Splendid Isolation

Category: Government Thugs

Quiet Skies

Government Thugs, Surveillance Society

Apparently, Tulsi Gabbard is on the dreaded “SSSS” list:

This story began two weeks ago, when the former Hawaii congresswoman returned home after a short trip abroad. In airport after airport, she and her husband Abraham Williams encountered obstacles. First on a flight from Rome to Dallas, then a connecting flight to Austin, and later on different flights for both to cities like Nashville, Orlando, and Atlanta, their boarding passes were marked with the “SSSS” designation, which stands for “Secondary Security Screening Selection.” The “Quad-S” marker is often a sign the traveler has been put on a threat list, and Gabbard and Williams were forced into extensive “random” searches lasting as long as 45 minutes.

“It happened every time I boarded,” says Gabbard. The Iraq war veteran and current Army reservist tends to pack light, but no matter.

“I’ve got a couple of blazers in there, and they’re squeezing every inch of the entire collar, every inch of the sleeves, every inch of the edging of the blazers,” she says. “They’re squeezing or padding down underwear, bras, workout clothes, every inch of every piece of clothing.” Agents unzipped the lining inside the roller board of her suitcase, patting down every inch inside the liner. Gabbard was asked to take every piece of electronics out and turn each on, including her military phone and computer.

I suspect she’s on the SSSS list because of stuff like this:

Not having flown on any airline for many a year, I wouldn’t know if I was (still) on the SSSS list (story here and here) and it doesn’t look like I’ll be doing so anytime soon either.  But should I take to the Friendly  Quiet Skies again, it will be interesting to see if my inclusion has lapsed, so to speak.

I think I’ll pack the 1911 in my checked luggage, just for giggles.

And I wasn’t aware of this little thing.

Not THAT Disturbing

Government Thugs, Law and Order

Via Insty I see this interesting news:

Police departments throughout the United States have stopped sharing information with the FBI due a “disturbing loss of trust” in the Bureau, an alarming new whistleblower report has found.

The scathing report listed ten key findings that have dire national security and public safety implications:
1. Local law enforcement officers do not trust the FBI 
2. No more actionable, substantive information sharing with the FBI 
3. FBI National Academy graduates are troubled by bias 
4. Crisis of confidence in FBI-led task forces 
5. The FBI is isolated and unresponsive to local law enforcement 
6. Local law enforcement officers feel disrespected by FBI special agents 
7. Today’s tone-deaf FBI disregards the value of retired FBI special agents 
8. The new generation of sub-standard FBI special agents 
9. FBI management is too transitory and obsessed with self-promotion
10. The FBI’s cult of narcissism begins at the FBI Academy.

The headline to the piece calls this “disturbing”, but I consider it “unsurprising”.

Unlike the oh-so supercilious Fibbies, you see, local LEOs have to live with their communities, are answerable to them and can be kicked out of office at the polling booth.

If I were a local cop in, say, north Texas I’d tell Teh Fibs to take a fucking hike if they came snooping around.

Which is what erstwhile Collin County Sheriff Terry Box (PBUH) said at a press conference when asked how he felt about a federal civilian disarmament program:

“They’ll have to come through my deputies first.”

Note:   not “they would” (subjunctive), “they will” (declarative).

So why are we “disturbed” by the news above?

The REAL Big Loser?

Government Thugs, Legal Stuff

Last week the Supreme Court dealt what seems to be a massive blow to the bureaucracy of the modern Administrative State — wherein an agency can become a de facto mini-state by creating and interpreting its own regulations, and then enforcing them without much in the way of legal oversight and defense.

The beacon in this ruling is SEC v. Jarkesy, which noted “…the Securities Exchange Commission’s power to serve as enforcer, prosecutor, judge, jury, and executioner in administrative proceedings for violating the securities laws. The Court found that the defendants are entitled to a jury trial before an Article III judge.”

Needless to say, the gun guys — especially these folks, from whom I excerpted and modified the previous paragraph — who have long suffered such iniquity at the hands of the loathsome Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms (ATF) agency, are all over this.

However, lost in all this excitement is the agency which I think has the most to lose from Jarkesy  (and the earlier Loper Bright v. Raimondo decision).

I refer here to the still-more loathsome Internal Revenue Service (IRS), who have always been able to bludgeon taxpayers in this manner.  They have their own regulations, their own courts and, lest we forget, a veritable army of well-armed minions who are only too willing to enforce their agency’s regulatory diktat.  I remember seeing on TV an excellent summary of the power of the IRS when a judge said, “So basically, in order to win your case against this man, all the IRS has to do is prove that they followed their own internal procedures properly?”  to which the IRS lawyer said, “Yes, your Honor.”

Massive rafts of tax law have given birth to an entire world of tax lawyers and -accountants (both in private practice and in the IRS itself), which is in itself excessive and burdensome.  (I am reminded of the way colonial Hong Kong collected income tax:  once a year the taxpayer took to the tax office his employer’s statement of his gross salary paid, and he would write out a cheque for 5% of that total to the government.  That’s it.  Imagine the impact of that scenario in the United States today.)

Anyway, I’m not only not a lawyer, but I also don’t play one on TV and I sure as hell don’t play one on this blog.  But I am generally cognizant of the bigger picture, and I’m just wondering if the greatest losers of the Lopez Bright  and Jarkesy  decisions will not be the horrible SEC, EPA and ATF, but the fouler-still IRS.

I am sure that the Powdered Wigs among my Readership will be only too pleased to set me straight.

My Kinda Guy

Government Thugs

Forgotten in the mists of time is the awful totalitarianism perpetrated on us by the fucking dotgov, whether Federal or state, during The Great WuFlu Insanity.  Of course, the legal nonsense — charging, trying and so on — has dragged on and on and persists to this day, but at least there’s been one happy outcome so far:

The co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey, who fiercely defied tyrannical lockdowns in 2020, has won a monumental victory after a court dismissed all 80 charges against him.

Ian Smith famously reopened his gym in the middle of lockdown, defying Democrat Governor Phil Murphy’s draconian COVID-19 lockdown orders.

At the time, Smith challenged the Murphy administration’s mandates, arguing they were unconstitutional and detrimental to small businesses.

Wait:  80 charges?  Even for the People’s Soviet of Noo Joizee, that’s a little much, don’t you think?

Anyway, here’s the story:

A swarm of police officers burst through the door of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey arrested the owners for violating Governor Murphy’s authoritarian shutdown order.

“Well, this was a first,” Dowlen said in a Facebook post. “I stayed the night in the gym writing, my book clients Ian & Frank were just waking up, I’m gathering my computer & notebooks, just waiting for the guys to come out for a few final questions, and then a SWARM of Camden County Sheriffs & local Bellmawr police (with K-9 units waiting in a vehicle) come bursting thru the door….to me, sitting there, writing, by myself.

Surprisingly:

First & foremost, the law enforcement officers were polite & respectful.

Lucky they were only NJ cops, not the Oz Schutzpolizei.  But it’s a good thing he didn’t have a gun, though, or else the NJ fuzz would have gone all Canberra on his ass.

Anyway, it got worse;  much worse.

The State’s aggressive response did not end with the arrest. In a controversial move, Governor Murphy and his administration seized $165,000 from the gym’s accounts—funds that Smith claims were amassed through donations and apparel sales to support the gym’s legal battles. This act was a punitive strike meant to cripple the gym financially and serve as a stern warning to others who might consider similar defiance.

“Governor Phil Murphy seized 100% of our assets today – $165k, all of which came from donations and apparel sales. This is done in the middle of ongoing litigation defending ourselves against these fines, our 80 charges, the revocation of our business license, and the unconstitutional health department shutdown.⁣ This was never about protection, it was always about control.”

However, since he has been acquitted of all the bullshit charges — with prejudice! — Our Hero has not gone humbly off into obscurity.  No sir.  Instead:

Smith did not mince words, directly challenging Governor Murphy with a phrase that has since gone viral: “Suck my dick Phil Murphy.”

…which is why he’s my kinda guy.

Private Property

Government Thugs, Rights

Here we go:

A proposed rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) will soon take effect, forcing many private gun sellers to use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to sell their guns.

The targets of this rule are not licensed federal gun dealers, as they are already required to use the NICS on every gun sale and/or transfer.

Federal Firearms License (FFL) holders are required to conduct background checks on all gun sales and transfers because of the Brady Act (1993). That act created the NICS, and, since then, all retail sales of both new and used guns have been conducted via the NICS. Democrats have pushed to include private sales in the NICS requirement. However, Congress — even when controlled by Democrats — has refused.

But the recently proposed rule does what Congress has refrained from doing by allowing the ATF to set its sights on private, non-licensed Americans who may sell guns at some time throughout any given year…

…and when people refuse to comply with this fucking monstrosity, the rule will create criminals where heretofore none existed (as so many of these “regulations” do).

Oh, and don’t think you can get around this assholishness by swapping or bartering for guns, either.

I know, I know:

But a reminder:

This should be interesting.  My advice (and remember, I am no lawyer, nor any kind of criminal — yet):  if you are going to ignore this un-Constitutional infringement on your rights, make sure to do so only with trusted friends and family members — no strangers, ever, because you never know when the ATF is blackmailing or otherwise pressuring someone into breaking the law on their behalf.

Like they did with Randy Weaver.

Government Bastardy #2,658

Government Thugs, Two-Minute Hate

Reader Mike L. points me at this sorry tale, in Texas no less:

About two weeks ago, Kaylee Morgan, a wife and stay-at-home mother of five, went to get her driver’s license renewed on her 30th birthday, and she was told there was a warrant out for her arrest.

“This was news to me. I haven’t been pulled over. I’ve never been in any sort of legal trouble,” Morgan said.

She called the courts and found out the warrant was related to a charge for theft of government property, a Class C misdemeanor. She also faces a $570 fine, which she said her family could not afford on their single income.

“It’s over a library book that I turned in late,” Morgan said.

WTF?  A late library book, and she’s got a warrant?  Read the whole story for the disgusting details.

I have to tell you, there is no one alive who loves books more than I do;  but if some angry soul were to burn this whole fucking library to the ground in reaction to this bullshit, I’d be the first to buy him a drink.

As for the arrogant asshole of a judge…

“Excessive”, you say?  No more excessive than the actions of the fucking government.