Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

March 2, 2012

 Warren Taylor, a 32-year-old New York City resident employed as a gas mechanic by Con Edison, was arrested and charged with sexual assault and criminal impersonation of a police officer. Posing as a cop, Taylor allegedly compelled prostitutes to provide sexual favors for him. He was inspired by media accounts of an investigation into an NYPD officer suspected of sidelining as a pimp.

At roughly the same time, an internal affairs inquiry in Pinellas County, Florida revealed that Detective Paul Giovannoni disguised himself in a uniform from the Progress Energy utility in order to gain access ? without a search warrant -- to a floral business called Simply Hydroponics, which was wrongly suspected of growing marijuana. 

Giovannoni dismissed his actions as a ?ruse.? In fact, they constituted Criminal trespass under section 810.09(2)(b) of the Florida State Code ? a first degree misdemeanor ? and an act of ?private business invasion by false personation,? defined by section 817.025 as a second degree felony punishable by up to fifteen years in prison.

If it is a crime for a utility worker to pose as a police officer, why isn?t it a crime for a cop to pretend to be a utility worker?

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

March 1, 2012

Last September, Willie Gandara, Jr., a County Commissioner  in Texas? El Paso County, assailed what he called ?wolves in sheep?s clothing? who opposed the war on drugs. Such people, Gandara told the El Paso Times, are acting on an ?ulterior motive.?

Legalizing drugs, insisted Commissioner Gandara, is a coward?s approach to a social problem, as well as ?an insult to our men and women in law enforcement, and the laziest form of parenting our children and youth about the effects of drugs."

Gandara directed those remarks at aspiring congressional candidate Beto O'Rourke, who has advocated legalization of marijuana as a way of reducing the profits accumulated by Mexican drug cartels. The cartels have benefited enormously from drug prohibition, which amounts to a huge price support program for some of the most vicious criminal personalities in human history.

In late February, Mr. Gandara was arrested as part of a multi-jurisdictional investigation into drug trafficking.

The five-count federal indictment accuses Gandara ? referred to in the document by the pseudonym ?Godfather? -- of possessing 110 pounds of marijuana and operating a so-called ?stash house? for drug traffickers.

If the charges against Gandara are true, it?s likely that his attacks on drug war critics were inspired by a desire to preserve his illicit profits.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 29, 2012

A recent television program called ?Jericho? depicted life in America following a catastrophic nuclear attack on 23 major cities. In this post-apocalyptic setting, the former united States broke up into at least two contending factions, one of which was the Allied States of America, with its national capitol in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

It?s tempting to think of House Bill 85, recently proposed by the Wyoming State Legislature, as the ?Jericho Act.? That bill would create what has been called a ?doomsday task force? to examine the possibility of state self-sufficiency in the event of full-blown national crisis.

The task force would ?study potential impacts on Wyoming? of a number of acute emergencies ? such as a sudden, precipitous decline in the value of the dollar, a constitutional crisis, or disruptions in the energy and food distribution systems.

Among the proposals to be considered would be the possibility of making gold and silver legal tender once again ? an approach also being examined by at least ten other states. Unfortunately, the panel would also discuss the idea of creating a standing army and imposing a military draft. Wyoming and other states should reacquaint themselves with the founding principles of our republic, rather than duplicating the errors that led to our current crisis.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 28, 2012

The War on Drugs has long been a war over nothing. Since 1971, more than a trillion dollars have been spent, millions have been imprisoned, and the Bill of Rights has been effectively destroyed. For all of this, there has been no reduction in the rate of drug use or addiction.

The Ohio State Legislature is pioneering new frontiers is freedom-killing futility: It is considering a measure that would criminalize ownership of vehicles containing secret compartments. Motorists found in possession of such modified vehicles would face up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine. Their vehicles would also be subject to confiscation through asset forfeiture.

Bear in mind that the supposed offense here would not involve an overt criminal act. Those prosecuted under the measure could literally be imprisoned for nothing: They would have neither contraband, nor the proceeds of an illicit transaction. It wouldn?t be necessary for prosecutors to provide evidence of a criminal act, or criminal intent. Furthermore, it?s not clear how this measure would be enforced; would all vehicles be subject to detailed inspections, or would every traffic stop entail an invasive search?

This kind of untethered madness is typical of drug prohibition.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 27, 2012

The recent eruption of anti-American violence in Afghanistan wasn?t just a reaction to disclosures that U.S. military personnel had burned copies of the Koran.

One protester, Maruf Hotak, told the New York Times:  ?This is not just about dishonoring the Koran, it is about disrespecting our dead and killing our children.? This was a reference to the well-publicized incident in which a Marine combat patrol urinated on the dead bodies of Afghan fighters, and a recent airstrike in Kapisa Province in which eight unarmed teenagers were killed.

According to NATO Air Commodore Mike Wigston, the teenagers ? who had been grazing livestock in the hills ? were killed by a drone-fired missile because ?they were seen as adult-sized and moving in a tactical fashion? and were thus seen as ?an imminent threat? to a local NATO patrol.

At the time of the airstrike, the boys ? who ranged in age from 12 to 16 years old ? were clustered around a small campfire.

Rather than admitting responsibility for this atrocity, NATO officials offered to build a road near the village where it took place. The local population would prefer that they leave. Wouldn?t we feel the same way if we were in their place?

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 23, 2012

In pagan antiquity and the medieval era, absolute rulers allied themselves with religious leaders who preached submission. In the 20^th Century, the Soviet regime, which dictated atheism as official dogma, turned to a different priesthood ? psychiatry ? in order to treat dissent and non-conformity as symptoms of psychological derangement.

[Defying the prejudices of his own academic discipline,] clinical psychologist Bruce E. Levine points out that the same is true of contemporary America.

America?s culture of liberty is an outgrowth of the Protestant Reformation, which emphasized a Bible-defined individual relationship with God and placed conscience, rather than clergy, at the center of that relationship.

Today, notes Levine (who is not a Christian believer), ?many natural anti-authoritarians are now psychopathologized and medicated before they achieve political consciousness?.? This is because ?The selection and socialization of mental health professionals tends to breed out many anti-authoritarians. Degrees and credentials are primarily badges of compliance.?

While acknowledging that many people suffer from legitimate psychological afflictions, Levine points out that the psychological establishment works to ?criminalize anti-authoritarianism,? diagnose those displaying that tendency as suffering from a clinical condition, and ?market drugs for their `cure.??

[Although there are more than a few conscientious psychiatrists, the profession itself has become the priesthood of a proto-totalitarian state. ]

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 22, 2012

On February 19, Dennis Fleming of Farmington, New Hampshire discovered that his home had been robbed. Spying a suspicious-looking man with a backpack, Fleming grabbed his handgun and strode off in pursuit.

Shortly thereafter, the 61-year-old grandfather saw the same suspicious man jumping out of a neighbor?s rear window. Holding out his handgun, Fleming ordered the intruder to freeze, firing a single round into the ground. He detained the suspect until the police arrived. The man was found to be in possession of a number of stolen items, including antique watches and silver coins. There is evidence that the same suspect had been involved in a string of robberies elsewhere in town.

A few hours later, Fleming called the police to find out if the suspect had been released on bail. To his amazement, Fleming discovered that he was going to be charged with reckless endangerment by discharging his handgun ? a Class B felony that could result in a prison sentence of the same length confronted by the robber he had detained.

It says a great deal about the social utility of police that they did nothing to prevent the robberies or catch the burglar ? but they may succeed in imprisoning the private citizen who did.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 20, 2012

Constable Fred Walker of Texas?s Shelby County allegedly ordered the illegal bugging of municipal officials in the village of Tenaha, which has been at the center of a multi-million-dollar drug asset forfeiture scam.

In an affidavit, Tenaha resident Roderette McClure told the FBI that until 201o he and Walker ran a local drug ring, stealing and reselling narcotics that had been seized as evidence. When the two of them received a blackmail threat, they staged a robbery to conceal their embezzlement, then bugged the offices of other city leaders in an attempt to learn the identity of the blackmailer.

Nearly everyone in the government of the 1100-person village is implicated in a highway robbery racket facilitated by federal drug laws. A federal lawsuit describes how Tenaha police systematically targeted motorists for unjustified traffic stops, during which they were questioned as to "whether they have money or valuables.? They would then be jailed and prosecuted unless they surrendered their money and property. Actual narcotics dealers were often simply set free.

At what point are we going to admit that drug prohibition is a murderous fraud?

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 17, 2012

What portion of the money we earn or inherit do we deserve to keep? The only morally defensible answer is: All of it. We do have moral responsibilities to honor contracts, pay honest prices for goods and services, to take care of our families -- and, where possible, alleviate the suffering of the unfortunate. The only legitimate role for political government ? if any -- is to deter or punish the use of criminal violence or fraud.

For those whose deity is the all-powerful State and whose creed is collectivism, however, we don?t deserve to keep any of what we earn. From their perspective, all wealth properly belongs to the government, which will distribute it according to its inscrutable ? and infallible ? will.

This was made clear in a recent exchange between Rep. Jan Schakowsky, an Illinois Democrat, and a local radio host.

?Out of every dollar I earn, how much do you ? think I deserve to keep?? the host inquired.

Shakowsky replied that ?It is not a simple question. I?ll put it this way: You don?t deserve to keep all of it.?

What this means, of course, is that we don?t deserve any of it, except for what the almighty State condescends to let us keep.

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

Will Grigg?s Liberty Minute

February 16, 2012

Hillary Clinton is reportedly seeking appointment as president of the World Bank. She would replace Robert Zoellick, who had served as George W. Bush?s trade representative.

Zoellick was appointed in 2007 to replace Paul Wolfowitz, another Bush administration alum who had previously been Deputy Defense Secretary ? and one of the chief architects of the disastrous war in Iraq. [Wolfowitz?s term was cut short following disclosures that he had arranged to give an unearned raise to a staffer who was his mistress.]

When Wolfowitz was tapped to head the World Bank in 2005, left-leaning commentator David Corn of The Nation correctly pointed out that Wolfowitz was following in the footsteps of Vietnam-era Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, ?So Bush is establishing
a bipartisan tradition: you screw up a war, you get to run the World Bank.?

Hillary Clinton was deeply involved in orchestrating the NATO-led military assault on Libya, which resulted in the replacement of long-time dictator Muammar Khadafy by a clique of even bloodier Islamist radicals. By the time Zoellick steps down in June, it?s possible that Clinton will have helped choreograph a war with Iran. Apparently, instigating wars and mass bloodshed is a key prerequisite for American elitists who covet the top position at the World Bank.

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