LOL, this is a true Libertarian. If I didn't know better I would say he is making fun of Beck and his childish beliefs about how government runs.
On Dec 1, 11:10 am, "M. Johnson" <[email protected]> wrote: > An Open Letter to Glenn Beckby Thomas J. DiLorenzo > Dear Glenn, > First of all, congratulations on deciding to become a community organizer for > the cause of liberty and prosperity, as reported all over the media recently. > You will be a stark contrast to the Marxist in the White House who boasts of > his “community organizing” efforts for the exact opposite cause, ACORN-style > socialism as defined by its “People’s Platform.” (His nationalization of > banks, General Motors, and possibly health care, and his administration’s > bombastic, anti-capitalist rhetoric, reminds me a lot of Lenin’s first months > in power.) > Glenn, I’m writing to offer a few suggestions with regard to your upcoming > community organizing efforts, which I’m sure will attract huge media > attention and could potentially be very influential. First, you really need > to “man up” those “Five Pledges” of yours, especially Pledges 1 and 2. There > you say you are in favor of a balanced budget, and that government should not > increase the financial burden on taxpayers “during difficult economic times.” > I certainly agree with the last part of this statement. Raising taxes during > a depression is exactly the opposite of what even a central-planning > Keynesian would advocate. This only highlights the fact that Obama is not a > Keynesian central planner, as Democratic presidents usually are (and most > Republicans as well), but a central planner of the Marxian variety. Marxists > want to destroy the existing economic system, creating a social catastrophe > that they hope will allow them to foment a revolution and consolidate their > political power. Keynesians are merely neo-mercantilists who use Keynesian > ideology to pull the wool over the public’s eyes with regard to their policy > of perpetual political plunder under the guise of a perpetual quest for > prosperity. > But come on, Glenn, don’t fall for that Big Government propaganda line about > the alleged virtues of a balanced budget. What the government establishment > means by budgetary balance is a devotion to endlesstax increasesto fund all > of their pie-in-the-sky special-interest spending programs. According to this > propaganda line a doubling, tripling, or quadrupling of government spending, > and the consequent shrinking of private-sector prosperity, is perfectly fine > as long as taxes are also doubled, tripled, or quadrupled at the same time. > Americans already pay more in taxes than medieval serfs did, so what’s so > good about waiting for “good economic times” to be plundered and robbed even > more? > I notice that you frequently display a picture of Thomas Jefferson on the > television screen during your Fox News Channel program. You would do well to > dump those first two pledges and, in their place, adopt what Mr. Jefferson > said in his first inaugural address:[A] wise and frugal Government, which > shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free > to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not > take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good > government . . .Saying that government “shall not take from the mouth of > labor the bread it has earned” means there should be no taxes on earnings. If > you’re serious about calling yourself a Jeffersonian, Glenn, you would > advocate the total elimination of income taxation (for starters), and not > potentially endless increases of it “during good times.” You should also > abandon that Pledge #3 about “energy independence.” Such rhetoric is just > another protectionist smokescreen, no different from those who insist that we > must free ourselves of foreign beef, tomatoes, cars, etc. Isolating ourselves > from the international division of labor is a good recipe for economic > disaster. > Your pledge #5 is also highly problematic. You say, “I believe the United > States of America is the greatest country on earth and therefore will not > apologize for policies or actions which have served to free more and feed > more people around the world than any other nation on the planet.” The > problem with this is that you equate “the United States of America” with the > federal government. I think your confusion stems for a misunderstanding of > the difference between nationalism and patriotism. A nationalist, as my old > friend Clyde Wilson has said, is someone who promotes the aggrandizement of > the state in all its “glory.” A patriot, in sharp contrast, is someone who > simply loves his country and its people. > Your statement is way too nationalistic. It seems to be a version of the > neocon propaganda line that “We saved Europe from the Nazis in World War II, > therefore, every successive military intervention, no matter how misguided, > and no matter how many innocent foreigners are murdered, is justified. The > rest of the world should just shut up.” This is what the neocons at the > Claremont Institute and the American Enterprise Institute would call > “statesmanship,” but “arrogant, imperialistic propaganda” would be more > accurate. > Good luck with the Washington, D.C. rally that you’re planning for next > August at the Lincoln Memorial. One more suggestion: Hold the rally at the > Jefferson Memorial instead. Lincoln was a tyrant who waged total war on his > own citizens, orchestrating the murder of some 350,000 of them, including > 50,000 Southern civilians. Jefferson was the founding generation’s champion > of liberty. In his first inaugural address Lincoln first made an ironclad > defense of slavery, including a promise to support its enshrinement in the > U.S. Constitution, while threatening “bloodshed” and “invasion” over tax > collection. He said it was his “duty to collect the duties and imposts,” and > “beyond that there will not be an invasion of any state.” The tariff on > imports had just been doubled two days earlier. “Pay Up or Die” was his > message. > Contrast this, Glenn, with what Thomas Jefferson said in his first inaugural > address: “If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union or > to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the > safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left free > to combat it.” This could not possibly be more different from Lincoln’s “Do > As I Say Or Die” commandment. After all, secession or “separation” from the > British Empire is how America was created. Secession was “the” principle of > the American Revolution according to George Washington’s Secretary of State, > Timothy Pickering. Since the theme of your television program on the Fox News > Channel is “Refounding America,” I think you should highlight and discuss the > right of secession and its virtues on your program every single day. It is > probably the only real hope that we have to escape Obammunism. > If you’re not convinced, consider this: In a January 29, 1804 letter to Dr. > Joseph Priestly, Jefferson wrote that “Whether we remain in one confederacy, > or form into Atlantic and Mississippi confederacies, I believe not very > important to the happiness of either part. Those of the western confederacy > will be as much our children & descendants as those of the eastern . . . and > did I now foresee a separation [i.e., secession] at some future day, yet I > should feel the duty & the desire to promote the western interests as > zealously as the eastern . . .” In an August 12, 1803 letter to his friend > John Breckenridge on the subject of the New England Federalists, who were at > that time threatening to secede from the union, Jefferson said that if there > were a “separation” then “God bless them both [North and South] & keep them > in the union if it be for their good, but separate them, if it be better.” > As you can see, Glenn, Lincoln was in many ways the anti-Jefferson, which is > to say, an enemy of liberty. Consider Mr. Jefferson’s most famous > publication, The Declaration of Independence. In that document the states are > said to be “free and independent.” Lincoln disagreed and waged total war on > the Southern states to “prove” himself right. They were not free and > independent, he insisted, despite the clear language of the Declaration and > of all the other founding documents on this matter. > In his “Train of Abuses” condemnation of the King of Great Britain Jefferson > said “He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly...” Lincoln > imprisoned members of the Maryland legislature, deported a Democratic > congressman, and imposed military rule on parts of the South that became > conquered territory during the war. This is no different from what King > George III did. > “He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone,” Jefferson wrote. By > suspending habeas corpus and imprisoning tens of thousands of Northern > citizens without any due process, Lincoln made his will the law of the land, > just as King George III had done. > “He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of > Officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance,” said Jefferson > in the Declaration. Myriad new bureaucracies, including an internal revenue > bureaucracy, were created to run the occupied states during the war, and all > states after the war. > “He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the > Civil Power.” This is exactly what Lincoln did by suspending the writ of > habeas corpus and ordering the mass arrest of thousands of political > dissenters in the North during the war. > “He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the consent > of our legislatures.” The legislatures of the Southern states did not invite > a federal invasion, as required by the “insurrection clause” of the U.S. > Constitution in cases of insurrections, which did not exist anyway in 1861. > The Party of Lincoln kept standing armies in the South for a decade after the > war while the states were ruled as military dictatorships under the direction > of the Republican Party. > “He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our > constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws . . .” Lincoln ignored the > Constitution completely. Nowhere is a president given the constitutional > authority to invade his own country, suspend habeas corpus, wage war without > consent of Congress, deport congressmen, shut down hundreds of opposition > newspapers, etc., etc. > “For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world.” Lincoln blockaded > Southern ports during the war, and was a lifelong protectionist of the worst > kind. His party imposed average tariffs in the 50 percent range for almost > half a century after the war. > “For imposing taxes on us without consent.” The South did not consent to > paying a doubled import tariff. Lincoln kept the promise that he made in his > first inaugural address and launched a military invasion of the entire South > to force them to pay “his” duties and imposts. > “For depriving us in many cases, of the right of Trial by jury.” How else > could one describe Lincoln’s suspension of habeas corpus? > “He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and > waging War against us. He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coast, burnt > our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. He is at this time > transporting large Armies, of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of > death, desolation and tyranny.” Well, Southerners certainly weren’t > “protected” by Lincoln’s invasion of their country; Southern ports were > blockaded and Southern ships were sunk; entire Southern towns were burned to > the ground by the Union Army under Sherman and others; the lives of some > 350,000 Southerners were snuffed out; hundreds of thousands of European > mercenaries were paid to wage war on American citizens by the Lincoln regime. > “Death, desolation and tyranny” is a perfect description of the Lincoln > administration. > Glenn, I know that you have praised Lincoln for “persevering” in his mass > murder of fellow citizens from the Southern states until he finally > “prevailed.” This of course is an essential part of the neocon/Lincoln Cult > party line. It has been repeated endlessly on your own Fox News Channel by > all those neocons who keep telling us that we should never, ever, withdraw > our military from the Middle East until “the job is finished” (which would > probably be long after we are both dead, if ever). But did you know that all > other countries of the world that ended slavery in the 19th century, the > British, Dutch, Spaniards, French, Danes, Swedes – all did so peacefully > without a war? And did you know that slavery was also ended peacefully in all > of the Northern states, including New York where slavery still existed in the > early 1850s? (See the book,Slavery in New York.) I highly recommend that you > read Jim Powell’s excellent book,Greatest Emancipations: How the West Ended > Slavery, which describes in great detail how the rest of the world ended > slavery peacefully instead of using slaves as political pawns in a war that > was not about them but was a struggle for political power, as all wars are. > This calls into question the fairy tale about Lincoln and emancipation that > all Lincoln Cultists repeat endlessly. The war was all a part of some grand > strategy to free the slaves, they tell us. But what kind of “statesman” would > ignore all of world history including the history of his own country (in the > Northern states) with regard to how slavery was ended and plunge his country > into the bloodiest war in human history up to that point? Is this “grand > strategy” that caused the death of almost 700,000 Americans and maimed > several times that number for life a praiseworthy one? > Glenn, if you are upset about the Fed and its showering of corporate welfare > on Wall Street banksters and myriad other fat-cat corporations, you should > also know that Lincoln spent his entire adult life championing the “American > System” of Alexander Hamilton, which was the only policy plank of the Whig > Party that Lincoln belonged to for more than twenty years before becoming a > Republican. The “American System,” which was really the corrupt British > mercantilist system designed for America, involved a central bank that would > print money to finance corporate welfare for railroad corporations and > others, along with high, protectionist tariffs which are also, of course, a > form of corporate welfare. It was Lincoln’s National Currency Acts that > resurrected central banking in America and led to the creation of the Fed. No > member of the old Whig Party was a more forceful proponent of central banking > – a bank run by politicians out of the nation’s capital – than Abraham > Lincoln was. > What Lincoln’s Whig Party (which morphed into the Republican Party after the > Whig Party imploded in the early 1850s) stood for was perfectly described by > the famous playwright and law partner of Clarence Darrow, Edgar Lee Masters > of Illinois, in his book,Lincoln the Man. It was a “political system which > doles favors to the strong in order to win and to keep their adherence to the > government. [It] offered shelter to devious schemes and corrupt enterprises . > . . [and] a people taxed to make profits for enterprises that cannot stand > alone . . . . Its principles were plunder and nothing else.” > In light of this, I think it would be an absurd farce to hold a rally > protesting the Fed, corporate welfare, bailouts, Big Government, etc. at the > Lincoln Memorial. Thomas Jefferson opposed every one of these policies, as > did his political heirs, the big majority of whom were Democrats and neither > Whigs nor Republicans. Hold the rally at the Jefferson Memorial. Best of luck > to you.http://www.lewrockwell.com/dilorenzo/dilorenzo181.html -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more.
