BBC – US Declaration of Independence illegal?

BBC News – Is the US Declaration of Independence illegal?

At least, that was what lawyers from the UK argued during a debate at Philadelphia’s Ben Franklin Hall.

And a cow goes ‘moo’.

Of course the Brits would say the Declaration of Independence was illegal based on what they deemed lawful. The Americans of the time had an entirely different perspective of what was lawful. In the end the Revolutionaries’ viewpoint won out after a lengthy conflict with a combination of foreign assistance (France) and some miscalculations by the British troops/officers when dealing with the Colonies’ civilians and army.

Those in power always claim those who challenge their authority and succeed did so illegally. Even centuries after the fact. For example, both branches of my family could rightly claim that the British Empire illegally forced them to leave their homelands (Scotland and Ireland). What does that accomplish? Nothing. It doesn’t change the fact that my family is here and the old homelands are now viewed as a place to visit to reconnect with our heritage, nothing more.

Occupy Wall Street: Some Thoughts on Perception and Focus

Occupy Phoenix prostesters demand release of those arrested

Reporters and protesters on the scene saw an estimated 40 people detained at Margaret T. Hance Park just north of downtown Phoenix. In a Sunday morning news release, Phoenix police said 45 arrests had been made for criminal trespass, a misdemeanor.

If they were arrested for violating the law then the Occupy Phoenix protesters have no right to complain about the police enforcing the law. The article clearly states, and isn’t disputed by any other reports I’ve read from Occupy Phoenix participants and supporters, that the protesters were informed of the regulation and chose to refuse to obey it. If anything all indications are that the police and protesters were cooperating nicely with one another throughout the day and early evening.

When the Occupy Wall Street protests started I had no problem with them. They did have legitimate points about the banks manipulating parts of the economy into collapse by fueling speculation on oil and commodities, as well as how these same banks profited from foreclosures and tax payer bailouts, the undue political influence that corporations have been given over the voice of the people (the Citizen’s United Supreme Court ruling), and the return of stricter oversight and regulation (such as the Glass-Steagal Act). These are among the same issues that brought so much attention and popular support to the T.E.A. Party before it was hijacked by special interests.

Unfortunately I now see OWS as being hijacked as well as they have a growing litany of complaints that are more akin to Marxist-Leninist socialist/communist dogma and anarchy than legitimate complaints. Among the demands I’ve heard/read around the news and internet (some good, some bad):

1. Free college education.
2. Forgiveness of all student loans.
3. Forgiveness of all mortgages.
4. Protect unions
5. Stop outsourcing
6. End the War on Drugs
7. Education reform
8. End capital punishment
9. Equal pay
10. REX 84 repeal
11. Re0investigate the 9-11 attacks
12. Ending American Imperialism

Now these are all well and good, whether you agree with them or not, but many of the demands now have little to nothing to do with the direct complaint that the leaders of the financial industry were not held to account for their industries actions, not were the regulatory commissions and the government officials (elected and bureaucratic) that created the conditions that led to the collapse of the U.S. economy. Worse, OWS is targeting the wrong crowd: the bankers rather than the politicans in Washington D.C. Another major flaw to some of the demands are when the issues are self-inflicted such as personal debt due to individuals choosing to spend beyond their means by choosing to have credit cards, student loans, and mortgages. In those cases, sympathy for their cause is lost by generations of Americans who’ve taken responsibility for their debt and worked through it regardless of whether financial times were booming or, as now, a bust.

Worse, when you add in their top speakers at the assorted rallies are avowed anti-capitalist, communists, socialists, and anarchists it makes it neigh impossible for the common American citizen to feel any connection with them. Then comes the perceived hostile environment of the OWS protesters towards the media, the wealthy, or anyone else they view as the “enemy” (usually anyone who questions their intent). Add to it those extremists amongst OWS who seem to be trying to incite violent clashes and disrupt the general public and you’ve a recipe for failure.

If OWS wishes to get the support of the people they need to focus their message back on issues that the average American is concerned about instead of the demands that are perceived as either socialist/communist dogma or whining by liberal elitists upset over the rejection of their agenda by the public. Do as the T.E.A. Party did before it was corrupted by the right wing elements of the nation. OWS protesters needs to reject the extremists among them, the general hostility they have towards anyone not deemed “one of them”, and the radicalization; focus back on issues all Americans can agree on: the lack of oversight by the government, the corruption of the political and financial system and the ways to correct these problems.

Engendering class, social, economic, and ideological warfare will not win the day, only inclusion, respect, genuine dialogue and genuine cooperation will result in success. Look to grow and build, not redistribute and destroy.

So, those are just some of my rambling thoughts on Occupy Wall Street and Occupy Phoenix. Take them for what you will.

GOP Presidential Candidates

As we all know the GOP Presidential hopeful field is packed full of candidates at this time. So far my preferred candidates (in order) are as follows:

1. Jon Huntsman
2. Herman Cain
3. Mitt Romney

That’s it. The rest of them I consider to be either right-wing wackjobs or christian fascists, sometimes both.

As an aside I thought it humorous that my post about ObamaCare’s  CLASS cancellation was my 666 post on this blog.

ObamaCare Update: CLASS Canceled

Obama Administration Cuts Major Part Of Health Care Reform Law: CLASS Long-Term Insurance Program Canceled

But a central design flaw dogged CLASS. Unless large numbers of healthy people willingly sign up during their working years, soaring premiums driven by the needs of disabled beneficiaries would destabilize it, eventually requiring a taxpayer bailout.

After months insisting that could be fixed, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius finally acknowledged Friday she doesn’t see how.

“Despite our best analytical efforts, I do not see a viable path forward for CLASS implementation at this time,” Sebelius said in a letter to congressional leaders.

Had those who voted for ObamaCare actually read the bill and conducted an objective analysis, they would have seen what a farce the bill, now law, was and still is. They would have come to very conclusion that analysts of the time came to: an unsustainable program. The fact that they chose to ignore analysts in the administration who told them CLASS was an unsustainable program is simply more evidence that the ObamaCare supporters and the administration were more interesting in imposing their political agenda than doing what was in the best interests (and constitutionally permitted) for the country.

Now if only the SCOTUS would rule that the individual mandate is unconstitutional (which any one with a common sense understanding of how a republic like ours works and has read the constitution knows) I’ll be satisfied. Better still is if the whole boondoggle were repealed and replaced with common sense solutions that don’t tax everything in existence as the current plan does.

California attacks law abiding citizens’ rights, again.

I shouldn’t be surprised this is coming out of California given other recent stupid legislation coming out of that state’s city and state governments (like the attempt to ban circumcision and the DREAM Act).

Gov. Signs Bill Banning Open Carry of Handguns

Brown signed AB144 by state Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, D-Pasadena Monday morning. The bill will make it a misdemeanor to carry an exposed and unloaded handgun in public or in vehicles. Violators could face up to a year in prison or a potential fine of $1,000 when the law takes effect Jan 1.

So in California they would rather have everyone either disarmed or carrying their weapons concealed (legally or not). Got it. And this is supposed to protect the public…how? Oh right,  it won’t. So instead the police are going to have to worry about more law abiding citizens hiding weapons from them and lying about their presence in the car rather than knowing the people have them outright. How does that help the police? Criminals aren’t going to tell the cops if they’ve got a weapon or not. Oh right, this isn’t about safety. It’s about putting in place the frame work for forced gun ownership registration and criminalizing constitutionally protected rights.

How about loaded handguns? Or does California conveniently have a law prohibiting the open carry of loaded handguns? Either way, it’s pretty ridiculous. Only a moron openly carries a handgun that is unloaded when not in an area that requires the gun to be unloaded.

It’s all about stripping the citizenry of their rights so that when the same government clowns that wrote and supported this law attempt to strip the citizens of more rights later the populace will be helpless before their tyrannical oligarchy. The arguments used in defense of this legislation are laughable with claims of “vigilantes shooting people in the park” (paraphrasing here), protecting police (by making their jobs more difficult and dangerous), curbing gang members (who likely don’t care about obeying the law anyway), and so on. The arguments defy logic, but then these are politicians. We all know today’s politicians lack common sense let alone any sense of logic or reason.

I suspect this law will challenged as an attack against law abiding citizen’s 2nd Amendment rights though I doubt anything will be done correct this error given the number of other states that also have similar infringements on the books that the people in those states simply accept with out thought or question. Knowing that, I hope more and more people in California openly carry their rifles in public to make their point about the stupidity of the law. Unfortunately, knowing the fascistic government officials in California, they’ll then try to pass a law banning public carrying of rifles as well.

Wake up America. You’re rights are being taken away from you everyday from both ends of the political spectrum. If you remain silent on the elimination of one right, you have no reason to complain when the rest of them are taken away from you.