End the War on Freedom

Every time you hear about some child being killed because her parents wanted a boy instead of a girl, every time someone blows up a host of disconnected people to make a statement, every time faceless men debase what is supposed to be the system of deriving the nation's will, every time a human being is left for dead because of their race or sexual identity, every time you read one of those news stories that stuns you and leaves you with a cold, clammy feeling about your fellow men and women...these things are real, and the only weapon against them is love. -- matt rossi

From samizdata:

When a private citizen is robbed, a worthy man is deprived of the fruits of his industry and thrift; when the government is robbed, the worst that happens is that certain rogues and loafers have less money to play with than they had before. -- H.L. Mencken

From Chuck Muth's News & Views:

My concern is not what (Attorney General John) Ashcroft and President Bush will do with the new powers granted the government to conduct the war on terrorism. It is what a future attorney general like Hillary Clinton could easily do with those powers. This is not a trivial matter. -- Paul Weyrich, Free Congress Foundation

From kaba:

I have seen an American general and his officers, without pay, and almost without clothes, living on roots and drinking water; and all for LIBERTY! What chance have we against such men! -- young British officer to Colonel Watson describing the American militia rebels in Georgetown, SC

I sent the following to a discussion group when asked about L. Neil Smith. Can you tell I like his politics?

Yes, Mr. Smith pushes "Bill of Rights Enforcement" at every turn. See http://lneilsmith.com/bore.html.

There's a Bill of Rights Enforcement button and pamphlet (and some bumper stickers) available at http://rkbabang.com/

It was my favorite L. Neil Smith quote, from http://lneilsmith.com/ atlanta.html, printed in a letter to the editor to the Times-Union, that got me invited to join TRT-NY. I consider this to be the proper interpretation of the second amendment:

"Every man, woman, and responsible child has an unalienable individual, civil, Constitutional, and human right to obtain, own, and carry, openly or concealed, any weapon -- rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- any time, any place, without asking anyone's permission."

Another favorite L. Neil Smith quote demolishes a popular mis-interpretation of the second amendment:

"Reread that pesky first clause of the Second Amendment. It doesn't say what any of us thought it said. What it says is that infringing the right of the people to keep and bears arms is treason. What else do you call an act that endangers 'the security of a free state'?

"And if it's treason, then it's punishable by death.

"I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings."

L. Neil explains why he focuses so much on guns at http://lneilsmith.com/whyguns.html :

"If a politician isn't perfectly comfortable with the idea of his average constituent, any man, woman, or responsible child, walking into a hardware store and paying cash -- for any rifle, shotgun, handgun, machinegun, anything -- without producing ID or signing one scrap of paper, he isn't your friend no matter what he tells you.

"If he isn't genuinely enthusiastic about his average constituent stuffing that weapon into a purse or pocket or tucking it under a coat and walking home without asking anybody's permission, he's a four-flusher, no matter what he claims.

"What his attitude -- toward your ownership and use of weapons -- conveys is his real attitude about you. And if he doesn't trust you, then why in the name of John Moses Browning should you trust him?"

Neil is the publisher of The Libertarian Enterprise (http://www.webleyweb.com/tle/), a weekly web magazine exploring Libertarian ideas. It is published every Monday, though it often appears on Sunday. The August 5 issue is available now.

He makes his living writing books, mostly science fiction, future worlds where everyone is armed all the time and what little government there is convenes only in cases of dire emergency.

He participates in a discussion group, officially about his 2004 presidential candidacy but mostly news links and discussion, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smith2004-discuss/

J. H. Huebert at The Salem (Ohio) News - Was James Traficant the Worst Crook in Congress? - Mr. Traficant is no saint, but he did a damn sight better in Congress than most of the other guys. [lew]

Most Congressmen try to force government into our lives in new ways, and constantly commit legalized theft against us by forcibly taking our hard-earned money through higher taxes.

Traficant, in contrast, fought to get government out of our way -- by pushing for and achieving substantial IRS reform, calling for the outright abolition of the IRS, and opposing burdensome bureaucratic regulation and government waste. He put the rights of Americans first, above the interests of greedy would-be dictators, as an advocate for getting the U.S. out of the U.N., and the U.N. out of the U.S. And he worked diligently to expose his fellow Democrats' dealings with the communist Chinese, in spite of the political costs to him.

Libertarian Party Press Releases - Did California gun laws make kidnapping of teens more likely? - of course they did.

"Americans are understandably outraged at what happened to Jacqueline Marris and Tamara Brooks. Shouldn't they also be outraged at the California politicians who have guaranteed that all crime victims will be totally defenseless?"

And although it's too late to help these teenagers, it's not too late to try to deter other criminals, Libertarians say.

Charley Reese - Business Bad - another depression around the corner? I sure hope not, but Mr. Reese thinks it's looking that way. [lew]

Anybody who believes the bilge that the "basic structure" of the economy is strong must be reading the funny papers rather than the business section.

Business is bad. In some instances it's terrible, but there are hardly any instances where you would describe it as good.

J.J. Johnson at Sierra Times - Sierra Times at the Crossroads - donations requested. [sierra]

Are there enough Real Americans out there who would pledge a small amount each month to keep Sierra Times alive? How many of you will commit to contribute a few dollars a month so that all Americans can read the truth here? Let us know.

We'll be honest, folks... if this doesn't work, then the next step, the only remaining step, is to charge for access to the news stories and commentary that we produce. And we don't want to do that.

Stephen Burr at Liberty for All - A Federal License for That? - did you know that you need a federal license to have a petting zoo? Neither did Mr. Burr's friend, "J". Neither would any sane human being. [kaba]

That's right, folks, the Interstate Commerce clause of the Constitution grants Congress the right to pass standards on the number of guinea pigs you keep in a single cage. But only if those guinea pigs are part of a petting zoo. Of course, with the thousands upon thousands of pages of laws that are on the books that cover all aspects of life in this country today, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a law out there that did regulate the number of guinea pigs you could keep in a cage, whether you exhibit them or not.

South Dakota Libertarian Party - Libertarian Gubernatorial Candidate Arrested At State Fair - more evidence that the first amendment is dead. [kaba]

John Derbyshire at National Review - Unpleasant Truths: A conservative view of the world today - in case you were hoping to have a nice day, Mr. Derbyshire has some bad news to put you in a properly pessimistic mood. [samizdata]

The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are saddled up and ready to ride. Just to remind you, their names are: War, Famine, Pestilence, and Death. No. 4 will presumably always be with us, but at least we have got Nos. 1, 2, and 3 pretty much fenced off in sub-Saharan Africa, right? The chance that you or me, or your kids or mine, will die in a genuine mass-mobilization-type, carriers- going-down-with-all-hands-type, flattened-cities-type war, or from starvation, or in some horrid medieval-type, communal-grave-type, 1918-flu-type plague, is actuarially insignificant, right? Well, believe it if you like, but your belief has no foundation more substantial than wishful thinking. History suggests that it is most likely false.

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