Abolishing "Vital Government Services"

Capitalists of a pure libertarian stripe believe that the Free Market provides groceries, computers, automobiles and refrigerators better than the government could. Higher quality, lower prices, to more people.

What about Courts, police, firefighters, and national defense? Don't these vital social services prove we need some socialism?

Murray Rothbard answers:

---

PEOPLE TEND TO FALL into habits and into unquestioned ruts, especially in the field of government. On the market, in society in general, we expect and accommodate rapidly to change, to the unending marvels and improvements of our civilization. New products, new life styles, new ideas are often embraced eagerly. But in the area of government we follow blindly in the path of centuries, content to believe that what­ever has been must be right.

In particular, government, in the United States and elsewhere, for centuries and seemingly from time immemorial, has been supplying us with certain essential and necessary services, services which nearly everyone concedes are important: defense (includ­ing army, police, judicial, and legal), firefighting, streets and roads, water, sewage and garbage disposal, postal service, etc. So identified has the State become in the public mind with the provision of these services that an attack on State financing appears to many people as an attack on the service itself. Thus if one maintains that the State should not supply court services, and that private enterprise on the market could supply such service more efficiently as well as more morally, people tend to think of this as denying the importance of courts themselves.

The libertarian who wants to replace government by private enterprises in the above areas is thus treated in the same way as he would be if the government had, for various reasons, been supplying shoes as a tax-financed monopoly from time immemorial. If the government and only the government had had a monopoly of the shoe manufacturing and retailing business, how would most of the public treat the libertarian who now came along to advocate that the government get out of the shoe business and throw it open to private enterprise? He would undoubtedly be treated as follows: people would cry,

"How could you? You are opposed to the public, and to poor people, wearing shoes! And who would supply shoes to the public if the government got out of the business? Tell us that! Be constructive! It's easy to be negative and smart-alecky about government; but tell us who would supply shoes? Which people? How many shoe stores would be available in each city and town? How would the shoe firms be capitalized? How many brands would there be? What material would they use? What lasts? What would be the pricing arrangements for shoes? Wouldn't regulation of the shoe industry be needed to see to it that the product is sound? And who would supply the poor with shoes? Suppose a poor person didn't have the money to buy a pair?"

These questions, ridiculous as they seem to be -- and are -- with regard to the shoe business, are just as absurd when applied to the libertarian who advocates a free market in fire, police, postal service, or any other government operation.

The point is that the advocate of a free market in anything cannot provide a "constructive" blueprint of such a market in advance. The essence and the glory of the free market is that individual firms and businesses, competing on the market, provide an ever-changing orchestration of efficient and progressive goods and services: continually improving products and markets, advancing technology, cutting costs, and meeting changing consumer demands as swiftly and as efficiently as possible.

---

The words "as possible" are important. It is not possible for the government to provide any goods or services at a lower price or with higher quality to more people than the Free Market. The iron laws of economics will not yield to the wishes of politicians.

www.STOPtheSPP.us

I have created a new website, www.STOPtheSPP.US for my campaign. The dot-com and dot-org domains were already taken by an anti-immigration extremist who isn't even using them. I also picked up the dot-net domain, which I'll use for a more general, non-campaign use. Last night at the "Families for Change" Candidate Forum, there was strong interest in the SPP. Even some of the other candidates grabbed my SPP handouts.

Flight 800 - July 17, 1996

"Today marks the 10th anniversary of the destruction of TWA Flight 800, the investigation of which represented the most conspicuous and consequential misdirection of justice in American history."

The CIA admits 270 competent eyewitnesses, many with military backgrounds, saw what looked like a missile down a 747 off Long Island with 230 people on board. More than 700 actually saw the event. The government has destroyed evidence and pressured media not to recount the testimony of the eyewitnesses.

The obvious question is: who shot down the plane? The next question is, why doesn't the government want America to know the truth?

Jack Cashill has a series of articles on WorldNetDaily:

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=51090

There has never been a Congressional hearing on TWA Flight 800.

Who Creates Your Vote?

When I lived in California I drafted a lawsuit against the California Secretary of State asking the Court to require a voter-verifiable paper trail in all elections. A Press Release regarding that litigation is here:

http://KevinCraig.US/vote-pr.htm

If you're not familiar with the controversy over "touch-screen" voting, start with that press release.

As a result of pressure created by this lawsuit, touch-screen voting machines were de-certified by the Secretary of State. Then, after pressure let up, they were re-certified again. Over the last 5 years I've lost track of the progress (or regress) in California.

I confess I don't know what kind of voting machines will be used in November by those who will be choosing between me and the incumbent, Roy Blunt.

James Bovard, one of my favorite writers, has an article on voting that explains why Roy Blunt is not concerned about voting irregularities. Bovard starts off:

Politicians strive to make Americans view elections as sacrosanct. Challenges to election results are portrayed as heresies that threaten to destroy the entire republic. After the 2004 presidential election, many Democrats went on the warpath over alleged voter fraud and manipulation in Ohio and elsewhere. The Constitution requires Congress to certify the Electoral College voters for each state before a president is officially elected. A handful of Democratic members of Congress formally challenged the seating of the Ohio electors when Congress reconvened in early January 2005. Though the debate in the House of Representatives lasted barely two hours, many Republicans feared that raising the topic had derailed the nation and the march of history….

Bovard quotes a few Republicans who denounced the Democratic efforts to question Ohio's election results, on the grounds that merely asking questions subverts the entire process. Bovard says this about my opponent:

Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the House majority whip, declared, “We also need to understand that every time we attack the process, we cast that doubt on that fabric of democracy that is so important.” Blunt did not specify if the “fabric” was a cover sheet. He sought to put the entire government above questioning:

It is the greatest democracy in the history of the world and it is run by people who step forward and make a system work in ways that nobody would believe until they see it produce the result of what people want to have happen on Election Day.

And anyone who doubted the result was an enemy of democracy.

Such blather should not be dismissed as merely self-serving emissions. These comments go to the heart of how politicians think about government and their own power — and about citizens’ duty to accept unquestioningly whatever election results the politicians proclaim. Citizens are supposed to believe in that magical moment of uplift that occurs when election results are officially certified — expunging all the verbal flim-flams of the campaign itself. The Republicans’ comments sounded as if there is a grave danger in letting people even start to think about how the whole process works — as if Republicans were terrified of any questions or challenges that would decrease people’s submissiveness to the government.

The “debate” in Congress illustrated how elections are now about consecration, rather than representation. Elections have become something for rulers to shroud themselves in, rather than leashes used by the people. Politicians are obsessed with maintaining the imagined dignity of their class, not in resolving doubts about honest vote counting.

The Fraudulent Meaning of Elections

Congress gave special interests $3.5 billion to dress-up American voting, a nearly complete waste of money. Voting which is verified by the People -- rather than the politicians -- is certainly not the goal of the politicians. Perpetual re-election is their goal.

There are exceptions, of course. Congressman Ron Paul is one of them.

Since 1982 I have only voted twice, and never for myself. I don't believe voting changes much of anything (letters to elected representatives are far more effective), and now with computer voting, there's no way to know if your vote is even heard at all. As a candidate, I run into more people who don't vote than those who do. When I meet a non-voter, I'm almost embarrassed to admit "I'm a candidate." I sympathize with those who do not take the election process seriously. But deep-down I'm the "True Believer" type, and I respect those who are patriotic and believe their vote counts. That's the way they have been conditioned. Obviously I would like voters to vote for me, and non-voters to get registered and vote for me. But only if this represents a token, a symbol of commitment to do much, much more than just vote every four years.

In 2002 I did not vote -- even though I was the Libertarian Party Candidate for Congress in California's 41st District! They say "Bad Publicity is Better than No Publicity At All." My little protest got me some reasonably good publicity, which is, of course, even better than bad publicity. I don't know if I'll make a similar protest this year. Any comments?

16 Tuesdays

I began this blog 16 Tuesdays ago. There are now 16 Tuesdays left until the 2006 election. I haven't even undertaken -- much less accomplished -- half of what I imagined doing, and now half the time I had 16 Tuesdays ago is gone.

I have to admit that fear is a major obstacle. I hate confronting the possibility that the person I'm about to talk to will think I'm either presumptuous ("Who does this guy think he is, running for the high and lofty office of U.S. Congressman?") or a nut ("Does this guy actually think he's going to win?").

Of course I have no illusions about winning. My goal is to educate as many voters (and non-voters) as I can. But the ideas I bring are strange-sounding to those who were raised on the two-party monopoly mainstream. Nobody likes to be rejected.

Publicly admitting this fear encourages me to step up the pace and contact more people (even though "publicly" in this case really means only a handful of people).

The LP website has a blog entry on "You Tube" and what impact it may have on electoral politics. Accordingly, I have added videos to my "War on Drugs" page, my Iraq page, and my police page.

16 weeks ago I had delusions of updating the links on at least on webpage per day. Any volunteers? Find a broken link, find the new URL to that page (if it still exists somewhere), and send it to me.

The real task is not getting an under-funded third party candidate elected in place of the third most powerful Republican in Congress, but in meeting people who actually have some respect for the Constitution and the idea of "Liberty Under God," and turning them into cell-leaders in their own sphere of influence.

Thanks to those of you who read and comment.

Nobody Believes in the 4th of July Anymore.

Today millions of Americans will take a day off work, watch a parade, light up the Bar-B-Q, or shoot off fireworks, but virtually none of them knows why.

In theory, America commemorates the unveiling of the Declaration of Independence, but in reality, nobody believes what that document stands for.

"The Spirit of '76" signifies a belief that any government which becomes as powerful as the British government under King George III (1738-1820) is a "tyranny," and we have a duty to abolish it.

There can be no debate or doubt that government under George W. the 43rd is more oppressive than the government indicted in the Declaration of Independence. It takes ten times as much in taxes, and uses that money to fund institutions and policies which would appall and horrify the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Yet only a handful of Americans consider it a "tyranny," and only a fraction of those who complain about it take any practical steps to abolish it.

The 4th of July, then, is a day of Great National Hypocrisy.

But then, a number of legal scholars have pointed out that the government created by America's Founding Fathers was abolished decades ago, and replaced with an "Administrative State."

And the United States of America is being abolished anyway, as we speak, and merged with Mexico to form a "North American Community," or "United States of North America." Most voters love the great national hymn, "America the Beautiful." The architects of the "North American Community" want us to sing "North America the Beautiful" instead, to quote the title of an op-ed piece from the Wall Street Journal in support of the plan.

For those who love the ideal of "Liberty Under God," the 4th of July turns out to be a day of mourning rather than celebration.

http://KevinCraig.us/July4th1776.htm

9-11 in the News

In the "War on Terrorism" there have been two recent developments of note (but not widely noted). First, the recent arrest of "terrorists" plotting to bring down the Sears Tower in Chicago turns out to be an arrest of dreamers rather than terrorists, who were sharing their fantasies with an FBI informant purporting to be a member of Osama bin Laden's terrorist organization. The "terrorists" had no connection to Al-Queda.

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article1096208.ece

Second, the folks at "Muckraker Report" called the FBI and asked why Osama bin Laden's poster on the FBI's Most Wanted List does not mention 9-11. Rex Tomb, the FBI's Chief of Investigative Publicity, is reported to have said, "The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Usama Bin Laden's Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting Bin Laden to 9/11."

According to the FBI poster, Osama is still wanted by the FBI "in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya." Three years after those bombings, Osama was still at large.

In the months leading up to the September 11, 2001 attack, it is reported, the Taliban "outlined various ways bin Laden could be dealt with. He could be turned over to the EU, killed by the Taliban, or made available as a target for Cruise missiles." The Bush administration did not accept the Taliban's offer. This according to a pro-Islam (but not necessarily pro-Osama) website, which also notes the following:

After 9-11, according to the Guardian, "the Taliban offered to hand Osama bin Laden to a neutral Islamic country for trial if the US presented them with evidence that he was responsible for the attacks on New York and Washington. The US rejected the offer."

Bin Laden, in a September 28, 2001 interview with the Pakistani newspaper Ummat, is reported to have said: "I am not involved in the 11 September attacks in the United States."

Bin Laden is the "prime suspect" in the September 11 attacks, said President Bush on September 17, 2001, and he pledged to capture him "dead or alive."

I can't think of a single government official who was responsible for protecting America from attack before 9-11 who was fired after 9-11 for failing to do so. On the other hand, numerous whistleblowers have been fired or harassed for criticizing the government and exposing weaknesses in national security. Nobody still in government would dare suggest that the government itself is to blame for 9-11.

Pink Pistols Survey

Jake just alerted me to the Pink Pistols candidate survey. Here is my response:

2006 Candidate's Questionnaire Page
This section lists questions for all political candidates to answer. Please respond to these questions and email them to questionnaire@pinkpistols.org. All answers will be made publicly available at www.pinkpistols.com.

Candidates please note: All answers _must_ be directed to the question asked. Answers that fail to answer the question will not be counted.

There are 10 questions with 10 points per question.

Candidate's Name : Kevin Craig

Political Party: Libertarian

Office you are running for: U.S. Congress, Roy Blunt's seat.

State: MO

County: Taney

District: 7

1) Do you believe that the Second Amendment confirms the individual right of every American citizen to possess and use (update of keep and bear) militia/military weapons for individual self-defense, as well as for the defense of the State / National defense?

YES/NO

YES re: "individual rights." The Second Amendment was not written for hunters or gun collectors. It was written to allow individuals to defend themselves against the State when it "evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism" through "a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object." The Second Amendment guarantees the right of The People to carry out what the Declaration of Independence describes as the "duty" to "abolish" "any Form of Government [that] becomes destructive of" our God-given rights. The Second Amendment is a right of "the People," not the State.

NO re: "defense of the State." The State does not have any right to defend itself against the People armed.

Wording: my update of "bear" would be "carry," not just "use." Without the right to "carry," one can only use a firearm at home (in "private").

2) If elected would you support legislation for the removal of firearm laws and regulations? If your answer is yes, and if you are elected, what specific legislation would you propose/support to ensure that this individual right is protected? Which current laws which infringe upon this individual right would you seek to repeal?

YES
I would support legislation authored by anyone of any party that removed infringements of 2nd Amendment rights. As a freshman Congressman from a third party, I would hesitate to get pushy by authoring sweeping legislation, but I'm open on that. ALL laws regulating, licensing, or infringing the right to keep and bear arms should be abolished. I try to take the Constitution seriously, and have a rather absolutist interpretation of the Second Amendment.

3) What do you consider are "legitimate" reasons to own a firearm?
Check as many as apply:
[x] Personal Defense
[x] Home Defense
[x] Defense of your country (Unorganized Militia)
[x] Hunting
[x] Farm Use
[x] Competitive Shooting
[x] Informal Sport Shooting
[x] Informal Target Practice and/or Plinking
[x] Collecting
[x] Constitutional Rights
[x] Just because. No reason is necessary.
[x] Other ____to "alter or abolish" the government per #1 above____
[x] All of the above
[ ] None of the above

4) Would you support the banning of some firearms or ammunition? (IE: Saturday night specials, "assault weapons", Hollow points, and "Safety Slugs") Why and to what extent?

NO. "The right . . . shall not be infringed."

5) Do you believe that firearm owners should be required to have licenses or permits to own or carry firearms? Do you believe training for such licenses should be mandatory? Why?

NO. "The right . . . shall not be infringed."

6) Do you believe that firearms and/or firearm owners should be registered? Which ones and why?

NO. "The right . . . shall not be infringed."

http://KevinCraig.US/guns.htm

7) Do you support equal rights for all citizens of the United States regardless of the person's sexuality / orientation and / or gender identity/expression?

I'm a Bible-believing Christian, so I'll answer your question fully, hoping you'll at least give me points for honesty.

a. Technically, I believe in duties, not "rights."

http://KevinCraig.US/rights.htm

I don't have a "right" to life, you have a *duty* not to kill me, according to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God:

http://KevinCraig.US/religion/nature.htm

b. These "self-evident truths" indicate that homosexuality (etc.) is immoral:

http://KevinCraig.US/homosexuality.htm

c. These same moral absolutes also make the initiation of force against homosexuals wrong, and I have taken the pledge of the National Libertarian Party: "I do not believe in or advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals." This means I oppose criminal sanctions against homosexuals:

http://KevinCraig.US/sanctions.htm

d. I have a background in the "Christian Reconstructionist" movement, and I personally know those who believe homosexuals should be executed. I strongly oppose this part of the "Religious Right" agenda.

http://KevinCraig.US/capital_punishment.htm

8) Which of the following would you be willing to support in regards to same-gender and/or polyamorous marriages and/or civil unions?
Check as many as apply:
[ ] Domestic partnerships for same-sex couples
[ ] Domestic partnerships for opposite-sex couples
[ ] Domestic partnerships for polyamorous (more than two consenting adults)
[ ] Same-sex marriages
[ ] Opposite sex marriages (What we have now)
[ ] Polyamarous marriages (between more than two consenting adults)
[ ] All of the above. Everyone should have equal rights under the law.
[ ] None of the above. Government has no role in defining a marriage. Leave it to the church, or private contracts.
[ ] Other _______"The government" has a duty to recognize monogamous heterosexual relations as the only legitimate form of sexual activity. "The Mafia" has the same duty. Both institutions should be abolished. See #10 below.________

http://KevinCraig.US/anarchism.htm

9) Do you support the right for people to act as they wish in a private setting, with other consenting adults?

I assume this question is not asking about card-games, but about acts which are prohibited by "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God."
No, I do not "support" them, but I oppose the use of criminal sanctions (the initiation of force) to prevent or punish them. I am also as absolutist on the 4th Amendment as I am on the 2nd.

10) A number of states are currently in the process of enacting DOMA (Defense Of Marriage Act) type laws. Do you support or oppose limits on the marriage laws that would further restrict who may and may not marry? Why?

"Marriage" was created by God, not the State. For the State to say that homosexuals can live in a state of "marriage" is as ridiculous as saying atheists have a "right" to be baptized. The State does not "define" marriage, and DOMAs are unnecessary, constitutionally speaking, because our "organic law" already recognizes God's definition. I support DOMAs as a means of blocking activist judges who act unconstitutionally.

http://kevinforcongress.blogspot.com/2006/06/marriage-amendment.html

Do you have an additional statement to make that is not covered by this questionnaire? Use as much space as you wish.

I am a pacifist. I hate guns.

http://vftonline.org/TestOath/pacifist.htm

I oppose all "gun control" laws because they can only be enforced through acts of violence, and tend to monopolize guns in the hands of the institution most likely to use them to the greatest and most violent degree: the State.

http://KevinCraig.US/violence.htm

Based on a very cursory look at your website, and especially this statement:

We no longer believe it is the right of those who hate and fear gay, lesbian, bi, trans, or polyamorous persons to use us as targets for their rage.

I conclude that your goal is to endorse or practice acts which I believe are abominations in God's eyes, and one of your strategies is to use lethal force against those you consider to be "bashers."

Jesus taught, "Love your enemies, bless them that bash you" (that's the New Kevin Craig Translation). So it might appear that you and I are poles apart on the most central issues animating your organization ("gay" and guns).

I believe thoughtful consideration of my campaign as a whole would lead you to conclude that Kevin Craig is not just the "lesser of evils" among a bleary pack of candidates in Missouri's 7th Congressional District, but a paradigm-shifting candidate whose victory in November would completely re-direct the national conversation in a way that will benefit your constituents in the long-term. Your armed, vigilate strategy will only polarize your adversaries, and neither the mainstream Demoblicans nor the Republicrats would stand in the way of serious, organized, passionate gay-bashing, should that become a formidable voting block (which they intend to become).

Thank you for your consideration of my candidacy.



Kevin Craig
Libertarian Party Candidate
U.S. House of Representatives, MO-7th
Powersite, MO 65731-0179
blog.KevinCraig.US
www.KevinCraig.US

Congress Perceived as Unethical

A new Lichtman/Zogby Interactive poll confirms Americans are distrustful of leaders across the societal spectrum.

Three out of four (75%) said they trust government less than they did five years ago. Nearly 60% said they believe the “state of honesty in America” today is in poor shape (18% said it is in the worst possible shape).

Overall, just 3% said they think Congress in general is trustworthy, compared to 24% who said President Bush is trustworthy and 29% who said they can put their faith in the national court system, the survey shows.

Despite this, there is no reason to expect any change from previous elections: over 90% of the incumbents will be re-elected. And while most Americans distrust Congressmen in general, they give above-average ratings to their own Congressman.

The Zogby poll also indicates that while Americans criticize Congressmen in general, they rank themselves much higher in honesty and trustworthiness:

However, Americans do feel they can bank on the actions and words of their friends and co–workers – 75% said the people they work with and live near are trustworthy. Almost everyone (97%) said they consider themselves to be trustworthy, and 85% said they think their personal goals in life are less important than acting with honesty and integrity.

The Zogby poll did not pursue the details, but one wonders what it is that makes Congress so untrustworthy. Perhaps its a feeling that Congressmen campaign on what H.L. Mencken called "an advance auction of stolen goods":

"Vote for me and I promise to steal from your neighbor and give to you!"

And everyone feels he himself is entitled to government booty, but everyone else's entitlements should be cut. And everyone else's Congressman is corrupt because "he's buying votes with my tax dollars," but my Congressman is skilled at getting bills passed that benefit our district.

The good news: liberty doesn't need a majority. Less than a third of Americans supported the American Revolution, a third were loyal to Britain, and a third just wanted to be left alone, according to John Adams.

4th of July

For the next month I'll be blogging mostly about the 4th of July, or as a dwindling minority of Americans call it, "Independence Day." I recently obtained a domain where I have placed some web pages written years ago, which I hope to update:

http://July4th1776.org

For the most part, Americans have no idea what was achieved on July 4th, 1776, and if they did, most would probably oppose it. Only a small minority would sign the Declaration of Independence and publicly profess its philosophy if asked to do so today.

I'd like to begin with a quotation from Edmund Burke, the British statesman who was sympathetic to the colonists' grievances, and urged the rest of the British House of Commons to give serious attention to them.

It is not a hazarded assertion, it is a great truth, that once things are gone out of their ordinary course, it is by acts out of the ordinary course they can alone be re-established.
(Letter to William Elliot, 1795, quoted by Leonard Read, The Elements of Libertarian Leadership, 1962.)

I'm convinced that if America's Founding Fathers were to travel through time into our day, they would very quickly conclude that "things are gone out of their ordinary course," and they would invoke the right described in the Declaration of Independence as a "duty," and take steps to abolish the government they themselves created. Christopher S. Bentley has drawn the parallels here, and I added a few here.

As I make clear on my July4th1776.org website, I do not believe in the use of violence to overthrow a government. But I do believe that "absolute Despotism" must be denounced, and if the mild British government of 1776 was guilty of "the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States," then the Bush administration, and all previous administrations going back at least to Lincoln, are guilty of much worse.

The Second Amendment, which was not written for hunters and gun-collectors, but which guarantees our right to take up arms and "to throw off such Government" as "becomes destructive of these ends," is today a myth. We could not fight a guerilla war with Washington D.C. and win. Washington D.C. has nukes, and we have safety-locked handguns.

So what are "the acts out of the ordinary course" that "can alone re-establish" things as they ought to be?

I've been thinking--and wrestling--with several ideas, and I'll toss them out in the pages of this blog for your consideration.

During my days in the Catholic Worker Movement, I had the privilege of meeting Daniel Berrigan, the Vietnam War protester who burned draft board files in Catonsville, MD, in 1969, and was for a time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Berrigan, along with The Catonsville Nine, had concluded that "things are gone out of their ordinary course" (to use Burke's phrase). (An interview with Daniel Berrigan, celebrating his 85th birthday this weekend, is on Democracy Now, starting 35:00 into the program. I love the archival video footage of the Catonsville Nine in the Selective Service parking lot, burning the files with homemade napalm, all of them conservatively dressed in suits and ties. Those were the days when everyone always dressed up to fly on airplanes or go to a sit-down restaurant.)

Fire, bombs, and destruction of property, even government property, even government property used to commit acts of violence, is still beyond my fortitude. I'm more inclined to wash the flag rather than burn it. But I am moved by and I wrestle with the prophetic call to "beat Swords Into Plowshares."

I think America's Founding Fathers would agree that this is not a time to be concerned with our own reputation and social status. They were willing to risk "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" in defense of liberty. I'm not called at this time to give up my life. I'm not investing a lot of money in my campaign. The first hurdle I need to overcome is my "honor," the fear of being considered an "extremist" or losing some social standing in the public eye. I must be willing to incorporate "acts out of the ordinary course" in my campaign. I don't think this is a time to worry about being a "respectable" "mainstream" candidate.

Someone has said that "Bad publicity is better than no publicity at all." Consider an extra-ordinary campaign event which the press ridicules or which results in my arrest, but which wakes a few people up, gets them thinking, and causes them to apostatize from the religion of the Messianic State: is it worth it? Suppose 4 out of 5 people call me a fool, or "unpatriotic," but the fifth person becomes a libertarian. I would say that's progress, even if not all that great compared with batting averages. But if, at the end of the election campaign, all 5 people have not lost their "respect" for me, but have taken no steps closer to America's Libertarian Founding Fathers, what have I really accomplished?

The 4th of July

During the next month, I will be blogging mostly about the 4th of July, "Independence Day." I recently purchased a domain to house some things I wrote before 9-11, which I hope to update:

http://July4th1776.org

I'd like to start with a quote from Edmund Burke, the British statesman who was sympathetic to the colonists' demands, and urged Britain to give more serious attention to them:

It is not a hazarded assertion, it is a great truth, that once things are gone out of their ordinary course, it is by acts out of the ordinary course that they can alone be re-established."
(Letter to William Elliot, 1795, quoted by Leonard Read, Elements of Libertarian Leadership, 1962)

I'm convinced that if America's Founding Fathers could be transported through time into our day, they would very quickly conclude that "things are gone out of their ordinary course."

I'm convinced they would invoke their right, stated in the Declaration of Independence as a "duty," to "abolish" the government they themselves created. Christopher S. Bentley draws the parallels here, and I add a few here.

This is not a time when we should be calling for "a ten-percent reduction over the next 5 years."

Nor is this a time, I fear, when Libertarians can work to appear to be "mainstream," and conduct campaigns designed to make them look respectable like all the other candidates.

This is a time for "acts out of the ordinary course."

I'm thinking -- wrestling -- with ideas to make my campaign a series of such acts.

During my stint in the Catholic Worker movement, I had the privilege of meeting Daniel Berrigan, the Jesuit who burned draft card files at Catonsville, MD in 1969, and was for a time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List. Berrigan and "the Catonsville Nine" recognized that "things are gone out of their ordinary course." (Interview with Berrigan on Democracy Now! begins 35 minutes into the program. I love the archival video footage of the Catonsville Nine wearing suits and ties as they set fire to the Selective Service files in the parking lot with homemade napalm. Those were the days when everyone dressed up to fly on airplanes or go to sit-down restaurants.)

I have to admit that destruction of government property is outside my character, though I'm sympathetic with the prophetic call to "beat swords into plowshares." I like those who suggest washing the American flag rather than burning it as a political protest.

America's Founding Fathers risked "our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor" in their defense of liberty. I'm not ready to risk my life, nor am I called to do so at this point, but I'm willing to risk my "sacred Honor," or reputation. If, as a result of my campaign, two people call me a fool and one person renounces his faith in the Messianic State, I will have made progress. If all three continue to "respect" me, but none changes his allegiance, what have I accomplished?

Marriage Amendment

This morning on the President's Radio Address, President Bush endorsed "a constitutional amendment that defines marriage in the United States as the union of a man and woman."

From a historical and constitutional perspective, such an amendment is completely unnecessary.

Marriage is not defined by a State or a constitution. The Declaration of Independence says that our nation and its laws are subservient to "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God." Marriage is an institution created and defined by God. For the first 300 years of American history, and for centuries of English common law before that, marriage laws in this country were based on the origin of the marital union in Genesis. It was only in the last few years that judges who had taken an oath to "support the Constitution" declared the entire legislative process and the process of popular amendment of constitutions to be "unconstitutional." Overwhelming electoral and legislative majorities have passed laws and amendments to affirm the traditional view of marriage. Judges that negate constitutional processes violate their oath to support the constitution, and should be impeached.

No judge, no court, no government has the right to compel anyone to hold that any but a man and a woman can be united in "marriage." This is the position of America's founding charters.

In 1913, the Texas Supreme Court reflected the views of the Founding Fathers when it declared:

Marriage was not originated by human law. When God created Eve, she was a wife to Adam; they then and there occupied the status of husband to wife and wife to husband. . . . When Noah was selected for salvation from the flood, he and his wife and his three sons and their wives were placed in the Ark; and, when the flood waters had subsided and the families came forth, it was Noah and his wife and each son and his wife . . . . The truth is that civil government has grown out of marriage . . . which created homes, and population, and society, from which government became necessary [sic] . . . . [Marriages] will produce a home and family that will contribute to good society, to free and just government, and to the support of Christianity. . . . It would be sacrilegious to apply the designation "a civil contract" to such a marriage. It is that and more; a status ordained by God.
Grigsby v Reib, 153 S.W. 1124, 1129-30 (TxSupCt 1913)

This opinion hearkened back to an earlier decision by the Texas Supreme Court in 1848, which declared that the legal contract of marriage

is the most solemn and important of human transactions. It is regarded by all Christian nations as the basis of civilized society, of sound morals, and of the domestic affections. . . . The mutual comfort and happiness of the parties are the principal, but not the only, objects of the engagement. It is intended also for the benefit of their common offspring and is an important element in the moral order, security and tranquility of civilized society. The parties cannot dissolve the contract, as they can others, by mutual consent, and no light or trivial causes should be suffered to effect its recision. . . . [A]ccording to the experience of the most enlightened nations, the happiness of married life greatly depends on its indissolubility.
Sheffield v. Sheffield, 3 Tex. 79, 85-86 (TxSupCt 1848)

These courts were articulating the position of America's Founding Fathers. Alexander Hamilton lamented the anti-Biblical, anti-Family evils of the French Revolution:

Equal pains have been taken to deprave the morals as to extinguish the religion of the country, if indeed morality in a community can be separated from religion. It is among the singular and fantastic vagaries [freaks] of the French Revolution that . . . a new law of divorce was passed which makes it as easy for a husband to get rid of his wife and a wife of her husband as to discard a worn out habit. . . . [T]hose ties . . . are the chief links of domestic and ultimately of social attachment.
Syrett, Harold C., et al., eds. The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, 27 vols. New York: Columbia Univ. Press, 1974, vol. XXI pp 402-404, "The Stand No. III." New York, Apr. 7, 1798.

James Wilson, who was a US Supreme Court Justice after he signed the Constitution, emphasized the importance of a Biblical concept of the family:

Whether we consult the soundest deductions of reason, or resort to the best information conveyed to us by history, or listen to the undoubted intelligence communicated in Holy Writ, we shall find that to the institution of marriage the true origin of society must be traced.
By that institution the felicity of Paradise was consummated . . . . Legislators have with great propriety . . . provided as far as municipal law can provide against the violation of rights indispensably essential to the purity and harmony of the matrimonial union. . . . By an act of the legislature . . . all marriages not forbidden by the law of God shall be encouraged . . . . But of causes which are light or trivial, a divorce should by no means be permitted to be the effect. When divorces can be summoned . . . a state of marriage becomes frequently a state of war.
Works, McCloskey, ed., Belknap/Harvard Univ Press, 1967 II:598-603

In James Kent's Commentaries on the Constitution, one of the greatest legal works of the 19th century, we are reminded:

All Christian states favor the perpetuity of marriage, and suspicion and alarm watch every step to dissolve it . . . . Unlike other contracts, marriage cannot be dissolved by mutual consent . . . . The laws of divorce are considered as of the utmost importance as public laws affecting the dearest interests of society . . . . The domestic relation . . . of parent and child . . . [and] the duties that reciprocally result from this connection are prescribed . . . by the positive precepts of religion and of our municipal law.
Kent, Commentaries on American Law, DeCapo Reprint of 1st ed., 1826-30, II:96-98,159

Adulterers and polygamists were quick to seize on ambiguous language in the constitution and attempt to legitimize their anti-Biblical acts with the protection of the First Amendment. Courts didn't buy their arguments:

[The Founders] did not mean that the pure moral customs which Christianity has introduced should be without legal protection because some pagan, or other religionist, or anti-religionist, should advocate as a matter of conscience concubinage, polygamy, incest, free love, and free divorce, or any of them . . . . No Christian people could possibly allow such things.
The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, in Commonwealth v. Nesbit 84 Pa. 398 (1859)

These views were echoed by the US Supreme Court in the anti-polygamy cases.

The Seventh Commandment was the basis for American Family Law.

The State of California recently considered adopting legislation on sex-education for public schools requiring that:

Course material and instruction shall stress that monogamous heterosexual intercourse [one man and one woman] within marriage is a traditional American value.

The ACLU was outraged:

It is our position that monogamous, heterosexual intercourse within marriage as a traditional American value is an unconstitutional establishment of a religious doctrine in public schools. . . . We believe [this bill] violates the First Amendment.

Those who wrote, debated, and ratified the First Amendment did not. Heterosexual marriage is a part of "the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God"; homosexuality is contrary to it.

As a Libertarian, I oppose all government laws regarding marriage. I believe the Mafia should not recognize the moral legitimacy of homosexuality, and I would say the same thing about the federal government. I am also working for the abolition of both institutions. Homosexuals who seek the licensure or approval of the State for their relationship seek that which is unconstitutional and against their own interests.

I believe heterosexual marriage is essential to the flourishing of humanity, and government recognition of homosexuality impoverishes us all. As long as any proposed marriage amendment which recognizes marriage as defined by the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God does not advocate the initiation of force as a means of achieving political or social goals, I would vote for it.

There is much that could be said about this issue, and I hope any who oppose my views (or can't exactly figure them out) will post their comments.

Phyllis Schlafly's Goose and Gander

Phyllis Schlafly is a leading conservative who is not incapable of criticizing Republicans. In the end, however, I suspect she is like most conservatives: unable to imagine any line which, once crossed, would force her to stop supporting the Republican Party.

I recently ran across an article she wrote for her Phyllis Schlafly Report back before 1997, entitled, "What Does New World Order Mean?" In it she criticizes Bill Clinton's pursuit of G.H.W.Bush's "New World Order." Considering that she called for the impeachment of Clinton for his intervention in Bosnia, how can she not call for the impeachment of George Dubya Bush for his slavish promotion of the New World Order in the Middle East? What Clinton did in Bosnia, Bush is doing in spades in Iraq.

Here is a reprint of Schlafly's critique of Clinton. I have added links to hint at the parallels between Clinton and Dubya.

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George Bush started our country on the risky road to what he called (but did not define) the "New World Order." Bill Clinton is only too happy to define it for us.

New World Order under Bill Clinton means using American troops like a mercenary Foreign Legion, to be sent into all sorts of foreign fights even though no U.S. national security interest is at stake. No U.S. national interest was threatened in Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, or Haiti.

New World Order under Bill Clinton means risking American troops on such vague and undefined missions as

• "peacekeeping" (in places where there is no peace to keep, such as Somalia, where American soldiers were dragged through the streets in humiliation during our "peacekeeping" efforts),
• "restoring democracy" (to countries that never had democracy, such as Haiti, and putting in power a Marxist dictator [Aristide] who has publicly approved of the hideous practice of "necklacing"),
• and "nation-building" (using our combat troops to build a government, a police force, and infrastructure in foreign countries).

New World Order under Bill Clinton means converting the best fighting force in the world into what is essentially today a "peace corps," whose mission is to pick up the pieces of the carnage created by warring tribes in faraway places such as Rwanda. No one has come up with an answer to the question, why invade Haiti but not Cuba'? If our mission is to "restore democracy" to other countries, Castro's Cuba would be a splendid place to start.

New World Order under Bill Clinton means asking the overpaid bureaucrats in the United Nations for the go-ahead to assign our troops wherever he thinks American media attention should be diverted. Clinton sought the approval of the United Nations to invade Haiti, but did not seek the approval of Congress, which the U.S. Constitution requires.

New World Order under Bill Clinton means assigning U.S. servicemen and women to serve under foreign commanders. He signed Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 25, which specifically asserts his authority "to place U.S. forces under the operational control of a foreign commander."

New World Order under Bill Clinton means flagrantly violating two sections of the U.S. Constitution: Article I, Section 8 gives Congress (not the UN) the power "to declare war," Article II, Section 2 limits the President's treaty-making power by this clause: "provided two thirds of the Senators present concur." Clinton asked the UN, not Congress, for permission to invade Haiti, and he intends to consider the GATT/WTO treaty passed if it gets a simple majority (not two-thirds) to the Senate.

New World Order under Bill Clinton means joining the World Trade Organization, which would put American jobs, trade and economy under the control of a foreign legislature (where we would have only one vote out of 123), a foreign unelected bureaucracy in Geneva, and a foreign trade tribunal empowered to decide disputes in secret.

New World Order under Bill Clinton means signing the Law of the Sea Treaty, another international straitjacket designed to transfer American wealth and technology to Third World countries.

New World Order under Bill Clinton means signing the United Nations Treaty on the Rights of the Child, which would transfer traditional rights of parents over the upbringing, discipline, education, health and welfare of their children, to a new international bureaucracy. (P.S. Report, March 1993)

New World Order under Bill Clinton means ratifying the United Nations Treaty on Discrimination Against Women, which would transfer traditional rights of American women to a committee of foreign "experts" who would make rules about child care, "family education," abortion, comparable worth, and even "interpersonal relationships." (P.S. Report, September 1990)

New World Order under Bill Clinton means a foreign policy directed by his Rhodes scholar pal Strobe Talbott, a lifetime advocate of world government and of ending what he calls the "obsolete" notions of nationhood and national sovereignty. (P.S. Report, June 1994)

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On every conceivable issue, Bush has been worse than Clinton. For the last 80 years, Republicans have been advancing Big Government and the New World Order at a faster rate than Democrats. "Insanity" is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. When will conservatives stop the insanity of supporting the Republican Party election day after election day?

Democracy Assassinated the Family

Not a single person who signed the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution would support the invasion and occupation of Iraq in the name of "democracy," and the domestic curtailment of rights here at home. First, the Founders created a Republic of liberty under God's law; they opposed the idea of "Democracy." They would never have imagined any American President seeking to impose this dangerous concept on a non-Christian population using military force. Everything about "the War on Terror" is contrary to the principles that made America the most admired nation on earth.

Last year's massacre at Haditha, recently coming to light, is exposing an unprincipled regime in Washington, a regime completely lacking in a moral center.

Will Grigg eloquently writes about the hypocrisy of the Pentagon offering “core values training” to the US soldiers deployed in Iraq. He describes a core value that will not be taught to the troops:

When people find themselves on the receiving end of an unwarranted foreign attack, they will get angry and fight back against the invaders in any way they can – and they are entitled to. Were our nation invaded by a foreign power possessing an overwhelming military advantage, Americans would set roadside bombs, seek refuge in civilian dwellings, and kill the enemy without remorse. It wouldn't matter to us one bit if the invaders justified the invasion in humanitarian terms, or invoked their “superior” political and cultural insights. We would fight as hard as we could, for as long as it takes, to expel the foreign invaders from our home soil.

The sharpest blade will only do damage if it's not set straight. American troops should not be in Iraq, and "training" will not cure this fundamental mistake. The finest troops will only bring harm if they are in the wrong place, and have been given the wrong assignment by their civilian commanders, who seem increasingly out of touch with reality.

The contrast between world reality and Bush Administration policy is set forth in an impelling way by Robert Higgs in a recent article from the Independent Institute. If you haven't been following the Haditha controversy, this is a good introduction, but it is horrifying and alarming. Higgs quotes a Washington Post report:

The remains of the 24 [murdered Iraqis] lie today in a cemetery called Martyrs' Graveyard. Stray dogs scrounge in the deserted homes. "Democracy assassinated the family that was here," graffiti on one of the houses declared.

This is an epitaph not just for the murdered in Iraq, but for the death of the vision of America that inspired Sam Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and America's Founders. Even while it marketed itself to voters with "family values," the last six years of the Bush regime have been destructive of the family, as conservatives acknowledge everywhere except in the voting booth. Dubya's "democracy" is his father's "New World Order" and Clinton's "reinvented government." It represents a religious faith in the Messianic State.

Senior Bush wrote in January of 1991, preparing for the first "Gulf War,"

If we do not follow the dictates of our inner moral compass and stand up for human life, then [Saddam's] lawlessness will threaten the peace and democracy of the emerging New World Order we now see: this long dreamed-of vision we've all worked toward for so long.... But we have the chance -- and we have the obligation -- to stop ruthless aggression.

(And we will use ruthless aggression if necessary.)

What exactly is "this long dreamed-of vision we've all worked toward for so long?" For America's Founders, it was "Liberty Under God" -- stripping away the monarchical British government power so that self-government could flourish. For the Bush/Clinton/Bush regime, the vision has been "hegemony" -- an empire with uncontested global political and military power.

America's Moral Values are destroyed when limited constitutional government morphs into an empire seeking to impose "Democracy" on the entire world.