By Chuck Baldwin
April 6, 2010
NewsWithViews.com
Once in a while, someone writes a column that leaves me enviously exclaiming, "Darn! I wish I had written that!" Candidly, I do not often find myself saying that, but I sure did when I read William Norman Grigg's excellent column entitled "Casus Belli" (Latin for "Case for War") on Monday, March 29, 2010. Read his column here (even if you don't read the rest of mine).
I want to try and expound on Grigg's outstanding analysis of the Hutaree militia raid. In doing so, I am going to also expand upon Grigg's reference to James Madison's trenchant treatise in Federalist 46.
Referring to the federal indictment against the Hutaree militia, that alleged members were making preparations for potential armed conflict against law enforcement officers as a "seditious conspiracy," Grigg astutely noted, "If they were acquiring weapons and developing appropriate skills in anticipation of defending themselves against government aggression, their actions--while possibly conspiratorial in nature--don't amount to a crime. This is particularly true in light of our cultural history, in which sedition--agitation to change the existing political order--is our proudest civic tradition."
Grigg then rightly observes, "Government is nothing more than the rationalization and exercise of violence. Everything done by government contains at least the implicit threat of lethal coercion. Thus the indictment's description of Hutaree as 'an anti-government extremist organization which advocates violence against local, state and Federal law enforcement' is a product of rhetorical onanism [from Genesis 38:9--a great analogy, Will]."
As a general rule, government is the most violent force on the planet. If one wants to get a true perspective on the historical record regarding who or what routinely produces the most violence and death, one should pick up a copy of R. J. Rummel's book, "Death By Government." Since the end of World War II, Communist China and Red Russia lead the pack when it comes to death and brutality; however, the US government has inflicted its share of carnage as well. For example, in Iraq and Afghanistan alone, the government in Washington, D.C., has killed over 800,000 civilians (and this figure is a conservative estimate noting the most credible resources possible).
Plus, does anyone remember the violence that our federal government enacted upon the Branch Davidians outside Waco, Texas? Does anyone remember the mother shot in the head while innocently holding her little baby in her own home by a federal sniper near Ruby Ridge, Idaho (after her small son was shot in the back by federal agents)? In fact, the list of civilians who have been killed by federal law enforcement agents over the years is a very long one. Granted, many of these killings were done in lawful self-defense; but others amounted to nothing less than old-fashioned murder (and never was the federal agent who committed the murder ever brought to justice).
If one wants to indict an "organization which advocates violence," then surely the central government in Washington, D.C., should be indicted!...
