lewrockwell--2020-09-09--Mile Markers of Tyranny: Losing Our Freedoms on the Road From 9/11 to COVID-19

You can map the nearly 20-year journey from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic by the freedoms we ’ ve lost along the way .
The road we have been traveling has been littered with the wreckage of our once-vaunted liberties , especially those enshrined in the Fourth Amendment .
The assaults on our freedoms that began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act laid the groundwork for the eradication of every vital constitutional safeguard against government overreach , corruption and abuse .
The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns , mask mandates , surveillance , snitch lines @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for engaging in risky behavior , and veiled threats of forced vaccinations has merely provided the architects of the American police state with an opportunity to flex their muscles .
Rise of the Warrior Co ... Radley Balko Best Price : $ 3.56 Buy New $ 10.95 These have become mile markers on the road to tyranny .
Free speech , the right to protest , the right to challenge government wrongdoing , due process , a presumption of innocence , the right to self-defense , accountability and transparency in government , privacy @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bodily integrity , representative government : all of these and more have become casualties in the government ’ s ongoing war on the American people .
In the process , the American people have been treated like enemy combatants , to be spied on , tracked , scanned , frisked , searched , subjected to all manner of intrusions , intimidated , invaded , raided , manhandled , censored , silenced , shot at , locked up , denied due process , and killed .
What the past 20 years have proven is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ threat to our individual and collective freedoms and national security than any terrorist , foreign threat or pandemic .
In allowing ourselves to be distracted by terror drills , foreign wars , color-coded warnings , partisan politics , pandemic scares , and other carefully constructed exercises in propaganda , sleight of hand , and obfuscation , we failed to recognize that the U.S. government—the government that was supposed to be a “ government of the people , by the people , for the people ” —has become the enemy of the people .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ so corrupt , greedy , power-hungry and tyrannical over the course of the past 240-plus years that our constitutional republic has since given way to an idiocracy , and representative government has given way to a kleptocracy ( a government ruled by thieves ) and a kakistocracy ( a government run by unprincipled career politicians , corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens ) .
Although the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution—was adopted as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government tyranny , in America today , the government does whatever it wants , freedom be damned .
“ We the people ” have been terrorized , traumatized , and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties .
Losing Freedom : Social ... Blue , Linden Best Price : $ 21.00 Buy New $ 11.90 The bogeyman ’ s names and faces have changed over time ( terrorism , the war on drugs , illegal immigration , a viral pandemic ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ same : in the so-called name of national security , the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at , undermined , eroded , whittled down , and generally discarded with the support of Congress , the White House , and the courts .
What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago .
Sadly , most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights .
Here is what it means to live under the Constitution , post-9/11 and in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind , assemble and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government .
It also protects the freedom of the media , as well as the right to worship and pray without interference .
In other words , Americans should not be silenced by the government .
To the founders , all of America was a free speech zone .
Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment , the freedoms described therein are under constant assault .
Increasingly , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ bogus “ contempt of cop ” charges such as “ disrupting the peace ” or “ resisting arrest ” for daring to film police officers engaged in harassment or abusive practices .
Journalists are being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers .
States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices .
Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless .
Protesters are being tear-gassed , beaten , arrested and forced into “ free speech zones.
” And under the guise of “ government speech @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a government forum .
The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “ the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
” Essentially , this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government .
Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right , Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against SWAT team raids and government agents armed to the teeth with military weapons better @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , this amendment has been rendered null and void .
A Government of Wolves ... John W. Whitehead Best Price : $ 2.06 Buy New $ 10.42 The Third Amendment reinforces the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the military by prohibiting the military from entering any citizen ’ s home without “ the consent of the owner.
” With the police increasingly training like the military , acting like the military , and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams , military weapons , assault vehicles , etc.—it is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ founders feared most—a standing army on American soil .
The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or invading you , unless they have some evidence that you ’ re up to something criminal .
In other words , the Fourth Amendment ensures privacy and bodily integrity .
Unfortunately , the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism , as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors .
The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem .
These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty , and government authorities can not deprive you of your life , your liberty or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge .
However , in the new suspect society in which we live , where surveillance is the norm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Certainly , if the government can arbitrarily freeze , seize or lay claim to your property ( money , land or possessions ) under government asset forfeiture schemes , you have no true rights .
The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial .
Yet when the populace has no idea of what ’ s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ coming to realize , the power of the jury to nullify the government ’ s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not to be underestimated .
Jury nullification reminds the government that “ we the people ” retain the power to ultimately determine what laws are just .
The Forgotten Man : A N ... Shlaes , Amity Best Price : $ 1.22 Buy New $ 7.00 The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the Supreme Court ’ s determination that what constitutes “ cruel and unusual ” should be dependent on the “ evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society ” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether .
The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people .
Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “ important government interest ” in doing so .
As for the Tenth Amendment ’ s reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution , that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local , state and national entities has long since been rendered @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , power elite—the president , Congress and the courts .
If there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost , it is simply this : our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government ’ s powers could be expanded .
Mind you , by “ government , ” I ’ m not referring to the highly partisan , two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats .
Rather , I ’ m referring to the Deep State—the corporatized , militarized , entrenched bureaucracy that has set itself @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is unaffected by elections , unaltered by populist movements , and staffed by unelected officials who are , in essence , running the country and calling the shots in Washington DC , no matter who sits in the White House .
This is a government that , in conjunction with its corporate partners , views the citizenry as consumers and bits of data to be bought , sold and traded .
This is a government that spies on and treats its citizens as if they have no right to privacy , especially in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government that is laying the groundwork to weaponize the public ’ s biomedical data as a convenient means by which to penalize certain “ unacceptable ” social behaviors .
Great Society : A New H ... Shlaes , Amity Buy New $ 17.99 This is a government that subjects its people to scans , searches , pat downs and other indignities by the TSA and VIPR raids on so-called “ soft ” targets like shopping malls and bus depots by black-clad , Darth Vader look-alikes .
This is a government that uses fusion @ @ @ @ @ @ @ efforts of federal , state and local law enforcement , to track the citizenry ’ s movements , record their conversations , and catalogue their transactions .
This is a government whose wall-to-wall surveillance has given rise to a suspect society in which the burden of proof has been reversed such that Americans are now assumed guilty until or unless they can prove their innocence .
This is a government that treats its people like second-class citizens who have no rights , and is working overtime to stigmatize and dehumanize any and all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s plans for this country .
This is a government that uses free speech zones , roving bubble zones and trespass laws to silence , censor and marginalize Americans and restrict their First Amendment right to speak truth to power .
The kinds of speech the government considers dangerous enough to red flag and subject to censorship , surveillance , investigation , prosecution and outright elimination include : hate speech , bullying speech , intolerant speech , conspiratorial speech , treasonous speech , threatening speech , incendiary speech , inflammatory speech , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ speech , left-wing speech , extremist speech , politically incorrect speech , etc .
This is a government that adopts laws that criminalize Americans for otherwise lawful activities such as holding religious studies at home , growing vegetables in their yard , and collecting rainwater .
This is a government that persists in renewing the National Defense Authorization Act ( NDAA ) , which allows the president and the military to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely .
This is a government that saddled us with the Patriot Act , which opened the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and intrusions on our privacy .
This is a government that , in direct opposition to the dire warnings of those who founded our country , has allowed the Department of Homeland Security ( DHS ) to establish a standing army by way of programs that transfer surplus military hardware to local and state police .
Battlefield America : T ... John W. Whitehead Best Price : $ 10.95 Buy New $ 18.80 This is a government that has militarized American ’ s domestic police , equipping them with military weapons such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines ; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment ; and hundreds of silencers , armored cars and aircraft , ” in addition to armored vehicles , sound cannons and the like .
This is a government that has provided cover to police when they shoot and kill unarmed individuals just for standing a certain way , or moving a certain way , or holding something—anything—that police could misinterpret to be a gun , or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officer ’ s mind that has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to their safety .
This is a government that has allowed private corporations to get rich at taxpayer expense by locking people up in private prisons for non-violent crimes , while providing Corporate America with a source of cheap labor .
This is a government that has created a Constitution-free zone within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States , paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people ’ s homes , intimately probe their bodies , and rifle through their belongings , all without a warrant .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ ( 2/3 of the U.S. population , 197.4 million people ) now live within that 100-mile-deep , Constitution-free zone .
This is a government that treats public school students as if they were prison inmates , enforcing zero tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior , failing to teach them their rights under the Constitution , and indoctrinating them with teaching that emphasizes rote memorization and test-taking over learning , synthesizing and critical thinking .
This is a government that is operating in the negative on every front : it ’ s spending far @ @ @ @ @ @ @ takes from the American taxpayers ) and it is borrowing heavily ( from foreign governments and Social Security ) to keep the government operating and keep funding its endless wars abroad .
Meanwhile , the nation ’ s sorely neglected infrastructure—railroads , water pipelines , ports , dams , bridges , airports and roads—is rapidly deteriorating .
This is a government whose gun violence—inflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams , militarized police , and bureaucratic government agents trained to shoot first and ask questions later—poses a greater threat to the safety @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mass shooter .
There are now reportedly more bureaucratic ( non-military ) government agents armed with high-tech , deadly weapons than U.S. Marines .
This is a government that has allowed the presidency to become a dictatorship operating above and beyond the law , regardless of which party is in power .
This is a government that treats dissidents , whistleblowers and freedom fighters as enemies of the state .
This is a government—a warring empire—that forces its taxpayers to pay for wars abroad that serve no other purpose except to expand the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ This is a government that has in recent decades unleashed untold horrors upon the world—including its own citizenry—in the name of global conquest , the acquisition of greater wealth , scientific experimentation , and technological advances , all packaged in the guise of the greater good .
This is a government that allows its agents to break laws with immunity while average Americans get the book thrown at them .
This is a government that speaks in a language of force .
What is this language of force ?
Militarized police .
Riot @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Armored vehicles .
Mass arrests .
Pepper spray .
Tear gas .
Batons .
Strip searches .
Surveillance cameras .
Kevlar vests .
Drones .
Lethal weapons .
Less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force .
Rubber bullets .
Water cannons .
Stun grenades .
Arrests of journalists .
Crowd control tactics .
Intimidation tactics .
Brutality .
Contempt of cop charges .
This is a government that justifies all manner of government tyranny and power grabs in the so-called name of national security , national crises and national emergencies .
This is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with one of this country ’ s most profitable exports being weapons .
Indeed , the United States , the world ’ s largest exporter of arms , has been selling violence to the world in order to prop up the military industrial complex and maintain its endless wars abroad .
This is a government that is consumed with squeezing every last penny out of the population and seemingly unconcerned if essential freedoms are trampled in the process .
This is a government that believes it has the authority to search , seize @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , probe , pat down , taser , and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation , the Constitution be damned .
In sum , this is a government that routinely undermines the Constitution and rides roughshod over the rights of the citizenry .
This is not a government that believes in , let alone upholds , freedom .
So where does that leave us ?
As always , the first step begins with “ we the people.
” Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the behest of its citizens .
It is there to protect , defend and even enhance our freedoms , not violate them .
Our power as a citizenry comes from our ability to agree and stand united on certain freedom principles that should be non-negotiable .
It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words : “ We the people.
” In other words , we have the power to make and break the government .
We are the masters and they are the servants .
We the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ guardians of America ’ s welfare , defense , liberty , laws and prosperity .
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America : The War on the American People , we have managed to keep the wolf at bay so far .
Barely .
Our national priorities need to be re-prioritized .
For instance , some argue that we need to make America great again .
I , for one , would prefer to make America free again .
The Best of John W. Whitehead

“No one ever seizes power with the intention of relinquishing it. Power is not a means; it is an end.”—George Orwell
You can map the nearly 20-year journey from the 9/11 attacks to the COVID-19 pandemic by the freedoms we’ve lost along the way.
The road we have been traveling has been littered with the wreckage of our once-vaunted liberties, especially those enshrined in the Fourth Amendment.
The assaults on our freedoms that began with the post-9/11 passage of the USA Patriot Act laid the groundwork for the eradication of every vital constitutional safeguard against government overreach, corruption and abuse.
The COVID-19 pandemic with its lockdowns, mask mandates, surveillance, snitch lines for Americans to report their fellow citizens for engaging in risky behavior, and veiled threats of forced vaccinations has merely provided the architects of the American police state with an opportunity to flex their muscles. Rise of the Warrior Co... Radley Balko Best Price: $3.56 Buy New $10.95 (as of 05:55 UTC - Details)
These have become mile markers on the road to tyranny.
Free speech, the right to protest, the right to challenge government wrongdoing, due process, a presumption of innocence, the right to self-defense, accountability and transparency in government, privacy, press, sovereignty, assembly, bodily integrity, representative government: all of these and more have become casualties in the government’s ongoing war on the American people. In the process, the American people have been treated like enemy combatants, to be spied on, tracked, scanned, frisked, searched, subjected to all manner of intrusions, intimidated, invaded, raided, manhandled, censored, silenced, shot at, locked up, denied due process, and killed.
What the past 20 years have proven is that the U.S. government poses a greater threat to our individual and collective freedoms and national security than any terrorist, foreign threat or pandemic.
In allowing ourselves to be distracted by terror drills, foreign wars, color-coded warnings, partisan politics, pandemic scares, and other carefully constructed exercises in propaganda, sleight of hand, and obfuscation, we failed to recognize that the U.S. government—the government that was supposed to be a “government of the people, by the people, for the people”—has become the enemy of the people.
Indeed, the U.S. government has grown so corrupt, greedy, power-hungry and tyrannical over the course of the past 240-plus years that our constitutional republic has since given way to an idiocracy, and representative government has given way to a kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves) and a kakistocracy (a government run by unprincipled career politicians, corporations and thieves that panders to the worst vices in our nature and has little regard for the rights of American citizens).
Although the Bill of Rights—the first ten amendments to the Constitution—was adopted as a means of protecting the people against government tyranny, in America today, the government does whatever it wants, freedom be damned.
“We the people” have been terrorized, traumatized, and tricked into a semi-permanent state of compliance by a government that cares nothing for our lives or our liberties. Losing Freedom: Social... Blue, Linden Best Price: $21.00 Buy New $11.90 (as of 02:23 UTC - Details)
The bogeyman’s names and faces have changed over time (terrorism, the war on drugs, illegal immigration, a viral pandemic), but the end result remains the same: in the so-called name of national security, the Constitution has been steadily chipped away at, undermined, eroded, whittled down, and generally discarded with the support of Congress, the White House, and the courts.
What we are left with today is but a shadow of the robust document adopted more than two centuries ago. Sadly, most of the damage has been inflicted upon the Bill of Rights.
Here is what it means to live under the Constitution, post-9/11 and in the midst of a COVID-19 pandemic.
The First Amendment is supposed to protect the freedom to speak your mind, assemble and protest nonviolently without being bridled by the government. It also protects the freedom of the media, as well as the right to worship and pray without interference. In other words, Americans should not be silenced by the government. To the founders, all of America was a free speech zone.
Despite the clear protections found in the First Amendment, the freedoms described therein are under constant assault. Increasingly, Americans are being arrested and charged with bogus “contempt of cop” charges such as “disrupting the peace” or “resisting arrest” for daring to film police officers engaged in harassment or abusive practices. Journalists are being prosecuted for reporting on whistleblowers. States are passing legislation to muzzle reporting on cruel and abusive corporate practices. Religious ministries are being fined for attempting to feed and house the homeless. Protesters are being tear-gassed, beaten, arrested and forced into “free speech zones.” And under the guise of “government speech,” the courts have reasoned that the government can discriminate freely against any First Amendment activity that takes place within a government forum.
The Second Amendment was intended to guarantee “the right of the people to keep and bear arms.” Essentially, this amendment was intended to give the citizenry the means to resist tyrannical government. Yet while gun ownership has been recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court as an individual citizen right, Americans remain powerless to defend themselves against SWAT team raids and government agents armed to the teeth with military weapons better suited to the battlefield. As such, this amendment has been rendered null and void.
A Government of Wolves... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $2.06 Buy New $10.42 (as of 01:25 UTC - Details) The Third Amendment reinforces the principle that civilian-elected officials are superior to the military by prohibiting the military from entering any citizen’s home without “the consent of the owner.” With the police increasingly training like the military, acting like the military, and posing as military forces—complete with heavily armed SWAT teams, military weapons, assault vehicles, etc.—it is clear that we now have what the founders feared most—a standing army on American soil.
The Fourth Amendment prohibits government agents from conducting surveillance on you or touching you or invading you, unless they have some evidence that you’re up to something criminal. In other words, the Fourth Amendment ensures privacy and bodily integrity. Unfortunately, the Fourth Amendment has suffered the greatest damage in recent years and has been all but eviscerated by an unwarranted expansion of police powers that include strip searches and even anal and vaginal searches of citizens, surveillance (corporate and otherwise) and intrusions justified in the name of fighting terrorism, as well as the outsourcing of otherwise illegal activities to private contractors.
The Fifth Amendment and the Sixth Amendment work in tandem. These amendments supposedly ensure that you are innocent until proven guilty, and government authorities cannot deprive you of your life, your liberty or your property without the right to an attorney and a fair trial before a civilian judge. However, in the new suspect society in which we live, where surveillance is the norm, these fundamental principles have been upended. Certainly, if the government can arbitrarily freeze, seize or lay claim to your property (money, land or possessions) under government asset forfeiture schemes, you have no true rights.
The Seventh Amendment guarantees citizens the right to a jury trial. Yet when the populace has no idea of what’s in the Constitution—civic education has virtually disappeared from most school curriculums—that inevitably translates to an ignorant jury incapable of distinguishing justice and the law from their own preconceived notions and fears. However, as a growing number of citizens are coming to realize, the power of the jury to nullify the government’s actions—and thereby help balance the scales of justice—is not to be underestimated. Jury nullification reminds the government that “we the people” retain the power to ultimately determine what laws are just.
The Forgotten Man: A N... Shlaes, Amity Best Price: $1.22 Buy New $7.00 (as of 05:55 UTC - Details) The Eighth Amendment is similar to the Sixth in that it is supposed to protect the rights of the accused and forbid the use of cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Supreme Court’s determination that what constitutes “cruel and unusual” should be dependent on the “evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society” leaves us with little protection in the face of a society lacking in morals altogether.
The Ninth Amendment provides that other rights not enumerated in the Constitution are nonetheless retained by the people. Popular sovereignty—the belief that the power to govern flows upward from the people rather than downward from the rulers—is clearly evident in this amendment. However, it has since been turned on its head by a centralized federal government that sees itself as supreme and which continues to pass more and more laws that restrict our freedoms under the pretext that it has an “important government interest” in doing so.
As for the Tenth Amendment’s reminder that the people and the states retain every authority that is not otherwise mentioned in the Constitution, that assurance of a system of government in which power is divided among local, state and national entities has long since been rendered moot by the centralized Washington, DC, power elite—the president, Congress and the courts.
If there is any sense to be made from this recitation of freedoms lost, it is simply this: our individual freedoms have been eviscerated so that the government’s powers could be expanded.
Mind you, by “government,” I’m not referring to the highly partisan, two-party bureaucracy of the Republicans and Democrats. Rather, I’m referring to the Deep State—the corporatized, militarized, entrenched bureaucracy that has set itself beyond the reach of the law and is unaffected by elections, unaltered by populist movements, and staffed by unelected officials who are, in essence, running the country and calling the shots in Washington DC, no matter who sits in the White House.
This is a government that, in conjunction with its corporate partners, views the citizenry as consumers and bits of data to be bought, sold and traded.
This is a government that spies on and treats its citizens as if they have no right to privacy, especially in their own homes.
This is a government that is laying the groundwork to weaponize the public’s biomedical data as a convenient means by which to penalize certain “unacceptable” social behaviors. Great Society: A New H... Shlaes, Amity Buy New $17.99 (as of 02:23 UTC - Details)
This is a government that subjects its people to scans, searches, pat downs and other indignities by the TSA and VIPR raids on so-called “soft” targets like shopping malls and bus depots by black-clad, Darth Vader look-alikes.
This is a government that uses fusion centers, which represent the combined surveillance efforts of federal, state and local law enforcement, to track the citizenry’s movements, record their conversations, and catalogue their transactions.
This is a government whose wall-to-wall surveillance has given rise to a suspect society in which the burden of proof has been reversed such that Americans are now assumed guilty until or unless they can prove their innocence.
This is a government that treats its people like second-class citizens who have no rights, and is working overtime to stigmatize and dehumanize any and all who do not fit with the government’s plans for this country.
This is a government that uses free speech zones, roving bubble zones and trespass laws to silence, censor and marginalize Americans and restrict their First Amendment right to speak truth to power. The kinds of speech the government considers dangerous enough to red flag and subject to censorship, surveillance, investigation, prosecution and outright elimination include: hate speech, bullying speech, intolerant speech, conspiratorial speech, treasonous speech, threatening speech, incendiary speech, inflammatory speech, radical speech, anti-government speech, right-wing speech, left-wing speech, extremist speech, politically incorrect speech, etc.
This is a government that adopts laws that criminalize Americans for otherwise lawful activities such as holding religious studies at home, growing vegetables in their yard, and collecting rainwater.
This is a government that persists in renewing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which allows the president and the military to arrest and detain American citizens indefinitely.
This is a government that saddled us with the Patriot Act, which opened the door to all manner of government abuses and intrusions on our privacy.
This is a government that, in direct opposition to the dire warnings of those who founded our country, has allowed the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to establish a standing army by way of programs that transfer surplus military hardware to local and state police. Battlefield America: T... John W. Whitehead Best Price: $10.95 Buy New $18.80 (as of 10:15 UTC - Details)
This is a government that has militarized American’s domestic police, equipping them with military weapons such as “tens of thousands of machine guns; nearly 200,000 ammunition magazines; thousands of pieces of camouflage and night-vision equipment; and hundreds of silencers, armored cars and aircraft,” in addition to armored vehicles, sound cannons and the like.
This is a government that has provided cover to police when they shoot and kill unarmed individuals just for standing a certain way, or moving a certain way, or holding something—anything—that police could misinterpret to be a gun, or igniting some trigger-centric fear in a police officer’s mind that has nothing to do with an actual threat to their safety.
This is a government that has allowed private corporations to get rich at taxpayer expense by locking people up in private prisons for non-violent crimes, while providing Corporate America with a source of cheap labor.
This is a government that has created a Constitution-free zone within 100 miles inland of the border around the United States, paving the way for Border Patrol agents to search people’s homes, intimately probe their bodies, and rifle through their belongings, all without a warrant. Incredibly, nearly 66% of Americans (2/3 of the U.S. population, 197.4 million people) now live within that 100-mile-deep, Constitution-free zone.
This is a government that treats public school students as if they were prison inmates, enforcing zero tolerance policies that criminalize childish behavior, failing to teach them their rights under the Constitution, and indoctrinating them with teaching that emphasizes rote memorization and test-taking over learning, synthesizing and critical thinking.
This is a government that is operating in the negative on every front: it’s spending far more than what it makes (and takes from the American taxpayers) and it is borrowing heavily (from foreign governments and Social Security) to keep the government operating and keep funding its endless wars abroad. Meanwhile, the nation’s sorely neglected infrastructure—railroads, water pipelines, ports, dams, bridges, airports and roads—is rapidly deteriorating.
This is a government whose gun violence—inflicted on unarmed individuals by battlefield-trained SWAT teams, militarized police, and bureaucratic government agents trained to shoot first and ask questions later—poses a greater threat to the safety and security of the nation than any mass shooter. There are now reportedly more bureaucratic (non-military) government agents armed with high-tech, deadly weapons than U.S. Marines.
This is a government that has allowed the presidency to become a dictatorship operating above and beyond the law, regardless of which party is in power.
This is a government that treats dissidents, whistleblowers and freedom fighters as enemies of the state.
This is a government—a warring empire—that forces its taxpayers to pay for wars abroad that serve no other purpose except to expand the reach of the military industrial complex.
This is a government that has in recent decades unleashed untold horrors upon the world—including its own citizenry—in the name of global conquest, the acquisition of greater wealth, scientific experimentation, and technological advances, all packaged in the guise of the greater good.
This is a government that allows its agents to break laws with immunity while average Americans get the book thrown at them.
This is a government that speaks in a language of force. What is this language of force? Militarized police. Riot squads. Camouflage gear. Black uniforms. Armored vehicles. Mass arrests. Pepper spray. Tear gas. Batons. Strip searches. Surveillance cameras. Kevlar vests. Drones. Lethal weapons. Less-than-lethal weapons unleashed with deadly force. Rubber bullets. Water cannons. Stun grenades. Arrests of journalists. Crowd control tactics. Intimidation tactics. Brutality. Contempt of cop charges.
This is a government that justifies all manner of government tyranny and power grabs in the so-called name of national security, national crises and national emergencies.
This is a government that exports violence worldwide, with one of this country’s most profitable exports being weapons. Indeed, the United States, the world’s largest exporter of arms, has been selling violence to the world in order to prop up the military industrial complex and maintain its endless wars abroad.
This is a government that is consumed with squeezing every last penny out of the population and seemingly unconcerned if essential freedoms are trampled in the process.
This is a government that believes it has the authority to search, seize, strip, scan, spy on, probe, pat down, taser, and arrest any individual at any time and for the slightest provocation, the Constitution be damned.
In sum, this is a government that routinely undermines the Constitution and rides roughshod over the rights of the citizenry.
This is not a government that believes in, let alone upholds, freedom.
So where does that leave us?
As always, the first step begins with “we the people.”
Those who gave us the Constitution and the Bill of Rights believed that the government exists at the behest of its citizens. It is there to protect, defend and even enhance our freedoms, not violate them. Our power as a citizenry comes from our ability to agree and stand united on certain freedom principles that should be non-negotiable.
It was no idle happenstance that the Constitution opens with these three powerful words: “We the people.” In other words, we have the power to make and break the government. We are the masters and they are the servants. We the American people—the citizenry—are the arbiters and ultimate guardians of America’s welfare, defense, liberty, laws and prosperity.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, we have managed to keep the wolf at bay so far. Barely.
Our national priorities need to be re-prioritized. For instance, some argue that we need to make America great again. I, for one, would prefer to make America free again.
The Best of John W. Whitehead


lewrockwell--2020-09-09--Obama’s ‘Biggest Mistake’ Is Still Wreaking Havoc

Last month in Mali , an African nation twice the size of Texas , military rebels overthrew the government .
It was the kind of event that Americans barely notice : another coup in another distant country where people can ’ t find ways to live together .
The truth is more damning .
This coup was not the result of personal rivalries or “ ancient hatreds.
” Instability in Mali , and across North Africa , is a long-term result of the NATO attack on Libya in 2011 .
That attack , in which the United States played a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ among the most recklessly self-defeating military interventions of the 21st century .
It was sold as “ humanitarian intervention , ” but wound up producing a human rights disaster .
It turned Libya , once one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Africa , into a failed state and breeding ground for terror .
In nearby countries , it has nourished a generation of murderous militias .
The coup in Mali shows that after-effects of the Libya attack are still reverberating .
Libya ’ s leader , Muammar Qaddafi , had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ side for decades .
He had aided terrorists , including those who blew up an airliner over Lockerbie , Scotland , in 1988 .
In his later years , though , he came out of the political cold .
Under an agreement painstakingly negotiated by the George W. Bush administration , Libya paid $ 1.7 billion to a fund for victims of Lockerbie and other terror attacks .
Then , eager to show his good will , Qaddafi went a step further .
He agreed to give up his nuclear weapons program .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Stripped of his nuclear deterrent , he was exposed to those in the West who wanted to punish him for years of defiance .
Understanding Libya Si ... Laessing , Ulf Best Price : $ 19.85 Buy New $ 20.31 When Libyan protesters took to the streets at the beginning of 2011 , Qaddafi ’ s police fired on them .
He threatened to hunt down the rest “ house by house.
” That gave his foreign enemies the motive—or excuse—they needed to attack .
France , which has a colonial history @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a NATO bombing campaign .
The stated purpose would be to defend civilians .
All understood , however , that such an attack would probably also topple a dictator who had thumbed his nose at the West for decades .
Intense debate broke out within the Obama administration .
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates , Vice President Joe Biden , and military commanders argued against bombing Libya .
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton , Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice , and two National Security Council aides , Samantha Power and Ben @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in what he called a “ 51-49 ” decision , ultimately sided with the bombers .
Gates later wrote that they “ failed to anticipate the chaos that would follow.
” That was an understatement .
American and allied forces bombed Libya for several months in mid-2011 .
By that autumn , Libya ’ s government had collapsed and Qaddafi had been murdered .
Secretary Clinton reveled in the triumph : “ We came , we saw , he died.
” Very soon , however , this victory began turning sour .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Frederic Best Price : $ 14.21 Buy New $ 11.55 During his more than 40 years in power , Qaddafi had allowed no political opposition and tolerated no civil society .
As a result , there was no group , party , or institution to replace him .
Libya quickly fell into violent chaos .
It turned out that Qaddafi had maintained hundreds of arms warehouses at which he stored mind-boggling arrays of weaponry .
They had been under the control of squads personally loyal to him , recruited not from Libya @ @ @ @ @ @ @ much of northwest Africa .
With Qaddafi gone , the Tuaregs looted the warehouses they had once guarded .
Inside were not just infantry rifles but heavy machine guns , anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons , all-terrain vehicles , and other weapons systems that had not been widely seen in North Africa .
The Tuaregs began sending caravans of these arms back to their homeland , Mali , where they hoped to revive a separatist war .
Tuareg fighters lost much of their new weaponry in battles with jihadist groups associated with al Qaeda @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troves and sold them to militant gangs across North Africa .
According to a UN report , “ arms originating from Libya have significantly reinforced the military capacity of terrorist groups operating in different parts of the region , including in Algeria , Egypt , Mali , and Tunisia.
” Not all violence in North Africa is the work of fighters carrying weapons looted from Libya , and it is not clear whether any were used in the recent Mali coup .
It was those weapons , however , that fueled the breakdown @ @ @ @ @ @ @ produced today ’ s upheaval .
Libya ’ s Fragment ... Lacher , Wolfram Best Price : $ 25.83 Buy New $ 24.19 In 1996 , the New York Times described Mali as one of Africa ’ s “ most vibrant democracies.
” Now it is racked by conflict and upheaval .
Last month ’ s coup was the second in a decade .
Several thousand French troops , reinforced by American drones , British helicopters , and UN peacekeepers , strike occasional blows but have little prospect of crushing well-armed insurgents .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ s arsenal has decisively changed security calculations in North Africa .
For tens of millions of people , that means poverty , hunger , displacement , fear of marauding raiders , and the destruction of families , economies , and nations .
Americans don ’ t feel the results of our foreign misadventures .
In other parts of the world , though , a “ 51-49 ” decision by an American president can have shattering effects .
Obama has described his failure to anticipate the after-effects of bombing Libya as his “ biggest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ would agree .

Last month in Mali, an African nation twice the size of Texas, military rebels overthrew the government. It was the kind of event that Americans barely notice: another coup in another distant country where people can’t find ways to live together. The truth is more damning. This coup was not the result of personal rivalries or “ancient hatreds.” Instability in Mali, and across North Africa, is a long-term result of the NATO attack on Libya in 2011.
That attack, in which the United States played a key role, may now be ranked among the most recklessly self-defeating military interventions of the 21st century. It was sold as “humanitarian intervention,” but wound up producing a human rights disaster. It turned Libya, once one of the most stable and prosperous countries in Africa, into a failed state and breeding ground for terror. In nearby countries, it has nourished a generation of murderous militias. The coup in Mali shows that after-effects of the Libya attack are still reverberating.
Libya’s leader, Muammar Qaddafi, had been a thorn in America’s side for decades. He had aided terrorists, including those who blew up an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. In his later years, though, he came out of the political cold. Under an agreement painstakingly negotiated by the George W. Bush administration, Libya paid $1.7 billion to a fund for victims of Lockerbie and other terror attacks. Then, eager to show his good will, Qaddafi went a step further. He agreed to give up his nuclear weapons program. That may have been his fatal mistake. Stripped of his nuclear deterrent, he was exposed to those in the West who wanted to punish him for years of defiance. Understanding Libya Si... Laessing, Ulf Best Price: $19.85 Buy New $20.31 (as of 02:24 UTC - Details)
When Libyan protesters took to the streets at the beginning of 2011, Qaddafi’s police fired on them. He threatened to hunt down the rest “house by house.” That gave his foreign enemies the motive—or excuse—they needed to attack. France, which has a colonial history in Libya, pushed the idea of a NATO bombing campaign. The stated purpose would be to defend civilians. All understood, however, that such an attack would probably also topple a dictator who had thumbed his nose at the West for decades.
Intense debate broke out within the Obama administration. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Vice President Joe Biden, and military commanders argued against bombing Libya. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice, and two National Security Council aides, Samantha Power and Ben Rhodes, argued in favor. Obama, in what he called a “51-49” decision, ultimately sided with the bombers. Gates later wrote that they “failed to anticipate the chaos that would follow.” That was an understatement.
American and allied forces bombed Libya for several months in mid-2011. By that autumn, Libya’s government had collapsed and Qaddafi had been murdered. Secretary Clinton reveled in the triumph: “We came, we saw, he died.” Very soon, however, this victory began turning sour. The Burning Shores: In... Wehrey, Frederic Best Price: $14.21 Buy New $11.55 (as of 02:24 UTC - Details)
During his more than 40 years in power, Qaddafi had allowed no political opposition and tolerated no civil society. As a result, there was no group, party, or institution to replace him. Libya quickly fell into violent chaos. It turned out that Qaddafi had maintained hundreds of arms warehouses at which he stored mind-boggling arrays of weaponry. They had been under the control of squads personally loyal to him, recruited not from Libya but from among Tuareg tribes that populate much of northwest Africa. With Qaddafi gone, the Tuaregs looted the warehouses they had once guarded. Inside were not just infantry rifles but heavy machine guns, anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, all-terrain vehicles, and other weapons systems that had not been widely seen in North Africa. The Tuaregs began sending caravans of these arms back to their homeland, Mali, where they hoped to revive a separatist war.
Tuareg fighters lost much of their new weaponry in battles with jihadist groups associated with al Qaeda and ISIS. Arms dealers acquired large troves and sold them to militant gangs across North Africa. According to a UN report, “arms originating from Libya have significantly reinforced the military capacity of terrorist groups operating in different parts of the region, including in Algeria, Egypt, Mali, and Tunisia.”
Not all violence in North Africa is the work of fighters carrying weapons looted from Libya, and it is not clear whether any were used in the recent Mali coup. It was those weapons, however, that fueled the breakdown of societies over the last decade and produced today’s upheaval. Libya’s Fragment... Lacher, Wolfram Best Price: $25.83 Buy New $24.19 (as of 02:24 UTC - Details)
In 1996, the New York Times described Mali as one of Africa’s “most vibrant democracies.” Now it is racked by conflict and upheaval. Last month’s coup was the second in a decade. Several thousand French troops, reinforced by American drones, British helicopters, and UN peacekeepers, strike occasional blows but have little prospect of crushing well-armed insurgents. Weaponry that flooded out of Qadaffi’s arsenal has decisively changed security calculations in North Africa. For tens of millions of people, that means poverty, hunger, displacement, fear of marauding raiders, and the destruction of families, economies, and nations.
Americans don’t feel the results of our foreign misadventures. In other parts of the world, though, a “51-49” decision by an American president can have shattering effects. Obama has described his failure to anticipate the after-effects of bombing Libya as his “biggest mistake.” Many people in North Africa would agree.
This originally appeared on Common Dreams.


lewrockwell--2020-09-09--Malcolm X Was Right

Malcolm X Was Right

The worst enemy that the Negro have is this white man that runs around here drooling at the mouth professing to love Negros , and calling himself a liberal , and it is following these white liberals that has perpetuated problems that Negros have .
If the Negro wasn ’ t taken , tricked , or deceived by the white liberal then Negros would get together and solve our own problems .
I grew up in a city that would be considered a large bedroom community of a much larger city .
My hometown had a mixed population – mixed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by neighborhood ; mixed , meaning , basically black and white .
During my school years , our public school district began the program of forced integration via bussing , and I was sent to the other side of town along with some of my earlier classmates .
While reading an essay entitled “ My Career as a White Police Officer , ” by Daniel Vinyard , I thought : this was not my experience .
What was his experience ?
Read the essay – every sort of nasty , brutish , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Guilt : How Black ... Steele , Shelby Best Price : $ 13.13 Buy New $ 10.08 Of course , he is a cop and I was a school student – we were certainly not dealing with the same randomly selected population .
At my school , yes there would be occasional fights – almost always black against black , occasionally females going at it but usually males .
While Vinyard describes fights as always involving large groups of blacks , I don ’ t recall anything like this – just two people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reason .
Even with large groups gathered around to watch the fight , it wouldn ’ t turn into a riot .
Unlike what Vinyard describes today , there were “ rules ” : third parties wouldn ’ t get involved , there were no weapons , there were no cheap shots when the fight was over .
I don ’ t recall a stabbing or shooting at the school , and this was even before metal detectors and high security fences became standard ; our campus was as open as could be @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forced integration ( seven , in total ) , I only had meaningful trouble with a black individual once .
He was looking over the shoulder of a friend of mine while my friend was opening his locker .
The guy wanted to see the combination .
I stepped in and stopped it .
The guy didn ’ t like this and said he would come after us , which he did a couple of days later .
Upon receiving this threat , my friend no longer came to school – there was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the school year – leaving me to deal with the problem .
So much for whites watching out for each other .
It got dealt with , and I was just a little worse for wear .
Frankly , I had more trouble with those of my “ tribe ” who were recent immigrants than I did with any of the black students .
Yes , I attended an integrated school – but integrated almost only in name , although I had a few good friends who were black .
During lunch @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in one area , and the black kids in another .
Rarely was there any trouble between the groups .
I would attend many of the high school football and basketball games .
Large crowds , no trouble .
I had a few friends who lived on the other side of town .
I never had a problem visiting , not even at night .
Sure , there were neighborhoods that no one wanted to go to – especially after dark .
I am just saying that this wasn ’ t true everywhere @ @ @ @ @ @ @ school a few times without a concern and without an issue – several miles , at least half of which were through predominantly black neighborhoods .
As an aside , and not correlated to race in any way that I can remember : there was a large field between the main campus and the student parking lot .
By the time you got to your car , you were quite high from the fumes… .
Just like at the best rock concerts of the time !
Our sense of smell offers some of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump is Making Bl ... Cooper , Horace Best Price : $ 20.06 Buy New $ 19.96 I had a job after school .
Also , at work , I had a couple of good friends who were black – good guys , hardworking ; nothing like what Vinyard describes .
Again , I know : we are dealing with different subsets , but still .
A couple of years ago I went to my high school reunion .
I was talking to a classmate – a black woman who just retired from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ where we grew up and went to school .
I asked her about the schools : what has happened since the forced bussing began .
Let ’ s just say it has been a disaster for the black community .
When bussing started , we had three private schools in town ; today there are twenty .
The schools are segregated again , now based on those who can afford to pay double for school : once through taxes and again through private tuition .
And this , as you can imagine , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , those with money no longer care about the quality of the schools in the district .
When I was young , and before bussing , this wasn ’ t the case .
Yes , we went to the neighborhood school , but the district office had jurisdiction over all the schools .
She described the hell-hole that is the public schools now .
Again , nothing at all like my experience from my high school years .
I wouldn ’ t trade my high school experience for any other .
However , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , I wouldn ’ t wish today ’ s experience on my worst enemy .
I know this experience seems from another world , given what we see on the news every day .
Yet , I am certain that my experience during that time in our history wasn ’ t unique or even rare .
So , why am I offering such detail ?
What has changed , from the time of these experiences until today ?
From “ Why America Has Gone Mad , ” by Jared Taylor : Ever since @ @ @ @ @ @ @ solution to the terrible problem of trying to build a nation of different races .
Could it not be clearer that the attempt has failed ?
We were one of the earlier high school classes to go through forced bussing .
This was not terribly long after LBJ ’ s Great Society programs , which brings me back to the quote by Malcolm X .
If one can say – as Taylor does – that the attempt has failed , it has only failed due to the efforts of white liberals , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the failure even today and it is white liberals who are stoking the flames of the divide .
The MAGA Guide to S.C ... .
Smith Jr. , Scott L. Buy New $ 11.95 Since the end of slavery in America , I think it is safe to say that slowly , but surely , progress was being made in this “ attempt ” of building a nation of different races in America .
No , not uninterrupted progress , and no , not always peaceful ; there were always setbacks : for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Tulsa Race Massacre , a horrendous episode .
But blacks were moving into the middle class , black business owners were on the increase , black families were intact , there were schools for blacks that ranked with some of the finest in the country .
White liberals felt none of this was moving fast enough , or they felt that pandering to blacks would gain more votes .
Every line of black progress on every measure takes a bend for the worse starting in the mid-1960s , and it is tied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ liberals .
For example , from Walter Williams : According to the 1938 Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences , that year only 11 percent of black children were born to unwed mothers .
As late as 1950 , female-headed households constituted only 18 percent of the black population .
Today it ’ s close to 70 percent .
In much earlier times , during the late 1800s , there were only slight differences between the black family structure and those of other ethnic groups .
In New York City in 1925 , 85 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ households .
Exacerbating this situation was the purposely destructive weaponizing of Cultural Marxism and Critical Race Theory , taught at universities and in school districts across the country , all run by – you guessed it – white liberals .
Malcolm X wasn ’ t one sided on this .
He also knew that white conservatives were a threat – but at least they didn ’ t pretend .
His main point , as I take it : if left alone , blacks can solve their own problems .
And , until the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ troubling yokes , the track record would support his contention .
Sixty years of purposeful cultural destruction , driven by white liberals , has taken its toll .
No , I don ’ t have the black experience .
Maybe I should just shut up .
But I am guessing that I have more of the black experience than most of the white liberals who are doing all of the damage or who are virtue-signal posting BLM signs on their front lawns .
In any case , there is no hope for justice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can not speak openly on such matters .
Stupid Black Men : How ... Larry Elder Best Price : $ 1.25 Buy New $ 15.20 Today , the loudest mouthpieces on these issues – both white and black mouthpieces – scream about what white people must do to solve black problems .
Malcolm X offered the opposite message : that the place to start is for white liberals to stop “ helping ” the black community and for leadership in the black community to focus on the problems and solutions within the black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The Autobiography of Malcom X ; let ’ s hope he understands the message .
His is one voice that can bring some peace , if he chooses to do so .
I will suggest that another place to start is to string up the white liberals in the town square – actually , let ’ s start here first .
If reparations are necessary to right this wrong , this is a good place to start – an eye for an eye , so to speak .
The passage from Malcolm X @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did not include above : “ The white liberal is the worst enemy to America….
” He is right on this point as well .
It isn ’ t an America of more than one race that can not work ; it is an America divided by drastically different values that is the problem .
America doesn ’ t have a racial divide ; it has a values divide .
I have been harmed far more by white people in this country who hold to radical liberal and neocon values than by black @ @ @ @ @ @ @

The worst enemy that the Negro have is this white man that runs around here drooling at the mouth professing to love Negros, and calling himself a liberal, and it is following these white liberals that has perpetuated problems that Negros have. If the Negro wasn’t taken, tricked, or deceived by the white liberal then Negros would get together and solve our own problems.
– Malcolm X
I grew up in a city that would be considered a large bedroom community of a much larger city. My hometown had a mixed population – mixed in total, but not so much by neighborhood; mixed, meaning, basically black and white. During my school years, our public school district began the program of forced integration via bussing, and I was sent to the other side of town along with some of my earlier classmates.
While reading an essay entitled “My Career as a White Police Officer,” by Daniel Vinyard, I thought: this was not my experience. What was his experience? Read the essay – every sort of nasty, brutish, and violent behavior you can imagine. White Guilt: How Black... Steele, Shelby Best Price: $13.13 Buy New $10.08 (as of 05:01 UTC - Details)
Of course, he is a cop and I was a school student – we were certainly not dealing with the same randomly selected population. At my school, yes there would be occasional fights – almost always black against black, occasionally females going at it but usually males. While Vinyard describes fights as always involving large groups of blacks, I don’t recall anything like this – just two people pissed off at each other for whatever reason.
Even with large groups gathered around to watch the fight, it wouldn’t turn into a riot. Unlike what Vinyard describes today, there were “rules”: third parties wouldn’t get involved, there were no weapons, there were no cheap shots when the fight was over. I don’t recall a stabbing or shooting at the school, and this was even before metal detectors and high security fences became standard; our campus was as open as could be.
In all of those years of forced integration (seven, in total), I only had meaningful trouble with a black individual once. He was looking over the shoulder of a friend of mine while my friend was opening his locker. The guy wanted to see the combination. I stepped in and stopped it. The guy didn’t like this and said he would come after us, which he did a couple of days later.
Upon receiving this threat, my friend no longer came to school – there was only about a week or two left in the school year – leaving me to deal with the problem. So much for whites watching out for each other. It got dealt with, and I was just a little worse for wear. Frankly, I had more trouble with those of my “tribe” who were recent immigrants than I did with any of the black students.
Yes, I attended an integrated school – but integrated almost only in name, although I had a few good friends who were black. During lunch, mostly the white kids hung out in one area, and the black kids in another. Rarely was there any trouble between the groups. I would attend many of the high school football and basketball games. Large crowds, no trouble.
I had a few friends who lived on the other side of town. I never had a problem visiting, not even at night. Sure, there were neighborhoods that no one wanted to go to – especially after dark. I am just saying that this wasn’t true everywhere. I remember even walking home from school a few times without a concern and without an issue – several miles, at least half of which were through predominantly black neighborhoods.
As an aside, and not correlated to race in any way that I can remember: there was a large field between the main campus and the student parking lot. By the time you got to your car, you were quite high from the fumes…. Just like at the best rock concerts of the time! Our sense of smell offers some of the best memories in life. How Trump is Making Bl... Cooper, Horace Best Price: $20.06 Buy New $19.96 (as of 04:42 UTC - Details)
I had a job after school. Also, at work, I had a couple of good friends who were black – good guys, hardworking; nothing like what Vinyard describes. Again, I know: we are dealing with different subsets, but still.
A couple of years ago I went to my high school reunion. I was talking to a classmate – a black woman who just retired from the police department of the same city where we grew up and went to school. I asked her about the schools: what has happened since the forced bussing began. Let’s just say it has been a disaster for the black community.
When bussing started, we had three private schools in town; today there are twenty. The schools are segregated again, now based on those who can afford to pay double for school: once through taxes and again through private tuition. And this, as you can imagine, primarily breaks down by race.
Now, those with money no longer care about the quality of the schools in the district. When I was young, and before bussing, this wasn’t the case. Yes, we went to the neighborhood school, but the district office had jurisdiction over all the schools. She described the hell-hole that is the public schools now. Again, nothing at all like my experience from my high school years.
I wouldn’t trade my high school experience for any other. However, given her description of the situation today, I wouldn’t wish today’s experience on my worst enemy.
I know this experience seems from another world, given what we see on the news every day. Yet, I am certain that my experience during that time in our history wasn’t unique or even rare. So, why am I offering such detail? What has changed, from the time of these experiences until today?
From “Why America Has Gone Mad,” by Jared Taylor:
Ever since Jamestown, we have groped for a solution to the terrible problem of trying to build a nation of different races. Could it not be clearer that the attempt has failed?
We were one of the earlier high school classes to go through forced bussing. This was not terribly long after LBJ’s Great Society programs, which brings me back to the quote by Malcolm X. If one can say – as Taylor does – that the attempt has failed, it has only failed due to the efforts of white liberals, and it is white liberals who are driving the failure even today and it is white liberals who are stoking the flames of the divide. The MAGA Guide to S.C.... Smith Jr., Scott L. Buy New $11.95 (as of 02:25 UTC - Details)
Since the end of slavery in America, I think it is safe to say that slowly, but surely, progress was being made in this “attempt” of building a nation of different races in America. No, not uninterrupted progress, and no, not always peaceful; there were always setbacks: for example, Charles Burris recently commented on the Tulsa Race Massacre, a horrendous episode.
But blacks were moving into the middle class, black business owners were on the increase, black families were intact, there were schools for blacks that ranked with some of the finest in the country.
White liberals felt none of this was moving fast enough, or they felt that pandering to blacks would gain more votes. Every line of black progress on every measure takes a bend for the worse starting in the mid-1960s, and it is tied to the government programs enacted by white liberals. For example, from Walter Williams:
According to the 1938 Encyclopaedia of the Social Sciences, that year only 11 percent of black children were born to unwed mothers. As late as 1950, female-headed households constituted only 18 percent of the black population. Today it’s close to 70 percent. In much earlier times, during the late 1800s, there were only slight differences between the black family structure and those of other ethnic groups. In New York City in 1925, 85 percent of kin-related black households were two-parent households.
Exacerbating this situation was the purposely destructive weaponizing of Cultural Marxism and Critical Race Theory, taught at universities and in school districts across the country, all run by – you guessed it – white liberals.
Malcolm X wasn’t one sided on this. He also knew that white conservatives were a threat – but at least they didn’t pretend. His main point, as I take it: if left alone, blacks can solve their own problems. And, until the 1960s and despite still suffering under many troubling yokes, the track record would support his contention.
Sixty years of purposeful cultural destruction, driven by white liberals, has taken its toll.
Conclusion
No, I don’t have the black experience. Maybe I should just shut up. But I am guessing that I have more of the black experience than most of the white liberals who are doing all of the damage or who are virtue-signal posting BLM signs on their front lawns. In any case, there is no hope for justice, peace, or progress if we cannot speak openly on such matters. Stupid Black Men: How ... Larry Elder Best Price: $1.25 Buy New $15.20 (as of 11:10 UTC - Details)
Today, the loudest mouthpieces on these issues – both white and black mouthpieces – scream about what white people must do to solve black problems. Malcolm X offered the opposite message: that the place to start is for white liberals to stop “helping” the black community and for leadership in the black community to focus on the problems and solutions within the black community.
Apparently LeBron James is reading The Autobiography of Malcom X; let’s hope he understands the message. His is one voice that can bring some peace, if he chooses to do so.
I will suggest that another place to start is to string up the white liberals in the town square – actually, let’s start here first. If reparations are necessary to right this wrong, this is a good place to start – an eye for an eye, so to speak.
Epilogue
The passage from Malcolm X begins with the following, which I did not include above: “The white liberal is the worst enemy to America….”
He is right on this point as well. It isn’t an America of more than one race that cannot work; it is an America divided by drastically different values that is the problem. America doesn’t have a racial divide; it has a values divide.
I have been harmed far more by white people in this country who hold to radical liberal and neocon values than by black people.
Reprinted with permission from Bionic Mosquito.
The Best of Bionic Mosquito


lewrockwell--2020-09-09--Democrats Have Planned a Coup If Trump Wins Reelection

Under the pretext that President Trump will not step down if he loses reelection , Democrats and the military/security complex created the Transition Integrity Project .
The plan they have worked out is to take the presidency regardless of the vote .
Trump ’ s win is to be blamed on vote fraud , and Biden/Kamala are forbidden to concede their defeat .
Instead , the presstitutes will conduct a propaganda campaign against Trump alleging election fraud in order to cast Trump ’ s reelection in doubt .
The propaganda campaign against Trump will be conducted by assertions and fake @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Impeachgate , and other orchestrated false charges against Trump .
The Democrats know that just like their other false allegations against Trump , the media will back them to the hilt and many dumbshit Americans will believe the lies .
The presstitutes have done nothing for four years but try to discredit President Trump in the eyes of both Americans and the world .
We The People Holsters ... Buy New $ 28.99 The Democrat public-sector US Postal Union will not deliver mail-in votes for Trump from known Red areas .
If this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be made that Trump had the US Postal Service not deliver millions of votes for Biden/Kamala–charges absurd on their face as the postal union is a Democrat bastion–and searches will be sent for the missing ballots .
When the “ missing ballots ” are “ found , ” Biden/Kamala will be the winners .
Remember , the only voice here will be the anti-Trump presstitutes .
Trump will have been closed out of Twitter and TV and radio communication with Americans .
The next step is to unleash Antifa/BLM violence in American cities @ @ @ @ @ @ @ as America ’ s rejection of Trump ’ s theft of the election and refusal to leave office .
Trump will be accused of destroying American democracy .
The Democrats actually destroying American democracy will be portrayed as saving democracy from a power mad tyrant .
The Democrats have been gaming their planned election theft for months , and the public is being prepared for it .
For example see this .
Here is a description of the Democrats ’ plan .
Here are the Democrats in their own words describing how that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of American democracy .
Migi Trump Socks Make ... Buy New $ 12.99 From all appearances , Trump and the Republicans are going to let the Democrats have their way with them .
The Democrat Party of today is not the Democrat Party of the Past .
Today the Democrat Party is an anti-white , anti-American party .
Democrats refuse to enforce law and order .
Instead , Democrats defund police and permit looting and destruction of businesses and private property .
The Democrats say that law and order is a “ white @ @ @ @ @ @ @ longer support white privilege .
White Americans who vote Democrat are too stupid to justify their existence .
Many white Americans have been deracinated by decades of propaganda in the public school systems , universities , movies , and media “ exposing ” white evil .
Many white Americans lack the confidence to defend themselves .
These dumbshit white Americans are the ones the Democrats are counting on to sit sucking their thumbs while Democrats pull off a color revolution and overthrow an elected president .
The Democrats are organized , and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ is isolated .
He has an establishment government that will not go to bat for him .
The Department of Justice has yet to bring indictments of the treasonous individuals in the CIA , FBI , and Democrat Party that orchestrated Russiagate .
I said in 2016 that Trump did not know Washington , and therefore had no idea who to appoint to his government to help him with his assault on the Establishment .
Trump has done many things for Israel , but Jews are Democrats and it will be the Jewish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reelection .
Trump ’ s supporters are not organized .
Trump ’ s own appointee to the Department of Homeland Security is about to declare Trump supporters a “ lethal threat to the United States ” .
Unless Trump wins by such a large vote that it can not be discredited , the Democrats ’ coup against Trump and American democracy will succeed .
The Best of Paul Craig Roberts

Under the pretext that President Trump will not step down if he loses reelection, Democrats and the military/security complex created the Transition Integrity Project. The plan they have worked out is to take the presidency regardless of the vote. Trump’s win is to be blamed on vote fraud, and Biden/Kamala are forbidden to concede their defeat. Instead, the presstitutes will conduct a propaganda campaign against Trump alleging election fraud in order to cast Trump’s reelection in doubt.
The propaganda campaign against Trump will be conducted by assertions and fake news just as was the Russiagate, Impeachgate, and other orchestrated false charges against Trump. The Democrats know that just like their other false allegations against Trump, the media will back them to the hilt and many dumbshit Americans will believe the lies. The presstitutes have done nothing for four years but try to discredit President Trump in the eyes of both Americans and the world.
We The People Holsters... Buy New $28.99 (as of 02:26 UTC - Details) The Democrat public-sector US Postal Union will not deliver mail-in votes for Trump from known Red areas.
If this doesn’t suffice, charges will be made that Trump had the US Postal Service not deliver millions of votes for Biden/Kamala–charges absurd on their face as the postal union is a Democrat bastion–and searches will be sent for the missing ballots. When the “missing ballots” are “found,” Biden/Kamala will be the winners. Remember, the only voice here will be the anti-Trump presstitutes. Trump will have been closed out of Twitter and TV and radio communication with Americans.
The next step is to unleash Antifa/BLM violence in American cities. The presstitutes will portray the violence as America’s rejection of Trump’s theft of the election and refusal to leave office. Trump will be accused of destroying American democracy. The Democrats actually destroying American democracy will be portrayed as saving democracy from a power mad tyrant.
The Democrats have been gaming their planned election theft for months, and the public is being prepared for it. For example see this.
Here is a description of the Democrats’ plan.
Here are the Democrats in their own words describing how that are going to pull off their destruction of American democracy. Migi Trump Socks Make ... Buy New $12.99 (as of 02:26 UTC - Details)
From all appearances, Trump and the Republicans are going to let the Democrats have their way with them.
The Democrat Party of today is not the Democrat Party of the Past. Today the Democrat Party is an anti-white, anti-American party. Democrats refuse to enforce law and order. Instead, Democrats defund police and permit looting and destruction of businesses and private property. The Democrats say that law and order is a “white privilege,” and they will no longer support white privilege.
White Americans who vote Democrat are too stupid to justify their existence.
Many white Americans have been deracinated by decades of propaganda in the public school systems, universities, movies, and media “exposing” white evil. Many white Americans lack the confidence to defend themselves. These dumbshit white Americans are the ones the Democrats are counting on to sit sucking their thumbs while Democrats pull off a color revolution and overthrow an elected president.
The Democrats are organized, and the White House isn’t. Trump is isolated. He has an establishment government that will not go to bat for him. The Department of Justice has yet to bring indictments of the treasonous individuals in the CIA, FBI, and Democrat Party that orchestrated Russiagate. I said in 2016 that Trump did not know Washington, and therefore had no idea who to appoint to his government to help him with his assault on the Establishment. Trump has done many things for Israel, but Jews are Democrats and it will be the Jewish owned media that discredits Trump’s reelection.
Trump’s supporters are not organized. Trump’s own appointee to the Department of Homeland Security is about to declare Trump supporters a “lethal threat to the United States”.
Unless Trump wins by such a large vote that it cannot be discredited, the Democrats’ coup against Trump and American democracy will succeed.
The Best of Paul Craig Roberts


lewrockwell--2020-09-09--Malcolm X on Property, Integration, and Economic Independence

With another Martin Luther King Day come and gone , we were reminded that the views of King are regarded as the model for the “ civil rights movement.
” Some of this is merited , of course .
King stood up to governments that used state force , via Jim Crow laws to mandate segregation and violate property rights .
Unfortunately , not all of King ’ s views on property and economic independence were equally enlightened .
For a start , King was no friend of markets .
In 33 Question About American History You ’ re Not @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a speech King gave to his staff revealing his disapproval : 33 Questions About Ame ... Thomas E. Woods Best Price : $ 2.91 Buy New $ 9.99 But King wasn ’ t working alone in the civil rights movement .
While far less remembered and honored today , Malcolm X provided a far different and more radical view of how to achieve more independence and prosperity for historically disadvantaged groups .
Libertarian rapper Eric July produced an excellent explaining Malcolm X ’ s philosophy when contrasted to MLK ’ s vision of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ power of capitalism , and saw it as a means of advancing the community .
July highlights an interview with Eleanor Fischer in which Malcolm X called forced integration hypocritical and understood the flaws of its involuntary nature : Well , any form of integration , forced integration , any effort to force integration upon whites is actually hypocritical .
It is a form of hypocrisy involved .
If a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily , that ’ s brotherhood .
But if you hold a gun on him and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be friendly or brotherly toward me , then that ’ s not brotherhood , that ’ s hypocrisy .
And what America is trying to do is pass laws to force whites to pretend that they want Negroes into their schools or in their places of employment .
Well , this is hypocrisy , and this makes a worse relationship between black and white , rather than if this could be brought about on a voluntary basis .
He then expanded on the flaws of MLK ’ s forced integration strategy when the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up : Black Utopia : The Hist ... Zamalin , Alex Best Price : $ 31.38 Buy New $ 20.67 I don ’ t think having an opportunity to ride either at the front or the back or the middle of someone else ’ s bus does not dignify you .
When you have your own bus , then you have dignity .
When you have your own school , you have dignity .
When you have own your own country , you have dignity .
When you have something of your own @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you are begging for a chance to participate in that which belongs to someone else , or use that which belongs to someone else , on an equal basis with the owner , that ’ s not dignity , that ’ s ignorance .
Malcolm X also critiqued the sit-in strategies civil rights activists employed and insisted that blacks build their own economic institutions instead : Black Nationalism in t ... Taylor Best Price : $ 56.59 Buy New $ 28.50 In sum , Malcolm X was not interested in forced integration and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
It did not matter to him if blacks had to live separately from whites , as long as each community did not infringe on the rights of others .
He drew examples from the Japanese and Chinese communities in the U.S. to drive this point home : When you are equal with another person , the problem of integration doesn ’ t even arise .
It doesn ’ t come up .
The Chinese in this country aren ’ t asking for integration .
The Japanese aren ’ t asking for integration @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s asking for integration is the so-called Negro , primarily because he is inferior , not inherently inferior , but he ’ s economically , socially , politically inferior .
And this exists because he has never tried to stand on his own two feet and do something for himself .
He has filled the role of a beggar .
For these reasons , among others , Murray Rothbard praised Malcolm X describing him as a “ ” and acknowledged that Malcolm X ’ s black nationalism was “ a lot more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ King , the NAACP , and white liberals .
”

With another Martin Luther King Day come and gone, we were reminded that the views of King are regarded as the model for the “civil rights movement.”
Some of this is merited, of course. King stood up to governments that used state force, via Jim Crow laws to mandate segregation and violate property rights.
Unfortunately, not all of King’s views on property and economic independence were equally enlightened.
For a start, King was no friend of markets. In 33 Question About American History You’re Not Supposed to Ask , Tom Woods uncovered a speech King gave to his staff revealing his disapproval:
You can’t talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro without talking about billions of dollars…. [W]e are treading in difficult waters, because it really means that we are saying that something is wrong… with capitalism. There must be a better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism.
33 Questions About Ame... Thomas E. Woods Best Price: $2.91 Buy New $9.99 (as of 07:05 UTC - Details) But King wasn’t working alone in the civil rights movement. While far less remembered and honored today, Malcolm X provided a far different and more radical view of how to achieve more independence and prosperity for historically disadvantaged groups.
Choosing Markets Over Forced Integration
Libertarian rapper Eric July produced an excellent video explaining Malcolm X’s philosophy when contrasted to MLK’s vision of forced integration. Malcolm X recognized the power of capitalism, and saw it as a means of advancing the community.
July highlights an interview with Eleanor Fischer in which Malcolm X called forced integration hypocritical and understood the flaws of its involuntary nature:
Well, any form of integration, forced integration, any effort to force integration upon whites is actually hypocritical. It is a form of hypocrisy involved. If a white man puts his arm around me voluntarily, that’s brotherhood. But if you hold a gun on him and make him embrace me and pretend to be friendly or brotherly toward me, then that’s not brotherhood, that’s hypocrisy. And what America is trying to do is pass laws to force whites to pretend that they want Negroes into their schools or in their places of employment. Well, this is hypocrisy, and this makes a worse relationship between black and white, rather than if this could be brought about on a voluntary basis.
He then expanded on the flaws of MLK’s forced integration strategy when the topic of the Montgomery Bus Boycott came up: Black Utopia: The Hist... Zamalin, Alex Best Price: $31.38 Buy New $20.67 (as of 02:27 UTC - Details)
I don’t think having an opportunity to ride either at the front or the back or the middle of someone else’s bus does not dignify you. When you have your own bus, then you have dignity. When you have your own school, you have dignity. When you have own your own country, you have dignity. When you have something of your own, you have dignity. But whenever you are begging for a chance to participate in that which belongs to someone else, or use that which belongs to someone else, on an equal basis with the owner, that’s not dignity, that’s ignorance.
Malcolm X also critiqued the sit-in strategies civil rights activists employed and insisted that blacks build their own economic institutions instead:
Instead of the negro leaders having the black man begging for a chance to dine in white restaurants, the negro leaders should be showing the black man to do something to strengthen his own economy, to give himself an independent economy, or to provide job opportunities for himself. Not begging for a cup of coffee in a white man’s restaurant.
Black Nationalism in t... Taylor Best Price: $56.59 Buy New $28.50 (as of 02:27 UTC - Details) In sum, Malcolm X was not interested in forced integration and focused his energies toward black economic self-sufficiency. It did not matter to him if blacks had to live separately from whites, as long as each community did not infringe on the rights of others.
He drew examples from the Japanese and Chinese communities in the U.S. to drive this point home:
When you are equal with another person, the problem of integration doesn’t even arise. It doesn’t come up. The Chinese in this country aren’t asking for integration. The Japanese aren’t asking for integration. The only minority in America that’s asking for integration is the so-called Negro, primarily because he is inferior, not inherently inferior, but he’s economically, socially, politically inferior. And this exists because he has never tried to stand on his own two feet and do something for himself. He has filled the role of a beggar.