Because going after criminals who shoot back is dangerous, and the incompetent federal bureaucracy is likely to get you killed.
Category: Government
State of New Jersey Wipes Out Man’s Account
Claiming he owes 400 million in back taxes, the State of New Jersey wipes out a man’s bank account:
Goodman said he’s earned about $45,000 per year since he started working, and that the state took all the money from his bank account — roughly $1,800.
The Dept of Taxation told him it would take time to release the levy because they need to conduct an investigation.
So much for innocent until proven guilty. The governments of this country are absolutely out of control, and I have to question the sanity of a body politic that thinks Barack Obama is the answer to our woes. Barack Obama hasn’t met a state intrusion, tax, regulation or power he wouldn’t like to expand into even more fascets of our lives. For Obama, it’s Government First. That’s the last thing we need right now.
The Mortgage Crisis
It’s a giant shit sandwich, and we’re all going to have to take a bite. After this all runs its ugly course, we need to make sure the government gets out of the mortage business completely. It never should have been in it in the first place. Thanks FDR!
De-Americanizing Political Science
Apparently there is a movement of academics to de-emphasize teaching political science from an American perspective. Now we can have even more highly educated people who have no understanding or respect for how our political system functions!
Shut ‘Em Down Anyway
A developer in Connecticut is not stopping at anything to try and shut down Blue Trail Gun Range. First, they were sued over bullets supposedly hitting houses. Only they weren’t. But, the range went ahead and addressed some safety concerns and made changes.
Then the complaining party brought in family to use the strong arm of government and force a change.
Democratic Councilor Vincenzo DiNatale has asked local officials to consider whether Blue Trail, a North Branford Road range which abuts part of the reservoir, is posing a lead hazard to the water supply. …
DiNatale is the nephew of Pat DiNatale, a Durham resident who sued the range over alleged safety problems after bullets hit his home earlier this year.
What did they find? Nothing. Not a single bit of lead.
The legal lead limit for raw water is 50 parts per billion, while testing could not find even one part per billion in the water flowing from the Ulbrich, Adair said.
It doesn’t matter that they can’t even find one part per billion, as the headline states:
No lead, but issue isn’t dead
Popular Immunity
You know, if government officials and agents can claim qualified immunity, under the notion that the government can’t be sued for exercising its powers and duties, then, if popular sovereignty is truly the basis of our government’s legitimately, shouldn’t we have some kind of immunity for government agents suing citizens?
Driving Extremism
If one looks back at history, one of the primary drivers of the American Revolution was not taxes, it wasn’t Parliament, or a seething hatred of the crown. Those were just manifestations of a deeper problem. I think if you had to pick a fundamental, underlying reason why Americans separated from Great Britain, it would have to be that the colonies suffered from a deficit of dignity. There was an impression, even among elites in the colonies, that the cream of British society looked down on them from on high, and did not consider them to be equals. No matter how successful someone might have become in the colonies, to the folks back home, they would always be colonials — second class Englishmen. Once elites felt the indignity along with the common man, the seeds of the separation had been sown.
I bring this up, because there is the beginnings of a dignity deficit beginning to appear in some segments of American culture. I’m not suggesting we’re on the road to another revolution, though some seem to believe that, but I think we’re seeing symptoms of a problem that can lead to Very Bad ThingsTM if left to fester. The American left, for all their pretensions of caring about the Bill of Rights, civil liberties and freedoms, and the plight of the common man, has largely given up on them in practice. They care about civil liberties to the extent that they can use them as a political club to beat their opponents over the head with. They care about every day people to the extent that it helps them cement their power. Since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, you haven’t really heard much philosophy coming from the left in terms of what our rights and freedoms ought to be.
This is important, because liberty and freedom are values we should all agree on as Americans. Sure, we can argue over whether the general welfare clause allows Congress to establish “free” health care for everybody. We can argue over what to do about Social Security’s looming insolvency. We can argue over gay marriage, abortion, and all the other issues people love to bicker about. But there are some things that as Americans, we should all find outrageous, but it’s a sad fact that we don’t.
The media is perhaps the worst of the bunch when it comes to standing up for justice and liberty, and holding the powerful accountable. Sure, they are willing to do it when it involves topics the left disapproves of, but they tend to ignore a lot of Americans’ deeply established and held values. If this wasn’t the case, no one would pay attention to Rush Limbaugh. This is what contributes to a deficit of dignity — when the elite in politics and the media ignore and trivialize entire segments of society, those people start believing their concerns don’t matter. That’s not just wrong, it’s dangerous if taken to extremes.
Where’s the outrage in the media about the fact that a man was sent to prison for clearing brush out of a temporary waterway? We might all want clean water, but talk about unintended consequences. Why don’t you see stuff like this in the New York Times and Washington Post, where, especially, people who make these policies and laws can see the consequences of them, taken to extremes. Why is the left not outraged at repeated stories like this, and beginning to question why police are using more and more military style tactics when dealing with enforcing victimless crimes? Why did it take the NRA and SAF, and not the ACLU, to hold Nagin and Riley’s feet to the fire after they unlawfully confiscated firearms from elderly women in the lawless aftermath of Katrina, leaving them utterly defenseless. Hell, why isn’t the media and ACLU demanding that Nagin and Riley be thrown in jail? Has there been outrage among elites that Fenty has openly defied the spirit of the Heller ruling? Or is the sentiment more “Go Fenty! Screw those gun nuts!” Regardless of how you feel about Randy Weaver, or the Branch Davidians, can anyone on the left make a reasoned argument as to exactly why Lon Horiuchi should not be in prison right now? Can they explain why no one went to jail for mudering dozens of children in Waco?
These aren’t merely concerns of madmen. They are real questions that people have asked, but because their viewpoints aren’t represented among the elite, no one acts like they care. It’s quite possible no one among the elite does care. Having ones concerns and grievances marginalized is a great driver of political resentment, and while I don’t think too many people are ready to start a revolt over this, its what feeds a lot of the angry people who hurl invectives at those of us who suggest that they still have faith in the process. Given that the popular attitude among elites is to mock and dismiss them, as the Brady Campaign suggested I should do yesterday, is it any wonder they are pissed off? Something they ought to think about.
What Can Be Done to Fenty
A lot of folks have been asking “Why can’t Fenty be sued over his refusal to honor Heller.” Others suggest he should be in jail. I certainly agree with folks that Fenty and DC City Council have not been acting in good faith in regards to changing their laws, and I look forward to the smack down being put on them, either by Congress, or by further court action.
First, a bit about the actions available to go after public officials who violate civil rights. For criminal statutes, you have:
- Title 18, U.S.C., Section 241 – Conspiracy Against Rights
- Title 18, U.S.C., Section 242 – Deprivation of Rights Under Color of Law
For civil action you have Title 42, U.S.C., Section 1983 -Civil action for deprivation of rights. The criminal provisions and the civil remedy both require that the defendant be violating clearly established precedent. The criminal provision would require willing cooperation from the US Attorney General, which is not likely to be forthcoming. That pretty much leaves the civil action. In the civil action, there are two ways you can sue an official. You can sue them in their official capacity, where your only remedy is to enjoin them from further violation of rights, or you can sue them in their personal capacity, if you want to seek damages. The problem is, all government officials enjoy qualified immunity from suit if they are sued in their personal capacity.
Qualified immunity fails to apply if a reasonable person would have known that his or her actions violated clearly established precedent. Fenty would fail the reasonableness test, but is he violating clearly established precedent? DC’s ridiculous “machine gun” law was not challenged in Heller, which Fenty is currently using as justification for banning semi-automatic firearms. There is currently no judicial precedent that suggests machine guns have to be defined a certain way.  It certainly violates the spirit of the Heller ruling, but whether it violates the letter of it is a bit more murky. The Court also ruled that “the trigger-lock requirement (as applied to self-defense) violate the Second Amendment.” But DC did change their law to make a self-defense exception. It’s a ridiculous exception, but The Court was not entirely clear on what kind of provision was unacceptable, and what kind might be acceptable. It just said that DC’s law as it stands violates the second amendment. Again, Fenty and DC are violating the spirit of Heller, but whether they are violating clearly established precedent for the purposes of stripping qualified immunity is another matter. Courts tend to be reluctant to strip public officials of qualified immunity.
It would certainly feel good to get back at Fenty, but right now, the best way to resolve this issue is through Congressional action to set DC’s gun laws, and then preempt City Council from passing further gun laws. The next best action, next best becuase it will take longer than Congressional action, is the path already being taken by Steven Halbrook and Richard Gardiner on behalf of Mr. Heller. Once we get some more precedent under our belts, that more clearly defines the scope and bounds of the Second Amendment, it will be easier to sue public officials in their personal capacities under Section 1983, but for now, it would be a costly move that wouldn’t accomplish much other than making people feel better. The best course of action forward, and the one most likely to succeed, is the one currently being undertaken.
It’s the 1930s All Over Again?
Another one from the thread that just won’t die:
When I was in West Germany, during My active duty. I had a chance to talk to many of the Older German citizens, at the gast houses. Many of these wise Old man spoke of the early 30’s etc. And how horrified they were to see what was being done to some people by the Gestapo. But their Loyalty to their government stopped them, from speaking out against the abuses. Even though it put utter shivers down their spine and many said it Infuriated them. To see people( Their own neighbors in some instances/Very good friends) being arrested and taken away without due process of law. But it happens everyday in America Now! Not in such a gross context as Germany was then. But it is getting there. And it will continue too! Because abuse by government does not get the proper scrutiny by the People, it deserves. Or held to account for such abuses, by Law.
Get that? Every day in America the Gestapo head out to snatch up political undesirables, and the Olofson case is proof of it! Olofson, on whom the government served a lawfully obtained search warrant, gathered evidence against, permitted the assistance of counsel, and tried by a jury of his peers. Yet this apparently means we’re precariously close to 1930s Germany. It’s a shame you can’t order a sense of perspective on Amazon.
I have said before that I am no fan of the tactics the ATF used to convict Olofson, and I am certainly no fan of the laws that he was convicted of violating. If the jury had walked him, I would have considered that justice done. That a man like Olofson, who harmed no one, is rotting in a federal prison right now is exactly why these laws are wrong.
But because I advocate reigning in the ATF through legislation rather than gunfire, I am not an ally, but an enemy. Because I propose we ought to repeal, or at the very least reform the regulations on automatic weapons in this country, rather than shooting any federal bastard who gets tasked with enforcing them, I am a coward, and sullying the cause.
Any “revolution” prosecuted by folks like this will not be one I will join. Call me a coward, call me what you will, but I don’t see any good place it can possibly go. An anonymous commenter made a very cogent point:
The point of revolt should be to win. And you won’t win… you CAN’T win, unless you have won the hearts and minds of a significant amount of We the People. This is, after all, your goal… right? The restoration of the Republic? Do you propose to “impose liberty†on a majority who don’t agree with your definition? Sounds more Che Guevara than George Washington to me.
“Leave me alone or I’m going to shoot†isn’t an argument. It’s a threat. It doesn’t win converts to your side, because it ultimately doesn’t offer any answers. If we’re to take you seriously, that you believe a Revolution can and will happen, then you should be able to answer this question: what would your post-Revolution society be like? If you can’t articulate a vision for this country other than “leave me aloneâ€, then you’re not a believer in Locke (who saw a need for government), you’re just a garden variety anarchist.
The restoration of a constitutional republic isn’t going to happen when the same people who elected the government before the revolution will be electing it after. After and during the first American revolution, things were made quite uncomfortable for loyalists. By uncomfortable, I mean more than a few of them were dragged out of their homes, tarred, feathered, hung in some cases, shot in others. Some of them were merely disarmed. About ten to fifteen percent of loyalists emigrated. In today’s terms, that would be about 45 million refugees. Where are they all going to go? Are we going to pass laws denying them citizenship? Are we going to take their property? If the answer is no, then the same people will elect another government that will look a lot like this one. If the answer is yes, then you can count me out of that nonsense unless there’s absolutely, positively no other choice. Revolution is nasty business. It should not be undertaken or threatened lightly. Many of these people do not speak like people who really, truly think that violence is an absolute last resort.
The Myth of the Clean Revolution
Kim du Toit brings up a lot of important points in regards to the thread yesterday:
I’ve lived in a state of near-revolution, and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty. Want to go and visit your mother in the next town over? Imagine having to call ahead to the local police stations or military bases to see if the road is safe to travel on. (Add IEDs to this, and I think the picture becomes even clearer.) Has the Kmart been swept recently for explosive devices? Is anyone lurking over the road, waiting to shoot you when you come out to mow your lawn?
I think Kim’s clarity on this issue comes from the fact that he’s an immigrant, and has been much closer to actual civil unrest than any of us have been. I would also imagine that people who grew up in a different culture also aren’t raised with all the American cultural myths. Now, I’m not going to immediately bash on mythology. Every society needs its mythology in order to define itself as a people. But I think we do need to recognize when mythology starts getting its nose into the tent of reality.
One particular American myth is that of the clean revolution. No one disputes that the American Revolution was just and necessary, but history tends to white wash the nastier bits. One doesn’t have to look much farther than what happened to Loyalists both during and after the revolution to realize that it wasn’t clean. As Peter at Firearms and Freedom point out, even if you win your revolution, you’re still stuck with the same population that voted the original government into existence. None of the ways to deal with that problem are pretty.
Our revolution was also risky. The founding fathers, who pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honor, would have certainly been executed if the revolution had been put down, but they also would have been in trouble had they lost control. If it wasn’t for George Washington, we would be a backwater, just like many of the other American colonies. History is not replete with men who willingly surrender great power. Washington may not have filled the intellectual role in our nation’s founding that Jefferson or Madison did, and he might not have been the greatest general the world has ever seen, but Washington made his place in our history with these words:
Having now finished the work assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of Action; and bidding an Affectionate farewell to this August body under whose orders I have so long acted, I here offer my Commission, and take my leave of all the employments of public life.
That is, in my opinion, one of the greatest acts in the history of mankind. Not only for what it said of Washington’s character, but because men like Washington are so utterly rare in history.
For the people today who think about affecting a clean revolution, remember that your revolution will not change the people of the United States, who elected the government that you so despise, and we’d be extraordinarily lucky to be lead by another Washington. The only clean revolutions are those that happen by the ballot box.
That’s why Bitter is pissed off about this whole thread, since she’s worked most of her adult life on affecting a truly clean revolution on this issue by convincing her fellow citizens to toss out the bums who vote for gun control. It’s also why I love people like Breda, who bring in passion for the issue, and are eagar to share it with others. If we had a thousand Bitters and Bredas scattered around the country, gun rights would be an unstoppable juggernaut. We’d get our clean revolution. This is where I make my contribution in the here and now. What about you?