The U.S.A. T.R.A.I.T.O.R. Act
I fired my soft air pistols over the weekend at the little sticky-rubber target I got with the Crosman P99. I'd forgotten how much fun they are. Not as much fun as a real handgun, mind you, but easy to do while watching television or eating a sandwich.
# The Elitist - A Field Guide to Gun Shows - a little entertainment for your Monday morning reading. Hehe. [highroad]
# Charley Hardman - wrap around ya twice - another, more enticing, kind of entertainment. Midnight fantasies about Angelina Jolie, with nice photos. [saltypig]
# The Libertarian Enterprise - Letter from EJ Totty - glorious! [tle]
Well, to tell you the truth, I don't believe that what you would call "America" was ever here to begin with.
There was once an idea, perhaps even a concept. But the realization of either--the "fleshing out" of those? It died in the womb.
America was aborted.
...
How many times have any of us witnessed a government official state--entirely straight-faced-- that what a passage in the Bill of Rights says, doesn't actually mean "that," but in fact means something entirely different?
Or for that matter, how many times have we read about a supremely stupid judge pronouncing that a certain "right" really isn't a right, if the government of the moment doesn't want you to have it?
You and I might debate endlessly, the meanings of certain passages, but in the end we would--I think--arrive at the same conclusions regarding the matter of plain English, and the thoughts conveyed regarding any particular sentence, and/or paragraph.
Plain, and simple English, is just that.
If a thought conveyed by that simple grammatical construction may be pronounced as meaning something else entirely--by a government agent, then it is quite safe to say that no amount of words on a piece of paper will ever be enough to stifle a liar.
#
Jim Duensing at The Libertarian Enterprise -
Freedom to Read - Congress very nearly eliminated one small
section of the U.S.A. T.R.A.I.T.O.R. act, until the nazi leadership
convinced a bunch of Republicans to change their vote. Hang 'em. Hang
'em all. Every one of the traitorous bastards who voted for this
excrement in the first place. And feed their lifeless bodies to the
hogs. Then reserve a place in the lowest level of hell for the
devil's spawn who created this filth. And that's being nice. Can you
tell I'm angry? [tle]
I sent the following, which Ken Holder will likely include in next
week's edition of TLE:
Message-ID: <40FAF29A.8080800@billstclair.com>
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2004 17:58:50 -0400
From: "Bill St. Clair" <bill@billstclair.com>
To: mr-ed@webleyweb.com
Subject: Letter to the Editor of The Libertairan Enterprise
Mr. Ed,
Jim Duensing's article, Freedom to Read, in TLE 280, rekindled my anger about the excrement called the U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act. Remember folks, it's an acronym that has nothing whatsoever to do with patriotism. U.S.A. P.A.T.R.I.O.T stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism". As you probably already know, these tools are not required to fight terrorism (nationwide Vermont carry would work a lot better), but they sure are convenient for squelching dissent. I propose that we never again print this act's given name. Instead call it the "U.S.A. T.R.A.I.T.O.R. Act" or just "The Traitor Act", and let it be known across the land that everyone who was part of creating this filth, everyone who voted for it, and anyone who supports or uses it is a traitor to their country, a traitor who should be tried for treason and, if convicted, hanged.
Bill St. Clair
# Gerald M. Carbone at The Providence Journal - Day 8: The Act that nobody read - (account info at bugmenot.com). A little history of how this excrement passed with only cursory knowledge of its complicated contents on the part of our "representatives" in Congress. Click the "Inside the USA Traitor Act" banner at the top of the page for other articles in the series. [stanleyscoop]
# Claire Wolfe - Buy This Book Before it's Banned - a review of James Bovard's newest offering: The Bush Betrayal.
This book is bound to be banned. It obviously violates several federal statutes. It's rapid-fire, high-capacity, equipped with bayonet-sharp wit, and loaded with politician-piercing ammo.
Never mind that the ammo is merely words. We already know how terrified the Bush administration is of opponents who fire verbs and nouns.
Well, if the Bushfolk worry about the spray & pray innacuracies of a Michael Moore or the small-caliber pops-pops of protest tee-shirt wearers and sign holders, James Bovard has just given the administration real reason to duck and tremble.
...
Often, as I read The Bush Betrayal, I was reminded of another, very different, book, Everyday Stalinism: Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times by Sheila Fitzpatrick.
The more I read, the more I felt Bovard's book - or rather, the Bush administration - was haunted by the ghost of Stalin. Not Stalin in his monstrous manifestation as a master of genocide or paranoid mass murderer of his rivals. But "Uncle Joe," that benenevolent image of the wise leader who will provide for every aspect of the little people's lives - as long as they keep their mouths shut, obey, and never raise any questions.
Uncle Joe was to be loved - no matter what cruelties he inflicted. Uncle Joe could be trusted with everyone's welfare - no matter how poor his policies made them. Uncle Joe could be trusted to run the economy - no matter how distorted the Soviet empire's economic life became. Uncle Joe glorified the power and greatness of his nation - even as he laid the course toward its destruction.
# Kim du Toit - No More The Goat - a story Kim received about a man who was fired form his job, after finishing well an important project, because his boss'es boss saw his "concealed" handgun at a social function. Kim gives some eloquent advice should anything like this happen to you. [kimdutoit]
