March, 2020, Part 3,Political Class Insanity: Joe Biden Delusions, Hillary Clinton Called To Order, and The Continued Degeneration of California.

It is another month which means it is again time to review the latest political class insanity from Washington and around the world. Political class insanity takes many forms including the wasting of taxpayer wealth, criminal fraud within government programs, inane and stupid political quotes and actions, the inability to create and implement effective and efficient government programs, stupid and ill performing economic policies and strategies, and other forms of insanity that continue to evolve and surprise and shock us.

Let’s get started:

1) Joe Biden has been one of the top gaffe machines and persons to be covered by this blog. The idiotic, stupid, and delusions things he says were once humorous but are now getting scary as he could be running for President of the United States this fall. 

He recently was at it again, stumbling to get his thoughts together AND to verbalize them. In a recent campaign stop, he tried to quote from the Declaration of Independence and messed it all up: “We hold these truths to be self-evident. All men and women created...by the...you know...you know the thing.” He meant to say: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

So not only did he butcher the quote but probably more importantly he could not remember from what historical document he was quoting, calling it “the thing.” As a long term politician, a college graduate, and a lawyer how could he not remember the Declaration of Independence, one of the greatest human documents ever written? Very scary that a person of his current mental facilities could actually be President.

2) It has been our opinion that Hillary Clinton has been able to use her Washington and political class connections to escape consequences of her likely illegal actions and activities. From violating Federal law by having and using a secret, unsecured email server in her home while Secretary of State to using the Clinton Foundation as a front for money laundering and her family's enrichment to destroying evidence of criminal activity, she has somehow gotten a free pass from those that were responsible for enforcing the laws of the land.

But due to a recent court ruling, looks like she may be headed for a legal challenge relative to some of her alleged law breaking:

• A Federal judge has ordered her to personally give a deposition relative to the possible illegal use of her unsecured home computer server.
• U.S. District Court judge, Royce Lamberth, has ordered the deposition because her past comments on the topic were ”incomplete, unhelpful, or cursory."
• This order follows an unbelievable five and half year legal battle concerning the Freedom of Information Act that was brought by Judicial Watch.
• This will be the first time she has had to answer live questioning under oath by none members of Congress.
• According to Politico: “During her four years in President Barack Obama's Cabinet, Clinton relied on a private email account and server for both her work-related and personal messages. The practice led to a storm of controversy that roiled her 2016 presidential bid and is widely viewed as contributing to her ultimate defeat by Donald Trump.”
• FBI investigators had found dozens of top secret information on her unsecured server which probably had been hacked by more than one foreign entity.
• The judge also ordered Clinton’s chief of staff, Cheryl Mills, to also be deposed.

So sad that justice takes so long to be brought against the Washington elite or break laws with ease. The Freedom of Information Act was not designed to take five and half years to comply with requests which raises the doubt that all is well and kosher as it relates to the unsecured Hillary Clinton email server.

3) Now that Joe Biden has some primary momentum after Super Tuesday voting, it seems he is saying more and more dumb and incoherent stuff. The latest relates to gun violence in the country which came up in a recent debate put on by CBS news.

Specifically: “But my friend to the right and others have, in fact, also gave into the gun manufacturers, absolute immunity. Imagine if I stood here and said we’d give immunity to drug companies. We would give immunity to tobacco companies. That has caused carnage on our streets, 150 million people have been killed since 2007 when Bernie voted to exempt the gun manufacturers from liability. More than all the wars, including Vietnam, from that point on.”

Let’s do some simple math Joe and see how ridiculously inane this statement is:

• 150 million people is about half the population of the entire country which means in about a dozen years half of the country's population has been wiped out by gun violence.
• That means that 12.5 million have been killed over the past dozen years by gun violence.
• Which means just over 1 million Americans were killed every month by gun violence.
• Which means that over 33,000 Americans were killed every day by gun violence over a 12 year period.
• Since 2007, just over 33 million Americans have died from EVERY possible way, be it car accidents, cancer, drug overdoses, gun violence, etc. 
• And yet Biden thinks that almost five times that many have been killed just by gun violence.

Hard to believe that someone could be that that stupid or delusional to make up such stupidity.

4) We have spent a lot of time over the past several months discussing in what bad shape the state of California is. It is losing citizens to other states who are fleeing bad schools, a crumbling infrastructure, high homeless rates, and sky high taxes. Some of the state’s biggest cities have become cesspools of filth and disease as the state and local Democratic politicians have failed to even begin addressing the homeless problem in the state. Public defecation and urination, the public shooting up of drugs and the revival of gruesome Medieval diseases (e.g. typhus) has made a disgusting living environment for many state residents.

And yet in his recent state of the state message the state governor made the following bold prediction that he never knew could be so full of hot air and irony: “California is still, proudly, America’s coming attraction.”

• America First’s website put this inane comment in perspective:
• California has 12% of the nation's population but 53% of the nation's homeless population.
• California has nine times as many homeless people than the next closest state.
• California has the eighth worst road conditions.
• California has two of the top eight most congested cities in the country.
• California has the sixth worst prison overcrowding problem in the country which has led a court to force the state to release thousands of criminals onto the streets.
• California has the worst teacher to student ratio in the entire country.
• California has had a net loss of population to other states over the past 30 years.

If the California governor thinks that California is the country's coming attraction then it surely is a horror show.

That will do it for today. More political delusions whether it is Biden on the national political stage of the California on the state political stage and Hillary Clinton is FINALLY going to have to explain her likely law breaking unsecure computer server.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

https://www.amazon.com/Walter-Bruno-Korschek/e/B002KYU08Q/ref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:


http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.bankruptingamerica.org
http://www.conventionofstates.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

Grounds For Impeachment, Part 1: The Obama Administration's Fire, Smoke and Kindling Abuse of the Constitution and Rule of Law

Over the past three days we identified over 60 ways that the Obama administration has screwed up the lives of every American. However, we recognized that those five dozen or so failures were not grounds for impeachment and removal from office, no matter how heinous and damaging those failures were. We reminded readers that you cannot remove a President from office:

• For having ineffective and/or stupid policies.
• For being ineffective in executing his duties of office.
• For being arrogant, narcissistic, and pompous.
• For waging class warfare and dividing the nation into voting blocs.
• For lying about his past or his promises.

The first of those three posts can be accessed at:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2014/01/part-1-first-twenty-failures-of-obama.html

Presiding over an economy where over 20 million Americans are under employed or unemployed and where almost 50 million Americans receive Federal government food assistance are not grounds for impeachment.

Running up astronomical national debt levels so that the debt burden in the country is over $50,000 per person is not grounds for impeachment.

Having an ineffective and bumbling foreign policy strategy and operation are not grounds for impeachment.

Failing to rein in wasteful government spending is not grounds for impeachment.

Blatant lying about how things are or will be in the Presidential administration and its policies and programs are not grounds for impeachment.

Dissing our veterans in so many ways are not grounds for impeachment.

However, while those 60 or so failures are not grounds for impeachment and removal from office, there are numerous breeches of laws, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights that have emanated out of this Presidential administration. And it is those actions that we will review and present today in the next five posts, actions that we believe warrant and require the Congress to institute impeachment proceedings against this President.

Our grounds for impeachment are to be presented in three categories:

1. Fire: obvious grounds for impeachment that require very little additional research and analysis before being presented to the Senate as articles of impeachment.
2. Smoke: probably grounds for impeachment that require some additional research and analysis before being presented to the Senate as articles of impeachment.
3. Kindling: possibly grounds for impeachment that require a lot of additional research and analysis before being presented to the Senate as articles of impeachment but if true, would easily end the current Presidential administration.

The main violations for impeachment include the following:

• The Constitution - Article I, Section I: All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
• The Constitution - Article I, Section 8: The Congress shall have the power …to declare war, grant letters of Marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water.
• The Constitution - Article I, Section, 9: The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
• The Constitution - Article II, Section 1: No person except a natural born citizen, or a citizen of the United States, at the time of the adoption of this Constitution shall be eligible for the office of President.
• The Constitution - Article II, Section 1: Before he [the President] enter on the execution of his office, he shall take the following oath or affirmation: “I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.
• The Constitution - Article II, Section 2: The President shall have power to fill vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate.
• The Constitution - Article II, Section 3: …he [the President] shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
• The Constitution - Article II, Section 4: The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.
• The Constitution - First Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the government for a redress if grievances.
• The Constitution - Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
• The Constitution - Sixth Amendment: In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy trial and a public trial.
• the Constitution - Fourteenth Amendment: The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law… shall not be questioned.
• The Declaration of Independence - We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.

A few more points before we proceed:

1. I am not a lawyer, never wanted to be a lawyer, and would be more than happy to be corrected about my assumptions and conclusions regarding this topic from someone who is more versed in law and the Constitution.
2. Although I have legally voted since the 1970s, I have never voted for a Republican for President and up until 2010, I had never voted for a Republican for national political office. Thus, I am not a rabid Republican who is jut trying to do a hatchet job on the current Democratic President.
3. If you object to my views and conclusions, reconsider if your objections would vanish if the Bush administration had committed the same identified actions and transgressions against the country, the Constitution, and the laws of the land that the Obama administration has allegedly done. If you then still think that my views and conclusions are wrong, then we have a serious disagreement of what constitutes impeachable actions regarding the office of the President.

In this discussion, the President is being held responsible for the actions of all of those in the executive branch of our government. This means that a violation of any law and the Constitution by anyone in that branch is his responsibility. 

Now, we realize that we cannot hold him accountable for actions that he had no knowledge of beforehand. However, if he fails to take action. e.g. fire or arrest and prosecute the executive branch member who broke the law, after the violations come to light, then he should be criminally treated as an accessory after the fact, which we consider grounds for impeachment.

Okay, that is a long lead up to the discussion of whether this President has committed impeachable offenses. However, this is serious stuff and better to lay out the groundwork than to emotionally jump right in without a framework for analyzing the actions of this administration. We will get started with the ‘Fire” offenses today and continue the discussion tomorrow, finishing up “Fire” and moving on the “Smoke” and “Kindling categories.

The “Fire” reasons why President Obama should face impeachment proceedings:

1) He led the United States into a majjor military action against the country of Libya, spending well over a billion dollars of taxpayer wealth and placing our armed forces in danger without the approval of Congress, violating the War Powers Act and Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution.

2) He refused to fire James Clapper, a high ranking member of the President’s national security team after Clapper lied to Congress about how much electronic information the National Security Agency (NSA) was collecting on every American citizen, becoming an accessory after the fact in Clapper's lying to Congress.

3) He signed the latest NDAA legislation whose sections 1021 and 1022 allow for the indefinite detention of American citizens, without trial, who the government considers terrorist suspects until the vague “end of hostilities,” which violates the habeas corpus protection of American citizens under Article I Section 9 of the Constitution.

4) He personally signed off on the assassination of American citizens in foreign lands, e.g. the killing of American citizen Anwar al-Awlaki via a drone attack in Yemen, denying him and other citizens a fair trial by their peers, negating the rights, and lives, of al-Awlaki and at least three other American citizens, violating their right “to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the Fourth Amendment, and the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution.

5) He has repeatedly and in varied ways denied members of our armed forces to their right to personally celebrate, follow, and take comfort in their personal Christian religion and faith, violating the First Amendment to the Constitution.

6) His administration’s development and deployment of the Fast and Furious gun running operation to supply weapons to violent Mexican drug cartels has violated any number of laws including:

• The illegal shipment of weapons to criminal organizations.
• Violations of international treaties regarding illegal gun smuggling.
• Abetting the violence of those cartels who used Fast and Furious weapons to kill innocent Mexican civilians and a U.S. border agent, Brian Terry.
• Denying Congress and Congressional investigators access to pertinent Fast and Furious executive branch documents needed to investigate the alleged transgressions by claiming executive privilege.

These actions ignore and/or break existing laws and thus, violating Article II, Sections 3 and 4 of the Constitution.

That will do it for today, a lot of serious information. We will continue the impeachment discussion tomorrow, more fire, smoke, and kindling.

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

Nancy Pelosi: Political Class Insanity Quote Machine

We very well could have included this post in the last series of posts we did which covered the latest lunacy, idiocy, and insanity of the American political class. However, since today’s post is dedicated to the world and alternative reality of Nancy Pelosi, I felt that she should get her own dedicated space.

The basis for today’s discussion was a research piece recently published by the Independent Journal Review that nominated the eight best, or worse, quotes from former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. The most kind word I can say about her quotes and political actions and perceptions is that she and I live in two completely different worlds, two different realities. 

In my opinion, she must be in a different world, given her following quotes and outlooks on life, outlooks that are totally in conflict with reality, the numbers, and common sense of today‘s America:

1. No Spending Problem Here

"It is almost a false argument to say we have a spending problem. We have a budget deficit problem that we have to address."

Comments: No spending problem? Consider the following realities:

• The Federal government spends about $10 billion a day, 365 days a year. For comparison, if you had spent $1,000 a day since the day Christ was born, you would still not have spent a billion dollars. The Federal government spends ten times more than that in one day.
• It spends about $410 million an hour.
• It spends about $7 million a minute.
• On average, every U.S. household would have to pay about $31,000 a year to cover the $3.6 TRILLION annual Federal budget. 
• Since the U.S. median household income is about $50,000, about 60% of what an average U.S. household makes, pre-tax, each year would theoretically go to funding the Federal government.
• Excessive spending by the Federal government over the years has burdened current and future American generations with $17 TRILLION worth of national debt burden. 
• That national debt burden has gone up by a whopping $5 TRILLION just since Obama took office.
• This $17 TRILLION national debt is over $50,000 for every U.S. citizen, from the youngest baby to the oldest senior citizen.
• If you could somehow liquidate the total wealth, not income, of Bill Gates, you could fund about only one week of Federal government spending, having no impact at all on the already $17 TRILLION of national debt. 
• More generally, even if you confiscated the total wealth of the “richest” Americans, you probably could not fund even one year’s worth of Federal spending or have any impact on reducing the national debt with that total wealth confiscation.
• The Federal government spending over the past few years has been used to fund research to find out when dogs became man’s best friend, built a robotic squirrel to see how poisonous snakes would react to it, built an underwater treadmill to see if shrimp could run, studied the sex lives of a New Zealand snail species, built two Navy ships for $300 million that were immediately turned into scrap metal without every being used in service, built an $80 million State Department consulate in Afghanistan and THEN realized it was not defensible against terror attacks, etc., etc. etc. The volume and originality of how Washington politicians waste taxpayer wealth is endless.

There is only an excessive spending problem in Washington since regardless of how much you raise taxes, up to and including total wealth confiscation of rich Americans, you could never balance the current Federal spending budget or pay down the debt by increasing taxes. At least in my reality.

2. Unemployment Creates Jobs

"[Unemployment benefits] creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name." Pelosi also said it has the "double benefit" of helping those who lost their jobs and acting as a "job creator" on the side.

Comments: So in her world, it would be best to create more unemployment since that is the best way to create jobs. I am sure that the chronically unemployed, the 23 million Americans are so who are unemployed or under employed, would disagree with this conclusion. 

The Federal government and state governments have probably paid out more in unemployment benefits over the past five years than in any other five year period in our history. And all it has done is make over 20 million American unemployed/under employed and resulted in a record number of consecutive months where the unemployment rate has been stuck well above 7%. No, Ms. Pelosi, unemployment benefits are not a job creating program in this world.

3. Health Independence?

“This week marks one year since the Supreme Court upheld the Affordable Care Act. It captures the spirit of our founders. The spirit they wrote in the Declaration of Independence."

Comments: The spirit of the Declaration of Independence in my world, is one of liberty, freedom, free choice, minimal government interference in my life. In her world, as it pertains to Obama Care, the spirit of independence must mean:

• The government can force you to buy a product that you may or may not want or may or may not be able to afford.
• Failure to adhere to the government dictates, will result in fines and criminal record.
• The government can force you to go to doctors and hospitals, and other medical options that they want you to go to, not what you want to choose.
• The government can force insurance companies to drop the health care insurance policy that you were perfectly happy with since it fit your needs, not the needs of the Federal bureaucracy, forcing you to purchase a replacement policy that is likely more expensive with fewer benefits.
• The government can force you through a website process that endangers your personal identify protection and security simply because they are incapable of building a secure website.
• Politicians can call ordinary Americans who disagree with the tenets of the Obama Care legislation racists, members of the KKK, obstructionists, and any other number of personal slurs.
• The government can force this legislation down our throats even though the majority of Americans dislike it and want it substantially changed, fixed or repealed.

Obama Care, in this reality, could not be any further from the spirit of the Declaration Of Independence.

4. Obama Care Allows People to Quit Their Day-Jobs

"Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or, eh, a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance, or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk but not [be] job-locked because a child has asthma or someone in the family is bipolar. You name it. Any condition is job-blocking."

Comment: The problem is that the majority of Americans do not want to quit their day jobs. They want to keep their day jobs and also keep the health insurance coverage their day jobs include. 

That is unlikely to happen with Obama Care since reputable researchers note that tens of millions of Americans are likely to lose their insurance next year when Obama Care causes employers to drop their current health insurance policies and programs.

As far as an artist, photographer or entrepreneurial being able to quit their day job, they can still do that but will still be without health insurance coverage since we now know that insurance coverage under Obama Care is likely to be more expensive for both deductibles and premiums and offer far fewer options for doctors, hospitals, and benefits. Nobody wins in this world.

5. Obama Care is Slashing Deficits

"Many of the initiatives that he passed are what are coming to bear now -- including the Affordable Care Act," Pelosi said. "The Affordable Care Act is bringing the cost of health care in our country down in both the public and private sector, and that is what is largely responsible for the deficit coming down." 

The Affordable Care Act is already three times original cost estimates, now at $2.7 trillion over ten years and will add $6.2 trillion to the long-term debt. That’s how basic math works in this reality, Ms. Pelosi. How does it work in yours? 

Oh, and be the way, according to analyses done of insurance costs listed under Obama Care health exchanges, the cost of insurance will not be coming down as you promise, in either the private or the public sector.

6. Government Fulfills Americans

“To some of us the role of government is about doing things for the American people to help them reach fulfillment."

Comment: I think most Americans agree that if we only could keep the 30% of so of our annual income that we send to Washington and other local politicians, we would find it much easier to reach fulfillment on our own. 

If we did not send so much of our money to the political class to waste in so many ways, we could send our kids to better schools, we could take more vacations, we could start our own businesses, etc., finding individual fulfillment without your help.

Instead, not only to you get to confiscate a large percentage of our wages and earnings, you mismanage the economy so that just finding a job is so difficult, you read our emails, social media posts, and listen to our phone calls without our permission, you slander and demand those of us that do not agree with you positions on the issues, and you waste our wealth. You could not be any further away from helping us reach fulfillment if you tried.

7. Finding Out What's In Obama Care

"It’s going to be very, very exciting. But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it..."

Comment: This has to be her most inane comment ever. If, as Speaker of the House, she has no clue what was in the legislation, than why are we paying her and her 434 peers in Congress? What else do they have to do in Washington but develop legislation, READ legislation, and pass or not pass legislation? 

She and the rest of them in Congress should be giving us a refund on their pay and benefits if they do not even know what they are voting on. An insult to our intelligence and common sense. Absolutely pathetic performance and quote in this reality.

8. Politics Getting in Obama's Way

"I don't think [Obama's] ever done anything for political reasons [...] This has been a president as bipartisan as any that I've seen."

Comment: Second most inane comment. Obama rammed Obama Care through Congress with absolutely no input from Republicans.

He has stood idly by as his political allies have called common citizens racists, homophobes, terrorists, knuckle dragging Neanderthals, a__h___s, whores, sluts, and other slanderous names simply for having a different opinion than him through the past few years. 

When a Congressional member of his party said that a group of concerned citizens could just go to hell, he was silent. 

He has directed the IRS to hassle, hinder, and abuse First Amendment rights of citizens who wanted to become actively politically. 

He has ordered IRS audits on individuals who publicly condemned any of his policies.

Everything this President does is for political reasons, he is from the Chicago school of thug politics. If this is being bipartisan, I would truly hate to see him being partisan.

Different realities and perceptions of reality between Ms. Pelosi and myself. I would be laughing at her view of reality if it was not so destructive to the economy, the freedoms, and wealth in the reality that I and most Americans live in. To think that this individual was just two spots away from running the country is frightening to me. 

For other memorable, out of this world quotes from Ms. Pelosi, please access the following ink, a link where we try hard to determine if her quotes and views would be best served by the SYFY channel of Comedy Central:

http://loathemygovernment.blogspot.com/2010/12/nancy-pelosi-comedy-central-or-syfy.html

Her other world views are why we need to implement Federal term limits as soon as possible because, really, how much worse could it be if we replaced her and her peers with a whole new set of people:

www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com

Our book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at:

www.loathemygovernment.com

It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Please visit the following sites for freedom:

Term Limits Now: http://www.howmuchworsecoulditget.com
http://www.reason.com
http://www.cato.org
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08j0sYUOb5w

"The Not So United" States of America - Will The Center Hold?

We have briefly touched on this topic before but I wanted to update it with additional information. There could have been several alternative titles including - "Guess Who's (Not) Coming To Dinner," a spoof on an old movie title or it could have been "What If The Federal Government Passed A Law And Nobody Cared?" I never thought this country could get to this point but consider the following "not so united" instances from just the recent past:

• The Montana state legislature passed a law last year that exempts Montana citizens from Federal gun purchase laws as long as the guns and related ammunition were made, purchased, and used in the state of Montana. Their reasoning is straight out of the U.S. Constitution which gives the Federal government the right to regulate interstate transportation but it gives it no right to regulate intrastate commerce. Act of defiance #1.
• According to an online article from the Salt Lake Tribune from November 13, 2010, the state of Utah is considering passing the same type of law as it applies to guns and ammunition purchased in the state of Utah. Act of defiance #2.
• The state of Arizona recently passed and will soon institute a controversial immigration law that allows a member of a police force to ask for proof of citizenship while in the midst of investigating a potential crime. This was done since the state legislature and the majority of Arizona citizens got tired of waiting for the Federal government to solve the illegal immigrant and illegal drug flow into Arizona from Mexico. The Federal government, through Obama's public posturing and attorney general Eric Holder's threat to bring a lawsuit against the Arizona law (even though at the time he threatened the lawsuit he had not read the law), are certainly not happy with Arizona. Act of defiance #3.
• Less well know but equally defiant is the fact that Arizona is not along in its defiance of the Federal government's inaction with regard to illegal immigration. According to a recent Eric Effron article in The Week magazine, in the first quarter alone of 2010, state and local governments have enacted their own version of immigration laws, over 100 in total. The state of Florida is just one of several other states that are thinking of following Arizona's lead in this area in defiance of Obama and Holder. Act of defiance #4.
• For years it was legal to sell medical marijuana in California through specially designated outlets as long as a legitimate doctor prescribed marijuana for pain relieve. This was and is in direct conflict with Federal anti-drug laws that prohibits the sale of marijuana for any purpose. Thus, marijuana purveyors face the dilemma of being in compliance with state laws and defying Federal laws. Act of defiance #5.
• After the 9-11 attacks, it seemed obvious to many politicians that it was much too easy to get fake government identification papers. The fear was that the ease of obtaining these ids would make it easier for terrorists to gain access to the country to carry out additional attacks. The Federal government passed the real ID act shortly after 9-11, with the intent to tighten up and standardizing the processes for obtaining any state or Federal level identification cards and papers. The states had until mid-2010 to comply with the law. As that date approaches, the reality is that most states have more or less ignored the Real ID mandate and have not complied. Act of defiance #6.
• Since the Obama administration forced its version of health care reform through the back door of the Senate rule book and made it law, dozens of states have started the process to exclude themselves and/or their citizens from certain parts of the law. These exclusions include avoiding collecting and paying out additional Medicare taxes and excluding their state's citizens from the requirement that they have to purchase health care insurance. Act of defiance #7.
• A letter in the Kiplinger Personal Finance magazine from a few months ago illustrated the fact that many young people will not purchase health care insurance as mandated under the recently passed health care reform bill. They would rather take the chance that they are never caught, and if they are caught, they will pay a fine of several hundred dollars versus the economic decision of paying several thousand dollars a year in health care insurance that they probably will not need in their immediate future. Act of defiance #8.
• Several days ago, the Destin area in Okaloosa Country, Florida got tired of waiting for the Federal government to help them deal with the catastrophic BP oil spill as it hit their beaches. Thus, earlier this week, the country commission voted to give county authorities power to act in saving the local environment even if it meant breaking Federal laws and statutes. "We made the decision legislatively to break the laws. If necessary, we will do whatever it takes to protect our county's waterways and we're prepared to go to jail to do it," said County Commission Chairman Wayne Harris. Act of defiance #9.
• In general, for the first time in a long time, possibly the Civil War or the Revolutionary War, we hear the term "we need take back our country" thrown around many, many times a week. People are frustrated and angry about how the country is being directed by a government that is run by the American political class. Congressional approval ratings of less than 25% in all unbiased opinion polls bear out this anger and frustration. When you constantly hear the fighting words, take back our country, and when a new political movement such as the Tea Party rises to prominence in such a short time, you know citizens and local governments are getting very restless. Act of defiance #10.

I cannot remember any time during my lifetime where there was so much resistance to the ways and will of the Federal government. Sure, many citizens protested against the war in Vietnam but there was virtually no state or local governments rebelling over the issue. Back in the Jim Crow days, many southern states resisted the onset of the civil rights movement but that was one singular issue across only several states. Now, we have not only citizens deciding whether or not they will comply with a Federal law (e.g. medical marijuana and mandatory health care purchase) but many state and local government bodies deciding which Federal laws to obey or disobey on a full range of issues (gun control, medical marijuana, personal identification processes, health care mandates, environment laws, etc.)

All of this defiance raises some very interesting, and perhaps, horrifying possibilities:

• What does the Federal government do if it passes a law that no citizens and no state governments obey?
• Does the Federal government take the state government(s) in question to court?
• What if the states lose in Federal court and the states still disobey?
• Do you send in the 101st Airborne Division to arrest state government leaders? What if the state's citizens resist, do you have mass arrests or worse (i.e. pull a Kent State on them)?
• How many states would the Federal government be willing to take to court and on what issues? Between over 100 illegal immigration laws, mass defiance of the Real ID act, dozens of states willing to void, at least in their minds, the health care reform bill, at least two states messing with Federal gun control statutes, other states looking at legalizing marijuana to help cover budget shortfalls, etc., the courts could become very crowded.
• If the Federal government does not take the disobeying states and citizens to court and allows the disobedience to go on unabated, what power is left to the Federal government? Similar to that old joke where some drivers consider the yellow traffic light more of a suggestion than a rule, do the Federal government's laws eventually become merely suggestions and not the rule of the land?
• How does everyone and every level of government reconcile these acts of defiance with the foll0wing words from our Declaration Of Independence:

"That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of the ends, it is the right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organising its power in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.... but when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government and to provide new guards for their future security."

When do acts of defiance rise to these principles in the Declaration of Independence? Is it a single act of defiance that rises to these principles or is it a long train of lesser infractions whose sum totals fits into this description? Fascinating times and questions.

However, the Federal wing of the American political class have no one to blame but themselves. With their increasing isolation from the core of America, the showering of themselves with perks, pay, and life long benefits, their rigging of the election processes (favorable campaign finance laws and Congressional district gerrymandering), their incompetence with dealing with any major issues such as hurricanes, oil spills, and other disasters, their inability to solve any major issue facing Americans (e.g. failing public schools, continuing drug trafficking problems, failed government regulations and regulators, insecure borders, skyrocketing deficits and debt, lack of a national energy strategy and plan), the reduction in freedom for individual Americans as the freedom, scope and wealth of the politicians expand, and their condescending attitudes to Americans (remember Harry Reid's comments that American tourists (visiting a taxpayer funded DC visitors' center) physically smelled or Nancy Pelosi's observations that if you disagree with President Obama health care reform plan you must be un-American), there should be no surprise that acts of defiance are increasing.

Somebody needs to step up and find a way to put "United" back in our nation's title. Otherwise, we will go from a nation of laws to a nation of suggestions and I am not sure anyone wins under that scenario.

Our new book, "Love My Country, Loathe My Government - Fifty First Steps To Restoring Our Freedom And Destroying The American Political Class" is now available at www.loathemygovernment.com. It is also available online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Please pass our message of freedom onward. Let your friends and family know about our websites and blogs, ask your library to carry the book, and respect freedom for both yourselves and others everyday.

Also visit the following sites for freedom:

http://www.cato.org/
http://www.reason.com/
http://www.robertringer.com/
http://www.realpolichick.blogspot.com/