by Nathan Barton

Good morning, and hopefully a good week as well.

More from DC and the Nazgul. DC Police Chief will treat DC as a constitutional carry “state” following the court ruling, according to various reports.  As Mama Liberty says: “If you believe this, you might be interested in buying some beach front property in Arizona… I most certainly would not be eager to test it. They’d find SOMETHING to get upset about, and probably kill you.” This matches my thoughts from yesterday.  DC police have NO reason to support constitutional rights for any DC residents OR for anyone else visiting DC, and every reason to continue to abuse and tyrannize everyone possible. The solution here?  End ALL of DC’s illegal and immoral laws on buying and owning guns: let people defend themselves.

Mama’s Note: Why just guns? Eliminate government – at any level – involvement with personal choices altogether. Voluntary association communities could easily agree on what to do about aggression, but peaceful choices are not legitimately subject to a “vote.”

Lots of stories coming out about Texas defending their border, all of which seem to stem from a report in the conservative tribune.  I take this all with a grain of salt: supposedly Texas has purchased helicopter gunships, has purchased and deployed surveillance aircraft AND armored gunboats to patrol the Rio Grande, and slow down or stop what amounts to an invasion that is tacitly (and sometimes openly) supported by DC.  But until they actually start raising Ranger companies and there are actually National Guard and State Guard boots on the ground: armed and not just observing, I will treat this as more border theatre.  I wish Texas WOULD defend themselves, not just by National Guard or Rangers, but individually.

Will medical and “recreational” marijuana continue to spread?  The Washington Post has a lengthy article about all the bad things happening in states adjacent to Colorado, with recreational cannabis now being legal in Colorado.  Most of these problems seem to be with people (law enforcement, mostly) trying to enforce laws that really don’t make sense, and with people being stupid.  I think a lot of this is just dealing with a new situation, but the levels of stupidity are high enough that it would come as no surprise if some really nasty things happen.  What is the solution?  Other states need to also recognize that prohibition does NOT work, and tell/let local sheriffs go back to being peace officers.  And more states need to stop prohibition: freedom can be messy and dangerous, but the war on drugs is worse.

Also from Colorado, we have this analysis, which says that the stupid gun laws passed a couple of years ago are just that: stupid.  And ineffective. But never fear, the hoploclasts think and say that they are “successful” but just don’t go far enough.  The solution?  Get over it, you idiots on the Front Range and the I-70 corridor.  If you don’t like living in a Western state where most of us are armed, use and carry guns on a regular basis, then LEAVE.  Better yet, learn why YOU too should be armed and know how to shoot to defend yourselves, your families, friends, and community.

From my point of view, the Internal Revenue Service has, stupidly, settled a lawsuit brought by the Freedom from Religion Foundation. The 2012 lawsuit was settled after the IRS agreed to monitor what is said in houses of worship.  This smells like the kind of lawsuits that the EPA settles with environist groups: “forcing” the agency to do something that they really want to do, but for which they do not have enough political  support.  It is also something that is a clear violation of the First Amendment, which Congress would violate if it passed such a law. Therefore, the “unconstitutional” IRS has gone way beyond what the US Constitution allows. (Surprise, surprise!)  FFRF is, of course, very pleased with it and intends to get the courts to override a moratorium placed on not just religious but political harassment by the IRS which came to light after the 2012 elections.  What is the solution? Well, assuming we can’t get rid of the IRS, then at least get rid of the Johnson Amendment which tries to force churches to shut up.  LBJ was an immoral thug.

Miami-Dade County sees a lot of killings, not as many as Chicago, but a lot more than most cities.  But like in Chicago, the cops seem to do more than their share, and some – if not most – are dubious.  As an illustration of the police state, we have this “sting” in which an informant worked with the cops to entice a gang of home invaders to invade a county-owned house which was nothing more than an ambush. But the cops got trigger happy and killed not just the gang (only one of which seemed to be armed) but the informant as well.  What gives?  The solution?  Start treating cops like the rest of us:  hold them to the same standards of obeying the law, being able to defend themselves, and not initiating violence/force against people.  Get rid of “internal reviews” and having one agency of cops review another, and use the courts to determine if the police did the right thing – and make them pay restitution and suffer the consequence if they did the wrong thing.

How stupid can you be? Representative Curt Clawson, R-Florida, stretches the limits of imagination, thinking that State Department officials were really foreign diplomats from India. Of course, maybe he DOES accurately represent his district in Florida, as one of those with the inability to punch the chads out of their election ballots.  And maybe he thinks that too many people on an island can tip it over.  Do we really get the government we deserve?  What’s the solution?  No, not IQ tests for politicians, but limiting the power of politicians to critical decisions like what the state bird or national snack food should be, and voting on “National Classic Car Month,” instead of letting them do what they do now.

Apparently even the SEIU is falling on hard times, and trying desperately to unionize fast-food workers.  So they held a national conference in Illinois, where some of the “representatives” of the fast food workers voted to demand a $15/hour minimum wage for them, and threatened “civil disobedience” if they don’t get the money.  Woopee!  Unfortunately, Godfather Politics didn’t point out the most likely result of this kind of thing: more automation of fast food places resulting in eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs from taking orders at the drive-up window to flipping the burgers.  They do not seem to realize that labor cost pressures are ONE of the reasons that most chains now have self-serve, unlimited-refill policies for soft drinks and coffee:  it eliminates jobs even at $7.75/hour.  I’m scratching my head over what “civil disobedience” would work?  Blocking the entrances and drive-through lanes of fast food places?  Frowning at customers?  Picketing isn’t usually considered “civil disobedience” or just what will they do that doesn’t let them be fired and the company hire new people?  Solution? For individual workers, treat fast-food jobs as they should be: work as you get through school, a stepping stone to better work and better pay, a way to develop good work habits and get used to working with people.  The solution for unions?  I don’t know – go away, maybe?

Mama’s Note: Had a conversation with someone promoting the “new” minimum wage, very adamant that everyone has a “right” to a “living wage,” and all that. I asked her why not mandate $100. an hour. I’m sure all the fast food workers would consider that a “living wage”… for a little while.  She looked shocked and said, “That’s ridiculous!” I said, “Yep.”