of those whose own fear or apathy permits the destruction of things and lives others hold dear even as the eventual destruction of all they themselves love becomes more inevitable with precedent. In looking back some 60-odd years, I doubt there are any who would suggest that that the Nazi government offered its citizens too many good things. To be sure, as the saying goes, "Hindsight is 20/20." At the same time, we're supposed to be learning from the lessons of the past, and few lessons are clearer than those of Hitler's regime. That's why I cringe whenever I hear people say things like, "Well, if you don't have anything to hide..." or "Well, if it keeps us safer..." (Read the rest here)

What now? (Part II - Responses that won't work)
By Nathan A. Barton © 2004

What now? (Part I – Consequences) Click here if you missed part one.

Now that the Supreme Court has announced an end to the concept of owning property - such ownership is solely at the whim of the government (federal/state/local/tribal) - what do we do?

If we lovers of liberty choose to do nothing, we have undercut the fundamental right recognized within both Common Law and the American legal system to this point. While we tend to divide rights between "economic" and "personal," all personal rights stem from the concept of ownership: that is, we own ourselves: our bodies, our lives, our minds, our souls, and the labor of our hands (and minds). Our right to worship as we please (instead of as the State dictates), our right to speak freely, to keep and bear arms, all stem from the concept that we are NOT slaves, that we can own ourselves and other things. Now that expropriation is based upon the decision of as few as three county commissioners or town board members (or perhaps, indeed, a single "County Executive" or Mayor or Town Manager or even an appointed, unelected bureaucrat) as to whether it is in the public interest to take our property from us, the entire concept of property is no more stable or sacrosanct in the USA than it is in Cuba, Zimbabwe, or Somalia. (Read the rest here)

Supremes - Where Did Our House Go?
By Ted Lang © 2004

Okay, I’ll admit it! I’m madder than hell at the Supreme Communists of the United States, sometimes inappropriately referred to as a “court,” as in “court jesters.” And they have also adjudicated that I have to take it more and more. As they abolish Christianity in the name of diversity and pro-Semitism, and take away our Tens [Ten Commandments, Ten Amendments, a.k.a. the Bill of Rights] they, in one stupid fell swoop, have not only abolished all private property, but the United States of America itself! We no longer exist!

Now I know how you all feel - I know this seems as the ultimate insult upon our basic intelligence as well as the crushing destruction of our few remaining liberties. But before we go into what must be done to nullify the most recent idiocy “handed down” from on high by the Supreme Soviet, permit me to recall the words of President Andrew Jackson when addressing a ruling he didn’t like from Chief Justice John Marshall: “John Marshall made his decision, now let him enforce it.” This quote serves well in providing the appropriate answer to our ignorant Communist retirees. (Read the rest here)

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Libertarian Commentary on The News
By Nathan A. Barton © 2005

Well, we can start out with good news on a few fronts, but a lot more that should be a clarion call to action. We have indeed reached the point where, as the old song says, "Freedom's just another word for nothing left to lose." At least that is my opinion, if not necessarily that of anyone else.

Jury: Banister NOT GUILTY
from Wilmington Star-News
"The federal government's campaign against income tax protesters suffered a major setback yesterday when a federal jury in Sacramento acquitted a former Internal Revenue Service investigator on charges of helping to prepare false tax returns. ... The verdict stirred concerns that it would encourage more Americans to refuse to pay taxes, which the Treasury, I.R.S. and the Justice Department have all acknowledged is a growing problem. " [Editor's note: problem for whom? - TLK] (06/24/05)

We didn't print this last week because we could not, at first, get confirmation: the stories all came from people or "news" sites that we have found unreliable; but it does appear to be the case - although the mainstream media has refused to report it: the USG lost a major income-tax case, and for the tax thugs, that IS a problem. For the freedom-loving people of this nation, burdened ever more by the tax system, this is (maybe) the BEGINNING of ending the problem. If it weren't for the fact that now the thugs can just replace the income tax with "property tax enhancement" through "creative expropriation", this would be really good news.

Mama's Note: I smell a rat here, unfortunately. The government isn't about to let go of any power they have over us quite this easily. In the meantime, don't file false returns, whatever you do! If you can mange not to have your income stolen by withholding, you might want to just not file. That's up to each one, of course, but I hope the idea will grow. (Read the rest here)

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