The Imperial Federal Government

I am amazed. Or rather, dumbfounded. I do not understand how people think  that the way to give power to the people is through empowering the government. Is it just me or are the two ideas mutually exclusive?

At times, yes, I am tempted. I get caught up in the euphoria of government. I think that maybe a little bit more government will make everything better. Then I wake up. You have Ruby Ridge, where a man was entrapped by federal agents and, in the end, his wife and son were killed by an over-zealous federal policy which decided a sawed-off shotgun warranted the murder of two citizens.

Of course, Randy Weaver was acquitted of all alleged crimes, save failure to appear in court. The Feds hid documents and trigger happy snipers never faced justice. Score one for the bureaucrats.

Then Waco. 70+ dead because -- again -- firearms. Sure, Koresh was a jackass and needed a boot to the face. And of course, the Feds sought murder charges against the survivors and were rebuffed by jurors. The reason I take such exception with Waco is not entirely the principle of the situation but the manner in which it was handled by the government. Theirs was a situation identical to that faced by Rome more than 2,000 years ago during the siege of Veii: whether to lift the siege and face embarrassment; to assault the place and deal with a large loss of life; or to simply strangle the place to death. And of course, the Feds chose the worst option.

And what was the result of Waco and Ruby Ridge? Well, aside from the Feds being exonerated of murder? The Oklahoma City Bombing. I live only 40 miles from Oklahoma City. 168 of my fellow Oklahomans were killed by a maniac who was inspired by government abuses at Ruby Ridge and Waco.

But wait, it gets better. We have Katrina! More than one thousand dead because of government ineptitude! The city of New Orleans waited for the Feds while buses were being flooded, the Feds were blissfully ignorant and the State of Louisiana was...fuck if I know, playing both sides? Nagin was worthless. Blanco was worthless. Bush was worthless. Billions of dollars in government resources and manpower were shat down the drain that is New Orleans as hundreds died.

And let us not forget how capable government is: despite the ongoing presence of National Guard troops, Nola is still one of the most violent cities in America. Way to go. Score 50 for the Feds!

How about the CIA/FBI/ATF persona-in-absentia leading up to and on 9/11?

WMDs?

Wickard v. Filburn? That alone should have caused/cause a rebellion. A matter that is not interstate commerce in anyway is under the authority of the feds because of the -possibility- of the aggregate impact? No. Once was the time when that would have caused something like the Whiskey Rebellion.

Ruby Ridge ought to be spoken by every American. You can be murdered by Federal agents if you shorten a shotgun barrel from 20 to 18 inches. Federal agents can be given carte blanche on your life, and kill you no matter the circumstance. How? Because the entrapped you into sawing off a shotgun barrel. Ignoring rampant abuses of the Commerce Clause, the Articles of the Constitution and so on, you'd think the murder of civilians by federal agents would provoke a renewed exsanguination of the Tree of Liberty. 

You may forgive the government, I will not.

Will the government forgive you? I will.

>>2
I'd give you a nice hug if I needed forgiveness. But then you'd be without a hug. And I sincerely hope you do not think the government could/would forgive.

>>3
If you hug someone, they are with hugs as they have been hugged. The government is certainly capable of forgiveness, but whether it will or not is another question. A question I asked. In conclusion "The only antidote to mental suffering is physical pain.".

How many people actually know that Lon Horiuchi (the named sniper at Ruby Ridge who killed Vicki Weaver) was also deployed at Waco?

An interesting factoid from the wiki on Lon Horiuchi:

"The surviving Weaver family received $3.1M in 1995 to settle the suit brought against the BATF for wrongful death. Harris received $380,000 in 2000 for his wounding, making Horiuchi's shot perhaps the single most expensive bullet ever fired by a US official."

>>5
Well, who cares? Our imperial government rides roughshod over people and leaves bodies in the wake. But no one cares. As long as the stipends come on time and our omnipresent benefactor coddles us, what does it matter if citizens are murdered by the institution that is supposed to protect life and liberty?

Well, this is what you get when you welcome Nazis into your clandestine agencies after WWII. 

Not to say "I told you so," but...I told you so!

YOU WILL POST THIS

I WILL NOT BE SILENCED

Funny story, they didnt raid Ruby Ridge directly for the shotgun thing, they killed his family because he didn't show up for his court date about the gun.


Which happened 2 days before the date they told him..

One mistake doesn't prove that the government is imperialistic. This actually has little to do with imperialism. Look up the word.

>>10
Perhaps you should look up the word? Empire being hegemonic control over other peoples or nations? Hey, that's the US. Imperialism is a little different, it seems, reflecting a policy more than a state.

Definition aside, I did not use "Imperial" in the most literal dictionary sense, but in the broader sense of omnipresent, aggressive and power hungry. But I guess if we want to be so literal, we can. Which means you can't call Barack Obama a candidate because the original Latin word (candidus) meant dazzlingly white. And he's not white. We'll have to rename September, October, November and December...

But do you have anything to say about the somewhat rambling, weak argument I put forth or do you just like to play semantics?

OP, I happen to agree with Wickard v. Filburn. By growing Wheat and not consuming Wheat you are adversely effecting a depression ridden market.

So you can shut up and read your Libertarian fan-fiction from Rand.

>>12
I didn't think it was possible but I seem to be knee deep in crazy.

I mean, I hope you are kidding.