Comments on Pro Libertate: The Subject "People" vs. The Ruling "Persons" (Second Update, April 23)

Hi Will,Your articles and comments are appreciated...

2008-05-20T15:19:00.000-06:00

Hi Will,
Your articles and comments are appreciated. The BIG problem is that we all were given a lobotomy in the Government Indoctrination Center [Public School] and do not understand our political status.

Being this truth is 180 degrees opposite from what we have "learned" we find it almost an impossibility to accept the truth.

Not very many read the Glorious Fourteenth amendment and "see" what is clearly printed. IF the subject matter was freedom for the black people, why is that not stated in the amendment?

The subject is the same for all sections of said amendment and that is, US Citizenship. Section 4 says said citizens are not to complain that they owe the national debt. That is slavery, plain and simple.

Section 1 states TWO requirements for citizenship, birth and "being subject to" the US. The USA is a fictional entity, not being found in nature. A flesh and blood man cannot be born in a fictional entity. Thus NO human being has ever been born in the USA!!!

Since the forgotten 13th Amendment rules out INvoluntary servitude, one cannot "become subject to" apart from volunteering. We volunteer every time we declare on government forms [flypaper] that, "Yes," we are a US Citizen. Horrors!! we unwittingly volunteer into servitude of the government.

Since most people in this country are considered US Citizens [slaves] by all government types, they [the people] are treated as though they have no rights, and they don't, UNTIL they stop declaring they are US Citizens.

The Preamble uses a term of art, 'We, the People," and you should read that term in the Bill of Rights. Only the People [not citizens] have the right to be armed, 2nd A. Only the People have the right to redress of grievances. Please re-read the Bill of Rights and see.

National “DNA warehouse” bill passesSource:aapsson...

2008-04-28T13:40:00.000-06:00

National “DNA warehouse” bill passes

Source:aapssonline.org

Passing the House of Representatives on a voice vote, S. 1858 has been sent to President Bush for signature. The Newborn Genetic Screening bill was passed by the Senate last December. The bill violates the U.S. Constitution and the Nuremberg Code, writes Twila Brase, president of the Citizen’s Council on Health Care (CCHC). “The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research,” she states. “It does not require consent and there are no requirements to inform parents about the warehousing of their child’s DNA for the purpose of genetic research. Already, in Minnesota, the state health department reports that 42,210 children of the 780,000 whose DNA is housed in the Minnesota ‘DNA warehouse’ have been subjected to genetic research without their parents’ knowledge or consent.”

The federal government lacks the Constitutional authority as well as the competence to develop a newborn screening program, states Rep. Ron Paul, M.D. (R-TX). He states that all hospitals will probably scrap their own newborn testing program and adopt the federal model, whatever its flaws, to avoid the loss of federal funding.

“Drafters of the legislation made no effort to ensure that these newborn screening programs do not violate the privacy rights of parents and children,” Dr. Paul noted.

Ms. Brase has called on President Bush to veto the bill.

Will,I found this pretty funny. It's from a upcom...

2008-04-27T09:31:00.000-06:00

Will,

I found this pretty funny. It's from a upcoming video game (the Grand Theft Auto Series which I AM IN NO WAY endorsing) but this video really made me laugh in light of your article. It is mimicking the NYPD. Just copy the link and press play.

Adam

http://www.rockstargames.com/IV/#?page=lcpdrecruit&content=video0

William, it is indeed absurd. No less ignorant th...

2008-04-26T19:25:00.000-06:00

William, it is indeed absurd. No less ignorant than standing in line at the post office and hearing the same nonsense repeated over and over and over at the counter, "Anything liquid perishable or potentially hazardous?"....

Gee willikers! Ya, know I forgot to declare there was an explosive buried in that package there. How silly of me not to announce it to the whole world! Do I stand aside and wait for the cops? I mean, seriously now, what kind of an idiot would admit as much? Certainly not someone who "intends" and plans to go through with it! Ye gods! Have you ever seen such stupidity!!!

And the shoes business and the liquids biz. These non-events happened years ago and in the first case FAILED and has never proven that it would work... for that matter we have no idea if that was another excuse to ratchet things up a notch. In the later case it was proven that it was IMPOSSIBLE to create the bomb that everyone was panicking over. Not only that but most of the "perps" didn't even have passports and could never have gotten on the plane to begin with. Sound like another setup to you?

So where does that leave the millions of us having to go through the motions for things that will most likely NEVER occur so that the TSA can feel justified in its existence?

The purpose of the TSA is to TRAIN the public to p...

2008-04-25T17:12:00.000-06:00

The purpose of the TSA is to TRAIN the public to passively accept random, senseless, intrusions into their property and privacy. Quite simply, the TSA is non-violently training Americans to be good SLAVES. The "TSA Blog" is a safety valve, pressure release, for those sheep who have a need to Bleet. It provides the Slave/Gestapo Masters -I mean the TSA - with data on ways to keep the HUMAN CAPITAL passive and docile. In a slaughterhouse you don't want violent resistance, neither does the TSA. . Look at them. TSA screeners are being trained to be smiling and polite. WHY? To appear benign and unthreatening as they strip you of your Freedom. If YOU seriously believed the next passenger (PAX) might be an armed and murderously suicidal killer, would you be all relaxed and cheery? If you seriously believed that the next suitcase you open may blow you to Kingdom Come, would you be a Perky Pixie? If you do NOT believe that ......... WHY ARE YOU HERE!? Exactly. There - is - NO - terrorist - threat, and ... THEY ... know ... it.

Take the latest TSA farce, "Liquids, Gells, and Aerosols". It all seems very frightening and intimidating, right? The Sand-Muslims are going to sneak Binary or Nonsolid explosives onto the plane, so Big Brother will PROTECT you by taking away ALL "Liquids, Gells, and Aerosols" because ANYONE may be a terrorist and could be carrying them. How NICE of Big Brother. What does Big Brother DO with these suspected explosives that just became "Voluntarily Abandoned Property (VAP)"? It is UNCERAMONIOUSLY dumped into a big container full of other FLAMIBLES and UNKNOWN substances. RIGHT, if any evil binary, liquid, whatever, explosive bombs ARE taken away by the Throughly Stupid Administration, they turn right around, toss it in with a bunch of other UNKNOWN flamibles and possible explosives, so they will have a really BIG boom, with TSA supplied shrapnel. IF, I repeat, IF the TSA actually believed they may intercept a bomb, along with the TENS of MILLIONS of dollars of private property they have STOLEN, every single confiscated (call it "VAP" if you like, that is like calling the MAFIA an insurance company) piece of property would be handled individually. Watch them, I did. They handle all those containers as if the outer label positively tells what is inside. So why don't they just take away the bottles labeled "BOMB" or "EXPLOSIVES"?? It is ALL a FARCE. Oh, sure, you may have bottles holding 3.4 ounces or less, no-one could EVER figure out to fill more than ONE bottle. I have actually SEEN quart bags with 12 or more IDENTICAL tiny liquer bottles inside, and one-bag limits regularly ignored. Then there is the question of plastic bottles never even SEEN by the X-ray operator (and ignored ..... to save their Buddy the trouble of looking). But HEY, the label on the front is NEVER wrong...............

Technically we live in a representative republic o...

2008-04-25T16:07:00.000-06:00

Technically we live in a representative republic or used to as now only corporations and make work governmental alphabet soup agencies have any representation. If you want to have fun with semantics you could call it an idiot proof stupidocracy which is great for drooling double digit IQ Forrest Gumps. The problem with idiot proof is that the world always comes up with a better idiot. As long as what some no talent hollywood harlots are doing behind closed doors, and how much johnny jockstrap makes a year for scratching himself and slapping his mates on the behind is considered important look for the flushing toilet sound to continue. After all there is a high price to pay for stupidity and apathy. I think it was Thomas Jefferson who said "if a society expects to be ignorant and free it expects what never was and never will be."

Some radical out-of-the-mainstream lunatic by the ...

2008-04-25T15:51:00.000-06:00

Some radical out-of-the-mainstream lunatic by the name of Peggy Noonan, who obviously must hate America and want the terrorists to win, posted this today:

http://online.wsj.com/article/declarations.html

Strongly reccommended

FBI wants widespread monitoring of 'illegal' Inter...

2008-04-25T13:55:00.000-06:00

FBI wants widespread monitoring of 'illegal' Internet activity

WASHINGTON--The FBI on Wednesday called for new legislation that would allow federal police to monitor the Internet for "illegal activity."

The suggestion from FBI Director Robert Mueller, which came during a House of Representatives Judiciary Committee hearing, appears to go beyond a current plan to monitor traffic on federal-government networks. Mueller seemed to suggest that the bureau should have a broad "omnibus" authority to conduct monitoring and surveillance of private-sector networks as well.

The surveillance should include all Internet traffic, Mueller said, "whether it be .mil, .gov, .com--whichever network you're talking about." (See the transcript of the hearing.)

In response to questions from Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, Mueller said his idea "balances on one hand, the privacy rights of the individual who are receiving the information, but on the other hand, given the technology, the necessity of having some omnibus search capability utilizing filters that would identify the illegal activity as it comes through and give us the ability to preempt that illegal activity where it comes through a choke point."

In response, Issa said: "Can you have someone on your staff designated to work with members of Congress on trying to craft that legislation?"

If any omnibus Internet-monitoring proposal became law, it could implicate the Fourth Amendment's guarantee of freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. In general, courts have ruled that police need search warrants to obtain the content of communication, and the federal Wiretap Act created "super warrant" wiretap orders that require additional steps and judicial oversight.

In addition, it's unclear whether "illegal activity" would be limited to responding to denial-of-service attacks and botnets, or would also include detecting other illegal activities, such as online gambling, the distribution of "obscene" images of adults engaged in sexual acts, or selling drugs without a license.

To be fair, Wednesday's discussion of the plan was geared toward cybercrime and the Bush administration's classified "cyberinitiative," which includes a shadowy program known as Einstein.

Some politicians have already raised concerns that even Einstein, which is described as dealing only with government networks and not private ones, could infringe upon the privacy rights of American citizens. It's already in place at 15 federal agencies, but Homeland Security has said it's still preparing the necessary privacy impact assessments for a proposed $293 million governmentwide Einstein expansion.

Issa, for his part, referred on Wednesday to malicious attacks being undertaken by foreign and domestic hackers who want to "take control of computers" and harvest the national-security secrets and private information of government agencies, private companies, and individual Americans.

"What authorities do you need to monitor, looking for those illegal activities, and then act on those, both defensively and, either yourselves or certainly other agencies, offensively in order to shut down a crime in process?" Issa asked.

In response, Mueller said he would be happy to have his legislative staff work with members of Issa's committee on creating a bill for a broader-reaching surveillance system.

Issa suggested that perhaps the FBI already has the power to seek voluntary private-sector partners that would like to be "defended" by its agents, provided that they give the FBI their consent. Mueller, however, wasn't so sure, saying, "that's going to require some thought."

I know that I and others have asked the question, ...

2008-04-25T10:25:00.000-06:00

I know that I and others have asked the question, "What can we do?" And, after pondering this for some time, there is something that we can do - and it is non-violent. It's not a unique idea, but may be more broad in scope than other implementations.

The ruler's and all of their little minions have a great deal of our personal information available to them, yet they live in the insular illusion of anonymity within the community. In there official domain's they are impervious to change, but in the community at large - if we knew who they were and they were aware of that - they would quickly lose their false sense in invulnerability. These people are big on lists and registries of those they deem miscreants - so why not use that very tactic against them?

Something on the order of TaxTroughFeeder.com (maybe I should register that) which could list as much personal information as possible about every government employee. Their names, job titles, home address, phone numbers, vehicle registration, pictures of their homes and their families in the community. We hear them blather on about 'if you have nothing to hide' frequently and we know they have this information about us, so why not.

It certainly adheres to the libertarian non-aggression policy (not that being exposed thusly wouldn't bring the occasional unwanted, and very much deserved, 'encounter'). It wouldn't require anyone to take any form of direct action other than to submit information as it is available. And I'm sure it would be wildly unpopular with the rulers . . . all the better.

Shine a little light on the situation and most of the cockroaches will scurry rather quickly and the system will founder under it's own weight.

Thoughts?

After watching the video my thought is simply this...

2008-04-25T09:31:00.000-06:00

After watching the video my thought is simply this . . .

Here's a holocaust survivor who is describing the actions of our gov't 'officials' as being like that of Hitler.

Says a lot about us - all of us - doesn't it?

I used to wonder why the Germans didn't do something to stop their gov't, now I wonder why we do nothing to stop ours.

Sic Semper Tyrannis

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer Wed Apr 23, ...

2008-04-25T02:02:00.000-06:00

By PETE YOST, Associated Press Writer
Wed Apr 23, 6:30 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court affirmed Wednesday that police have the power to conduct searches and seize evidence, even when done during an arrest that turns out to have violated state law.

The unanimous decision comes in a case from Portsmouth, Va., where city detectives seized crack cocaine from a motorist after arresting him for a traffic ticket offense.

David Lee Moore was pulled over for driving on a suspended license. The violation is a minor crime in Virginia and calls for police to issue a court summons and let the driver go.

Instead, city detectives arrested Moore and prosecutors say that drugs taken from him in a subsequent search can be used against him as evidence.

"We reaffirm against a novel challenge what we have signaled for half a century," Justice Antonin Scalia wrote.

Scalia said that when officers have probable cause to believe a person has committed a crime in their presence, the Fourth Amendment permits them to make an arrest and to search the suspect in order to safeguard evidence and ensure their own safety.

Moore was convicted on a drug charge and sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison.

The Virginia Supreme Court ruled that police should have released Moore and could not lawfully conduct a search.

State law, said the Virginia Supreme Court, restricted officers to issuing a ticket in exchange for a promise to appear later in court. Virginia courts dismissed the indictment against Moore.

Moore argued that the Fourth Amendment permits a search only following a lawful state arrest.

In a concurring opinion, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she finds more support for Moore's position in previous court cases than the rest of the court does. But she said she agrees that the arrest and search of Moore was constitutional, even though it violated Virginia law.

The Bush administration and attorneys general from 18 states lined up in support of Virginia prosecutors.

The federal government said Moore's case had the potential to greatly increase the class of unconstitutional arrests, resulting in evidence seized during searches being excluded with increasing frequency.

Looking to state laws to provide the basis for searches would introduce uncertainty into the legal system, the 18 states said in court papers.

I'd like to buttress Will's recent comment with th...

2008-04-24T20:24:00.000-06:00

I'd like to buttress Will's recent comment with this:

"They tell us we're a democracy when we're suppose to be a republic, but we are actually an oligarchy."

1776-1819: Healthy Infant America -Constitutional Federal Republic America (For the most part)

1820-1860: Sick Mid-Aged America -
Proto-Empire, Proto-Nationalist America
(Nationalist Conquest Wars; i.e. Indian Wars, Mexican War)

1861-1878: Dead Old America -
Nationalist America
(Republic R.I.P.)
(Nationalist Internal Wars; i.e. War Between The Southern States And The Fedgov, Southern States Occupation, More Indian Wars)

1879-1916: Infant Evil Empire America -
Nationalist-Minded, Nationalist Empire America
(Nationalist Conquest Wars; i.e. More Indian Wars, Spanish-American War, Philippine Insurrection, Hawaiian Occupation etc.)

1917-1945: Mid-Aged Evil Empire America -
Internationalist-Minded, Nationalist Empire America
(Internationalist Conquest Wars; i.e. WW1, Banana Republic Excursions, WW2, etc.)

1946-1993: Old Evil Empire America -
Internationalist-Minded, Nationalist Empire America
(Internationalist Stalemate Wars; i.e. UN Korean War, UN Vietnamese War, Panamanian Excursion, UN Somalian Occupation, UN Iraqi War 1, UN Balkan Occupation etc.)

1994-present: Infant Evil Empire North America - Internationalist-Minded, Regionalist Empire America
(Internationalist Global System Consolidation Wars; i.e. UN Iraqi War 2 And Occupation, UN Afghani War And Occupation, Iranian War?, Chinese War?, Syrian War?, Pakistan Occupation?, etc.)

2012-2030?: Evil Empire World Government Comprised Of Ten Regional Blocs Under Anglo-American Elite Oligarch Domination?
1)Russian Union (C.I.S.) 1990
2)European Union 1994
3)African Union 2002
4)North American Union 2012?
5)South American Union 2012?
6)Middle East Union 2015?
7)South Asian Union 2018?
8)Central Asian Union 2015?
9)East Asian Union 2018?
10) Asian Pacific Union 2012?
-RW

William,You ARE a genius. You've really pegged it...

2008-04-24T11:47:00.000-06:00

William,

You ARE a genius. You've really pegged it this time. As a "people", I can safely say that it torques me off to no end that the "persons" are running roughshod over us. But what torques me off even more is knowing that "we the sheeple" are so willing to sit back and let it happen.

Keep up the good work, my friend.

2008-04-24T09:54:00.000-06:00

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2008-04-24T09:52:00.001-06:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

Brutus, I really appreciate your comments, and it'...

2008-04-24T09:52:00.000-06:00

Brutus, I really appreciate your comments, and it's great to know that the blog is being read and appreciated.

You're entirely correct in pointing out that the government created in 1787 (and murdered in 1861-1878) was a constitutional republic.

We aren't a republic in any sense anymore -- although we're rapidly becoming a "People's Republic" in the East German or North Korean sense.

I think that the destruction of the Senate in 1913 completed (in principle) the transformation of our republic into a unitary state presided over by a self-sustaining oligarchy and supported by a degenerate mass democracy. One key here was the replacement of the Senate (which was designed to protect the interests and reserved powers of the states) into a democratically elected body.

Long story made just a bit shorter: Our system wasn't a democracy, and shouldn't be; our rulers insist that it is, even as they consolidate total power and deprive us of any ability to hold them accountable.

Enjoy reading the blog each morning, but this stat...

2008-04-24T09:42:00.000-06:00

Enjoy reading the blog each morning, but this statement got to me, "We're constantly told that in our Grand and Glorious Democracy". You of all people should know we are not a Democracy but a Constitutional Republic and for good reason. Please stop spreading that misconception. Everyone uses that term to describe this country. We are not and if we do become a Democracy, it will be the end for sure. Mob rule, two wolfs and a sheep voting on lunch, you get the idea.

A "They Live" reference in the comments! What an u...

2008-04-24T00:08:00.000-06:00

A "They Live" reference in the comments! What an underrated, slept on, cult classic. It is kind of a poor man's "The Matrix" released a decade and a half before. The awakening device is not a red pill but a pair of special sunglasses which reveals the kool aid propaganda messages everywhere and shows the soulless fascist elites as a cross between a robot and an alien! Whether you like Roddy Piper's acting abilities or not the message is worthwhile. In todays touchy feely neo-feudal corporate scientific dictatorship you don't need a pill or sunglasses to read between the lies it is right there in plain sight. If just a few of us little people are awake and refuse to bend a knee it means the globalist, bankster, fascist elites have failed.

This is funny in a macabre way: I was watching Sta...

2008-04-23T21:29:00.000-06:00

This is funny in a macabre way: I was watching Star Trek: Voyager, a borg episode, and reading this headline on the web: Texas Tries to Ease Polygamist Kid's Culture Shock. These children are about to become drones.

U.S. to Insist That Travel Industry Get Fingerprin...

2008-04-23T20:06:00.000-06:00

U.S. to Insist That Travel Industry Get Fingerprints

By Spencer S. Hsu and Del Quentin Wilber
Washington Post Staff Writers
Tuesday, April 22, 2008; Page A08

The U.S. government today will order commercial airlines and cruise lines to prepare to collect digital fingerprints of all foreigners before they depart the country under a security initiative that the industry has condemned as costly and burdensome.

The proposal does not say where airlines must collect fingerprints -- at airport check-in counters, departure gates or kiosks somewhere in between. But the government estimates the undertaking will cost airlines $2.3 billion over 10 years, a U.S. homeland security official said.

The overall economic impact on companies, passengers and the government is expected to exceed $3.5 billion, industry lobbyists said, at a time when carriers are struggling with safety concerns, high fuel costs and passenger complaints.

Formal announcement of the plan to track the departure of foreign visitors, as part of the Homeland Security Department's US-VISIT program, comes after an extended battle between the security agency and airlines.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff linked the effort to enforcing the nation's immigration laws recently, saying airlines were obstructing the measure for commercial reasons.

"If we don't have US-VISIT air exit by this time next year, it will only be because the airline industry killed it," Chertoff said recently. "We have to decide who is going to win this fight. Is it going to be the airline industry, or is it going to be the people who believe we should know who leaves the country by air?"

Doug Lavin, regional vice president for the International Air Transport Association, which represents major U.S. and international carriers, said the government, not airlines, should collect fingerprints. "This is ludicrous," Lavin said. "We can't afford anything in the billions to support a program that should be a government program."

Fingerprinting an estimated 33 million departing foreign passengers a year will result in "delayed departures, missed connections here and around the world," Lavin said.

Launched after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, US-VISIT is intended to automate the processing of visitors entering and exiting the country, using fingerprints and digital photographs to help find criminals, potential terrorists and people who overstay visas and join the nation's illegal immigrant population.

While the program has succeeded in recording nearly 100 million people entering the country since 2004, the DHS has struggled to implement the exit portion. Frustrated at the department's slow pace, Congress last year set a June 2009 deadline for DHS to collect fingerprints from departing air passengers in a law to implement recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

Otherwise, Congress said, the government cannot expand the Visa Waiver Program, under which residents of 27 friendly countries can visit the United States without a visa. Inclusion is a priority for nations including South Korea and Greece, and the tourism industry has also targeted South America for expansion.

The proposal will be open for a 60-day comment period. DHS could decide after that time where fingerprinting must be conducted, or it could leave the decision up to airlines, a U.S. official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the proposal has not been formally announced.

"Out of the way peasants we are the gilded class m...

2008-04-23T19:04:00.000-06:00

"Out of the way peasants we are the gilded class move along you unwashed bottom feeders nothing to see here. The degenerates that work airport security love their faux authority uniforms, double digit IQ's and three digit incomes. It probably won't get better until people boycott coming to the people's republik of amerika then the airlines will cry to mommy gov."

Its already happening as several airlines from Europe now fly directly to Panama City instead of the US for Latin American destinations. If I am not mistaken the US is one of the only OECD countries that requires International travellers transiting through its borders to clear customs and passport control. It seems our good old friend "the free market" is providing an alternative to some of this stupidity. I travel to Ukraine sometimes several times a year and plan on moving to Panama in the nex few years. I know once I leave I will not travel through the US if I do not have too.

I personally think it will end when every country ...

2008-04-23T18:56:00.000-06:00

I personally think it will end when every country in the world will turn on us - probably by dropping the dollar as the reserve currency. At that point the Regime ruling over us will fold like a wet paper sack interspersed in the process by a few spasmodic attacks on us serfs.

I noticed some comments by fellow observers regard...

2008-04-23T09:44:00.000-06:00

I noticed some comments by fellow observers regarding moderation and anonymity. If you are going to look up things like codex alimentarius, agenda 21 or the multi-lateral agreement on investment and don't want to enter them into a certain search engine, look into anonymizer software. A good one is JAP it makes your IP address look as though it is coming from a German edu. Hiding your IP keeps your ISP and any other prying eyes from seeing what pages you are viewing. Always use a firewall and learn how to use it, read firewall frequently asked questions files if you are in doubt about what is going on. In a truly free society we wouldn't have to worry about such precautions and our machines would run alot faster but being as we live in a Prison Industrial Military Political, lowest common denominator, idiot proof system these are precautions we must take. Control your 'puter' or someone else will.

Out of the Way, PeasantsBy Steven Greenhut22/04/08...

2008-04-23T08:37:00.000-06:00

Out of the Way, Peasants

By Steven Greenhut

22/04/08 "Orange County Register" -- - Readers have been shocked to learn that California has about 1 million citizens who are literally above the law. Members of this group, as a Register front-page article April 6 detailed, can drive their cars as fast as they choose. They can drink a six-pack of beer at a bar and then get behind the wheel and weave their way home. They can zoom in and out of traffic, run traffic lights, roll through stop signs and ignore school crossing zones. They can ride on toll roads for free, park in illegal spots and drive on High Occupancy Vehicle lanes even if they have no passengers in the car with them. Chances are they will never have to pay a fine or get a traffic citation.

They are a special class of people, basically exempt from the laws the rest of us must follow. This isn't a small number, either. Drivers of one of every 22 California cars and light trucks on the road have this special immunity, which should cause our government leaders and law enforcement authorities – always eager to protect us from any perceived problem – to demand a fix to this real public safety threat. Think about what this means: a million drivers who can endanger our lives with near impunity. I can hear it now: "There ought to be a law!"

But instead of pushing for a fix, most legislators are trying to expand the program so that even more people can have the special "we're above the law" license plates. What gives? The answer is sickeningly obvious. The Special People are those who work for law enforcement or other government agencies or are their family members.

Now you get it. Government officials are zealous about dealing with problems caused by average citizens, but they are far less interested in dealing with the excesses of fellow members of the privileged, government elite. There are rules for "us" and rules for "them" – us being the subjects and them being the rulers. Feel free to pound the table in anger now!

How did we get to this sorry place?

In 1978, the state started a program to protect the confidentiality of peace officers so members of the public couldn't find their addresses on Department of Motor Vehicle databases. Over the years, the program has been expanded from one set of government workers to another. It now applies to corrections employees, social workers, nonsworn personnel who work in juvenile halls, parole officers, parking enforcement employees and on and on. Even county supervisors, city attorneys and city council members can be exempt from the state's traffic laws.

Even after the Register article exposed this outrageous situation, an Assembly committee voted to expand this special privilege to firefighters, animal control officers and veterinarians. Assemblyman Mike Duvall, R-Yorba Linda, explained his vote to the Register in this way: "I don't want to say no to the firefighters and veterinarians that are doing these things that need to be protected." That attitude explains why our society is moving in this direction. No one – not even a self-proclaimed believer in limited government – will stand up to groups of workers who have become as demanding, self-righteous and arrogant as those found in the French bureaucracy.

Americans used to be better schooled in the views of our nation's founders, who believed that government should be strictly limited and highly accountable. The Constitution, after all, is designed to protect the People from their rulers. These days, and especially after 9/11, Americans have become compliant and dangerously obedient to the authorities. Hence, they keep getting rolled. You know something's amiss when museum security guards, court workers, DMV employees and retired parking officers are part of the special-license caste.

The special-plate program works this way: The addresses are kept secret, so toll-road operators and parking enforcement cannot easily track down violators. The Transportation Corridor Agencies, which runs the toll roads, does not legally have access to the confidential addresses. The Orange County Transportation Authority has to go through additional hoops to get the addresses and admittedly doesn't pursue toll violations too zealously.

In one instance reported by the Register, one couple had racked up almost $35,000 in penalties from OCTA for driving on toll roads without paying. Regarding moving violations, when police see these special plates they either don't pull the drivers over or they don't ticket them if they do. The cops call this "professional courtesy." Officers know that those with the special plates are "their own," and officers are quite open about refusing to ticket other members of the Brotherhood. They scratch each other's back. "It's a courtesy, law enforcement to law enforcement," Sgt. Tom Lee of the San Francisco Police Department, told the Register. "We let it go."

Well, such "courtesies" are functions of police states, not free societies. In a free society, the government serves the people. No one is supposed to be above the law, not even animal control officers and their spouses. Assemblyman Todd Spitzer, R-Orange, calls the situation immoral, unfair and unethical. He has proposed legislation that would limit the practice. Spitzer deserves kudos for this effort, but I wouldn't expect the legislation to go far given the deference afforded public-sector union members and law enforcement in the state Capitol.

The whole thing is a scam. This confidentiality of plates is defended on grounds of safety – even though there's no example of anyone's safety having been jeopardized and even though so many of the workers who receive the protections are not in even remotely dangerous professions. Plus, the original rationale for the protection has evaporated. As the Register noted, "updated laws have made all DMV information confidential to the public."

Pound that table again!

Wouldn't it be nice if the government, for once, put the public's safety above the concerns of its own workers and its own bureaucratic prerogatives? These days, the focus always seems to be on the safety of the government workers (FYI, no government job is in the top 10 list of most-dangerous occupations), even though the government's entire raison d'être (hey, French is appropriate, given the subject matter) is to protect us. Public-choice theory is correct – government workers function mainly to promote their own self-interest, and not to promote what some naïvely believe to be the public good.

Sadly, as the government expands, America is becoming a society where the public "servants" are now the masters. Government workers earn higher salaries than their cohorts in the private sector and far higher benefits – with a massive public unfunded liability (debt) as a result. The taxpayer eventually will be forced to clean up the fiscal mess. These same government employees have special protections from accountability. There's the Peace Officers' Bill of Rights, civil service protections and government unions, the last of which instill fear and trepidation into the hearts of politicians.

And now we learn that members of this coddled and powerful group (and their family members) don't even need to follow the basic traffic laws that apply to the rest of us. If you're not angry, then you must be a member of the special caste.

"It probably won't get better until people boycott...

2008-04-23T08:09:00.000-06:00

"It probably won't get better until people boycott coming to the people's republik of amerika then the airlines will cry to mommygov."

LOL! Recently I read where the Feds are citing the airlines for delays and such at airports when the very reason for those delays were the Feds themselves. But you won't see Uncle Sam pointing a finger at that clown he sees in the mirror.

People are so ignorant that they whine and moan to the ones responsible for all their troubles and cry out, "Do something".

Hahahahahah..... Monty Python couldn't have done it better. It's the Dead Parrot sketch made nation wide.