This date in history: November 20, 1861

Flags of "the Orphan Brigade"

Kentucky Ordinance of Secession

Whereas, the Federal Constitution, which created the Government of the United States, was declared by the framers thereof to be the supreme law of the land, and was intended to limit and did expressly limit the powers of said Government to certain general specified purposes, and did expressly reserve to the States and people all other powers whatever, and the President and Congress have treated this supreme law of the Union with contempt and usurped to themselves the power to interfere with the rights and liberties of the States and the people against the expressed provisions of the Constitution, and have thus substituted for the highest forms of national liberty and constitutional government a central despotism founded upon the ignorant prejudices of the masses of Northern society, and instead of giving protection with the Constitution to the people of fifteen States of this Union have turned loose upon them the unrestrained and raging passions of mobs and fanatics, and because we now seek to hold our liberties, our property, our homes, and our families under the protection of the reserved powers of the States, have blockaded our ports, invaded our soil, and waged war upon our people for the purpose of subjugating us to their will; and


Whereas, our honor and our duty to posterity demand that we shall not relinquish our own liberty and shall not abandon the right of our descendants and the world to the inestimable blessings of constitutional government: Therefore,


Be it ordained, That we do hereby forever sever our connection with the Government of the United States, and in the name of the people we do hereby declare Kentucky to be a free and independent State, clothed with all power to fix her own destiny and to secure her own rights and liberties.
And whereas, the majority of the Legislature of Kentucky have violated their most solemn pledges made before the election, and deceived and betrayed the people; have abandoned the position of neutrality assumed by themselves and the people, and invited into the State the organized armies of Lincoln; have abdicated the Government in favor of a military despotism which they have placed around themselves, but cannot control, and have abandoned the duty of shielding the citizen with their protection; have thrown upon our people and the State the horrors and ravages of war, instead of attempting to preserve the peace, and have voted men and money for the war waged by the North for the destruction of our constitutional rights; have violated the expressed words of the constitution by borrowing five millions of money for the support of the war without a vote of the people; have permitted the arrest and imprisonment of our citizens, and transferred the constitutional prerogatives of the Executive to a military commission of partisans; have seen the writ of habeus corpus susupended without an effort for its preservation, and permitted our people to be driven in exile from their homes; have subjected our property to confiscation and our persons to confinement in the penitentiary as felons, because we may choose to take part in a cause for civil liberty and constitutional government against a sectional majority waging war agasint the people and institutions of fifteen independent States of the old Federal Union, and have done all these things deliberately against the warnings and vetoes of the Governor and the solemn remonstrances of the minority in the Senate and House of Representatives: Therefore,


Be it further ordained, That the unconstitutional edicts of a factious majority of a Legislature thus false to their pledges, their honor, and their interests are not law, and that such a government is unworthy of the support of a brave and free people, and that we do therefore declare that the people are thereby absolved from all allegiance to said government, and that they have a right to establish any government which to them may seem best adapted to the preservation of their rights and liberties.


Note:  references are to Constitutional violations, abrogations of the Oath in their own Legislature, and their own Natural Rights being violated.  This is what motivated the private soldier of the Confederacy.

Quote of the day 11/20

For the uninitiated, the pigs are the political class of the animals after a Revolution against a human farmer who treated them in an evil manner, and the whole story is an allegory of the Russian revolution of 1917 (idealism is perverted into totalitarianism).

"No question, now, what had happened to the faces of the pigs. The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

-George Orwell, the conclusion of Animal Farm

Assume the position, Sheeple

Nobody likes having their Fourth Amendment [rights] violated going through a security line, but the truth of the matter is, we're gonna have to do it. 

     — Mo McGowan, former Director of TSA Security Operations


...from a Fox news interview.  Re-read that quote.  He just admitted that the TSA searches are a violation of your 4th Amendment rights.


Read this great post from The Gates of Vienna.


Ba'aaah,  ba'aaah...

All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others...

TSA to 'streamline' pilots' security screening

The Transportation Security Administration is taking "additional steps to streamline security screening for U.S. air carrier pilots," TSA Administrator John Pistole announced Friday.

--this just in from CNN

Revolution, simple and elegant

"We don't pick up weapons to kill people, to start the revolution... the revolution is really easy to do nowadays. What is the system? The system revolves around the banks. It's based on the power of the banks... so it must be destroyed starting with the banks."


He's right, the banks are one of the legs of the stool on which the Oligarchs sit.


A cool idea from French icon Eric Cantona, former great of Manchester United in the 1990's, now an actor...


More here.

Is the EU coming apart?

"If Ireland is not sorted out—which at this point is in fact highly likely—then the Euro-bond market might well crash in the near-term, bring down not just Irish debt, but Portuguese, Spanish and Italian debt as well. Maybe evenFrench debt. And that would be curtains for the Eurozone—maybe even the European Union."


Read more here

Quote of the day 11/19

Federal vs. National;  Which are we in these United States?

"It is federal, because it is the government of States united in a political union, in contradistinction to a government of individuals, that is, by what is usually called, a social compact. To express it more concisely, it is federal and not national because it is the government of a community of States, and not the government of a single State or Nation.


                                                                     -John C. Calhoun"

Comment:  What was once a federal government of states was twisted and made into the tool of a monied oligarchy.  The War Between the States established "Federal" Government supremacy at the point of a gun.  What was a federation or confederacy of individual states was forced to become a Nation.  Nowadays we say "the" United States instead of "these" United States.


Those of us who are Unreconstructed never accepted this injustice.  We remain conscious that we live under a system that ultimately will force submission at the point of a gun.


Indeed, whether or not it was expressed so by the common soldiery of the Confederate States Army, the principle of  a Voluntary Union of independent States as established by the Articles of Confederation and the United States Constitution is precisely why most of the men fought (and fought tooth and nail to their bitter end).  


If a free individual or State voluntarily joins a group, it can voluntarily leave that same group.  The United States was founded on the principle of Secession from Great Britain.  That voluntary union never obligated each state indefinitely to remain in that union.


If we are to save the Constitution, we must collectively remember and reestablish the right of the States to choose their own direction.  


This will cause hardship, as those individuals who find that they cannot accept certain principle laws of a state will then have to "vote with their feet" and move to another state that is acceptable to them.  


As it stands today in the USSA, with the 14th amendment and the imposition of rules from nine justices in Washington DC on each community in the nation, we have no such option.

Texas Rangers ride again!

To combat the cartels, the Texas Department of Public Safety is launching a counterinsurgency.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/18/americas-war-texas-mounts-counterinsurgency-effort/

Federal authorities have failed in their charge to protect international boundaries.  Texas rightly steps forward to protect its people.  Maybe now it'll be done right.  Militia could serve a similar purpose.

The Pathology of Power

"The Federal Reserve is an example not just of run-of-the-mill hubris but of the far more profound Pathology of Power. The rule of law has been supplanted in the U.S. by self-serving propaganda campaigns serving State and financial Elites: this is the Pathology of Power."
http://www.oftwominds.com/blognov10/pathology-of-power11-10.html

Quote of the day 11/18

Pray for intestinal fortitude, work hard, and keep the faith. Oh, and pray for good luck, you're gonna need it.

Jerry Reed

Quote of the day 11/17

"General" I remarked, "How is it that you can keep so cool and appear so utterly insensible to danger in such a storm of shell and bullets as rained about you when your hand was hit?" 

He instantly became grave and reverential in his manner, and answered, in a low tone of great earnestness: 

"Captain, my religious belief teaches me to feel as safe in battle as in bed. God has fixed the time for my death. I do not concern myself about that, but to be always ready, no matter when it may overtake me." He added, after a pause, looking me full in the face: "That is the way all men should live, and then all would be equally brave" 

Lt. General Thomas Jackson speaking to then Captain John D. Imboden

How would you like a 6.5% national sales tax on top of your state sales tax?

"Confirming once again that the clueless government would rather risk a populist backlash than actually cutting costs (recall that federal worker compensation has surged in the past 5 years), it appears that the long-stirring debate over a value added tax may be about to materialize into something tangible."
Proposal courtesy of a former Federal Reserve vice Chairwoman, now working for Obama:

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/65-vat-coming

Witness the ever worsening cannibalization of the American tax payer...

Libertarians lead the way. 2002 incident with Penn of Penn and Teller...

FLASHBACK: PENN JILLETTE CALLS COPS ON GROPING TSA AGENT
11/13/02


Penn Jillette

Last Thursday I was flying to LA on the Midnight flight. I went through security my usual sour stuff. I beeped, of course, and was shuttled to the "toss-em" line. A security guy came over. I assumed the position. I had a button up shirt on that was untucked. He reached around while he was behind me and grabbed around my front pocket. I guess he was going for my flashlight, but the area could have loosely been called "crotch." I said, "You have to ask me before you touch me or it's assault."

He said, "Once you cross that line, I can do whatever I want."

I said that wasn't true. I say that I have the option of saying no and not flying. He said, "Are you going to let me search you, or do I just throw you out?"

I said, "Finish up, and then call the police please."

When he was finished with my shoes, he said, "Okay, you can go."

I said, "I'd like to see your supervisor and I'd like LVPD to come here as well. I was assaulted by you."

He said, "You're free to go, there's no problem."

I said, "I have a problem, please send someone over."

They sent a guy over and I said that I'd like to register a complaint. I insisted on his name and badge number. I filled it out with my name. The supervisor, I think trying to intimidate me, asked for my license, and I gave it to him happily as he wrote down information. I kept saying, "Please get the police," and they kept saying, "You're free to go, we don't need the police." I insisted and they got a higher up, female, supervisor. I was polite, cold, and a little funny. "Anyone is welcome to grab my crotch, I don't require dinner and a movie, just ask me. Is that asking too much? You wanna grab my crotch, please ask. Does that seem like a crazy person to you?" I had about 4 of them standing around. Finally Metro PD shows up. It's really interesting. First of all, the cop is a BIG P&T fan and that ain't hurting. Second, I get the vibe that he is WAY sick of these federal leather-sniffers. He has that vibe that real cops have toward renta-cops. This is working WAY to my advantage, so I play it.

The supervisor says to the cop, 'He's free to go. We have no problem, you don't have to be here." Which shows me that the Feds are afraid of local. This is really cool. She says, "We have no trouble and he doesn't want to miss his flight."

I say, "I can take an early morning flight or a private jet. " The cop says, "If I have a citizen who is saying he was assaulted, you can't just send me away."

I tell the cop the story, in a very funny way. The cop, the voice of sanity says, "What's wrong with you people? You can't just grab a guy's crank without his permission." I tell him that my genitals weren't grabbed and the cop says, "I don't care, you can't do that to people. That's assault and battery in my book."

The supervisor says that they'll take care of the security guy. The cop says, "I'm not leaving until Penn tells me to. Now do you want to fill out all the paper work and show up in court, because I'll be right there beside you."

The supervisor says it's an internal matter, and they'll take care of it. "If you want to pursue this, we're going to have to go through the electronic evidence."

I say, "You mean videotape? Yeah, go get it."

She says, "Well, it'll take a long time, and you don't want to miss your flight. We have no problem with you, you're free to go."

The cop says, "Your guy grabbed his crank. That ain't right."

So, I fill out all the paper work and insist on a number to call to register a complaint. She says that I filled out a complaint, and I say, "I want more, give me another number. " She gives me a number that I find out later has been disconnected. I leave. I have a card with the name and number on it and the bad 800 number for the FAA.

My flight is way delayed, so I go to Burger King with Glenn - and all the feds are now off duty and at BK and sneering at us.

The next day the woman in charge of public relations calls me to "do anything to make my McCarran experience more enjoyable." I was a little under the weather with allergies and busy, so I didn't call back until yesterday.

It took some phone tag, but I finally got the woman on the phone. I was very cool and sweet. I explained the problem. "Do you allow your crotch to be grabbed without being asked?" I didn't exaggerate, I said that there was nothing sexual, I wasn't hurt, and it wasn't my genitals. I just said it was wrong. She said "Well, your feedback is really important because most people are afraid of us." She said, "I'd love to meet you so we could clear this up, and everyone wants to meet a celebrity." She said she had watched the videotape and there was no sound, but she saw him reach around. She said she couldn't tell me what was being done to him but . . . and I stopped her and said, she shouldn't do anything wrong.

I said that I had talked to two lawyers and they said it was really a weird case because no one knows if he can be charged with assault and battery while working in that job. But I told her, that some of my lawyer friends really wanted to find out. She said, "Well, we're very new to this job . . ." and I said, "Yeah, so we need these test cases to find out where you stand."

She said, "Well, you know a LOT about this." I said, "Well, it's not really the right word, but freedom is kind of a hobby with me, and I have disposable income that I'll spend to find out how to get people more of it."

She said, "Well, the airport is very important to all of our incomes and we don't want bad press. It'll hurt everyone, but you have to do what you think is right. But, if you give me your itinerary every time you fly, I'll be at the airport with you and we can make sure it's very pleasant for you."

I have no idea what this means, does it mean that they have a special area where all the friskers are topless showgirls, "We have nothing to hide, do you?" I have no idea. She pushes me for the next time I'm flying. I tell her I'm flying to Chicago around 2 on Sunday, if she wants to get that security guy there to sneer at me. She says, she'll be there, and it'll be very easy for me. I have no idea what this means.

I tell her that I'm still thinking about pressing charges, and I don't just care about me, it's freedom in general. I say the only thing that was good about it, was that while they were dealing with me, maybe they weren't beating up people in wheelchairs. It was amazing. All she was trying to do was make me happy. She said she'd burned a CD ROM of my video and it was being sent all around and they were going to change their training. She said, "We're federal employees, we're working for you, you pay us and we want customer satisfaction. It doesn't matter what the law is, we have to make you very happy so your flying experience is a pleasurable one, and most people don't give us this kind of intelligent feedback."

So, that was it. I'm flying on Sunday, I have no idea what will happen. How crazy is this? Do I really have some sort of mysterious VIP status to shut me up? Should I press charges? She said she was going to talk to the cop. I said he didn't see anything. She said, "Well, he may be able to see the forest for the trees, because he was right there." I quoted his "crank" comment and she laughed and then knew that was a very bad sign. I said, "He'll tell you I was polite, cold, angry, and funny" - that's more than should be expected of me. I still don't know what I'm going to do, but my advice to everyone is complain all you can and call the cops. I think it might make a little difference. Maybe you can become a VIP too.

Penn

The Tea Party and "banning earmarks"

From today's LewRockwell.com:

Is the Ban on Earmarks a Bait and Switch?

Posted by James Ostrowski on November 16, 2010 07:45 AM

The war against earmarks is fun to watch. The newbies in the tea party movement are so excited they discovered the war against big government two years ago that they fail to realize it’s been going on for decades, even centuries. God forbid they listen to the folks who have been in the trenches for years. They apparently think that by banning earmarks, they will end pork barrel spending. No, they will, as Ron Paul has pointed out many times, simply allow the President to pick the pork projects. Of course, Congress will still be involved in this selection process but now there will be no record of it. It will all be done on a wink and a nod behind closed doors.

To believe this is a real reform, you have to believe that Mitch McConnell is a real reformer, a real man of principle. Quick, name one thing this man has reformed. How are we better off because he was in the Senate? We know there are many men dead today because he slammed anyone who urged withdrawal of troops as, in effect, cowards. All the while, he was urging Bush to do just that for the sacred cause of getting big government Republicans re-elected.

Finally, banning earmarks is a procedural reform, not a substantive change. If you think that big government can be made to work by changing how it operates, you just might be a liberal. It’s always amusing to see self-described conseravtives fighting to make big government work better.

If you want to cut spending, just cut spending. Don’t get embroiled in an arcane debate about the procedures for specifying how appropriated money is to be spent.

The way to eliminate pork is to get the federal government out of the infrastructure business, out of the economic development business and out of the research business. That would be a real change and that’s why it won’t happen while jokers like McConnell are in charge.

And don’t forget to abolish HUD now.

Hey Rand Paul!

Welcome to the Party, pal!

The Lincoln cult "jumps the shark"

Enjoy.

Quote of the day 11/16

Truth crushed to the earth is truth still and like a seed will rise again.

                                      Jefferson Davis

Western NC anyone?

Freedom Watch with the Judge on Fox Business

Now every day at 8 pm.  Fire up the DVR's and TiVo's:  Fox Business Channel

Liberty is on the march.

A strict constitutionalist and Austro libertarian now has his own show every night in prime time.  I never thought I'd see that on an MSM network...

Lew Rockwell, Ron Paul, and friends are in high cotton...thank the Lord.

Abolish the TSA!

From a blogger at Forbes magazine.  The guy is also faculty at Mises Institute in Auburn AL.

Quote of the day

I love the Union and the Constitution, but I would rather leave the Union with the Constitution than remain in the Union without it.


--Jefferson Davis

We the People are Sovereign, not the government. Be ready to Act.

We are responsible for our own destiny, and the direction of our country.  We may be too few at present to make a difference, I don't know.  

I know I feel I must keep trying to reach out to others who are willing to listen to reason, to share what I know and what I have experienced in my life.  In these blogposts I try to link to relevant current affairs stories, relevant historical vignettes, and relevant references in literature.

Some of you that read this have literally taken the Oath to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.  Some readers may have only heard of the Oath.  If you've taken the oath, remember what it said, and what it means to you.

When the oath refers to "enemies, foreign and domestic...", sometimes you may have to go out on a limb to decide who is an enemy and who is not, and your life and the lives of those you love may hang in the balance:

"Dagny walked straight toward the guard who stood at the door of "Project F." Her steps sounded purposeful, even and open, ringing in the silence of the path among the trees. She raised her head to a ray of moonlight, to let him recognize her face. "Let me in," she said.

"No admittance," he answered in the voice of a robot. "By order of Dr. Ferris."

"I am here by order of Mr. Thompson."

"Huh? … I … I don't know about that."

"I do."

"I mean, Dr. Ferris hasn't told me … ma'am."

"I am telling you."

"But I'm not supposed to take any orders from anyone excepting Dr. Ferris."

"Do you wish to disobey Mr. Thompson?"

“Oh, no, ma'am! But … but if Dr. Ferris said to let nobody in, that means nobody—" He added uncertainly and pleadingly, "—doesn't it?"

"Do you know that I am Dagny Taggart and that you've seen my pictures in the papers with Mr. Thompson and all the top leaders of the country?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Then decide whether you wish to disobey their orders."

"Oh, no, ma'am! I don't!"

"Then let me in."

"But I can't disobey Dr. Ferris, either!"

"Then choose."

"But I can't choose, ma'am! Who am I to choose?"

"You'll have to."

"Look," he said hastily, pulling a key from his pocket and turning to the door, "I'll ask the chief. He—"

"No," she said.

Some quality in the tone of her voice made him whirl back to her: she was holding a gun pointed levelly at his heart.

"Listen carefully," she said. "Either you let me in or I shoot you. You may try to shoot me first, if you can. You have that choice—and no other. Now decide."

His mouth fell open and the key dropped from his hand.

"Get out of my way," she said.

He shook his head frantically, pressing his back against the door. "Oh Christ, ma'am!" he gulped in the whine of a desperate plea. "I can’t shoot at you, seeing as you come from Mr. Thompson! And I can't let you in against the word of Dr. Ferris! What am I to do? I'm only a little fellow! I'm only obeying orders! It's not up to me!"

"It's your life," she said.

"If you let me ask the chief, he'll tell me, he'll—"

"I won't let you ask anyone."

"But how do I know that you really have an order from Mr. Thompson?"

"You don't. Maybe I haven't. Maybe I'm acting on my own—and you'll be punished for obeying me. Maybe I have—and you'll be thrown in jail for disobeying. Maybe Dr. Ferris and Mr. Thompson agree about this. Maybe they don't—and you have to defy one or the other. These are the things you have to decide. There is no one to ask, no one to call, no one to tell you. You will have to decide them yourself."

"But I can't decide! Why me?"

"Because it's your body that's barring my way."

"But I can't decide! I'm not supposed to decide!"

"I'll count to three," she said. "Then I'll shoot."

"Wait! Wait! I haven't said yes or no!" he cried, cringing tighter against the door, as if immobility of mind and body were his best protection.

"One—" she counted; she could see his eyes staring at her in terror—"Two—" she could see that the gun held less terror for him than the alternative she offered—"Three."

Calmly and impersonally, she, who would have hesitated to fire at an animal, pulled the trigger and fired straight at the heart of a man who had wanted to exist without the responsibility of consciousness."

                                                           --Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand, 1957 

If you are current or former military or law enforcement, you have to think about what the oath means to you, and figure out what red lines you wont cross.

If you are a civilian, and never taken the oath, but believe in the concept of the oath, affirm it to yourself and determine to act according to your beliefs.

Think of this as a training session for your mind.  Military training is done so that when a real event starts to unfold, the soldier's response is instinctual and automatic.  


When events in this country make it plain that people who believe in limited servant government, individual and State sovereignty, and Natural Rights are finally ready to act to restore their rights, you don't want to waste time trying to figure out where you stand on an issue.  You will need to act.