Bill Of Rights Day

That time of year has rolled around once again. Today finds us looking at another Bill of Rights Day. This is a day which should be celebrated, but it won't be. It's a day when we should reflect on our individual liberties, but most will pay it no mind. Only a few of us out here in the aether of the blogosphere will even pay it homage, by mentioning it in a post or raising a glass to it.

It's rather difficult for most to work up the enthusiasm for a celebration of the document which theoretically reins in the powers of the government where our liberties are concerned. This grand old document has seen constant abuse and degradation at the hands of politicians, (both large and small), as well as the robed denizens of the courts. It's a wonder that anyone even deigns to mention it any more. Oh, sure. The press, that chosen class who strive daily in their task to tell us what we should think of certain issues, will occasionally mention their First Amendment Rights and the numerous violations of said right, but then they'll just turn around and call for the one of the other Enumerated Rights to be violated. All in the best interest of their readers, of course. Don't even get them started on the 2nd Amendment, unless you want to see wet panties and hanky wringing.

Today should be celebrated with great fanfare, fireworks and expressions of the very liberties enshrined in the venerable old document. Tonight the talking heads will appear on televisions across the nation and speak of many things. Their newly elected saviour, the economy, redistribution of wealth and myriad other topics. Nary a one will even mention that today is Bill of Rights Day. Well, I guess it's up to the rest of us to haul the weight. We'll mention it. Again and again. Until people are tired of it. Perhaps we'll mention Bill of Rights Enforcement and sound the call, now and again for the highest law of the land to be upheld without doubt or obfuscation, on a daily basis. Shoot, maybe they'd even deign to teach it in the government schools again.

Regardless of all of that, today is a day when we can take a few moments, at least, and honour the memory of those Founders who called for a Bill of Rights and then drafted it. To pay homage to the document itself and the principles it holds forth and to, once again, hold onto it dearly and do our best to see that it is upheld as it was intended to be upheld. As an inviolable shield betwixt the leviathan of government and ourselves. The BoR is not a limit on our Rights, regardless of what the politicians and their judges would have us believe.

Let us today ignore the petty tyrants and their bastard understandings of the truths of the Bill of Rights and hold our own celebrations, private or public. Let us refuse to be cowed by diffidence, ennui and the powers that be and stand proudly. Let us take a few moments of our day and re-read that Bill, refresh our current memory and validate that which we hold to be true. That we are sovereign individuals and we all possess Rights enumerated or not. Let us take a moment to remember that government has no Rights. Only the individual. And, regardless of what you may be told they may not be taken from you. You may only surrender them. Take a moment to reaffirm that you shall never surrender those Rights and will strive to enforce them when, where and how you wish. And, please take a few minutes and read it to your children. They need it just as much as we do, if not more.

Happy Bill of Rights Day.

Update: Needless to say, there are others out there writing on the subject, none quite so well as Mr. Vin Suprynowicz. Take a few minutes and read his writing on the subject. He does a great job, on this as well as many other subjects.

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Bill of Rights Day, Bill of Rights, Libertarian, Liberty

We're Number One!

Outstanding! The US is number one, (in the whole wide world), for firearms ownership, according to a report from the "United Nations".

The United States has 90 guns for every 100 citizens, making it the most heavily armed society in the world, a report released on Tuesday said.

U.S. citizens own 270 million of the world's 875 million known firearms, according to the Small Arms Survey 2007 by the Geneva-based Graduate Institute of International Studies.

About 4.5 million of the 8 million new guns manufactured worldwide each year are purchased in the United States, it said.

Americans must do better than this, tho. Having a handgun is OK, but that's just what you use until you can get to your rifle or shotgun. We currently buy more than half of the small arms produced in the world, and we should be buying lots more, too. Especially the ones which look so mean and nasty that they keep the Chuckie Schumers and Hillary Clinton's of the world awake at night! We can do a lot better than 90 guns per 100 people. It should be a lot higher than that! At least 2-300 per 100!

This is seriously good news and politicians should take notice of these statistics every time it crosses their little Marxist minds to pass another of their gun control measures. For all our firearms we have a much lower crime rate than, oh, say...Great Britain? Facts speak much louder than anti-gun rhetoric.

So, the next time a gun show rolls through town, or a National "Buy A Gun Day" (April 15th) comes due get yourself out and buy a new one. This country needs to be number one at something and firearms ownership is a good thing to be number one at!

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Libertarian, Guns, Liberty

Goodbye, Aaron.

Aaron Russo, a tireless warrior in the battle for freedom and liberty has died. Many of us knew Mr. Russo through his works and his activism. I was never privileged to have met him in person and I am sorry that I didn't. While I didn't agree with some of his views, I certainly agreed with his overall premise. Government is too big, too corrupt and commanding and we are paying the price for that in our liberty.

In a movement that has all too few people who garner national and international attention for the cause, Aaron stood out as few others do. Speaking with great passion and insight to the cause of liberty he stood as a figure of strength, even as his body was ravaged by illness. Mr. Russo has left us, but his legacy remains in his works, such as From Freedom To Fascism and Mad As Hell.

We'll miss you, Aaron and we are lessened by your loss.

Other sites mentioning Mr. Russo's passing.
Homeland Stupidity
Bill St. Claire

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Aaron Russo, Libertarian, Liberty

Somewhere in the mists of bureaucratic time, someone took the decision that new laws which politicians wished to impose upon the public would take effect in the early days of July. These newly imposed laws, which the vast majority of people did not ask, nor wish for take effect a few days before many liberty minded individuals celebrate Independence Day in the US. In this same time period most governmental entities begin their new fiscal year, as well. They begin spending their ill gotten gains and enforcing all the newly passed laws, many of which will add further funds to their coffers. Ironic isn't it?

At a time when we should be celebrating the signing of one of the worlds most radical documents and the statement it once made to this country's former ruler we are busy wondering about all the new laws, rules and regulations which have been imposed upon us by our new rulers. What must we do now? How shall this affect us and our daily lives? Is it a just law? Shall I obey it or need I show courage in the face of tyranny and engage in disobedience to the state?

Many of the laws passed across this nation are ludicrous examples of nanny-state interference in our lives. More have been passed to interfere with our freedom of choice and interrupt the free market. And, a few have been passed to enrich lobbyists, lawyers and corrupt politicians. No state, commonwealth or republic in this country is exempt, including my own.

On this Independence Day people in Indiana will need to remember a few things. Instead of reflecting on the merits of Mr. Jefferson's fine document and the spirit embodied therein, they shall need to remember that the state has mandated that everyone, in all vehicles shall be buckled up. Failure to do so shall invoke the wrath of the law enforcers. Small business owners will have to remember that all of their unskilled labourers are now entitled to a pay raise to make their salaries meet the federal minimum wage laws. Smokers will now have to pay more per pack for their habit in order to fund the Indiana socialised medicine scheme. The Holocaust must be taught in all government school American History classes, (instead of world history, where it belongs). Oh, and lest we forget, all murderers and manslaughterer's must now register as sex criminals. Add in the plethora of other laws concerning other subjects, such as education, and we are inundated with a mind numbing variety of laws that virtually guarantee that we shall all be considered criminals. Ignorance of the law should be an excuse, given the sheer number of them that career politicians choose to impose upon us.

Despite all of this, I shall endeavour to maintain my spirits. I'll shoot off fireworks, regulations be damned. I'll fire up my grill and add a large amount of carbon to the planet's atmosphere. My family will eat fat laden foods and reflect upon the true meaning of the Independence Day and our ancestors who signed that vaunted document at the risk of "life, fortunes and sacred honour". Something no politicians have in any quantity today.

Happy Independence Day, my friends.

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Libertarian, Independence Day, Politics, Declaration of Independence, Liberty