On February 2, 2009 the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC) released it’s now infamous report entitled “The Modern Militia Movement.”  This report, commonly referred to as “The MIAC Report”, attempted to demonize a wide range of ordinary Americans as being potential “terrorist threats”.  Suddenly, the word terrorist was being redefined right before our eyes.  Under the new definitions, law enforcement was supposed to be on the lookout for “conspiracy theorists”, “right wing extremists”, “militias”, gun owners, “constitutionalists”, people who fear economic collapse, Christians, “anti-abortionists”, “tax resistors”, “Libertarians”, supporters of third party candidates, or even people who cite the constitution.

As the police began learning the new “warning signs”, the main stream media began educating the public that the real threat in America was gun owners, returning veterans, and people who question the government.  The term “radical Islam” was completely replaced in the main stream media by the term “right wing extremist” seemingly overnight.  It was a constant drum beat of fear and misinformation—propaganda at its finest.

And the propaganda hasn’t stopped.  Since that time we’ve been virtually bombarded with an endless stream of similar publications.  Now the TSA is molesting our children, Janet Napolitano is trying to convince us all to spy and tattle on each other, and it’s even considered “suspicious” if you pay for something in cash, try to use your cell phone privately, or wear blue jeans.

But why?

I learned the answer to that question in 2010.  After using the scary word “revolution” on facebook (in context of a revolution of political thought toward Libertarianism), and having two “anti-government” bumper stickers on his car (an anarchy symbol and a Ron Paul sticker), a friend of mine was essentially fired from a civil service job based on nothing but “concern” over his mental status.  He was lucky, though.  The NDAA hadn’t been written into law yet and he was able to take his case to arbitration.  After a long court battle (which lasted well over a year) he was reinstated to his job only after it was revealed through testimony that his employer paid a psychologist to write a fraudulent report, the psychologist failed to test positive for any mental illnesses (and still deemed him unable to work), and the psychologist testified that the sole basis for releasing him was his “political beliefs.”

Brandon Raub hasn’t been so lucky.  Just in case you haven’t heard of Brandon Raub, let me give you a quick rundown of his situation.  Last Thursday police, accompanied by the FBI and secret service, showed up at Raub’s house and took him into custody against his will—not because he broke any laws, but because he posted some controversial opinions on facebook.  Raub, a former marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, was not lawfully arrested and taken to jail.  Instead, he was unlawfully kidnapped and placed in a mental institution where he remains today.

Many people respond to news like this with the same reaction.  They immediately and instinctively ask, “well, what did Brandon Raub’s facebook posts say?”  Although I will answer this question, and do recognize that Raub’s facebook posts are relevant, I want to point something out to you.  If your very first instinct was to question the content of Raub’s posts instead of questioning the government’s actions, what does that say about you? How effective has MIAC-style propaganda been in shaping your perception?  To instantaneously question what Raub said is to instantaneously question his right to say it—an unconscious declaration that you blindly and instinctively trust the government and that their actions must be justified.  A far better reaction would be “why was the government reading Raub’s facebook posts in the first place?” 

Wouldn’t it stand to reason that, if Raub was really having a meltdown or there was really reason to be concerned about Raub’s mental health, his family and friends would have tried to intervene, tried to get him help, and contacted the authorities as a last resort?  From all available information on this case, Raub’s family and friends have no concern whatsoever about his mental status.  It appears that the government simply took it upon themselves to spy on his facebook posts, pretend that his facebook posts are evidence of mental illness (based on their own propaganda), and kidnap him.  If the people who knew him best, and interacted with him daily, weren’t concerned about his mental health, how can the government be justified in taking these actions based on a handful of facebook posts?  He must have made some very serious threats to cause all kinds of harm…right?  Let’s look at a few of those posts and see what makes Raub so scary.  (Note: I’m going to select a few posts that seem to be the most likely candidates to cause “concern”)

August 13, 2012
Sharpen up my axe; I’m here to sever heads.

Not to make excuses for the guy, but these are song lyrics from the song “Bring Me Down” by Swollen Member.  It’s very common for people to quote song lyrics on facebook.  Trust me, if I quote L.L. Cool J this does not mean that I actually want to “bomb a town…get down”.  There are numerous song lyrics out there with violent content and some of them are quite quotable.

August 12, 2012
Do you know why the American people will win the civil war that is coming?  Because we are Americans.

Apparently, this post is scary because Raub thinks there is a civil war of some sort looming in the future—which will pit the citizens against the government.  But wait.  Isn’t Janet Napolitano’s DHS buying millions of rounds of small arms ammo, training the military for domestic operations, purchasing all kinds of riot gear, training the military to operate “re-education centers”, putting drones in the skies, lining our streets with video cameras, encouraging citizens to spy on each other, and snooping on facebook pages (like Raub’s) to be prepared for civil unrest?  How is Raub’s concern that the government may fight the people in a “civil war” any different from Janet Napolitano’s concern that the government may fight the people because of “civil unrest”?  I wonder if they will be knocking on Bib Sis’ door anytime soon…

August 10, 2012
I’m starting the revolution.  I’m done waiting.

The word “revolution” terrifies these people in government.  My friend used it before they went after him and Raub used it too.  In fact, there is a whole list of words that DHS scans facebook for, and I’m guessing “revolution” is right near the top.  The implication is that Raub is going to do something violent, but he never says he’s going to be violent.  Our nation was founded by a revolution, the Beatle’s sang about Revolution, we’ve affectionately labeled positive era’s in history as “revolutions” (such as the industrial revolution), and Ron Paul’s peaceful campaign for liberty is often called the “Ron Paul Revolution”.  Sure, saying you want to start the revolution, may be a bit controversial, but the first amendment wasn’t written to protect tame or mundane speech.

August 9, 2012
This is the part where I tell the Federal Government to go f*** itself. This is the part where I tell Generals, training our young men to fight Americans, I am coming for you. The Veterans will be with me.

As a former marine, he probably has some insight as to the training they receive.  If our military is being trained to fight us—instead of defend our constitutional rights—he has every right to be angry.  Raub is not a threat because he wants the military to play the proper constitutional role.

August 5, 2012
If you are unaware of the great amount of evil perpetrated by the American Government I suggest you take you take your head out of the sand. The day of reckoning is almost at hand.

So, Raub thinks our government is evil.  Is that not his right?  I, personally, think all governments are evil.  Governments exist for the sole purpose of controlling, restricting, and manipulating people.  It’s not “crazy”.  It’s a valid opinion.

July 28, 2012
If you are my friend, you deserve to know the truth. This world is secretly run by a shadow organization of people who among other things enjoy raping children. Some of leaders were involved with the bombing of the twin towers. It was a sacrifice and a complete inside job. Also the Bush's are very sick twisted problems. I believe they have a secret Castle in Colorado where they have been raping and sacrificing children for many years. Think I'm crazy? Think again.

This is by far the “kookiest” of Raub’s posts, but is it threatening?  Is it cause for concern about his mental health?  Is it cause to lock him up against his will?  This post is nothing but an expression of Raub’s own beliefs.  He’s entitled to his beliefs and, simply because they may sound a bit kooky to you, doesn’t mean he has no right to hold them.  Let’s be honest.  Christians find the beliefs of Muslims to be “kooky”, Republicans find the beliefs of Democrats to be “kooky”, and the people who drink Bud Light because it “tastes great” think the people who drink Bud Light because it has “less filling” are a bit kooky.  It’s not illegal to have kooky beliefs.  My kids believe that a fat man lives at the North Pole with toy making elves, flies all around the world stopping at every single house in one night, makes this journey in a magic sleigh pulled by magical flying reindeer, enters and exits everyone’s houses through the chimney, and gives them toys for simply being good—which he knows because he can see them at all times.  This is far kookier than believing the Bushes own a secret castle and rape children, but I’m not quite ready for the FBI to round up my children and send them to the loony bin.

So there you have it; no direct threats, no suicidal talk, no loss of function, no inability to perform his daily routine, none of that pesky criteria that traditionally indicates mental illness.  It would seem that the government is less concerned about real evidence of mental illness and more concerned with anti-government sentiment (which they consider to be one in the same).  It’s important to pay attention to cases like this because it shows exactly what the government is trying to do, and how they plan to do it—and it all goes back to the MIAC Report.

The truth is that our government has wanted to erode our free speech for a long time.  In particular, they absolutely do not want us questioning or speaking out against them.  But this was a tricky situation because the people would never give up their first amendment rights.  They were faced with a dilemma: how to punish speech they don’t like without it appearing to the general public that they are attacking our first amendment rights.  The solution was to convince the people that anti-government speech is evidence of mental illness.  So they rolled out the propaganda, and used the main stream media to scare and condition us all.  Now they shroud free speech in a cloak of mental illness, and pretend they are fighting a monster.

The decision to use “mental health concerns” as their straw man was no accident.  There are several advantages to this approach.  First, they can bypass the legal justice system where the burden of proof rests on them.  Second, they can force you to take mind numbing drugs and subject you forced therapy (i.e. re-education) sessions in mental institutions that they can’t do in jail.  Third, and most important, no label is more misunderstood, damaging, pervasive, stigmatizing, vague, or irrefutable than that of mental illness.  It’s easy to convince the public that someone is crazy, all you have to do is make the accusation.  The second someone is accused of being “mentally ill”, their right to be innocent until proven guilty goes right out the window.  The mere accusation is enough to alter opinions, influence public perception, and spark excessive scrutinization.  As my friend told me after he was fired and trying to save his reputation, “there is nothing worse than being labeled ‘crazy’.  The more you try to prove your sanity, the crazier you look.”

It’s Independence Day in America—that day where we fly our flags, picnic with our loved ones, marvel at fireworks, and celebrate our freedom.  But do we really have anything to celebrate?  Let’s find out.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary online defines independence as:

“the quality or state of being independent”

This definition isn’t all that helpful without defining the word independent.  Once again we return to the Merriam-Webster dictionary online and find these definitions for the word independent:

a.      “not subject to control by others”

b.      2) “not looking to others for one’s opinions or for guidance in conduct”

c.        “not requiring or relying on others”

Therefore, a complete definition of the word independence would be:

the quality or state of not being subject to the control of others, not looking to others for guidance in conduct, and not relying on others.

Now ask yourself, according to this definition, are you independent?  Anyone who answers that question affirmatively is either delusional, dishonest, or reading this article from the safety of a padded room in their local mental institution.  Of course you’re not independent!

Can you really say you are “not subject to control by others”?  Try driving down the street without having to obey countless traffic laws.  Try filming a cop as he beats up a fellow “free” citizen.  Try flying to your family’s fourth of July picnic without having your genitals groped by the TSA.  Everything you do is regulated, everything you say is monitored and censored, and every transaction you make is taxed.  Even the “free” choices you make are restricted and controlled by the government.  When you choose between a limited set of options, you don’t actually make a real choice at all.  Make no mistake: you are under complete control.

Although you may not be “looking to others for…opinions or for guidance” from the government, the government will relentlessly bombard you with their unsolicited opinions—constantly letting you know what is best for you.  And, even worse, they don’t just offer their opinions, they force you to adhere to them through laws, violence, coercion, and taxation.  The government seeks to control your opinions about every topic the same way a rapist seeks to control your opinions about who you should have sex with.  They hold a gun to your head and say, “you know you want it.”

Do you require or rely on others?  Hopefully not.  Of the three components of independence, this one is the most vital.  If you don’t rely on the government, then they lose most of their power to control your actions or guide your opinions.  This is precisely why the government perpetually seeks ways of making us rely on them.  By removing our ability to take responsibility for our own actions and be held accountable for the results, they gain control.  This is also why, every time the government “helps” us acquire a service, the cost of that service goes through the roof—that way, it makes others have to turn to the government for that same service.  We’ve reached a point where people can’t even imagine privately funding education, saving for their own retirements, paying their own doctors, or deciding what to put into their own bodies—a point where people expect the government to censor the TV so they don’t have to take responsibility for what they watch, where people expect the government to outlaw drugs and prostitution so they don’t have to take responsibility for their own poor decisions, and where people expect the government to ban everything that they don’t personally agree with (denying others the opportunity to make their own decisions).  Of the three components of independence, this is the one we can use to take the power back, by simply taking responsibility of our own lives.  Sadly, however, taking responsibility is a lot more work than sitting idly by and letting the government run your life for you, and most people are content to do just that.  Like dogs on leashes, they forget about the leash as long as they get an easy meal once in a while.

Please wake up to this fact: we are not free and we do not have independence.  We have drones in our skies, troops on our streets, the TSA in our pants, the IRS in our wallets, the police in our faces, and the NSA in our business.   On this 4^th of July, instead of blindly celebrating false independence, let’s try to remember how we gained real independence in the first place.  It didn’t come easy, but nothing worth having ever does.  I hope that each and every person that reads this will privately issue their own Declaration of Independence—make a personal vow to live freely, take responsibility, let other’s live their own lives as they see fit, speak out against tyranny, and refuse to blindly follow the masses.  In living this way, we will hopefully make large strides back toward independence, and once again have a reason to celebrate in the future.  As for this year, however, let’s remember the words of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe:

“none are more hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.”

I woke up today and, as I do every morning, I paused to reflect about how great it was to be a completely free man living in the United States of America--the last bastion for true individual liberty in the world.  It's a wondrous and exhilarating feeling to know that I am a sovereign, completely independent, individual.  No man, woman, child, or government can interfere with my unalienable rights of life, liberty, or my pursuit of happiness.  I'm almost overwhelmed that I can do ANYTHING I WANT (as long as I don't screw with anyone else's rights).

So I roll over and I give my wife a good morning kiss on the cheek.  I married her several years ago after I paid the state for a marriage license and had a state representative preside over the ceremony to make it "legal".  It's wonderful that I can choose to spend my life with whoever I want.  (I'm just glad I'm not gay.  Poor bastards.)

My first stop of the day is the bathroom, as it is every day.  I brush my teeth with governmentally regulated fluoridated water and my FDA approved toothpaste.  Then I take a whiz into my governmentally regulated low-flow toilette.  I also decided to shave my face with my electric razor.  It's a little frustrating how high energy costs have gotten, and how much of that money goes to taxes, but at least I'm free to shave my face--unlike those other schmucks--in those not-free countries!

I didn't have much planned today--just had to run a few errands and mow my yard.  So I had a quick breakfast (all FDA approved just like my toothpaste), headed out the door, jumped into my car, and off I went.  As I drove around town I was subjected to dozens upon dozens of traffic laws--any of which could result in me being fined, imprisoned, having my government-issued permission to drive revoked, or (at the very least) have my day interrupted by a public servant.  As I was driving from errand to errand, I was closely monitoring my gas mileage because fuel costs (and the fuel-taxes we pay to the government) are out of control.

No worries, though, I can forget how intrusive the government really is by just turning on some music and jamming out--as long as I don't do it too loud (I don't want to be in violation of the city noise ordinance).  The music really did the trick.  I was driving around, not a care in the world, living as a completely free man!!!  I just wish I could hear some songs on the radio that haven't been censored by the FCC.  After I finish all my errands (which all involve paying sales tax to the government--from the money I already paid income tax on) I return to my house to mow the lawn.

My lawn--you know, the one I pay property taxes for so the government won't take it away--doesn't really need to be mowed quite yet.  But I decided to mow it today anyhow, because they are forecasting rain for the next few days.  I just don't want to risk having my lawn get too long.  If it does, I'll be in violation of the city ordinance and have to pay a fine to the government.

So...after I finish the lawn, the rest of the day is pretty uneventful.  I eat another FDA approved meal, watch some FCC-regulated TV with my state-licensed wife and my two tax-dependents (children), and then we will all go to bed again...

I'm not sure what time I'm going to go to bed, though.  I'm a free man and I can make that choice for myself!!!

Isn't freedom amazing?

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