End the War on Freedom

And For No Reason

And
For no reason
I start skipping like a child.

And
For no reason
I turn into a leaf
That is carried so high
I kiss the Sun's mouth
And dissolve.

And
For no reason
A thousand birds
Choose my head for a conference table,
Start passing their
Cups of wine
And their wild songbooks all around.

And
For every reason in existence
I begin to eternally,
To eternally laugh and love!

When I turn into a leaf
And start dancing,
I run to kiss our beautiful Friend
And I dissolve in the Truth
That I Am.

(The Gift: Poems by Hafiz, translations by Daniel Ladinsky)

From The Federalist:

Excise, n. A hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but by wretches hired by those to whom the excise is paid. -- Samuel Johnson

To compel a man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of opinions which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical. -- Thomas Jefferson

The moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If "Thou shalt not covet" and "Thou shalt not steal" were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society before it can be civilized or made free. -- John Adams

Alexander Hamilton had this to say, "It is a signal advantage of taxes on articles of consumption that they contain in their own nature a security against excess. ... If duties are too high, they lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the Treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and moderate bounds." Hamilton was thinking here about direct taxes on consumption, such as the sales taxes levied by most state governments. He was right in thinking that there is a limit to such taxes. Experience shows that general sales tax rates much above 10 percent are very hard to collect. They encourage smuggling, black markets, evasion, production for personal use, substitution for untaxed commodities and other activities that erode the tax base. -- Bruce Bartlett

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, followed always by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. -- Alexander Fraser Tytler

We can't expect the American People to jump from Capitalism to Communism, but we can assist their elected leaders in giving them small doses of Socialism, until they awaken one day to find that they have Communism. -- Nikita S. Khrushchev

Joe Eldred at Strike the Root - Don't Flinch at Felons With Firearms - More and more I realize the importance of convincing people that even convicted felons who have served their time have the right to keep and bear arms. This isn't about society. It's about each person's right to life. If a convicted felon no longer has a right to life, then hang him. If you won't do that, then you may not refuse him the tools of self defense. [trt-ny]

An interesting item appeared in the Salt Lake Tribune recently. It chronicled the plight of one Wade L. Willis. In a case pending before the Utah Court of Appeals, Mr. Willis is contesting the law prohibiting felons from possessing firearms. What is most interesting is the reported reaction of advocates of the right to keep and bear arms. They are said to be "flinching" and "cautious about jumping to Willis' defense." I find this puzzling. It seems to me that Mr. Willis is the perfect poster boy for the eminently morally defensible position that convicted felons ought to be able to possess firearms.

...

Supporting Wade Willis should be a no-brainer for the pro-gun community. But the same principle that applies to him also should apply to violent felons. Does that mean that I relish the thought of my family being threatened by an armed and dangerous predator? Certainly not, but that is exactly why I am so adamant that felons be allowed the right to keep and bear arms. As long as I am allowed the unrestricted right to arm myself, I have nothing to fear from any man. But when governments are allowed to determine who is a criminal based on what they own, possess or carry, then all of us are potential criminals, and unless Mr. Willis’ case is just, potential victims.

Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk - Were the Founding Fathers Wrong about Foreign Affairs? - nope, they were spot on. The U.S. should stay out of other countries' affairs.

Last week I appeared on a national television news show to discuss recent events in the Middle East. During the show I merely suggested that there are two sides to the dispute, and that the focus of American foreign policy should be the best interests of America - not Palestine or Israel. I argued that American interests are best served by not taking either side in this ancient and deadly conflict, as Washington and Jefferson counseled when they warned against entangling alliances. I argued against our crazy policy of giving hundred of billions of dollars in unconstitutional foreign aid and military weapons to both sides, which only intensifies the conflict and never buys peace. My point was simple: we should follow the Constitution and stay out of foreign wars.

I was immediately attacked for offering such heresy. We've reached the point where virtually everyone in Congress, the administration, and the media blindly accepts that America must become involved (financially and militarily) in every conflict around the globe. To even suggest otherwise in today's political climate is to be accused of "aiding terrorists." It's particularly ironic that so many conservatives in America, who normally adopt an "America first" position, cannot see the obvious harm that results from our being dragged time and time again into an intractable and endless Middle East war. The empty justification is always that America is the global superpower, and thus has no choice but to police the world.

...

In fact, when I mentioned Washington the other guest on the show quickly repeated the tired cliche that "We don't live in George Washington's times." Yet if we accept this argument, what other principles from that era should we discard? Should we give up the First amendment because times have changed? How about the rest of the Bill of Rights? It's hypocritical and childish to dismiss certain founding principles simply because a convenient rationale is needed to justify foolish policies today. The principles enshrined in the Constitution do not change. If anything, today's more complex world cries out for the moral clarity provided by a noninterventionist foreign policy.

Tom Robbins at The Village Voice - The Lush Life of a Rudy Appointee: How a Politically Tied Aide Spent a Quarter of a Million Dollars on Food, Fun, and Travel - Your New York City tax dollars at work (and mostly play). [trt-ny]

Dave Winer's DaveNet - What's next after the Google API? - Google is the first widely visible web service. What's next? Dave wants to see an interface that allows a site to tell Google it has changed.

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