A Tale of Two State-Sponsored Killings

by William L. Anderson

(Editor’s Note: Executions…yet another thing that government regularly screws up and should never be trusted with.)

The other night, the State of Georgia killed Troy Davis for the alleged murder of an off-duty police officer. The execution was controversial because a number of witnesses who testified at Davis’ trial later recanted their statements. What was most interesting to me about that was that prosecutors had no problem accepting their testimony when it implicated Davis, but when those same witnesses later claimed to have been coerced and said that they lied because that was what police and prosecutors wanted, suddenly those same conveyors of truth had become “unreliable.” Likewise, those wearing the black robes of judges came to the same conclusion.

The case itself became a symbol of the state ramrodding through executions even though there could be doubt about the guilt of the convicted, and I join in the disgust and anger that others who have opposed this execution have expressed. However, Davis’ state-sponsored homicide was not the only execution in the USA that night; the New York Times had an Associated Press article about an execution in Texas:

White supremacist gang member Lawrence Russell Brewer was executed Wednesday evening for the infamous dragging death slaying of James Byrd Jr., a black man from East Texas.

There were no vigils and no protests of this government killing, and the headline in the NYT said it all: “White Supremacist Executed for Texas Dragging.” The placing of the two accounts together supposedly highlighted the contrast between the natures of the stories. In one, the state was killing a black man convicted of killing a white cop and there was doubt about the verdict, thus bringing together all of the political issues at once. In the other, we see a vicious, racist killer getting his just desserts in an open-and-shut case.

With Davis, we have a story about issues of racism, the killing of a state agent, and wrongful convictions, all wrapped in the ugly shroud of executions. One cannot put together a case with more political implications, and the response to it was what one would expect. The wounds of past injustices are great and only opened more when the State of Georgia injected poison into the body of Davis, and also injected more venom into our Body Politic. Racism. Cop killing. Wrongful convictions. Executions. There is nothing to add.

Brewer’s state-sponsored homicide brings different emotions. I remember seeing an African-American juror who had voted death to Brewer being interviewed on television afterward, and he said that while he opposed the death penalty, the nature of this case made such punishment justified. To put it another way, the horrific circumstances of the murder of Byrd and its racial and political implications permitted people to do away with their own principles and to support that which they normally would oppose. (To their credit, the family of Byrd asked for clemency for Brewer, while the family of Mark McPhail, the dead officer, supported Davis’ execution.)

He had participated in the murder of a black man, and was identified with groups that openly are racist. His views of others of a different race made it easier for those who say they oppose executions to support his being put to death by state authorities. Like Davis, who allegedly killed a member of a politically-favored group, police officers, Brewer not only had violated the life of someone else, but he had engaged in politically-incorrect behavior. Thus, the government apparatus that seeks to execute went into high gear in order to make sure that these alleged miscreants were to face the full fury of the law.

Before Brewer was to be killed, he declined to make a statement; Davis, about to die, calmly expressed one last time that he did not do what he was about to be killed for allegedly doing. They were different men, different events, yet they are tied together and not just because they were executed on the same date in the same country.

Would Troy Davis have supported the execution of Lawrence Russell Brewer? Would Lawrence Russell Brewer have supported the execution of Troy Davis? I don’t know. What I do know is that when it comes to state-sponsored killings, all principles are discarded. People become what they have hated, and supposedly-principled people become the worst of hypocrites.

People who say they are “pro-life” try to justify executions in that same light. John Ashcroft, who lost his U.S. Senate election in 2000 to a dead man, had enraged black voters in his state of Missouri because he single-handedly denied the appointment of a black judge to the federal bench because Ashcroft claimed that the judge “was soft on the death penalty.” Yet, Ashcroft was one of the most staunchly anti-abortion members of Congress and always was feted by “pro-life” groups for his legislative actions.

Likewise, many others who oppose state-sponsored killings of people convicted in the courts believe that taxpayers should be forced to fund the killing of children who are ready to be born, the “partial-birth” abortion in which a medical professional brings out the head of a child from the womb, stabs the back of the head with scissors, bringing death. Like those in the execution chamber, the child is not deemed worthy of staying alive by people in legislative office and by men and women wearing black robes, not to mention the editors of the “Newspaper of Record.”

What I am describing is a Culture of Death, and a state-sponsored Culture of Death at that. In fact, a society cannot degenerate into that awful culture without the prodding and the sponsorship of the State. In the end, the State itself becomes Death.

Government

I don’t know if Troy Davis did what police and prosecutors claimed and what jurors and judges believed, although given what I know about how the courts in the USA work, I have my doubts. On the other hand, no one disputes the perfidy of what Lawrence Russell Brewer did, and it is understandable why jurors were willing to discard their own principles so that they could order his execution.

As I see it, once we give the State the privilege of killing whom it may choose, things are set into motion that are expressly unjust and cannot be reversed. The fact that Brewer took part in a terrible murder no more justifies his execution than the chance – and only the chance – that Davis shot a cop to death justified the State of Georgia killing him. (The officer was off-duty, but the fact that he was employed as a police officer was enough to label Davis a “cop-killer.”)

By giving the State the power to kill others “legally,” we also must realize that the State will kill those whom are politically deemed unfit to live. Plenty of people commit terrible murders for which no one is officially put to death. Only when a killing is deemed politically-incorrect is someone executed, and if politics ultimately is to become the standard of who is to live and who is to die, then we have become people who have passed the Point of No Return.

Following Davis’ execution, the economist Robert Higgs wrote:

“Those who compose the state have estranged themselves from their fellows and arrogated to themselves the power of life and death. Heedless of natural law, they are cruelly selective and opportunistic in their obedience even to the “laws” they have made. They have traded their consciences for power and political place, and their souls are as cold as ice. They are, morally, the walking dead.”

I would add that other people who support such things also join those who are spiritually dead. That is where state-sponsored killings always lead.

William L. Anderson, Ph.D. teaches economics at Frostburg State University in Maryland, and is an adjunct scholar of the Ludwig von Mises Institute. He also is a consultant with American Economic Services.

Copyright © 2011 by LewRockwell.com. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Politician Personality Disorder aka Sociopathy

By Russell D. Longcore

The premise of this article is that persons who seek and hold elective office have latent, and often overt sociopathic personalities.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth edition, DSM IV-TR = 301.7, a widely used manual for diagnosing mental disorders, defines ”antisocial personality disorder” as:¹

A) There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years, as indicated by three or more of the following:
1. failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest;
2. deception, as indicated by repeatedly lying, or conning others for personal profit or pleasure;
3. impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead;
4. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults;
5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others;
6. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations;
7. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another;
B) The individual is at least age 18 years.
C) There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years.
D) The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.

Now, I’m going to list those characteristics again, and give examples in bold print after each characteristic. Some of this will be tongue-in-cheek, but that doesn’t mean it’s not true:

A) There is a pervasive pattern of disregard for and violation of the rights of others occurring since age 15 years (runs for Student Council, runs for Class President, editor of the school newspaper, becomes an attorney, etc.), as indicated by three or more of the following:
1. failure to conform to social norms with respect to lawful behaviors as indicated by repeatedly performing acts that are grounds for arrest (voting to violate the US or state constitution is a criminal act);
2. deception, as indicated by repeatedly lying (campaign pledges), or conning others for personal profit or pleasure; (accepting money from lobbyists, or voting to “save” the Ponzi schemes Social Security and Medicare);
3. impulsiveness or failure to plan ahead (voting for any bill without reading it, voting to spend tax money on unconstitutional acts, or raising the Federal debt ceiling to allow Washington to borrow more money it cannot repay);
4. irritability and aggressiveness, as indicated by repeated physical fights or assaults (in election season, going negative to destroy political opponents);
5. reckless disregard for safety of self or others (allowing the Department of Homeland Security and the TSA to even exist, voting for anything that violates the 2nd Amendment, 4th Amendment, 5th Amendment…pretty much any of the Amendments in the Bill of Rights);
6. consistent irresponsibility, as indicated by repeated failure to sustain consistent work behavior or honor financial obligations (a history of employment in government, spending tax money profligately, failing to pass balanced budgets, hiding off-budget spending, using government accounting principles instead of GAAP²);
7. lack of remorse, as indicated by being indifferent to or rationalizing having hurt, mistreated, or stolen from another (running for re-election);
B) The individual is at least age 18 years.
C) There is evidence of conduct disorder with onset before age 15 years.
D) The occurrence of antisocial behavior is not exclusively during the course of schizophrenia or a manic episode.

You see? Most politicians or wannabe politicians are sociopaths. You’d be hard pressed to find one that isn’t.

At DumpDC.com, we beat the drum incessantly for secession. But I don’t want you to get the idea that we believe that secession is some panacea…some utopia…some Nirvana. A seceded state, which would be a newly formed sovereign nation, will have a government formed and designed by human beings. That new nation would have the opportunity to craft a government built around individual liberty and property rights, founded in the Zero Aggression Principle (ZAP).

Haven’t heard of the Zero Aggression Principle? Thusly: that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force or fraud against another human being for any reason whatever; nor will a person or persons advocate the initiation of force or fraud, or delegate it to anyone else.

In light of the ZAP, the new nation would have to be very creative as it forms its own constitution and methods of governance. In most situations, government and the ZAP are mutually exclusive ethical systems and principles.

Government is force. Government relies upon the inevitable threat of violent force and/or death for its power. Think I’m overstating the cruelty of government? Let me give you three benign examples. Leave me a note if you disagree.

1. You get a parking ticket for $20.
– You do not pay your parking ticket.
– Eventually, the issuing law enforcement agency swears out a bench warrant for your arrest.
– A Law Enforcement Officer (LEO) may seek you out and attempt to place you under arrest. Or, you may be stopped for some other traffic infraction and the LEO finds your bench warrant when he does your background check. Either way, the LEO attempts to place you under arrest.
– You resist arrest.
– The LEO escalates his use of violence.
– You escalate your resistance.
– The LEO will draw his service firearm and use deadly force.
– You’re dead over a $20 parking ticket.

2. You fail to file your income tax return.
– The IRS contacts you to recommend that you file your return.
– You ignore them.
– The IRS attempts to confiscate your assets, attach your real property, clean out your bank account, or garnish your wages to collect tax, fines and penalties.
– You resist their attempts.
– Eventually, you will receive a visit from armed IRS agents. They may attempt to place you under arrest.
– You resist arrest.
– The agent escalates his use of violence.
– You escalate your resistance.
– The agent will draw his service firearm and use deadly force.
– You’re dead over a tax return.

3. You fail to pay your property tax.
– The taxing agency forecloses on your property.
– The county Sheriff comes to your property to evict you.
– You refuse to leave.
– The Sheriff attempts to place you under arrest.
– You resist.
– The Sheriff escalates his use of violence.
– You escalate your resistance.
– The Sheriff will draw his service firearm and use deadly force.
– You’re dead over unpaid property tax.

We here at DumpDC acknowledge that all government is evil. We also acknowledge that a seceding state will likely get most everything wrong when it tries to form a new national government. To the degree that the Founders adhere to the ZAP will tell the world how much the new nation’s politicians wish to use deadly force in their new laws. We believe that there is an inverse proportion to the number of laws and the degree of individual liberty. More laws, less liberty. More laws, more deadly force to enforce the laws.

The accretion of political power is the reason for living for the government worker or elected official, but is antithetical to being a true “public servant.”

May God help us as we pass from the United States of America to seceded new sovereign nations. May He help us find non-sociopathic leaders who truly have the heart of a servant.

Secession is the Hope For Mankind. Who will be first?

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

[1] Antisocial personality disorder – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Fourth edition Text Revision (DSM-IV-TR) American Psychiatric Association (2000) – pages 645–650
[2]Generally Accepted Accounting Principles

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Humpty Obumpty and the Arab Spring

By Spengler

DC Insanity: Washington Borrows From China and Gives The Money To The Arabs

(Editor’s Note: I keep giving you proof of the myriad ways that the global collapse will occur. It could come from within DC. But is just as likely to come from outside the USA as other nations implode. And don’t forget about the European Union. HALF of its member nations are already bankrupt. And OBama commits $20 Billion to Arabs…money that we are borrowing to “lend” to the Arab nations that are in trouble.)

I’ve been warning for months that Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and other Arab oil-importing countries face a total economic meltdown (see Food and failed Arab states, Feb 2, and The hunger to come in Egypt, May 10). Now the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has confirmed my warnings.

The leaders of the industrial nations waited until last weekend’s Group of Eight (G-8) summit to respond, and at the initiative of United States President Barack Obama proposed what sounds like a massive aid program but probably consists mainly of refurbishing old programs.

The egg has splattered, and all of Obumpty’s horses and men can’t mend it. Even the G-8’s announcement was fumbled; Canada’s Prime Minister John Harper refused to commit new
money, a dissonant note that routine diplomatic preparation would have pre-empted.

The numbers thrown out by the IMF are stupefying. “In the current baseline scenario,” wrote the IMF on May 27, “the external financing needs of the region’s oil importers is projected to exceed $160 billion during 2011-13.” That’s almost three years’ worth of Egypt’s total annual imports as of 2010. As of 2010, the combined current account deficit (that is, external financing needs) of Egypt, Syria, Yemen, Morocco and Tunisia was about $15 billion a year.

What the IMF says, in effect, is that the oil-poor Arab economies – especially Egypt – are not only broke, but dysfunctional, incapable of earning more than a small fraction of their import bill. The disappearance of tourism is an important part of the problem, but shortages of fuel and other essentials have had cascading effects throughout these economies.

“In the next 18 months,” the IMF added, “a greater part of these financing needs will need to be met from the international community because of more cautious market sentiments during the uncertain transition.”

Translation: private investors aren’t stupid enough to throw money down a Middle Eastern rat-hole, and now that the revolutionary government has decided to make a horrible example of deposed president Hosni Mubarak, anyone who made any money under his regime is cutting and running. At its May 29 auction of treasury bills, Egypt paid about 12% for short-term money, to its own captive banking system. Its budget deficit in the next fiscal year, the government says, will exceed $30 billion.

And the IMF’s $160 billion number is only “external financing”; that is, maintaining imports into a busted economy. It doesn’t do a thing to repair busted economies that import half their caloric intake, as do the oil-poor Arab nations.

Egypt’s economy is in free fall. Its biggest foreign exchange earner was a tourist industry that won’t come back for a decade, if ever. The IMF’s $160 billion doesn’t take into account the costs of teaching two-fifths of the Egyptian population to read, or raising crop yields to more than a fifth of American levels, or training university graduates to do more than stamp identity cards and shuffle papers. As the international organization made clear, this is what Egypt and its neighbors require merely to pay for essential imports.

Of course, the IMF’s admission that Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and Yemen can’t meet the majority of their import bill without foreign aid does not increase the probability that these countries will obtain financing on that scale. On May 30, the IMF announced that it would lend $3 billion to Egypt – a tenth of its budget deficit – sometime in June. The G-8 offered the grandiose pledge of $20 billion in their own money along with $20 billion from the IMF, World Bank, and so forth, to support the “Arab Spring”, with the dissension of the Canadian prime minister. But it is unclear whether that represents new money, or a shuffling of existing aid commitments, or nothing whatever.

Whatever the Group of Eight actually had in mind, the proposed aid package for the misnomered Arab Spring has already become a punching bag for opposition budget-cutters. “Should we be borrowing money from China to turn around and give it to the Muslim Brotherhood?” Sarah Palin asked on May 27.

“Now, given that Egypt has a history of corruption when it comes to utilizing American aid, it is doubtful that the money will really help needy Egyptian people. Couple that with the fact that the Muslim Brotherhood is organized to have a real shot at taking control of Egypt’s government, and one has to ask why we would send money (that we don’t have) into unknown Egyptian hands,” the former Republican vice-presidential candidate added.

Whether any amount of foreign aid will stabilize Egypt’s economic position is questionable, even if the industrial nations and the Arab Gulf states opened their purses, which is doubtful.

From Arab-language online media, it appears that Egypt’s economic troubles have metastasized. Last month, rice disappeared from public storehouses amid press reports that official food distribution organizations were selling the grain by the container on the overseas market. Last week, diesel fuel was the scarce commodity, with 24-hour queues forming around gasoline stations. Foreign tankers were waiting at Port Said on the Suez Canal to pump diesel oil from storage facilities, as government officials sold the scarce commodity for cash.

This is the sort of general breakdown I observed in 1992 in Russia, following the collapse of the communist government. As an adviser to finance minister Yegor Gaidar, I heard stories of Russian officials selling unregistered trainloads of raw materials on foreign markets and depositing the proceeds in Swiss banking accounts. Anything of value that could find a buyer overseas was sold. I didn’t last long as an adviser; looting and pillaging wasn’t my area of competence. Russia, it should be recalled, is largely self-sufficient in food and is among the world’s largest oil producers, while Egypt imports half its food. Russia had enormous resources on which to draw. Egypt, Syria and Tunisia have nothing.

For 60 years, the Egyptian army and associated crony capitalists ran the economy as a private preserve. Although the army remains in nominal charge, the public humiliation of Mubarak serves notice on the previous masters of Egypt’s little universe that they are as vulnerable as their former patron. Everyone who can get out will and will take with them whatever they can.

Syria is also vulnerable to hunger, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned May 23. “Continuing unrest in Syria will not only affect economic growth but could disrupt food distribution channels leading to severe localized shortages in main markets,” according to the FAO. ”Syria hosts one of the largest urban refugee populations in the world, including nearly one million Iraqis who have become more vulnerable because of rising food and fuel prices.”

Nearly 700,000 Libyan refugees have reached Libya and Egypt, fleeing their country’s civil war. At least 30,000 Tunisian refugees (and likely many more) have overwhelmed camps in Italy, and perhaps a tenth of that number have drowned in the attempt to reach Europe. A large but unknown number of Syrian refugees have fled to Lebanon and Turkey.

Robert Fisk wrote in the London Independent on May 30 that Turkey fears a mass influx of Syrian Kurdish refugees, so that “Turkish generals have thus prepared an operation that would send several battalions of Turkish troops into Syria itself to carve out a ‘safe area’ for Syrian refugees inside Assad’s caliphate.” The borders of the affected nations have begun to dissolve along with their economies. It will get worse fast.

Spengler is channeled by David P Goldman.

(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd.

The Tragedy of Immigration Enforcement

by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.

(Editor’s Note: Lew proves that government is a thousand-armed monster, and at the end of each arm is a stinger. There is no way to interact with the monster without getting stung. Rather than deal with the millions of immigrants who are actually breaking the law, DC goes after the businesses who hire them. DC doesn’t have to chase the business owner…he is in a fixed location. Plus, even if the business goes through the process of trying to verify legal status, forged papers are easily created. So a business could do everything right and still be destroyed by Washington. That’s the country you live in folks. Don’t you think secession could remedy this disaster?)

Here’s the problem. If you give government a job to do, even one that seems justified in the abstract, it will use its power to make a terrible mess in practice. This is true in a host of areas from welfare to warfare, but it is even true in the complicated area of immigration.

Just imagine this. The owners of Chuy’s Mesquite Broiler in Phoenix and 13 other locations around western states have been kidnapped from their popular restaurants and dragged to jail. This will be followed by trial, and certain personal bankruptcy. They could face 80 years in prison. In the raid, “Homeland Security” stole their computers, their accounting and employment records, and walked out the door – just like a gang of thieves. The only difference is that these thugs operate under the cover of the law.

And what evil did these restaurateurs do? Were they poisoning people, stealing customers’ wallets, secretly running an assassination conspiracy, sending in the predator drones against people they hate, or what? To lock anyone away for life is a shocking sentence, so surely the punishment must fit the crime. Pyscho sniper-murderers have gotten less.

What they are alleged to have done is hired people who don’t have the proper bureaucratic forms filled out for them. That’s all. Nothing more. It is being done in the name of immigration enforcement and cracking down on illegals. The workers themselves are untouched by any of this. Their benefactors – and the benefactors of society – are the ones being targeted with police-state tactics.

The government is busting up a whole series of voluntary labor relationships that are designed to provide people with good food. Let us be clear: to the extent that many people object to illegal immigration, it has nothing to do with those who go to work and make an honest living doing things like working in restaurants. The problem with illegal immigration is related to other issues that drive people crazy, like going on welfare, engaging in actual (not pretend) crime, and demanding tax-funded support services.

People finding jobs to do and other wonderful commercial things is a praiseworthy aspect of immigration, legal or illegal. In fact, there are millions of jobs in this country that would simply not be done at the current price without such immigration, and this is true in a vast range of industries from housing to horticulture. American natives think too highly of themselves to accept these jobs at the market price.

And it is this very thing that government, given the power to enforce immigration statutes, wants to crack down on, not by rounding up workers, which would be bad enough, but by criminally prosecuting the business owners themselves, the people who are not only providing jobs but also providing good food for the public. The whole thing boggles the mind.

But the utilitarian will object. Yes, these tactics are rough, with results that are regrettable for property owners and those who like to dine out, but at least it helps address our nation’s problems with illegal immigration.

But will it? If mainstream employers are afraid of lifetime jail terms, they will not hire. And that leaves only marginal employers to pick up the slack. These include drug operations, fly-by-night underground businesses, gray markets, prostitution rings, and other things from the seedier side of life.

Or the result could be no employment at all, which means turning to crime itself. In other words, these efforts attempt to stop the best part of immigration and enhance the worst. For this we can thank the government.

Try to think of this issue in terms of the risk to attempting illegal immigration. No one on the other side of the border, faced with a porous fence, is thinking: I’ll take this risk only on the condition that I can go to work for Chuy’s Mesquite Broiler.

No, they will come anyway. In order to eliminate every possible job opportunity for immigrants, the Obama administration will have to jail and terrorize vast numbers, destroying the commercial life of major swaths of the country. This is a catastrophic plan that amounts to a fundamental attack on liberty, and the nationalization of the service industry. (I should add that I prefer illegal immigration to legal, since we have far too many citizens able to vote themselves other people’s property, and too few people who want to work hard for a living.)

Just as George Bush used national security as the great excuse to shred the Bill of Rights, the Obama administration is using illegal immigration as the excuse to achieve the socialist dream of bringing employer-employee relations entirely under government purview. It is a form of micro-nationalization.

And why? Socialist ideology plays a role here, and another authoritarian anti-market ideology, protectionism. But if you look closely enough at this enforcement, you will find the hand of Obama affiliated big labor unions at work behind the scenes. It’s not that they are against immigrants. The unions hate any employee who works for the going market wage. As their power and influence continues to fall, if not in DC, they are resorting to ever more desperate tactics to shore up their slipping cartel.

You can see, then, that this crack down has nothing to do with nationalism or racialism or securing the borders or anything else. It is all about bolstering the power of the state and its unions over the American economy, and making the rest of us poorer.

Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr., former editorial assistant to Ludwig von Mises and congressional chief of staff to Ron Paul, is founder and chairman of the Mises Institute, executor for the estate of Murray N. Rothbard, and editor of LewRockwell.com.

Copyright © 2011 by LewRockwell.com.

A Review and Discussion of “Patriots”

A novel by James Wesley Rawles

Reviewed by Russell D. Longcore and Linda Brady Traynham (Part Two)

This book was released by Ulysses Press in its most recent revision in 2009, having been first released in 2000 as “Patriots: Surviving The Coming Collapse.” So, I’m guessing that when Rawles wrote this, he was looking ahead a decade to a likely scenario. Here we are, eleven years later, and the collapse could happen literally overnight.

My friend, Chuck Donovan, a Senior Captain for Delta and a Libertarian, strongly recommended that I read this book. I was already very familiar with Jim Rawles, since he hosts a very popular and valuable website at www.SurvivalBlog.com. So, I had Amazon send me a copy. It took me about four days to finish it.

The story is set in today’s America, as the economic collapse has already taken place. America descends quickly into lawlessness. Looting, robbery, rape and murder are standard operating procedure. And a few couples from the Chicago area relocate to Idaho, where they hunker down and try to survive and stay alive in the Mad Max world they find themselves in. The main characters are Todd and Mary Gray, who had relocated to Idaho earlier and had established a rural stronghold, and had spent nine years in preparation for the collapse.

If you like the writing style of Tom Clancy, you will enjoy this book. Rawles goes into minute detail on each page about survival equipment, tactical weapons, communications procedures, military strategy, military training, cooking, survivalist preparations, 4th Generation Warfare…and just about every other thing that could be discussed in such a book as this. If nothing else, this book is a treasure trove of “prepper” procedure and life in a post-apocalyptic America.

The book’s climax comes as a newly self-appointed Federal government in the East tries to regain control of the United States through the use of UN troops and repression of dissent. Which side wins? Read the book.

I cannot imagine a scenario in which you would consider your time reading this book wasted. I say that because the very people that would spend money on this sort of book are already predisposed toward survivalist topics. Seldom does a novel do more than entertain. This one also educates.

Rawles takes the story into the scenario in which Washington and the internationalists fight hard to regain order, even if that “order” is as totalitarian as the USSR at its zenith. And I believe that is a reasonable scenario. The author does not broach the subject of secession, and the possibility that some individual states leave the Union to plot their own courses in the world. In Patriots, all 50 states remain serf states.

We here at DumpDC are of a different mindset. We entirely concur with the author that the economic collapse will occur, and that hyperinflation will be the result. But we believe that after the collapse, some states of the Union will secede and become new nations. We believe that Texas, the second most populous state in America, is likely to be the first to leave the Union. America needs Texas, but Texas does not need America. Texas can be entirely self-sufficient living cheek-by-jowl with America and Mexico. Texas is still a Republic and Texans revere their culture and heritage. Other states may secede, but they will not do it in an effort to preserve their culture and heritage. The other states might secede simply because depending upon Washington is no longer a viable option.

Another thing of which I concur with the author is how desperate and dangerous America will become in only a few days following the collapse. Over 150 million Americans die of starvation, crime and disease in the short span of years of this story. Even in states that secede, it’s going to get real ugly before anything resembling a real economy is restored. And the deaths will occur in the new nations also, as the numbers of people actually prepared for economic catastrophe are so few.

I continually look back to the collapse of the Soviet Union as an example of another totalitarian, authoritarian superpower that died in a whimper, not in a bang…and did it less than 25 years ago. The Kremlin had no ability to muster the mighty Red Army to stop the secessions of their states. Moscow stood by and watched as the fifteen former nations broke away and resumed nationhood.

The fact that the US Dollar is the world reserve currency turns the American collapse into a global collapse. The collapse of the USSR did not send the world into a tailspin…but the collapse of America will. There will be no nation on earth that is not negatively affected by this collapse. Who knows what nation will be the first domino to topple over, taking the rest of the world with it? Only time will tell. What is certain is that nobody gets out of this whole and intact.

Only fifteen American states ever enjoyed nationhood status…the original thirteen nations of the post-Revolutionary War of 1776…Texas and Hawai’i. All the rest of the states of the Union were territories that eventually earned statehood. You may not consider that to be a big deal. And it may not be a big deal in the states of the Eastern Seaboard. But I promise you that returning to nationhood is a HUGE deal for Texans and Hawaiians.

Read Patriots as soon as you can. The clock is ticking, and there is no time to waste.

* * * * * *

(Editor’s note: My buddy Linda Brady Traynham wrote such a terrific comment about this book that I pulled her comments OUT of the comments and placed them here as a “Part Two” of the review of the book. Enjoy!!

I concur. Well, mostly. James-Wesley-Comma-Rawles’ “Patriot” contains a few glaring (and I think extremely funny) errors (which I may tell you about), but basically it is a splendid book, and very useful. Well, it is a splendid half book. Even I can’t come up with the “willing suspension of disbelief” sufficient to believe the heroes manage to defeat UN forces, but if you’ll just slog through the first half you’ll be glad you did.

“Patriots” is a VERY information-dense work which I wouldn’t call a light read, and I taught myself to read at three and have rarely gone to bed without finishing my current book in the 68 years since. It isn’t nearly as bad as Thomas Dewey, but it isn’t USA Today, either.

A bunch of college kids in 2000 become convinced (reasonably sensibly) that we’re going to have TEOTWAWKI, so they decide to set up a redoubt in the west and one couple agrees to live there and begin the preparations. You may not have any problems with what I consider a major flaw, how the 8 or so left not only buy the place and support Todd and Mary during their first decade out of college but come up with staggering sums for supplies, but hey, we can accept that they did, somehow, if they wanted to enough. Money is always a problem, and my site will begin publishing a fine new work of apocalyptic fiction in the next couple of weeks, and our author’s solution was making his hero an expert in finance and the market so he makes the fortune he needs in gold options. Whatever, everybody’s got to have money. (Russell, dear, I really cannot write quickly, fluently, and easily, when stuffed into a box this size.) We’ll forget how they paid for all that barbed wire, zillions of rounds of ammo, and steel doors and shutters while accumulating their own individual food supplies.

The value of this work lies in showing what is likely to happen and how to offset it. As I remarked to Russell yesterday in private correspondence, “They dig great spider holes!” If you don’t know what a spider hole is…see? You’ve already got a useful fact from the book. They do well in reconnaisance, guard duty, and cooperating with neighbors for patrols. They will lead you to the site cited above which would probably take twenty years to cover adequately. The book really, really is a major work and well worth your money and time.

I will stipulate gladly that the author covers some of his goofs by pointing out that he has discussed better practices endlessly in his writing and that I only manage eight to a dozen articles a week, not popular works of instructive fiction. Even so, I think it is worth your time and mine to consider where the illustrious Mr. Rawles and the insignificant Mrs. Traynham disagree on principles. Some things we need to decide for ourselves because there are arguments on both sides.

Let’s start with…calibers. JW,R is quite correct that it is easier if combatants/defenders (however you chose to think of them) can swap ammo. From that viewpoint, his characters’ decisions to stick to .45, .223, and some .22 for trade goods is very sensible. On the other hand, .45 and .223 are very expensive rounds (something most of us have to consider), and females do not usually do as well with miniature cannons. Even under the conditions envisioned, the goal isn’t going to be shooting Big Bertha across the English Channel. Out to 300 yards, maybe, but basically home defense and close infighting. Suit yourself. If the lady in your life can handle the recoil of a shotty gun or is happy with a big wheel gun, it’s your money. Chuckle. Who was it who annoyed me recently, not an easy thing to do–ah. Darling Fred Reed; his article up here on girly men and manly men–that I very nearly challenged him to come visit and we’d have a little shooting match, me with my cute little .22 and him with his weapon of choice. I couldn’t lose, because either I can take him or (riotous laughter) my mate is such a splendid shot that if we only had one gun in an emergency and it were mine, I’d hand it to him, although we would have a serious discussion about preparations later. Morals: Females attract males to handle such things, and gun control is a steady hand and careful shot placement. Put a nice little .22 slug through an eyesocket or sinus cavity so it can racket around cheerfully…I think having reloading supplies is important, too, and I’m so obsessive I police up useless .22 brass. Good habits are good habits, including not leaving trash on the range or in the pastures.

You’ll have fun checking out if I’m right! Okay, the deal is that each couple is responsible for their own food supplies, but that–in turn–each will feed the whole group. Breakfast, universally, is the ever-popular wheat berries. (Whatever those are. Sort of like groats, I think, dried, reconstituted [in water] hunks of wheat.) With nothing on them. No butter, milk, sugar. Lunch, without variation is a nice, big pot of plain rice. (I’m really not up to this.) Dinner is the MRE or the elk/deer du jour. This is ridiculous–no matter if JW,R stresses variety and nutrition on his site. All of them are coffee drinkers…and within three weeks they’re out of coffee. My dear Charles and I are always on the lookout for new ingredients, spices, recipes, and substitutes. You cannot provide adequate nutrition on the sort of diet given and you certainly cannot hold on to the comfort and civilization of eating well.

Again, Rawles points out that he has been discussing food preparations since who flunk th’ chunk. My question is, other than keeping nesters away and putting up stainless steel shutters…what were Mary and Todd doing? Okay, about a third of the way through the book the author adds they had put in a few little fruit and nut trees to supplement what was on the place. They have NEVER started a garden other than a few herbs. Three years into TEOTWAWKI there STILL isn’t a garden. To the best of my memory–it’s been a couple of years–they don’t even have a tractor. Tractors are very useful, and so is other big machinery, like bucket trucks and bulldozers.

There is NO livestock, although they finally get around to thinking about buying a dairy goat (they don’t) at the first swap fair to be held, about the same time. Uh…the FIRST thing I bought was French Alpines to assure my supplies of milk and cheese. It would upset me badly if you behaved as stupidly.

I raise two kinds of cattle–and I started with Black Dexters, charming little cows from Ireland that stand only 4′ at the withers (shoulders) instead of five or more. They are placid, sweet-natured, calve easily, prefer a diet high in brush and tree limbs (extremely handy in drought), dress out significantly higher than their long-legged kin, AND can be milked! With cream and butter, which goats don’t give you. True, they don’t produce as much as Guernseys or Jerseys, but they cost less and (as I say with possibly tedious frequency) if you had two that you bred six months apart you could pretty much count on all the beef, milk, cream, butter, and cheese even a moderately large family could use. Cows (and goats, for that matter) can be milked 300 days a year.

They don’t even have any chickens laying an egg each every 26 hours and providing meat to go in the dam’ boring rice every noon. No swine. No sheep, even. (Sheep are very low priority. They’re hard on pastures, don’t produce much milk–good cheese, though–and a lamb isn’t dinner for 10.)

There are two imperatives: to be able to protect the colony from raiders (government or private) and to be self-sufficient.

What really drove me around the bend was their habit of VOTING on things that are not candidates. Well, one problem is that they don’t have a military expert, but even so. Votes are fine for “what’s for dinner?” (subject to availability) but we do NOT vote on plans to rescue the little town overrun by bikers. By the time they get around to agreeing, being overly cautious, and implementing the plan there is one traumatized six-year-old left alive.

So far as I’m concerned, this isn’t going to be a representative republic of a colony and it most certainly is not going to be a democracy. We will have a benign dictatorship. Why? Because this is MY land and these are MY preparations and I have enough sense to know that (a) we need rules and (b) when I am She Who Stands On The Right Hand Of God and when I am scut labor, a warm body, suitable for peeling potatoes. Anyone allowed in has to be worth what he/she consumes AND be an ethical, cheerful, reliable, and so on individual. My husband is the military expert, engineer, and problem solver because he IS competent to do all those things. This isn’t a dude ranch, and first principles: if you don’t work, you don’t eat. Four people can run everything fine, but they can’t do that and stand guard duty, too.

Oh…when they trade off to go to the first fair? Three of them come across a fellow who has supplies to trade that are really needed, and he wants something they have already learned to make. Does anyone bother to tell this to the rest going in to visit the next day, far less the guy who makes the widjets? No. Fortunately, they shoot pretty well and have lots of ammo, and innumerable miles of barbed wire. Bought a mile of it myself this week; cost me $125.

No…I couldn’t have written that book. Yes, it has good technical information. No, I would not be part of such a colony, because they haven’t planned a lot of things well, the food is lousy, and they don’t have any fun. They pray a lot. They don’t read cribbage, converse, or have a library.

We all have our funny little notions, and one of mine was that I may have to live through TEOTWAWKI, but I refuse to do so without butter and cheese and I have GOT to get the spores ordered to grow mushrooms. In theory I can grow/process tobacco with what I have, although I haven’t solved the menthol problem yet. We have older vehicles that are EMP proof, just in case. I don’t have any steel shutters, but we picked up older motor homes and RVs so that there are “guest suites” and a little privacy for everyone. I’m up to a big kitchen/family room, but I’m not up to being surrounded by noise all the time.

You’ll have to make your own call on something else I doubt I would do. The young people are…they have scruples and would really be happier being liberals, I think. They have to kill some people who are a threat and need killing, but they can’t bear the thought of being “thieves.” Their solution is to bury the bodies and set aside anything of value, which they give to refugees they decide are worthy. THEY decide. That is not only not sensible, but it is a very “progressive” idea, that it isn’t really “theft” if you do not profit personally but pass on what you took to someone else.

Otherwise, Patriots is probably the best book written on the subject. William Forstschein’s “One Second After” is entirely different and just as scary. “The Day the Dollar Died” and “Lights Out” by “Half Fast” can be accessed for free on the ‘net, and C. S. Stirling has written a gorgeous half dozen volumes on how the US might break up and what sort of governments could emerge (religious, mafia, feudal, and so forth) after a disaster.

Makes secession sound even better and far simpler if it is possible to defend your borders, doesn’t it?

Regards, Linda
* * * * * * * * *
Secession is the Hope For Mankind. Who will be first?

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Memorial Day 2011: How About A New Meaning?

by Russell Longcore

(Editor’s Note: I wrote this for Memorial Day 2009, and this update is more true today.)

The Memorial Day 2011 weekend is upon us. Many will use this weekend as the first short vacation of summer. Picnics, boating, traveling, family gatherings, and dedication to enjoyable activities are the rule this weekend.

But Memorial Day is meant to honor the men and women who died in military service to the United States of America. Formerly known as “Decoration Day,” it was first established in 1868 to decorate the graves of the Civil War (War of Northern Aggression) dead.

This weekend, there will be memorial services and parades across America in town squares, churches and at cemeteries. Flowers will be strewn and American flags will be in grand display. Politicians will walk the route, and military veterans will don old uniforms and walk with them. Twenty-one gun salutes and taps will echo among the headstones. Impassioned speeches will be delivered to patriotic crowds on the goodness of America and the honor and bravery of the fallen soldiers and sailors.

And Americans will be remembering all the wrong things.

How about a reality check?

Those who fought and died (over 364,000) in Lincoln’s Army died invading another sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America. The CSA, who lost over 139,000 soldiers, was defending itself from the aggression of a foreign nation. It would have been no different morally if the Northern Army would have invaded Canada. So, Northern mourners should remember the shame of the North, not just that their loved ones died in battle. And Southerners should forever laud their sons who valiantly died in an attempt to thwart a foreign invasion and protect their homeland.

The 3,500-plus military personnel who fought and died in the Spanish-American War of 1898 died invading Cuba and the Philippines against Spain. Last time I checked, neither country was a state of the Union and did not require defense from a foreign aggressor. The war was perpetrated by the McKinley Administration and an expansionist Congress, assisted by Theodore Roosevelt and fomented by propaganda in the Hearst newspapers.

The American war dead of World War I (1914-1918), numbering over 116,000, died fighting a war between European nations. America had absolutely no business becoming involved, but as George Washington predicted, our treaty obligations dragged us into war.

World War II (1941-1945) devoured over 407,000 American military personnel. President Franklin D. Roosevelt baited the Japanese into attacking us, and after they did, Congress (in its last constitutional act of war) declared war. FDR was itching to get into the war, and got his way. Once again, treaties and war-hungry politicians cost this nation its sons and daughters.

The “police action” in Korea (1950-1953) started by the United Nations cost America over 54,000 military deaths. A cease fire was negotiated in 1953 which continues to this day. No constitutionally-declared war. No defense of American borders.

The Vietnam War (1958-1975) cost over 58,000 American lives. No declared war, no Vietcong in American streets trying to take over our nation. Finally some Americans protest a war! The US military gets its ass whooped and runs for home.

On 24 April, 1980, President Jimmy Carter sent a strike force into Iran to rescue the 52 American hostages held by Iran since 4 November 1979. The mission was a complete cluster fornication, and 8 men died.

In 1983 President Ronald Reagan sent 1,200 troops into Lebanon as “peace-keepers.” 220 Marines and 9 other servicemen are now resting in peace. No constitutionally-declared war. No constitutional justification.

In April 1986, President Ronald Reagan ordered air strikes in Libya against President Mohammar Ghadhafi. Ghadhafi lived…2 American airmen died.

The invasion of Grenada (October to December, 1983) cost 19 American lives. 10,000 American troops joined forces with about 300 terrifying shock troops from Caribbean islands like Antigua, St. Kitts, Dominica and Saint Lucia to liberate Grenada. Yes, that last sentence was sarcasm. The struggle led to the deposition and execution of Grenada’s Prime Minister Maurice Bishop. Anyone find a declaration of war or reason for America’s involvement….anyone? Bueller?

On May 12, 1987, the frigate USS Stark was attacked by an Iraqi missile while in the Persian Gulf. Thirty five sailors died in the blast. The Persian Gulf is not the territorial waters of the USA, is it?

Gulf War I (8-90 to 2-91) costs another 378 deaths as the USA protects its oil interests in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. None of the other neighbors of Iraq consider this worth a fight without the arm-twisting of President George H.W. Bush, especially since Kuwait formerly belonged to Iraq. Our Congress passes “resolutions” subordinating their constitutional authority to declare war to Bush, and he took it seriously. Still, no defense of America was involved here.

Panama was invaded by US military forces on December 20, 1989 under the order of President George H.W. Bush. Twenty four American military personnel died in the invasion. Bush said that protecting 35,000 Americans in Panama was cause for the invasion, as well as “defending democracy and human rights” in Panama. General Manuel Noriega was captured and tried on drug charges, ending up in a Miami prison.

The Bosnian War (1992-1995) was prosecuted by President Bill Clinton in conjunction with the United Nations. He sent over 20,000 troops to Bosnia, and there were no official American casualties. Still, where is the declaration of war? Why are our troops deployed outside of the United States? Were the Serbs attacking Cleveland?

In September 1994, President Bill Clinton sent US troops into Haiti to restore the regime of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristede. It cost 4 American lives.

The USS Cole was docked at the port of Aden, Yemen, on 12 October 2000 when it was attacked by suicide bombers. Seventeen sailors died in the incident. The Gulf of Aden is not part of the territorial waters of the USA, is it?

War in Iraq and Afghanistan (2001-present) was started on a web of lies by President George W. Bush and his minions. It continues bolstered by more lies. Once again, no constitutional declaration of war, no honorable reason for our military to be in either country has ever been found. So far, over 5,500 military personnel have been killed and over 35,000 have been wounded. The totals are actually much higher, since the Defense Department does not count combat deaths that occur after a wounded soldier leaves Iraq or Afghanistan, or the hundreds of suicides of both active duty and veteran personnel.

I may have missed some obscure deployment of troops in that history lesson. But I think the message rings loud and clear. In case you may have missed the overwhelming ringing sound, here is what it means.

Except for the Congressional declaration of war in 1941, which started our involvement in WWII, no other military action since the CSA defense of 1865 has been a lawful use of military force. And, when you consider that America had no business fighting in WWII, our involvement should be considered immoral.

So, over 1,147,000 American sons and daughters have fought and died in military actions that can be considered both immoral and unlawful.

Please do not misunderstand me here. I do not suggest that the surviving families of dead military personnel should not mourn the loss of their sons and daughters. Surely the loss of a child, husband, father, mother, friend or loved one should be mourned.

I am not diminishing the dead’s courage, bravery, sacrifice or valor. I do not minimize their love of country, love of liberty and sense of duty.

What I am saying is that the REASONS that they died do not stand scrutiny. The REASONS they were deployed outside our shores were illegitimate and founded in lies. The REASONS for ALL military action, save the defensive actions of the Confederate States of America, were in fact illegal, immoral and unlawful.

They were deceived into military service, where politicians used their feelings of patriotism and trust as weapons against them, and their bodies as cannon fodder.

I do not hold the dead entirely at fault. Did they not come from our own homes, churches and schools, where this false sense of patriotism was taught from the cradle onward? We who are alive and remain are the ones most guilty. We did not teach our children how to discern truth from lies. We failed to teach them to question ALL authority. We neglected to infuse in them a love for individual liberty and love for the rule of law.

Therefore, here in the Memorial Day weekend of 2011, may we at long last accept the tragic truth that more than a million of our children gave their lives as sacrificial lambs on the blood-soaked altar of the God of the State? May we finally accept that additional hundreds of thousands were maimed and disabled on the same altar? Truly, they did not die to protect the American homeland. They did not die to protect our freedoms. They did not die defending “the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic”…words found in their Oath of Service.

They died in vain. They died for nothing.

That is what we should mourn this weekend.

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Prosecute John Murphy

by Daniel Miller, President
Texas Nationalist Movement

This week John Murphy of the Department of Justice issued a threat to the Texas Senate that amounted to a blockade of our airports. For those of you who are unaware of this situation, the basics of it are as follows:

Texas Representative David Simpson introduced a bill in the Texas House during this session that specifically addressed the criminal nature of airport pat-downs by the TSA. Although their violation of the privacy of Texans by the touching and groping of genitals during these pat-downs is already a crime under Texas law, Representative Simpson felt that the TSA procedures needed to be singled out for their particular heinous nature.

The bill soared through the House committee and passed with almost no opposition from either party on the floor. The bill was then transmitted to the Texas Senate for consideration and a vote.

In the meantime, the social networking wizards in the US Department of Justice “blogged” about the bill and whined that it was wrong for a state to pass a law regulating the Federal Government and its agents.

However, despite the whining of the DOJ, the bill had support in the Texas Senate and looked as though it was on its way to passage before the session ended. After all, who wants to be seen as legitimizing sexual assault even if it is by the Federal Government?

Then it happened. What would be described as an “act of war” had it been done to the United States was laid squarely at the feet of a Vichy Texas Senator and a Lieutenant Governor with Federal aspirations.

Fearing passage of this bill, John Murphy of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District fired off a warning letter to Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker of the House Joe Straus. The warning – kill the bill or we’ll shut down ALL air travel in Texas.

This threat would have emboldened previous generations of Texas who would have hoisted the “Come And Take It” flag over the capitol and stationed DPS and Texas Rangers at the airports “just in case”. However, the current occupants of the top leadership in the Texas Legislature began to sweat like a chihuahua trying to excrete a peach pit.

In a fit of “what do we do now?” Dewhurst found a willing accomplice in State Senator Kirk Watson. Always quick to prove that is the most loyal lapdog of the “powers that be” he locked arms with Dewhurst as they tip-toed through the tulips of the Texas Senate communicating the threat and finding twelve others that would skip along with them.

With this threat and the reaction of the tip-toe twelve, the bill was dead.

Attempts to resurrect it in the eleventh hour were fruitless.

Of course this is only one reason among many that we need to secede from the Union. However, there is something that Texas should do immediately.

You see, I am an avid reader of the Texas statutes. As such, something about this rang a bell for me. I knew that I had read at one time that threatening a public servant was a crime.

It is.

In the Texas Penal Code are two statutes that apply. The first:

Sec. 36.06. OBSTRUCTION OR RETALIATION. (a) A person commits an offense if he intentionally or knowingly harms or threatens to harm another by an unlawful act:

(1) in retaliation for or on account of the service or status of another as a:

(A) public servant, witness, prospective witness, or informant; or

(c) An offense under this section is a felony of the third degree unless the victim of the offense was harmed or threatened because of the victim’s service or status as a juror, in which event the offense is a felony of the second degree.

The second:

Sec. 36.03. COERCION OF PUBLIC SERVANT OR VOTER. (a) A person commits an offense if by means of coercion he:

(1) influences or attempts to influence a public servant in a specific exercise of his official power or a specific performance of his official duty or influences or attempts to influence a public servant to violate the public servant’s known legal duty; or

(b) An offense under this section is a Class A misdemeanor unless the coercion is a threat to commit a felony, in which event it is a felony of the third degree.

The questions that have to be answered:

Did John Murphy threaten to harm anyone?

Of course he threatened harm. His threat was to close down air travel in Texas. The harms are obviously economic but even more than that. He threatened to deny us the right to freely travel using the method that we feel is most expedient. Yep. He threatened to harm us.

Was it the threat of an unlawful act?

It was definitely unlawful. First, the Department of Justice does not regulate air travel. However, he might have been speaking on behalf of someone else. Regardless, this threat was unlawful under Federal law. Title 42 of the United States code makes it unlawful for a Federal agent or employee to deny a person their civil rights. That includes the right to travel and the right to vote and have a republican form of government. His actions directly impacted my right and the right of all Texans to have a republican form of government. Was the threat unlawful? Check.

Was the threat for the purpose of coercing behavior from the Texas Senate?

You bet. Unfortunately for Texas, it worked. He told them specifically what needed to be done through the ultimatum.

Where do we go from here?

It’s simple for me. I’m going to continue organizing the people that want Texas independence and we are going to take Texas back from thugs like John Murphy and from collaborators like Kirk Watson and David Dewhurst. And I’m going to do it in a way that they can’t stop. Poltically. Economically. Culturally. We will build our numbers and we will secure Texas independence. This is the path that must be taken. It’s one that I walk every day so nothing will change in this regard.

However, I do intend to add two additional items to my task list. As soon as I finish typing this, I’m going to file a criminal complaint with the Attorney General’s Office against John Murphy. Next, I’m calling my attorney to file a Title 42 Federal lawsuit against John Murphy for violating my right to enjoy a republican form of government.

You do what you wish, however I suggest that you join the Texas Nationalist Movement now. Otherwise, this is only going to get worse.

Daniel Miller is President of the Texas Nationalist Movement. Join today.

If Not Now, Then When?

Austin Bowed Up…The Bully Raised His Hand…Austin Cowered

By Russell D. Longcore

Texas State Representative David Simpson (R, Longview) introduced HB 1937 and HB 1938 in the current 2011 legislative session. This bill had 56 co-sponsors.The bills together make TSA airport searches in which the genitalia is touched, a criminal offense in the State of Texas. . The bill also prohibited the installation or use of full-body scanning machines in any Texas airport. Further, the bills required that the TSA must show probable cause for any search under the 4th Amendment of the US Constitution.The House vote was 138-0. Good showing sofar. Then it was taken over to the Senate, where Senator Dan Patrick read it on the floor.

But wait!

The US Department of Justice sent a letter to House Speaker Joe Strauss and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, informing them that if the bill passed and was signed into law, Justice would seek an immediate judicial injunction and emergency stay against the State of Texas. Further, the DOJ threatened to cancel or prevent flights departing from Texas airports if the TSA’s actions were impeded by Texas law.

Based ONLY upon this threat, Patrick quietly withdrew the bill and will not even be brought before the Senate for a vote.

Washington just showed Austin where the bear shit in the buckwheat.

This TSA furor is a minor issue in comparison to many other issues of liberty. I am not minimizing the facts that the TSA is violating many of the Bill of Rights amendments on a daily basis. I simply want to direct your attention to the base cowardice of the Texas Legislature.

The will of the people of Texas was thwarted. At the first sign of trouble, the solons of Austin capitulated to DC. They could not even muster enough courage to LOOK like they were going to defy Washington.

If the Texas legislature cannot muster the courage to protect the people flying out of Texas airports…which is a small percentage of the population…how will they EVER find spine enough to tackle BIG issues? Issues like border control…immigration…taxation…EPA intrusion and control…oil drilling issues…and the biggest issue of all, which is whether Texas should remain a state of the Union, or secede?

Dear Readers, this event in Austin tells you everything you need to know about Texas politicians. At the first whiff of an ill wind, they kneel. As the subtitle says, the bully merely raised his hand in a threatening manner and Austin cowered in fear. This is also the best example you could get on how Austin will behave when more serious issues between Texas and DC arise.

The spirit of San Jacinto, Goliad, Gonzales and the Alamo is only found in Austin in murals and statuary. The politician’s disease of “go along to get along” has immunized them from catching a full-blown case of courage. There is no tyranny, no insult, no power grab, no Federal intrusion into Texas so foul that the politicians of Austin will not cravenly accept it.

If Austin cannot bring itself to challenge one of the three-letter Federal departments, there is no way in hell below or heaven above that Austin politicians will EVER consider secession and Texas nationhood. But we here at DumpDC don’t expect that the Texas politicians would act any other way NOW. The only thing that will change the Austin politicians is the collapse of the American economy and the hyperinflation and chaos that will follow.

So, if not now, then when? ONLY after the global economic meltdown.

Of course, I could be entirely wrong about all this. It’s happened before.

Secession is the Hope For Mankind. Who will be first?

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

Islam: And Now Something Completely Different

By Russell D. Longcore

In 1989, the Soviet Union melted like the Wicked Witch of the West when Dorothy threw water on her. Her republics all seceded and became sovereign nations once again. This threw Washington into a tizzy. There were olive drab panties in wads all over the Pentagon. Washington’s new task was to identify another enemy and do it fast. Otherwise, why would America need all these cool Star Wars weapons systems? What was the use of having a NATO when their enemy had disappeared? How could Washington keep the citizenry scared of a common hobgoblin? And how would Washington keep the population staring lovingly toward DC as its ultimate Savior?

Somewhere along the line, some bright Ivy Leaguer bureaucratic troll must have suggested that Islam would make a keen new enemy. Nearly as old as Christianity and just about as modern as first century Rome, Islam was the perfect foil for American exceptionalism. Islam was quirky, difficult to understand, and seemed to have a perpetual chip on its shoulder. They had a special book to follow…The “Quran”…kind of like the Bible…that they also believed was the very word of Allah (God). The Quran has some very radical, non-Western Civilization notions and teachings in it that are perfect for an enemy’s playbook.

Plus, these Muslims (adherents to Islam) very conveniently happened to occupy a part of the world under which exists an ocean of crude oil.

Islam is the perfect religion for a part of the world populated by tribes. I wrote about tribes HERE.

Washington had started its meddling in the Middle Eastern tribes decades before the fall of the USSR, however. DC cemented a deal with the House of Saud way back in 1945 and has been helping prop up the Saudi Arabian royal family ever since. In the nations all along the north of Africa eastward to Pakistan, Washington has been overthrowing rulers and dictators and installing DC’s own patsies now for 70 years. But during that time, Islam in all its permutations has been growing steadily. Wahhabism, Sunni, Shia and Sufi all follow the Prophet…peace be upon him.

Islamic clerics have long referred to the United States as “The Great Satan.” However, they have been perfectly willing to make pact after pact with the Devil.

It is arguable that Islam is a threat to Western Civilization. But Western Civilization has been a threat to Islam over the decades. The West has tried to democratize Islam, which can never work. When that didn’t work, the West overthrew recalcitrant tribal leaders and “crowned” new ones that would do the West’s bidding. Muslims were not amused, and not fooled by their puppet leaders. So, in most cases, the puppet presidents had to resort to terrible repression and brutality toward its own people simply to stay in power.

Meanwhile, the West exploited the oil reserves of the Islamic nations. Bedouins and tribes became fabulously wealthy from oil revenues, but at the price of having to be in bed with the Western tyrants. Not exactly a marriage made in heaven.

The lapdog media of the 21st century lump all of Islam together into a homogenous group. But tribes are not that way. Saudis, Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians, Yemenis, Egyptians and Libyans (and others) are Arabs. But Iranians are Persians. Kurds are Kurds. Turks are Turks. Pashtun is the biggest tribe, numbering over 40 million in Pakistan and Afghanistan. They embrace Islam, but that is where the similarity ends.

Contrary to media reports, Islam can indeed get along with Christianity. Lebanon used to have a vibrant Christian community, as did Iraq, Syria, Turkey and Iran. Egypt has the Coptic Church, established just after Jesus walked the land.

So, Washington and the West have:

• Made deals with Islamic nations
• Betrayed deals with Islamic nations
• Overthrown Arab governments
• Overthrown Persian, Kurd and Turk governments
• Installed puppet dictators
• Supported repressive regimes
• Invaded the Middle East with military troops
• Started wars between Middle East nations (like Iraq and Iran, or Israel and Egypt)
• Killed millions of civilians
• Built military bases on Islamic soil
• Propped up and protected the government of Israel

And this last week, our dorky President suggested that the Israeli/Palestinian crisis be solved by establishing Israel’s borders where they were after the 1967 war. This is guaranteed to throw gasoline on this Arab/Israeli fire. This situation will get completely out of control. Thanks, Barry.

Now, Islamic nations distrust and hate each other. All of Islam seems to hate Israel. And Islam and Israel hate Washington and the West.

Here’s the question of the day: How has all that worked for Washington and the West sofar?

And Now Something Completely Different

In the remaining few words of this article, I’m going to recommend that we try a new way of dealing with Islam.

Let’s Mind Our Own Goddamned Business.

How about if we do the following?

• End all military activity in the Middle East immediately.
• Remove ALL Western military presence from the Middle East.
• End ALL foreign financial aid to ANY AND ALL nations.
• Abrogate ANY AND ALL treaties with Middle East nations.
• Remove ALL intelligence operators from the Middle East.
• Just leave them alone and not meddle in their affairs. Allow the several nations of the Middle East to work out their own destinies without American intrusion. Everything in the Middle East is not a matter of American national security.
• Try to become a trusted trading partner, driving hard bargains and keeping our word.
• Remove all restrictions on domestic oil and gas exploration. If we’re producing our own oil, we’ll need less Middle East crude, which will drop prices worldwide.
• Have our president apologize to the entire Islamic world for the chaos, death and destruction America has caused over the decades.
• Do what Jesus Christ told His followers to do – “Love your enemies and practice being humble.”

America holds itself up to the world as a beacon of Christianity. But Washington acts in ways 100% opposite to Biblical teachings. I think we can all agree that Washington’s way of interacting with the people of the Middle East has failed miserably over the past 70 years. So how about if we try to be nice for a change?

Perhaps all the falderol about Islam taking over the world would not come to pass if we made consistent efforts over time to mind our own business and act in ways that were consistent with our stated beliefs. Nobody likes or trusts a hypocrite. But if the hypocrite stops his hypocrisy and really changes, he could be trusted once again.

This recommendation, which makes a 180 degree turn in foreign policy, might not work. But the DC foreign policy of the past 70 years has been a miserable failure which has cost millions of innocent lives and trillions of dollars. I am suggesting that we stop doing stuff and pretty much DO NOTHING for a while. Allow other grownups to run their own lives without being meddled with or being murdered. Perhaps the adherents of Islam would in turn lay down their AK47s and put away their IEDs and leave us alone.

And finally, if any state secedes and becomes a new nation, should not this article be the Owner’s Manual for foreign policy for the new nation?

Isn’t it worth a try, Dear Readers? YOU got a better idea?

Secession is the Hope For Mankind. Who will be first?

DumpDC. Six Letters That Can Change History.

© Copyright 2011, Russell D. Longcore. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit is given.

They Are Bringing It Now

by Hellesponte & C. Kerodin

(Editor’s Note: Dear Readers, do you know anything about exponential growth? An acorn becomes a tree…a tree becomes a stand of trees…the stand becomes a forest. But it also works in human events. A small amount of money will grow to a fortune over time. But a small seed of tyranny will also grow to totalitarianism given enough time. And toward the end, the compounding effect gets faster and faster. The world powers are accelerating their tyranny and doing it now in plain view, daring patriots to stop them. Eventually, there will be a fight and blood will spill.)

The Indiana Supreme Court ruling, followed by the SCOTUS 8-1 in support of broadening warrantless search powers should clearly delineate for Patriots who is on what team.

Badge & Gun = Team Tyranny.

Black Robe = Team Tyranny.

Elected to Office = Team Tyranny.

Appointed to Office = Team Tyranny.

Bureaucrat in any capacity = Team Tyranny.

You think I paint with too broad of a brush?

I’m not done yet.

Anyone who donates money or time to anti-Liberty groups or campaigns = Team Tyranny.

Any neighbor who votes for D or Establishment R candidates = Team Tyranny.

I will grant you that the last category of people are the least malicious of the Team Tyranny Idiots…but you’d better understand that they are NOT on your team, and some are in this category only because they are too lazy to work up into the active ranks of Tyrants.

And do not bother me with arguments of Who am I to judge my neighbor for voting for Ted Kennedy…

That is garbage, and if you don’t know it then please stand down and get out of the way. There comes a moment in life when you must rely upon your internal moral compass and do the hard things, and leave the philosophy to others once you have made the world safe again for their pontification.

I challenge anyone to identify any single elected or appointed member of the Political Class today who examines every issue through the lens of Constitutional Authority before acting on your behalf in the capacity of their office. You can not name one single announced or potential Presidential, Senatorial or Congressional candidate for 2012 who campaigns on the statement that: Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid are unconstitutional and must be stopped.

Tell me how “fixing” Social Security or Medicare is anything but unconstitutional?

Tell me just how much unconstitutional behavior you are willing to tolerate before you push back with the means Tyrants understand.

Better yet – don’t tell me, it was a rhetorical query. I don’t want to know your inner intent. That’s your business, and the fewer people you let know your intent and tripwires the safer you will be.

Your enemies are dropping the pretense.

The balloon is going up.

They are bringing their fight to you…right now.

Can you identify it for what it is? Or will you look back soon and realize that you missed the window of opportunity?

The time of Mencken is washing upon our ankles. His quote:

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

Resist! Reinforce. Reload. Ruckus. Restoration.

Now!

Copyright 2010 & 2011 Christian Kerodin ©

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