Sense and Nonsense

*An American does not have to speak with a government agent unless the citizen has been arrested, even then there is the Right to have your counsel of choice present
.*American Citizens have a right to privacy in their life, property and papers.
*The PRIVACY ACT OF 1974 (Public Law 93-579), empowers Citizens to require full, written disclosure from any government official who seeks information from them.
*You may insist on complete disclosure as a precondition to speaking with any government official.

The Mexican constitution of 1824 gave the people of Texas rights similar to those enjoyed at the time by the citizens of the United States, but every new Mexican government attempted to increase control over Texas. To call attention to this, Texans removed the coat of arms from the center of a Mexican flag, and replaced it with the date of the constitution. It was this banner that flew from the walls of the Alamo.

For 13 days, less that 200 Texans held off an army of more than 5,000 men. The alcalde of San Antonio, an eyewitness to the last day of the battle, recorded: "The deadly fire of Travis' artillery resembled a constant thunder. At the third charge of 830 (Mexican soldiers) only 130 were left alive. The gallantry of the Texans who defended the Alamo was really wondered at by the Mexican army. Even the generals were astonished at how dearly victory was bought."

The Alamo fell on March 6, 1836. In addition to the 182 Texans who died, approximately 1500 of the best Mexican soldiers were killed and another 1500 seriously wounded. The Texans in the Alamo were fighting to protect the rights outlined in the Mexican constitution of 1824 and never knew that Texas had declared its independence 4 days earlier.

Part of the problem facing America is widespread disagreement on what is ethical and what is unethical. The following offers a good working definition of ethics and some limited discussion of where the ideas came from. I did not write it, I found it on the internet somewhere. It the author will let me know, I will attribute credit.

Ethics, principles or standards of human conduct, sometimes called morals, and the study of such principles, sometimes called moral philosophy. This article primarily concerns ethics in the second sense in Western civilization, although every culture has developed an ethic of its own.

In the historical development of ethics, three principal standards of conduct have been proposed as the highest good: happiness or pleasure; duty, virtue, or obligation; and perfection, the fullest harmonious development of human potential. Three distinct authorities invoked for good conduct include the will of a deity, the pattern of nature, or the rule of reason. When the will of a deity is the authority, obedience to divine commandments is the accepted standard of conduct. If the pattern of nature is the authority, conformity to the qualities attributed to human nature is the standard. When reason rules, behavior is expected to result from rational thought.

This essay was written by Louis Beam in 1983 and published at that time. It was republished in 1992.

Louis Beam, who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for heroism in Vietnam,  was tried for sedition (acquitted in 1988) for his outspoken criticism of his own government's abuse of power. During the Clinton years he was again in the news pointing out the abuses of power by Attorney General Janet Reno at Waco and Ruby Ridge. He doesn't lead a placid life.

I would add that maybe the Tea Party movement  doesn't need a leader.  So far, it looks a lot like normal Americans doing what they think is right without any big shot telling them just what to think and do.

LEADERLESS RESISTANCE
By Louis Beam

The concept of Leaderless Resistance was proposed by Col. Ulius Louis Amoss, who was the founder of International Service of Information Incorporated, located in Baltimore, Maryland. Col. Amoss died more than fifteen years ago, but during his life was a tireless opponent of communism, as well as a skilled Intelligence Officer. Col. Amoss first wrote of Leaderless Resistance on April 17, 1962. His theories of organization were primarily directed against the threat of eventual Communist take-over in the United States.

The present writer, with the benefit of having lived many years beyond Col. Amoss, has taken his theories and expounded upon them. Col. Amoss feared the Communists. This author fears the federal government. Communism now represents a threat to no one in the United States, while federal tyranny represents a threat to everyone . The writer has joyfully lived long enough to see the dying breaths of communism, but may, unhappily, remain long enough to see the last grasps of freedom in America.

The fundamental problem facing the United States of America today concerns the relationship between freedom and responsibility - between entitlement and obligation.

These are old questions, dating back at least to the seventeenth century when Thomas Hobbes and John Locke began to question whether human beings belonged to the church, to the state, to themselves or some combination of the three.

Hobbes contended that people would not voluntarily accept their obligations and would therefore require the heavy hand of church and state to protect them from themselves.