The insane and somewhat perilous path had opened before me. Long, dark, sultry and addictive like a long draught of cool wine after something much stronger. Lines had become straightened, questions had been answered in retrospect, after long months of self-doubt. Perspective had been granted like water after a long and sere August. It was the end of so many things. It was the beginning of so many more.
People, welcome back to the machine. We’re in the last throes now, and we’re still ignoring it. I’ve not said a word since December, in order to put things right in my life…until I realized that nothing would be right unless I got over the idea that “this too shall pass”.
People, it’s already passed. It passed a good long time ago. What is left is to enjoy who I am, right now, and what is going on in my life, right now.
Not waiting for anything. Not biding my time for something that may or may not happen.
Children, life is here. Now. Live it or get run over by it.
And so, with a fifth of rye, at a 0318 start time, having witnessed the emasculation of the Constitution mutely, reacting with neither voice nor anger, I am here…finally. Here to weigh in, to give my two cents. Here to point out the tragedy of what is happening to YOUR republic right now, as you read this, as I write this, as we just sail through life, assuming that freedom is free, currency is real, and the Government will take care of all of us. People, I’m wound tighter than a drum, probably up later than I have a right to be, and a sight drunker than I oughta be. It ain’t right and it ain’t fair, but it sure as hell is just…because it’s your,
BILE
Volume LIII,Freedom, By God
1) “Since governments exist by the consent of the people in order to protect the rights of the people and promote the public good, governments that fail to do so can be resisted and replaced with new governments.” (Ahhhh. I love opening an argument with John Locke! It’s like coming in to catch the first inning knowing that Nolan Ryan is starting. Swear to God.) Sometime in the past sixty years, and some would argue that this all started much earlier, we came to believe (as do toads in a luke-warm pot) that the Government would solve everything. Now, as I went through high-school poli-sci (which is taught by fuckin’ retards, by the way…all of you contemplating a college degree: don’t take poli-sci to understand what I’m talking about below, take political philosophy. No apologies to those with poli-sci degrees, mind you. Parchment is equal in the eyes of employers, I reckon…) it was brought to my attention that the Great Depression was ended by the reforms of the Roosevelt Administration. Five years later, I was told by my college poli-sci professor that the Great Depression was ended by America’s involvement in World War II. Recently, I’ve heard the Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Bernanke, make similar arguments. Problem here, folks:
It’s Bullshit.
America pulled itself out of the Great Depression by the expansion of the free market economy. Fact: the nation needed infrastructure. Fact: we were not in debt to other nations past the point where we could reasonably repay them. Therefore, the Government of these United States was free to hire free market contractors to build shit. They, in turn, hired laborers to dig ditches, build dams, etc. People, that ain’t a government success story. It’s a success story that highlights the ingenuity of private industry, and the dedication of the common man. Thus, we took stuff, that the Government had (gold), and gave it to those who could build shit for the Government (bridges, roads, dams, electrical grids). It just so happens that, later on, the Government still had gold to provide to people who built tanks, planes, battleships, and rifles after the Japs bombed our asses. Things got better people, not because the Government magically threw money at the problem, but because responsible individuals correctly identified shortfalls in the critical infrastructure of the Republic, and had a willing and eager work force to displace and build those edifices.
Commonalities between now and then: we’re in a war for our survival, the economy’s in the shitter
Differences between now and then: Our currency is not backed by anything other than a glass of scotch and a smile. We’ve migrated our industrial capacity to other nations, or have unionized the local industrial capacity to the point where profit has been rendered an iffy proposition in a competitive marketplace. We’ve sold an astonishing amount of currency to other nations like China. We’re in debt, and it’s getting worse by the day. We can’t pay it back, because the bottom line surpasses the capacity of this nation to make good on the total note. Further, the common unemployed seem be unwilling to displace and do menial work.
And so, in the midst of all of this turmoil, we’ve allowed the Federal Reserve to do as it wishes. Not necessarily former President Bush, not necessarily President Obama. Those two gentlemen will be blamed for this downfall, but it isn’t completely their fault. The game was rigged for both of them. There is a banking cartel, that exists outside of the Constitution, who has issued currency. Think about that for a second, good people. The federal Government, to whom this domesticated society has entrusted itself, has allowed an unelected cartel of banking interests to usurp the Constitutional charter of the Department of the Treasury. This cartel, in turn, has stacked the deck over the past few years to make themselves money at the expense of you and I.
People, you need to wake up and get mad.
Every cent of interest on the debt that the Government is accepting is coming out of your pocket. That money does not belong to the Government, it is yours. Currency is nothing but a promissary note that a bank is told to issue that is based on something of worth (i.e. paper money representing gold that I have deposited in the bank) However, since the end of the gold standard, that money is literally representative of nothing but the sweat coming off of your brow. Further, every time inflation rises, it is an invisible tax (Christ, please remember this!). Here’s why: with currency not being backed by anything other than a smile, the only way to pay off debt, maintain calm, avoid runs on banks, and satisfy the Chinese, is to issue more currency. More currency becomes available, and prices go up. You and I pay more for a given good only because the Federal Reserve has issued more currency, not because the inherent scarcity or plentifulness of that good has changed in any respect. So, the Government does what it wishes, without a vote, without running it through a representative body, and soley because the Federal Reserve Act allows them to print as much currency as they like. If the Government cannot pay for these things, they don’t need to raise taxes on you and I (although they will, and at the drop of a fucking hat.) because all they need to do is just print more money. They pay off whatever silly assed program they want to fund, while you and I pay more and more for the consumer items that we need, independent of any market forces.
Check this out. We all just did our taxes, right? Notice that the “Federal Stimulus” check was taxed? Well guess what? (I’m actually very surprised at the subtlety on this, it is VERY, VERY slick.) We’ll get another stimulus check early this year…I’d guarantee it. And then Congress with a willing President will raise taxes a jot, and that stimulus check will actually end up costing you more next tax season than it was worth when you received it. Is that not the most diabolical thing you’ve ever heard? I’ve been scratching this year to itemize everything that I can, just to cover the fact that the government GAVE me money! Signs and wonders…
If I remember my Freshman U.S. History correctly, we went to war in 1775 against a sovreign power because that power taxed us without any persons representing the colonies involved in the decision to tax the colonies. Correct me if I’m wrong on this point, but it seems to me that we’re back in that same boat. The Federal Reserve is an unelected body, who is levying a tax on all of us, without a Constitutionally mandated entity having a say in any of it. Taxation without representation.
Here’s the scariest part of all of this: We’ve got $20 billion in debt owed to the Chinese. What happens when they ask for us to make good on that debt? What will happen is that all that currency that they have purchased from us, and that we default on, will return to the US… I need not explain what that will do to the international exchange rate, nor what it would do to inflation here in the US. What the Federal Government is doing right now is wrong, they are taxing us by just making more and more and more money, which will pay for their experiments and adventures, without our even being given the courtesy of putting it before a duly elected body. But rather, by an unelected cartel, acting completely and totally unilaterally in your name.
Wake Up. For Chris’sake, wake up.
2) “A ‘living’ Constitution is just the thing that any government would be delighted to have, for whenever the people complain that their Constitution has been violated, the government can trot out its judges to inform the people that they’ve simply mis-understood: the Constitution, you see, has merely evolved with the times.” –Ron Paul
Turning to the reaction of the states to the creeping nanny state: Good news for a change. On the floor of the Texas State House of Representatives is the following issue,
By: Creighton
H.C.R. No. 50
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the
States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and
WHEREAS, The scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and
WHEREAS, Today, in 2009, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and
WHEREAS, Many federal laws are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States of America and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the federal government may not usurp; and
WHEREAS, Section 4, Article IV, of the Constitution says, "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government," and the Ninth Amendment states that "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people"; and
WHEREAS, The United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and
WHEREAS, A number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 81st Legislature of the State of Texas hereby claim sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise
enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That this serve as notice and demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these
Constitutionally delegated powers; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate of the United States Congress, and to all the members of the Texas delegation to the congress with the request that this resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as a memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.
Holy fuckin’ shit, sports fans! A state is in the process of officially putting the Republic of these United States on notice that “we are tired of your shit”, “get out of my box”, and “abide by the fucking rules that we all agreed upon when we signed on the dotted line in 1847”. Stephen F. Austin is smiling somewhere, people, as this type of thing will become more and more common, mark my words. I predict that states such as New Hampshire, Idaho, Alaska, and Montana will soon follow suit.
Contemplate for a moment this little bit of perspective: It has become plain that this sort of declaration is necessary. That’s scary, I reckon. Especially when one considers that the colonists issued similar statements to the British Crown from the early 1760s until the Battle of Lexington, begging…nay, PLEADING for the King to stay this madness. Eventually, the Leviathan in London had taken all that the colonists were willing to give. And now we’re starting the same pattern, here and now. Not 50 years from now (Rainman). It’s happening right now. You could look it up.
Speaking of New Hampshire: They are currently engaged in an internal monkey-shit fight over parts of their state wishing to bow to the “cumpulsory federal legislation” concerning seat-belt laws. From the Wall Street Journal (“In the Land of 'Live Free or Die,' Some Refuse to Buckle Under Pressure”, Jennifer Levitz, 18 March 2009):
“…The Granite State has long been known for its plucky Yankee self-sufficiency -- it was the first colony to declare independence from Great Britain in 1776. Today it is the only state in the nation that doesn't have a law requiring adults to wear seat belts. It has resisted efforts to pass one for 30 years, and has been the proud lone outlier since 1995, when neighboring Maine became the 49th state to buckle. But now, legislators are close to passing a seat-belt law under a push by Democrats who gained control of the state Senate, House and governorship in 2006 for the first time in a hundred years. The Democrats have been boosted in the polls by a wave of migration from other states, including famously liberal Massachusetts, over the past decade.
In a way, New Hampshire only has its success to blame. Many new residents from Massachusetts and other parts of the Northeast came to enjoy a more affordable lifestyle and growing high-tech employment. New Hampshire is the only Northeast state that's experienced significant population growth since 1990, and the University of New Hampshire projects that trend will continue in the next 10 years. The newcomers tend to be more educated, wealthier and more liberal than the natives, says Andrew Smith, a political researcher at the university. Democratic registrations grew by 30%, to 265,000, between 1998 and 2008, while Republican registrations remained stable at 271,000. One newcomer, Robert Mann, moved to Deerfield, N.H., from the Boston area in 2000. The tool-shop owner, who calls the smoking ban a ‘wonderful thing,’ says the ‘Live Free or Die’ motto is ‘a lot of strutting and peacock feathering and loud talk.’ [This man should have his scrotum removed with a rusty fish hook, a length of 25 lb. test, and a three-speed fan set to “low”…]
Rep. Sally Kelly, a Democrat from Chichester, N.H., is the author of the seat-belt legislation. She used to be against mandated buckling but ‘the facts took over,’ she says, noting that in 2007, at least 70% of those who died in traffic accidents in the state weren't wearing seat belts. Rep. Kelly calls the $3.7 million in federal funds the ‘icing on the cake....We could use something a little bit sweet in our New Hampshire economy right now.’
Opponents point to NHTSA figures showing New Hampshire in 2007 had a fatality rate below the national average: 0.96 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, well below the national rate of 1.36 per 100 million. The seat-belt legislation, which calls for a $25 fine for the first violation and a $50 fine for the second, passed one vote of the House, 197-155, three weeks ago, after a hearing in which anti-seat-belters showed up wearing chains, kneepads and crash helmets -- in a jab at the ‘overprotective’ state. The bill needs a second house vote before going to the senate. Sen. Hassan expects passage, but in a ‘battle.’ Opponents include Sen. Robert Letourneau, head of the Senate Transportation Committee and a three-generation New Hampshirite who cruises on his Harley motorcycle without a helmet. New Hampshire has no helmet law, either. In his office, the white-whiskered senator smacked a plastic motorcycle model that started blaring the Steppenwolf song ‘Born to be Wild.’ Then he flipped through a stack of phone messages from constituents who he says are against the seat-belt law. ‘Every day my mailbox is flooded,’ he says. ‘People don't want it. It's an insult to their intelligence, that's what they tell me.’ A gaggle of protesters showed up last week at a meeting of the House Ways and Means Committee, which was looking at the fiscal impact of the seat-belt law before sending it back to the full House. ‘It's a last-ditch effort to stop these people,’ said Jeremy Olson, a 28-year-old Internet technician, who says he wears his seat belt but promises that if the law passes, he'll take it off ‘when police pass and wave to them.’ ’Will you require helmets in cars next?’ a protester shouted to Rep. Kelly, the bill's sponsor.‘No, that's not me! That's not me!’ Rep. Kelly promised, adding: ‘I'm not into helmets!’Inside the meeting, Rep. Jordan Ulery, an opponent of the bill, snorted as Rep. Kelly described how New Hampshire would use the $3.7 million in federal funds. ‘I love that Big Brother wants to tell me how to live,’ he said, punching his fist in the air. He added, ‘New Hampshire is a sovereign state; we can do as we damn well please.’”
Note the statistics from the New Hampshire Transportation Safety Administration. The only state in the Union that has not enacted a law mandating use of seatbelts actually has a lower fatality rate than the average state that has passed such a law. I’m not saying that seat-belt usage is the largest issue facing this nation, but it is indicative of the useless effort, and thousands of dollars worth of fines in every other state that is wasted annually, in the enforcement of this worthless policy. This is, however, the tip of the iceberg.
Again people, wake up and take notice of what has become of your country. Even Jefferson, who violated the Constitution by summarily attaching 1/3rd of the North American continent by fiat with his purchase and annexation of the Louisiana territories, said in 1802 that “written Constitutions may be violated in moments of passion or delusion, yet they furnish a text to which those who are watchful may again rally and recall the people.”
We need to do just that: be watchful, and rally the people to what was given to them by the blood of hundreds of thousands of good men, and true. Further, we need to do it soon. And the vehicle that we should use is the Tenth Amendment.
Ron Paul (the man who should be in office right now…don’t EEEEEEVEN get me started…) said in his Manifesto, The Revolution, that the Tenth Amendment “was a guarantee that the experience Americans endured under the British would not be repeated, and that political decisions would be made by their own local legislatures rather than by a distant central government that would be much more difficult, if not impossible, for them to control.” Well, here we are. We are exactly at the point that the framers wished to avoid. But like Billy Martin in the famous “pine tar incident” with George Brett, we have the rule book to consult in order to get satisfaction. If we are aware of what our Government SHOULD NOT be doing, then we can use the Constitution as it was intended: a document intended to limit the power of ANYONE telling you how to live your life, to limit the ability of the politicians in the DC ivory tower to attempt to govern a people so diverse, but rather allow those on the scene, in each state and municipality to do so.
I’ve never advocated anarchy. I’ve SEEN anarchy, as have many recipients of this have, in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is bloody and pointless. What I am advocating is that all of us become very aware of what is being done in violation of the Constitution, to realize that there IS A BETTER WAY, and to use our quiet voices to draw the attention of others who are as effective as we are and collectively use the two things that we have been given to change things: our votes and our pocketbooks. I challenge you to send this on to those whom you know who are thoughful, conscientious, and effective in their thought and action. We should all strive to know what this candidate or that has done before in his life to lessen the size and intrusiveness of the Government on our daily lives, and vote accordingly. We should all pay attention to those corporations who have managed not to succumb to Union labor and reinforce their success by purchasing their goods and services. If enough of us are aware, talking to one another, and making these sorts of responsible decisions, then we can effect change. If we do as I have done since the beginning of the year, and simply hide our light under a bushel, then we will deserve whatever happens to this Republic. I’m calling myself out here, it ain’t an option, it’s a fucking duty. I implore you, all of you, as free men and women, to know what all of this SHOULD look like, according to the document that set forth this Republic.
Unfortunately, none of this is being reported anywhere. Awareness of what our rights are is at an all time low. Apathy and complacency is absolutely fucking rife. I had an educated and otherwise intelligent friend of mine, in the middle of a screaming argument, say to my face a month ago that “the Constitution is an obsolete document”. People are confident in the Government, fed tripe by the media and by Academia to get us to roll over and accept the usurpation of not only our rights, but our only means of redress. Jefferson also said that “Confidence is everywhere the parent of despotism. Free government is founded in jealousy, and not in confidence…In matters of Power, let no more be heard of confidence in man, but bind him down from mischief by the chains of the Constitution”.
(Caution: Those liberals who are well-read will cite the verbiage in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution, which gives the Federal Government the wherewithal to act for the “general welfare” of the people. Nowhere is “general welfare” specifically delineated, unfortunately. However, James Madison could not have been more clear when he wrote that “If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions.”
“Indefinite Governments” are more commonly known as “Tyrannies”. You could look it up.)
Realizing that there are many out there who will need convincing, I’m here to arm you with the most effective tools to convince these people that the path that we are currently treading is dangerous, slippery, and will end with us all in chains. Therefore, I’d like to link to a few places to go to find alternative views to the tripe being fed to you. A few resources to arm you in your duties here as free men and women against the hosts of the apathetic, ignorant, mis-informed, and complacent.
-To read and pull citations from the founding documents, go here: http://www.consource.org/
-To read the thoughts of Ron Paul, who truly has a very calm and reasoned grasp of what “right should look like” with regards to the size and intrusiveness of the Government, go here and buy his book. Or you can just wait a week for me to finish reading Andy’s copy and come grab it from me at the office.
-To gain an alternative perspective of the various economic systems that are being trotted out as “good”, without backing our currency with gold or silver, and who maintain that government spending is what pulls economies out of depressions, go here. Kick around and pay attention, you’ll learn a ton. I know that I did.
Any who would like to take me to task for anything that appears in the above diatribe is more than free to do so. I welcome the opportunity to use these resources, the Lockean principles, and common sense to convince others that we need to start getting mad.
2) Epilogue. I know this was bereft of the sort of cutting, blatant, and cynical humor that you’ve become accustomed to. That’s simply because I have been sitting here quietly, watching these things go on, and remaining mute. I have a good deal of time on my hands here recently, and so now that I’ve cleared this out of my Bile Duct, I can return my attention to the more mundane, and begin posting vituperative acidity on a much more regular basis. I thank you good people for indulging me in this, and I promise to be back on point in the very near future.
I fall cause I let go
The net below has rot away
So my eyes seek reality
And my fingers seek my veins
The trash fire is warm
But nowhere safe from the storm
And I can't bear to see
What I've let me be
So wicked and worn
So as I write to you
Of what is done and to do
Maybe you'll understand
And won't cry for this man
Cause low man is due
Please forgive me
-Metallica, “Low Man’s Lyric”
Immundus saecula saeculorum,
Uncleanhere
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