Government By Reaction

Well, yesterdays raids by the Department of Homeland Security managed to net about 1000 people around the nation who may, or may not be "illegal immigrants". They also managed to arrest a number of businessmen and management employees of IFCO Systems in order to extort fine the company up to $11,000 per illegal, plus punitive "damages". This is a prime example of what's wrong with government and with the Bush Administration Executive Branch in particular, (yes, even Clinton used this tactic). Media events to placate the masses and raise the Emperors Presidents Q Score with certain segments like the so-called "Values Voters" and other rank and file Republicrats, will only serve to make a confused situation worse.

With the Presidential Nielsen ratings in the crapper and the changes going on in the White House and new costs in Iraq coming forward something needs to be done to alleviate the Bush free fall. What could be more populist than rounding up illegals and arresting businessmen? The new Empire certainly has a way with Bread and Circuses, eh? Failing to realise that there are no easy answers to this issue is what dooms us to Jerry rigged solutions that only exacerbate the problems associated with immigration, legal or illegal. Populist answers are never the correct answer, no matter how loud the crowd screams.

I watched news footage of this event last night on NBC and was amazed at calmness displayed by the Hispanic workers as they were led away by armed and armoured Homeland Security Forces and placed on buses emblazoned with "HOMELAND SECURITY" on the sides. I find it chilling when the government sends its forces out and starts herding people into transports to drives them away, as one paper put it in their photo caption, "....and it was unclear where they were taken." I doubt I would be calm under the same circumstances given the history of organisations with names like Homeland Security.

I cannot help but wonder what the families of these people are thinking right now. It is certain that not all of them come from Mexico. Some probably come from countries where people who are taken by agents of the state are never seen again, what must they be thinking now? Will they ever see their loved ones again, especially if they are just summarily expelled from this country?

Perhaps the vociferous supporters of "immigration reform" and border sealing will see this as vindication of their stance and give them cause to accelerate their pograms programs. As with most issues ruled by the sentiments of the mob these people have failed to look beyond their emotions and consider cause and effect. The old saying about scaring a small man should always be remembered when you're dealing with a segment of a society that is that smallest man. What happens when you frighten 11 million people who live in a country where the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is sacred?

Some folks were edging away from a boycott on May 1st. What might have resulted in some peaceful protests may now likely be a face off between scared people, scared and outnumbered cops and Homeland Security goons. Needless to say, I will likely be staying close to home that day and hoping that sanity, rather than fear prevails. I will hope that pandering by the Values Voters and other shortsighted people is ignored by more rational elements on all sides and that Mr. Bush someone will come out and put a halt to actions like this.

As usual the armchair warriors refuse to see the myriad possibilities of their actions. Libertarians have long decried any mass roundups of "illegals" in this country, for many reasons, (despite what some nouveau-Libertarians would have us believe). One of these reasons is that, past a certain point you have the potential to throw your country into a state of internal warfare, where 11 million "illegals" versus an apathetic populace and a preoccupied military. Frighten a small man who only wants freedom and a better life and you have a recipe for disaster. Thanks a lot, Mr. Bush Mr. Chertoff. You've always had a real knack for doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. At least you and yours are consistant in your bad timing and incompetence.

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Immigration, Bush, Republican
Libertarian, Politics, News

Who's The Boss?

China is, in all likelyhood. Why else would the United States be keeping innocent Chinese Muslims locked up in the Guatanamo Bay Gulag? The US has known for a long time that these people are innocent and yet they refuse to release them, using excuses such as "There's no other country to take them". Well, here's a clue, comrades. Release them into the USA with just compensation for the segments of their lives you and your fellow tyrants have stolen in the name of your War on Terror.

Holding these people as they have been held looks bad for the US. It looks just like the communist Chinese are being pandered to by our government.

"Several countries have declined to accept the Uighurs for fear of drawing Beijing's ire."

Looks as if the US is one of those countries, eh? Cowardice in the face of adversity is nothing new for the government and bowing to their masters in Beijing seems to be de rigueur these days. It shows just how far we have come as a country when we are going out of our way to avoid angering communists. Combine this with the Supreme Courts refusal to act in accordance with the common decency and it truly shows where we're at as a country.

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China, Guantanamo Bay, Politics
Libertarian, War On Terror


More Pork From A Master Of Pork

Lott, that is...Trent Lott. Seems the good Senator wants to move the coastal railroad at enormous expense to the people who are forced to pay taxes. Who cares? It's just money, right? Not quite.
As some may know, I grew up in Gulfport, Mississippi and have more than a passing familiarity with that stretch of rail. Large portions of it pass through lower income neighbourhoods in the Biloxi and Gulfport area. Areas which have been slated by the powers that be for "renovation" for decades. Most of the people will be forced to make way for the new highway they wish to replace that stretch of rail with will have no recourse but to give in to the inevitable eminent domain seizures that will accompany Mr Lott's plan.

Replacing it with a highway will also result in an unintended consequence. The railway, as it stands now is raised up off the ground for long stretches. On average it is up to 3 feet, I would guess. This railroad track was responsible for blunting the damage that the tidal surge from Katrina wrought in Gulfport and other areas. The damage south of the track was almost total in many, if not most areas. North of that track the tidal surge damage was greatly reduced. Remove that track, replace it with a "scenic highway" and you'll not have that buffer the next time around.

Beyond the fact that this is just a huge waste of money, it is also unnecessary. I once told Trent Lott's son that I became a Libertarian in order to send folks like his dad back to their homes, where they could do no more harm to us. That still stands. As a Mississippian I can state that I am ashamed of Mr. Lott and his pork barrel ways. His constituency needs to send him back to Pascagoula so he can cease robbing the American taxpayers and replace him with someone who doesn't think the taxpayers are something to be squeezed like a lemon.

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Trent Lott, Republican, Mississippi
Hurricane Katrina, Eminent Domain

Have They No Shame?

Apparently not, at least not in the Bush White House, anyway. Having dispatched Condi Rice to drum up support for the impending conflict with Iran she landed in the African country of Equatorial Guinea to meet with their "president". Well, perhaps president isn't the correct word. Dictator, despot, tyrant...all these come to mind and none of them do justice to truth of the matter.

Seems like Condi needed a platform for a condemnation of Iran and its nuclear program, so she took the opportunity during her visit with Teodoro Obiang Nguema, dictator and world class brutality merchant. That sure makes a helluva statement, huh? My primary question is, "Why did she even go?" This is the type of person and government we should be shunning. Perhaps the Bush administration is looking for some political tips? Maybe they need a few death squads for the next "Coalition of the Willing"? Or maybesome poll watchers? Perhaps we're going to "do some business"? Stay tuned, folks.....

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Condoleeza Rice, Bush, Republican
Politics, Libertarian, Africa


On the Indiana Front

8,903 Indiana students have been victimized by Representative Mark Souder and the War on Drugs. Indiana leads the nation in denying financial aid to kids who have been convicted of a drug offence, according to a new story in the Indianapolis Star. Of course, these same laws do not apply to underage drinking, sex or anything else...just drugs. And, as we all know the drugs which make up the majority of these arrests is marijuana. Not heroin, crack, meth or Oxycontin. Most of these kids have been denied access to funding for simple possession of a weed. Way to promote that Republican agenda, Mr. Souder! Hopefully Mike Sylvester and the Allen County LP will field a candidate who can hammer Mr. Souder with this ugly fact and point up his anti-Liberty agenda and the wholesale theft of the futures of 8903 young Hoosiers . While I hold little confidence that they could defeat this man, I do believe that miracles sometimes happen!

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War On Drugs, Indiana, Republican
Libertarian, Mike Sylvester

Separation Of Church And State?

This is a subject I have written on before and touched upon recently in the Liberty Jihad (1, 2, 3 ), but it looks as if the fundamentalist anti-Liberty Jihadists are gearing up for another push in Congress, using their leverage at the ballot boxes in order to advance their theocratic agendas. And, given the numbers of sympathisers in Congress who wish to retain their power it might just come to pass that these people could impose their theocratic will upon this country and its inhabitants using the bludgeon of government.

The Family Research Council, a leader in the anti-Liberty Jihad has issued numerous "fatwas" calling for restrictions on speech, scientific inquiry, freedom of association and are even tackling the current cause de jure, immigration. Their "Values Voters" are being organised to place pressure on legislators, at all levels to pass a number of anti-Liberty bills and to get at Amendments to the Constitution on ballots. An Amendment to "protect marriage", another to ban the burning of an American flag, new limits on abortion and scientific research into stem cells and a foray into the immigration issue, (90% of the respondents in an FRC poll on this issue favour arresting and deporting "illegals". 80% want a wall built along the US border with Mexico).

The fact that the Republican majority in Congress is willing to pander to these people for votes is more than obvious, given that their "leaders" have many times spoken to the "faithful" and promised to promote their agenda. We've seen it in the "faith-based initiatives" from the Bush White House. We see it in political endorsements (or condemnations).

One of the worst aspects of this is that most of these "Values Voters" will vociferously decry the actions of a group like the Taliban and will fail to see the similarities in what they wish to achieve. They pray for the day when this country is run entirely on Judeo-Christian precepts. All the while wrapping themselves in the flag and brandishing a lavishly re-interpreted and rolled up copy of the Constitution, presumably to whack the heathen dogs on the street into submission.

These same folks scream bloody murder when the government intrudes into their sphere and inconveniences them in some manner, (such as taxes) and yet...they will turn around and attempt to use the force of government to impose their will upon everyone else and gladly put out their hands for their own share of faith based tax money. The magnitude of this blind hypocrisy is phenomenal.

At a time when organised religions should be building the walls of seperation higher and stronger, they are climbing into bed en masse with their political masters and shattering any safeguards they may have been accorded by the 1st Amendment. Forgotten is the fact that when you deal with a devil he will extract his due, eventually. It has been painfully evident for decades that the government has broken with the 1st Amendment.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."

And the race to further degrade it is being won by the very churches and religious organisations who wish to be protected by it. When any church, (regardless of religion) must petition the government for recognition as a "legitimate" church or religion, then there is no seperation of church and state. Churches are subservient to the government and exist at the leisure and pleasure of the Powers That Be. Now we get to see something that is almost incestuous in its depravity. Churches who are beholden to the government for their existence are willing to climb into bed with their masters for an epic orgy of anti-Liberty legislation which will do nothing but cement the power of the state over the rights of the individual. Many of these folks once upon a time denounced Communism as evil and yet they seemingly embrace the collectivist mindset with an unrivalled zeal in their rush to dictate morality for everyone else.

If this country, churches and idividual Liberty are to survive then people of good will must cease their attempts to use government to enforce their moral and ethical agenda on the people of this country. The time for you to live your own lives and cease interfering in those of others is here. If these folks, (and there are even a number of "libertarians" amongst them) cannot find it within themselves to resist the impulse to use the force of government in their rush to "Judeo-Christianise" this country then they had best prepare to face the Frankensteinian monster that they will help give life to.
While their zeal is commendable their goals are not, zealotry seldom renders the desired result, especially when government is involved.

So, grab onto your seats folks, in the months leading up to the November elections we are likely to see legislative pandering the likes of which we have never seen, as the overseers in Congress scramble to retain their power! May god/gods/goddess/fsm or whomever watch over us and protect us from his/her/their followers, because Nehemiah Scudder isn't just a fictional character, his spirit lives on.

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Republican, Family Research Council, Christian
Politics, Libertarian, Election 2006