Name: Anonymous 2007-08-28 3:28 ID:BfJNwkJs
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.
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.