♫ Sunshine Go Away Today…♫

♫…I don’t feel much like dancin’…♫

Kent McManigal shares with us an essay regarding the essence of personal liberty, freedom and individual rights in this Constitutional Republic.

I find it sad that whenever someone wants to do something, the first question most people ask is whether government allows it, requires a license, or forbids it.

There is so much that isn’t (or shouldn’t be) the business of government.  Most personal conflicts are attached to an understood contract between individuals in the free marketplace – If you don’t like guns, don’t buy one; if that head of lettuce is bad too soon, don’t buy them there, anymore; don’t like illegal drugs, don’t use them.

There are remedies before getting the government involved.  That shouldn’t be our go-to choice.  It should be the last resort.

This isn’t a pointless philosophical debate. On May 5, President Obama warned Ohio State University graduates to reject the warnings people like me are passing along, and to simply trust government.

My motivation is that I trust you to run your own life, and I want you to understand liberty and experience it in all its glory.

What might his motivation be?

If you can be fooled into asking the wrong questions, the answers don’t matter.

This should be our (libertarian’s) anthem. – Guffaw

h/t Kent’s “Hooligan Libertarian” Blog

Do YOU have Attenuating Cerebral Faculties, or are you over 55?

Old NFO lets a little-known secret regarding the United Nations Global Arms Trade Treaty out of the bag.  To wit:

Individuals 55 and older would lose their right to keep and bear arms under a provision that’s expected to be included as part of a comprehensive United Nations Global Arms Trade Treaty.

Seriously?  Ban Ki-moon further said:

“But also, the international community believes segments of the population that present a danger to themselves and others, chiefly individuals deemed or adjudicated mentally defective and persons with attenuating cerebral faculties, should be added to that list.”

So persons determined to be mentally defective, and persons with attenuating cerebral faculties are on ‘the list’!   What exactly does THAT mean?  Older?  As in over 55?

No wonder the Obama Administration is pushing so hard for a mental health component for background checks, universal background checks, etc.  If the government determines you are mentally defective (whatever THAT means) or have attenuating cerebral faculties (i.e. getting older) you can be included in the ban regarding possession and ownership of firearms.

I’m reminded of the scene in the film Jurassic Park, wherein it’s observed the velociraptors are noted to be continually testing the fences for weaknesses; never the same place twice.  The folks who love to control your rights will keep testing the fences.

Until we’re all neatly fenced in.

h/t Old NFO

Addendum – Rev. Paul says this was initially reported as an

April Fool’s Joke!

I certainly hope so!

(Not that the U.N. treaty isn’t troubling enough! – Guffaw

Tyranny of the Majority

The Liberty Sphere advises us as follows:

US tyranny to increase for foreseeable future

A close friend who is politically astute, a Tea Party activist and Christian conservative, stated Wednesday in a private conversation that America as we know it is already lost, gone, destroyed.

And not a single shot was fired. This was done entirely through the electoral process, the courts, and a clear majority of the electorate that does not share the philosophy, the mindset, or the world-view of the Founders, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, or our nation’s rich religious heritage.

An all-important threshold was crossed, quite imperceptibly and thus totally without notice, that brought the nation into what the Founders referred to as “the tyranny of the majority.”

I seem to remember the difference between a Republic and a Democracy was defined exactly by this.  That a democracy elicited ‘tyranny of the majority’, and a Republic protected the rights of all.

When I was growing up, the phrase was, “Majority rules – Minority rights!”

However the education of the youth has devolved as described above.  In our Civics classes of yore, we were taught to revere, honor and respect The Constitution.  Now, the meme seems to be something akin to ‘whatever the United States is or has done is WRONG and BAD.  This country needs to progress beyond the old, outdated document forged by rich White guys to a New World Order.  ‘Leveling the playing field’ by fiat or diktat is more efficient and certainly more FAIR!

Somewhere within Jeff Cooper’s Commentaries, he makes a statement to the effect that the cry of THAT’S NOT FAIR is the epithet of pre-schoolers who learn as they get older that the World is just that.  Not fair.  And they demand their due.  Just like the OWS criminals terrorists protestors did – whom I suspect are those same children, older, but not yet mature.

And now, many of those children have done as Van Jones suggested.  They’ve left the collegiate quadrangle protest groups for government service.  Just as Saul Alinsky wrote in Rules for Radicals.  A cancer inside the mechanism of the Nation.  To make it ‘better’.

But, it’s not.

h/t Jeff Cooper

My Lott in life is to Drone on…

…about our continuing loss erosion outright THEFT of our civil liberties!

Hanging on the coat tails of such luminaries as John Lott, who reports to us through c|net the following:

DHS built domestic surveillance tech into Predator drones

Homeland Security’s specifications say drones must be able to detect whether a civilian is armed. Also specified: “signals interception” and “direction finding” for electronic surveillance.

And just for fun, I also noticed a disturbance in the Force on the Internet, today.  It seems a significant number of high-ranking military officers are taking their retirement, because they’ve been asked by the current administration if they’d follow orders to disarm American citizens!  And they’d rather break ranks than to violate their Constitutionally-supportive oath.

No wonder the gun stores are lacking stock in ammunition and popular firearms.  They’re flying off the shelves.

Scary stuff.  1984 was 29 years ago, and things were bad THEN.  I fear for the future, and I don’t make that statement easily.

h/t Declan McCullagh

Peter Speaks the Truth

Bayou Renaissance Man shares with us the latest from the meme:  “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help you!”

Just a heads-up to those who may have missed it:  the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation changed its rules as of the end of last year.  For the past two years it provided ‘unlimited insurance coverage of noninterest-bearing transaction accounts‘.  If you had ten accounts with seven different institutions, all of them were covered for the full amount deposited in them.

As of December 31st, 2012, that changed.  ‘Deposits held in noninterest-bearing transaction account[s] are now aggregated with any interest-bearing deposits the owner may hold in the same ownership category, and the combined total insured up to at least $250,000.‘  The display header on the FDIC’s Web site currently indicates that this coverage applies to an individual’s accounts at each insured institution:

The scary thing is, far too many people actually believe that this insurance will protect them.  As Ann Barnhardt pointed out in her blog entry for February 8th:

… remember, total bank deposits in the U.S. are somewhere around TEN TRILLION DOLLARS and the FDIC deposit insurance fund as of March 31, 2012 had a whopping $15 BILLION.

Bottom line: if you think your bank deposits are “insured” or “safe” because of FDIC protection, you’re totally irrational.

David Mamet On Gun Control

The Burning Platform directs us to The Daily Beast (quoting from Newsweek magazine)…is that convoluted, or what?

However, we’re given an essay by David Mamet, award winning playwright and former liberal.

In commenting on it, Yojimbo states:

What a brilliantly written essay. Concise and powerful. Essay like this help me understand the mental illness of my fellow Massachusetts residents that we politely call “Liberalism”. First, Liberals actually have a profound TRUST of government, instead of a healthy distrust and skepticism. Second, Liberals fundamentally misunderstand human nature, and believe that, if only given more government intervention and power, the failings of human nature can be perfected. Mamet displays an excellent understanding of the nature of The State and why we must be deeply mistrustful of it.

Mr. Mamet, in part, says:

~All of us have had dealings with the State, and have found, to our chagrin, or, indeed, terror, that we were not dealing with well-meaning public servants or even with ideologues but with overworked, harried bureaucrats. These, as all bureaucrats, obtain and hold their jobs by complying with directions and suppressing the desire to employ initiative, compassion, or indeed, common sense. They are paid to follow orders.~

~What possible purpose in declaring schools “gun-free zones”? Who bringing a gun, with evil intent, into a school would be deterred by the sign?

Ah, but perhaps one, legally carrying a gun, might bring it into the school.

Good.

We need more armed citizens in the schools.~

Go and read the entire essay.  Mr. Mamet and I may disagree on minor points, but he speaks his truth with reason and passion.  It’s worth the five minutes.

Feinstein ‘Off The Rails”

California Senator Diane Feinstein has gone off the rails with respect to the newest flavor of ‘assault weapons ban‘.  The fact this was obviously drafted up years in advance of the latest mass murder shows her complete disregard for the United States Constitution, and her own hypocrisy – being a CCW holder and gun-owner, herself.

Some Exemplars:

• Requires owners of existing “assault weapons” to register them with the federal government under the National Firearms Act (NFA). The NFA imposes a $200 tax per firearm, and requires an owner to submit photographs and fingerprints to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), to inform the BATFE of the address where the firearm will be kept, and to obtain the BATFE’s permission to transport the firearm across state lines.

• Prohibits the transfer of “assault weapons.” Owners of other firearms, including those covered by the NFA, are permitted to sell them or pass them to heirs. However, under Feinstein’s new bill, “assault weapons” would remain with their current owners until their deaths, at which point they would be forfeited to the government.

• Prohibits the domestic manufacture and the importation of magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition. The 1994 ban allowed the importation of such magazines that were manufactured before the ban took effect. Whereas the 1994 ban protected gun owners from errant prosecution by making the government prove when a magazine was made, the new ban includes no such protection. The new ban also requires firearm dealers to certify the date of manufacture of any >10-round magazine sold, a virtually impossible task, given that virtually no magazines are stamped with their date of manufacture.

There’s more analysis of the bill at the above link. Suffice it to say she’s delusional if she thinks that this is in any way going to pass in the House. – Chuck Kuecker

I certainly hope so.  Call your Congressmen and Senators – multiple times! – Guffaw

h/t Beloit Ballistics

Where do we go from here?

A quick perusal of about 105 blogs (and news and opinion sites – most mornings) doesn’t bode well the answer to this question.

People who support individual, Constitutional liberties over collectivist ‘it’s for the children people sea birds, snail darters et al’ rubbish are scrambling for this very answer.

It’s obvious the Grand Old Party has no backbone, and hasn’t had for some time.  Nor does their platform have anything to do with preserving American Freedoms.  It’s our government control versus their government control.

And the Democrats Progressives have been completely assimilated by the progressive movement, in the forever-forward effort to ‘fundamentally change’ the nature of this Nation.  Brick by bloody brick.   Away from its founding documents and principles.

The Libertarians! (you answer.)  While they did best this year of any election year, ever, they are still a drop in the bucket.  And, as libertarians, they philosophically don’t lust for power and control.  It’s against their nature. And the Demopublicans are reluctant to give up any of their monopoly.

The Tea Party(s)?  And there’s is a two-fold problem.  1)  There are many of them, some with differing views, and 2)  The Left has successfully painted them as racists, even though there is scant evidence of that – largely promoted by the (largely Left) media.

Want proof of anti-Constitutional furor?  It’s all over the media…

The Second Amendment has Outlived It’s Relevance to America – The Staten Island Advance

Let’s Give Up On The Constitution – The New York Times

Haven’t 95% of all elected federal officials already done that, beginning with denying their Oaths of Office to said Constitution?

And bloggers and commenters abound on the Internet, blustering about how they’ll stand behind every blade of grass with a rifle, and the Three-Percenters will, and the Oath Keepers will refuse to take disarmament action against United States citizens…

All while the TSA, and the FBI and the NSA and a myriad-of-alphabet-soup-other-agencies quietly and consistent erode all of our civil liberties, with the tacit approval of Congress and multiple Presidents!

SO…where DO we go?

It’s for the children, you know…

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.  -  Thomas Paine (1776)

Constitution? WHAT Constitution?

“They: The makers of the Constitution: conferred,
as against the government, the right to be let alone –
the most comprehensive of rights and
the right most valued by civilized men.”

-  Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis

What the Hell ever happened to this concept?

For the past seventy years (or more) there has been an eating away at the substance that used to be American Culture.  Not just political correctness, multiculturalism and unreasonable inclusion, but who we are as individuals.

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.^[1]

Except:

The USA Patriot Act, NDAA, FISA, no-knock warrants, cameras on every corner, warrants unnecessary for GPS attachment, sobriety checkpoints, citizenship checkpoints, TSA rifling through personal belongings and groping etc., etc.  And this from an NSA whistleblower:

Perhaps the degree to which you’re being watched is surprising: this former NSA agent says “Everyone in the U.S. is under virtual surveillance.”

They’ve apparently turned it up to 12, and it’s accelerating, he says. Scary stuff.

More from the whistleblower:

“The problem is if they think they are not doing anything that’s wrong, they don’t get to define that. The central government does, the central government defines what is right and wrong and whether or not they target you. So, it’s not up to the individuals. Even if they think they aren’t doing something wrong, if their position on something is against what the administration has, then they could easily become a target.“

(emphasis in original post)

We’ve devolved from Norman Rockwell to George Lincoln Rockwell.  Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy, doesn’t it?

h/t Rev. Paul

HEY! It’s Not A Pie Chart?!

(We now return you to the aforementioned doom and gloom…which is already in progress)

Theo Spark once again shows us the folly of Keynesian economics and the FED.

While the career politicians prance about in their clownshoes and red rubber noses quacking about “the fiscal cliff” and are obediently parroted by the MSM and FTV charlatans, this is something they do NOT want to talk about or want anyone to even ‘think’ about.

This is actually very simple. Look at the two lines on this chart.
- The blue line reflects the falling purchasing power of the Dollar. From the creation of the FED when one Dollar was worth one Dollar to today, when one Dollar is really only ‘worth’ 3.8 cents.*
- The red line represents rising prices over time. This is the inflation the professional liars say does not exist.
- The turning point is pretty clearly indicated in the 1970′s. This is one trend that is NOT your friend!

It has been said before, but is worth repeating:
- It isn’t that the value (price) of Gold has gone UP. It has not. It is the value (purchasing power) of paper fiat that has gone DOWN.

For the whole article, please visit the link above.  If you dare.