Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 26, 2010

After he pulled into the weigh station on the morning of April 22, Phoenix resident Abdon (he has declined to provide his last name) was asked to present proof of legal residence. He dutifully displayed his Arizona commercial driver?s license and supplied his Social Security number, as well as several other key pieces of personal information.

Nonetheless, he was arrested, handcuffed, and taken to a federal detention facility. His wife was interrupted at work with the demand that she go home and retrieve Abdon?s birth certificate, which proved that he had been born in Fresno, California.

?It doesn't feel like it's a good way of life, to live with fear ? [and] have to carry documents around,? complained Abdon?s wife Jackie.

Unfortunately, a measure signed into law by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on April 24 could institutionalize similar harassment and detention of American citizens suspected of being illegal immigrants.

There are many ways to address the problems created by uncontrolled immigration. Creating a police state is surely the worst and least effective option.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 23. 2010

An entity that can collect taxes must be called a government. The International Monetary Fund, one of the tentpoles of the UN-centered system of global governance, is demanding the power to impose global taxes for the supposed purpose of addressing the global banking crisis.

The IMF?s proposal calls for the imposition of a so-called Financial Stability Contribution (or FSC), which would be collected from all financial institutions world-wide, as well as a Financial Activity Tax (or FAT), which would be based on the profits and bonuses paid by those firms. The revenue collected by the FSC and FAT would be used to bail out weak or failing financial institutions, thereby subsidizing corruption and incompetence.

It?s important to remember that corporations do not pay taxes; they collect them from customers by raising prices or increasing fees. A global taxation scheme of this kind would require a collection mechanism of unprecedented size, power, and invasiveness ? and destroy what?s left of our independence.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 21, 2010

James Madison regarded war to be the greatest enemy of public liberty. Karl Marx considered war the greatest ally in his quest to liquidate what he and his disciples called the ?bourgeoise? ? what we call the middle class.

Marx would approve of the Iraq war just as heartily as Madison would oppose it.

The war and occupation have demolished ?Iraq?s college-educated and largely secular middle class,? observes Deborah Amos in the New York Review of Books. At least two million Iraqis, including nearly all of that nation?s Christian population, have been driven into exile abroad. More than two million more remain displaced within the country, driven from their homes into ever-expanding ghettos.
Amos points out that ?The flight of Iraqis since the 2003 invasion ranks as the largest human displacement in the Middle East since 1948.?

Imagine how our country would look if sixty million Americans were driven from their homes. That?s what our government has done to the Iraqis.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 20, 2010

The Golden Rule ? Do Unto Others, as You Would Have Them Do Unto You ? has universal jurisdiction. It governs all people everywhere at all times, irrespective of their status or station.

A timely and tragic reminder of this principle is found in a remarkable letter written by Iraq war veterans Josh Steiber and Ethan McCord. They were prompted to write that letter by the recent release of a horrifying video showing US military personnel gunning down unarmed Iraqi civilians, and then attacking a Good Samaritan who came to the aid of the wounded. The rescuer?s children were among the victims of the second attack.

?The soldier in the video said that your husband shouldn't have brought your children to battle, but we are acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to your neighborhood, and to your family,? write Steiber and McCord to the rescuer?s wife. ?We did unto you what we would not want done to us.?

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Here is the Letter in its entirety:

AN OPEN LETTER OF RECONCILIATION & RESPONSIBILITY TO THE IRAQI PEOPLE

From Current and Former Members of the U.S. Military

Peace be with you.

To all of those who were injured or lost loved ones during the July 2007 Baghdad shootings depicted in the ?Collateral Murder? Wikileaks video:

We write to you, your family, and your community with awareness that our words and actions can never restore your losses.

We are both soldiers who occupied your neighborhood for 14 months. Ethan McCord pulled your daughter and son from the van, and when doing so, saw the faces of his own children back home. Josh Stieber was in the same company but was not there that day, though he contributed to the your pain, and the pain of your community on many other occasions.

There is no bringing back all that was lost. What we seek is to learn from our mistakes and do everything we can to tell others of our experiences and how the people of the United States need to realize we have done and are doing to you and the people of your country. We humbly ask you what we can do to begin to repair the damage we caused.

We have been speaking to whoever will listen, telling them that what was shown in the Wikileaks video only begins to depict the suffering we have created. From our own experiences, and the experiences of other veterans we have talked to, we know that the acts depicted in this video are everyday occurrences of this war: this is the nature of how U.S.-led wars are carried out in this region.

We acknowledge our part in the deaths and injuries of your loved ones as we tell Americans what we were trained to do and what we carried out in the name of "god and country". The soldier in the video said that your husband shouldn't have brought your children to battle, but we are acknowledging our responsibility for bringing the battle to your neighborhood, and to your family. We did unto you what we would not want done to us.

More and more Americans are taking responsibility for what was done in our name. Though we have acted with cold hearts far too many times, we have not forgotten our actions towards you. Our heavy hearts still hold hope that we can restore inside our country the acknowledgment of your humanity, that we were taught to deny.

Our government may ignore you, concerned more with its public image. It has also ignored many veterans who have returned physically injured or mentally troubled by what they saw and did in your country. But the time is long overdue that we say that the value of our nation's leaders no longer represent us. Our secretary of defense may say the U.S. won't lose its reputation over this, but we stand and say that our reputation's importance pales in comparison to our common humanity.

We have asked our fellow veterans and service-members, as well as civilians both in the United States and abroad, to sign in support of this letter, and to offer their names as a testimony to our common humanity, to distance ourselves from the destructive policies of our nation's leaders, and to extend our hands to you.

With such pain, friendship might be too much to ask. Please accept our apology, our sorrow, our care, and our dedication to change from the inside out. We are doing what we can to speak out against the wars and military policies responsible for what happened to you and your loved ones. Our hearts are open to hearing how we can take any steps to support you through the pain that we have caused.

Solemnly and Sincerely,
Josh Stieber, former specialist, U.S. Army
Ethan McCord, former specialist, U.S. Army

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 19. 2010

July 4th is Independence Day, and informed Americans recognize September 17 as Constitution Day. A growing number of Americans commemorate April 19 as Patriots Day ? not in memory of the 1993 federal massacre of the Branch Davidians near Waco, or the horrific Oklahoma City bombing, but because of the battles at Lexington and Concord that began our War for Independence.

The armed citizens who mustered in defense of their rights in 1775 displayed patriotism in its purest sense: They loved their country and liberties enough to defend them against the criminal aggression of the government ruling them. Understanding that the right to armed self-defense separates the citizen from the slave, they refused to be disarmed.

That act of righteous insurrection, like the independence struggle that followed, was an assertion of the most elemental right of free men ? the right to say ?no? to the government and compel it to honor that answer. That right should be celebrated today, and exercised much more frequently.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 16, 2010

Any human predicament can be turned into a fatal tragedy through police intervention.

On April 9, New Orleans resident Tyralyn Harris called 911 to report that her emotionally troubled husband Brian had taken too many sleeping pills. Rather than sending medical personnel, the dispatcher sent two police officers; when they arrived, one was carrying an assault rifle.

The police barged into the bedroom in which Harris had barricaded himself. Shortly thereafter they tasered Harris. When that failed to subdue the suicidal man to their satisfaction, the police opened fire, killing him. The entire confrontation lasted less than ten minutes.

Harris supposedly threatened the officers with a knife. The attorney representing the slain man?s family points out that he had a pocket knife, which is hardly a formidable weapon. The original police report says that Harris was found lying face-down, which meant that he couldn?t have posed a lethal threat to two armed policemen ? that is, if they had actually intended to help.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 15, 2010

Any day that begins with armed strangers on your doorstep is likely to end badly. Shortly after sunrise on March 31, police visited the Prairie Village, Kansas home of Susan L. Stuckey to conduct a ?welfare check.? Less than three hours later, she was dead.

The 47-year-old woman refused the offered help, which should have ended the matter. However, a standoff ensued, and the police escalated the incident by calling in a SWAT team. Eventually police forced their way into Stuckey?s home.

According to an eyewitness, the troubled woman, now made frantic by this invasion, was armed with a broomstick. This is why, according to the police commander, the officers were ?forced? to shoot her.

The official story is that this pathetic, emotionally disturbed middle-aged woman armed with a broom somehow threatened more than a dozen armed police officers. The grim truth is that it?s never a good idea to ask armed government agents for ?help.?

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 14, 2010

VA physicians have determined that Iraq veteran Chuck Luther is 80 percent disabled as a result of a mortar attack.

Prior to being discharged, however, Luther was tortured into signing a document permitting the military to deny him combat-related disability benefits.

After Luther requested medical aid, he was confined in an isolation room scarcely larger than a cot. Bright lights, loud heavy metal music, and constant profane abuse were used to enforce sleep deprivation. When Luther rebelled against this treatment, he was forcibly injected with an anti-psychotic drug.

All of this was done to force him to sign a document claiming that he suffered from ?personality disorder,? a pre-existing condition that would nullify his benefits. Luther was also told that he would have to repay $1,500 from his re-enlistment bonus or face wage garnishment.

While more than 20,000 other combat vets have been spuriously diagnosed with ?personality disorder,? Luther?s is the only known case in which the victim was tortured into signing away his benefits.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 13, 2010

Most of the time, a crisis provides an unwelcome opportunity for government growth. In Ohio?s Ashtabula County ? the largest in the state -- the ongoing economic collapse may lead to exactly the opposite result.

The Ashtabula County Sheriff?s Office has reduced its force from 112 to 49 deputies. The jail population, which has been as high as 140 prisoners, has been cut to 30 because of a reduction in the number of available guards.

Asked how residents should deal with the cutbacks, Judge Alfred Mackey of the County Court of Common Pleas replied: ?Arm themselves. Be very careful, be vigilant, get in touch with your neighbors, because we?re going to have to look for each other.?

Since law enforcement officers have no enforceable legal or civil responsibility to protect an individual citizen, residents of Ashtabula County ? like the rest of us ? have always been responsible for their own defense. In this, as in so much else, the economic crisis is providing a painful but useful reality check.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

April 12, 2010

Arizona resident Ted Mink paid a traffic ticket in Ohio on November 29, 2006. Owing to a bureaucratic error, Arizona?s DMV suspended Mink?s driver?s license for supposed non-payment of that citation.

Three years later, Mink was stopped by police officers in Arizona. A computer check by one officer turned up the unjustified suspension.

The officers wrote Mink a total of four citations and seized his car, leaving the driver ? who had just visited the podiatrist and could walk only with painful difficulty ? no way to get home. Adding gratuitous insult to their official assault, one policeman warned Mink that hitchhiking would result in his arrest.

After much trouble and expense, Mink was able to recover his vehicle and restore what are called ?driving privileges.? A lawsuit he filed is working its way through the courts. Whatever the outcome, Mink?s experience reminds us that the greatest danger faced by motorists is discretionary abuse at the hands of armed strangers in government-issued costumes.

Let us take back the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free.