Not Your Uncle Any More

Submitted by Bill St. Clair on Fri, 22 Nov 2002 13:00:00 GMT

John de Rosier at the Albany (NY) Times Union - John Ashcroft is coming to town - sung to the tune of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town. Hehe.

Ye Li - We Didn't Start the Fire - A flash animation containing 120 images of the nouns in Billy Joel's song displayed in sync with the song. Well done.

From smith2004. There's a half-size version here and a double-size version there. Big Brother: not your uncle any more.

Uncle Sam Suspects You!
You can show this on your web site with the following HTML:

<center>
<img src="http://billstclair.com/blog/bigbrothersam.jpg"
     width="332" height="433"><br>
<b>Uncle Sam Suspects <i>You</i>!</b>
</center>

Sunni Maravillosa at The Laissez Faire Electronic Times - Where Are the Sons of Boromir? - where indeed. [grabbe]

Boromir's heroism is ultimately much more simple, and noble to my mind, than that. He is human. It's no small part of his heroism that he rises above his human flaws in the last battle of his life. Rather than sitting and thinking, or whining and playing the victim, he battles bravely in part to counter his perceived failing of the Fellowship and his comrades.

How many libertarians would follow in his steps? I can think of a few men whom I can envision doing so, and maybe one woman ... but sadly, I see no more than that in my fairly wide circle of friends and acquaintances. The freedom movement seems to spawn individuals of talk and analysis rather than action. But there comes a time when talking, philosophizing, and analyzing are for naught; there comes a time when the only thing that will make a difference is taking up one's sword, and making the best stand one can in defense of one's principles. Many seem to pine for a John Galt to appear among us -- but there are no, and never will be, such individuals. We are human, with frailties, flaws, foibles, and fears. That isn't to be denied, nor to become an excuse or copout. We can choose a nobler course.

Doug Thompson at Capitol Hill Blue - Welcome to the American Gestapo - Heil Bushnev! Sieg Heil! [grabbe]

Wonder if any of the vast sums of money approved Tuesday for the new Department of Homeland Security are set aside for black uniforms with knee-length boots and black leather trench coats?

Should be. Since we've gone to all this trouble to create the new American Gestapo we might as well let them look the part.

Excuse me if I don't join in all the senseless celebration over creation of yet another mammoth bureaucracy of the federal government. Pardon me if I don't go ga-ga over a federal agency that has been given unlimited powers to spy on Americans, trample all over the First and Fourth Amendments, ignore the privacy of anyone it chooses and violate the rights of every man, woman and child who used to live in the Land of the Free.

...

"An evil exists that threatens every man, woman and child of this great nation," the leader of another country once wrote. "We must take steps to ensure our domestic security and protect our homeland."

That was Adoph Hitler, writing about creation of the Gestapo in Nazi Germany.

Bill Bridgewater at SKS Parts - Armed Revolution Possible and Not So Difficult - I don't know if the recent experience in Afghanistan invalidates this thesis, but somehow I doubt it. Guerilla tactics, especially if done by extremely well-armed American patriots, could win a new American Revolution. [birdman]

One of these days a truly charismatic individual is going to walk out of the heartland of America and point out that the Declaration of Independence has never been repealed and that it *requires* all citizens to rise up against an oppressive government. With the current attitude toward our government and the people who populate it, a massive groundswell of support for throwing the current crop to the dogs and starting over again might not be so difficult.

As for the *ability* of the American citizens to successfully wage a guerrilla war on their own government, the likes of which this world has never seen nor contemplated before, I am absolutely convinced that it could be done, and a lot more swiftly than many might believe possible. How many highly-capable long-range snipers can your county put together?

Libertarian Party Press Releases - Advice for Bush on NATO: End it, don't extend it - US out of UN and NATO.

Instead of welcoming several new countries into NATO at the summit that begins today in Prague, President Bush should pull the United States out of the unnecessary alliance and save taxpayers billions of dollars in "military welfare" costs, Libertarians say.

"NATO might as well stand for Never-ending American Taxpayer Obligation," said Geoff Neale, the national chair of the Libertarian Party. "There's no reason that the United States should keep paying to defend rich European nations like France, England and Germany against a Soviet threat that no longer exists."

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All Hail the Fatherland! Heil Bushnev! Sieg Heil!
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The Awakening
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Quotes

Government doesn't work. Never did. Never will. Can't. But there are lots of good people. Love them.

-- Bill St. Clair

The Atlanta Declaration

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.

-- L. Neil Smith

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 bear 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 Smith

A Penalty Clause for the Bill of Rights

Any official, appointed or elected, at any level of government, who attempts, through legislative act or other means, to nullify, evade, or avoid the provisions of the first ten amendments to this Constitution, or of the Thirteenth Amendment, shall be summarily removed from office, and, upon conviction, deprived of all pay and benefits including pension, and sentenced to imprisonment for life.

-- L. Neil Smith

Based on 253 journal articles, 99 books, 43 government publications, and some of its own empirical work, the panel couldn't identify a single gun control regulation that reduced violent crime, suicide or accidents.

-- John Lott, commenting on the National Academy of Sciences report on gun control laws.

Who is a libertarian?

Zero Aggression Principle ("Zap")

"A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or to advocate or delegate its initiation. Those who act consistently with this principle are libertarians, whether they realize it or not. Those who fail to act consistently with it are not libertarians, regardless of what they may claim."

-- L. Neil Smith

(Formerly called the "Non-Aggression Principle", or "NAP")

Why Did It Have to be... Guns?

Make no mistake: all politicians -- even those ostensibly on the side of guns and gun ownership -- hate the issue and anyone, like me, who insists on bringing it up. They hate it because it's an X-ray machine. It's a Vulcan mind-meld. It's the ultimate test to which any politician -- or political philosophy -- can be put.

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?

-- L. Neil Smith

Concise

"Tell me," I was once asked, "What do you think about gun control? Give me the short answer." To which I replied, "If you try to take our firearms we will kill you."

-- Mike Vanderboegh

Also from The Atlanta Declaration:

... like going to the bathroom, breathing, eating, sleeping, or making love, it turns out that self-defense is a bodily function one cannot safely or effectively delegate to a second party.

-- L. Neil Smith

This does not mean that "Marijuana should be available by prescription." It means that morphine sulfate should be available in five pound bags at the supermarket for a couple of bucks, like sugar... but probably in a different aisle, to avoid confusion.

-- Vin Suprynowicz

If you refuse to pay unjust taxes, your property will be confiscated. If you attempt to defend your property, you will be arrested. If you resist arrest, you will be clubbed. If you defend yourself against clubbing, you will be shot dead. These procedures are known as the Rule of Law.

-- Edward Abbey

The state can only survive as long as a majority is programmed to believe that theft isn't wrong if it's called taxation or asset forfeiture or eminent domain, that assault and kidnapping isn't wrong if it's called arrest, that mass murder isn't wrong if it's called war.

-- Bill St. Clair