Anno Libertatus 250 – lost liberties

Posted on 2026-07-03 by TPOL Nathan

As we touched on in yesterday’s column, most of the liberty which we celebrated then (and even now) has not made it this far. We have not truly had 250 years of liberty.

Still, as we wrote yesterday, we join in remembering the important parts of life: faith, family, freedom, and the folks who made it possible for us to have these. (And who will work to regain those lost liberties.) Who must work to regain the liberty lost, voluntarily or not.

Therefore, here on the 3rd, let us share some thoughts on lost liberties from Tom Evans from several years ago, and add our own, in bold italics.

The United States government claims that the United States of America, is a single sovereign nation;  while likewise claiming that it was always a national union, from 1776 onward. But this was indeed never true; as every state was always a separate sovereign nation unto itself. In reality, the American Revolution established the states as thirteen sovereign nations, by law, as originally declared in 1776.

Continue reading →
Posted in Guest commentary, History of Liberty, Ideas for liberty, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

My oh my, it’s the 2nd of July!

Posted on 2026-07-02 by TPOL Nathan

TODAY, 2 JULY, is the 250th anniversary of when the Continental Congress voted to secede from the British Empire. That is, in our opinion, neat. Very neat!

Some of us here at TPOL remember the 200th birthday of these United States, both the real birthday (2nd of July) and the official and traditional 4th of July Independence Day celebration. Do not recall if we ever expected to make it to the 250th year, back then. But here we are.

Unfortunately, while we are here, most of the liberty which we celebrated then (and even now) has not made it this far.

Still, we join in remembering the important parts of life: faith, family, freedom, and the folks who made it possible for us to have and remember. And the folks who will work to regain those lost liberties.

As the now-retired Liberty Round Table and deceased Mama Liberty constantly pushed, the real Independence Day, the start of the Anno Libertatus (Years of Liberty) is not the Fourth of July. (Did you know that even Canada and Mexico have a Fourth of July? Seriously!) It was on the second, two days earlier, that the critical votes were taken and the colonies all agreed to become States. Free, independent, sovereign nations.

Free at least from the tyranny of King and Parliament (both Lords and Commons) in London, at least. Not permanently free from tyranny, then or now.

We invite our readers to share their thoughts on liberty, independence, and 250 years of history.

Posted in Nathan's Rants | Leave a comment

Oh, Canada – how sad

Posted on 2026-07-01 by TPOL Nathan

A secondary note regarding liberty, freedom, and independence on this day.

Canada Day is the Dominion’s national day and a statuatory federal holiday. It celebrates, not freedom from rule by the British Crown, but the anniversary of the Confederation of Canada. (On 1 July, 1867), merging the “United Canadas” (Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. The Confederation remained within the British Empire.

Until 1982, when Canada got its own Constitution (by the Canada Act) and severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the UK Parliament in London, it was called Dominion Day.

Although it is often informally referred to as “Canada’s birthday” (parroting US ideas of Independence Day), it is not: Instead of an eight-year war and a peace treaty, it took a long time to reach the country’s full sovereignty. Today, Canada is a “kingdom in its own right” within the Empire (Commonwealth).

What it did not do was guarantee the liberty of Canadians, then or now. Although many Canadians will claim otherwise, the “rights” stated under the 1982 Constitution are limited and subject even more to the power of the federal and provincial governments than even in the decayed Union of their neighbor to the South. Canadians are constantly bombarded with instructions to “bear the white man’s guilt” when it comes to “First Nations” (Canada’s equivalent to AmerInd nations down South).

In recent years more and more Canadians have been disarmed, had their rights of free speech, association, and even freedom of worship reduced. At the same time, their federal government has gone to desperate lengths to keep Quebec in the Confederation, which has meant stealing even more from Peter to pay Paul. It is not a pretty picture, especially to the Canadian subjects of the Prairie Provinces (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and especially Alberta). (One of the great differences between the USA and Canada is that their Constitution explicitly states that the provinces have the power to leave the Dominion; to secede. Theoretically.)

In recent decades, as in the United Kingdom itself, and Europe, Canada is flooded with immigrants, not just from other Commonwealth nations but from around the world. With this mass migration has come the same problems as seen elsewhere, including the Fifty States. And solutions have not been all that good, when we get down to it.

Any time we look north, Americans and lovers of liberty everywhere can and should learn lessons from the history of a lovely and productive country.

But in the meantime, as votes are being scheduled on at least one attempt to secede (in Alberta), we at TPOL wish our neighbors, friends, and especially lovers of liberty up North, a good Canada Day.

Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants, Short Takes | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Liberty? What is that?

Posted on 2026-07-01 by TPOL Nathan

The local Black Hills (South Dakota) edition of the online Newsbreak published this notice a few days ago:

Residents may legally discharge fireworks in Pennington County from June 27 through July 5, 2026, under South Dakota Codified Law 34-37-16.1. The Pennington County Sheriff’s Office requests a voluntary 11 p.m. curfew for fireworks use in Rapid Valley during this period. In Rapid City, fireworks are prohibited except for novelties like sparklers, and police, fire, and code enforcement will have extra patrols for fireworks complaints. Citations of up to $500 or 30 days in jail may apply for illegal use. Fireworks are banned within the Black Hills Fire Protection District, covering areas west of Highway 79 from Hot Springs to I-90 Exit 61, and east along I-90 past Black Hawk and Piedmont. Residents are urged to follow the law, follow curfews, and clean up debris after use.

Thousands of people do not have the freedom to celebrate Independence Day and the liberties that were gained (or restored) and promised “for as long as the grass shall grow” and won in nearly eight years of war two and a half centuries ago. Why? A need for “security” and massive fears.

Continue reading →
Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A promise, a step in the right direction, but…

Posted on 2026-06-30 by TPOL Nathan

Riffing off an unknown online poster a few days back: June 30, 1776 — A House United, But Not All Free Two hundred and fifty years ago today, as the Continental Congress debated Thomas Jefferson’s draft Declaration of Independence, it removed one of its most controversial passages. As the old saying goes, “if you like sausage, don’t watch it being made.” Politics is even worse, as this goes on to explain.

Jefferson had written a fierce condemnation of the transatlantic slave trade, calling it an “execrable commerce” and accusing King George III of violating the rights of humanity by permitting it to continue. He charged that the king had “waged cruel war against human nature itself,” depriving innocent people of their “most sacred rights of life and liberty” by capturing and transporting them into slavery. Implicit in the passage was the revolutionary principle that those enslaved Africans possessed the same natural rights as all other people—a principle that would soon be echoed in the Declaration’s assertion that “all men are created equal.”

Continue reading →
Posted in History of Liberty, Ideas for liberty, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Are you a “gloomy Gus” about the States?

Posted on 2026-06-29 by TPOL Nathan

As our nations (the Fifty States) approach the 250th birthday of the Union, the mood is surprisingly gloomy across much of our land.

A recent survey from Pew Research, for instance, found that just 17% of Americans believe the federal government can be trusted to do the right thing… most of the time. (We note that some of us might be surprised to see how high this is: almost 1 in 5?)

Only about one-quarter say they feel optimistic about the country’s future, and many Americans believe the United States is more divided than united. (Again, we are surprised to see that 1 in 4 are optimistic! Given the constant drumbeat of doom in the media (both mainstream and alternative).)

Those aren’t exactly the numbers you’d expect heading into a national celebration. (At least for those who do not remember what the first five and a half years of the 1970s decade was like. Fewer and fewer remember the Southeast Asia war, Watergate, the energy crisis around the 1973 Mideast War, massive inflation, and the Ford regime.)

But buried within the polling is something perhaps much more heartening. Seriously: again, because this is not what we hear constantly on the media, whether progressive (digressive), conservative, libertarian, or middle-of-the road. Despite frustration, almost 75% of Americans say they’re proud to be American. Most still describe the nation’s history as a source of pride. We’d like to think that propaganda like the 1619 thesis and Landback and the environists is not working as well as they hope and claim. But we find that some of the surveys reveal that even this (pride in America) shows a serious partisan divide.  Gallup tells us:

Libertarians are not identified, of course. Nor are “unaffiliated” people. (And this points out the fallacy of having pride in your nations (patriotism) tied to who is currently in office.) But it is telling.

In other words, Americans may be losing faith in institutions.  And from other places, we hear that those “institutions” include churches, schools, and more. And in politicians and other influencers and talking heads, to name a few. Are more Americans heeding the idea, “Put not your trust in princes,” than in the past?

But they haven’t lost faith in America. Contrary to the all-channels, 24-7 claims we have to live with. 

And we hope and pray that they also are not losing in their Creator. And indeed, that they might be growing in that faith.

Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

The West rejecting liberty

Posted on 2026-06-28 by TPOL Nathan

The West rejecting God’s gift of liberty (John 8:32)

In a dozen or more States of the Union, in Canada, in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, in Germany and many other places, the termites are nibbling at the foundation of modern civilization. That is, the Bible and all truth. Even when we see communication technology giving us more opportunity than ever to edify, evangelize, encourage, and change the world one soul at a time, we find that more and more government agencies and antichrists are busy using the same technology to enslave more and more of God’s creatures.

From a correspondent:

The 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum was held in Oslo from June 1–3, 2026. It was organized by the Human Rights Foundation and carried the theme “Dismantling Dictatorship.”

There, on June 2, 2026, Telegram Founder Pavel Durov spoke about how the loss of personal freedom is destroying Western Civilization. If you want to listen or watch, go to:https://www.facebook.com/share/v/14f7vMDcpcT/

The title of Pavel Durov’s 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum talk was: “Communication Technology and the Struggle for Freedom”.

Continue reading →
Posted in Guest commentary, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Recognizing the dangers of democracy

Posted on 2026-06-27 by TPOL Nathan

Thursday’s decision by the Nine Nazgul (SCOTUS; well, six of the nine) overturning Hawai’i’s insanely-unconstitutional ban on people carrying concealed weapons onto private property open to the public without express permission of the landowner is an important action. One of the best points was the concurring decision by Amy C Barrett:

“While most Hawaiians might prefer that no one carry firearms in public places, a majority’s opposition to a constitutional right is not a permissible basis for restricting it,” she wrote. “After all, ‘[t]he very purpose of a Bill of Rights was to withdraw certain subjects from the vicissitudes of political controversy’ and ‘to place them beyond the reach of majorities and officials,’” she wrote.

So we have at least one of the Justices that recognizes the evils and dangers of democracy, of majority rule. This is one of the reasons that a republic is at least tolerable and a democracy is intolerable for lovers of liberty. Republics, by a good definition, are limited in powers and realize that.

Continue reading →
Posted in Commentary on the News, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Lessons learned from the Little Big Horn

Posted on 2026-06-26 by TPOL Nathan

Yesterday, TPOL published an article on history and remembering the 150th anniversary of the Battle of the Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn) where Lakota and Cheyenne “weekend warriors” defeated the US 7th Cavalry (“professional soldiers”) killing the talented, ambitious, glory-hungry George Armstrong Custer and another 267 men (including allied AmerInd scouts).

But despite this and other victories, the Lakota and Cheyenne lost the Black Hills War, which were the spoils of victory and conquest for the FedGov and so-called “settler” Americans. (That is, people who are Americans but not enrolled in an AmerInd tribe.)

As lovers of liberty, we can and should learn much from this war and battle. Here are a few thoughts:

Continue reading →
Posted in History of Liberty, Ideas for liberty, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Greasy Grass (Little Big Horn)

Posted on 2026-06-25 by TPOL Nathan

Today is the 150th anniversary of the Greasy Grass (Pezhi Sla) Battle, officially the Battle of the Little Big Horn, and commonly known as the Custer Massacre or Custer’s Last Stand.

All of Southeastern Montana, including portions of I-90 between Sheridan, Wyoming, and Hardin, Montana, has been disrupted as thousands of people gather near Crow Agency, Montana, at the battlefield, a National Monument. (Keep in mind that the NPS website is (as usual for the NPS), a compendium of propaganda with a lot of facts but a lot of twisted interpretation. Ditto for Wikipedia.)

The battle was the climax of the Black Hills War (aka the “Great Sioux War) of 1875-1877. While it was the most significant action of that war, it was not the turning point that many think it to be. It is also important to remember that this was not the first war between the US Army and the Lakota. And not the first time that Lakota and Cheyenne had defeated the USA.

Why a war? Because gold seekers invaded the Black Hills (in 1874-5) after the public announcement of the discovery of gold by the Custer Expedition of 1874. The Black Hills (Lakota: Paha Sapa) were part of the treaty lands recognized by the US Congress in the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 as reserved for the Lakota, together with all of what is now West River of South Dakota, a bit of what is now North Dakota, and “unceded territory” (in essence, hunting rights) in most of Wyoming Territory and a good deal of Montana and Nebraska Territories. The treaties authorized the expedition, in part to identify military post locations to keep other Americans out of the area.

Continue reading →
Posted in History of Liberty, Nathan's Rants | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment