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Quote of the Day – Brion McClanahan (7/2/2012)

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In the words of Madison, “Where a majority are united by a common sentiment, and have an opportunity, the rights of the minor party become insecure” – in other words, the founders wanted checks against the tyranny of the majority.  That was why the Founders wanted a republic of separated powers.  While the government was to “be derived from the great body of society, not from an inconsiderable portion or a favored class of it,” the Constitution included a system of indirect appointments, including the Supreme Court, the Electoral College System, and originally, the United States Senate, whose members were appointed by their respective state legislatures.

Brion McClanahan – The Politically Incorrect Guide to The Founding Fathers, pg. 10

[Seriously this book started off fantastically and has so far continue to be more of the same.  I knew I would enjoy it, not just by its title, but by the fact on the first page of chapter one he says,

Please repeat: the United States is not a democracy and was never intended to be a democracy.

The fact we are a republic is one of my personal pet-peeves and I find it nothing more than an expression of ignorance when someone claims we are a democracy.  Further it is disappointing to see further attempts to destroy the checks and balances placed within the system, that exist for the express purpose of protecting the minority, and removing them so that the majority may have their way no matter the cost.

Last week Justice Roberts dealt another blow to checks and balances.  Initially some viewed it as a strategic view and on some level it made sense if you hadn’t really had time to think about it yet.  The more time that passed though the more it just didn’t make sense, but I thought I was maybe just being cynical.  Then today, someone a lot wiser and snarkier said something that illustrated my concern and thoughts weren’t because I was crazy but far from it.

The fact is for the past 225 years, the Supreme Court acted as an extra check for when political powers get out of control.  Now we supposedly are required to suffer the consequences of our political choices?

Why should the few suffer for the choices of the many?  The whole point of our representative form of government was to stop that exact problem from ever happening.  The whole point was that every part would restrain the other, that includes the government restraining the “will of the majority.”

The republic is slowly drifting toward a democracy.  As we all know a democracy is merely two wolves and a sheep getting together to decide who’s for dinner.  Guess who’s the sheep. Where’s the damn gulch? -B]

 

SSCC #360 – Houston

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The officers didn’t see it that way. Shortly after she took up her post, a squad car pulled up to Miss Plummer and an officer grabbed her backpack off her shoulder and began rifling through it.

Then, he handcuffed her and told her she was under arrested for felony obstruction of justice and that she would spent three to five years in jail, at minimum.

So what did this woman do to attract the attention of an officer in such a way to make him so aggravated, quite simple really.

Then, she said, she turned around and wrote ‘Speed Trap!!’ in large letters on a piece of grocery bag to warn oncoming traffic.

Never mess with cops who are generating revenue or otherwise engaging in tax collection penalty collection.  For you see in this day in age, and in all honesty, a penalty is really a tax on something other people disagree with.

Speed, pay an extra tax.  Want to smoke weed, pay an extra tax.  Want to set off explosives, pay an extra tax.  Want a suppressor or SBR, pay and extra tax.  It is possible to continue, however that is unnecessary.  It is well known that the concept of “mens rea” is under attack and the proliferation of victimless crimes.  Each of which could be ruled just the same a penalty tax.

State Sponsored Criminal #360: Officer John Doe

Because a citizen daring to alert her fellow citizens about officers rounding up “sinners” is a bad thing, they can’t let people dare do that, it would cause chaos. 

*I meant for this to go up on Monday but the scheduling failed for what ever reason.

Where did she go?

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Via my buddy The Learned Sergeant.

I miss her, I barely even got to know her and by the time I met her she was already on life support dying.  Bleeding profusely from everyone taking their entitlements, creating their moral wars on nouns, and ultimately dying from an ignorant public who would rather hear fanciful fairy tails than the painful truth.

Today, something very bad happened.  There is some suspicion the decision was done as one would play a game of chess.  There are some ideas of how it could work out, but it is possible to loose a game of chess if you’re not careful.

All I do know is we are no longer, and haven’t been as of recently, the best country on earth.  There is no place I would rather live, it is my home, but she is being gutted.  Government regulation and restriction has proceeded to destroy industry and innovation.  Entitlement programs have proceeded to kill self-motivation and have become nothing more than legalized theft.

All I saw today was something I loved dearly coughing and hemorrhaging blood.  Showing her mortal wound while all of us hope, pray, and plan to find a way that it may not be mortal.  Hoping we can arrest the fall before it’s too late.  Before there is no choice but to find a new frontier.  One where we can find freedom again.

SSCC #355–Minneapolis

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Arrested and beaten for exercising his rights.  I have a feeling that these officers disliked concealed carry and felt a way to go Roid Rage on someone.  The proof in this case is in the fact that he wasn’t charged either.

State Sponsored Criminal #355:

Because if you don’t like that someone is carrying legally, beat them and arrest them.

h/t Uncle.

Can We Start Ridiculing TSA Agents Publicly Yet?

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About a year ago I called for people to start verbally harassing and otherwise making people who work for the TSA ashamed of what they do.  There were a few people who seemed to think that it was a pointless idea and that those people were just doing a hard job.

Here’s my problem with that.  TSA agents blatantly violate and ignore their own rules and regulations, and then you have some agents while violating said rules, they act in a way as to desecrate a deceased loved one.  Then they laugh about what they just did.

“I was told later on that she had no right to even open it, that they could have used other devices, like an X-ray machine. So she opened it up. She used her finger and was sifting through it. And then she accidentally spilled it.”

The agent’s response?

“She didn’t apologize. She started laughing. I was on my hands and knees picking up bone fragments. I couldn’t pick up all, everything that was lost. I mean, there was a long line behind me.”

The TSA website has the following statement regarding their policy on human remains:

 Out of respect to the deceased and their family and friends, under no circumstances will an officer open the container even if the passenger requests this be done. Documentation from the funeral home is not sufficient to carry a crematory container through security and onto a plane without screening.

So I’m sure this particular agent will receive some extra training but that doesn’t excuse her attitude and behavior toward this passenger.  Behavior such as this from TSA agents is not the exception but the norm. There was a recent congressional report for Congressman Marsha Blackburn that detailed only 50 of the numerous crimes since 2005.  Most disturbing of the 50 detailed was the following statistic:

Theft is followed closely by sex crimes and child pornography charges, with 14 such incidents listed in Blackburn’s report. Six TSA employees were charged with possession of child pornography; one of them got caught because he “uploaded explicit pictures of young girls to an Internet site on which he also posted a photograph of himself in his TSA uniform,” the report notes. Eight others were charged variously with child molestation, rape (including child rape), and even running a prostitution ring. It’s not hard to figure out why persons possessing such proclivities would seek jobs where they would be able to ogle and grope other people’s private parts with impunity.

So I again ask, why do people put up with this behavior and not start causing discomfort?  At a minimum you might make them police their own instead of everyone just looking the other way.  Heck, even the legal system is looking the other way and the real reason these individuals are in trouble is they got caught.  That’s why they are given probation for knowingly and willfully committing a crime.  Not just probation, but their record will remain clean without a conviction.   Whereas if you’re unlucky enough to get in an auto wreck from bad weather, you end up with a conviction, even though you intended no malice or harm.  They willfully violate other agency rules and cause damage to medical equipment.  Then after they’ve done the damage they play dumb about it.

Our congressional representatives instead of actually attempting to solve the problem have instead just exempted themselves from the indignities and crimes done by the TSA.  There have been a few instances where the TSA has abused a congress critter but the furor quickly dies out.  Our legal system as shown above is refusing to hold agents accountable for their actions.  For all intents and purposes though government has been shown to be incapable and inept and reining in the monster they created.  So other than hanging agents from trees, running them out on rails, and buckets of tar and feathers what is there left?  What is left to cause agents to either police themselves or leave the corrupt service they have created?

Agents themselves have absolutely no issue disgracing, abusing, and otherwise violating the public which they supposedly serve.  Their job itself is a farce and nothing more that a wasteful joke intended to make those who are sheep feel better.  The batting average of the public at large for stopping terrorist attacks since September 11th is 1000.  The batting average for the TSA since that date is 0.  Sure they’ve lucked out and found items people forgot about, but they have yet to actually find someone who set out with an intent to deceive the system.  They actually fail red team tests on a regular basis.

So given this information, why do the people who actually succeed at stopping terrorist attacks put up with this garbage from a bunch of high school dropouts who are incapable of reading at a 1st grade level?  I think any kid could read that statement from the TSA above and know thou shall not open the urn.

At this point, I want to see a group of passengers start chanting, “Two by two hands of blue”* while others continue to educate the agents on why they’re a bunch of tyrannical tories who deserve no love from their countrymen.

The TSA has created this us vs them environment and the sooner we all realize it already exists the better.  The only argument I have heard against calling these jack booted thugs out as they are was that we could increase the rift.  Well the rift is already pretty damn big, what the hell else do you want?  A hole through the middle of the earth, would that finally be big enough for you to say the time is now?

Personally I think verbal abuse isn’t enough any more, a rail, tar, and feathers I think still might be too nice for most of these folks.  Start off verbally and if they double down on stupid, break out the rail.

*If you don’t get the reference, go watch Firefly… now.  Seriously why are you still here? It’s on Netflix and Hulu and you can watch the whole series and Serenity in a day.

h/t To Uncle on this one.

SSCC #354 – DEA

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The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week that the DEA’s use of force against the 11-year-old and 14-year-old daughters of Thomas and Rosalie Avina–which included putting a gun to the youngest girl’s head–was “excessive,” “unreasonable,” and constituted “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

Given the court ruled that it was excessive, why would I list this as a Sponsored Criminal?   Quite simple really.

Attorneys for the Obama administration defended the raid, and Reason has obtained the brief the DOJ filed to the Ninth Circuit. In it, the Obama administration argues that “the DEA agents’ conduct was plainly reasonable under the circumstances.”

To put the icing on the cake, this also was a wrong door raid.  They attacked law-abiding citizens, violating their rights and committed assault with a deadly weapon.  This is non-negotiable.  I don’t care if the officers claim they thought they were acting in good faith, every officer is responsible for his own actions.

The courts however have stated that you can be shot, threatened, and your rights trampled by officers of the state as long as it wasn’t with malice a forethought.

I find that the odds of me being killed by a law enforcement officer considerably higher than by “illegal” drugs or someone on drugs.  This is a prime example of the cure being worse than the “disease”.  Yet here our government is saying it isn’t worse and that we should all live in terror to continue treating the “disease”.

Doesn’t that just make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

State Sponsored Criminal #354: The DEA

Because a girl sleeping in her own bed means you need to totally fear for your life, including putting a loaded weapon to her head and hand cuffing her.  It’s a totally reasonable action that requires the threat and use of lethal force.*  Eric Holder’s office says so!

*If you point a gun at something that means you’re willing to shoot it.  Period.

Fast and Furious, With Regards to the Cause

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So if you didn’t read it, a couple of months ago I wrote a root cause analysis on the causes and reasons behind Operation Fast and Furious, also known as Operation Gun Walker.

Today Uncle posted a link to an article from CBS that stated the following:

ATF officials didn’t intend to publicly disclose their own role in letting Mexican cartels obtain the weapons, but emails show they discussed using the sales, including sales encouraged by ATF, to justify a new gun regulation called “Demand Letter 3”. That would require some U.S. gun shops to report the sale of multiple rifles or “long guns.” Demand Letter 3 was so named because it would be the third ATF program demanding gun dealers report tracing information.

Think about that long and hard. These individuals broke the law willfully with an intent to create “necessity” for their new violations of the law.  Their new violation of the law was the gun control they wished to implement itself as it is a blatant violation of the Firearm Owners Protection Act.

Many have attempted to vilify the gun shops in this case saying they should have just not sold the weapons.  What these people are refusing to acknowledge is the ATF, through their regulatory power, forced these shops to sell to people the would have otherwise not sold weapons to.

Seriously, go read the CBS article, it’s is yet further evidence that validates my conclusions in the root cause analysis.

To add the icing to the cake though, I am reasonably sure the White House was aware of this program given Obama is now exercising “Executive Privilege” over the material.  I have no doubt this was his “under the radar” efforts at gun control.  As Jennifer said, “no one died when Nixon lied.“

SSCC #353 – ATF

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Rochester police and federal agents made a mistake in Charlotte this week that has one woman baffled and frightened. She wants to know how they could mistake her house for one they were supposed to raid in a drug bust.

Simple really, they don’t hire the best and brightest.  Tyrannical bureaucrats don’t want enforcers who can think, much less read and tell the difference between the address on the warrant and the house they just arrived at.

How close was this almost a fatal screw up for the ATF as well as the home owner?

“My son had heard me arguing with this man and it was not a voice he’d recognize. My son is a hunter, he put a bullet in the chamber of his gun. They heard that, they yelled down long gun, at that point there he told another ATF agent that was with me, handcuff her and take her out,” Dominicos said.

However the real take away is the following:

“I’m still terrified. It’s almost like a P.T.S.D. experience, you keep hearing things. You think oh my God I hear a door slam, I hear someone pulling into my driveway. I see a light it’s like oh my God are they back?”

That’s the point.  Law enforcement and the government want us to live in fear.  Their actions exercise the very definition of the word terrorism.    The best part of the story though is the discrepancy between the home owners story, which is considerably more believable, and the statement released by police.

“Upon encountering an elderly resident, the team realized that they were at the wrong location at that time and left the premises.”

No you did not, you put her in cuffs and took her outside until someone bothered to read the house number and street name and noticed it didn’t match the warrant.

Considering this can happen to anyone, anytime, and quite easily can have dire consequences, why is this considered acceptable?  Especially since unsurprisingly the bad guys pretend to be cops.  At this point it’s better to just let the bullets file and sort it out afterwards.  Maybe if cops would knock first and be civil about it this wouldn’t be a problem.  If you think the screw ups are rare:


View Original Map and Database

Don’t give me the line about how serving a warrant is dangerous because the majority of warrants served are for non-violent offenses.  When the criminal is actually dangerous, they negotiate him to come out to reduce collateral damage.  There is the argument about the destruction of evidence, well if we weren’t serving warrants over victimless crimes involving nouns that wouldn’t be a problem now would it?

Even better though, with the consistently increasing use of SWAT teams in unnecessary circumstances, the number of people caught in the middle who are innocent continues to increase.  You can not use the service more and expect it to also become more accurate about it’s use, if anything it will become less accurate.

No knocks, like the TSA, need to be done away with.  They have both grown since September 11th and it’s eroding and destroying the last semblances of freedom and liberty.  The police state is here and we need to put an end to it.

State Sponsored Criminals 353: The ATF

Because it’s not the job of the swat team to read the warrant or make sure they’re at the right house.  If there’s collateral damage, the law-abiding citizen should have just behaved, he had no reason to defend himself.

via Uncle.