July 3, 2020

Revolutionary spirit of individual liberty with minimal government embraced America in 1776

fromWashingtonTimes: What once was a government that needed the consent of the governed not only to exist but also to do anything is now one that requires of us its permission to do nearly everything.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle              The Government is Not Us

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson - The Fight for Inequality: Racial Division by Design

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Tucker Carlson explains how the concept of equal rights under the law is now openly and blatantly under assault by the left. Discrimination and racial division is now the demand of the mob.
Indoctrination and Censorship

As delayed tax day approaches, consider what you get for your money

fromReason: Do you appreciate the incompetence, in-fighting, obstructionism, authoritarianism, and waste that you pay for?
The Government is Not Us                 Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

VIDEO: Black Wisdom Matters - The State of Racism in America

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Thoughtful black commentators look at the state of racism in today's America. Thomas Sowell, Walter E Williams, Jason Riley, Shelby Steele, Larry Elder, Morgan Freeman, Denzel Washington, Lil Wayne.
Indoctrination and Censorship

Want to kill the economy again? Keep threatening more lockdowns.

fromMises: After a period of only one month of "reopening," governments are already enacting new business shutdowns and claiming the authority to engage in these shutdowns indefinitely.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Walter E Williams: An underappreciated American scholar

fromCreators: Thomas Sowell may be underappreciated by the masses, but LibertyPen considers him among the greatest scholars and thinkers of all time.
The Pursuit of Happiness

June 6, 2020

From 9/11 to COVID-19, it’s been a perpetual state of emergency

fromTheRutherfordInstitute: "Freedom from servitude comes not from violent action, but from the refusal to serve. Tyrants fall when the people withdraw their support.” —Étienne De La Boétie, The Politics Of Obedience
Police State America

Joe Biden basically admits libertarians were right all along: cops shouldn't have military gear

fromReason: Biden voted for the 1997 bill that created the Pentagon's 1033 program, which allows surplus military gear to be passed along to local cops. It took 23 years, but he finally changed his opinion.
Police State America           Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Policing for profit: How civil asset forfeiture has perverted American law enforcement

fromAmmo: Asset forfeiture is having devastating consequences: In 2014 alone, law enforcement took more stuff from American citizens than burglars did.
Police State America

The state’s priority is protecting itself, not you

fromLibertarianInstitute: The state is far more punitive against those that threaten the comfort and authority of government institutions and workers than they are against crimes against citizens.
Police State America

The lockdowns are now a scandal

fromNationalReview: Last week, the media, politicians, and many experts decided that every argument they made for destroying the lives of millions of people in America could be deferred to advance a preferred political cause.
The Government is Not Us

Lockdown supporters embraced wildly wrong COVID-19 projections that fit their preconceptions

fromReason: The episode illustrates the perils of confirmation bias on both sides of the debate about disease control measures.
Police State America           Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

May 15, 2020

The Obama operatives who unmasked General Mike Flynn revealed… 

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Who is the Deep State you ask? Brennan, Biden, Clapper and Samantha Power! The swamp creatures are identified.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

VIDEO: Corruption@FBI: The Draining of the Swamp Begins

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: The worm turns. The truth exonerates Michael Flynn while turning the bony finger back on a the “dirty, filthy cops” that ran the Obama administration FBI.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Trump furious after NBC 'apologizes' for Chuck Todd's propaganda edit of Barr interview

fromZeroHedge: Insight on how fake news is produced with deceptive editing, courtesy of the pros at NBC.
Media Bias on Parade

Seattle cop prepares to be fired for reminding officers not to obey 'tyrannical orders'

fromZeroHedge: A Port of Seattle Police Officer has been placed on administrative leave after refusing to delete a viral video reminding police officers that they don't have unlimited powers.
Police State America

John Stossel: When government programs do more harm than good

fromReason: Shame on the U.S. government for making unemployment pay better than work.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Oregon campaigns to legalize psilocybin mushrooms and decriminalize drugs team up to qualify for ballot

fromMarijuanaMoment: Activists behind an effort to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic use and another to decriminalize all currently illicit drugs are partnering to ensure mutual success.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

May 11, 2020

Dirty dozen: The 12 revelations that sunk Mueller's case against Flynn

fromJustTheNews: After a prescient 2017 tip from inside the FBI, a slow drip of revelations exposed the deep problems with the Flynn prosecution.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Coronavirus curfews are counterproductive and un-American

fromReason: Making businesses close early will not stop the spread of COVID-19. It only accustoms folks to the arbitrary power and control of government.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Surveillance plane starts flying over Baltimore, recording everyone's movements

fromPressCorps: The controversial aerial surveillance planes for Baltimore police started flying Friday. It's called the Aerial Investigation Research (AIR) Pilot Program.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Jonathan Turley rips apart Obama’s ‘leaked’ statement about the DOJ and Flynn, and it’s glorious

fromRedState: Even without the whole Democratic effort to undermine Trump with Russian collusion, there were a boatload of things that put the “rule of law” at risk.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Weekend at Biden’s

fromSpectator: The Democrat’s mental decline is a bigger problem than sex accusations.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Government should not be spared from the austerity it is inflicting on society

fromTheDailyBell: Our government should feel the pain as well. After all, we are all in this together.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

May 7, 2020

Apple data shows shelter-in-place is ending, whether governments want it to or not

fromForbes: Apple’s Mobility Trends report shows that traffic in the US and other countries like Germany has pretty much doubled in the past three weeks. It had been down up to 72%.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

What's the real story behind continuing lockdowns?

fromPJMedia: While the lockdowns began as a public health measure, their continued extension appears to have more to do with power than safety.

The Government is Not Us

Why I didn’t rat on my neighbor for cutting hair

fromTheFederalist: It brings up an interesting question about the nature of American civil life. Is my primary duty to my government or to my neighbors? For me the answer is clearly the latter.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle          Regulation Nation

VIDEO: Tyranny in America: What Can't They Do?

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: America’s governors have been flexing the political muscle by violating the rights of citizens by proclamation. Is there any limits to their power? Tucker Carlson, Andrew Napolitano.
The Government is Not Us                  Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

The case Of General Flynn: Exposing Washington's "big game of liars' poker"

fromTheZMan: One thing that is now confirmed with these new revelations is that the Special Counsel was always just part of a larger effort to cover-up this conspiracy. In fact, that was the whole point of it.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

For better health, find a cure for government

fromReason: In a time of health crisis, government has proven to be a crippling underlying condition.
The Government is Not Us

May 3, 2020

Next in coronavirus tyranny: forced vaccinations and "digital certificates"

fromMises: a commentary by Ron Paul.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

The inevitable coronavirus censorship crisis is here

fromMattTaibbi: As the Covid-19 crisis progresses, censorship programs advance, amid calls for China-style control of the Internet.
Indoctrination and Censorship

A woman set up a little free pantry without a permit. The county threatened criminal charges.

fromReason: A civil rights lawsuit alleges that the government violated Kathy Hay's constitutional rights when it shuttered her free pantry.
Regulation Nation             The Government is Not Us

Las Vegas is bravery, the corona response is cowardice

fromTheDailyBell: In March of 2020, the idea of America died. The pioneer, the risk taker, the one who pushed past the accepted frontiers. It was replaced by comfort and conformity.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Here's a timeline of how wrong Dr. Fauci has been on coronavirus

fromMarkSimone: "I like Dr. Anthony Fauci, a cute guy, but the truth is that he’s been totally wrong every step of the way on Coronavirus."
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

North Carolina Supreme Court: Flipping off cop did not justify traffic stop

fromReason: A state trooper believed a man driving by and flipping the bird at the cops constituted disorderly conduct. (It didn't.)
Indoctrination and Censorship                                  Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

May 1, 2020

The first time they sent me to the gas chamber

fromTheDailyBell: "But many of the ‘leaders’ we have today aren’t willing to make those gut-wrenching decisions. They’re far more concerned about electability, political legacy, TV ratings, and poll numbers."
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Will it take food shortages to end support for the shutdown?

fromLewRockwell: Americans are uniquely privileged, to the point of simply imagining they can stay home for months and months without suffering severe economic hardship as a result.
The Government is Not Us         Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

VIDEO: The Plot Against Michael Flynn: An FBI Presentation

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: After holding up aid to small business owners before rushing to bail out horribly managed blue states, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now pushing a guaranteed minimum income.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Surprise discovery in Flynn case: former lawyers find evidence they failed to produce

fromJustTheNews: Law firm claims inaccurate searches led to oversight of 6,800 documents in legal battle to overturn former Trump national security adviser's conviction.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Pelosi pitches universal basic income to cope with pandemic

fromZeroHedge: After holding up aid to small business owners before rushing to bail out horribly managed blue states, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is now pushing a guaranteed minimum income.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Oh dear, Kentucky Representative Thomas Massie touches the third rail – reveals DC’s biggest secret…

fromTheConservativeTreehouse: Congress doesn’t actually write legislation.  The last item of legislation written by congress was sometime around the mid 1990’s. Lobbyists write the laws. Cronyism rules the day.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

April 29, 2020

Court strikes down California's ammunition background check requirement

fromReason: The state has already appealed the decision to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.
2nd Amendment Assaults

The $2 trillion relief package makes unemployment pay more than work

fromTheHill: Economics is all about incentives. To keep the country prosperous, our public policies should reward productive behavior rather than punish it. But it is too bad the $2 trillion “stimulus bill” does just the opposite.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

The paranoid style in COVID-19 America

fromSpectator: Slowly, the actual COVID-19 situation is clarifying: The public health establishment is desperate to maintain hysteria in the populace.
The Government is Not Us

Walter E Williams: Today's Americans and yesteryear's Americans

fromCreators: Will America emerge from this crisis "a roaring giant or a crying baby."
The Pursuit of Happiness

YouTube censors viral video of California doctors criticizing "stay-at-home" order

fromZeroHedge: The video, which had racked up over 5 million views, asserts there is only a “0.03 chance of dying from COVID in the state of California,” prompting the question: “Does that necessitate sheltering in place?
Indoctrination and Censorship

Coronavirus means the era of big government is…back

fromWallStreetJournal: History shows that national shocks—the Depression, World War II, the financial crisis—have a way of expanding the role of government in lasting ways. This one is looking like no exception.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle             The Government is Not Us

April 27, 2020

VIDEO: Stay-At-Home Orders: By What Authority?

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: By what authority can government overrule the Bill of Rights?
Police State America

Let’s legalize prostitution

fromTheDailyBell: Remember, we are discussing an entirely voluntary interaction between consenting adults; underage prostitution constitutes child abuse, a crime in all civilized societies.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Why are the mainstream media ignoring Tara Reade's sexual assault accusation against Joe Biden?

fromReason: So far, it's been silence from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, and others.
Media Bias on Parade

The Fed has gone nuts. And It can get worse

fromMises: The common thread of all these proposals is to triple down on the money printing and gamble covering of 2008—spreading unlimited dollars to, especially, big business and governments.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Miami has recorded no homicides in 6 weeks despite deliberate decline in police enforcement

fromReason: Miami’s police chief orders officers to reduce ticketing and public interactions. Mayhem doesn’t ensue.
Police State America

Trump Asks Why American taxpayers should bail out "poorly run, Democrat" states

fromZeroHedge: Trump: "Why should the people and taxpayers of America be bailing out poorly run states and cities, in all cases Democrat run and managed, when most of the other states are not looking for bailout help?"
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

April 15, 2020

COVID-19 and the war on cash: What is behind the push for a cashless society?

fromTheDailyBell: The war on cash is a concerted campaign to shift consumers towards a digital mode of commerce that can be monitored, tracked, tabulated, mined for data, hacked, hijacked and confiscated when convenient.
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle                 Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Congress extends recess until at least May 4

fromPolitico: The longer tyrants are socially distanced, the better off freedom-loving Americans are.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

The surveillance state thrives during the pandemic

fromReason: Can we take government officials at their word that they'll eventually abandon their new powers?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

The real cost of anti-price-gouging laws

fromMises: Given that the rationale for anti-gouging laws is to benefit consumers, we ought to check whether consumers are actually made better off.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Tyrants never let a crisis go to waste

fromTheDailyBell: Here’s a roundup of what’s happening around the world in the name of protecting the people:
The Government is Not Us

Some shirts hide you from cameras—but will anyone wear them?

fromArsTechnica: It's theoretically possible to become invisible to cameras. But can it catch on?
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

April 7, 2020

In what sense do you think we are free?

fromAmericanThinker: "But arguments about the suspension of such civil liberties aside, does a citizen’s life or death even matter, in the context of our Constitution?"
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

Court hears final arguments in censorship suit against Google, Facebook, Twitter

fromReclaimTheNet: Laura Loomer and Freedom Watch argued that social media companies should be held liable for First Amendment violations.
Indoctrination and Censorship           Media Bias on Parade

For a glimpse into your dystopian police state future, just visit your local Walmart

fromEndOfTheAmericanDream: Hopefully once this pandemic is behind us we will see these ridiculous restrictions at Walmart locations go away.
The Government is Not Us             Police State America

Why the government Is no good at fighting Coronavirus

fromReason: The problems with the federal response to COVID-19 go far beyond Donald Trump and deep into bureaucratic inertia.
Regulation Nation

Ted Cruz: ‘We don't live in a police state’

fromAMC: "Resist authoritarianism and don’t abuse power."
The Government is Not Us              Police State America     

Deputies issue citations to 22 people watching sunset at beach in Encinitas

fromTimesofSanDiego: Government never misses an opportunity to shear the sheep, even in times of crisis. "The violations carry fines of up to $1,000 or six months in jail or both, the department said."
The Government is Not Us

March 19, 2020

Panic will end but tyranny will not

fromDailyMail: We saw it with 9/11 and we’re seeing it the covid-19: people will give up their freedom and accept expanding government power when they’re afraid.

The Government is Not Us

Joe Biden’s plan to shut down the firearms industry

fromNationalReview: His political attacks on the industry are why we have a law barring attempts to hold arms manufacturers legally responsible for shootings.

2nd Amendment Assaults

To track virus, governments weigh surveillance tools that push privacy limits

fromWallStreetJournal: Geolocation and facial-recognition systems can locate vectors of infections, but they also gather highly personal data.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Civil asset forfeiture should be eliminated entirely

fromStarTribune: Police and prosecutors should be bound by criminal law, a system where citizens—and their stuff—are innocent until proven guilty.

Police State America

Orange County threatens to jail people who walk outside with others not in household

fromDailyMail: Covid-19 has given authoritarians carte-blanche to run roughshod over the rights of citizens

Regulation Nation                      The Government is Not Us

The plastic bag ban backfires

fromWallStreetJournal: While California's governor is quick to close bars under the pretense of stopping the spread of the virus, they promote reusable bags that are notoriously dirty transmitters.

Regulation Nation                      The Government is Not Us

March 9, 2020

US government’s net worth is now NEGATIVE $75 TRILLION

fromTheDailyBell: Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) added that they were worried about the state of the planet right now, including 22 per cent who say they were “very worried”. 

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Americans continue to vote with their feet towards low-tax states

fromTheHill: Based on the 2019 estimates it is likely that California will actually lose its first congressional seat since 1850 due to residents leaving the state. 

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

2-year-old taken from parents for using medical marijuana, murdered in foster care

fromFreeThoughtProject: The state removed a child from a home with loving parents over marijuana and put her in a home with an abusive woman and her crack addict husband who ran a racket keeping foster children.

The Government is Not Us

States are depriving innocent people of their Second Amendment rights

fromReason: "Red flag" laws leave gun owners defenseless. 

2nd Amendment Assaults

California's government has turned homelessness Into big business

fromReason: The new money will be consumed in a bureaucratic hiring frenzy, used to pay state-level salaries and pensions, and build a bigger "homeless industrial complex." 

The Government is Not Us

Children are losing sleep and having bad dreams over climate change, study says

fromIndependent: Nearly three quarters (73 per cent) added that they were worried about the state of the planet right now, including 22 per cent who say they were “very worried”. 

Indoctrination and Censorship

March 3, 2020

2nd Amendment under fire in California

fromLibertyNation: Santa Clara County is forming what they call a “county gun team” – a unit of lawyers, analysts, and prosecutors authorized to seek out and confiscate firearms from those the state feels shouldn’t have them.

2nd Amendment Assaults

Democrats in 3 states want laws demanding private property owners allow homeless to camp on their land

fromGatewayPundit: Democratic Party controlled governments in Ohio, California and Oregon are telling private property owners they cannot remove homeless encampments from their property.

The Government is Not Us           Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

All U.S. troops to withdraw from Afghanistan under peace deal

fromPolitico: 'Conditions-based' withdrawal will be complete in 14 months if Taliban keep commitments.

Defense Versus the War Machine

Walter E Williams: Another African tragedy

fromCreators: "Africa's locust plague is man-made. Economic development organizations and activist nongovernmental organizations have foisted "agroecology" on the poorest nations — an organic-style agriculture."

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

How government spending destroys wealth

fromMises: Santa Clara County is forming what they call a “county gun team” – a unit of lawyers, analysts, and prosecutors authorized to seek out and confiscate firearms from those the state feels shouldn’t have them.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

10yo boy handcuffed, arrested, charged with felony for playing with a nerf bow and arrow

fromActivistPost: The young lad is lucky he escaped this incident with a simple arrest and charges. A 14-year-old boy named Antonio Arce was not so lucky when he played with his orange-tipped toy gun.

Police State America

January 15, 2020

Atlanta police make monumental move, disband entire drug unit to focus on actual crime

fromFreeThoughtProject: “Violent crime and gang activity must be the Department’s primary focus and where we will have a greater impact on the crimes affecting those most often victimized in our communities.”

Individual Liberty: America's First Principle                   The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

John Stossel: Occupational licensing hurts the little guy

fromReason: People who want to work should be allowed to work.

Regulation Nation

Elderly, wheelchair-bound woman alleges TSA agents groped her body in full view of other travelers

fromFreeThoughtProject: TSA employees reportedly ordered a 95-year-old leukemia patient in a wheelchair to remove her adult diaper so that agents could search her.

Police State America          Government is Watching Every Move You Make

VIDEO: Ayn Rand - Entitlements Cannot Be Rights

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: A brilliant explanation of rights and entitlements and the inherent difference in the two.

Individual Liberty: America's First Principle 

Walter E Williams: Unappreciated crime costs

fromCreators: Criminal activity imposes huge costs on black residents in low-income neighborhoods of cities such as Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, St. Louis, Philadelphia and many others.

The Government is Not Us

Nullify government tyranny: In 2020, harness the power of your discontent

fromDailyBell: Twenty years into the 21st century, and what do we have to show for it? Government corruption, tyranny and abuse have propelled us at warp speed towards a full-blown police state.

Police State America                      The Government is Not Us

November 21, 2019

10 reasons why this impeachment ‘inquiry’ is really a coup

fromNYPost: Analysis from the incomparable Victor Davis Hanson.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Colorado's growing Second Amendment sanctuary movement

fromReason: What happens when cities and counties have their own ideas about a law that authorizes the seizure of guns from people who are mentally ill?

2nd Amendment Assaults

Walter E Williams: Young people ignorant of history

fromCreators: Today's leftists, socialists and progressives would bristle at the suggestion that their agenda differs little from that of past tyrants. But ...

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Pending ban on flavored e-cigarettes in Massachusetts authorizes forfeiture of vapers' cars

fromReason: The bill, which the state House passed yesterday, says police may seize vehicles in which they suspect untaxed vaping products. It was never about safety. It was always about property.

Regulation Nation          Police State America

Biden vows to keep marijuana illegal - right after Pew reveals 80% of liberals want legalized

fromZeroHedge: "The truth of the matter is, there's not nearly been enough evidence that has been acquired as to whether or not it is a gateway drug," he said.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption           The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

One bad apple? Over 1,000 cops caught illegally accessing police database to stalk citizens

fromActivistPost: ust as in other even more serious crimes involving law enforcement personnel, often records request violations resulted in very little punishment if any towards cops.

Police State America

November 13, 2019

While you slept, government created internal passports, real ID

fromAIER: The Real ID also represents the “last mile” in the ability of the state to track individuals in real time.

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

How the deep state ‘justifies’ itself in America

fromStrategicCulture: "...the Deep State, in America, are not perpetrators of corrupt government, but, as The NYTimes explains, are instead courageous enemies of corrupt government..."

The Government is Not Us

Seattle taxes property owners to fund neighbors' political contributions

fromWND: Politicians see no need to shroud corruption anymore. To hell with citizens that don't want to sponsor viewpoints they oppose.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

What to do when compliance is not enough?

fromRutherfordInstitute:  Police defend use of taser, chokehold & excessive force against man who complied during arrest. Any aggression toward citizens can be rationalized by the state.

Police State America

My socialist hell: living in post-electricity Venezuela

fromAIER: Where socialism is more rampant than even California.

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

UN envoy’s grim warning over Assange’s life

fromAIER: Corrupt governments everywhere want him dead. Make no mistake, Assange is a hero to mankind. Support for the imprisonment of Assange is an American disgrace. America is not an icon of liberty anymore.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

October 21, 2019

FISA court ruled that FBI improperly used NSA surveillance data to snoop on Americans

fromNola.com:  In 2017 alone, the FBI conducted over 3.1 million searches of surveillance data

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

A New Orleans man faced a felony marijuana charge; too many potential jurors wouldn't consider it

fromNola.com: Jury nullification. Learn it, love it, live it.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

The late great state of California

fromMisesInstitute: Are people leaving California? More people are out-migrating to other states than those coming in, but much of that was offset by international migrants resulting in a net population loss of only 38,000 (2018).

The Government is Not Us

Tulsi Gabbard: Canary in the Democratic coal mine

fromAmericanSpectator: The imminent demise of her presidential campaign portends disaster for her party.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Walter E Williams - Intolerance in academia

fromCreators: There's nothing better than the sounds of pocketbooks snapping shut to bring a bit of sanity to college administrators.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Mentions of government as top U.S. problem near record high

fromGallup: "Government," which includes negative comments about leadership and politicians, has been the top problem in 31 of Gallup's 34 readings since January 2017.

The Government is Not Us