June | 2014 | Defining the Narrative

David Crockett: Frontier Statesman

15 06 2014

I saw this piece by Derry Brownfield and had to post it. Derry was one of the countries premier ag broadcasters and outspoken on many issues.

David Crockett served 3 terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Upon his defeat for a 4th in 1835 by an Andrew Jackson supporter, he bid farewell to Washington declaring, “You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas!”. He was killed in action defending the Alamo in 1836.

Derry Brownfield
February 7, 2003

Colonel David Crockett was a member of Congress when the Georgetown fire, which could be seen from the nation’s capital, consumed many homes and left women and children suffering in the streets. Crockett, along with other congressmen, appropriated $20,000 for their relief. Later that year, while campaigning in his district, he met a farmer named Horatio Bunce who said he voted for him once but couldn’t do it a second time because he either did not have the capacity to understand the Constitution, or that he was wanting in the honesty and fairness to be guided by it. Horatio told him the Constitution must be sacred and rigidly observed in all its provision. He told Crockett that he read in the papers last winter where he voted for the bill to appropriate $20,000 to some sufferers of the Georgetown fires. David Crockett replied “certainly nobody will complain that a great and rich country like ours should give the insignificant sum of $20,000 to relieve suffering, particularly with a full overflowing treasury, and I am sure if you had been there you would have done just as I did.”

“It is not the amount Colonel Crockett, that I complain of; it is the principle. In the first place, the government ought to have in the treasury no more than enough for its legitimate purposes. The power of collecting and disbursing money at pleasure is the most dangerous power that can be entrusted to man. If you had the right to give anything the amount was simply a matter of discretion. You could have given twenty million as easily as the twenty thousand. If you have the right to give to one, you have the right to give to all. The Constitution neither defends charity nor stipulates the amount. You will vary easily perceive what a wide door this would open for fraud and corruption and favoritism. No, Colonel, Congress has no right to give charity. Individuals members may give as much of their own money as they please, but they have no right to touch a dollar of the public money for that purpose.”

At a later time in the House of Representatives, a bill was taken up to appropriate money for the benefit of a widow of a distinguished naval officer. The speaker was about to put the question to a vote when Crockett arose: “Mr. Speaker: I have as much respect for the money of the deceased and as much sympathy for the sufferings of the living, as any man in this House, but we must not permit our respect for the dead or our sympathy for a part of the living to lead us into an act of injustice.

We have the right, as individuals, to give away as much of our own money as we please but as members of Congress we have no right to appropriate a dollar of public money. Mr. Speaker, I have said we have the right to give as much money of our own as we please. I am the poorest man on this floor. I cannot vote for this bill, but I will give one week’s pay to the object. If every member of Congress will do the same it will amount to more than the bill asks. The bill failed to pass.

Later Colonel Crockett spoke, “You remember that I proposed to give a weeks’ pay? There are in that House many very wealthy men who think nothing of spending a week’s pay for a dinner or a wine party when they have something to accomplish by it. Yet not one of them responded to my proposition. Money with them is nothing but trash when it is to come out of the people. But it is the one great thing for which most of them are striving and many of them sacrifice honor, integrity and justice to obtain it.”

Colonel David Crockett was elected to Congress in 1827 and served until 1835. In one hundred and seventy five years congress has changed very little. The only real change we see is that there isn’t a Davy Crockett there to control them.

© 2003 Derry Brownfield, All Rights Reserved

http://www.newswithviews.com/brownfield/brownfield11.htm

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Tags: Congress, Davy Crockett, fundamental change, redistribution, socialism
Categories : American Heritage/History, Political

Federal Over-Reach Part 3: Commies, Coal and Cattle

5 06 2014

While the Obama Administration and the EPA continue their assault on the coal industry in the United States, mandating a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2020, it seems that their “war on coal” is only interested in attacking US power companies. In fact, it’s cutting sweet deals with foreign interests, exporting American coal for pennies on the dollar from BLM controlled lands.

Montana
The Northern Plains Resource Council has filed a lawsuit on May 14, 2014, against a federal coal lease in Musselshell County, Montana, alleging that BLM failed to study the impacts of mining in ranch country. Huge cracks appearing in the surface there are affecting spring-flows, draining water away from livestock and other ranching uses, which will also affect wildlife.

Much concern is also being raised about the incredible loss of revenue to American taxpayers in light of the BLM “giving away 25 coal seams for the price of one” to Signal Peak Energy, the mining company involved. An international commodities company, Gunvor, bought one third interest in the coal mine in 2011. A close friend of Vladimir Putin, named Timchenko, held a 43% interest in Gunvor until the sanctions resulting from the Russian annexation of Crimea. Timchenko, who was co-founder of Gunvor, sold his interest to his partner, Tornqvist. Forbes magazine places Timchenko on the list of sanctioned Russian billionaires and close associates with Putin, who according to this Forbes article, may still have access to Gunvor funds, and holds Gunvor investments.

As the Obama noose tightens around the necks of domestic coal energy providers, those companies seeking to stay in business have looked offshore. American coal exports have doubled since 2009 to 120 Million tons according to this Wall Street Journal story. That same story says that European natural gas powered electricity is being displaced by much cheaper imported American coal, mostly UK, Netherlands, and Italy. Germany is planning to shut down its nuclear powered plants and replace with coal. China and India’s voracious appetite for coal has hardly even been addressed by American coal, yet.

So, as America’s coal consumption drops, the rest of the world’s increased usage will consume much more than what America conserves. This will further place America at an economic disadvantage, especially if the government continues to sell its coal at firesale clearance prices.

New Mexico
Meanwhile, across the country to southern New Mexico where yet another battle is under way between federal authorities and ranchers of Otero County, along the Aqua Chiquita (Little Water creek). US Forest Service has built metal fences with padlocked gates to keep cattle from accessing water from the spring-fed stream. (Seems ironic they can build fences to control cattle and ranchers but refuse to finish the border fence to control illegal aliens and drug traffic.)

The County Commissioners voted to order the Sheriff to cut the locks, allowing ranchers to access water for their livestock. According to the Forest Service, the fence was built to preserve the “wetlands” of the area. The frustration continues to grow and no resolution appears to be in sight. U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM) said what’s happening in Otero County is another example of overreach by the federal government. “These disputes could be easily avoided if federal bureaucrats would stick to their constitutional oath and respect property rights,” he said. [via Western Ag Reporter]

County Commissioner Tommy Herrell called the agency’s actions tyranny, he said the Forest Service is unwilling to temporarily open the gates while the parties search for long-term solutions.

Newest Monument: New Mexico
Just a couple hours drive southwest of Agua Chiquita near Las Cruces is another 500,000 acres just recently designated as a National Monument by President Obama. National Monuments, parks and wilderness areas in border states have long been corridors for criminal elements of all kinds coming up from Mexico. Via this Fox News story:

Dona Ana County Sheriff Tom Garrison told FoxNews.com the monument will likely hamper law enforcement’s ability to patrol the area. That’s because nearly half of the land will be set aside as wilderness. When that happens, the area will be largely closed off to vehicles, including police cars.

Garrison said his concerns have fallen on deaf ears, and says he’s been shut out of the process.

“They tell the media they have talked to law enforcement, but they haven’t talked to local law enforcement,” he said. “They haven’t talked to me. They talk to Border Patrol and Border Patrol tells [lawmakers and media] whatever Washington tells them to say.”

Again, local ranchers are concerned that the new designation will further restrict their leases and property rights. The Cliven Bundy story in Nevada is just the tip of the iceberg.

[Interesting Statistic: The United States Government directly owns 650 million acres of land. That’s 30% of the landmass of the entire 50 States, or almost 19 times the size of the state of Iowa!]

America, when “Federal Over-Reach” starts to limit your bank accounts, travel, and consumption of goods and services, perhaps you will remember these anecdotes. When your retirement accounts and pensions, along with your medical care, become subjected to these same types of controls perhaps you’ll realize it’s too late to do anything about it. It’s not about ranching, or coal mining, or even national monuments…

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Tags: BLM, Coal, Coal mining, Energy, Federal Over-reach, government, Progressive
Categories : Political

Guest Column: The Magical World Of Political Speech

4 06 2014

As a novice “wordsmith” myself, I have noticed the increase in carefully selected words and phrases by politicians over the last 25 years or so. This language is always intended to deceive as well as deflect and shelter from possible repercussions in the future while not avoiding posed media attempts at reporting, and give legal cover in the event of actual moves to be held accountable for either word, or deed.

The following article came to me via email and was first published on Bob Livingston’s website, PersonalLiberty.com. His complete article follows:

June 2, 2014 by Bob Livingston

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.” – George Orwell

I keep the above George Orwell quote near me at all times. It serves as a reminder to me to decipher political speech whenever I see or hear it.
Political speech contains magical properties. It mesmerizes the masses because it is more illusory than a David Copperfield grand finale.
But political speech is dangerous. While it sounds innocuous, it is as deadly as a bear trap hidden beneath the leaves or a siren singing her song. It can grab you suddenly, or it can ensnare you subtly. Either way, you learn too late that you have been conned and there is no escape.
The magic of political speech is not happenstance. There are change agents at work in the inner sanctums of power whose job it is to create special words and phrases that are used in political speech. Those words and phrases are repeated over and over by the elites in order to dumb us down and create a conditioned response.

The process of dumbing down and the conditioning of the mind to create a nation of good, obedient subjects loyal and subservient to political authority and to the legitimacy of the political order begins early on. We are now several generations into the plan by the elites to create a Nation of state-worshiping ignoramuses taught pseudo-history and inculcated with a loyalty to and dependence upon big government. For many — if not most — of the Nation’s young people below the age of 25, government provided them with most of their meals while the majority of their days were spent submitting to government authority figures (teachers/principals/school officers) in rigid, structured environments that dissuade original thought.

Also aiding the elites and politicians in this effort is an army of “journalists” who never stray far from the official line of the State apparatus. They are eager to spread their lies and half-truths because that ensures them their seats near (or even inside, in the case of the Barack Obama Administration) the halls of power. On that rare occasion one of them strays too far from the party line, retribution is swift and harsh (see Helen Thomas and Sharyl Attkisson). This discourages dissent.

Politicians have learned that the more lies they tell, the more lies we believe. And the more lies we believe, the more dependent we become. Conversely, the fewer myths, lies and deceptions we succumb to, the less dependent we are and, therefore, the more liberty we enjoy.
I long ago learned the power of propaganda. I have watched as otherwise intelligent and thoughtful people have had their minds so manipulated by political speech that they acted contrary to their own best interests without a second thought. It seems that organized and sophisticated propaganda is able to operate outside the threshold of intelligence. In other words, without some imperative to trigger inquiry, very intelligent people buy into lies and myths the same as the general population. The lies and myths then become conventional wisdom. The human mind rarely accepts a challenge to conventional wisdom.

When confronted with a challenge to the established belief system, the mind closes off. When this happens, the individual employs avoidance behavior, writes off the new knowledge as conspiracy theory and labels it as kooky, insane or stupid. The information is then dismissed, never to be considered again, even when the facts support the new knowledge. Psychologists call this quirk of human nature cognitive dissonance. It means the rejection of information not in harmony with previous beliefs.

The esoteric purpose of propaganda is to extract wealth and labor illegally as concealed involuntary servitude or to steal the people’s liberty right out from under them, and even have the populace to thank the thieves for doing so, especially if it is done under the guise of keeping the people “safe” or to “save the children” from some danger, real or imagined. Those who use propaganda to persuade the populace against their best interests create myths and sell them as benefits.

The elites also use distractions for this purpose. These distractions serve to draw the people’s attention away from the important issues and focus it on the mundane and the trivial, much as the illusionist uses sleight of hand. These distractions can be events that occur naturally or by chance, which are then seized upon by the elites. But sometimes the distractions are artificial creations — also called “false flag events” — designed and triggered for the specific purpose of refocusing the attention of the populace. (Bill Clinton’s bombing of a Sudanese aspirin factory at the time of his deposition in the Paula Jones case and at the peak of the Monica Lewinsky scandal is a prime example.)
Often, these distractions serve a dual purpose. For instance, the callous and senseless murder of six people by the mentally depraved Elliot Rodger on May 23 has mesmerized the populace. It has created some distraction away from the burgeoning Veterans Affairs scandal, the Internal Revenue Service scandal, the Benghazi scandal and the ongoing collapse of the economy and Obamacare. But more sinister is its use by the gun controllers and hoplophobes to once again attempt to advance their assault on the 2nd Amendment.

Congressman Steny Hoyer employed classic political speech (or doublethink) in announcing that Democrats will try to steal more 2nd Amendment liberties by expanding background checks on weapons purchases through an amendment to an upcoming bill. While acknowledging that expanded background checks would have made no difference in the Rodger case, Hoyer said Congress must do something. (By the way, half of Rodger’s victims were killed with knives and five of the 13 injured were struck with his car. Curiously, Hoyer did not call for background checks on knife and car purchases.)
There is nothing lawmakers love more than making laws, even when they know their laws won’t accomplish their stated purpose. This is particularly true of those laws that take more authority for the state, or if they enrich the fascist system. For lawmakers, the “unintended consequences” of their laws are just like gravy, because then they get to pass more laws to correct the unintended consequences. This, of course, leads to more “unintended consequences” and the passage of more laws.

Obama is a master of classic political speech. In a political fundraiser in Chicago last week, he moved from blaming George W. Bush for his problems and put the onus on the Founding Fathers.

According to Obama, he is unable to move his agenda forward because the Constitution requires each State be represented by two Senators. “Obviously, the nature of the Senate means that California has the same number of seats as Wyoming. That puts us at a disadvantage.”

This, of course, is nonsensical on its face and is pure argle-bargle. Democrats control the Senate 53-45 with one socialist and one independent, both of whom vote with Democrats. However, it reveals something of Obama’s true nature. That is, he wishes to be a dictator and he detests the republican system of government our Founders gave us, but which we have almost totally lost to fascism.
But of course, in the world of political speech, such tommyrot as this is accepted as great political philosophy and applauded by the sychophants and toadies.

Certainly, the current regime has not cornered the market on magical political speech and propaganda; but it has more weapons in its arsenal than any before it.