Dow closes at 14,253.77 – Celebrating Inflation

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
March 6, 2013

The news over the record closing of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, yesterday, March 5, 2013, is hailed as an achievement that demonstrates the recovery of the economy, in no uncertain terms.  The Dow, after all, is the indicator of the health of the economy – in most eyes, anyway.

So, let’s just look at what we are celebrating. The previous record of 14,164.53 set October. 9, 2007, nearly six years ago, became the benchmark for future records.  Six years to regain that which was lost, and has remained so, through the entire current administration. There is little doubt that the government was doing everything they could to demonstrate the success of their oft questioned economic policies.

So, is this really an advancement in the economy?  Well, I’m a not an economist, nor do I have a grasp of the complexity of economics. I am but a simple man who must endeavor to see the world in the dim light of my experience. So, put on your night vision goggles and follow me into the realm of reality.

In 1963 you could buy a nickel candy-bar for, well, 5 cents – hence the name, nickel candy-bar. The last time I bought a nickel candy-bar it cost me about $1.50 – that about 30 nickels. Now, I don’t really know what a nickel candy-bar costs, but I do know that the “purchasing power” of the nickel is now equivalent to what would then be 0.17 cents (5÷30).

In 1963, the Dow record was 714.81 (http://www.scaruffi.com/politics/dow.html). Now, if we consider the 714.81 to be dollars, we can see that it would take 14,296 nickels to be equal to the value of the Dow.  Today, however, it would 285,075 nickels to equal the value of the Record Dow closing of 14,253.77.

Now, this might be a little confusing, so, let’s look at it from the other side. If we take the 14,253.77 and divide it by 30 (The approximate change in purchasing power), we end up with 475.13. That is just about two-thirds (66%) of the then closing of 714.81. So, in realistic terms, the exalted record of yesterday is not even close (“in current dollars”) to what the value of the Dow was just 60 years ago.

Now, this consideration does not address the manipulation of the content (included stocks) of the Dow. Over the years, certain stocks were removed since they were “volatile” (can you say lowers, which would bring the average down) and were replaced by more “stable” stocks (which kept the average up), making, from a pure economic standpoint, and even more drastic disparity between the then and now.

So, we must consider whether the economists who so cheerfully praised yesterday’s closing are really, in all honesty, celebrating a manipulation that has one appearance, though, in fact, celebrates the effect of inflation on the pure numbers of the New York Stock Exchange?

Tahoe Regional Area Plan (TRAP)
by K. M. Heaton  (Aug. 28, 1913 – Jun. 6, 2000)

(Note: This article was printed in the Outpost of Freedom newspaper on February 5, 1993.  The date that it was written is unknown.)

While citizens around the country are becoming alarmed at the regional activity in their areas which threatens their own local government and their rights to use their property as they choose, there are some in El Dorado and Placer Counties in California, and in Douglas, Washoe and Ormsby Counties in Nevada who know only too well that the alarm is justified.

Those El Doradoans who live in what is known as “the Tahoe Basin” have come face to face with the hard reality of planning-by-government, and they rue the day when the Tahoe Regional Area Plan was placed over their Constitutional government.

Even those who wished for oversight to “preserve the beauty of the lake“, have lived to regret the imposition of the controls they thought they wanted to achieve that goal.  The controls fell far short of their stated purpose, but laid a heavy hand on the lives of all the citizens in those five counties – even those who did not live in the Basin.

Like most of their fellow Americans, the residents of the Tahoe Basin lived a workaday existence.  They exhibited minimal political awareness.  Very few took any interest in partisan activities.

Surrounded by mountain peaks, Tahoe was isolated from the mainstream of American life, except for the summer tourist population, which in recent years had been matched in winter by skiers enjoying the snow-clad mountains.

Even longtime residents were at a loss when the California and Nevada Legislatures took the step that placed them and their future outside the protection of the United States Constitution.

There had been warning signs, of course.  There always are, if people only knew.  But such a radical step as took place under the Tahoe Plan was inconceivable.

It should not have been, for the fact that something was in the wind had not been a secret for many years, just as it is no secret today that government everywhere is facing a similar assault – and not just in the United States.  When George Herbert Walker Bush announced the creation of a “New World Order“, he simply made official what students of the regional movement had known for years.

But the fact is that there were none on guard to read the warning signals, to look beyond them and find out why they were raised, and what they would portent.

At Tahoe, as elsewhere, citizens actually took part in the general planning for “economic development”, without knowing what that really meant, nor what the “plan” might be, nor how their personal futures were directly tied to what was being done.  Certainly, no thought was ever entertained that it meant an end to their guarantees under the Constitution.

In El Dorado County, the “general plan” was brought in through a long-term effort, initiated at the federal level, but energized by some in the power structure of the county.  The first direct move into the county took place without fanfare, and unknown to most citizens.  There is a question if even the elected officials of the time were aware of it, for there is no indication of their complicity as a body.  Of all the people whose involvement can be identified, none were elected and only one is a name recognized five years later in county activity.

Since this was the first overt step in El Dorado toward regional governance, and since it was taken by authority of the United States Department of Agriculture, and since it was part of “a nationwide inventory” reputedly set up by the Secretary of Agriculture, it has significance for every local government in the nation.

Throughout 1958 and ’59 (yes, it was that long ago, and even longer, as you will learn), groups of “Resource agency” representatives held meetings as part of a national program to provide data “useful to federal, state and local agencies and private interests for efficient planning, programming, research, administration and legislation, affecting soil and water resources.”  So said the Report this group issued for El Dorado County.  (And for how many others?)

Using the so-called “population explosion” as the stated impetus, these early planners laid the foundation for their final recommendations, saying that “nothing is more important to health, welfare, and general happiness of the people than to maintain the right relationship or balance between people and these basic resources.”  (Apparently these ‘experts’ never head of the ‘Declaration of Independence’.)

The Report winds up with a ‘summary’ of their findings in a “Conservation Needs Inventory“.  There it was predicted (with out substantive data to use as a base) that the El Dorado population would increase from 50 to 100% by 1975.  (Quite a disparity there! and it did not).  They stated that this increase would create new problems in land use and conservation.  They asserted that this would affect as much as one third of “the county’s land” and influence its economy.  Then they opined that “Long term land-use planning is needed“, and offered the data in their Report as a base for such planning.

The “data” they offered refuted their own premises, and confirmed that land use planning was the single goal.

A NECESSARY PRELIMINARY

In a book entitled “New Worlds for Old”, written in 1908, H. G. Wells, Fabian Socialist historian, and long-time promoter of the New World Order, described the techniques needed to achieve the Fabian goal.  He wrote:

“…the reconstruction of our legislative and local government machinery is a necessary preliminary to Socialization in many directions.”

Those who refuse to accept the fact of the long effort to prepare the United States to surrender its sovereignty to a New World Order either have not done their homework, or they are collaborators or co-conspirators.  The record is too clear to admit any other evaluation.

The roots of regionalism existed for almost a century, before the fruit began to ripen.  From official reports, the flowering began in 1913.  The “necessary preliminaries” are constantly referenced in their working papers, both in the past, and still today.  This was also the case in the matter of the system imposed on the Tahoe Basin.

The care with which the wheels were greased in creating the machinery to turn this nation into a totally managed and controlled society in preparation for the time to come when it could be merged with third world countries was never more evident than in the source material leading to the so-called “Tahoe Compact”.

Lacking knowledge of the intent at the time the Tahoe grab was begun, the end would have been hard to foresee.  As a collaborating legislator in California smirkingly told an irate citizen who demanded to know how the Tahoe Plan could have taken shape without those living there being aware of it:

“We played it close to our chest.”

That may have been the first honest statement he made in his political career, but it was the sad truth – not just about Tahoe, but about whole regional movement.

Who could have guessed, for instance, that the first successful attempts to provide subventions and grants-in-aid to the States would have established a precedent that would give the federal government control of local districts by means of perversion of the “welfare clause”?

Probably the last real president of these United States, Grover Cleveland, recognized the unConstitutionality of such a move, but even he did not see the bigger picture of a planned destruction of the United States Constitution, when he reported to the Congress:

“I return without my approval House Bill #10203.  It is represented that a drought in the State of Texas (has resulted) in a failure of the crops… I am willing to believe that … a donation of seed… would serve… but I can find no warrant for such an appropriation in the Constitution, and I do not believe that the duty of the general government ought to be extended to the relief of individual suffering.”

“A prevalent tendency to disregard the limited… power and duty should, I think, be steadfastly resisted, to the end that, though the people support the government, the government should not support the people.  Federal aid, in such cases, encourages the expectation of paternal care… and weakens the sturdiness of the national character…”

So you see, even in 1887, the tendency was “prevalent” to provide what was to become a “pork barrel” for federal and state officials to dip into, and to “spend and spend and elect and elect“.  Once this protective barrier was broken in 1913, a flood of “federal money” was released – capable of buying, not just individuals, but whole sections of government.

Referring to the argument that such appropriations are Constitutional under the Constitution, then-Supervisor William V. D. Johnson of El Dorado County pointed out:

“There is no ‘welfare clause’… That phrase in the Preamble ‘to promote the general welfare’ simply means that we were adopting the Constitution to ensure the general welfare by clearly enumerating the powers given to the federal government and by reserving the remainder to the States…”

While the Constitution retained the intent of the Founding Fathers, that was the recognized meaning, as clearly enunciated by Grover Cleveland.

It was this phrase in the Preamble which, perverted by the Planners, made possible the usurpations of the Roosevelt ‘brain trusters’, made possible the usurpations of the Planners, and prepared the way for the Tahoe TRAP.  But the programs of the 30s were too bold.  They awakened resistance in a people still knowledgeable of the meaning of their government, and the way it should function.  These began to ‘view with alarm’, and to react.

Then the regionalist adopted the argument of the Constitutionalists, and made it serve them!  They demanded a return of the usurped means of taxation of the States and local governments, and then they created “intergovernmental cooperation” to divert State sovereignty for their own purposes.  By this ruse they brought “interstate cooperation” into State legislatures, and succeeded in creating appointed “Commissions on Interstate Cooperation” to carry forward the work of 1913s, Council of State Governments.

It was the California Commission on Interstate Cooperation (CCIC) which spearheaded the reconstruction of our State and local government machinery, and to prepare for the planned change into appointive governance – and for the regional “compact” at Tahoe, sitting astride the boundaries of California and Nevada, and in so doing eliminating the border between the states there.

BAITING THE TRAP

Official interference with the lawful operation of the governmental machinery provided in the Constitution for the United States of America had its beginnings early in this century, but it was not until the 1930s that the Plan for turning elective government into appointive administrative governance was exposed.  This was spelled out in a series of Reports issued by Roosevelt’s National Resources Committee (NRC, aka National Resources Planning Board, NRPB).

In the manner of the Tahoe Regional Area Plan, there is not only a direct linkage with the NRPB in the person of a “principal collaborator” of the NRPB, but there exists an entire series of Reports in California, which demonstrate a close relationship to the recommendations of the Board.  These Reports show the shallowness of the purported reasons for usurping the legal government at Tahoe, and its replacement by the tyrannical Agency that now rules the Basin.

Among the numerous projects promoted by the NRPB and its Committees, (many of which are now only too familiar), was a Call for “intergovernmental cooperation” and the “greatest possible use” of 1913s, state Leagues of Cities and Municipal Officers.  The States responded to this Call less than two years after it was issued, and several years before Congress apparently even became aware of it and repudiated both the Report and the NRPB!

The California Commission On Interstate Cooperation

The California Commission on Interstate Cooperation (CCIC) was established in 1939 and, according to its annual reports, was “substantially identical” to CICs in 43 other States.  By 1948, all states had CICs.

CCIC was formed under a “uniform act” (one of 1913s so called “model laws”) as, it may be assumed, were the other States’ CICs.  Under the California statute, the State was made a “participating member of the 1913 Council of Governments.

The stated purpose of the CICs was “to furnish a means” to deal with “interstate problems” specifically with interstate compacts, uniform and model legislation of the several states, promotion of regional programs, and reciprocal administrative acts or agreements to “develop interstate unity“.

In effect, the CICs are a “government within a government”, and have other goals and means than those provided for in the Constitution.

The first five years of CIC activity around the nation are summarized in the first Report of the California CIC, issued in 1945.  Those who wonder “How could these things to on without our knowledge?” would wonder no more after reading the chronological record of those five years – years during which most Americans were intent on the events of WW 2, and were not even remotely thinking about losing their tried and true government.

But this is the story of Tahoe, so for the moment that narrative must be bypassed.

It was the 1949 Report of CCIC that first brought up the Plan for Tahoe.  The Report does not say what the Governor of Nevada said to the Governor of California which led the latter to direct his CCIC to take on “a study of certain problems related to … suppression of diseases transmissible to humans from wild rodents, adequacy of good water supply, real estate subdivision practices, and pollution of the waters of Lake Tahoe…” but that was the beginning of the desperate twenty year battle to erase the first state boundary through regionalism, and to end representative government for that area.

CCIC and NCIC created a Joint Committee on Tahoe, and a year later, that body added the “population explosion” to the agenda.  In succeeding years, fire protection, sewage and garbage disposal, fishing licenses, drainage and trucking were additional bait for the TRAP.

Endless surveys were conducted.  Perhaps the most interesting of these was one purportedly intended to obtain “public input” on what would be a desirable level of the waters of the Lake!  Strangely, the 1959 CCIC Report states that this was a “campaign to acquaint Lake Tahoe residents with the problems relating to the… Lake which affect them, and also to develop a desire among these residents to work together in proposing acceptable solutions to some of these problems.  This Report also says that these surveys were made to contain the necessary information that would lead to “satisfactory completion of a compact.”  No one interviewed about this remembered being told that!

But at long last, a proposal for a compact was finally developed in 1963, and legislation to implement it was introduced in both State Legislatures.  However, while California was still debating the issue, Nevada’s Legislature killed the twin bill.  On learning of this development, then occupant of the California Governor’s Office, Edmund G. “Pat” Brown”, Sr., expressed his regrets, but added, “This is not the end.”

And of course it wasn’t.  Regionalists never give up on key issues, and Tahoe was one such.  CCIC began immediately to explore further ways to obtain this goal.  Creation of a bi-state park was an alternative they considered, but the prior eagerness of the two Legislatures seemed to have cooled and there was no enthusiasm for this.

Officials in local governments involved with Tahoe had begun to smell something fishy.  Some even recognized the determined effort to regionalize Tahoe and they balked – “…reluctant,” CCIC reported, “to relinquish their authority.”  (Ed. comment:  How reactionary!)

When the Bill which finally created the Tahoe Agency was submitted in California, it was met with as great opposition as had ever been seen in the State.  Local governments clearly and precisely gave the lie to every argument put forward in support of this outrageous “taking”.  They demonstrated that every claim made by the promoters of this monstrosity was either false, or had already been dealt with by local action.  There was absolutely no support from local residents who, along with local governments and volunteer organizations, gave substantive opposition.  The limited support all came from “conservation” groups, San Francisco interests, and the Governors of the two States.

AB 1362 received the requisite number of votes for passage, was matched in Nevada, signed by the two Governors, approved by Congress and became law with the blessing of the man sitting as President of the United States – and the citizens of Tahoe went under administrative rule.  As you will see, that “law” did not just impact Tahoe and the States directly involved.  It now rules the lives of all citizens of the United States, wherever they live with its boundaries.  (The following excerpts from the body of the CCIC 1963-65 Report demonstrate the long-term process of undermining the foundations of representative government, which led to acceptance of the TRAP):

CALIFORNIA COMMISSION ON INTERSTATE COOPERATION

Sacramento

I am pleased to transmit herewith a copy of the Report of the California Commission on Interstate Cooperation for the period from July 1, 1963 to June 30, 1965.

Cordially yours,

Glenn M. Anderson, Chairman

INTRODUCTION

ORGANIZATION OF THE COMMISSION

The California Commission on Interstate Cooperation was established in 1939 as a statutory agency of the State of California (Cal.Stats. 1939, Chap. 376).  As amended in 1947 and 1959, the act setting forth the membership and duties of the Commission is contained in Title 2.  Division 1, of the Government Code.

Under previous authorization, the commission is comprised of the seven members of the Assembly Committee on Interstate Cooperation including specifically the Speaker of the Assembly and the Chairman of the Rules Committee; the seven members of the Senate Committee on Interstate Cooperation; the five state officials appointed by the Governor to serve at his pleasure; and the Governor and one member of the California Commission on Uniform State Laws designated by the Governor as an ex officio, nonvoting member.

The commission is directed by statute to carry forward the participation of California as a member of the Council of State Governments both regionally and nationally, to confer with officers of other states and of the federal government, to formulate proposals for cooperation between California and the other states, and with the federal government, and to organize and maintain government machinery for such purposes.

RELATION WITH THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS

The California Commission on Interstate Cooperation also acts in a liaison capacity.  With similar organization in other states, it promotes better understanding of federal-state problems.  The commission and facilities the interchange among California, the other states and their national associations, of experiences and studies pertaining to the common problems of the states.  Whenever findings or action on the federal, state or association level may have gainful application in California or an effect on its welfare, they are communicated to the responsible agencies of the state.

Much of the work of the California Commission on Interstate Cooperation is conducted through the Council of State Governments – an agency created, supported and managed by the states to facilitate the internal relations with each other and with other levels of government  As a joint agency of all the states, the council makes available to them research materials and information on developments, problems and procedures in state government; staff services for regional and national meetings of state officials; and liaison and technical assistance effecting cooperation among the states and with federal government for the solution of interstate and federal problems.

THE FIRST QUARTER CENTURY

As noted in the introduction, the commission was created in 1939.  Thus during the biennium covered by this report, the CCIC passed its silver anniversary.

During these years, the commission has participated in developing a broad variety of interstate joint programs and arrangements.  Among these are programs that relate to crime, juvenile delinquency, education, civil defense, vehicle taxation, driver licensing and traffic safety, fisheries, and many others.  Some are nationwide involving most or all of the states; some are compacts affecting only the western states, and a few are agreements between California and its immediate neighbors only.

(Note the wide range of activities in which these CICs were involved.  Was this done with the knowledge and consent of the people – or just their ‘representatives’?)

The California Commission, through these and similar programs and activities, endeavors to strengthen and improve state governments and through mutual agreements, to solve problems common to California and neighbor states.

(Under what authority are the CICs permitted to “solve the problems common to the states”?)

The commission, under current authorization, is somewhat different from its initial makeup.  Then, it provided for the commission to be composed of five members from each house, plus five to be appointed by the Governor from the administrative branch.  The National Conference on Uniform State Laws has existed, in one form or another since the last decade of the 19^th century.

(Note the admission of when this process actual began – in the 1890s!  Did you know that?)

Though California had been informally participating in the national conference, it was not until 1927 that the Legislature authorized California membership.

(For “informal participation”, read “without legislative approval” – unlawfully.)

The Council of State Governments had been organized in 1913 and had been growing steadily in state affiliations, and had demonstrated that interstate co-operation through voluntary agreements among the states glowed with promise.  However, by the time California became an affiliate, a dark shadow – international relations – the threat of war – tended to diminish the glowing promise; problems to be solved through mutual agreements among the states were abundant, but the threat of war became the overriding problem.

(The history of the “social science” movement, of which TRAP is an operational segment, suggests that WW 2 was critical to activation of the Plan for a New World Order.)

(California’s CIC was dissolved around 1969, yet every year for many years, this no-longer-existing Commission received a regular contribution of taxpayers’ money, funding this link to regional HQs for some obscure reason.  In 1981, the sum of $76,000 passed through this shadow body to the Council of State Governments.)

The “New” American Revolution

“Would you believe me if I were to tell you that I live under a government that has taxing, police and legislative powers, but I do not elect the governing board?”

“Nor do I have recall rights against my governors, nor initiative nor referendum rights against the laws they ‘pass’.  Yes, I do have that distinction, and I do live in the United States – at Lake Tahoe.”

Those are the words of William Van Dike Johnson, at the time a Supervisor from the 2^nd District in El Dorado County, in a speech he made many times around the State of California.  He first made those remarks to the Federal Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (ACIR), in opposition to their program for “substate redistricting”.

There was an audible gasp from the throng attending the ACIR Hearing in San Francisco.

There is no man in this country better qualified to speak to the ramifications of regionalism than Bill Johnson.  When (as a private citizen) he first began to recognize an intent for government to take over plans for private property, he accepted a position on the County Planning Commission, publically stating that he believed there should be a voice on such bodies which spoke for the people.

As a Planning Commissioner, Bill testified to the State Senate Local Government Committee that such bodies are too prone to become a solid front against the people’s interest and that his vote always took into consideration the rights of the owners of property, and their expressed desire to use their property in their own best interest.  He served with such distinction on the Commission that the people of his district wisely selected him to represent them on the Board of Supervisors, where he served three terms.

On that Board, he worked long and hard – not just to do the job for which he was elected, but also to alert other county officials and citizens in general to the source and the nature of the problems, which seemed to mount daily as a result of edicts handed down from other levels of government.

It was Bill Johnson who first called the attention of his Board – and the public – to what he described as one of the most infamous pieces of effrontery ever perpetuated by any ‘governing body’ in the United States – Ordinance #10 issued by the Tahoe Regional Agency.

It was Bill who led the El Dorado Board of Supervisors in unanimously denouncing Ordinance #10 in no uncertain terms, in a two-page “White Paper”, which began:

“At first glance, the document strikes the reader as an absurd, humorous ‘put-on’…  Nevertheless, we are forced to recognize that the proposal is being advanced in deadly earnest…”

“We are not dealing here with matters of pollution, erosion control, housing density, waste disposal, or the customary building or housing codes…”

“We are confronted with a Plan to deny citizens the right to develop their own design concept, choose their own materials, and believe it or not, the color scheme to be used…  Controls are spelled out in exquisite detail, ranging from the shape and style of the buildings to requiring approval of plant material used in landscaping the backyard…”

“…the crushing necessity for this outrage is attributed to the need to “effectuate the adopted regional Plan”.  There is even a finding that an emergency exists requiring immediate action.”

“Seldom has a more blatant sophistry been employed by any government – anywhere…”

At that time, there was nothing more the Board could do.  The Legislatures of California and Nevada, the Governors of both States, the Congress and the president of the United States had joined together in taking from them their Constitutional duty to represent the citizens who had elected them.

Alerted by the White Paper, though, the citizens stormed the next meeting of the Agency.  To still the protest, Ordinance #10 was not approved at that meeting, as intended.  Had the Board not sounded that alarm, those controls would have been placed over them unannounced.  Proof of that is the fact that, one by one, they have been quietly passed since then, and Tahoe went under that kind of control.

El Dorado had opposed the Agency from the beginning.  Twice it sought relief from the Courts.  For years, the County refused to tax its citizens who did not live in the Tahoe area to pay its expenses – required by the law that created the Agency.  The Board encouraged then-State Senator John Schmitz to prepare a bill to dissolve the Agency, and supported him in his effort to get it passed.  It was all to no avail.

Until the citizens of this nation come to realize what regional planning will mean to them, individually, and become aware that they are electing men and women who permit such things to go on, all the protests and the legal action are simply an exercise in futility.

Tahoe was a test case.  The Court said so.  The legal decisions made on Tahoe are precedents for all such agencies – in existence or to be created.

This is revolution – the “new” American Revolution – within the form of our lawful government, but without the consent of the people.

The Price of a Lake

How can the cost of the “common good” be assessed when individual rights are in the balance?

In which column are the shattered remnants of a thousand dreams to be placed?

How are the ‘rights’ of public access weighed against the rights vested in private property?

How is the value of a treasured heritage of representative government measured against a monstrous parody, which retains some of the familiar outlines, but from which the essential elements have been removed?

These are issues which should be at the forefront in campaign rhetoric of every candidate for office in the United States today – but are rarely mentioned – if ever.  If they were, would there be mad repudiation at the polls of those who would not discuss them?

What would happen to those in office if their opponents demanded an accounting for their cooperation in the massive regional attack on the historic, lawful American government?

These things would be discussed, if every American knew what the property owners at Tahoe learned firsthand.  The general public is simply not aware yet that powers that belong to them are being granted to regional bodies by the people they elect.

Worse than that, it is not generally understood that there are certain matters (which the Founders of this nation called “inalienable rights”), which even those elected are not free to dispense.

Even worse than that, it seems most people do not yet understand why that is important.

Ti is important because “all men are granted certain inalienable rights by their creator” – rights which they, themselves, cannot ‘alienate’ (or give away).  If the possessors of those rights cannot give them to anyone else, how is it possible that their agents are doing it?

This vital question is ignored in all political discussions.  Ignored, too, is the effect – not just on the body politic, but on the lives of the citizens who have been disenfranchised – by the autocratic decisions which are made, using those usurped powers.

It would take a book to tell the myriad stories of distress caused by the ‘autocratic’ decisions made by the Agency at Tahoe, but for a case in point, consider the plight of one woman there, who owned a piece of paper deeding her five acres of prime land.  When she and her husband acquired that piece of paper, they thought they had bought those acres for their own use.  The paper said that 40 residential units could be built on each acre.  The area was booming, and it looked like a good investment for their future.

The land increased in value, and the first to recognize that was the county assessor.  Soon they were paying taxes on a valuation of two hundred thousand dollars, and their dream had new luster.

Then tragedy struck, and, as usually happens, not singly.  Her husband died, and the regional authority was created – and began to impost “its” plans on the citizens.

Down zoning was imposed on the property to “limit population growth“, supposedly to “protect the Lake”.  The widow learned that now only 15 units per acre could be built – no matter what her paper said.  The Agency did not propose refunds for all the taxes they had paid for the higher use.

Before she recovered from that blow, another mandate was issued, which made the deed to per property all but worthless.  The new edict prohibited construction of more than one unit per acre until all the buildable land in the area had been developed.  Under those circumstances, there was no hope at all that she could even sell the property for anywhere near what they had paid for it years before.  Building under the present ukase would be folly.  But the taxes go on, and the mortgage must be met.

What price should a widow have to pay to “preserve the beauty of a Lake“?

The basic facts of her plight could be multiplied thousands of times at Tahoe – and in other areas of the country where land-use-planning by government has stolen individual rights in property.  Land which brought fabulous prices before government usurped the decision-making process, becomes a drug on the market – just as it as intended, when the Agency was created for Tahoe.  Those who had bought before then were unable to use their property for any feasible purpose, and default was a dark threat.  More than that, if they try to sell it, the prospective buyer will find an army of bureaucrats standing between him and any plan he might have for it.  He would be a fool to pay what it is “worth”.  Or is it “worth” anything?

One resident at Tahoe who had a large herd of cattle had to liquidate his holdings.  Having paid over a half a million dollars in taxes in the ten years before the ‘compact’ – he could not afford to keep them anymore.  Many smaller ranchers were in the same boat.

What price, the beauty of a Lake?  All of the costs of the Tahoe Agency are not recognized – not even by the public.  One of those costs is the imposition of taxation without representation.  Who remembers that this was the smoldering fire that sparked the tinder to cause the America Revolution?

Under the legislation that created the Agency, some of its funding comes from State taxes – all of California citizens are hostage for that.  The Agency decides how much it will need each year, counts up how much will be received under the provisions of the legislation, and then, under the compact, demands the remainder from the counties out of which the regional body was carved – from citizens outside its jurisdiction.

Like an ominous harmonic, the inequities of the costs and controls of the Agency are underscored by the constant refrain that the need for it for any of the stated purposes was never proven:

-        The Lake is not – nor ever was – “stagnant“.

-        Waste Control was already well underway by local governments.

-        Runoff waters were already being diverted.

-        Rodent control was a continuing effort.

-        Planning and zoning were a fact.

Nor is there any substantive reason to believe that the Agency can guarantee “preservation of the Lake” – short of removing the entire population and closing the access roads.

What value, then, the beauty of a Lake?

The People vs. the County of El Dorado

The appeal by El Dorado County for a legal decision on the “taxation without representation” issue was held in limbo, until the State Attorney General brought a mandamus proceeding to “compel the County to pay its fair share” of the costs of the Tahoe Regional Agency.  At that point, the Court granted the writ, and took the whole matter of the County’s complaints as well as those of the State, under advisement.

The case should have been called “The People vs. The People“, since that was the essence of the proceedings.  It might as well have been The People of the United States vs. The People of the United States, for the Court began its “opinion” by stating that the issues presented were of great concern to the entire country.

And so they were.  And are.

The decisions regarding the Tahoe Agency are precedents for all succeeding actions against regional bodies, everywhere in this country.

Since El Dorado County made its appeal on behalf of all its citizens, and not just those who were under the regional compact, the decisions of this court also have meaning for all Americans.

The decisions on the matters involving Tahoe also bring new significance to the pressures to make all State Constitutions uniform.  Without such uniformity, there will be labored twistings to apply the California decisions in States which do not succumb to the new revisionism, but the nature of these decisions gives assurance that even in citizens in those States which retain their ‘outmoded Constitutions” will face a troubled future.

Up front, the Court had to stretch the meaning of “mandamus” to make it cover this case, since there was “an absence of adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law“, and a pressing necessity to end the El Dorado resistance to the Agency.

Having granted the writ, the Court then found that the two counties involved in the Compact had to pay the Agency demand, since (the Court pontificated), “…limitations of the California Constitution do not prevent the Legislature from authorizing a district to impose taxes for a State purpose“.  Conveniently, the legislature had recorded in the bill that created the Agency that the preservation of the Lake was a State interest, and the reason for the Agency.

The Court also found that taxing citizens not under the Agency’s umbrella was legal, even though there was no direct relevance.  (Taxation without representation!)  The court said it was legal because the monies were not for county or local needs, but for regional purposes.

In these two decisions are the basis for trouble whenever regional bodies are created.  Because, you see, the “unauthorization” was, in fact, a mandate by the Legislature, included in the bill as passed, just as was the funding for the Agency, which imposed a tax on the whole of California.  Designating the purpose of the Agency as “regional” by passes any Constitutional constraints on spending.

But then, you see, the Court applied the same logic to the powers given to the Agency, and put them out of the reach of any State or Constitutional restrictions aimed at limiting regional powers.

The Court also found that the citizens under the Tahoe umbrella “are not entitled to the right of initiative, recall or referendum“, or to “the operation of the one-man-one-vote principal, in view of the interstate nature of the Agency, and of the interest of non-residents in the preservation of the Lake Tahoe Basin“.

And so, the court said, the Compact “properly provided for the appointment, as distinguished from the election of its governing board.”  And so, this Court gave a double whammy to representation, and that is an issue that should be given the closest scrutiny.

There was one item in this holding that is easily passed over, with such huge wounds inflicted on our lawful government, but it should be noted, for it is an ominous portent for a larger concern.

That is the recognition by the Court of “the interest of non-residents” in the affairs of Tahoe.  It is not unthinkable that this interpretation could at some point in time zoom out to impact our national government with “the interest of non-residents“.  Think about that.

Perhaps though, the most significant ruling by the California Court was this:

“The concept of equal protection of the law means simply that persons similarly situated with respect to the legitimate purpose of the law receive like treatment.”

Are you listening, Florida:  New Jersey?  Washington State?  Texas?  You other States where regionalism is being promoted.  Do you hear the chains rattling for you?

“A district” said the Court, “is excluded from the initiative, referendum, and recall, if it has been formed under a law that does not provide for elections… if members of an official body are elected, the one-man one-vote principle applies, and if they are appointed, it does not apply.”

It is as simple – and as horrendous – as that.  “…whether the activities to be performed are legislative or administrative in nature is immaterial.”  Thus spake the Court.

Since it was “not only the Legislatures of California and Nevada, but also Congress” which conspired to create this monstrosity, the Court found that the broad delegation of powers were not unlawful.  It assumed Constitutionality, because of the source.

Lawsuits involving hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to individuals in the Basin brought up some very interesting points of law, but there is little hope for people whose lives and hopes, yes, and fortunes, hang on the decisions of Courts, which can make such decisions.  It is a clear and present warning to all citizens everywhere.  The best way to escape such a perversion of the precious heritage of representative government is to prevent regional bodies being superimposed on it.

These decisions on Tahoe make it obvious that there is no remedy in sight after the fact, except to figure out some way to remove the cancerous growth – a much harder way to go.

From the 1963-5 minutes CCIC’

“Mr. Matthews expressed surprise at being called upon because he thought he had just come for an airplane ride”

(Isn’t that what has happened to all of us?)

The illustration on the front cover of this Report, the map on page 5, and the inserts identified as “minutes” are from the official documents for the Plan for Lake Tahoe.

The statement in script on the cover gives a message from the Planners, The major error in this message lies in ignoring the fact that Plans like this are designated to deny Man the right to use that ability they define.

There is an identifiable Master Plan (of which this is a part):

“to commence the remodeling of the lives of American freemen… to mix the lives and hopes and dreams of human beings with physical resources, and attempt to measure and modify and restrict men and their intangibles…” 1

The Plan for Lake Tahoe was a pilot program for that Plan.

John L. Rankin “If this program, proposed by our so-called National Resources Planning Board, were put into effect, it would wreck this Republic, wipe out the Constitution, destroy our form of government, set up a totalitarian regime, and pile on our backs a burden of expenditures that no nation on earth could bear…”

Clare Hoffman:  “That horde of bureaucrats which promulgates the multiplicity of orders, rules, regulations and directives… have presumed to take solely unto themselves the prerogative of interpreting the intentions of Congress – reading into its enactments meanings never even thought of…”

Noah H. Mason “…It is a scheme to give the federal government control of every activity in this nation, with the States pushed back into a position of impotence, if not entirely obliterated…  A State that does not cooperate… is to be policed from Washington…”

And Congress repudiated the Plan, and eliminated the Planners – or so they thought…  What do you think now?

A Social Contract

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
May 18, 1994

The Founding Fathers relied upon, and developed much of the concept of the Constitution (a social contract) from the works of authors, thinkers and philosophers of the time. One of those was Rousseau, who wrote “The Social Contract”, who recognized the true relationship between government and people when the presumption was made that all just power derives from the people. Rousseau wrote:

“The moment the people is lawfully assembled as a sovereign body, all jurisdiction of the ‑government ceases the executive power is suspended, and the person of the hum blest citizen is as sacred and inviolable as that of the highest magistrate, because there can be no representatives in the presence of those they represent. . . The consuls were then only the people’s chairmen, the tribunes were only speakers, and the Senate was nothing at all.

“The government always dreads these intervals of suspension, when it recognizes, or should recognize, a present superior and such assemblies of the people, which am the shield of the body politic and the brake on the government, have always been the terror of the magistrates, who therefore spare no pains in raising objections, making difficulties, and giving promises to discourage the citizens from assembling. When the citizens am avaricious, lethargic, cowardly, or fonder of tranquility than of freedom, they do not hold out long against the redoubled a its of the government. It is thus that, as the opposing force constantly  increases, the sovereign authority finally  vanishes and most republics fail and perish before their time.

So, what stands between the sovereign authority (the people) and arbitrary government (that which Rousseau identifies as the “opposing force”)? The social contract which, in our case, is the supreme law of the land, the Constitution for the United States of America. It is easy to conclude the purpose for the Constitution, yet is it so easy to understand the peril that threatens it today?

We are told, from early school education through college, on television, radio, newspapers and nearly every from of social communication, that the changes in technology warrant a greater necessity for “law enforcement” and regulation. We are told that the reason for the second amendment was the need to hunt meat or to defend against outlaws and Indians. We are told that the need no longer exists, and that the passage of laws restricting firearms ownership are because of the rampant crime existent in America today. Do they tell us that the crime that we see today is not crime as envisioned by our forefathers? These “crime control acts” that they are constantly passing, if you think about it just a moment, are really “crime creation acts”, for they create crimes as a result of rule violations rather than damage or injury to victims. These “manifestations” of crime then lead to real crime as a result of putting people into a circumstance of being on the other side of the “law.” Then comes the “outrage” expressed by the politicians which results in reactive passage of even more restrictive laws, which results in further increase in “crime”, which results in passage of more laws ‑‑ And we see the results of Rousseau’s theory come to fruition.

Is there, however, and alternative to this slow but sure demise of our Constitutional Republic? Perhaps the Founding Fathers gave us a means to achieve these goals. In most republics of past history, and there were many, the cycle of their histories lasted about two hundred years. The Founding Fathers, understanding this reality, provided us a document written in simple terms so as to not be to difficult to be understood, yet provided us, also, with many supportive documents whereby we could learn of their inspiration and, perhaps, resurrect the Great Experiment. The tools were given us by the AntiFederalists when they insisted on the Bill of Rights. This “heart of the Constitution” assures us both the intent and the means of the salvation of this great nation. It is not an easy task, nor is it to be accomplished without effort by those who understand and desire to achieve this goal. More significantly it must be recognized that now is just short of to late to begin this process.

The Other (not so) Thin Line

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
July 5, 2012

There is a very thin line between what we believe to be our rights and what the government believes our rights are.  Unfortunately, that line continues, either by police action or court decisions, to move against us, allowing even greater power and control over our lives by the government.

There is another line that we might want to consider, though this line tends to ‘flow’ in a different direction.  If we look at the Patriot Community as a whole, and then endeavor to define the progression of those who have joined that community, from entry through, well, wherever they might be now, we, perhaps, can understand just what we are dealing with.

Let’s take a line that runs from left to right, with no political affiliation, philosophy, or ideology, in mind.  At the right end of the line are those who have been members of the Patriot Community for quite some time.  Their experience, research, and observations, along with their current mindset, have moved to the point of no return — that “state of Nature” that the Framers understood.  They might easily be referred to as extremists, as were those “Indians” who made tea in Boston Harbor.

On the left end of the line, we have those who have only recently began to see something amiss in government.  To provide a bit more perspective, if we revisit the nineteen-fifties, they John Birch Society had already seen the evil potential of the United Nations.  They, as a group, comprised a majority of those who might first be defined s “Patriots” by our modern understand.

Over the next forty years, those entering the community were few, and most were those how had begin to understand that the “income tax” (3% in the forties) was unconstitutional and basically a theft of personal property.  This activity brought a prolonged surge into the Community, though it extended over many years.  The issues were separate and singular, so there was no adhesive element to the Community.  Basically, there were “Get Us Out of the United Nations” and “Income Taxes Are Unconstitutional”

Then, in 1993, the federal government, primarily the BATF, raided a Church in Waco, Texas, on a Sunday morning.  A siege of epic proportions, under the authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, lasted for 51 days — until the occupants remaining in the Church, with few exceptions, died in the fire that consumed the Church in tens of minutes.  Though there had been a militia element in the Patriot Community prior to Waco, there was a new surge, this occurring over a very short period.  The militia community was rather large; however, there was another large segment of people filled with disgust over the events then occurring.  Waco touched hundreds of thousands of people.  National news and alternative media (fax networks) brought a story to millions, unlike previous events.  This resulted in two more elements added to the Patriot Community, “Militia” and a contingent simply disgusted with the misdeeds of government and the broad assumption of authority that accompanied such an activity.  The Patriot Community had become more diverse (that word is not used in the politically correct context).

The next significant contribution to those who consider themselves to be part of the Patriot Community, though as in the past, many may not have come to that realization, yet, came just a few years ago, as it became apparent that our economy was beginning to collapse.  This infusion, the largest, by far, is also the most diverse.  That diversity is both about issues and means of achieving change (again, not the politically correct definition).  In fact, the apparent disparity might incline someone to believe that there is little, or nothing, in common within, let’s call it the “Tea Party Crowd”, let alone, the Patriot Community.

However, as time goes on, there is a tendency for the issues to merge, or, at least, have a degree of commonality with other issues.  Likewise, the means of achievement tend to focus away from the ineffective.

In these observations, I have intentionally omitted the anti-war groups, though they tend to be consistent with the John Birch Society.  Their omission is based upon the fact that, once the war they oppose is over, they either return to the comfort of the couch, or have, by association, joined in with another of the common causes of the Patriot Community.

Now, let’s stand back and look at this line.  Towards the right, we see a rather narrow but constant thickness to the line.  As we move towards the left, there is a very small bubble, very near the center, that reflects the “Waco” infusion.  Then, way over towards the left end is a rather large bubble that represents the Tea Party Crowd.  Of course, each of the bubbles taper of both left and right, the left being those moving along more slowly, the right, those progress more rapidly.

The problem that we face, however, is that the average will always shift to the left when there is a new infusion of members into the Patriot Community.  It is almost like undoing that which was done before, and the median is constantly shifting away from the fortitude that is necessary to affect real change.  The average is constantly shifting back towards “vote them out of office”, “Support the Republican Party”, or an effort to enact new laws (as if we need any new laws).  And, as those near the left move along to toward the right, they will soon find out that they, too, are outnumbered by the constant flow in on the left.

So, let’s leave the current line behind, for now, instead, let’s look at history.  In April 1775, most of the colonists would have been well to the left on the above-described line.  Any thought of violence would only have occurred in parts of Massachusetts and in North Carolina.  Contentment and peaceful change were the mean, and that was how it was, just as it is, today.  For example, in Albany, New York, word of the “Kings Troops” commencing “Hostilities” was received, via a letter from the Committee of Correspondence, on April 26, 1775.  The response to the letter received indicated that any real threat was “entirely Groundless”.  On May 1, a public meeting was held to determine if the citizens wished to take a position on the matter and appoint people to look into forming a District Committee of Safety and to prepare a plan to deal with the King’s “Ministerial Plan”.  Finally, on May 3, they began enrolling a Militia unit.

Had a role call been made of all of the colonists who were otherwise unsympathetic to the British intrusions into the colonist’s rights, the majority, most assuredly, would have voted against such action.  It was only after events were acted out that made continued “Hostilities” inevitable that the shift in thought — the joining of one side, or the other, was an inescapable necessity, regardless of prior reluctance.

To argue, now, to avoid the inescapable reality, that force will ever be necessary, flies in the face of historical fact, and, reality.  Or, to phrase it in the language of those days, “Load, shoot, or get out of the way”, but don’t attempt to hinder those who have been here longer and realize that there is but one means by which we will achieve our goal of restoration of Constitutional Government.

Until our line hardens sufficiently to keep their line from constantly encroaching, we will remain on the downhill side of achievement of our goal.

Independence Day 2012

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
July 4, in the Year of our Lord, 2012, and, of our Independence, 236

As we enter the 236th year of our Independence, perhaps it is time to reflect upon that which was achieved so many years ago, and, what has transpired since that time.

It was just a month before that when the Continental Congress had suggested that all of the colonies create new governments.  Two colonies revised their charters, omitting any reference to the King or England while the others wrote constitutions, forming new government based upon republican/democratic principles.

In 1781, the Article of Confederation were finally ratified, though were insufficient for the purpose of binding the colonies into a cohesive and functioning confederacy.

From 1776 through 1787, many of the original state constitutions had been heavily revised, or replaced, as the process of forming a government based upon theory was much more difficult than was first anticipated. Most importantly, the limitations on the power of the government were insufficient since those early government’s authority was nearly absolute.

By the time of the Constitutional Convention in 1787, many of the apparent problems with the conversion of theory to practice had become known and were addressed in the new document known as the Constitution for the United States of America.  However, Article V provided for an amendment process, as they had learned from the past decade that theory to practice needed to have some practice to find what did not work according to theory.

Since that time, the deficiencies in the theory have manifested themselves into significant shortcomings as to what was intended when the Constitution was written.  Whether it be the infringement of the right to keep and bear arms; The prolific use of direct taxes that were supposed to be assessed only for purpose of emergency; The subversion of the jury and judicial process; or a multitude of other unforgivable sins, the limitations have been slowly abrogated in favor of more power in the government than was ever intended.  As the states went through that period of learning, the national government has, also. However, the national government has not taken the intended steps to correct those evils that those seeking power have found and utilized, contrary to the intentions of the Framers.

From the Declaration of Independence (July 4, 1776):

That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when long trains of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide for new guards for their future security.

“[D]eriving their just powers from the consent of the governed” was the initial offering. That consent was granted, though it only continues so long as we don’t raise objection. Voting is not, by its nature, consent, especially when it is done only with hope that things will change.  Sons of Liberty #14 will explain that matter of consent, as perceived by the Framers.

“[W]hen long trains of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute despotism” is the qualifier — the determinant — of when the system has failed for want of proper control.  That deficiency can be caused by omission from, or usurpation of, the original writing (Constitution). It is merely the object that, once perceived, is an alarm that the system and the intent has been subjugated to the authority of those who pursue that despotism. This, of course, leads us to:

“[I]t is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide for new guards for their future security.”  Is it our responsibility to pass on to our posterity, when we know of the failure of the government? Or, is it our responsibility to, as the Founders did, by whatever means necessary, provide for our posterity, with the intention of a more severe and specific limitation of those powers granted to government?

duty –  noun.  That which a person owes to another; that which a person is bound, by any natural, moral, or legal obligation, to pay, do, or perform.

Habeas Corpus
A New Understanding

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
June 19, 2012

The Constitution provided for a separation of powers both within the federal government, and, between the federal government and the state governments (Republican Form, Art I, Sec IV, clause 4, Const.). There were limitations of, and grants of, authority given to the federal government. And, by the Tenth Amendment, those powers not granted were retained by the states or the people.

There is also a rather obscure provision that provided the means to protect the states and the people from encroachment by federal authority. When I say “obscure”, I do so because I am at a loss for the proper word. After all, nearly everybody in the country knows that “The Privilege of the Writ Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it” (Art. I, Sec. 9. Clause 2, Const.). Most people also understand that Habeas Corpus is also known as the “Sacred Writ”, however, I would suggest that only a small handful really understand exactly what Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum, really is. After all, the last time the United States Supreme Court heard a case on Habeas Corpus ad subjiciendum was in 1876 (EX PARTE PARKS, 93 U.S. 18), yes, 136 years ago — long before any practicing attorney or judge ventured into law school to learn the “law of the land”. Given the number of generations between that last occurrence, is it any wonder that the concept, and the understanding of the significance, of Habeas Corpus has been lost?

Just a few historical quotations regarding the Sacred Writ:

“The sovereignty to be created was to be limited in its powers of legislation, and if it passed a law not authorized by its enumerated powers, it was not to be regarded as the supreme law of the land, nor were the State judges bound to carry it into execution.”. [Abelman v. Booth, 62 U.S. 506 (1858), at 519]

“This judicial power was justly regarded as indispensable, not merely to maintain the supremacy of the laws of the United States, but also to guard the States from any encroachment upon their reserved rights by the General Government.  And as the Constitution is the fundamental and supreme law, if it appears that an act of Congress is not pursuant to and within the limits of the power assigned to the Federal Government, it is the duty of the courts of the United States to declare it unconstitutional and void.  The grant of judicial power is not confined to the administration of laws passed in pursuance to the provisions of the Constitution, nor confined to the interpretation of such laws; but, by the very terms of the grant, the Constitution is under their view when any act of Congress is brought before them, and it is their duty to declare the law void, and refuse to execute it, if it is not pursuant to the legislative powers conferred upon Congress” [Abelman v. Booth, 62 U.S. 506 (1858), at 520,521]

“Rights and immunities created by or dependant upon the Constitution of the United States can be protected by Congress.  The form and the manner of the protection may be such as Congress, in the legitimate exercise of its legislative discretion, shall provide.  These may be varied to meet the necessities of the particular right to be protected”. [U S v. REESE, 92 U.S. 214 (1875), at 215, 216]

“A remedy the more necessary, because the oppression does not always arise from the ill-nature, but sometimes from the mere inattention of government“. [William Blackstone, Commentaries (1768)]

“Reasons will be given hereafter for considering many of the restrictions, contained in the amendments to the Constitution, as extending to the states as well as to the United States, but the nature of the writ of habeas corpus seems peculiarly to call for this construction. It is the great remedy of the citizen or subject against arbitrary or illegal imprisonment; it is the mode by which the judicial power speedily and effectually protects the personal liberty of every individual, and repels the injustice of unconstitutional laws or despotic governors“.  ["A View of the Constitution of the United States", William Rawles (1829)]

“The national code in which the writ of habeas corpus was originally found, is not expressly or directly incorporated into the Constitution.

If this provision had been omitted, the existing powers under the state governments, none of whom are without it, might be questioned, and a person imprisoned on a mandate of the president or other officer, under colour of lawful authority derived from the United States, might be denied relief. But the judicial authority, whether vested in a state judge, or a judge of the United States, is an integral and identified capacity; and if congress never made any provision for issuing writs of habeas corpus, either the state judges must issue them, or the individual be without redress.” ["A View of the Constitution of the United States", William Rawles (1829)]

“It is at any rate certain, that congress, which has authorized the courts and judges of the United States to issue writs of habeas corpus in cases within their jurisdiction, can alone suspend their power, and that no state can prevent those courts and judges from exercising their regular functions, which are, however, confined to cases of imprisonment professed to be under the authority of the United States. But the state courts and judges possess the right of determining on the legality of imprisonment under either authority. ["A View of the Constitution of the United States", William Rawles (1829)]

“§ 1333. In order to understand the meaning of the terms here used, it will be necessary to have recourse to the common law; for in no other way can we arrive at the true definition of the writ of habeas corpus. At the common law there are various writs, called writs of habeas corpus. But the particular one here spoken of is that great and celebrated writ, used in all cases of illegal confinement, known by the name of the writ of habeas corpus ad subjiciendum,” ["Commentaries on the Constitution", Joseph Story (1833)]

Though we have seen that the state legislatures have failed at nullification of unlawful enactments of Congress, perhaps, however,  we can see that there is a remedy within the Constitution that, if properly applied, will achieve such end. Unless, of course, the “Sacred Writ has been suspended — without the requisite act of Congress and the Constitutional conditions met.

To understand more about Habeas Corpus, and, the apparent suspension (not enacted suspension, as required), go to Habeas Corpus 2012

Also:

Habeas Corpus 2012

Has Habeas Corpus Been Eliminated

Vortex

The threat that keeps us apart

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom
May 24, 2012

Vortex

Noun:   1. a mass of whirling fluid or air, esp. a whirlpool or whirlwind.
2. Something regarded as a whirling mass.

So, why Vortex?  Well, when something goes down into the bottom of a vortex, it is spun around and emitted in a different form than when it went in.

Background:

A recent discussion brought up an issue that has been close to me, for quite some time.  I have seen many succumb to entrapment, or, just plain deceived, by agents, informants, infiltrators and other such ilk.

It seems that many think the government is squeaky clean, or, that issues, not being of national security levels of interest, don’t warrant the effort that would be necessary to ‘move in’ on the patriot community.

A few years ago, I learned that as many as fifty percent of the members of Richard Butler’s Aryan Nation Church (Randy Weaver country), and of the old Posse Comitatus, were people who, for whatever reason, had changed sides, or were not quite honest in their dealings with the respective organizations.

I had read the following memorandum, which is included in the Appendix of Congressman George Hansen’s book, “To Harass Our People”, while traveling through the Washington, D.C. area, after Waco.  I met with an associate of George Hansen.  He gave me a Xerox copy of the memorandum, and I have no doubt as to its authenticity.

As you read the excerpts from the memorandum, take note of the extent in which the government is willing to ‘get involved’ in the “Tax Rebellion Movement” (see note 5 to District Directors).  Remember, also, that this memo was written nearly 40 years ago.  It would be ludicrous to think that they have not enlarged and perfected their program. [Emphasis, mine]

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Memorandum
FEB 26, 1973

to: Participants in Conference on Tax Rebellion Movement
from: Western Region
subject: Tax Rebellion in California

I am sending you the minutes of our meeting of February 9, 1973, on the Tax Rebellion Movement.  These minutes enumerate action items for the Los Angeles and San Francisco District Directors and for Regional Office officials.

I appreciate your past attention to this serious matter, and feel confident that all of us working together can successfully overcome this challenge to our tax system.

/S/
Homer O. Crossman
Regional Commissioner

Mr. Howard advised he has been conferring with state tax officials who are anxious to cooperate with IRS in the attack on tax rebels who also do not pay state taxes; often the state can move quickly to close up a tax rebel’s business or revoke his license; that we should see that the State uses its enforcement machinery on those cases which are not our targets.

Mr. Crossman reported on his discussions with Assistant U.S. Attorney Courts and Judge Crocker, Fresno, and of their interest in enforcement of the law in tax rebel cases.  Mr. Hansen commented on the problem of federal judges appearing to be anti-IRS based on a belief that IRS is “highhanded”.  Mr. Howard reported on a change of attitude in federal judges in San Francisco after he met with a number of them and discussed the gravity of the Tax Rebellion Movement and the importance of giving prison sentences as deterrents.

There was a general discussion of the importance of meeting with U.S. Attorneys and federal judges to acquaint them with the full picture of the tax rebellion movement.  Mr. Crossman pointed out that after his meeting with Mr. Couris and Judge Crocker, they requested background information on the Movement which was furnished them.

Mr. Kingman suggested the possibility of requesting religious leaders to warn their following against participation in the movement, pointing to the beneficial effects of Mormon Church President Lee’s message.

***

Mr. Krause pointed out the importance of close planning on common targets by the tax rebellion project supervisors of the Los Angeles and San Francisco districts with planning meetings as needed.

Action items for District Directors:

1. Maintain the initiative in the attack on the tax rebels.
2. Know their plans before they arrive at our door to execute them.
3. Identify the leaders of the Movement and concentrate on them.
4. Have a plan of action in coordination with the Region rather than hit and miss defensive reactions.
5. Continue to step up the infiltration in-depth of the Movement.
6. Use all available federal, state, and local laws.
7. Use civil penalties on Porth-type cases.
8. Wage a campaign to educate U.S. Attorneys and federal judges with the importance of prison sentences on cases.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At the same time that the IRS was acting out the above to deal with what the termed “tax rebels”, the federal government also had to contend with the anti-war (Vietnam) movement.  In dealing with what was going on at the time, infiltration into that movement was also a part of the government’s program.

One of the larger groups that were active in the anti-war movement was a broad based group known as Student for a Democratic Society (SDS).  They were of so much concern to the government that the government actually started some of the SDS chapters so that they had a degree of control, and, received intelligence from other SDS chapters.  If they didn’t start them, they, at least, had agents and informants join the various chapters.

Another target of the government, during the anti-war movement, was Vietnam Veterans against War (VVAW).  Some of the VVAW members were from Gainesville, Florida.  Among them, however, were informants and agents.  The agents fed them information that the 1972 Republican National Convention (Miami Beach) was being set up to set up the anti-war demonstrators.  They were told that the police would shoot some protesters.  This would lead to sealing off Miami Beach by raising all of the drawbridges, trapping the protesters, and making for shooting fish in a barrel.  To counter this tactic, the Eight made plans to attack government buildings, police and fire stations, and then force the lowering of the drawbridges.  This was to draw the police away from the Beach and allow the demonstrators to leave the Beach, avoiding the catastrophic scenario that had been fed to them.  Of course, the informants and agents testified against them, however, their correspondence (which was seen by the jury) said that their plan was “for defensive purposes, only”, which lead to an acquittal.  However, it does demonstrate that forty years ago, the ability, means, and practice, of infiltration and entrapment were standard government tools.

For a detailed study of the infiltration of the anti-war movement, see http://www.outpost-of-freedom.com/library/provoca.pdf

Who are the agents and informants?

There are any number of reasons and means by which some people will become agents of the government, or informants for the government.  Though there are variations of each of these, we will cover the more general types of people and what their relationship to government is.

Agents

Starting at the top, we have undercover agents.  They can be undercover agents for nearly any branch of the federal or state government.  Most often, they are very well trained, to include psychology, so that they can get close to the people they are supposed to encounter and infiltrate.  They generally receive very explicit instructions when they go on an operation, though they can also adjust, quite well, when a “Target of Opportunity” arises.  They are full time agents (Type I) and will become very close to those in leadership.  They will engross themselves in their work, often living a life outside of what would be normal for an FBI agent.  They have “handlers” that are often, for months or years, the only contact they have with the parent organization.

There is second type of agent, Type II, who is called in for support; for example, the FBI agent who alleged to have explosives and other material for sale in the Georgia Militia bust.  Often they have desk or other duties and are called only when needed.

A good example of the Type I is FBI agent Steven Haug.  Haug, who went by “Jersey Steve”, had infiltrated the Hutaree Militia.  He got so close to the Hutaree leader, David Stone, he was asked to be the best man at Stone’s wedding.  Later, he would testify against Stone.

Another was a man, back in the nineties, who went by the name of Bob Chapman.  Later, when he testified against the Florida Common Law Court, he identified himself as Robert Quigley, “IRS deep undercover agent” and instructor at the IRS undercover school. (See “Let me tell you about a man named Quigley”)

These agents are often ‘wired’, and the recorded conversations are transcribed to be used for evidence, when their task is completed and they have turned witness against former ‘friends’.  A partial transcription of such a recording can be found at “Record of Activity“.  BC = Bob Chapman = S/I Quigley is the agent.  You may note how he tries to blend in but does ask some questions attempting to entice information that can be used against the parties, later.  This is from the 1995 investigation of the Florida Common Law Court that sent all but one of the defendants to prison for 12 years.

These paid agents, regular employees of the government, on special duty, are a blight on our concept of self-government.  Though such agents go back to the Revolutionary War, where Washington had a staff of agents that mingled with the British to gain intelligence information, they did not join the British army or other government forces.  It wasn’t until early in the 20th century that the practice became common, to deal with organized crime.  However, currently, the government claims to have thousands of agents working within various patriot or political groups.  Must we assume that political activism is now criminal?

The other form of agent is the paid agent of a private organization.  These are best described as “infiltrators”.  One such organization using this tactic is the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) that claims to have many infiltrators within the various patriot groups, from militia to Tea Party groups, and everything in between.  Their primary purpose is strictly information gathering, though if given the opportunity, they will exploit a situation.

Informants

Informants come in different varieties.  Some are induced into informing on friends and associates when they are charged with a crime, themselves.  They will sign a “plea agreement” (plea agreement informants) and exchange their efforts for, most often, a “withheld adjudication” — meaning that so long as they provide good information (not necessarily truthful), and testimony, if required, they will not be prosecuted for the crime that they are alleged to have committed.  See “Informants Amongst Us?” for an explanation of this process.  In desperation, these informants are capable of lying (since they have already given up their integrity) and participate in entrapment, to ‘save their own skin’.  They are, by nature, weak and unwilling to stand up for their convictions.

A lesser version of this is the “states evidence” witness that will tell all to save his own neck.  Though not an agent, active informant, or infiltrator, he is often the source of conviction of patriots because he does not have the fortitude to be a true patriot.  An example of this is one of Schaeffer Cox’s fellow Alaska Peacemaker Militia members, Michael O. Anderson.  Cox, Lonnie Vernon, and Coleman Barney are currently (May 2012) on trial.  Anderson, who was arrested, along with the other, in March 2011, has had his charges dropped and will be testifying for the state, against the other three. (Reference: Alaska Militia Trial Opens With Former Defendant as Key Witness)

Others might become informants in custody (jailhouse informants), seeking favor, or reduction of sentence.  These jailhouse informants will usually testify to anything that is requested of them, to bring “jailhouse confessions” to trial.  They are often used to ‘enhance’ the evidence against a defendant to assure conviction.

Volunteer informants come in two categories.  First are those who have been charged with, or know that they have charges pending, for a crime.  They will contact a government agency and offer their services, hoping for a reduction, withheld adjudication, or dismissal of charges.  This is the probable scenario in the Joe Sims involvement with the Georgia Senior Militia, this past year.  Joe, according to an Esquire magazine article, was in jail pending child abuse charges.  He contacted the FBI and volunteered to provide information about members of the Georgia Militia.

Other volunteer informants are often James Bond wannabes or government employees seeking beneficial treatment by freelance work to aid law enforcement.  There was the Viper Militia, Phoenix, Arizona, in 1996, where about a dozen concerned patriots prepared for a Red Dawn type of event.  An aspiring firefighter joined the group.  In his John Wayne machismo, he began suggesting more active pursuits.  Later, he brought in an undercover Sheriff’s Deputy, and both encouraged testing bombs, often made with materials provided by the informant or agent, and making plans to attack government buildings.  Prison was the outcome for those that followed the lead of the informant and agent.  What bright future lay in store for the informant, we do not know.  Presumably, however, he was rewarded favorably.

Another type of informant, though not always intentional, is the “easily swayed informant”.  These sort don’t usually have any idea that they are an informant, though they are, just the same, because they pass on information that might have destructive ends, or, they are duped into passing information that is erroneous and, potentially, destructive to the patriot community.  They have, usually,  been contacted by a law enforcement agent (often FBI Special Agents), or even others down the chain, including others who have been easily swayed,  who convince them that they are really good guys, and an asset to their country.  They are then beguiled, and act in concert with agents against the best interest of the patriot community, most often thinking that they are doing right to the community.  Often, they will sway others (usually larger numbers) away from any activity that is not easily controlled.  If the person is susceptible to the charms of the agent, he can go beyond that easily swayed and become a de facto agent, and never realize that he is being used.  It is the psychological training that the agent uses to manipulate the person and use him to influence others, most often away from a professed course.  He is, in essence, a sleeper, and can always be put to greater purpose, if the need arises.  These relationships tend to be long-term, and quite congenial between the parties.

Of these last, a friend refers to them as “useful idiots”.  However, I think it more appropriate that they should be referred to as “guess what I know” types.  Often, they pass on information just because they have found it and think that everyone should be apprised of this “wonderful;” or “dreadful” information.  Rumors of foreign troops across the Mexican border, for example, have been circulating for twenty years, each time, with new adherents and a new life, with only minor revisions to the original story, and, most often, without any identifiable source.

All of those described above are contrary to the Framers concept of government.  They are, by their very practice, violating the concept of the Fourth Amendment, the right to “be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects”.

How do they function in the patriot community?

All of the above identified sources of benefit to the government enter the patriot community, though they do so in various ways.

First is the coward who turns state’s evidence, but began by believing in a cause.  Once the chips were down, he cowers and turns against those that do hold the principles highly.  The turncoat, in a sense, is the worst of those who find themselves on the wrong side of the battle.  There is nothing, except his nature, that would lead one to believe that he is not really on the right side — since he was on the right side until imminent threat to his future freedom caused him to turn against those who had every reason to believe that he was as sincere as they were, and had nothing to hide.

Next, are those who become paid informants.  Often, they have joined with a true belief that something is wrong; however, somewhere along the line they change ideologies.  It may be the result of less conviction toward the cause; the fear of doing something ‘illegal’ (as the Founders did); or simply a change of heart.  However, they are in and, perhaps, they can make a little money by offering their services to the government.  This sort is as bad as the first; perhaps even worse, for he continues to gather and pass on intelligence, and may even go further, acting against the best interest of the Patriot Community and those he has gotten to know.

Next are those informants who have been charged with a crime and decide to “cop a plea” and become an informant for the government.  Like the first, those that turn state’s evidence, they are cowards and will send others to prison to avoid their own stay in the “gray bar hotel”.  However, since they continue to “play along” with you, they can pass on even more information, and often will set traps for you to fall prey.

Finally, in the informant category, are those who have joined in hopes of increasing their “job opportunities” with the government.  Most often, they are already employees of government, as noted above, but they are playing the “spy game” in hopes of enhancing their resume. (Reference: My Life as a White Supremacist)

Now, we get into the realm of professional spies.  These are the agents whose job is to invade your privacy, get dirt on you, and even more, which will be discussed later.  We’ll begin with the Type II agent.  His job is to be available and act the part, when the need arises.  Otherwise, he is just an employee with other duties.  He will be a witness only to what transpired during the course of his brief interlude with the subject of the investigation.

Next comes the Type I agent.  His dress, his manner, his whole life, revolves around his active participation in the group that is the target, or contains the target, of an investigation.  Since his job is playing spy, he will do whatever is necessary to obtain the accolades he will get for obtaining a conviction and getting the job “well done”, regardless of what techniques he uses to achieve that end.

Often, this person, let’s call him the Vortex, will use others to insulate himself from exposure, if things don’t go smoothly.  He will also use others to achieve specific ends.  He is, however, the point of contact between the government and the patriot community, hence, Vortex.  The information swirls in and out, on the patriot side of the Vortex.  His job is to sort out, manipulate, control that information, and pass it thorough to the government for their nefarious purposes.  He is also the source of misinformation, coming from the government side, and then thrown into the swirl on the patriot side, though more about this, later.

Often, the Vortex will never even see a patriot, though he could be directing the operation from a distance.  This is common with certain types of informants, where the Vortex is most often referred to as the “handler”.  However, for any such investigation, there will always be a Vortex; the agent or other government employee who passes information in both directions; plans, or passes on plans, for the control or expansion of the operation; and is the person, who, if exposed by the patriot community, damages or defeats the government’s operation.

These agents have a plan when they go into their job.  That plan can be revised to meet the exigency when circumstances warrant a change, or an expansion, of an investigation.  They will also know who most of, if not all of, those who are lower level informants involved in any case they are working on.  However, the informants will seldom, if ever, know who the agents are, until both find themselves on the witness stand.  (Reference for Type I and Type II agents: Patriot Games)

Agents, especially Type I, will seldom be used to testify, if informants can became the “fall guys” and provide sufficient testimony to obtain a conviction.  Once an agent testifies, he has probably blown his cover and will have to retire to some other duties.  His effectiveness is lost, so he is a commodity that has to be protected, unless exposure is absolutely necessary.

Often, these agents will create an organization to give itself legitimacy within the patriot community.  In so doing, they have established their “credentials”, though you may have never heard of the organization before meeting the agent.  If he can demonstrate that he has created a following, you will drop you guard, as he has apparently, achieved what all are trying to accomplish.  (See Patriot Games link, above)

In all cases, if the abilities of the individual, in whatever capacity, are such that he can move up the chain of command of an organization, he will do so.  This allows him to obtain access to information that others might not have access to.  It allows him to obtain information from individuals in casual conversation, when that individual doesn’t suspect that anything he says is going beyond the two of them.  It also allows him to move upward in command, and perhaps, replace the existing command, once it is taken out because of his efforts.

Objectives of infiltration – Surveillance, profiling, disruption

We must begin to understand just what capabilities the government’s has to keep track of patriots.  They have an identification program that includes anybody who is likely to read this article.  It will include most militia members, even those who have never gone on line, through use of informants and other means.  It will include almost any attendee at a Tea Party gathering, and, probably, anybody who had gone to a Ron Paul rally, if the participant gave a name, by any means.  Intelligence gathering is the source/foundation of the entire government verses the people program.

Once they get the information, they have to retain, store, manipulate, and provide access, to that information.  They also have to sort that information into meaningful data.  So, we’ll begin by looking at what the sorting aspect entails.

The government has developed a program for categorization of everybody in this country (except, perhaps, illegal immigrants).  The program is called “C3CM“.  It defines three major categories, though we will only concern ourselves with the first one.  That is those who have, to some degree, expressed their disenchantment with government — the patriot community.  This doesn’t require disobedience, or even advocacy.  It only requires that you don’t believe that the government is working the way that it should be.

If you are among this group, you will be categorized into one of three sub-categories.  Those who are simply dissatisfied, those who are prone to act because of their dissatisfaction, and, those who are capable of leading others into exerting effort to effect change.  It doesn’t matter if those leaders are of a violence oriented militia, or a group that encourages voter registration and voting outside of the mainstream agenda.  The fact that they are leaders and can obtain followers poses a problem for government, though the government may direct more resources at the more militant.  This does not mean that the peaceful sorts are beyond efforts of government to affect their ability to lead.  On the contrary, each of us has entered the patriot community rather naive, and has learned, as time went on, which can  move us, inevitably, toward the more extreme means of dealing with the despotic government that we find in control of our country.  If someone can influence large numbers, he is more of a threat than a few isolated die-hards.

Where would the government be able to store and manipulate such a large amount of data?  Well, that goes back to a story from the past.  Inslaw, Inc., had a contract with the Department of Justice to develop some tracking software — “Promis” could be plugged into the 12 petabyte (if you were wondering about the next level, a petabyte is 1,024 terabytes) database that Sybase (the company that developed SQL for Microsoft) is developing.  So, once all of the pieces fall into place, there will be little that you can do to keep from being tracked, along with almost everything that you do, by the government.  (References: see http://www.profoundstates.com/promis.htm)

Now, as they take out any leadership, if they have moved their resource up into the upper echelons of any organization, they have attained a position that may soon leave the government resource in charge of the organization.

We began this article with a memo from the IRS Western Division, nearly forty years ago, about a tactic to be used to disrupt the “tax rebels’.  Not that this was the beginning of government efforts to manipulate both people and truth, only to demonstrate, with a provable piece of evidence, that influencing, by whatever means, including judges and churches, is and has been a part of the plan for total control of the people and their actions.  Would we be doing ourselves any favors to think that they would not use these same tactics, today, enhanced by both technology and experience?

Methods of Disruption

So, now, let’s look at objectives that the government might pursue through their various types of informant, agents, and infiltrators:

• Discredit, or, take out, leadership or those who pose a threat to the continuation of the government’s effort to gain absolute control over the people, removing them from their means of influence over those who might follow them.
• Discredit those who might bring attention to government tactics by suggesting questionable behavior, or, accusations, that will occupy them and remove them from any effective contribution to the patriot community.
• Move those who are within government control or influence into positions of influence within the patriot community
• Create division, wherever possible, any organization that begins to grow and may become effective.  If possible, splinter the group into two, or more, factions, so that they don’t flee elsewhere, and the government can retain controlling interest, or at least positions of influence, within each faction.
• Use of a group the government has control of to create conflict with another group, creating doubt, disenchantment, and, perhaps, dissolution of the targeted group.
• If a group has a structure (rules) that would make it more difficult to create disenchantment, challenge, ridicule, or ignore the rules, to create as much disturbance as possible — hopefully to disrupt any group that might really organize into a cohesive and effective group working together for a common goal.
• Stimulate discussion of controversial subjects (Waco, Oklahoma City bombing, 911, Birth Truthers, etc.) to bring division and, perhaps, conflict, oral or physical, between adherents of each side of the issues.
• Promote identification of theoretical enemies (Rothschild, Illuminati, Free Masons, etc.) so that members pursue un-provable resolution, thereby creating endless squandering of time on insignificant objectives.
• For those with legal pursuit as means of attacking the government, direct them on fanciful flights with erroneous objectives such as Admiralty Law, Maritime Law, Uniform Commercial Code, United States government is a corporation, etc. (reference for the last three items: Divide and Conquer)
• Use of “trolls” on Internet discussion groups and other forums to detract from discussions that  might cause some to think; includes ridiculing opponent, specious arguments, diversion from the subject of discussion, and other tactics intended to discourage active participation in what might otherwise be productive discussions.

Consequences

The consequence of the government meddling in our affairs, if we are truly self-governed (We the People), is that the government manipulates us to achieve an increase in power and control over us.  It is not our disenchantment with government that is the problem; it is the government overreaching its authority that has caused us to be concerned as to the direction of the government and its impact on us and our posterity.

To achieve their goals, they must devise means for keeping the will of the people from being manifest and force them into compliance with that will.  By their efforts to fragment the patriot community, they have achieved their goal and will continue to do so.

When their efforts have identified targets of any effort at political change, outside of the two controlling parties (Democrats and Republicans), and have manipulated the others into ineffectiveness, they have effectively created a one party system, not unlike the Soviet Union’s Communist Party where all power was granted only to party members.

Effectively, the government has become the master and we have been subjected to their will — through the divisive means explained herein.

Solution

The solution to this otherwise overwhelming problem is to resist the infiltration, by whatever means necessary.

To begin with, look in to the background of all who join your organization.  In the modern world that we live in, we are obliged to provide a Social Security Number (SSN) to arrange for utilities to be turned on, to borrow money or establish credit, and for many other purposes.  If we wish to get a job, we are obliged to provide background information regarding previous work history, education, criminal and military records.

Why should something as important as our Liberty not require at least such evidence of background and personal history as our daily lives do?  After all, there is far more at stake than whether I can buy something when I don’t have the money, or even having electricity at my home.

Thorough background information should be required of all who wish to join any patriot organization, even those currently members.  If someone is reluctant to provide such information, then you must wonder if they have something to hide from you that they don’t have to hide from their employer or bank.  If the position they are seeking might have potential risk to others, then not only the background information, but a review of records* would be in order.  If any questions arise that are not properly addressed, then realize that absent satisfactory answers, you may be subjecting yourself to influence that is not in your best interest, or, worse, being set up to take a fall..
[*There are a number of sites on the Internet where court, criminal, and other records can be purchased for very nominal fees – perhaps a good investment for the security of your organization]

If someone has been charged with a crime and adjudication withheld, then they may have worked a deal with the government.  Don’t put them in a position that would allow them to work a deal with you.

If someone demonstrates any characteristics that lend to the possibility that they are pursuing any of the “Objectives” listed above, there may not be an indication that they have someone else’s interest at heart, though the method by which they pursue such objectives should be carefully considered.

Disagreement can be resolved through reasoned discussion/debate.  It should be organized and open to all, or many, of the existing members.  It should be void of both personal attacks and unsubstantiated (with real evidence) accusations.

Any organization would be wise to adopt some rules and methods of evaluating all of its personnel, including existing officers and members, as well as recruits.  They should be based upon the above information as well as interviews with the individual concerned.

Any organization should include within their structure a means to evaluate new members, investigate any member who comes into question, and, establish a review procedure that includes a review board, composed of already approved members, to evaluate any information, conduct hearings, and, proscribe remedies, including removal of membership.

There is no doubt that on occasion, someone may have the appearance of having the characteristics that would lead one to believe that their interest is elsewhere, though it may only be that the person’s personality brings about such suspicion.  However, is it better to exclude someone by error rather than allow a potential risk to the entire organization.  Weigh the risk against the lesser objection to hurting someone’s feelings.

Absent our policing ourselves, our groups, and, our own patriot community, we only leave ourselves open to the disruption that the government has desired to create.

Conclusion

At this point in time, we have many thousands of people being deprived of their productive time and participation by “chasing ghosts” created by the government to do just that — deprive us of time and confuse us with distractions.

At the same time, they have addressed and attacked many who would be useful to our purpose by accusations of crime, as explained in the IRS letter, in violation of federal, state, or local laws.  The have, thorough seminars, advised judges to “throw the book at” patriots charged with made up crimes, removing them from any active participation in our cause.

The time has come for us to change the game.  They laugh at us, now, because they are far more in control than we want to recognize.  We don’t recognize it because we have faith in the government — we just want some changes that return us to the Constitutional government that is our birthright.

They, however, are playing a serious, and often deadly, game, with every intention of winning.

We fear them, yet they have no reason to fear us — because they have subverted most elements of our movement, and have at least some influence or control on the reminder.

It is time for us to change the game around and get them to fear us.  Not through violence, rather, through exposure and removal of those who would seek to undermine our ability to function productively.  It is time for us to be as serious about ridding ourselves of these subversive elements as we are about our individual causes, for all are doomed to failure unless we regain control of our own activities.

-END-

A PDF version of this article: Vortex PDF

[Note: This post had been removed at the request of TJ Lezcano (see first comment). Once removed, a scathing email demnouncing all white men was received from Lezcano, which warranted to the re-posting. GH]

Tony Lezcano and RifleStock

Gary Hunt
Outpost of Freedom

May 20, 2011

Someone referred me to a YouTube video made by Tony Lezcano, aka TJ, aka, Tyrannicide, aka, aloy0102 (YouTube), phone (786) 553-1553, because it claimed to know why RifleStock had been cancelled.  The YouTube video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qpolDjDA2o

I had a rather interesting conversation with Mr. Lezcano, this morning.  I called him to clarify what caused RifleStock to be cancelled, since, being one of the organizers; I had direct knowledge of what happened.  Not only that, I contacted the US Forest Service personnel that were involved in what is described in my article on the subject (RifleStock 2011 – Canceled – A more thorough explanation).

Mr. Lezcano informed me that he was going to convoy, with hundreds of people, to RifleStock, but they cancelled their plans when it (RifleStock) began to fall apart.  Interestingly, they apparently intended to either crash the event, or buy tickets at a premium price (the price was held down until a certain date, and then went up), though only about 60 people had bought tickets.  He did assure me, however, that his explanation of why it was cancelled was accurate, and that he had “thousands” of people who had confirmed it (infiltrators in the skinhead movement, according to Mr. Lezcano).

I asked Mr. Lezcano if he realized that Freebyrd, who he attacks in the video, and, I believe, accuses of being a racist, by grouping him with the others mentioned at the end of the video, has an Hispanic name and heritage.  He claimed that he didn’t mean that Freebyrd was a racist.  I guess you will have to judge what was implied by the video, for yourself.  Maybe it was just poorly presented, and I will go along with that.

He also decided that I was a hick from Kentucky, based upon my “accent”, and that I was just a country boy.  I do believe that I have traveled through Kentucky, but I do not believe that I stayed long enough to acquire an accent.  As far as being a country boy, I was raised having horses to ride, though I have spent much of my life signing contracts with clients, representing them to city and county boards, testifying, on occasion, for them, in court, and otherwise representing them and designing subdivisions, surveying tracts of land, while making a decent living that allowed me to get back into the country to do the field surveys of their property.  So, perhaps, I am a country boy, though mischaracterized by Mr. Lezcano (a plumber, by trade).

Mr. Lezcano told me how he had helped Charles Dyer (July 4 Patriot) become what he was, though he would not answer my question (interrupted, a couple of times), about why he turned against Mr. Dyer.  My question was whether he turned against Mr. Dyer because Mr. Dyer would not do what Mr. Lezcano wanted him to do.

Mr. Lezcano claims to have (it appeared to be rather possessive) thousands of patriots that want to restore the Republic, on his webpage (ARM).  Interestingly, I happen to be one of them, though I cannot say that I support Mr. Lezcano’s’ philosophy, conclusions, nor his accuracy in reporting fact.

He also claimed that he was trying to create cohesion in the patriot community.  I do find this hard to believe, because he suggested that I was associated with these people and therefore, I did not want to restore the Republic (I prefer restoring the Constitution).  Based upon the name calling that I encountered in this conversation, it appears more likely that Mr. Lezcano wants all patriots to think as he does — fall into lockstep with what he believes — if they are, truly, patriots.  This would seem to be about the most divisive approach one could take, where one man dictates what is to be, and, what is not to be.

To those who take up Mr. Lezcano’s offer to “call me, my number is out there, I am easy to find” (phone (786) 553-1553), you may find, also, that he is not as willing to talk as he suggests (since he hung up on me rather than answer my question about Mr. Dyer), and said that he was a very busy man.

Finally, if a reporter of facts fails to get the facts on one story, when the facts are very clear, it must make you wonder whether he has done equally well on other stories.

* * * * * * * ** * * * *

Note: Offensive language, below.

This is a transcription of what was said about RifleStock on the video referenced above:

12:34 – What’s this guy Freebyrd.  I don’t even know who they fuck you are dude.  You have my phone number. Everyone has my phone number.  You don’t like the fact that I made a video that says Norm Olson, Rick Light, and WRAM, are a bunch of neo-Nazi, racist Fucks?  And that RifleStock was shut down because it was going to be invaded by neo-Nazis?  We’re all going to be hanging out there, whoo, having a great time. RifleStock!, and a bunch of fucking Nazi guys, Sieg Heil, Sieg Heil, were about to roll in to RifleStock, to crash the party.  That’s why you shut it down, Freebyrd.  Don’t fucking lie. You got a fucking, you got a problem with me?   Call my number. You can find it.  People have it. It’s out there.  I don’t need to contact you for shit.  Cause I don’t know you.  And, I don’t care about you.  I care about my people.  My people in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Texas.  We’re solidifying the south.  You all wanna keep pouncing around like little babies?  Pointing fingers at each other?  Ahh, you did it.   Ahh, he’s a dirty Mexican.  Ahh, Ahh.  We are not.

Comment: This leads me to wonder, if everybody is a neo-Nazi, why would they cancel RifleStock because neo-Nazis were coming to the event?