LilBambi’s Blog – BambisMusings

Keith Olbermann on Obama and Wiretapping (at EFF.org with videos from MSNBC.com):

Olbermann’s second guest, GWU Law Professor Jonathan Turley, aptly summarizes why the new ruling is so disappointing:

“I think right now, the Bush people are bringing out their mission-accomplished sign, because they’ve not only gotten Obama to protect Bush and Cheney and others from any criminal investigation on torture, but he’s now gone even further than they did in the protection of unlawful surveillance. This is the ultimate victory for the Bush officials. They have Barack Obama adopting the same extremist arguments, and in fact exceeding the extremist arguments made by President Bush…

“You cannot any longer suggest that President Obama is advancing the civil liberties and the privacy interests that he promised to advance. This is a terrible roll-back. It’s a terrible decision.

These are must watch videos on this topic.

The Martial Law Mind-Set by William Norman Grigg (LewRockwell.com)

While Archimedes is rightly revered for his many imperishable contributions to science, he could also be considered the first recorded victim of lethal police brutality.

A native of Syracuse, Archimedes did his considerable best in the doomed but worthy effort to repel Roman invaders. Following the conquest, Roman soldiers were dispatched to “pacify” the restive streets of the newly conquered city.

One afternoon, so the story goes, Archimedes was sitting inoffensively at the side of a street drawing geometric equations in the sand when some mouth-breather in Roman military garb trod heedlessly on the improvised tablet, ruining the elderly scientist’s calculations.

By this time, the venerable physicist was in his ninth decade, and he saw no point in enduring this act of thoughtless vandalism by an armored imbecile to pass without protest.

“Please don’t disturb my circles,” Archimedes insisted in what was probably a direct but polite tone of voice.

Like law enforcement officers who would follow in his footsteps – albeit in jackboots rather than sandals – the Roman soldier took offense that a mere civilian, and an elderly one at that, would demand deference from someone wearing the uniform and insignia of authority.

If the technology had been available, the Roman quite likely would have given Archimedes a “ride on the Taser.” Instead, the thug withdrew his sword and summarily killed him.

Much more in the must read article.

I have talked about my experiences with the Security at the Ferry system here in Virginia on this blog previously. I am sure some might have thought I was being silly for my concerns about this, until they read this article that is. Thanks Will Grigg for sharing in a great article the same real concerns I have had about all of this and couldn’t put it into words properly. You sure did!

Obama Selects Janet Reno’s Anti-Gun Point Man As Next Attorney General

So much for “I support the Second Amendment,” and so much for the notion of “change.”

Media reports say President-elect Barack Obama has selected Eric Holder as his Attorney General, and that Holder may already have accepted the offer. Holder, as Deputy Attorney General under Janet Reno during the Clinton Administration, said that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right, but instead protects the right to have a firearm when serving with a militia. After leaving office, Holder stuck to that assertion when he signed Janet Reno’s brief to the Supreme Court in the Heller case, which stated, “The Second Amendment does not protect firearms possession or use that is unrelated to participation in a well-regulated militia.”

At the Justice Department, Holder advocated a waiting period, limiting gun purchases to one per month, and so-called “gun show loophole” legislation–the fine print of which would have driven gun shows out of business. Holder made it clear that he, Clinton, and Reno were more interested in stopping gun sales than in regulating them. When ABC’s George Will asked him about guns being used for self-defense more often than to commit crime, and Right-to-Carry states having lower crime rates than other states, Holder dismissed the facts that Mr. Will raised, with the flippant statement, “I’m not sure that we need more than the 200 million or so guns that we have on the streets.”

More in the article.

I can’t believe that President-elect Obama would name this apparent anti-Constitutionalist as Attorney General. Unbelievable.

I am appalled at the blatant disrespect of the Constitution by someone that President-elect Obama has chosen.

I do not own a gun, but I have used a gun in target shooting (see my 2005 article on this subject noted later in this posting). Guns in rural areas are a life blood. My grandmother, during the depression — who was an excellent shot — used her guns to put food on the table for her family and as protection against attackers such as wild dogs, ‘possums, racoons, weasels etc. in the hen house, as well as larger animals like bobcats, cougars, foxes, etc. Not to mention personal protection of your home and family, particularly on farms in deep rural areas against those who might do you or your family harm or steal from you.

And how much longer before we see the following happening here in the states:

Game beware: it’s the return of the poacher

As times get harder in Britain’s cities, armed gangs are heading for the countryside – and stealing deer, salmon and rabbits to feed a burgeoning black market in food. Andy McSmith reports

Once, the poacher was a man with big pockets in his raincoat sneaking on to an aristocrat’s land to steal game for his family pot. Now he is likely to be part of a gang from town, in it for hard cash, rampaging through the countryside with guns, crossbows or snares.

Police in rural areas across Britain are reporting a dramatic increase in poaching, as the rise in food prices and the reality of recession increases the temptation to deal in stolen venison, salmon, or rarer meat and fish.

And as all that is happening, British subjects are being warned “not to take matters into their own hands.” Are the British police going to replace what’s stolen from their food stores? I think not.

Some 40,000 show up at Colo. farm to pick up free vegetables left on fields after harvest

PLATTEVILLE, Colo. (AP) _ A farm couple got a huge surprise when they opened their fields to anyone who wanted to pick up free vegetables left over after the harvest — 40,000 people showed up.

Joe and Chris Miller’s fields were picked so clean Saturday that a second day of gleaning — the ancient practice of picking up leftover food in farm fields — was canceled Sunday.

“Overwhelmed is putting it mildly,” Chris Miller said. “People obviously need food.

With the current major downturn of the economy, and recent events, it really appalls me that he would do this. I am seeing no real change coming out of the Obama camp … at least not where the Constitution is concerned. Unbelievable.

I think it behooves all Americans to take a close look at Gun Control and the Right to bear arms provided by the Constitution of the United States of America. Back in 2006, I posted an entry here on my blog about this very thing; The Right to Keep and Bear Arms talks about this. I hope everyone will take a few minutes to read that posting. It concerns not only our Right to bear arms but what happens to countries in history who have moved first to control and ultimately gun bans … and it doesn’t stop there. It never does.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

Thanks to Staying Alive blog for the heads up on this.

Thought for Today: October 18, 2008

The Preamble of the United States Constitution

The Constitution of the United States of America

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

Read each piece of the preamble. It was so profoundly written. Each piece, each section of it invokes liberty and freedom. This is our heritage that would be despots are trying to take from us.

–

Despot

despot Definition

des·pot (des′pət)
noun

1. Archaic a title meaning “master,” applied to certain classes of rulers, as Byzantine emperors or bishops of the Greek church
2. an absolute ruler; king with unlimited powers; autocrat
3. anyone in charge who acts like a tyrant

Thought for the Day – September 23, 2008

Aaron Russo, “Freedom Fighter” 1943-2007

In 2004, Russo announced he was seeking the Libertarian Party’s presidential nomination. Russo told LP News (February 2004) he was running because the United States is “heading to totalitarianism. I have a sincere belief [in] the Constitution and Bill of Rights as envisioned by Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Ben Franklin. Unfortunately, neither political party respects the vision of our Founding Fathers, and these documents have been relegated to the dustbin. I want to dust them off and restore them to their proper role in our lives.”

Paul supporters hold Tea Party re-enactment in Boston (Boston Herald:

The events in Boston Sunday marked the 234th anniversary of the Boston Tea Party, when colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest tea taxes.

Paul, a libertarian, trails in the polls but has attracted an enthusiastic cadre of supporters. He is the only GOP candidate to call for a prompt troop withdrawal from Iraq.

On Tea Party Anniversary, Ron Paul Raises Millions (Washington Post by Jose Antonio Vargas)

Rep. Ron Paul, whose rock star status on the Internet has singlehandedly fueled his campaign, is poised to break another online fundraising record.

His own.

Some might ask why re-enact the Boston Tea Party?! There isn’t a problem with Tea today…well I beg to differ! Have you priced tea these days?! Or Coffee for that matter!?!! Or anything else in the grocery store!?! And what about the price of fuel at the pump? OPEC price setting of pre-refined barrels of crude is only the first step in determining the cost of fuel at the pump.

But it’s not about the “Tea” — the “Tea incident” was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back.

From EyeWitnessToHistory.com:

Victory in the French and Indian War was costly for the British. At the war’s conclusion in 1763, King George III and his government looked to taxing the American colonies as a way of recouping their war costs. They were also looking for ways to reestablish control over the colonial governments that had become increasingly independent while the Crown was distracted by the war. Royal ineptitude compounded the problem. A series of actions including the Stamp Act (1765), the Townsend Acts (1767) and the Boston Massacre (1770) agitated the colonists, straining relations with the mother country. But it was the Crown’s attempt to tax tea that spurred the colonists to action and laid the groundwork for the American Revolution.

The colonies refused to pay the levies required by the Townsend Acts claiming they had no obligation to pay taxes imposed by a Parliament in which they had no representation. In response, Parliament retracted the taxes with the exception of a duty on tea – a demonstration of Parliament’s ability and right to tax the colonies. In May of 1773 Parliament concocted a clever plan. They gave the struggling East India Company a monopoly on the importation of tea to America. Additionally, Parliament reduced the duty the colonies would have to pay for the imported tea. The Americans would now get their tea at a cheaper price than ever before. However, if the colonies paid the duty tax on the imported tea they would be acknowledging Parliament’s right to tax them. Tea was a staple of colonial life – it was assumed that the colonists would rather pay the tax than deny themselves the pleasure of a cup of tea.

The colonists were not fooled by Parliament’s ploy. When the East India Company sent shipments of tea to Philadelphia and New York the ships were not allowed to land. In Charleston the tea-laden ships were permitted to dock but their cargo was consigned to a warehouse where it remained for three years until it was sold by patriots in order to help finance the revolution.

Amazing how history has a way of repeating itself …

BOLD emphasis mine. More information on the Boston Tea Party here (wikipedia.org).

Ron Paul, Presidential Candidate for 2008 raised $6M in 24 HOURS to help fund his bid for the Presidency in 2008 and show the world that he is a legitimate candidate despite the mass media’s treating of his Campaign for the Presidency in 2008 like doesn’t exist and therefore can’t report anything — with a few recent and bold exceptions of late!

However, as many have painfully been aware, this is not the first time that the mass media has treated an important issue as if it didn’t exist.

In the comment section of a nice article in the NYT article entitled Reinventing the Revolution, I thought this comment was rather interesting:

December 16th, 2007 9:08 pm

Here is what impresses me about the guy’s fundraising:
- More than 111,000 donors so far this quarter.
- More than 45,000 total donors today.
- Around 20,000 new donors today.

You can find more information @ ronpaulgraphs com.

The point is that there is a very wide support base here that is willing to penny up. It’s hard to say that anyone with more than 110,000 donors this quarter is only appealing to a fringe few. The fact that he’s pulled in more than 20,000 new donors today alone says that this movement is growing at a rapid pace.

These people can and will turn out to vote in the primaries. No other campaign has acquired such a diehard following. I predict that Paul will finish 2nd in both Iowa and New Hampshire because of the growing numbers and how dedicated his supporters are.

— Posted by John D’Agosta

And another interesting article in USAToday, by Kenneth P. Vogel, Politico.com. He writes,

Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas, raised an astounding $6 million and change Sunday, his campaign said, almost certainly guaranteeing he’ll outraise his rivals for the Republican nomination in the fourth quarter and likely will be able to fund a presence in many of the states that vote Feb. 5.

Paul’s campaign spokesman late Sunday announced the campaign had eclipsed the $5.7 million that John Kerry raised the day after he locked up the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination – arguably the largest single-day fundraising haul in U.S. political history.

A couple sites to check out:

RonPaulGraphs.com
DailyPaul.com
Official Ron Paul Presidential Election Campaign 2008

Lots more out there of course, but these are a great start. I got a kick out of today’s headline at DailyPaul.com: “The Six Million Dollar Man – In One Day!!” while at the same time showing what we all know about the mass media’s coverage, “Hillary on ALL 3 NETWORKS at the same time. No Tea Party coverage yet.”

Interesting sense of humor if nothing else.

Sometimes, maybe, it just takes some folks getting up in arms about how things are going or not going to finally make some sort of difference, eh?

Ron Paul is one candidate that truly believes in the Constitution and the founding fathers’ ‘non-interventionist’ stance in the foreign arena (which does NOT mean isolationism) — something that so many candidates have forgotten in recent years since FDR. If you read anything Ron Paul has ever written, he does not deviate from that fact. His votes and discussions in Congress and in his home State of Texas back up his total belief in the Constitution and that we should be governed by The Constitution — not what those in the Washington Beltway have to say — at least when it conflicts with the Constitution.

From the Digital Journal’s posting: Op-Ed: A Founding Foreign Policy Posted Dec 11, 2007 by TheRationalAnarchist:

Noninterventionism was the policy of many of the founding fathers of the United States and it is a policy that should be readopted. Doing so will decrease the tax burden on all citizens and increase national security.

In his first inaugural address, Thomas Jefferson gave future generations strict counsel: “Equal and exact justice to all men, of whatever state or persuasion, religious or political; peace, commerce, and honest friendship with all nations, entangling alliances with none… These principles form the bright constellation which has gone before us, and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation… They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civil instruction, the touchstone by which we try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty, and safety.” This speech, in its entirety, is one that every American should read; his advice was sound, especially regarding foreign policy. Many of the problems that America faces around the world today are a direct result of what Jefferson warned against: entangling alliances.

More in the article.

I would have to say that (as you have see from my postings here on my blog right from the beginning in my Welcome Posting), for the most part, I am more Libertarian than anything else available these day in our country. And that bent is getting stronger and stronger day by day.

lib•er•tar•ian

n. 1. a person who believes in the doctrine of the freedom of the will
2. a person who believes in full individual freedom of thought, expression and action
3. a freewheeling rebel who hates wiretaps, loves Ron Paul and is redirecting politics

By Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch (Washington Post article)
Sunday, November 25, 2007; Page B01

It’s about time somebody, in what is considered the mass media, came out with a more rounded and thoughtful coverage of those of us who are sick and tired of the the normal fare from both Democrats and Republicans as they turn on their constituents day in and day out in favor of corporate lobbyists in this country. There is something seriously wrong and it needs fixing.

And it’s certainly better than the propaganda emanating from the rest of the general mass media that ‘reports’ that those who support an alternative to the shifty leanings of Democrats and Republicans are somehow weird and out there?! Hardly the truth.

Both sides of the Isle in Washington D.C. really need a wake up call — Maybe, just maybe, Ron Paul can provide that wake up call.

Must read. Thanks Tween for the link and thanks to Nick Gillespie and Matt Welch from Reason Magazine for writing it.

In an article entitled, “Entangling Alliances” by 2008 Presidential Candidate, Ron Paul, he writes,

Free trade means no sanctions against Iran, or Cuba or anyone else for that matter. Entangling alliances with no one means no foreign aid to Pakistan, or Egypt, or Israel, or anyone else for that matter. If an American citizen determines a foreign country or cause is worthy of their money, let them send it, and encourage their neighbors to send money too, but our government has no authority to use hard-earned American taxpayer dollars to mire us in these nightmarishly complicated, no-win entangling alliances.

When we look at global situations today, the words of our founding fathers are becoming more relevant daily. We need to understand that a simple, humble foreign policy makes us less vulnerable and less targeted on the world stage. Pakistan should not be getting an “allowance” from us and we should not be propping up military dictators that oppress people. We should mind our own business and stop the oppressive taxation of Americans that makes this meddling possible.

There are American Citizens that can’t afford enough food for their table or medical help, and many are finding it harder and harder in the face of ever increasing gasoline prices (affecting everything we buy and sell) and doomed to failure attempts to supplement our dependence on oil (doomed to failure because of special interests), to afford gas money to run their own businesses or get to/from work, and some foreigner is being paid an ‘allowance’ out of our overtaxed Citizen’s pockets!?!

With statements like this in the Canadian Press article entitled, “Runup in oil prices raises questions about longer-term crude supplies” on November 15, 2007 hanging like a black cloud over all we do, “Demand is so strong that Matthew Simmons, a Houston oil and gas investment banker, says US$100 a barrel oil may even be a bargain, with US$300 crude likely in the future.“

They are bleeding us to death! And stripping us of any way to survive.

More interesting articles by Ron Paul here as well as other places on the Web, like the one I mentioned in my last few postings.

I hope Simpson’s article entitled “Suffering, Sacrifice and Truth” is correct,

I believe that when people hear the truth, great change is not only possible; it is inevitable. … We the people can begin building a long-term process to heal our communities, our nation and our world. This will be a long-term struggle. It will require our collective sacrifice as we undo the debt, repair the destruction, demand accountability and, most importantly, seek the truth.

Let’s return to the Constitution. Let’s remember the rule of law. Let’s begin the national dialogue. What is the balance of powers? What is justice? What is liberty? What is tranquility? What is security? What did our forefathers mean when they said our union was to promote the general welfare?

It seems an insurmountable problem, people working against the Citizen from within and without. Just another sign of part of the problem is in this article entitled, “In light of this Assault on our Finances” by Haas:

The problem today isn’t with organizations such as Liberty Dollar. The problem is with the U.S. Congress and the Federal Reserve. The government didn’t raid and steal the assets of Liberty Dollar because the organization was engaged in real criminal activity. It raided and stole the assets of those involved and invested in the organization because it was a threat to the worthless Federal Reserve debt system and the goal of maintaining a debtor nation. Americans carry more debt and have less savings than at any other time in our nation’s history. The people are broke, and so is the U.S. government. Collectively, we are drowning in debt thanks to the criminal monetary policy of the Federal Reserve.

(LINKS mine)

So when does it all end? And where does it end? Would getting back to what the Founding Fathers wanted for us through our Constitution – the Inalienable Rights of Individual Citizens as long as those rights don’t trample the rights and liberty of other citizens or damage/destroy property – really work now? Would it truly help this great nation to get back on its feet to return to the non-interventionist roots (at home and abroad) of what the Founding Fathers wanted for us as a nation? It’s what many of us have seen for many, many years. But do we as citizens of this great nation have the intestinal fortitude to pull it off? And will they (governments and corporations) let us do it? Or will greedy or well-meaning groups keep us from accomplishing it? Is it too late, or has this gone too far already to turn back? I sure hope not.

And hope is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Hope in being able to return to our Constitutional rights and responsibilities – to live our own lives not have our lives dictated to us by others; not some convoluted idea of what we are supposed to be or do that continues to backfire in our children’s and grand children’s faces.

Or do we just give up all hope and sink deep in depression (or antidepressants) and futility, or commit suicide like Nero when he waited too long to fix things and all was lost?

There has to be a better way!?!

Thought for the day – November 23, 2007

Special interests have replaced the concern that the Founders had for general welfare. Vote trading is seen as good politics. The errand-boy mentality is ordinary, the defender of liberty is seen as bizarre. It’s difficult for one who loves true liberty and utterly detests the power of the state to come to Washington for a period of time and not leave a true cynic.

–Ron Paul, 1984

You can get his Freedom Under Siege in PDF form here.

Although timely in 1984, it’s relevance only gets more important as time goes on, IMHO. I may have found my Presidential Candidate.

EDIT: to add the Freedom Under Siege PDF reference.