| Published: Thursday, December 10, 2020 |
|
Today, December 10, 2020, the law firm of Rhoades, Siefert & Erickson, PLLC, in Missoula, Montana, filed a lawsuit against Montana Governor Steve Bullock on behalf of a host of plaintiffs, alleging Governor Bullock’s mask orders, shutdowns, lockdowns, social distancing requirements, etc., are an egregious violation of the constitutional liberties of the people of Montana. The complaint was filed in the Montana First Judicial District Court, Lewis and Clark County (Helena). Each plaintiff in this lawsuit wrote a summary statement as to why he or she decided to be a plaintiff in the case. As one of the plaintiffs, here is my summary statement: From the beginning of our country’s existence, the fundamental Natural liberty deemed sacrosanct to the very purpose of our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights was Religious Liberty. That fact is easily seen as James Madison put the freedom of worship and the freedom of assembly in the very first Article of our Bill of Rights—with the strongest statement “no law . . . prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” The First Amendment protects the Biblical duty of Christian people to “forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, and so much the more as you see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:25) Christians are instructed to “lay hands” on disciples as a means of setting them apart for Christian service (Acts 8:17; Acts 6:6; Acts 13:3; Acts 19:6; Acts 28:8). We are instructed to “greet one another with a holy kiss.” (Romans 16:16; I Corinthians 16:20; II Corinthians 13:12; I Thessalonians 5:26) How are we to baptize our converts without touching them, embracing them and, of course, immersing them? When sick, Christians are instructed to call upon the elders of the church that they might “pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.” (James 5:14) Our great Savior and Teacher—our Example in every way—constantly touched people, held people, embraced people. Jesus was a most touchy Savior. (Matthew 8:3; 8:15; Matthew 9:29; Matthew 17:7; Matthew 20:34; Mark 1:41; Mark 7:33; Luke 5:13; Luke 22:51) Were there no communicable diseases during the first century? Governor Steve Bullock’s mandates that limit the numbers of people who can gather at one place—including churches—that require social distancing between individuals and mandates that healthy people wear masks as a requirement to interact with society is an egregious abridgment against our individual liberties enshrined in Natural Law and protected in constitutional law and an even greater abridgment against our God-given Religious Liberty protected in law since before our nation came into existence. Think of it: America faced a War for Independence, a Civil War, the War of 1812—all fought on American soil. We faced two world wars, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. We have faced pestilences of every sort. My parents lived through the Great Depression. In all of this, NEVER were churches forced to close or told how many people could or could not attend their worship services. At no time did government mandate they wear masks and stay 6 feet apart. I distinctly remember my mom and dad telling me of the awful poverty, disease and sickness that people experienced every day during the Great Depression. But no matter the pain and affliction of their circumstances, they came together on the Lord’s Day to worship and sing and pray and to draw inner strength from spiritual inspiration and instruction. While Germany was bombing the city of London into the Stone Age during World War II, Christian families would gather in the bombed-out, gutted churches to worship and pray together. Even in horrific times such as these, no government had such audacity as to prohibit Christian assemblies or limit the number of worshippers or mandate that people hide their faces from each other and avoid one another’s presence. I view Governor Bullock’s mandates as an assault against our Christian faith, an assault against our Religious Liberties, an assault against the Natural Laws of God enshrined in our Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights and, yes, an assault against our very humanity. In days of old, civil magistrates such as Steve Bullock would not merely be driven from office but would be tarred and feathered and run out of town on a rail. I invite all of my readers—including those in the media—to go to our website to read the complaint for yourself. Please share this lawsuit with everyone you can. This lawsuit is fighting for the basic constitutional liberties of every person in this country—not just in Montana. A win would set a precedent for the entire nation. I also encourage every lover of Liberty to join this effort in any way that you can. Those of you in the media are especially encouraged to cover this story and contact our lead counsel, Quentin Rhoades, for more information. Most people seem content to grumble and complain but actually do very little to protect and defend Liberty. And that’s exactly why Liberty is losing in this country. But here is a motivated, enthusiastic group of people—and a courageous Liberty lawyer—who are doing more than just talk. They have stepped up to the plate and put their money where their mouth is. I am honored to be named among them. We need your help. Liberty needs your help. I am asking readers to help make history. Ask yourself: In your entire lifetime, how many opportunities will you have to do something that could truly make a difference in the preservation of Liberty in our land? Well, here is such an opportunity. P.S. We are still shipping the giant compilation of America’s greatest historical documents. This giant collection is available only here, and our supply will not last much longer. This phenomenal book is called THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS. Read these great documents, and you’ll realize just how far America (especially our political and religious leaders) has strayed from the roots of Liberty once planted so very deeply in the soil of this wonderful country. Read THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS, and you’ll understand that what Governor Steve Bullock and these other would-be tyrants in the medical, political and religious establishments are doing is a much greater abuse of our Natural liberties enshrined in our founding documents than anything King George and the British Crown ever thought about doing. Again, our supply of THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS won’t last much longer. © Chuck Baldwin Download free computerized mp3 audio file of this column *If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link: Chuck Baldwin Live Donate Form I also have many books and DVDs available for purchase online. Go here: To subscribe to my weekly columns, click here:
|
Natural Law
Independence Now And Independence Forever
By Chuck Baldwin
July 2, 2020
This Saturday, July 4, America celebrates the 244th anniversary of the adoption of our Declaration of Independence.
On July 4, 1837, John Quincy Adams said these words about Independence Day:
Why is it that, next to the birthday of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day [Independence Day]? . . . Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth? That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies, announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?
Notice that Adams said that our Declaration of Independence exhibits four major accomplishments:
1. It formed a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation.
2. It first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth.
3. It laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity.
4. It was the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior.
Adams was exactly right. The United States of America is the only nation in human history established by (mostly) Christian people upon 2,000 years of Christian thought—including being formed as a direct result of the Protestant Reformation—and God’s Natural Law principles and dedicated to the purpose of religious and personal liberty and equal justice under the law.
Not long ago, I was interviewed for another documentary movie (I’m featured in 14 full-length documentary films). The producer asked me to iterate the basic principles upon which America was founded. Based on my study of the Declaration, Constitution, Bill of Rights and the copious supplemental writings of the Founding Fathers, here, I believe, are the principles upon which America was founded:
1. That man is created equal under God, and as such, human life is a sacred gift of God.
2. That the Natural rights of the individual are inalienable and superior to the will of the state.
3. That government exists to protect the Natural rights and liberties of man, not to provide man with public benefits and favors.
4. That a man is innocent until proven guilty, that he has the Natural right to a trial by jury and the right to a defense attorney.
5. That people have a Natural right to choose their own form of government.
6. That individuals have a Natural right and duty to bear arms for their own protection.
7. That the power and reach of the central government needs to be limited, being held in check by independent sovereign states and a well regulated and fully equipped militia.
8. That religious liberty is the core of America’s freedoms.
9. That the people have a Natural right and duty to alter or abolish any government that has become tyrannical.
10. That America would always be a constitutional republic.
11. That only sound money would be used as legal tender so as to keep the federal government from amassing excessive debt.
12. That America would always promote and protect a free market economy with limited governmental interference.
13. That a man’s home is his castle and his personal property can never be seized except by arduous due process.
(I’m in the process of reproducing the work of one of America’s most important—and least remembered—Founding Fathers: James Otis. This new book will also include a brief biography of this great man. Perhaps more than any other founder, James Otis was responsible for America’s respect for the sacred principles enshrined in our Fourth Amendment. Watch for this new book here.)
14. That a free society depends upon the acceptance and application of God’s Natural Laws relating to the pursuit of happiness and peace, upon governmental adherence to the Law of Nations and upon upholding our Creator’s foundational moral code relating to human behavior.
15. That liberty depends upon the unfettered exercise of the Christian religion, including strong, uninhibited preaching from America’s pulpits.
The Declaration begins:
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
The Declaration ends:
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. — And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
Here are a few statements from America’s founders after the Declaration was approved by Congress:
John Hancock said, “There! His Majesty can now read my name without spectacles. And he can double the reward on my head.” (The Crown had put a reward of 500 pounds sterling on Hancock’s head. That amounts to over $100,000 in today’s money.)
George Washington said, “The preservation of the sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of the republican model of Government, are justly considered as deeply, perhaps as finally staked, on the experiment entrusted to the hands of the American people.”
Thomas Paine said, “Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it.”
Stephen Hopkins, a signer of the Declaration from Rhode Island, said as he signed the document, “My hand trembles, but my heart does not.”
Indeed, Hopkins (and the rest of the signers) had reason to tremble. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, nine died of wounds or hardships during the war. Five were captured, imprisoned and tortured. Several lost wives, children or entire families. Two wives were brutalized and tortured. All were, at one time or another, the victims of manhunts and driven from their homes by British soldiers. Twelve signers had their homes completely burned. Seventeen lost everything they owned.
Carter Braxton, a wealthy planter and merchant, saw his ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in rags.
Thomas McKean was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move his family constantly. He served in Congress without pay, and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were seized by the British, and he died in poverty.
At the Battle of Yorktown, Thomas Nelson Jr. noted that British General Cornwallis was using his home for his headquarters. Out of respect to Nelson, General Washington refused to fire on the dwelling. Nelson privately urged Washington to open fire on his home, saying it was no longer his home but was now the headquarters of the enemy. The home was subsequently destroyed. Nelson died bankrupt.
Frances Lewis had his home and properties destroyed by the British. They jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.
John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their 13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste. For more than a year, he lived in forests and caves, returning home to find his wife dead and all of his 13 children vanished. He never saw them again.
The two patriots most responsible for the Declaration of Independence, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, both died on the same day: July 4, 1826—the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration. Daniel Webster gave the eulogy for both men on August 2 of that year. He concluded his remarks with these words:
“It [the Declaration of Independence] is my living sentiment, and by the blessing of God, it shall be my dying sentiment. Independence now and independence forever.”
Amen! This should be the living and dying sentiment of every American:
Independence now and independence forever.
P.S. This is the FINAL NOTICE that we are currently distributing the most important liberty documents in U.S. history. This giant volume is called THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS.
Want to honor Independence Day? Buy your family and friends a copy of THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS. Help teach them what Independence Day is truly all about—from the words of the men and women who were there. It is no hyperbole to say that without a familiarity with these great documents of American liberty and independence, one cannot truly understand and appreciate what Independence Day really means to us Americans.
This giant book is an excellent resource for high school and college students—as well as homeschoolers. Teachers, professors, physicians, engineers, business owners, attorneys, judges and pastors have purchased THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS with extreme satisfaction.
The Tennessee State Supreme Court ordered several copies of THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS not long ago. Plus, a county sheriff in Montana recently ordered copies for each of his deputies. I believe you will be just as pleased as they are with this wonderful compilation of American documents.
You can have these great documents at your fingertips in one beautifully bound, easy-to-read format. These are the documents that gave birth to the greatest free nation on earth. To teach your children and grandchildren the truth about Independence Day, give them a copy of THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS.
Again, nowhere else can you find these documents complete in one volume under one title. And this is the FINAL NOTICE for this printing. Our supply will be gone in a few days.
Order THE FREEDOM DOCUMENTS now.
Plus, we have been informed by the publisher that so many people have responded to our offer of the Matthew Henry Study Bible that we have exhausted the available stock.
Therefore, this notice is to inform readers that we now have fewer than 100 copies of the Matthew Henry Study Bible left, and when these are gone, there will be no more available until a new batch can be printed—probably around November.
I’m offering this study Bible, because it is the one comprehensive study Bible that does not promote Christian Zionism. Beyond that, the Matthew Henry commentaries on the Bible (written from 1708 – 1710) are yet today the gold standard of Bible commentaries.
If you want a copy of this magnificent study Bible, order NOW, as these remaining copies will not last long.
Order the Matthew Henry Study Bible here.
© Chuck Baldwin
“Red Flag” Gun Confiscation Laws Are Even Worse Than You Think
Published: Thursday, August 22, 2019
by Chuck Baldwin
As I said in this column last week, Republicans Donald Trump, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio are joining forces with liberal Democrats to soon enact “red flag” gun confiscation laws. I also reported on the push for the enactment of other gun control measures such as universal background checks being promoted on Capitol Hill and by the White House here.
Yes, Donald Trump is calling for “red flag” gun confiscation laws and universal background checks. Trump said, “I have an appetite for background checks. We’re going to be doing background checks. We’re going to be filling in . . . the loopholes.”
I urge readers to watch my 8-minute video exposing Donald Trump’s betrayal of his promise to protect the 2nd Amendment and share it with as many of your friends as you can. If we don’t convince our U.S. senators to reject these egregious gun control measures, THEY WILL BE PASSED, AND TRUMP WILL SIGN THEM INTO LAW. We have about two or three weeks to convince our senators to reject these new gun control laws. That’s it.
Please watch the video and share it with everyone you can.
If law-abiding gun owners don’t call their U.S. senators en masse, and I mean posthaste, you are very likely to wake up one morning around 4am to the sound of a SWAT team breaking down your door to confiscate your guns, prepared to kill you or any member of your family who resists. Why? Perhaps because a gun-hating neighbor hates you having guns or a relative doesn’t like you and is looking for any way to “teach you a lesson” or your ex-spouse is looking for any way to “get even” with you or an anti-gun cop with a grudge wants to send a political message or a family doctor or school teacher overheard one of your children talk about how many guns daddy has and became alarmed, etc., ad infinitum.
Plus, the FBI has just recently stated that if you believe in “conspiracy theories,” you are a “domestic terrorist threat.” That statement is from an FBI intelligence bulletin from the bureau’s Phoenix field office, dated May 30, 2019. That FBI designation alone could very easily precipitate a “red flag” gun confiscation order being rendered against you.
And Donald Trump himself recently demonstrated how dangerous “red flag” laws are. In a tweet on August 13, President Trump said,
Would Chris Cuomo be given a Red Flag for his recent rant? Filthy language and a total loss of control. He shouldn’t be allowed to have any weapon. He’s nuts!
Are you paying attention? Donald Trump was threatening to use a “red flag” law to authorize police agencies to take away an American citizen’s Natural God-given right of self-defense simply because Trump didn’t like what the citizen said—about him.
Folks, don’t you see? Those in authority can use “red flag” gun confiscation laws against ANYONE they want and for ANY REASON they want.
In other words, there doesn’t have to be a reason. Under “red flag” laws, all it takes for police to come and seize your guns is for someone to make a “red flag” accusation against you. That’s it. And, yes, it really IS that easy.
“Red flag” laws not only eviscerate the 2nd Amendment, but the 1st Amendment, 4th Amendment, 5th Amendment, 6th Amendment, 7th Amendment and 8th Amendment.
The enforcement of “red flag” laws is actually much worse than you think, so says Donald Kilmer, an attorney who has litigated and defended against many state and federal gun charges.
Everyone is debating “red flag” laws like they’re some new thing, but California has had variations of them for decades. We call them domestic violence restraining orders, civil harassment restraining orders, workplace restraining orders, elder abuse restraining orders, mental health seizures and prohibition orders, and, more recently, gun violence restraining orders.
They’re all meant to disarm dangerous people — but they’re all fundamentally flawed.
None of these red flag laws would have prevented recent mass shootings. And in my 23 years practicing law in the heart of Silicon Valley, I have litigated dozens of these cases. I’ve seen firsthand the practical enforcement problems that emerge in real-life cases.
These kinds of court orders are usually obtained from a judge ex parte. That’s fancy Latin for: The judge only hears one side of the story, it is not your side, and you may not even know about it until after the fact. Then they immediately strip you of fundamental constitutional rights for the duration of the orders. You’ll get your “full due process” hearing, but not until later.
And any violation of these orders is separately punishable as a crime. So even if you are innocent of the underlying conduct that inspired the “red flag” order, if you violate the order pending your hearing, you can still face criminal charges.
That kind of situation is ripe for danger. In one situation in Baltimore, police ended up shooting [and killing] a man when they came to collect his guns under a “red flag” law.
In one case in Southern California, a client had to pay a $1,000 ransom, that was reduced from an initial “offer” of $4,000, to get his 50-gun collection back.
Experienced counsel to defend you in a “due process” hearing will run about $15,000 in fees. If you lose and want to appeal, expect to spend another $25,000 to $100,000 in fees and costs. And even with all of that, you might still lose.
To win these hearings, you have to refute an allegation that you pose a danger to yourself or others where a judge already issued a temporary ex parte order that concluded you were already a danger. Many judges will likely err on the side of caution, and against your rights.
As a practical matter, if the government’s interest is in separating a potentially-dangerous person from guns, it makes no sense to leave other guns that belong to family members in the home. So, if you live with someone that gets a red flag order issued against them, then you and others living in the same home risk losing your guns, too.
Even if you win, the judge isn’t going to just hand your guns back to you at the end of the hearing. It’s probably a good idea to “lawyer up” just to go through the process of recovering your guns, so you don’t go to jail or prison for accidentally breaking an obscure firearm law or regulation. You wouldn’t want to set off a red flag.
Law-abiding gun owners better get a big whiff of reality SOON and realize that if they are going to maintain the right to keep and bear arms much longer, THEY must step up to the plate and defend that right—and I mean RIGHT NOW.
The NRA is compromised and is in complete disarray and is offering NO HELP. Donald Trump has already proven he has ZERO fidelity to the 2nd Amendment (or to the rest of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, for that matter). Most Christians and conservatives are in a state of deep denial and hibernation, believing that their yellow-haired savior would never betray them, in spite of the fact that he has already betrayed them—repeatedly.
It is up to individual freedomists and gun owners who are willing to fight for their right to keep and bear arms to fend off this assault against our 2nd Amendment liberties. Reinforcements are not coming; it is up to YOU AND ME.
How much does the 2nd Amendment mean to you? Each of us will determine the answer to that question by what we do or do not do RIGHT NOW.
P.S. I, again, URGE readers to watch my 8-minute video regarding Trump’s betrayal of the 2nd Amendment and the push for the enactment of “red flag” gun confiscation laws and share it with everyone you can. In the video, I also include the phone numbers for both the White House and U.S. Senate, where you can call and voice your opposition.
P.P.S. Here is my video Open Letter To Our Legislator, Judges And Lawmen regarding “red flag” gun confiscation laws. Please watch it and share.
Chuck Baldwin: The Birth Of Christ And The Birth Of America Are Linked
Published: Thursday, December 27, 2018
As we are just two days past the day in which we commemorated Christ’s birth, I am reminded of a quote by John Quincy Adams. On July 4, 1837, he spoke these words:
Why is it that, next to the birth day of the Savior of the world, your most joyous and most venerated festival returns on this day? . . . Is it not that, in the chain of human events, the birthday of the nation is indissolubly linked with the birthday of the Savior? That it forms a leading event in the progress of the Gospel dispensation? Is it not that the Declaration of Independence first organized the social compact on the foundation of the Redeemer’s mission upon earth. That it laid the cornerstone of human government upon the first precepts of Christianity, and gave to the world the first irrevocable pledge of the fulfillment of the prophecies announced directly from Heaven at the birth of the Savior and predicted by the greatest of the Hebrew prophets six hundred years before?
Adams was exactly right. The United States of America is the only nation in human history established by mostly Christian people, founded upon 2,000 years of Christian thought and Biblical Natural Law principles and dedicated to the purpose of religious and personal liberty and equal justice under the law. This truth is easily observed within America’s earliest history.
America’s forebears first established a written covenant with God as early as November 11, 1620, when they penned The Mayflower Compact. It states in part:
In the name of God, Amen. . . . Having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith and honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colonie in the Northern parts of Virginia, do by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God, and one of another, covenant, and combine our selves together into a civil body politick; for our better ordering, and preservation and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enact, constitute, and frame such just and equal laws, ordinances, Acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the colonie: unto which we promise all due submission and obedience.
From the beginning, the sentiments and statements of America’s founders make it clear that this country has enjoyed a love and appreciation for the rights and freedoms recognized in Natural Law that is unique in the annals of human history. No other nation has such a heritage.
The Declaration of Independence states, “[Men] are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It also states that these rights are “self-evident” and that they were formed by the “Laws of Nature.” These principles are also taken directly from the Scriptures—and from Enlightenment fathers such as Locke, Vattel and Montesquieu. And one cannot read what these men wrote without quickly observing that they formed their writings largely on the Scriptures.
The signers of our Declaration of Independence could have never imagined that individual states (including the State of Massachusetts where our war for independence began) would deny their citizens the right to carry arms. They could have never dreamed that states would deny their citizens the right to be free from warrantless searches, which happens every day throughout this country. They could have never imagined that the time would come when their posterity would be denied the basic freedoms to publicly express their reverence for God. Never could they have imagined that the day would come when citizens of the several sovereign states (each with a State constitution protecting religious liberty) would be denied their right to pray in school, place Nativity scenes on public property or hang copies of the Ten Commandments on courthouse walls.
I am also confident that America’s founders would be completely repulsed by the way the United States has jumped headlong into corporatism, socialism and Zionism. At the national level, Democrats and Republicans alike have created a central government so large that it would be unrecognizable to any founding father—even Alexander Hamilton or John Adams. Big Business sucks feverishly at the teat of Big Government; the major media has become little more than a propaganda ministry of Big Government; corporate 501c3 churches view Big Government as a god to be worshipped; and America (including and especially its Christians and churches) seems to be drunk on the perpetual wars and entangling alliances of the neocon Warfare State. Surely, our Founding Fathers must be turning over in their graves.
Therefore, at this Christmas season, let us recommit ourselves to our nation’s founding principles. Furthermore, let us renew with vigor the fight for freedom before our liberties and heritage disappear altogether.
Yes, John Quincy Adams was right. The birth of Christ and the birth of America are indissolubly linked.
Chuck Baldwin: Donald Trump And The GOP Are Exploding The Growth Of Deficit Spending
Anyone who believes that the Republican Party is conservative, especially in the area of federal spending, is seriously deluded. I have said for years: The only difference between Democrats and Republicans is Democrats want to tax and spend, and Republicans want to borrow and spend; but both parties want to SPEND. And Donald Trump is no exception.
This recent business report states:
It’s Huuuuuge: US Budget Deficit Under Trump Rises 21%, Widest Gap in Six Years
The US is headed toward its largest annual deficit in six years, according to reports, and new facts released by the Fed point to Trump’s tax laws and heavy military spending as the reason for the spiraling vortex of national debt.
The Trump White House sharply altered its current US deficit estimates up — way up — last week, now projecting that the annual deficit will rise above $1 trillion for the first time since 2013, even as the Fed noted a $76.9 billion deficit for July alone, primarily a result of increased military and government spending as well as deep tax cuts to corporations and the wealthy.
The US Treasury Department — headed by Steve Mnuchin, a Trump pick that many in Congress have dubbed the ‘foreclosure king’ — has observed that in just the first 10 months of the 2018 fiscal year, the US deficit totaled $684 billion, a startling 20.8 percent rise over the same period in 2017.
US government revenue is up just 1 percent in 2018 to date, according to the Fed, as a big drop in corporate tax payments at the hands of the Trump administration has seen tax earnings for the Fed drop significantly.
Total government spending — particularly by the US military — has risen 4.4 percent, according to reports, after Congress boosted corporate-friendly programs and now suffers under the rapidly rising cost of financing an enormous debt, cited by Marketwatch.com.
As interest payments on US national debt jumped an astonishing 41 percent in July, many are wondering whether the system can sustain — nevermind correct — itself, according to Marketwatch.com.
US congressional budget analysts have estimated that the 2018 deficit will be some 19 percent larger than that for 2017.
Republican-authored tax laws and spending boosts approved by a Republican-controlled US Congress are noted to be the drivers of the rapidly increasing national debt, as the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has now predicted that trillion-dollar US deficits will return by 2020 at the latest.
A government spending spree of potentially historic proportions will play out over the final seven weeks of fiscal 2018, as federal agencies look to spend $140 billion more than they thought they’d get before Congress passed and President Trump signed the omnibus spending bill.
Without a budget agreement in place, agencies spent cautiously through the first two quarters of fiscal 2018 before the omnibus—signed six months late in March—obligated an additional $80 billion for defense and $63 billion for civilian agencies.
Federal agencies, now flush with cash, must obligate that money before the fiscal year ends on Sept. 30 or lose it to the Treasury Department. Analysts believe the federal market will see a monumental effort among procurement officials to spend as much on contracts as possible.
“If agencies are going to spend the extra money in fiscal 2018, it’s going to have to be at a much higher percentage in the fourth quarter than it has been historically,” David Berteau, president of the Professional Services Council, told Nextgov.
And, of course, President Trump just signed the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law that approves a $717 billion budget for so-called defense-spending. According to CNBC,
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, includes $616.9 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, $69 billion for overseas contingency operations.
“Overseas contingency operations” means America’s ongoing “War on Terror,” otherwise known as “Wars For The New World Order” or “Wars For Globalists” or “Wars For The Deep State” or “Wars For Israel.” For all intents and purposes, the terms “New World Order,” “Globalists,” Deep State,” etc., all include the same entity: the Zionist State of Israel.
Speaking of the “War on Terror,” if you have not ordered Christopher Bollyn’s blockbuster new book The War On Terror: The Plot To Rule The Middle East, I encourage you to do so quickly. This book dispels the myths and destroys the lies about who and what was behind the 9/11 attacks and what America’s “War on Terror” is really all about. Bollyn is a researcher and investigative journalist who has dared to expose the lies that have cost trillions of dollars and millions of lives—lies that are still the basis of America’s foreign policy and ongoing “War on Terror.” This book is MUST-READING.
And while we are on the subject, the American taxpayers continue to shell out billions of dollars for Benjamin Netanyahu’s Apartheid State.
Stephen Lendman reports:
Israel is Washington’s largest recipient of foreign aid. It’s mostly for militarism and belligerence – billions of dollars annually, far more than to any other nation.
The Jewish state’s imperial wars, occupation harshness, and apartheid high crimes don’t matter – nor its flagrant violations of international law, not even its abusive spying on US military and other operations.
The CIA earlier called Israel its main regional spy threat. The FBI once uncovered a large-scale US-based Israeli spy ring – still active the agency believes.
The Pentagon accused Israel of “actively engag(ing) in military and industrial espionage in the United States.”
Israel tries stealing everything it can get its hands on, including US military and industrial secrets, its main ally and benefactor.
The FY 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) includes $500 million for US-Israel missile defense cooperation, $50 million more for the Jewish state’s war on Gaza’s tunnel economy, wanting vital goods it supplies cut off, further strangling its beleaguered people.
The measure authorizes an additional billion dollars to stockpile US weapons in Israel – available for its killing machine, used to terrorize Palestinians, to terror-bomb Gaza and Syria, to partner in Washington’s imperial aggression.
Like America, Israel’s only enemies are invented ones, no others. Both nations wage endless wars without declaring them.
For the first time, the FY 2019 NDAA establishes a cooperative US/Israeli R&D program to enhance countering unmanned aerial vehicles.
On August 1, Senate members passed S. 2497: United States-Israel Security Assistance Authorization Act of 2018 – unanimously without a roll call vote. Rubber-stamp House passage is certain.
The measure amends the 1961 Foreign Assistance Act and Arms Export Control Act. It authorizes additional funding for Israel’s killing machine, “and for other purposes” related to militarism and warmaking.
Congressional support for Israel is virtually unanimous. Both countries partner in each other’s high crimes.
New US funding for the Jewish state’s killing machine increases the Obama regime’s 2016 $38 billion package through 2026 – $3.8 billion annually, up from $3.1 billion a year earlier.
Most often, whatever Israel wants it gets – from the pockets of US taxpayers.
They’re largely unaware how their taxes are misused – for militarism, war-making and corporate handouts at the expense of other vital homeland needs.
All of Trump’s talk about draining the swamp and reining in the federal government is just that: TALK. Trump is spending money like a drunken sailor. No, that’s not really true. A drunken sailor spends his own money—money he has; Trump and his fellow miscreants in Washington, D.C., (from both parties) are spending OUR money—and it is money we don’t have.
Even the way Trump enacts tariffs is dishonest. After levying tariffs on foreign imports—ostensibly to balance the playing field in order to protect American trade interests—Trump turns around and gives billions of dollars to U.S. farmers that are hurt by those tariffs. Where do those billions of dollars come from? The U.S. taxpayers, that’s who. This is nothing more than old fashioned Crony Capitalism.
I’m telling you, Donald Trump doesn’t have an honest bone in his entire body. Like every other statist politician in Washington, D.C., Trump is bankrupting America to finance his Big-Government, Militaristic, Police State, Zionist agenda—all of his outsider, conservative rhetoric notwithstanding.
And still Republicans love him, and evangelical Christians adore him. Go figure.
Truly, no one can get by with out-of-control federal spending like Republicans. No one! Republicans in DC spend money the way Democrats talk about spending money.
As I said, the only difference between Democrats and Republicans is that Democrats want to tax and spend, and Republicans want to borrow and spend. And borrow and spend is exactly what Donald Trump and the Republicans in Washington, D.C. are doing—like there is no tomorrow.
P.S. I, again, urge readers to get Christopher Bollyn’s new blockbuster book The War On Terror: The Plot To Rule The Middle East.
Christopher Bollyn—along with Professor Steven Jones and others—is one of the foremost investigative researchers of the 9/11 attacks whose findings have decimated the official story that 19 Muslim terrorists attacked the Pentagon and took down the Twin Towers in New York City.
In his book The War On Terror, Bollyn shows that the 9/11 attacks were actually part of a much larger international conspiracy and the culprits were not al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden or militant Muslims in general. Bollyn’s book proves who the real culprits were and also shows how these conspirators have masterminded a perpetual “War on Terror” that is serving several nefarious purposes, including the destruction of America’s liberties.
From the book’s back cover:
The government and media have misled us about 9/11 in order to compel public opinion to support the War on Terror.
Why have we gone along with it? Do we accept endless war as normal? Are we numb to the suffering caused by our military interventions?
No. We have simply been propagandized into submission. We have been deceived into thinking that the War on Terror is a good thing, a valiant struggle against terrorists who intend to attack us as we were on 9/11.
Behind the War on Terror is a strategic plan crafted decades in advance to redraw the map of the Middle East. 9/11 was a false-flag operation blamed on Muslims in order to start the military operations for that strategic plan. Recognizing the origin of the plan is crucial to understanding the deception that has changed our world.
If you don’t read any other book in 2018, read Christopher Bollyn’s new book The War On Terror: The Plot To Rule The Middle East. Order it here:
The War On Terror: The Plot To Rule The Middle East
© Chuck Baldwin
Chuck Baldwin: America’s Burgeoning Civil War
Make no mistake about it: America is already engaged in its second civil war. The decades-old left-right, conservative-liberal, Democrat-Republican paradigm that had (before Donald Trump’s election) almost evaporated is back—with a vengeance. In fact, it has turned into a full-fledged war. And it doesn’t matter to a tinker’s dam which side wins this war: Constitutional government and the Natural rights of man are the losers.
Take your pick. Maxine Waters or Donald Trump, Sean Hannity or Chris Matthews: Both sides are destroying the principles of federalism, constitutionalism and Natural Law. For all intents and purposes these principles are already dead. The American experiment in republicanism is over. From now on it’s the survival of the strongest. Might makes right. Logic, reason and sensible debate are buried in the dustbin of history. America has entered the next Dark Ages. And, sadly, there are hardly any Reformation preachers left in America to lead the nation into the light of liberty.
By removing Alex Jones, Ron Paul’s Institute For Peace And Prosperity executive director Daniel McAdams and Antiwar.com editorial director Scott Horton from their outlets, Silicon Valley—complete with its poster establishments Facebook, Youtube, Spotify, etc.—have proven themselves to be nothing but Naziesque censors hell-bent on destroying public dissent. As Ron Paul rightly noted, “In an empire of lies the truth is treason.”
And lest conservatives whine about being the big, bad victims in this discussion, the Trumpites are as bad as the Clintonites. Neither group cares a flip about the Constitution, Bill of Rights or Natural Law. All either side wants is the POWER to have things done their way—freedom and liberty be damned.
A recent survey has discovered that nearly half of Republicans want to give President Trump the power to shut down whatever media outlets he chooses. According to The Daily Beast:
Freedom of the press may be guaranteed in the Constitution. But a plurality of Republicans want to give President Trump the authority to close down certain news outlets, according to a new public opinion survey conducted by Ipsos and provided exclusively to The Daily Beast.
The findings present a sobering picture for the fourth estate, with respondents showing diminished trust in the media and increased support for punitive measures against its members. They also illustrate the extent to which Trump’s anti-press drumbeat has shaped public opinion about the role the media plays in covering his administration.
All told, 43 percent of self-identified Republicans said that they believed “the president should have the authority to close news outlets engaged in bad behavior.” Only 36 percent disagreed with that statement.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is getting ugly FAST. And I think that is exactly what the power elite had in mind when they handed the victory to Donald Trump in 2016. They knew Trump would incite a civil war; in fact, they intended that Trump would incite a civil war.
This is not to put all of the blame on Trump. Not at all. The left is just as culpable. Both sides are playing the game (wittingly or unwittingly) as scripted by the gamemakers. Donald Trump’s rhetoric is as vitriolic as Maxine Waters’. And Maxine Waters’ rhetoric is as vitriolic as Donald Trump’s. Neither side knows how to reason. Neither side knows even a smidgen about the Constitution or Natural Law, much less decency and decorum. We are watching junkyard dogs have at each other. The problem is, both packs of dogs are chewing up the bones of liberty and constitutional government in the process.
Let me tell you folks straight out: Donald Trump is as much a usurper of constitutional government as Maxine Waters. The only difference is the brand of tyranny that you prefer.
Both Trump and Waters act like there are only two sides to this argument. They act like the whole country is divided between the fascists of the right and the socialists of the left. Not true! There are millions of Americans from a variety of backgrounds, theologies and philosophies that are sick and tired of BOTH SIDES. Count me as one of them.
It doesn’t matter that everyone agrees with me (or you). What matters is that everyone respects the Constitution, Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence and God’s Natural Law and is willing to grant to others the same Natural and civil rights as we assume for ourselves. Such a perspective is totally lost on both Donald Trump and Maxine Waters (and their ilk). And the result is a burgeoning civil war.
I’m telling you, any civil war taking shape in this country today is a net loss for freedom, no matter which side should prevail. I want no part of either side. In my mind, these two factions are equally evil.
No matter who would have won the election in 2016, the result would have been the same. Both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump were groomed to take America into a civil war. Make no mistake about it: The gamemakers who control both Trump and Clinton couldn’t care less about the left-right feud taking place on Main Street today. It is the Constitution, Bill of Rights and God’s Natural Law that are targeted for destruction. And neither Donald Trump nor Maxine Waters seem to have any regard, respect or reverence for any of those sacred principles.
Both gun owners and members of the black community have justifiable complaints. The Second Amendment has been in the crosshairs of would-be tyrants for years. And so has the Fourth Amendment in predominantly minority communities. The left is wrong to dismiss the attacks on the Second Amendment liberties of gun owners, and the right is wrong to dismiss the attacks on the Fourth Amendment liberties of blacks and other minorities. I’m telling you both sides have equal justification for complaint. “Right-wingers” are justified in complaining about the tyrannical tendencies of the FBI, ATF and BLM, and “left-wingers” are justified in complaining about the tyrannical tendencies of local police departments and sheriff’s offices.
Federal police agencies have been targeting “right-wing” groups for decades—without justification. This targeting has been done solely on the basis of political bias and propaganda from left-wing hate groups such as the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). In truth, the FBI and SPLC have been political bed partners for almost forever. And conservative ranchers, gun owners, business owners, etc., have every right in the world to be incensed about it.
By the same token, people within the black community have every right to be angry at the way they have been abused and misused by local police agencies and prosecutors’ offices. On this subject, I totally support the efforts of Rand Paul and Bernie Sanders to overhaul the bail system in America’s criminal justice system. Upwards of 70% of people behind bars are there without being convicted of a crime. They are mostly poor people (of which a majority are black) who cannot afford bail. And so they sit behind bars awaiting trial while the wealthy walk the streets free as a bird for the same or even more serious offenses. The only difference is one person has money and the other one doesn’t. That’s NOT justice. Don’t tell me we need bigger jails. All that does is feed the Police State and further tax the taxpayers. What we need is more justice in the justice system. The bail system is a dinosaur that needs to be fossilized.
So far this year, local police departments and sheriff’s offices have killed more than 700 people. And about 24% of these victims were not even armed. Furthermore, about 61% of these victims were minorities. One cannot read the news on any given day without reading the stories of policemen killing people (mostly minorities) under extremely questionable circumstances. And almost never are these murderous policemen held accountable or brought to justice for their crimes. Quite frankly, I am tired of hearing so-called patriots talk about the “murder” of Lavoy Finicum while completely ignoring the murders of dozens, if not scores, of young black men every year by policemen all over America. The double standard is sickening!
This country is coming apart at the seams. And both Donald Trump and Maxine Waters (and their toadies) are equally culpable. The dichotomy is ubiquitous. Except the fact that the one thing that both liberals and conservatives and Republicans and Democrats come together on is WAR. (Maxine Waters, to her credit, has consistently voted against America’s unconstitutional wars.)
Mark my words: Donald Trump is in the process of taking America into war against Iran and Syria in the same way that G.W. Bush took America into war against Iraq and Afghanistan. (Oh, that’s right. Dual U.S.-Israeli citizen John Bolton is at the helm spearheading these wars in Trump’s administration just as he was in Bush’s administration, isn’t he? What a coincidence!) And Israel will be the match that Trump and Bolton will use to ignite these wars (in other words, more wars for Israel). And when Trump launches these wars, the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats in Congress will support them. Watch and see.
The American people are being played, and the Constitution is being pulverized—by both sides of this political charade. And the growing civil war in this country has nothing to do with the principles of liberty or constitutional government and everything to do with globalist warmongers manipulating the left-right paradigm to destroy whatever vestiges of America’s Washington and Jeffersonian principles that yet remain.
P.S. I, again, urge readers to obtain the blockbuster new book by Christopher Bollyn entitled The War On Terror: The Plot To Rule The Middle East.
While Trump’s Republicans and Maxine Waters’ Democrats are playing this phony left-right game at home, both sides are right now planning to take America into its next war abroad. Bollyn’s new War On Terror book is the one book that dares to tell the truth about who is behind America’s perpetual “War on Terror” and why. This is the one book you need to read in 2018.
We are being played, folks, and Bollyn’s book reveals who the puppet masters are. I strongly urge readers to get Christopher Bollyn’s blockbuster new book The War On Terror: The Plot To Rule The Middle East. Order it here:
The War On Terror: The Plot To Rule The Middle East
© Chuck Baldwin
*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may be made by credit card, check, or Money Order.