It is all around us, readers, if you know where to look.
Maybe sooner than we think:
"The Winter of the American Despot"
"Karen Kwiatkowski
Lew Rockwell.com
Saturday December 8, 2007
Bush and Cheney and the rest of the Pod people are really starting to sound out of touch. They are crying about the recent National Intelligence Estimate and how wrong it is, how biased its creators, and how mistaken the world would be to believe a word of it.
Too bad they didn’t have this reaction last time we got a long-delayed and highly politicized NIE.
Neoconservatives everywhere are getting eye tics and cocking their heads as if receiving encrypted messages from the mother ship.
In another era, we might relax in such a time of troubles for the crazies in Washington, D.C. We might wish them well, and perhaps offer counseling. But we live in an age where legislation against homegrown terrorism passes the House with a breathtaking lack of regard for the very people the House is supposed to represent and the very Constitution it is supposed to obey. Today, concern about what key actors in Washington may do – to us and to the world – is quite rational.
The serious aspirants to executive power – with the sole exception of Republican Ron Paul – have been franticly reviewing their old speeches to see what they think about this latest NIE. They have been hurriedly consulting their well-paid advisors to find out where they now stand on the issue of attacking Iran sooner, or later.
Most of these politicians, like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, have already decided that an attack of some type on Iran must come, and they seek only a pretext. And pretexts, like Earth Girls, are easy for the philosophical aliens who clean up so nicely in and around the 21st century White House.
Against these lawless immigrants there is no fence, no restraining legislation, and no moral outrage from the heartland. Yet, they are not so difficult to understand. George W. Bush, with his screwy diction and screwier presentation style, his obscene gestures and his self-aggrandizing pseudo-Christianity, is nothing more than the American Big Man.
Those familiar with third-world dictators immediately recognize the portly Dick Cheney, with his own array of obscene gestures and self-aggrandizing adoration of power, his strange and secretive preoccupation with premature withdrawal and his obsession with "big sticks."
A few years ago, Parade Magazine did a nice piece on the world’s ten most horrid dictators. It’s enlightening reading.
Number 1 successfully stifled press freedom, and created a system of torturous prison camps for those he deemed political enemies.
Number 2 has problems in honoring the results of elections, favors militaristic solutions and operates in complete obscurity.
Number 3 monitors communications of all citizens, as a matter of national security.
Number 4 has "killed, tortured and displaced 70,000 people." Only 70,000, you say?
Number 5 "engages in arbitrary arrests and torture."
Number 6 "is in permanent contact with the Almighty" and "can decide to kill without anyone calling him to account and without going to Hell.
Number 7 has been involved in continuing a civil war that has killed 2 million people and uprooted 4 million more. He has been accused of "engineering famine" in regions that oppose him.
Number 8 insists the country’s constitution doesn’t really apply to him.
Number 9 controls the courts.
Number 10 replaced the constitution with one that better suited him.
The Bush-Cheney denial of the strategic and political import of the latest NIE on Iran, and their demand for continued aggressive, pre-emptive wars should surprise no one.
Big Men are not akin to captains of ships, or protectors of flocks. They are motivated not by duty or love, but by the exhilaration of unrestrained and unlimited power. Like a drug, such power is addicting. Like addicts, our leaders and their advisors are out of touch, in denial of truth, and tend to extremism.
The Dick and Dubya Big Man Fantasy Presidency of the United States is dangerous. American tyranny and instability has already frightened the world, and domestic awareness of executive and legislative tyranny is growing each day.
While most of the presidential candidates long only to grab the reins of a monster state from our little Nero and ride into Hell, the average American has begun to roll his eyes in disbelief and derision at the whole scenario of modern non-constitutional government.
I know the average American, like me, is donating a bit of spare change to Ron Paul’s campaign.
I believe the average American, like me, is looking forward to a new year, a change of seasons, and a humane intervention for the hallucinating addicts in Washington.
And I sincerely hope the average American, like me, favors liberty over despotism, and fears neither.
Copyright © Infowars.net All rights reserved.
Printed from: http://infowars.net/articles/december2007/081207Despot.htm"
Here is a great time line you can click on to see how the Bill of Rights has been abrogated:
"Bill of Rights Under Attack: A Timeline"
What did you think of the blog spot name, reader?
I liked it! Because I AGREE!
Nevertheless, corporations are now marketing the fascist state in a most disgusting way:
"Mountain Dew Markets Futuristic Fascist Police Sta..."
"Related
Fahrenheit 451 Revisited (scroll down)
Fahrenheit 451, Aussie style
---
This is an interesting bit of marketing strategy by Mountain Dew where they utilize the concept of a futuristic fascist police state to market their new drink under the moniker of "DewMocracy".
Added: December 04, 2007
Once again, the burden of responsibility to help maintain America's liberty rests upon the shoulders of the men in the pulpits. That should not surprise us, because it has always been this way. Part of what made America great was old-fashioned, tell-it-like-it-is, no-nonsense preaching. Most of what we hear today is a bunch of mealy-mouthed, pussyfooting, ear-tickling, don't-offend-anyone preaching, which has largely contributed to America's current slippery slope into the sewer. But if you thought it could not get any worse, guess again.
A startling television news report from Shreveport, Louisiana has revealed a sinister plot hatched deep inside the diabolical brain cells of the Bush administration to use America's pulpits as promoters of tyranny. That is a strong statement, I know. But it is true.
According to KSLA television in Shreveport, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) intends to use America's preachers to help pave the way for martial law in the event of another terrorist attack upon the United States.
The KSLA report begins, "Could martial law ever become a reality in America? Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that. KSLA 12 has discovered that the clergy would help the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us."
The report continued by saying, "[G]un confiscation is exactly what happened during the state of emergency following Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, along with forced relocation. U.S. Troops also arrived, something far easier to do now, thanks to last year's elimination of the 1878 Posse Comitatus act, which had forbid regular U.S. Army troops from policing on American soil.
"If martial law were enacted here at home, like depicted in the movie, The Siege, easing public fears and quelling dissent would be critical. And that's exactly what the 'Clergy Response Team' helped accomplish in the wake of Katrina."
The report went on to say: "[C]lergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other. 'In a lot of cases, these clergy would already be known in the neighborhoods in which they're helping to diffuse that situation,' assured Sandy Davis. He serves as the director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
"For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13."
Dear Reader, are you getting this?
In order to convince American citizens to surrender their firearms to the government during a time of martial law, DHS is enlisting the assistance of America's pastors. According to the DHS, my job as a church pastor, is to tell my congregation that, according to Romans 13, they must surrender their firearms when the government asks them to do so.
Of course, faithful readers of this column know that I have already addressed the Romans 13 question.
For those who are ignorant of Romans 13, let me address the issue bluntly: According to Romans 13, every citizen is only bound to obey his or her governing official to the degree that the governing official does not violate the duty of the citizen to obey the "higher powers" which, for Americans, are God and the U.S. Constitution. In other words, no Christian can be ordered to disobey God, and no American citizen can be ordered to disobey the U.S. Constitution. Properly understood, Romans 13 teaches that each and every governing official (including the President of the United States and all those under him) must submit to the U.S. Constitution.
Article VI, Paragraph 3 of the U.S. Constitution states, "The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution."
So, what does the Constitution say regarding the disarmament of American citizens? The Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution could not be clearer: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
Did you get that? "[T]he right of the people to keep and bear Arms, SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED." [Emphasis added]
Therefore, any attempt to disarm the American people must be viewed as an act of tyranny and must be resisted.
The right to keep and bear arms is rooted deep in American history. I remind readers that it was the attempted gun confiscation of the colonists' arms, which had been cached at Concord, Massachusetts, that directly precipitated the beginning of America's fight for independence.
America's founders were clear on this subject. Our first President, George Washington, called our firearms "the people's liberty teeth." Our third President and author of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, said, "No free man shall ever be de-barred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain their right to keep and bear arms is as a last resort to protect themselves against tyranny in government."
America's founders spoke unanimously on the subject. Patrick Henry said, "The great object is that every man be armed. Everyone who is able may have a gun." Samuel Adams said, "The said Constitution shall never be construed to authorize Congress to prevent the people of the United States who are peaceable citizens from keeping their own arms."
And what did the Lord Jesus Christ tell His followers on this subject? Jesus said in Luke 11:21, "When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace." Did you see that? Jesus said that in order for a man's goods to be "in peace" it was necessary that he be ARMED. Now, I don't know about you, but I will take the word of Jesus over the word of a DHS official anytime.
Furthermore, Jesus told his disciples in Luke 22:36, "[H]e that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one."
Upon hearing the words of Jesus, Simon Peter responded by saying, "Lord, behold, here are two swords." (vs. 38) That means at least two of Jesus' disciples were armed with swords (the 1st Century equivalent of a modern handgun, something used for personal protection), and Jesus did not rebuke them or ask them to surrender their swords. He merely said, "It is enough."
I realize that after Simon Peter used his sword to cut off the ear of the man as soldiers came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told him to "put up thy sword." But notice, He did not tell him to "give up" his sword; he merely told him it was not time to use it, because it was in the plan and providence of God that Jesus be taken to Pilate, that He might be crucified for our sins.
Don't tell me that the Bible teaches pacifism, because it doesn't. I am a Christian, and I am a pastor. And I agree with Charlton Heston who said that they could have his guns "over my cold, dead hands." If DHS believes that I will ask my congregation to give up their firearms, they are grossly mistaken.
It also needs to be pointed out that, apparently, DHS must already be planning to declare martial law in the United States or else this kind of advanced strategy would not even be necessary. Why would they already be asking pastors to be prepared to request their church members give up their guns if they did not intend to declare martial law?
Now, what every single church-going Christian in America should immediately find out for themselves is, What does my pastor intend to do? Will he ask me to surrender my guns, or not? I highly encourage every reader who currently attends church to ask your pastor this question RIGHT NOW.
Of course, the next question Christians need to ask themselves is, What will I do if my pastor says he would ask me to surrender my guns to the government? I suggest that every church member in America settle this matter right now. And if you discover that your pastor would indeed ask you to surrender your guns (or equivocate by saying he would have to "pray about it") if asked to do so, you should immediately leave that church and find a pastor who believes the Bible and supports the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, if you do not currently own a firearm, you might want to heed the words of Jesus and go buy one.
So, once again, the burden of responsibility to help maintain America's liberty rests upon the shoulders of the men in the pulpits. Will we be preachers of truth or promoters of tyranny?
August 23, 2007
Chuck Baldwin is a talkshow host and pastor. Here is his website.
Copyright © 2007 Chuck Baldwin
| Find this article at: http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig8/baldwin2.html |
Turns out, none of us will be safe. If they would do this to an old woman...
"They threw me down, they hurt me, they searched my..."
"An upset Leentje McDonald describes how police handcuffed and searched her in public, then charged her with assault. She says she was in severe pain from permanent nerve damage in her shoulder.
Tom Allard
December 8, 2007
TWO police officers handcuffed a 64-year-old pensioner, threw her to the ground and then searched inside her bra and underpants on a busy suburban road in the mistaken belief she was a drug dealer.
The ordeal left an ailing Leentje McDonald, of Maroubra, in hospital and severely traumatised. But she did not receive an apology from police. Rather, she has been charged with assaulting an officer.
While it is unusual for a pensioner to be mistaken for a 40-year-old drug dealer, as was the case here, civil libertarians say such aggressive searches, and the charging of people for assault or resisting arrest if no drugs are found, are a common and disturbing feature of modern policing.
In her case, Ms McDonald resisted the intrusive search because longstanding nerve damage in her right shoulder meant she was in excruciating pain when the two police officers handcuffed her during the full body search on Maroubra Road.
"I started screaming, screaming so loud because it was extremely painful. It was so painful I could feel it in my spine. I had a blackout. I thought I was going to die from a heart attack," Ms McDonald told the Herald at her small Department of Housing flat, where she lives alone.
October 18 had began like any other pension day. Ms McDonald went to the shops to buy some ingredients for a "nice dinner" and stepped into the Maroubra Junction Hotel to play the pokies for a few minutes while she waited for her bus.
As she left the hotel, two plainclothes police officers, a man and a woman, approached.
"They said, 'Are you dealing drugs.' I said, 'No, never in my life. I don't even like smoking,' " she said. Ms McDonald says the two officers said they were looking for an Asian woman in her 40s.
"I said, 'You must have a mistaken identity. I have never done this in my life. I'm 64, a grandmother of six, please.' I said, 'You can't search me like this on a busy road. I beg your pardon, no.' "
The police grabbed her bag, finding only her wallet, some bills and two cans of coconut cream. But they were not satisfied. While Maroubra police station was directly across the road, about 20 metres away, the officers moved to handcuff and search her on the street.
"I said, 'Please don't do this, I have a frozen shoulder,' " Ms McDonald said.
In terrible pain, she lashed out, scratching one of the officers. They finished handcuffing her and threw her to the ground.
"They did a full body search. They put their hands inside my bra, inside my pants. I said, 'My God. Why is this happening to me?' Then the officer, she says to me, 'Stand up.' But I couldn't stand up. I was crying. Then they said, 'Put your shoes on.' My handbag was everywhere, my glasses, my coconut cream.
"They had no drugs, no nothing. But they arrested me and put me in the truck. They take me to Maroubra police station. That's just across the road!"
The commotion drew a large crowd of onlookers, intensifying Ms McDonald's humiliation. One witness, Josephine Chen, who worked at a nearby photo studio, said: "Everybody stopped to look.
"She kept screaming 'My shoulder, my shoulder' but the police kept ignoring it. She was struggling to free her arm. She wasn't trying to hit anyone."
In the past 10 years, NSW police have been granted increased powers to search people, culminating in the decision last month of the Premier, Morris Iemma, to extend indefinitely the powers given to police to deal with the aftermath of the Cronulla riots.
These powers mean police need only have a "suspicion" of illegality before they undertake an intrusive body search in an authorised area.
Cameron Murphy, of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, said: "We get hundreds of complaints about this, more than any other issue, particularly when it involves police sniffer dogs at train stations or outside nightclubs.
"If you get upset about what is often a degrading and humiliating experience and they don't find drugs, the police charge you. Some people get what we call the trifecta: disobeying a lawful direction, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer."
A police spokesman from Eastern Beaches command, Chief Inspector David McBeath, would not comment before Ms McDonald's scheduled appearance at Waverley Local Court on December 19.
However, he said police would take into account any comments from the magistrate before determining if any action would be taken against the officers."
If they would do it to an old lady...
When they came for the Jews...
