The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

American Despotism Chirps

Over the last year and a half, I have often Chirped about Despotism in America. Despotism in America that has been growing throughout the 20th century and has accelerated dramatically in the 21st century. Despotism that is defined as dominance through the threat of punishment or violence. It is for this reason that I wrote my Article, “Despotism in America”, and it is for this reason that I have collected my Chirps in this article that deal with some aspect of despotism in America. I would also ask all to remember that:

"Despotism is just an intermediate step into tyranny."
  - Mark Dawson

01/20/21 The Turning Point

Well, it was a good run. For over two hundred thirty years, we have maintained a Democratic-Republic dedicate to “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”. While we have not been perfect, the United States has continually strived for improvement. Unfortunately, that strive for improvement has now turned downward to the despotism of progressivism/leftism. Whether it be from Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, Social Media, Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, Identity Politics, and Greater Good verses the Common Good, Entitlements, Modern Journalism, or Big Tech chicaneries, we have lost our political identity of “government of the people, by the people, for the people” to the government for the benefit of a privileged class, politicians, and bureaucrats.

Driven by power and profit, this government is now dedicated to the protection of the people who gain from government actions to the detriment of those who do not receive such gain. Our freedom of speech, religion, assembly, and the right to keep and bear arms is already under assault and will continue to be so in the quest for more government power and the avarice of the privileged. Indeed, some of the manifestations of this are when we take taxes from the working class to give to the non-working class via entitlements, and the destruction of small businesses to the benefit of large businesses by excessive laws, regulations, and the Coronavirus Pandemic restrictions on businesses. The globalist propensities of the privileged class, politicians, and bureaucrats have led to the outsourcing of many essential goods to foreign nations to the detriment of the working class of Americans.

The inauguration of President Biden, through an election fraught with massive voting irregularities, if not outright illegal or unconstitutional actions by State Executives and State Judicial rulings, has instituted this change to “Government of, by, and for the Privileged, Politicians, and Bureaucrats”. We can expect this trend to continue as the powerful and privileged pass new laws and regulations and issue Executive Actions and Orders to assure their continued hold on government and non-privileged people. A hold that will not be shaken until the non-privileged people peacefully rise-up and change the government, or by the overthrow of the government with the specter of a Civil War. If not, we shall see Americans become a subjugated or subservient people.

We should remember the following words of wisdom by Benjamin Franklin:

As the Founding Fathers were departing the Pennsylvania State House at the close of the Constitutional Convention one of the bystanders shouted a question to Benjamin Franklin:

Bystander - 'Well, Doctor, what have we got - a Republic or a Monarchy?''
Franklin - 'A Republic, if you can keep it.'

With the draconian Coronavirus Pandemic lockdowns imposed by Governor’s and local officials, the presence of so many troops at the inauguration of Joe Biden, the persecution of anyone who supported President Trump, worked in his administration, or voted for him that now must be hunted down and purged, as well as the suppression of Free Speech and Peaceable Assembly, the Exercise of Religion and Firearms Ownership, that is currently underway by the Progressives/Leftists, the Mainstream and Cultural Media, and Big Tech and Social Media censorship (as I have written in my “Terminology” webpage; Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, Social Media, Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, Identity Politics, and Greater Good verses the Common Good ) it now looks as though we are not able to keep it.

03/08/21 Rule by Regulation and Executive Orders

To be ruled by regulation and Executive Orders is to be ruled by despotism. When Executive orders are not about enforcing the law but extending or ignoring the law, when regulations are contorted to become more than the law intended and subject to the predilections of the regulators, and when laws are written and passed that allows for these actions, we are not a Republic of the Citizens but a Tyranny by the Bureaucrats.

All of these actions are an attempt to disguise the purposes of this rule by regulation by hiding under cover of obtuse language and stolid bureaucratic procedures to impose this tyranny. And all of this occurs with the tacit approval of the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of government. Politicians do this so that they can obscure their intentions as not to be accountable to their voters and thus potentially lose votes, and bureaucrats do this to extend their fiefdoms and budgets, thus obtaining more power.

The fondness of the Biden administration for rule by regulation is hardly a secret by now, but this fondness has also been a characteristic of the Obama administration and somewhat of the Trump administration. However, the Biden administration is carrying this fondness to the extreme to obtain his political agenda. Congress, with both branches controlled by Democrats, have encouraged and abetted this fondness by not asserting their prerogative of lawmaking and turning a blind eye to this rule by regulation to achieve their political goals. Modern Journalism has also contributed to this problem by not exposing this power grab by politicians and bureaucrats and, indeed, has been supportive of these political goals regardless of the means to achieve these goals.

And all of this must come to an end if we are to retain and maintain our “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”, for with rule by regulation, these noble goals cannot be achieved. If we continue to vote for politicians that allow this rule of regulation, and if we give more power to bureaucrats to engage in this rule of regulation, then we are becoming subservient or subjugated people.

03/19/21 The Despotism of Self-Censorship

In today’s America, we have begun to self-censure our words and deeds to ensure that we will not become the target of retributions for expressing contrary speech and actions to the policy positions and ideology of Progressives/Leftists, Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, Social Media, Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, and Identity Politics, as I have written in the “Terminology” webpage.

We have become so alarmed and inured by these possible retributions that we self-censure ourselves to avoid these retributions. Consequently, we have submitted to despotism - The Despotism of Self-Censorship. It is a despotism of which I have written in my Chirps of “03/18/21 Our True Dictators”, “03/10/21 Tyranny of the Mind” and “03/12/21 Free Speech is Essential”.

This Despotism of Self-Censorship is oppressive to the mind and spirit of Americans. It is a constriction on our words and a constriction on our actions, which translates to a constriction on our Liberties and Freedoms. America has always been a land of actions, actions by individuals to improve themselves, provide for their families, and improve their communities. The Despotism of Self-Censorship limits our actions, which limits the growth of America. Not only economic growth, but the growth of our American ideals of “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”. And this all begins with the limitation of our Freedom of Speech by self-censorship, for, as it has been said:

“Liberty is meaningless where the right to utter one's thoughts and opinions has ceased to exist."
 - Frederick Douglass

Therefore, Free Speech is essential to Liberties and Freedoms, and there can be no Free Speech when you have the Despotism of Self-Censorship.

03/20/21 Despotism by Legal Jeopardy and Financial Ruin

Another means of imposing despotism upon the American people is by threats of finding themselves in Legal Jeopardy and/or Financial Ruin. Threats of lawsuits and the lodging of lawsuits, or threats of harming your business or employment, are utilized to keep you in line. And these threats are a result of the actions of Progressives/Leftists, Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, Social Media, Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, and Identity Politics as I have written in the “Terminology” webpage.

In public, if you disagree with the above, you are one, some, or all of the following -- sexist, intolerant, xenophobic, homophobic, Islamophobic, racist, bigoted. At your workplace, you can be charged with inflicting emotional distress, practicing workplace intimidation, engaging in sexual harassment, and a variety of other offenses, then be dismissed from your job with little opportunity to defend your actions. If you are the owner of a business, your business can be targeted with boycotts. All these actions could result in your being put in Legal Jeopardy and/or Financial Ruin.

Most Americans would rather acquiesce than challenge these actions, as it is emotionally distressing and a financial burden to challenge these actions. This despotism is another form of tyranny upon the American people, as I have Chirped on, “03/10/21 Tyranny of the Mind”.

Liberty and Freedom can not only be crushed by unjust or Unconstitutional laws and malicious prosecutions but by the threats of frivolous lawsuits and potential economic harms if you should contravene the above prevailing social constructs. Let all who believe in our American ideals of Freedom and Liberty stand up and oppose this despotism of Legal Jeopardy and Financial Ruin and banish it from our country.

We must, therefore, rise above our acquiescence to combat these actions, or we will forfeit our Freedoms and Liberties. Let those who would threaten lawsuits or financial ruin for exercising our Free Speech Rights be banished from our society. To not do so is to become a subservient or subjugated people and end the experiment of our American ideals of “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”.

05/11/21 Intimidation and Fraud

Today, in America, the “Progressives/Leftists” and the Democrat Party (but I repeat myself) have often utilized intimidation to achieve their political goals and policy agendas. With the 2020 Presidential election and their attempts to pass the ‘For the People Act of 2021’ (as I have posted on "03/22/21 How H.R. 1 Would Change Elections"), they have refined the art of voter fraud to win elections. They have also refined their election campaigns to misdirect or obscure their candidate’s policy agenda by the utilization of sophistry to achieve victory in elections. This was prominently displayed with candidate Biden’s non-campaign in the 2020 Presidential elections from his basement and the Georgia Senate runoff election of 2021. And this sophistry constitutes a fraud on the American electorate.

This intimidation and fraud are done with the cooperation of the Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, and Social Media, and by the tactics of Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, Identity Politics, and Greater Good versus the Common Good, as I have written in the “Terminology” webpage. And it is done because the Democrat Party realizes that they cannot achieve election victory if they do not utilize these tactics.

With the 2020 elections placing a slim control of the House of Representatives with the Democrats, a tie in the Senate (with Democrat Vice-President Harris breaking any tie votes), and a Democrat Presidency, they are revealing their true colors with their Legislative and Executive actions. A true color that is not supported by the majority of Americans. They are in a rush to radically transform America, while they have this control, to achieve their political goals and policy agendas.

In the process of doing this, they are not bringing America together, as I have Chirped on "08/21/20 Bringing Us Together", but are, indeed, pulling us apart. They are radically changing America to fit their vision of America without the support of the American people. A radical change from individualism to collectivism, as I have written in my Article, “A Republican Constitution or a Democratic Constitution”. A radical change that will impact all of our society, and in my opinion, have negative consequences for all Americans.

These negative consequences include, but are not limited to; establishing one-party rule by Democrats, morphing capitalism to state-controlled capitalism, redistribution of wealth by confiscatory taxes, favoritisms for groups of Americans at the expense of other groups of Americans, and other infringements on our "Natural, Human, and Civil Rights" as I have written in the ‘Particulars’ section of my Article, "A New Declaration of Independence”.

The Democrat Party is taking America down a road that it may not be possible to undo without an insurrection. An insurrection that could be bloody and scar America for decades to come. For those that would respond that a majority of American people will not support this insurrection, I would retort that the majority does not get to violate our rights and impose its will on the minority, for that is antithetical to Natural and Constitutional Rights. I would also remind you that during the American Revolution, John Adams, one of the leading proponents of the Declaration of Independence, a founder of the Constitution, and the second President of the United States, said about majority support. When asked how many of the colonists supported the American Revolution, he stated that about one-third supported it, one-third opposed it, and one-third had no opinion on it. Clearly not a majority in support of the American Revolution. The same could be said for the Civil War. Should we have not fought the American Revolution or the Civil War as it did not have majority support? Absolutely not – as revolutions and civil wars are often fought by a minority that feels oppressed by the majority. So, it should be for those that are resisting governmental actions that disregarded or abrogated our Freedoms and Liberties by the government. They are standing up for our Natural and Constitutional rights, and although they may be in the minority, they have the right to stand up for our Natural and Constitutional Rights

Whether this insurrection would be a good or bad thing for America, I am reminded that Thomas Jefferson expressed the view that "I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as necessary in the political world as storms in the physical". It may be a good thing if it reestablishes our American ideals of “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”, but it may be a bad thing if it devolves into despotism or tyranny. But our current course, as envisioned by the modern Democrat Party, is a course to despotism.

07/05/21 Destroyed from Within

In the words of one of our greatest Presidents:

“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
 - Abraham Lincoln

And it is from within that we are now being destroyed. Our American Ideals and Ideas of governance are under attack as I have Chirped on, “07/02/21 Our American Ideals and Ideas” and “07/03/21 The Ideas and Ideals of The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution”. Today’s society is being transformed by the words and deeds of Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, and Social Media, the coercion and suppression of free thought via Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, and Wokeness that is oppressive to the spirit of America, and the governance of America based on Identity Politics, Equity and Equality, and the Greater Good versus the Common Good that are endangering individual rights and corrupting our civic institutions.

The governmental responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, the southern border crisis, crime in our streets, mob violence, and the encumbrance of a huge national debt upon ourselves and our future generations are destroying America. The utilization of “The Biggest Falsehoods in America” to implement social policy debases our society, and the introduction of ‘The 1619 Project’ and ‘Critical Race Theory (CRT)’ into our history and culture tears apart the bonds that connect us.

And all of this is being driven by  Progressives/Leftists and "Democrat Party Leaders" in their quest for political power to decide what is best for Americans. They also wish to ‘fundamentally transform America into their ideas of equality (i.e., ‘Equity’) and social justice. In doing so, they have forgotten that we are not a democracy but a republic where majority rule cannot contravene the Natural and Constitutional Rights of the minority. To do so, they wish to be rulers rather than leaders, as I have discussed in my Article, "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders". And they would implement de facto despotism to accomplish their policies and political goals.

To stand up for our American Ideals and Ideas does not make you Sexist, Intolerant, Xenophobic, Homophobic, Islamophobic, Racist, or Bigoted, etc. It makes you patriotic, but not in the form of my country right or wrong but my country because it espouses the best principles of “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All” and constantly tries to achieve these goals. It is, therefore, the patriotic duty of every American to oppose all who espouse contrary ideals and ideas to our American Ideals and Ideas as I have Chirped on, “07/02/21 Our American Ideals and Ideas” and “07/03/21 The Ideas and Ideals of The Declaration of Independence and The United States Constitution”.  If we do or not do so, then as Abraham Lincoln said, “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth.”.

08/01/21 Justifiable Insurrection

To the question of ‘What constitutes an insurrection?’, the answer is ‘When it is an insurrection to establish Natural Rights or preserve Freedoms and Liberties’. Insurrections are only justified and necessary to accomplish these objectives. It was an insurrection against British rule by the American Colonists, defined by The Declaration of Independence, that established Natural Rights and the Freedoms and Liberties of Americans. And to preserve these Freedoms and Liberties, we established The Constitution of the United States. As long as our "Natural, Human, and Civil Rights" are retained, and our Constitutional ideals of “Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All” are preserved, then any actions against the United States government is unnecessary and unjustified, and these actions would not be a legitimate insurrection.

In America, we have preserved our Freedoms and Liberties through the Soap Box, the Ballot Box, the Jury Box, and the Ammo Box, in that order, as I have written in my Article "The Four Boxes of Liberty". However, in America of the late 20th century and the 21st century, we have seen the corruption of the Soap Box, the Ballot Box, and the Jury Box. A corruption by the Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, Social Media, Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, Identity Politics, and Greater Good versus the Common Good, led by Progressives/Leftists and the Democrat Party. A corruption that is destructive to our American ideals of Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All. A corruption that, hopefully, can be corrected by the Ballot Box but may become an insurrection instituted through the Ammo Box.

As I have Chirped on, “07/10/21 The Disillusionment of the Deplorables” and “07/30/21 A Two-Tiered Justice and Governmental System”, more Americans are losing faith in our government to protect our "Natural, Human, and Civil Rights" and assure our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All”. Consequently, we may be approaching the possibility of an insurrection to retain our American ideals and Ideas. If this should happen, it would be a justified and necessary insurrection, as it would be for the purposes of retaining our Natural Rights and our Freedoms and Liberties. Almost all insurrections are bloody affairs as they sow death, dismemberment, disease, and destruction on all. But not having an insurrection to preserve our Natural Rights and our Freedoms and Liberties would be bloodier and longer-lasting, as a result of a despotic America, as I have written in my Article, “Despotism in America”.

Despotism always begets poverty, hunger, stagnation, and other ills for all who live under despotism, and it is only beneficial to the despots. And despotism eventually results in insurrection as all people have a natural yearning for Freedom and Liberty.

10/05/21 Unjust Laws and Civil Disobedience

In an article by Paul Adams, a professor emeritus of social work at the University of Hawai‘i, and was professor and associate dean of academic affairs at Case Western Reserve University, the article “If There Is No Truth, There Is No Injustice” puts forward:

“Can there be injustice if there is no truth?

Martin Luther King Jr. considered this question in his powerful Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963). He was responding to fellow members of the clergy who opposed segregation but rejected civil disobedience, which involved breaking the law. His central point was that laws may be just or unjust. We have a duty to obey just laws and to oppose, even defy, unjust laws. We need to recognize that both kinds exist and learn how to tell the difference.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote and spoke extensively about just and unjust laws, and social justice, in his  “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream” speech as well as other speeches and letters, which I have extracted in my “Quotes of Martin Luther King Jr.” webpage. Of particular interest to this Chirp is the following quotes:

“One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’“
 - Martin Luther King Jr.

“Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: ‘An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.’“
 - Martin Luther King Jr.

Therefore, it is the preservation of Natural Rights that makes a law just and the violation of Natural Rights that makes a law unjust. There is always a tension between the Natural Rights of individuals and the Natural Rights of individuals and Societal interests. The Natural Rights between individuals are a matter of civil disputes to be decided by law, but the Natural Rights of individuals and societal interests are Constitutional issues, as the Constitution was formulated to constrict government to preserve Natural Rights. When a conflict arises between the Natural Rights of individuals and Societal interests, only a compelling interest of Society can override Natural Rights, and that compelling societal interest is the harm to the safety and security of individuals and society in an emergency, and such Natural Rights violations must be of limited scope and duration.

This brings us to the question of the governmental actions to combat the COVID-19 Pandemic – were these actions just or unjust in relation to a compelling interest of Society, and were they limited in scope and duration? At the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the restrictions they imposed may have been just if these restrictions were supported by a cogent scientific basis. As the science at the outbreak of the COVID-19 Pandemic was unclear, they may have been justified. However, as the science became clearer and as a vaccine was developed, the scientific basis for these restrictions no longer supported a compelling societal interest to infringe upon our Natural Rights.

As the science revealed that the COVID-19 virus was spread as an aerosol and that the masks that people used were ineffective against aerosols, and the dangers of the COVID-19 virus were mostly limited to the elderly and specific groups of persons, the violations of our Natural Rights were no longer a compelling interest of society. With the introduction of the COVID-19 vaccine, those that chose to take that vaccine were in no danger to their health from those that chose not to take the vaccine or those that have natural immunity. Therefore, there is no compelling societal interest to force the unvaccinated person or those that have a natural immunity to take the vaccine. Indeed, as I have Chirped on, "09/24/21 Have We Learned Nothing", it is immoral and unethical to force an individual to undergo a medical procedure without their ‘informed consent. Consequently, the current government restrictions and requirements of COVID-19, especially the governmental coercion to take the COVID-19 vaccine, are unjust.

Therefore, as Martin Luther King Jr. wrote in his ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’, these restrictions and requirements being unjust ‘one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws’. It is, therefore, the duty and responsibility for Americans to disobey these restrictions and requirements to preserve our Natural Rights and our Liberties and Freedoms. It is also the duty and responsibility of Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Supreme Court to overturn these restrictions and requirements as they are Unconstitutional under the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution, which states:

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

The Natural Right to not undergo a medical procedure is one of the rights ‘retained by the people’. Therefore, Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Supreme Court would be in violation of their Oath of Office to support and defend the Constitution of the United States if they did not overturn these COVID-19 restrictions and requirements.

The failure of the Supreme Court to not even consider lawsuits challenging these COVID-19 restrictions and requirements is especially egregious. By not doing so, they are eviscerating the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution. This is not surprising, however, as I have written in my Article, "The Failures of the Supreme Court", as they have often not ruled on Ninth Amendment Natural Rights issues, or they have ruled incorrectly not based on Ninth Amendment Natural Rights issues such as Dread Scott v. Sandford, Plessy v. Ferguson, Roe v. Wade.

When the Supreme Court does not rule or rules incorrectly, the consequences for America are too often destructive to American society. It has resulted in Civil War, Institutionalized Racism, and Civil Strife in America, and often government overreach of their enumerated powers of the Constitution. In the case of the COVID-19 restrictions and requirements, it may result in the destruction of our essential Liberties and Freedoms and the imposition of despotism in America.

10/07/21 The Fear of Despotism

Recent words and deeds of President Biden and his administration reveal the despotic nature of the Biden Administration. Their utilization of "The Three D's (Demonize, Denigrate, Disparage) of Modern Political Debate", shaming, badmouthing those that disagree with them, or accusations of bad character or ill intentions of their opponents appears to be preferred means to achieve their goals, rather than persuasion and convincing Americans to voluntarily adopt their ‘suggestions’. And if that does not work, they take despotic actions through threats of governmental intimidation or punishment to achieve their political goals and policy agendas. All these words and deeds are an assault on our Natural and Constitutional Rights and demonstrate that President Biden and his administration prefer to be rulers rather than leaders, as I have written in my Article "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders".

From the COVID-19 Vaccine Coercions and Mandates, the FBI announcement of the monitoring of School Board Meetings, the proposal that financial institutions report to the IRS any transaction over $600, the various Gun Control Executive Orders, to no bail and long confinement before judicial proceedings for the January 6th rioters, amongst a host of other speech and actions they have utilized threats of despotic governmental actions. Threats and actions that can lead to the reputational or financial ruin of Americans and possible fines and/or imprisonment for the individuals that they target. Although they may not undertake these actions, they want you to be afraid that they may target you if you exercise your Natural and Constitutional Rights.

Most disconcerting is their attempts to limit or shut down the Free Speech and Petitioning Rights of those that oppose their political goals and policy agendas. They are trying to label anyone who vigorously opposes them as ‘Domestic Terrorists’, and then threaten to arrest and prosecute them for exercising their First and Second Amendment Rights of:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

They have also threatened our fourth amendment rights as I have chirped on “10/06/21 Probable Cause”. They have tried to justify these actions because of the acrimonious, acerbic, hostile, and vehemence of those persons who strongly disagree with their political goals and policy agendas. They should remember, however, that:

“Acrimonious disagreement is not terrorism, nor is acerbic argument a crime.”
 - Gregg Jarrett

and

“The First Amendment protects speech unless it unambiguously calls for the use of force that the speaker clearly intends, under circumstances in which the likelihood of violence is real and imminent. Even actual "threats of violence" are not actionable unless they meet this high threshold.”
- Andrew McCarthy

They should also remember their Oath of Office to ‘Preserve, Protect, and Defend the Constitution of the United States’ requires that they preserve and protect the Constitutional and Natural Rights of all Americans, and not just those Americans that agree with them.

10/25/21 Crusades of the Social Justice Warriors and Activists

Since the social activism of the 1960s and onwards, the Liberals, Progressives, and Leftists, social justice warriors, and other activists have undertaken many crusades to reform and make America better.  All of this was undertaken for the good of Americans and America, and sometimes for the good of the world (i.e.., Environmentalism and Global Climate Change). They have self-anointed themselves as more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior, and therefore they are, of course, always correct and in a better position to determine what is best for America and Americans. In doing so, they have uncritically and selectively relied on expert opinion from academics and the intelligentsia as to the problems and solutions within America. However, they have not remembered:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best."
- Thomas Sowell

When the best is determined by the few and implemented by the government, it often degenerates into despotism of governmental actions and a ruling class of government bureaucrats. The question then becomes, how do they achieve and maintain their goals and policies? In America, we have disparate differences of opinion and ideology that divide us. Trying to understand these differences is difficult, as they are based on the closely held viewpoints of human nature and the role of government in society.

As Dr. Sowell, the distinguished economist, and social commentator, examines in three books of his that the differences of opinion and ideology in America stem from; “The Quest for Cosmic Justice”, “A Conflict of Visions: Ideological Origins of Political Struggles”, and “The Vision of the Anointed: Self-Congratulation as a Basis for Social Policy”. These three books by Thomas Sowell should be considered a trilogy and should be read in order to have a fuller understanding of the disparate visions that divide us in America. Although these books were written more than a decade ago, the issues and concerns that he illuminates are even more apropos today. For more on these books, I would direct you to my Article, “Crusades of the Social Justice Warriors and Activists”.

The latest book by Victor Davis Hanson, “The Dying Citizen: How Progressive Elites, Tribalism, and Globalization are Destroying the Idea of America”, is another attempt to explain the disparate ideologies in America. In an excellent review of this book by Michael Cozzi, “The Dying Citizen”, he states that this book: “is a prescient account of how the American conceptualization of citizenship has been eroded by progressive ideologues and those who wish to undermine the original intent of the Framers. He focuses on the categories of pre-citizens and post-citizens”.

These four books are an excellent explanation of the ideological differences that exist in America today and are well worth the read to understand the deep divisions in America. The Unconstrained Visions, The Vision of the Anointed, The Quest for Cosmic Justice, and The Dying Citizen are a hallmark of the Liberals, Progressives, and Leftists, social justice warriors, and other activists, and are the tactics of the Democrat Party to pass legislation and increase funding for these policies. They also utilize the stratagem of improper "Dialog & Debate" to achieve their goals, and all of this leads to the erosion of "A Civil Society" and "Divisiveness in America".

10/29/21 The Degradation of the Individual

As I mentioned in my Chirp on “10/28/21 The Three C’s”, we, in America, have drifted away from individualism into collectivism. Whenever we think collectively, we often do so at the expense of the individual by violating the Natural Rights of the individual. Whenever anyone or any entity violates our Natural Rights, it is a degradation of each individual human being. Whether it is an individual, organization, business, or government that violates our Natural Rights, it is a debasement of the individual and is unjustifiable.

This debasement is the result of the words and deeds of Progressives/Leftists, Democrat Party Leaders, Mainstream Cultural Media, Mainstream Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, Social Media, Political Correctness, Virtue Signaling, Cancel Culture, Doxing, Wokeness, Identity Politics, Equity and Equality, the Greater Good versus the Common Good, the "Social Engineering", and "Herd Mentality" that currently exists in America.

The degradation of each individual human being comes in the form of restrictions and requirements imposed by Presidents, Governors, and Mayors, or their executive officers, upon the people that direct the words and deeds of the people, usually in an emergency situation, but now more frequently in the course of their everyday lives. When these restrictions and requirements are imposed through mandates, they are especially odious. Odious as they were not formulated and passed by the normal legislative process, and they are often difficult and time-consuming to challenge by normal legal recourses. As such, the representatives of the people have had no part in their creation and no ability to determine the negative impacts of the restrictions and requirements, nor the possible violations of our Natural and Constitutional Rights.

As I have mentioned in my Chirp on “10/05/21 Unjust Laws and Civil Disobedience”, when a conflict arises between the Natural Rights of individuals and Societal interests, only a compelling interest of Society can override Natural Rights. This compelling societal interest is in the harm to the safety and security of individuals and society in an emergency. Such Natural Rights violations must be of limited scope and duration, and if it is not limited in scope and duration, then it is not an emergency. It then becomes subjugation, and our leaders become rulers, as I have written in my Article, "To Be Rulers or to Be Leaders". The hubris of a government that believes that it can rule a free people is astounding, as only subjugated or subservient people can be ruled.

When the government encourages or coerces businesses, organizations, and individuals to enforce their restrictions and requirements, these entities are violating the Natural Rights of the individual. It is an abasement of the individual and as unjustifiable as if the government were to enforce these restrictions and requirements. As I stated in the aforementioned Chirp on Unjust Laws and Civil Disobedience, it is the duty and responsibility for Americans to disobey these restrictions and requirements from all entities to preserve our Natural Rights and, therefore, our Liberties and Freedoms. It is also the duty and responsibility of Congress, the Executive Branch, and the Supreme Court to overturn these restrictions and requirements, as they are Unconstitutional under the Ninth Amendment to the Constitution:

“The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”

The failure to disobey and overturn these unjust restrictions and requirements is a pathway to despotism and the subjugation of the American people.

11/01/21 A Moral Compass

There are many politicians in America, but almost no statesmen in America. The best distinguishment between the two is:

"The statesman is distinguished from a mere politician by four qualities: a bedrock of principles, a moral compass, a vision, and the ability to create a consensus to achieve that vision."
- J. Rufus Fears

To be a statesman, you must have all four qualities, while to be a politician only requires a combination of less than four of these qualities. And anything less than all four qualities can lead to bad politics and sometimes downright evil. Many evil leaders in history had principles, visions, and a consensus but lacked a moral compass which led them to do great harm. This has been especially true in the 20th century.

Vladimir Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, Ho Chí Minh, Pol Pot, Fidel Castro, Hugo Chávez, and many other despots and dictators of the 20th century lacked a moral compass but had principles, visions, and consensus that led them to power to the devastation of their people, and sometimes to the world.

There is only one moral compass that prevents these devastations, a moral compass directed to the respect and dignity of the individual person by acknowledging and upholding their Natural Rights. Whenever you trample a person’s Natural Rights, you are treading down the road to despotism and eventual tyranny. Our Founding Fathers knew this and established a Constitution of the United States in which the Federal government had enumerated and limited powers and a balance of powers between the Legislative, Executive, and Judicial branches of government to preserve our Natural Rights. In doing so, they showed themselves to be statesmen more than politicians.

Unfortunately, we in America have been treading down this road to despotism for the last century. The growth of the Federal government beyond its enumerated and limited powers by tortuous and convoluted readings of the Constitution to justify this growth, and the shifting of duties and responsibilities of one branch of government to another branch, and the hoards of administrators and bureaucrats to regulate what Americans can do (and now say) under their Natural Rights have diluted or compromised our Natural Rights. This dilution has been brought about by a gradual despotism under the justification of the "Greater Good versus the Common Good". Alas, once despotism is established, it tightens its grip and becomes more despotic until it devolves into tyranny.

With the COVID-19 mandates and restrictions, the crisis at the southern border, and our exorbitant spending and taxes, we are at a precipice of losing our Natural Rights in America. A drop-off of this precipice that will end America as it was founded, and that we may never be able to recover our American Ideals and Ideas. Our decisions on how to proceed will determine if, as President Abraham Lincoln said in another time in American history when he faced a precipice, “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth”.

11/05/21 A Disgrace to our Constitution

In the 21st century, the Congress, the Presidency, and the Supreme Court have become antithetical to our American Ideals and Ideas and, therefore, a disgrace to our Constitution. This has not been a sudden change, as it was a gradual disgrace during the 20th century, but it has accelerated to break-neck speed in the last two decades. It is a disgrace because each elected or appointed official in our government takes an oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and they have not been doing so. Instead, they have been accumulating more power unto themselves or to the branch of government under which they serve.

Our Founding Fathers were quite aware that power uncheck would accumulate more unchecked power, to the detriment of Liberty and Freedom. Therefore, they drafted a constitution of limited and enumerated powers of the Federal government and a system of checks and balances of power in the Federal government to preserve our individual Liberties and Freedoms. The growth of the Federal government beyond its enumerated and limited powers by tortuous and convoluted readings of the Constitution to justify this growth and the shifting of duties and responsibilities of one branch of government to another branch in the 20th and 21st century have diluted or compromised our Constitution.

This dilution or compromise has been brought about by a gradual despotism under the justification of the "Greater Good versus the Common Good". Alas, once despotism is established, it tightens its grip and becomes more despotic until it devolves into tyranny. The Congress and the Presidency have been the driving force in this accumulation of power. However, the Supreme Court has acquiesced and sometimes supported this accumulation of power. The Supreme Court has also assumed more powers than was intended by our Founding Fathers, and they are becoming more Lords than Judges as I have examined in my Article, "Judges, Not Lords".

The Supreme Court, as envisioned by our Founding Fathers, was supposed to be a check upon the accumulation of powers by Congress and the Presidency. This was to be accomplished by the Supreme Court having the power of negation of unconstitutional laws, illegitimate regulations, and improper enforcement of said laws for the purposes of keeping in check the powers of Congress and the Presidency. However, the Supreme Court has more frequently been issuing positive rulings requiring Congress and the Presidency to enact laws and regulations and methods of enforcement of said laws, rather than negating unconstitutional laws, regulations, and enforcements. This is an accumulation of powers unto themselves not envisioned by our Founding Fathers. Indeed, our Founding Fathers were very concerned by activist judges, as they had experienced the misuse and deleterious effects of magisterial power prior to the American Revolution, which was one of the major issues that led to the American Revolution.

The Supreme Court has been avoiding these issues of the accumulation of powers by the Federal government by not accepting cases or issuing ambiguous rulings on these issues by utilizing their own tortuous and convoluted readings of the Constitution. They have also been avoiding the issues of the infringement of our Natural and Constitutional Rights by this accumulation of power by the Federal government. They are, therefore, in dereliction of their duty to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. In doing so, they are incurring the animosity of many Americans who believe in our American Ideals and Ideas and, therefore, they are disgracing the Supreme Court.

12/31/21 Reflections Upon the Year

Many things have occurred this year that merit reflection, which I have tried to do in my Chirps and Articles. The deepest reflection that I have about this year is the rise in despotism in America. The despotism of one group of Americans trying to force its will upon the rest of Americans. The despotism of Democrat Party Leaders, Progressives/Leftists, Mainstream Media, Mainstream Cultural Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, and Social Media, Whether through governmental mandates and Executive Orders, social ostracism, free speech constrictions, physical harassments, verbal scapegoating, employment pressures and dismissals, educational indoctrinations, as well as other intimidations they wish to make all Americans bend to their will and be subservient to their dictates through threats of persecutions, punishments, or violence.

These behaviors by these actors all occur without being roundly condemned as antithetic to American Ideals and Ideas, and they are a slippery slope to despotism then tyranny. This is the most distressing aspect of their actions. If Americans cannot remember and stand up for our Ideals and Ideas, then we will become a subservient or subjugated people subject to the dictates of these un-American actors.

For more of the ills that beset America in the last year I would direct you to Dennis Prager’s column, “The (Crappy) Year We Just Lived Through”.

02/13/22 Rebellion Against Unjust Laws

The framers of the Declaration of Independence fermented a rebellion in violation of English law. Consequently, as rebels, they were subject to arrest, prosecution, fines, imprisonment, and even hanging, as they had broken English law. In their words and deeds, they were criminals and were so labeled by the English government that ruled over the American colonies. The framers of the Declaration of Independence understood that laws could be just or unjust and that to oppose unjust laws was a moral duty of all persons. While their words and deeds were criminal under English law, they were just under Natural Law. They, therefore, defied unjust English law to oppose the despotism of the English government. Such is the case for all rebellions, in all places and times, that oppose unjust laws, as evidenced by the following quote:

“Rebellion is always an evil. It is always an offence against the law of a nation. It is not always a moral crime. […] What is hateful is not the rebellion, but the despotism which induces that rebellion. What is hateful are not the rebels, but the men who, having the enjoyment of power, do not discharge the duties of power; they are the men who, having the power to redress wrongs, refuse to listen to the petitioners who are sent to them; they are the men who, when they are asked for a loaf, give a stone.”
 - Prime Minister of Canada Wilfred Laurier, March 16, 1886

Therefore, it is not a crime to disobey an unjust law, and indeed, it is a moral responsibility to oppose an unjust law. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote and spoke extensively about just and unjust laws, and social justice, in his  “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” and “I Have a Dream” speech as well as other speeches and letters, which I have extracted in my “Quotes of Martin Luther King Jr.” webpage. Martin Luther King Jr. considered this question in his powerful letter from a Birmingham Jail. As he so elegantly and persuasively stated in this letter, Civil Disobedience to an unjust law is obedience to God’s law and must take precedence over any man-made law and, indeed, it is one of God’s highest laws that all persons must observe. He was responding to fellow members of the clergy who opposed segregation but rejected civil disobedience, which involved breaking the law. His central point was that laws may be just or unjust. We have a duty to obey just laws and to oppose, even defy, unjust laws. We need to recognize that both kinds of laws exist and learn how to tell the difference. Of particular interest to this Chirp is the following quotes:

“One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’“
 - Martin Luther King Jr.

“Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: ‘An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.’“
 - Martin Luther King Jr.

Therefore, the truckers’ protests in Canada, and the planned truckers’ protests in America, are the words and deeds of opposition to what they believe are unjust laws. The truckers’ issues and concerns need to be addressed by the government and not criminalized. Otherwise, it may morph into a Rebellion Against Unjust Laws. We should also that a motto suggested, but not used, for the Seal of the United States of America:

"Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."
 - Benjamin Franklin

02/21/22 Just Doing Their Job

As we watch the spectacle of the Canadian police applying force against the protesting truckers, we have heard many of the police and their defenders proclaim that they are just doing their duty, as their job and business is to enforce the laws and follow orders from their superiors. However, their duty is not only to human law but to God’s law, as God’s law always supersedes human law, and God’s law requires resistance to unjust laws. For those atheists or agnostics that do not believe in God, the term ‘Natural Law’ can be substituted for the term ‘God’s law’. Whenever your actions are contrary to God’s law, you forge a link in a chain of guilt and shame that envelopes you, and these links and your chain will govern your future actions to your detriment. These links and your chain are also examined by God in his judgment upon you when you meet your maker. In this, I am reminded of a snippet of dialog from a famous novel:

As Scrooge is confronted by the ghost of Marley all enveloped in the links and chains of his misdeeds, he rationalized that he and Marley were just going about their business; “But you were always a good man of business, Jacob,” faltered Scrooge, who now began to apply this rationalization to himself. “Business!” cried Marley’s Ghost, wringing its hands again. “Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business. The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
 - Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

Therefore, it is not enough of a rationalization of just doing your job, as we all have a responsibility to obey God’s law above our responsibility to obey human law, for human law can be just or unjust. As such, one has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws, and conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’ We, therefore, must listen to the dictates of our conscience before we take actions that may contravene God’s law. We all must ask if our actions and other persons' actions are in disobedience to God’s law, and if so, we all have the moral responsibility to not act upon these unjust human laws and to oppose those that would disobey God’s law. To not do so is to allow for injustice to reign supreme, which allows for despotism and tyranny to reign supreme.

We should also remember that history has taught us that when someone relies on just following the law or obeying the orders of superiors, it often leads to inhumanities, atrocities, genocide, and other crimes against humanity. These acts were perpetrated by persons who were just doing their jobs and obeying superiors' orders and often done through ignorance, incuriosity, or willful blindness as to the impacts of their actions. Rather than following the dictates of their conscience, they allowed themselves to be pawns of despots and tyrants. This is no valid reason or excuse for these actions as these actions are inexcusable. However, the perpetrators can repent by working to oppose these unjust laws and depose these despots and tyrants.

We must all oppose these unjust laws and depose these despots and tyrants, for we should all remember that:

"Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."
 - Benjamin Franklin

02/24/22 Sliding into Despotism

Life, Liberty, and Property are the Natural Rights of all persons. As such, a person has the right to defend themselves, their families, and their society against encroachment to their Natural Rights. Whether these encroachments are from other persons, organizations, or governments, a person has the Natural Right of defense. We often delegate the protection of Natural Rights to the government to assure justice, but justice requires just laws to assure justice. Justice also requires that all just laws be enforced equality for justice to reign supreme. However:

“Sometimes the law defends plunder and participates in it. Sometimes the law places the whole apparatus of judges, police, prisons and gendarmes at the service of the plunderers, and treats the victim -- when he defends himself -- as a criminal.”
 - Frederic Bastiat - "The Law"

When this occurs, then the government is no longer just and a protector of our Natural Rights. Such governments must utilize fear and intimidation to prevent a person from defending themselves, their family, and society against the encroachments to their Natural Rights. To accomplish this, a government must become despotic to achieve and maintain its powers. In an article, Despotism is all around us: the warnings of Montesquieu by Vickie B Sullivan, a Cornelia M Jackson professor of political science at Tufts University in Massachusetts, she writes:

“Montesquieu, the 18th-century French philosopher who brought the term ‘despotism’ into our political vocabulary, would not be surprised at the disjunction between the putative liberty of our society and the experience many have as the victims of irresponsible power within it. In The Spirit of the Laws (1748), he shows that despotism is an ever-present danger and a persistent threat to human flourishing everywhere and always. Even those fortunate to live outside the borders of a despotic government can still be victimised by despotic practices. In response, Montesquieu teaches that the unmasking of despotism must remain a central endeavour in social and political life.”

Alas, America is becoming a despotic country. When the government attempts to control firearms and prosecutes those that utilize firearms to protect their Natural Rights, they are engaging in despotic actions. When a government selectively allows one mob to riot and destroy personal property, as well as injure or kill others without prosecution while furiously prosecuting other groups (i.e., The 2020 riots that swept across America vs. the January 6th, 2021, Capitol riots), they are engaging in despotic actions. When the government issues mandates that are beyond temporary to meet an emergency without legislative approval, they are engaging in despotic actions. When the government utilizes its powers to denigrate and persecute those people who disagree with their actions, as I have Chirped on “02/23/22 The New McCarthyism”, they are engaging in despotic actions. When the government passively allows criminal actions to occur on our streets and does not prosecute the offenders, and indeed, frees them to continue their criminal actions, they are engaging in despotic actions and inactions. When government officials are behaving as if there were ‘rules for thee but not for me’, they are behaving as despots are wont to do.

When such a government engages in these despotic actions, they have forfeited the right to claim they are the protectors of the Natural Rights of their citizens. Unfortunately, this is what the government in America has been doing for the last several years. A despotism that is being conducted by Democrat Party Leaders and Progressives/Leftists. As such, our government has become despotic. This situation is analogous to the pre-Revolutionary War period in American history when the English government in the American Colonies became despotic, which resulted in our Declaration of Independence. And this government despotism is not limited to America but can be seen in many European nations, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. These nations were once the proud defenders of Liberty and Freedom and are now sliding into despotism along with America.

This despotism needs to end if we are to retain our "American Ideals and Ideas" and our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All". Otherwise, we will become a subservient or subjugated people subject to the dictates of governmental authority. The hubris of a government that believes that they can rule a free people is astounding, as only a subjugated or subservient people can be ruled. To not resist these despotic actions and inactions is to submit to despotism and the loss of our Liberties and Freedoms. If such resistance requires a rebellion, then it is a moral rebellion as expressed in The Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--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.”

02/25/22 Approval of Despotism

A new poll of Americans from The Trafalgar Group surveyed 1080 likely general election voters from February 18-20, 2022, with a margin of error of 3%. This poll occurred after Trudeau brought federal, provincial, and local law enforcement into Ottawa to forcibly clear out hundreds of protesters and dozens of vehicles from Parliament Hill and surrounding areas.

Democrats overwhelmingly favored Trudeau’s response with 65% approval to 17% disapproval. Republican responses were weighted even more heavily against Trudeau, however, with 87% of likely GOP voters disapproving to just 8% approving. Respondents who said they did not belong to either one of the two main parties cut against Trudeau’s crackdown with 74% disapproving versus 21% approving.

Aside from Democrats, the only other demographic areas identified in the poll that cut in Trudeau’s favor are the ages 65 and older category and among blacks and Hispanics. Every other demographic – men, women, Asian, white, younger age groups – disapproved of Trudeau’s handling of the protesters.

The largest difference in approval versus disapproval took place among 25 to 34-year-olds. In that age group, 100% of respondents disapproved of Trudeau’s tactics.

As I Chirped on, “02/24/22 Sliding into Despotism”, Americans have become more inured to despotism, but this poll reveals the extent and to which groups of Americans are accepting of despotism. And it is shocking! It appears that Democrats, blacks, and Hispanics are more accepting of despotism - which are the core groups of Democrat voters. The only good news is that young people disapprove of Trudeau’s tactics. However, the question is if this disapproval by young people is motivated by their understanding of our American Ideals and Ideas or their rebellious nature? I suspect the answer is the latter, but I hope that in large part, it is the former.

This does not bode well for America if Democrat Party Leaders retain power, and they pander to their core constituency. It also does not speak well of our public education system that has not educated these groups on our core American values and, indeed, may have miseducated these groups. It also does not speak well of Democrat Party Leaders, Progressives/Leftists, Mainstream Media, Mainstream Cultural Media, Modern Big Business, Modern Education, and Social Media who have perpetuated despotic ideals and ideas. These bad actors are laying the groundwork for more despotism in America, as my next Chirp illuminates.

This perpetuation of despotism needs to end if we are to retain our "American Ideals and Ideas" and our "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All". Otherwise, we will become a subservient or subjugated people subject to the dictates of governmental authority. The hubris of a government that believes that they can rule a free people is astounding, as only a subjugated or subservient people can be ruled. To not resist these despotic actions and ideas is to submit to despotism and the loss of our Liberties and Freedoms.

04/17/22 The Slippery Slope

When discussing a politician’s stance on a thorny political issue, many people in opposition to the politician’s stance respond that they can ‘work with that’ or they are ‘a realist’ to seek accommodation or bipartisanship for a solution to the thorny political issue. Rarely, however, is the politician interested in accommodation or bipartisanship when it comes to thorny political issues, but only interested in advancing their political agenda.

There is also the problem that thorny political issues often involve a conflict of the nature of our society, and this invokes issues and concerns of Natural, Human, and Civil Rights. To seek accommodation or bipartisanship often involves infringements on our Natural, Human, or Civil Rights or allows for the continuation or expansion of infringements to our Natural, Human, or Civil Rights.

The classic example of this in modern American history is when the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested in Birmingham, AL, for leading a peaceful civil disobedience to protest against the Natural, Constitutional, and Civil Rights violations of blacks that were common in the South (and other parts of America) at the time. Many clergy and civil leaders encouraged him to be a ‘realist’ and ‘work with’ them and others to change the laws. Dr. King wrote a letter from his jail cell, "Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail’", which eloquently explained that you could not work with or be a realist when there are violations of Natural, Human, or Civil Rights. As I have Chirp on "02/13/22 Rebellion Against Unjust Laws" and "10/05/21 Unjust Laws and Civil Disobedience", you must oppose unjust laws, and you should oppose unjust lawgivers; otherwise, you will end up living in an unjust society.

Therefore, you cannot be ‘a realist’ or ‘work with that’ when faced with infringements to our Natural, Human, or Civil Rights. A small degree of being a realist or working with, in a series of small realisms and small working with, adds up to a large degree of injustice and despotism to enforce the injustice. Consequently, the problem with being ‘a realist’ or ‘work with that’ is that it allows for the slippery slope of a glide down into despotism.

05/11/22 Progressivism and Leftism Is Becoming Totalitarianism

With the recent uproar over the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk, the Disinformation Governance Board, and the draft opinion of the Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, it has become even more apparent that Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders have a wide and deep totalitarian steak embedded within their psyche. While Leftism has always been totalitarian, Progressivism has drifted toward totalitarianism as they have seen their political power reduced. The election of George Bush to President in 2000 started this drift, while the election of Donald Trump as President in 2016 accelerated and solidified this drift.

They wish to control the free flow of information and impose their policies by government fiat or court rulings. They have often attempted to justify their actions as preserving “our democracy”. But as I have written in my Chirp on "01/11/22 Our Democracy", their meaning of this term is “‘Our Democracy’ = Their Oligarchy”. And Oligarchs often resort to despotism to enforce their rule and often slide into tyranny if their despotism does not succeed.

As I have written in my Chirp on, "02/22/22 Free Speech is Essential", Freedom of Speech is essential to preserve our Liberties and Freedoms, for free speech staves off the encroachments of would-be despots, dictators, and tyrants. Their attempts to control speech, under any guise, are antithetical to our "American Ideals and Ideas". Any speech protected under our 1st Amendment right is allowable and should in no way be restricted, even on "Social Media" and in "Modern Big Business". We should also remember that:

"If freedom of speech is taken away, then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter."
 - George Washington

Judges are not meant to legislate the law but only to adjudicate the law. The courts are not intended to legislate, execute, craft, or decide policy. They are meant to provide citizens an avenue for recourse to reconcile wrongs for which they have causes of action. They are meant to determine the constitutionality of laws passed by the Legislators and signed by the President. Judicial independence consists of the intellectual honesty and dedication to [the] enforcement of the rule of law regardless of popular sentiment and the ability to render a decision in the absence of political pressures and personal interests.

Today, Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders have resorted to intimidations and threats against Justices and Jurist to sway their opinions and decisions, thus constraining them of their Judicial independence. Peaceful demonstrations in public places are an exercise of your Constitutional Rights. Mob actions of intimidation and threats are not peaceful but terroristic. It is an exercise of raw power, and we should remember the words of caution about power:

“Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship.”
— George Orwell, 1984

As Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believe that they are more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior, they are, of course, always correct. Therefore, they believe that their policies are what is best for all Americans. Consequently, they have no compunctions in exercising power, as they are fervently convinced that they know better than the American people what is best for America. We should all remember the wisdom of the great economist Thomas Sowell, who once stated:

"The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best?"
- Thomas Sowell

And Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders believe that they should decide what is best for America. Decisions that often resort to despotism to enforce their rule and that may slip into tyranny.