Quotes of the Week

From the Light:

"Don't just think outside the box - throw the box away, and don't ever pick up another one."
Unknown author

"Is there any more banal Olympic ritual than the playing of the national anthems? Give the athletes their medals and then talk about the athletes. They’re the ones who deserve the credit. Why shift the focus to a national state’s tacky little folk song?"
Ryan McMaken

From the Darkness:

"The best way to be loyal to your comrades is to continue your work, to raise your head, to be professional."
French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, speaking to soldiers after 10 of their comrades were killed in Afghanistan.

"Ours -- ours is a promise that says government cannot solve all our problems, but what it should do is that which we cannot do for ourselves: protect us from harm and provide every child a decent education; keep our water clean and our toys safe; invest in new schools, and new roads, and science, and technology."

"That's the promise of America, the idea that we are responsible for ourselves, but that we also rise or fall as one nation…"
B. Obama, mushy Marxist for president

Image Review of the Week

Image Review of the Week

Back after a week hiatus........

Time To Draw The Line On Drawing Blood

Police in Texas have been drawing blood from DWI suspects. I discussed this in an earlier post. This recent news story brought up an even more disturbing reality:

“Chief Waybourn said that if a person refuses to give blood, officers will then get a search warrant that gives police the authority to use any "reasonable" force to obtain the blood, including physical restraint”

A search warrant allows the state to “search” your body to obtain requisite bodily fluids? Does anyone see the precedent this pronouncement sets? What other materials inside your body can the state legally procure by way of a search warrant?

• Can they now obtain feces from your colon to determine whether you’ve been eating any banned or unhealthy foods such as transfats or outlawed vitamin supplements?


• Can they now obtain urine directly from your bladder if you refuse to pee in a cup for a drug test?


• Can they now use a search warrant to restrain you (i.e., tie you down) and forcibly obtain eggs from your ovaries or sperm from you testicles to satisfy whatever perverted curiosity the state feels a need to satisfy?


• When the technology allows, will a search warrant allow the state to probe your brain to identify any subversive thoughts or embarrassing memories?

The search warrant appears to be the state’s new magic key to unlock the few remaining barriers the individual has against privacy invasion and physical abuse.

Plop-Plop Goes Fizz-Fizz

State agents may be running out of human targets to tase so have now turned their nasty little weapons toward the animal kingdom. The decision to assault this bird was apparently to keep it from harming itself. Sound familiar? What better way to keep an animal from “harming “ itself than using Electro-Muscular Disruption via an electroshock weapon.

Where are the animal rights supporters? Wouldn’t it be sadly hilarious if they were able to get a state injunction prohibiting further use of this weapon against animals? Yet, it would still be legal to use such

a torture device against the lowly humans?

Wear The Right Colored Belt Or Feel the Crack Of The Whip

The new school year brings with it fresh discovery by state edu-crats in Seagoville, TX- students can only learn when wearing a black or brown belt. The learning process is further inhibited when said belt has holes in it.

It is better that students spend the day locked in the gym than risk being mis-educated by wearing the wrong color or style of belt. After all, school is preparation for living under the thumb of the state. Learning to read and write is secondary to learning how to “follow the rules.”

DVD Reviews

Duck, You Sucker: 1971 spaghetti western released as “Fistful of Dynamite.” A small time Mexican bandit (Rod Steiger) and a banished IRA explosives expert (James Coburn) find themselves heavily involved in the Mexican Revolution. Steiger is hilarious and you’ll witness what must be some of the largest real explosions ever put into a movie.
Recommended

Lorenzo’s Oil: A couple works feverishly to find a cure to their son’s rare and rapidly progressing nerve disease. A true story with superb acting by Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon.
Recommended

Eric Clapton- Live in Hyde Park: 1996 performance in London. Each tour Clapton seems to have a different makeup to his band which helps keeps his music fresh and interesting. Here he has an accompanying harmonica player and superb horn section. A nice variety of tunes from the more pop oriented to sweet ballads and the usual scorching blues numbers.
Recommended

The Furies: 1950 western showcasing some fine acting by Walter Huston and Barbara Stanwyck.
Recommended

Night of Blistering Blues: B.B. King hosts an hour long program with numerous blues and soul legends as guests. It sometimes gets a little crowded on stage but the music stays tight and inspired. No date for the performance is found in the credits but it must be no later than 1987, since the late Paul Butterfield appears.
Recommended

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band- It’s Not Big, It’s Large: A close-up look at recording sessions with Lyle Lovett and his talented band. I don’t think I’ve ever seen musicians so brilliantly complement a great artist as does The Large Band to the masterful songs of Lyle Lovett.
Recommended

Shine a Light: Martin Scorsese directs this filmed performance by the Rolling Stones at the Beacon Theater in New York. There is no lack of energy by these 60+ rockers and it’s pleasurable to watch and listen to musicians totally involved in the joy of making music. Some of the best scenes are at the sound check with Jagger on harmonica and Richards and Wood on acoustic guitar. One scene stuck in my mind is Keith Richards sitting alone, acoustic guitar in hand, and playing a beautiful ditty- all the time oblivious to the surrounding mayhem of show prep with a contented grin on his face. Be sure to also listen to the bonus tracks.
Recommended

Memento: A man suffering from short term memory loss works to find his wife’s murderer. The plot unfolds backwards, time wise, with many surprises and twists that reveal an unthinkable truth.
Recommended

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
"The gospel of Christ is a blessed relief from that sinful state of affairs commonly known as hundred per-cent Americanism. And fortunately some of us were able to learn of the gospel in a freer, more spiritual time, before the state had begun to lay its grip upon the education of the young."
J. Gresham Machen

"If one thinks of himself as an "American" or a "Peruvian" only in the sense of being a resident of a given territory, there is little threat of organized conflict. It is when we identify who we are by reference to nationality – or race, religion, gender, or social status – that problems arise. We have been carefully trained – primarily by government schools – to attach existential significance to our nation-state."
Butler Shaffer

From the Darkness:
"I want to inspire a generation of Americans to serve a cause greater than its self interest."
John McCain, National Socialist candidate for president

"Russia is a state that is unfortunately using the one tool that it has always used whenever it wishes to deliver a message and that's its military power. That's not the way to deal in the 21st century."

Condoleezza Rice. Silver medal winner for hypocrisy

Rogue On The Radio

My latest LRC column, "The Military Lies," was read and discussed by the hosts of "Free Talk Live." Click on the the first triangle on the player's progress bar to jump ahead to this particular discussion.

The State “Fights” Crime With More Regulations

You know state hoodlums are serious when they appoint a “task force.” This is what Dallas City politi-gangsters have done in an effort to counter the huge number of crimes committed at convenience stores.

One recommendation is “establishment of minimum standards for store surveillance camera systems. Local convenience stores would be required to have at least two color, high-resolution cameras set up, along with video storage and recording systems.” I guess criminals will not operate as efficiently knowing that the store is taping them with not one, but two camera! Government’s solution to crime used to be hiring more cops. That didn’t work so the fad now is to install cameras everywhere.

Look at the photo included with this post. Here was a crime caught on camera, in color, with excellent sharpness. Did this prevent the crime from taking place? Hardly. Did it assist investigators is finding the perpetrators. I seriously doubt it. The robbers wear hoods and have their faces covered. I guess a clerk blessed with super-human quickness could grab one of the cameras and throw it at one of the robbers. That certainly would have given him/her more of a chance of preventing this particular crime.

The state is so determined not to allow individuals to protect themselves that they will risk looking stupid and ridiculous to anyone thinking rationally. Criminals are predators. They prey on those weaker than they. They prey on those who don't offer a defense that can counter whatever method of force used by the predator. The only way to prevent and “fight” crime to is offer an equal or superior force against the predator. The most sensible way to do this is to arm clerks with side arms and train them how to use them. More than likely, any predator who notices that his potential prey can adequately resist his aggression and even harm him will have second thoughts about his planned crime. If said criminal lacks this wisdom the armed clerks have the option of sending his ghetto monkey ass to hell.

Go into any gun shop and you will notice that all the employees have side arms on their belts. Ever hear of a gun shop being robbed? You’d have to look far and wide to find one.

The state is always offering some new technological fad to counter crime. The only technological solution to crime is individuals resisting with well aimed projectiles of their own.

I Feel Safer, Now

State gangsters in Navarro County, Texas have busted an “illegal” cockfighting operation for the second time this year. Thank God these crusaders for public decency are watching out for the public interest and the safety of the defenseless public. I’m now sleeping much more soundly.

The state profits nicely in this particular operation. They steal $13,000 in cash from the participants as well as 150 birds to be resold at 100% profit. Notice how the obedient “reporter” uses the state euphemism, “seized” instead of the more accurate, “steals.” A nice touch is ticketing the spectators, bringing in still more revenue to bloat the donut budget.

Since it’s obvious the operators of this business just move their operation after each bust, count on another nearby bust in 6-9 months. And the state will once again implement its revenue shakedown while proudly boasting its “accomplishment.”

Image Review of the Week

Image Review of the Week by Roger Young

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:

“The proper term for politicians is not "leaders," but "rulers." People who tell us what we must do, and what we must not do, and how they will punish us if we disobey, are not leading us, they are ruling us. They are not pointing the way, and suggesting we follow it, but ordering us where to go, how fast, how far, and what it will cost us if we don’t.”
Paul Hein

“With regard to large-scale death and destruction, no person, group, or private organization can even begin to compare to the state, which is easily the greatest instrument of destruction known to man. All nonstate threats to life, liberty, and property appear to be relatively petty, and therefore can be dealt with. Only states can pose truly massive threats, and sooner or later the horrors with which they menace mankind invariably come to pass”
Robert Higgs

From the Darkness:
"The few who understand the system…will either be so interested in its profits or so dependent on its favors that there will be no opposition from that class, while on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending…will bear its burden without complaint."
A communique from the Rothschilds in England to associates in New York regarding the Federal Reserve System


"The world has watched with alarm as Russia invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatened a democratic government elected by its people," Bush said in his weekly radio address. "This act is completely unacceptable to the free nations of the world."
GW Bush, the gold medal winner for hypocrisy.

To Serve and Plunder

A Dallas police officer has been implicated in carrying out a robbery where he had claimed to be a victim. Phony, staged crimes is nothing new for Dallas Police. Several years ago they planted gypsum in victim’s cars and arrested them for possession of cocaine.

This makes you wonder just how much of reported crimes are faked and staged- not only for immediate profit but to increase the crime statistics and thereby state funding. The proposed Dallas budget includes hiring 200 new officers.

The US Government has perfected the technique of creating monsters and enemies to keep the public alarmed and thereby more willing to part with their dollars and their liberties. It could be that local police gangsters are utilizing the same tactic to keep their cherished protection racket flourishing.

Them Chains (and they ain’t the kind you can see)

The “love it or leave it” attitude of devoted militarists and state apologists exposes more than their ignorance but also a dangerous, slavish attitude that will only lead to complete bondage.

US state supporters always counter any exposure of that institution’s crimes by professing that “things are a lot better here than elsewhere in the world” That may very well be true but for how long? Dismissing admitted state injustices and pooh-poohing knowledge of increasing state attacks on individual liberty will move us all closer to the inevitable- enslavement.

An immediate response must be initiated when individual liberties are threatened in any degree by the state. What better time to start resisting than when you still have a moderate amount of freedom to do just that? You have more room to move within the chains that already bind you. The idea is not to wait too long to resist. Hesitation means those ever tightening chains will become so tight as not to allow you the room to maneuver into any kind of resistance. The “boiling frog” analogy comes to mind.

Never hesitate to identify and counter ANY action by the state that threatens ANY degree of liberty. The time to resist is always NOW!

DVD Reviews

The Howlin’ Wolf Story: I personally was not familiar with Howlin’ Wolf’s (Chester Barnett) music, other than mention given to him by contemporaries influenced by his work. He definitely was a man who loved and lived his art, driven by a powerful creative energy. I also was impressed that he didn’t live the self-destructive lifestyle of so many blessed by talent and success. And that voice………yikes.
Recommended

Vantage Point:
Cleverly directed action drama about the overseas assassination of the POTUS. The same 15 or 20 minutes are replayed over and over- but each viewing is from the perspective of a different, key character in the story. This allows for multiple cliff hangers within the film to keep you interested.
Recommended

Michael Palin- New Europe: The latest travel log from Michael Palin. He explores 20 countries, many newly formed, hidden for decades behind the Iron Curtain. Some very beautiful countryside, cities and interesting culture. Considering that these areas of the world were essentially hidden from view from anyone now alive, there’s bound to be something new to be learned by anyone watching this series.
Recommended

911 in Plane Site: More excellent 9/11 detective work- focusing exclusively on the planes used in the attack. Some of the best work I’ve seen exposing the nonsense that a Boeing 757 crashed into the Pentagon. This film brought up another question that I wasn’t even aware of- eye witnesses interviewed within minutes of the crash (including a Fox News reporter) who claim that the NYC planes had no windows.
Recommended

10 Items or Less: A small, independent movie starring Morgan Freeman who plays…….Morgan Freeman doing research for a role in a small, independent movie. Quite funny and charming.
Recommended

Stop-Loss: This drama portrays Iraq War vets dealing with the latest form of military-related servitude- stop loss. The story is sufficiently well done to forgive the phony Texas accents. A couple of impressions- how soldiers are so often played in movies as emotionally immature drunkards (which I’m sure a high percentage are) and the surprise horror shown by proud, flag waving parents when realizing the military and war has turned their children into monsters.
Recommended

Grace is Gone: A film that deals with grief and loss as pertains to the casualties of war. However, the viewpoint here is from a man and his two daughters that lose their wife and mother. Nicely done without getting too mushy.
Recommended

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:
"Young people must be taught to shun the State as their mortal enemy, rather than to embrace it as their redeemer."
William Norman Grigg

"The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. He is not actually happy when free; he is uncomfortable, a bit alarmed, and intolerably lonely. Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty-- and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies."
H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, Feb. 12, 1923

From the Darkness:
"America stands in firm opposition to China's detention of political dissidents, human rights advocates and religious activists. We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly and labor rights — not to antagonize China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential."
GW Bush, the ultimate hypocrite

Image Review of the Week

Image Review of the Week by Roger Young

They’re Coming For Your Children- Literally.

The military is always seeking new technological advantages on the battlefield and they also seem to have that same mission in recruiting. Reports Steve Watson of InfoWars.net:

"In the absence of a military draft the Army has turned to technological propaganda to meet it's recruitment targets."

America’s Army and the Virtual Army Experience look to reach potential recruits much younger than the typical recruiting ages of the late teens. It also may be viewed as an effective method to bypass parental guidance:

"Spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command, Douglas Smith, admits that the game is a recruitment tool stating “parents are less likely to encourage their children to consider military service."

No kidding. Maybe it’s because parents tend have the better interests of the children in mind. After all, their children belong to them.

The state will prey on any emotion to convince you of its worthiness. They prey on the gullibility of young people, minds easily captured by alluring entertainment. They play on your loyalty to family and community to get you to enlist. They then take advantage of your loyalty to soldier colleagues to keep you killing.

Reader Sound-Off

I had some very articulate comments sent to me by readers of "Proud to be A Vietnam Vet?" I thought they were worth sharing:

I am torn between the knowledge that almost all service units have succumbed to Incredibly Advanced Tools, wielded by goom-bahs for the Undeclared Aristocracy and the knowledge that we are hopeless until the average person stops standing in an endless line with hand on heart chanting "We are So SPECIAL therefore were taking it all".

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When one is 18-19 years old, with not a lot of future prospects, the call of the military can be compelling. The Pentagon, the media and the external propaganda (American Legion, public schools, politicians) are excellent devices to convince our children and grandchildren to want to wear a uniform and “be all they can be” (whatever that means). Please don’t blame the victims. As long as the American public keeps paying the taxes and doesn’t revolt, this arrogance will continue.

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The last time that soldiers died defending their nation was the soldiers of the Confederate States of America. Before that, it was the Continental Army in 1776. All the other wars the US has been in have been unconstitutional...or at least stupid.

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We glory in the destruction of others and our own failures. We dare not question what we've been taught to worship. That's where all the "Semper Fi", " Keep'em Flying" and "Love it or Leave It" crap originates.

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When [Jack Kerouac was] asked about why we were involved in the Viet Nam debacle, he answered “To sell jeeps”. Nothing more need be asked or known.

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I think of all the "whys" you presented often. I use the answers to great effect.

One’s Man’s Experience With His Local Rulers

A reader passed on his recent experience with the local land/use property zoning commission. It illustrates the futility of rendering justice from a state that regulates itself:

We started out with "The Pledge". I can't swear fealty to a 3 color piece of cloth and the government so I avoided that part. I would swear to uphold the Constitution, though in my military experiences I really was only following orders to achieve a personal goal.

Any way, last night the county sent a bureaucrat to our township meeting to back up the township's claim to wanting control of the homeowners' property. I mentioned the 14th Amendment and that was poop-pooped by the officials. Then I explained that when I "own" my property but the government controls it, it is defined as fascism. No denial (most of the people don't know what the word means), only, "that's what government has to do.” I asked rhetorically if anyone at the meeting thought their property taxes were too low, directing the question to the township board members and the attending bureaucrat. No one defended the taxes they are paying as too low, all agreed with me that our taxes are too, too high. They still insisted we need more Central Planning. I asked about the collapse of the Soviet Union but no one seemed to understand the relationship between my question and the purpose of our meeting, except the bureaucrat.

The only thing I seem to be accomplishing is an internal agitation that causes me to lose sleep, probably affects my physical and mental health, and irritates some of my neighbors. We are not drifting towards socialism, we are running full speed into it's welcoming arms. Our educational system (for lack of a better word) has done a superb job in just a 100 years. Selfishly, I'm only glad I'm old. I won't have to put up with the BS as long as you youngsters.

Jack Darsnek

An Expatriate's Point of View by Capt. A.

Capt. A. , who lives in Europe, is a regular email correspondent who made a great response to my "The Military Lies" column. I thought it worth sharing with others:

Americans as a whole, inculcated in government-controlled school systems and tribal thought control groups, aren't about to change! I speak not only as a 26-year U.S. naval officer but also as a witness to some very egregious acts I personally witnessed while serving. I loathe and have great disdain not only for the U.S. military but the U.S. government as well. I left the U.S. nearly thirty-years ago to reside in Europe. (Mostly a socialistic hellhole). True, real freedom and liberty are achievable by degrees only in Switzerland, Monaco, Campione, Andorra and a handful of other venues (Very expensive!). The world as a whole is NOT free and I personally don't ever see people choosing such. Having traveled worldwide and witnessed first-hand, I see very little hope for the "iron fist" of governments to ever allow real freedom, liberty, private property rights and privacy to gain way. The yoke of subjugation is so real that the only real dilemma is how far an individual will wrap themselves in the blanket of "denial" to survive. Hypocrisy unfettered is patently available to all people who toil in patriotic flim-flam and government confidence games, and soon relegating personal responsibility to the dust bin.

You will continue to lose your "freedom and liberty" only now at an even greater rate. If you have children they too will be increasingly damned to live in America, a country that NEVER was truly free from its inception. Only "smart" people will seek out and defend their individual sovereignty. The rest will bask in government provided hell - that only non-thinking slaves could and will endure. I pity the poor bastards! C'est la guerre...

You are in the hands of the philistines, living in America. You already know this. So as Karl Mauldin used to say, "What will you do ... what WILL you do?"

And therein lays the real truth. Take care of yourself and the ones you care for -- and about.

The Military Lies

Published today at LewRockwell.com:

Not exactly a bold, controversial statement, right? Even the most ardent supporter will agree that the military lies during its day-to-day mission of "defending" the country, in part to confuse the enemy de jour. But the far greater deceit lies in justifying the reasons for this organization’s mere existence.

My recent piece asked honest, logical questions disputing certain rationalizations pertaining to the military. The response from readers was overwhelmingly positive and the vast majority of those respondents were veterans! Among the small minority of dissenters, only a few made polite, thoughtful rebuttals. Not surprisingly, their arguments failed to convince me. However, their points did cause me to realize that the military’s claim of "defending my freedom" was not only untrue but an impossible task for the military to accomplish.

Military supporters certainly claim the organization "protects my freedom." Does the military make identical, documented claims? The Army sees itself as "protecting America’s freedoms at home and abroad, securing our homeland, and defending democracy worldwide." The Soldier’s Creed for the Army and Army National Guard claims "I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life."

The Airmen’s Creed for members of the Air Force maintains themselves to be a "Guardian of Freedom and Justice."

The Creed of a United States Marine seems more about a love affair with their rifle (their rifle is human?) than a claim of protecting anyone’s freedom. However, one of their numerous websites does explain the motto, "Semper Fidelis" and how "this phrase defines the honesty and dedication of the Marines for their work of protecting the U.S.A." The Marine’s recruiting literature also mentions their search for "men and women to join their organization who are ready to fight for their country and protect their people."

The Sailor’s Creed, for those in the Navy, remembers "those who have gone before me to defend freedom and democracy around the world."

And let’s not forget the US Coast Guard whose stated mission includes "protecting" the public and boasts of it role in the Homeland Security apparatus.

Although their defense claims are rather broad, I think it can be accurately stated that the military professes to protect my person and my freedom. But is this reality?

Lie #1: The military protects your freedom.

Imagine that I have a conversation concerning this assertion with a member of the military or a supporter:

Militarist: "The military protects your freedom from those who would take it."

Me: "I disagree. More and more of my freedoms are disappearing through actions initiated by the government that claims to represent me." [Numerous examples are given including illegal assaults by state and federal law enforcement, denial of habeas corpus, spying on American citizens, being searched without warrant or probable cause at airports, etc.]"

Militarist: "I stay very well informed on such matters and I agree – many areas of the government have overstepped their constitutional authority and damaged or taken some of your freedoms. However, the military did not take those illegal actions. Other areas of the government did."

Me: "Agreed. But earlier you claimed, unequivocally, that the military protects my freedom. You have agreed with my assertion that my freedoms are quickly disappearing. Therefore I can conclude that the military, despite their claims to the contrary, is not protecting my freedom. The military may not have the authority to counter other rogue elements of the government that threaten my freedom, but that fact is irrelevant. What is relevant is the fact that my freedom is not being protected and you claim the military is protecting my freedom. I’m not so much upset that the military can‘t (through legal restrictions) defend my freedom as I am that they claim they do protect my freedom. When the military claims to protect my freedom they do so without listing any qualifiers or exceptions. Therefore, the military and its supporters are promoting a lie."

Lie #2: The military protects and defends the US Constitution

Again, imagine that I have a conversation concerning this assertion with a member of the military or a supporter:

Militarist: "The military protects and defends the US Constitution in obedience to its member’s pledge to defend it "against all enemies, foreign and domestic."

Me: "I disagree. Many areas of the government have damaged, taken, and continue to threaten my liberties guaranteed under the US Constitution. You have previously agreed to this claim. But the military makes no effort to protect or rectify these abuses. It cannot do so because it lacks the legal authority to interfere in the activities of other areas of the government. Yet, the military claims it does protect the US Constitution and therefore protects the individuals safeguarded by that document. Clearly, as these examples prove, the military does not and can not. The military is telling a lie."

"In addition, the military continues to execute acts of war against other states without the declaration of war required for such action by Article I, Section 8 of the US Constitution. By doing so, the military actively participates in an illegal, unconstitutional action. How can the military be defending the Constitution at the same time it is actively violating it? The military may be excused for not having the authority to question or refuse participation in such illegal actions. It is, in effect, impotent. But by not having this authority to refuse participation it is clearly unable to take steps that would stop such an action. The military claims to defend the Constitution without offering any qualifiers or exceptions. Therefore, this unequivocal, categorical claim is a lie."

"To top it off, members of the US military swear an oath to defend the Constitution "from all enemies, foreign and domestic." They obviously violate this oath for the reasons stated above. Strict Constitutionalists may consider this offense "treasonous." More importantly, this fact exposes one of the weaknesses of such a document. Members of the US military swear an oath to defend a rule of law (the US Constitution) even though they don’t have the Constitutional authority (in many cases) to defend it! How bizarre is that?"

Conclusion

The military does not and cannot, protect my freedom. It is in fact a threat to my freedom by protecting or ignoring those "domestic enemies" from which they claim to protect me. It is a threat to my freedom by claiming it protects me when it does not even have the authority to defend me from the most immediate threats; those of the "domestic" variety originating from numerous areas of the federal government. The military is a threat to my freedom by protecting and defending that very entity that is the greatest danger to my safety and freedom – the United States Federal Government and the regime that controls it. There is no "foreign" threat that can equal it, particularly since so many perceived foreign threats wind up being manufactured. Personally, I have more faith in the protection offered by two large oceans than a trillion dollar/year "defense" agency that can’t protect its own building.

To some, my analysis may be viewed as nit picking. But I refuse to apologize for demanding accountability from an organization that fraudulently claims to provide a service while pointing a gun to my head forcing me to finance it.

Why don’t the military and its supporters revise their claim to, "The military "tries to protect your freedom?" Such a statement might actually be grounded in honesty, though no more convincing than the original claim. Or how about, "The military protects your freedom when it is legally allowed to do so?" Somehow, that statement just does not have the sound-bite simplicity necessary to excite supporters, reassure the masses and continue the deception.

Knowing that the military and its supporters can be proud of failure (despite any valid excuses), they should have no problem taking pride in the fact that they "tried." However, if they have tried and still failed, how does that benefit me?

And please, cease and desist the strident demands that I be "grateful."

It's All About Revenge

The widow of an Irving, TX policeman, shot and killed by a burglary suspect, is asking other officers to attend the murderer’s execution. And she’s asking them to make sure to wear their uniforms! I can assume she feels this show of gang force will make some kind of impression on the condemned and anyone else paying attention to the execution. The obligatory reference to “closure” is made indicating the state-sponsored murder of a murderer somehow brings psychological and emotional relief to friends and family of the victim. There’s a word for this type of action. It’s called revenge.

What about the Christian spirit of forgiveness? Why the demand of revenge, particularly from those who would never themselves actively carry out such an act? But they see nothing wrong with the state doing their dirty work for them.

Since the policy of the US justice system is based on retribution rather than restitution, victims may able be to argue that there is no other avenue to pursue closure than outright revenge. And this is considered a civilized system of justice?

Meanwhile, an Ohio policeman is found innocent of murder while executing the useless War On Some Drugs.

Quotes of the Week

From the Light:

“A generation that barely discerns between Bambi and actual rutting deer can’t be expected to distinguish charisma from substance.”
Garry Reed, describing Obama’s youthful supporterss

"The truth is that the State must hide not only its wars but all of its activities. It hides its inflation. It hides the effects of its taxation and its protectionism. It fears anyone who draws the cause-and-effect connection between its activities and their deleterious consequences for the rest of us. It is the most destructive force in our world. Because that truth is so momentous, the State does everything possible to hide the smallest drop of blood."

Lew Rockwell

From the Darkness:

"Iraq and Afghanistan remain the central fronts in the struggle, but we cannot lose sight of the implications of fighting a long-term, episodic, multi-front, and multi-dimensional conflict more complex and diverse than the Cold War confrontation with communism."
Defense Secretary Robert Gates

Image Review of the Week

Image Review of the Week by Roger Young

Monsters and money, walls and warriors.