Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 30, 2008

By a 5-4 vote, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the 2006 Military Commissions Act was an unconstitutional attempt to scuttle the habeas corpus guarantee.

That fundamental due process protection prohibits the government to detain an individual unless that detention can be reviewed by an independent judicial body. The Bush administration insists that habeas corpus doesn?t apply to those designated unlawful enemy combatants by presidential decree.

The High Court has properly ruled that the protection applies, in some form, to every suspect over whom our government claims jurisdiction.

Some suspects held in Guantanamo can now challenge their detention in federal court. The Bush administration reacted to that news by announcing that it would ?revise? the evidence against those detainees.

That action, in addition to having distinctly Orwellian overtones, reinforces the soundness of the Supreme Court?s decision, since it demonstrates that the detainees were imprisoned on evidence that can?t withstand independent scrutiny.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 27, 2008

For roughly four years, Scott McClellan served as George W. Bush?s press secretary. In that job he was required to retail the administration?s views and assertions as if they were gospel truth.

Mr. McClellan has published a memoir entitled What Happened. That book, written from an insider?s perspective, appears to confirm much of what the administration?s critics have said regarding the deceptions used to stampede our country into an unnecessary and illegal war with Iraq.

Invited to testify before the House Judiciary Committee, McClellan was assailed by Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa: ?From the integrity standpoint,? King hectored McClellan, ?could you not have taken some of this to the grave with you and done this country a favor??

Genuine integrity is displayed by telling the truth, rather than abetting official lies in the name of loyalty. Were Rep. King a patriot, rather than a Republican cultist, he would understand that principle.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 25, 2008

The US Supreme Court recently refused to hear the case of DuPuy vs. McEwen. That lawsuit deals with the practice, by child protection agencies, of threatening to seize children in order to compel parents to sign a ?family safety plan.?

Such plans are tantamount to an admission by legally innocent parents that they are guilty of some kind of abuse or neglect of their children.

The standard ?safety plan? contains a warning that "failure to agree to a plan ? may result in ? a court order to remove my children from my home."

The Supreme Court?s refusal to review the case leaves in place an appeals court ruling that blackmailing parents into signing such documents actually increases their legal options.

It takes a genuinely totalitarian mind to believe that some benefit is conferred by a system that forces innocent parents to admit to abuse.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 24, 2008

Since 9/11, many commentators have warned that unless we fight an aggressive war against radical Islam our country will eventually find itself ruled by Sharia law ? that is, the Muslim religious code.

Ironically, the U.S. military and allied contractors are doing a great deal to establish Sharia both abroad and at home.

The Iraqi government installed and supported by the US military is rooted in a constitution establishing Sharia as that country?s ruling law.

The mercenary firm Blackwater has invoked Sharia law in search of civil immunity. The firm was sued by the widows of six personnel who died in the 2004 crash of a Blackwater-operated transport plane in Afghanistan. The firm insists that the suit be tried under Afghan?s version of Sharia law.

Thanks to the ?war on terror,? some Americans dying on behalf of Sharia in Iraq, while others may find their rights defined by Sharia here at home.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 13, 2008

Illegal immigration from Mexico has declined dramatically as the US economy has slumped.

Economist Mark Thornton points out that since 2005 the amount of money sent home by Mexicans in the U.S. has declined about 30%. Between 2005 and 2007, the number of Mexican illegal immigrants apprehended by the Border Patrol decreased more than 50%, which means that fewer people are trying to sneak across the border.

The Palm Beach Post reports that the same slumping economy has prompted Americans, in increasing numbers, to investigate the possibility of dual citizenship in various European Union countries in order to work abroad. An estimated 40 million Americans would qualify.

Obviously, most Americans would prefer to live and work here. Most Mexicans would prefer to stay in their home country, too, but are driven abroad by the economic consequences of government corruption and profligacy. How ironic that Americans are starting to face the same predicament.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 12, 2008

The murderous farce called the ?war on drugs? has militarized many civilian police agencies and torn huge holes in the Bill of Rights. It has also provided a lucrative new opportunity for Blackwater USA, the controversial mercenary firm used to provide security services in Iraq and Afghanistan.

According to reporter Jeremy Scahill, author of the definitive book on Blackwater , the secretive mercenary firm has been ?tapped by the Pentagon?s Counter Narcoterrorism Program Office ? `to fight terrorists with drug-trade ties.?? Blackwater will be directly involved on the ground in missions considered too small for direct US military involvement.

In Iraq Blackwater?s mercenaries ? who are immune to criminal prosecution -- have earned a well-deserved reputation for indiscriminate violence against civilians. We can expect the same from Blackwater?s counter-drug deployments, which will probably make direct US military intervention more likely. In this way the drug war will lead to constant military conflict abroad, and escalating assaults on liberty at home.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 11, 2008

President Bush recently told NBC news the Iraq occupation may last forty years. He?s doing what he can to ensure that it does.
The administration is seeking to force the Iraqi government to sign a special agreement establishing fifty permanent military bases in that country.

The same accord would grant unqualified immunity to all U.S. occupation personnel, and give the Iraqi government no recourse should those bases be used to carry out military missions against neighboring countries. Although it would be a treaty, Bush insists that it does not require Senate approval.

To compel Iraq?s acquiescence, the Bush administration is holding hostage $50 billion in Iraqi funds deposited at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. Those funds would be confiscated unless the Iraqi government signs the proposed agreement by July 31.

This is what Bush?s crusade to liberate Iraq has led to: Brazen, illegal aggression coupled with undisguised extortion.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 10, 2008

Samuel Johnson famously said that no man is a hypocrite in his pleasures. The way a man uses his discretionary time and money reveals much about his character. Bearing this in mind, there?s reason to be troubled over some of the off-duty police attire marketed by a company called ?Bullet 50.?

Owned and operated by San Francisco Officer Joseph Salazar, ?Bullet 50? markets its wares to ?Law enforcement and military operators who desire concealment clothing for ? off duty use.? The company?s ?Street Crime Line? is designed to conceal a handgun, extra ammo, a collapsible baton, handcuffs, and other ?law enforcement tools.?

But the ?Street Crime Line? also offers t-shirts with various inscriptions intended to provide inspiration and enhance morale. One t-shirt advertises its wearer as a ?Thug Hunter.? Another bears the inscription: ?Death Dealer.?

What this clothing reveals about the emerging police mindset is much more dangerous than what it?s designed to conceal.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 9, 2008

Last Friday, reacting to portents of war between the US and Iran, the Dow dove 400 points, and oil surged to more than $138 a barrel.

Were we to go to war with Iran, the price of oil would easily climb to more than $200 a barrel and the economy would be thrust into the deepest depression in our history. And given that the US invasion of Iraq has actually enhanced Iranian power in the Gulf, an expanded war could conceivably lead to the loss of an entire U.S. army in the region.

As our Founding Fathers understood, diplomacy is not ?appeasement.? The Campaign for a New American Policy on Iran is urging Americans to call their Congressmen tomorrow (June 10) at 1-800-788-9372. The group has organized a nation-wide effort to demand comprehensive and candid talks between Washington and Tehran to avoid a war that would be in nobody?s best interests.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

June 5, 2008

In his classic book Our Enemy, the State, historian Albert J. Nock pointed out:

"Everyone knows that the State claims and exercises [a] monopoly of crime?. It forbids private murder, but itself organizes murder on a colossal scale. It punishes private theft, but itself lays unscrupulous hands on anything it wants? . [T]there is not one [crime] that we have not seen it commit ? murder, mayhem, arson, robbery, fraud, criminal collusion and connivance."

Nock?s point about government being largely a form of organized crime is validated by a new Justice Department Inspector General?s report. That document describes numerous acts of bribery, theft, drug dealing, sexual exploitation, embezzlement, and fraud committed by highly paid officials from the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

In their professional lives, those officials faithfully enforce countless unconstitutional laws and policies. So should we be surprised to learn that many of them are common criminals when they?re not on the clock?

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