How the forces of tyranny keep winning

A pro-gun activist named James Kaleda was forcefully removed in the middle of his formal testimony at a New Jersey State Senate hearing. Several people in the audience gave him a standing ovation.

Here's how one well-meaning but confused conservative described what happened next:

Several members of the audience yelled at the state senator in charge from the audience, several called him out of order, and at least one more was escorted from the room.

Then in one of the best displays of civil disobedience I’ve ever seen, the entire audience recited the pledge of allegiance, while most of the lawmakers remained seated.

This is one to share.

Patriotism is ALIVE in America.

Somehow I fail to understand how making an oath of unquestioned fealty to an all-powerful regime you acknowledge as inescapable and semi-devine can be described as an act of civil disobedience.

Here's a suggestion: next time, recite the Declaration of Independence. Those are the words a tyrant does not want to hear.

Quote of the day

"As the ambitions of government in the Obama era have expanded, respect for the institution of government has reached new lows. These scandals add another layer of cynicism. And the practical political effects are very real." Michael Gerson

I've argued for some time that an Obama win would rouse conservatives to action. I said it in 2010, and during the last election. And just look at what's happening ...

Big government can't possibly be good government

The word is out, folks:

Have you noticed how mean and nasty campaigns for high office have become? Lies and distortions are common political fare these days. Why would a genuinely good person subject himself to the ugliness of it all? Increasingly, genuinely good people don’t bother, so we are left all too often with dirtbags and demagogues in government. Unless you enjoy rolling in the mud with the hogs, you stay on the other side of the fence.

There are reasons for this disturbing situation, and they have to do with the nature of power. Lord Acton famously stated more than a century ago that “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” He nailed it, though I would add a corollary of my own: “Power attracts the corrupt.”

The author recommends we restore the Founder's vision of distributed power. That means secession.

Never-Ending War

Here we go again:

[A] group of senators is mulling a revision to the 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force against those who perpetrated the 9/11 attacks. In Senate testimony today, several Pentagon officials tried to dissuade making any changes to the law, which has been notoriously beneficial to the expansion of the warfare state and terribly detrimental to the rule of law, government transparency, and human liberty in general. ...

And thanks to the terse wording of the law, that war has no geographic limit. Any individual or group unilaterally deemed an “associated force” by top officials can be targeted by the U.S. war machine anywhere in the world. And this extraordinary power cannot be rescinded until the overlords in the White House and the Pentagon say so.

Pro-war think tanks, pundits, lobbyists, and arms dealers are foaming at the mouth over this one. In the name of promoting freedom, DC will further expand its control over us, starting with the harvesting of our incomes to pay for the never-ending War on Terror. The IRS (remember them?) will have to shake down the peasants just a little bit harder, and that means more intense scrutiny of those selfish taxpayers to make sure they're paying their "fair share."

Naturally, the brown-skinned people on the receiving end of drone attacks will fail to appreciate what DC is doing for them and will strike back. Or their fellow religionists here at home will do it for them (like those lovable Tsarnaev brothers). Either way, Americans can count on more domestic terrorism. That will trigger even more domestic surveillance and the militarization of everyday life to "protect" the American people.

And at every step of the way, our handlers in DC ratchet up their power.

Meanwhile, "patriotic Americans" will scream "Support the troops!" Because freedom isn't free, you know.

'Rogue' IRS employees claim they were just following orders

Of course - but WHOSE orders?

One of FOX19's two sources went on say that these four IRS workers claim "they simply did what their bosses ordered." FOX19 reported on Tuesday that the report by the Office of Inspector General states that senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting Tea Party groups as early as 2011.

In fact, according to that report, Lois Lerner, who heads the IRS division that oversees tax exempt organizations, was told on June 29, 2011 that groups with 'Tea Party', 'Patriot' or '9/12 Project' in their names were being flagged for additional, and often burdensome, scrutiny.

While the IRS is pointing at 'two rogue employees,' the number of organizations that were singled out has swelled to nearly 500, according to Rep. Congressmen Darryl Issa and Ohio's Jim Jordan.

Wow - first John Edwards, then Jesse Jackson, Jr., and now we've got front-row seats to the toppling of Eric "My People" Holder and President Choom himself.

Men who are physically strong are more likely to have right wing political views

Strong men are self-sufficient, while weenies look to the mommy-state to protect them. That's not me saying that - it's from a scientific survey of hundreds of men's upper-body strength, biceps size, and political views. Seems there's a correlation between fitness and independence:

Men who are physically strong are more likely to take a right wing political stance, while weaker men are inclined to support the welfare state, according to a new study.

Researchers discovered political motivations may have evolutionary links to physical strength.

Men's upper-body strength predicts their political opinions on economic redistribution, according to the research.

The principal investigators - psychological scientists Michael Bang Petersen, of Aarhus University in Denmark, and Daniel Sznycer, of the University of California in the U.S., believe that the link may reflect psychological traits that evolved in response to our early ancestral environments and continue to influence behaviour today.

Professor Petersen said: ‘While many think of politics as a modern phenomenon, it has - in a sense - always been with our species.’

I quite agree. Though we find ourselves in an unnatural environment of desk jobs and gooey yuck from Taco This and Burger That, we still have Ice-Age bodies that long for action and demand fulfillment.

What can we do? For starters, rebel against domestication and softness. Change your diet. Adopt the Paleo diet and lifestyle. Walk. Lift weights. Hunt. Raise a garden. Learn how to defend yourself. Know the exultation of pushing your body beyond endurance.

It might even affect the way you think about yourself.

Pentagon Unilaterally Grants Itself Authority Over ‘Civil Disturbances’

Okay, this is just creepy:

By making a few subtle changes to a regulation in the U.S. Code titled “Defense Support of Civilian Law Enforcement Agencies” the military has quietly granted itself the ability to police the streets without obtaining prior local or state consent, upending a precedent that has been in place for more than two centuries.

The bottom line is that the Pentagon can unilaterally declare martial law. Local authorities might protest, but a quick tally of who has RPGs and tanks and who does not will settle that little debate before it's even started.

Don't look now, but all those crazy, right-wing warnings about repressive government are coming true.

Trust your rulers?

Barack Hussein Obama on trusting the government:

Unfortunately, you've grown up hearing voices that incessantly warn of government as nothing more than some separate, sinister entity that's at the root of all our problems. Some of these same voices also do their best to gum up the works. They'll warn that tyranny always lurking just around the corner. You should reject these voices. Because what they suggest is that our brave, and creative, and unique experiment in self-rule is somehow just a sham with which we can't be trusted.

Glenn Greenwald on trusting the government:

In a letter sent yesterday to Attorney General Eric Holder, AP's President, Gary Pruitt, detailed that the phone records cover more than 20 telephone lines used by AP journalists, including their homes, offices and cell phones. He said the phones for which the DOJ obtained records also include ones at the AP bureaus in New York City, Washington DC, Hartford, and at the House of Representatives.

So what are we to believe - eloquent promises, or actual behavior?

Who says the federal government is too big to work?

You might be surprised:

The government is simply too big for President Obama to keep track of all the wrongdoing taking place on his watch, his former senior adviser, David Axelrod, told MSNBC. “Part of being president is there’s so much beneath you that you can’t know because the government is so vast,” he explained.

Now that's someone I never expected to agree that DC is so bloated, it can't be fixed.

"Admittedly racist" Tea Party deserved IRS scrutiny

The function of the Civil Rights lobby is to justify big government's expanding power so it can fight "racism." Watch Julian Bond earn his keep:

Even when other Democrats reject the Commander-in-Chief's abuse of power, the Civil Rights lobby can still be counted on.

EVERYONE KNOWS Jason Richwine is not just wrong, but evil

It's such a self-evident fact that all races are interchangeable that there's no need to rebut Richwine's methodology or logic.

Any idea or person that goes against leftist ideology is automatically "racist," and therefore universally regarded as bad. And stupid. Here are a few examples:

Here's Charles Johnson's Little Green Footballs on Richwine's refusal to apologize for his heresy:

Of course he doesn’t apologize; that’s the standard posture when right wing racists are exposed. They always double down and insist they were just “telling un-PC truths.”

And check out columnist Mary Sanchez, who condemns Richwine for "toxic views" and "pathetic scholarship" that are clearly "offensive and wrong." Then she tosses this "fact" into the bonfire:

Immigrants have lower rates of criminal conduct than native-born people. And a new study shows that Hispanic high school graduates have now overtaken white students in rates of enrollment into college.

So, it's "offensive and wrong" to state that Whites have a higher IQ than Hispanics, but there's nothing wrong with asserting that immigrants make better citizens and scholars than native-born Americans. Viva la Raza superior!

But this statement signed by minority and leftist student groups at Harvard is so full of righteous outrage, it sounds like a satire of political correctness:

"We condemn in unequivocal terms these racist claims as unfit for Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard University as a whole. Granting permission for such a dissertation to be published debases all of our degrees and hurts the University’s reputation."

See? Just lob that "racist" label at something or someone, and they're automatically beyond discussion. No counter-argument needed. The Harvard fatwa, by the way, was signed by 24 groups, including all the usual suspects, such as the Latino Caucus and the Progressive Caucus. But it also brought together the LGBTQ Caucus and Arab Caucus, as well as both the Israel and Palestine Caucuses. And people accused Richwine of being devisive!

DeMint won't stand by his man, but will stand by his work

There's nothing sadder that watching a man groping around for his backbone:

Former Sen. Jim DeMint (R – S.C.) is standing by the controversial Heritage Foundation study that put a $6.3 trillion price tag on the Senate immigration bill, saying: “There’s no doubt that these numbers are real.” ...

As the Senate debates an immigration bill, DeMint is at the center of a dispute at Heritage. The conservative policy group released a report last week citing the $6.3 billion cost of the bill over 50 years, which many on both sides of the aisle have rebuked as overblown. The report faced further scrutiny after it was discovered that its co-author, Jason Richwine, has previously made controversial arguments based on race.

Yeah, but where were you when Richwine was blindsided by the attack dogs, DeMint?

Nullification is for sissies

Russell D. Longcore throws down the gauntlet:

Nullification is based upon the premise that staying in the Union has some value, and that the Federal government should continue to rule over the states in all the areas of governance except the ones the states nullify. But if you’ll remember, the states created the United States as an errand boy for the states. Well, the errand boy has grown up to be the uncontrollable bully boy of the states and of the planet. The states have been subsumed by the DC crowd. They have abrogated their sovereignty and have no real authority or power to control Washington, since no states control the power of the sword or the power of the purse.

Good point.

That said, I still see the growing interest in nullification as a good thing. A lot of people still don't understand that the sovereign people of the States delegate power to DC, not the other way around. States' Rights and nullification are baby steps, but I see them as essential steps toward the ultimate goal of reclaiming our historical rights through secession and the breakup of the Evil Empire.

Thanks to Dutchy for the heads up!

"Moral Monday" protests orchestrated by NAACP

The Rev. William Barber has called out for "Moral Monday" protests at the North Carolina legislature to call attention to the Republican agenda of, as he puts it, "dismantling decades of progress in public education, race relations, environmental protections and more." 200 protesters showed up, and 49 were arrested for disrupting the House of Representatives. 90 have been arrested so far, and Barber promises more disruptions will follow to opppose Republicans' plans to cut taxes and spending on health and welfare programs for the poor.

Sounds noble, doesn't it? But if the Rev. Barber wants to see the effects of what he would consider a more "moral" agenda, there's a developing and graphic real-world example in Detroit, whose "compassionate" leaders have borrowed and spent their city to the edge of financial ruin. It's so bad, the state of Michigan had to appoint an emergency manager to take over. Kevyn Orr's first on-the-ground report was bleak:

An emergency manager assigned to lead this city back from the brink of financial ruin has taken his first detailed look at Detroit’s woes, and the picture of debt and disarray he paints may be bleaker even than earlier grim portrayals. ...

“No one should underestimate the severity of the financial crisis,” Mr. Orr said in a statement issued by his office on Sunday. “The path Detroit has followed for more than 40 years is unsustainable and only a complete restructuring of the city’s finances and operations will allow Detroit to regain its footing and return to a path of prosperity.”

The bottom line is that expanding appetites for government goodies mixed with soaring debt make an explosive combination, one that MUST be defused, sooner or later. There's nothing "moral" or "compassionate" in ignoring that fact.

Jason Richwine, Thought Criminal

The recent hit on Jason Richwine tells us everything we want to know about freedom of thought in the DC Empire (hint: there isn't any). Richwine's thoughtcrime was to demonstrate that actual differences exist between the cognitive abilities of Whites and Hispanics. Don't like that conclusion? Do your own research, and offer your evidence to disprove it. Here's Jim Goad doing what Jim Goad does best, challenging the guardians of approved thought to live up to their own rules of fighting fact with fact:

Why, it’s not as if a 2001 meta-analysis of over five million human subjects determined that the average IQ gap between American whites and Hispanics was 11 points. Nor is it true that SAT scores tend to skew along stubbornly persistent racial lines. Nor is there any evidence that a nation’s mean IQ is strongly correlated with a nation’s relative prosperity.

But of course, it's impossible to prove Richwine wrong. All the guardians of approved thought can offer is shrill condemnation, and THAT is something they have in abundance. Richwine has been fired, proving how much power our guardians have.

Why the uproar? Richwine challenged the fundamental assumption that justifies the Empire's existing power structure. Equality sanctifies DC's "wars of liberation" around the world, as well its grip on its subject people at home. So forget all the fairy tales about "human dignity" and "universal brotherhood." It's all about power and wealth.

Quote of the day

"Can a blonde lesbian who claims to be an American Indian be racist against blacks?" Steve Sailer

You definitely want to read the whole thing. A Sailer classic!

Rasmussen Poll: Nullification Goes Mainstream

How much longer can a broke, increasingly repressive, and lawless regime survive?

Not long. That realization is slowly but persistently dawning on more people. The results of this Rasmussen poll show increasing support for State nullification of unconstitutional federal laws:

A Rasmussen poll released Monday indicates that nullification is growing more and more popular in mainstream America. Pollsters found 38 percent support states taking actions to “block” federal acts that restrict the right to keep and bear arms. Less than half (45 percent) oppose blocking these unconstitutional federal acts.

Even more revealing: more people than not approve of nullification in general.

“On the general question of ‘nullification,’ 44 percent believe states should have the right to block any federal laws they disagree with on legal grounds. Thirty-six percent disagree and 20 are undecided,” pollsters said. ...

A majority of everyday politically engaged Americans support the general principle of nullification. According to the Rasmussen poll, 52 percent of mainstream voters think states should have the right to block any federal laws they disagree with on legal grounds.

The only way we can halt the federal leviathan is to encourage widespread public support for State sovereignty. Only power can check power. As the threat of an unchecked central government becomes all too clear (And what could be more stark than runaway debt, indefinite detention, and warrantless surveillance ?), the rediscovery of State sovereignty can only gain more traction. So this poll is good news.

NC LS Spring Conference

“States, Federal Law and Nullification” – Saturday, 1 June, 11AM - 3PM

Allred Banquet Room, K&W Cafeteria, Burlington, NC

“Over the years I have found the conferences of the of the North Carolina League of the South to be known for a spirited sharing of insightful opinions and knowledge that you won't find elsewhere, all in a warm and welcoming atmosphere of fellowship. I never leave a conference without plenty of ideas and information that stay with me far beyond the length of the drive home.” NC LS member Alex Cheek, Winston-Salem

Join other well-informed North Carolina patriots who want to help influence and direct our State’s political future at our Spring Conference.

Our keynote speaker will be Mark Hopp, a veteran Tenth Amendment advocate in North Carolina and a 2012 candidate for County Commissioner of Alamance County. His topic will be the increasing discussion and viability of the nullification of federal law by States, and the powers reserved to the States by the United States Constitution. The question of nullification has risen greatly in the area of national gun control legislation, and many North Carolina Sheriffs have produced official statements opposing any and all federal attempts at disarming our citizens. This is a topic which will heat up quickly in the coming months. Be there to join the discussion! Also, tentatively-scheduled are facilitators Michael C. Tuggle and Bernhard Thuersam directing two open discussion segments on the subjects of federal interference in North Carolina matters, and the scorecard to-date on the Republican-dominated legislature and governorship.

Directions: The K&W is easy to find at Exit 143 of I-40/85, Burlington. From the east, turn right off ramp then an immediate left; from the west, turn left off ramp, then left after overpass. For more information or questions, please email: bernhard1848@att.net

Homeland Security Funded Exercise Portrayed Homeschoolers as Terrorists

The demonization of the dissident right just took a nasty turn.

How rotten is the DC Empire?

A young policy analyst was fired this week because of his Harvard doctoral thesis.

Also this week, an editorial writer defended the government's use of torture.

So in today's America, questioning the official doctrine of universal equality will get you fired. But it's perfectly acceptable to condone torture, even if, as the writer put it, "it’s bound to claim some innocent victims." After all, he writes, "it works."

And folks wonder why I don't fly the Empire's flag.

NC Sheriifs join with other law enforcement to oppose amnesty

Kudos to the North Carolina sheriffs who have gone on record against granting amnesty to law breakers:

More than a dozen North Carolina sheriffs have banded together with other sheriffs from Arizona to Pennsylvania in opposition to a bipartisan U.S. Senate proposal to overhaul the nation’s immigration laws.

Sheriffs Eddie Cathy of Union County, David Carpenter of Lincoln, and Terry Johnson of Alamance, among others, criticize what they consider a lack of border security.

They say the proposal “tolerates both past and future criminal activities,” according to a letter sent Thursday to Sens. Richard Burr, a Winston-Salem Republican, and Kay Hagan, a Greensboro Democrat.

There can only be one result of rewarding law breakers, and that's more crime. But in this age of Cultural Marxism, stating the obvious is dangerous.

Aggressive abroad and despotic at home

The invasion of Afghanistan was marketed as a war of liberation. But it's now revealed as nothing more than another power grab. The Afghan puppet government is now negotiating with its sugar daddies in DC how many occupation bases will be set up.

Let's not fool ourselves into thinking this does not affect us. As this article by Jacob Hornberger makes clear, every imperial advance DC makes has a direct impact on our liberty. It takes money to finance these military adventures, and that means a domestic army of tax collectors who are empowered to poke and probe every nook and cranny of your life to see if you have any hidden change.

Naturally, the more folks in the occupied nations become embittered by foreign incursions, including cowardly drone attacks, the more domestic terrorism we can expect - and that means more citizen surveillance and totalitarian measures to "protect" us.

Such "protection" is an illusion, and a deadly one at that.

Ex-constituents ask judge to sentence Jesse Jackson Jr. to hard time

This story just gets better with every update! And this latest report about JJJr's bitter ex-constituents wanting the book thrown at him is just the icing on the cake:

Several of former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr.’s (D-Ill.) constituents are asking a federal judge to show him no mercy when he hands down his sentence.

The charges of using campaign funds for personal use, which Jackson has pleaded guilty to, are worse than murder, Chicago resident Gregory Ritter said in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge Robert L. Wilkins.

“[M]urder would be a lighter crime, as these defendants have used the political hopes and dreams of the constituents as a blank check for deceit,” Ritter wrote.

Southerners everywhere can't help but feel that justice has been served - after all the nasty things JJJr said about the South, it looks like he's getting his just rewards.

Quote of the day

“The US has become a government with a country, rather than a country with a government.” Anon

Thanks to Earl for forwarding!

New York to consider allowing non-citizens to vote in city elections

After all, requiring citizenship to vote IS a form of discrimination.

Like Roman citizenship in the declining days of the Empire, American citizenship is becoming increasingly meaningless - and it's easy to figure out where THAT road will lead.

Galtung: U.S. empire will fall by 2020

Johan Galtung: "Nothing unusual about that. It will follow the British Empire, the French Empire, and the Soviet. I predicted the fall of the Soviet Empire within 10 years in 1980, and it fell on time. So in 2000, I made a prediction of 2025 for the US Empire, then George W. Bush was elected president, and he was an accelerator."

Political Decentralization Might Help in Conflict-Ridden Countries

Ivan Eland has written a very important essay, one that tackles an issue of major importance for today's foreign policy and America's near future:

What do Libya, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan have in common? Although it’s true that the United States has conducted recent military interventions in all of them, the more fundamental answer is that they are all artificial countries. That is, they are each made up of feuding ethno-sectarian groups or tribes.

And perhaps the instability caused by those realities has been a beacon for the American superpower’s imperial attention. Of course, solving all of these countries’ “issues” would probably not stop the United States government from finding chaos elsewhere to police, thus continuing to squander tens of billions of its taxpayers’ dollars. However, resolving the conflicts in those nations would likely help the war-ravaged peoples who live there.

In the long-term, to deal with such quarrels–which are usually caused by ethnic, sectarian, or tribal clashes—one needs either to address the underlying causes so that the various peoples can live together or to move toward a separation of warring groups and political decentralization.

Eland is addressing American foreign policy, and he's saying that instead of backing big, centralized foreign governments, the US should encourage ethnic groups seeking self-determination - as Eland points out, it's the proven path to peace. Good fences make good neighbors.

But I think we need to consider Eland's points in view of our own domestic policies as well, specifically, immigration. As the Senate considers passing an amnesty scheme, it might be a good time to think about what such a move would do to our long-term stability.

Sociologist Robert Putnam has already researched the real-world effects of diversity on a society's political health. In a paper entitled "E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century," Putnam documented the following negative results of increased diversity:

- Lower confidence in local government, local leaders and the local news media.

- Lower political efficacy – that is, confidence in one's own influence.

- Lower frequency of registering to vote, but more interest and knowledge about politics and more participation in protest marches and social reform groups.

- Higher political advocacy, but lower expectations that it will bring about a desirable result.

- Less expectation that others will cooperate to solve dilemmas of collective action (e.g., voluntary conservation to ease a water or energy shortage).

The problem is that our own out-of-control central government is not only encouraging greater diversity, but actively opposing local governments trying to halt illegal immigration. The ONLY solution, then, is implied in Eland's article, that decentralization - that is, local self-determination - is essential to stability and peace.

Confederate Heritage Day in Alabama

It's this Saturday, May 11, in Wetumpka. Click here for more information.

Quote of the day

“I think that what should be continuously emphasized is the president’s leadership on one single point: that although health care was not listed per se in the Constitution, it should be a constitutional right.” Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, arguing that health care is a constitutional right because even though it's not in the Constitution, it should be.

Can't argue with that!

Honest examination of race

What should we do to halt the increasing dysfunction within Black communities? Walter Williams says the first step is to toss the "civil rights" agenda out the window. Here's why:

Black people could benefit from an honest examination of the bill of goods they've been sold. Such an examination would not come from black politicians, civil rights leaders or the black and white liberal elite. Those people have benefited politically and financially from keeping black Americans in a constant state of grievance based on alleged racial discrimination. The long-term solution for the problems that many black Americans face begins with an absolute rejection of the self-serving agenda of hustlers and poverty pimps.

In the name of "civil rights," the federal government is championing Latinos, who are taking jobs from Blacks. Despite that, the NAACP supports amnesty for illegal aliens.

It's enough to make you wonder whose side they're on.