The Conscience of Lt. Col. Stuart Couch (UPDATED ) A Christian Patriot: Lt. Col. Couch and his wife, Kim William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law! Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil? William Roper: Yes, I’d […]

The Blackmailer-in-Chief: Bush Threatens The Troops (Click to enlarge)For the people I must tell you, that their liberty and freedom consist in having of government, those laws by which their life and their goods may be most their own. It is not for having a share in government, Sirs: that is nothing pertaining to them. […]

“Your Papers, Please” — Simplified (A quick note: There is a brief update on the Derek Hale case at the end of this essay.)Deltha O’Neal, the Pro Bowl cornerback for the Cincinnati Bengals, was arrested at a DUI checkpoint last December. When O’Neal showed up at he municipal courthouse in Batavia, Ohio a few weeks […]

Get The Kiddie-Cuffs, or Police State Pedagogy (UPDATED) “Do you think this is the first 6-year-old we’ve arrested?” This comment by Avon Park, Florida Police Chief Frank Mercurio to New York Times columnist Bob Herbert easily qualifies as the pull-quote of the day, perhaps of the month. Chief Mercurio was justifying the arrest — complete […]

Resurrection Sunday: A Memo to the Loser You lose. In fact, you lost a long time ago. You’ve never gotten it, have you? Since before time began – I’m not exaggerating one bit – you’ve been the poster child for Not Thinking Things Through. In your arrogant ambition you actually thought it was possible to […]

From Local Police to Occupying Army, or LESO: The Greater of Many Evils Well, it sure ain’t an RV: This “Peacekeeper” Armored Personnel Carrier is listed by the Charleston, S.C. Police Department as a “Patrol Vehicle.” There are Peacekeepers deployed in US cities, but they’re not under UN command. They’re armored personnel carriers supplied to […]

The Killing of Derek Hale: Death by Police PR Stunt? Too short a season: Derek with step-children Taylor and Garrett, and wife Elaine (below), shortly before he was killed. (Hale family photos courtesy of Stephen Neuberger.)Derek J. Hale, Marine veteran of two combat tours in Iraq and (much more importantly) a young husband and father, […]

Highway Robbery Anybody old enough to have lived through the 70s, and who avoided the vices that would make remembering that decade difficult, can probably recall the 1975 populist anthem “Convoy” (and perhaps even the 1978 Kris Kristofferson/Ali McGraw film of the same title). The C.W. McCall ballad described the spontaneous rebellion of long-haul truckers […]

Massacre at V-Tech: Death by Government This time the State didn’t commit the slaughter directly, as it did fourteen years ago in Waco, Texas. Instead, it created a veritable hunting preserve for the armed psychopath who carried out the massacre. Since the victims had been disarmed by the State, the murderer was able to carry […]

Fire At Will: Reader Feedback — QUICK UPDATE, 4/19 I’m going to be on “The Jaime Johnson Show” on KFFF AM 1260 (99.3 FM) out of Boone, Iowa today from 2:00-3:00 PM Central Time. We’ll be discussing the renewed campaign for civilian disarmament in the aftermath of the government-facilitated mass murder at Virginia Tech.Resistance is […]

Why The Regime Must Lose In Iraq Edmund Burke: “Defeatist” regarding England’s war with America. Senator Harry Reid (D-Nevada) thought that the Republican Attack Apparat had grown a bit peckish in recent weeks, and so he decided to throw it a meat-laden bone on which it could feed for at least a week:”I believe myself […]

The Second Amendment: The Constitution, In Miniature “We are here now to protect you, and no one has a need for a weapon any more.” — A Khmer Rouge soldier sent to disarm Cambodian peasants, as recounted by a survivor of the Cambodian genocide; The New Yorker, January 24, 1994 It is because Daniel Lazare […]

Fabricating Felonies: Idaho v. William N. Grigg? Felony, n. One of several grave crimes, such as murder, rape, or burglary, punishable by a more stringent sentence than that given for a misdemeanor. Any of several crimes in early English law that were punishable by forfeiture of land or goods and by possible loss of life […]

The Raid In Rio, Pt. I At least they didn’t call the log cabin in rural Wisconsin a “compound.”That’s most likely because the anticipated standoff didn’t occur. If if had, then the farmhouse in the photo above would have been transformed into an “armed compound,” in keeping with the tacit but strictly enforced rules governing […]

I’d Buy That For A Dollar: Approaching “RoboCop” World “Stay out of trouble!”: Meet the future of law enforcement.Until recently, Juan Rodriguez was a freeway patrolman employed by the City of Chicago. Now he cruises the Chicago Skyway “for private owners,” reports the current issue of Business Week. “In the past, [Rodriguez] had to write […]

“You Can’t Pray A Lie” “Great God in Heaven, save us from the humanitarians who are generous with the lives of other people’s sons. Amen.” Tom Eddlem, “The Non-Interventionist’s Prayer.” Following King George III’s proclamation of February 4, 1780 as a Royal Day of Prayer — with a special emphasis on the American War — […]

In Defense of Lawless Order: Mansfield’s Paean to Fascism “Law consists of two lines above my signature.” — Saddam Hussein”I’m the commander in chief, see, I don’t need to explain, I do not need to explain why I say things. That’s the interesting part about being president. Maybe somebody needs to explain to me why […]

The Default Setting is “Overkill” (UPDATED; see the bottom of the essay) Rush’s Alex Lifeson: Eyewitness to America’s “New Police Professionalism.”Ten score years ago, defeat the kingly foeA wondrous dream came into beingTame the trackless waste, no virgin land left chasteAll shining eyes, but never seeing(Chorus)Beneath the noble birdBetween the proudest wordsBehind the beauty, cracks […]

Because They Can: The Logic of the Torture State “This is your god!” That profane outburst fell from the lips of Pfc. Damien M. Corsetti — aka “Monster,” aka “King of Torture” — as he straddled a helpless Saudi detainee in a Soviet-constructed Afghan prison. Corsetti had just threatened to rape the detainee, and the […]

The Ft. Dix “Conspiracy,” or Why Dana Rohrabacher Should Be Pimp-Slapped (UPDATE, May 10) Friends of yours, Dana? Commandos with the “Kosovo Liberation Army,” taking a break from terrorizing moderate Albanians and putting Christian churches to the torch, strike a pose. It is dangerous and potentially lethal to take at face value anything we’re told […]