Freedom's Real Enemies By Chuck Baldwin
June 11, 2010
Link
Politicians in Washington, D.C., love to manufacture a crisis. The crisis generates fear within the citizenry, thereby allowing the
federal government to centralize more and more power. During a crisis, the citizenry becomes much more forgiving of federal abuses and
accommodating of federal encroachments than it otherwise would be without a crisis. Hence, we have a federal “war on drugs,” and
a “war on poverty,” and a “war on terror,” and an “oil crisis,” and an “energy crisis,” and a
“domestic terrorism crisis,” and an “education crisis,” and a “border crisis,” and an “economic
crisis”–Blah! Blah! Blah!
You can mark it down: every major crisis that America has faced over the last several decades has been either manufactured or facilitated
by policies and activities originating in Washington, D.C. But at the same time that DC is creating these crises, it categorizes any
ideological group it finds distasteful as a convenient scapegoat. These convenient scapegoats can include “angry white guys,”
“tea party extremists,” “a vast right-wing conspiracy,” Constitution Party or Libertarian Party
“extremists,” “Second Amendment extremists” (gun owners), “pro-life extremists,” ad infinitum, ad
nauseam.
Yet, while DC’s elitists are plotting America’s next crisis and figuring out whom to categorize as America’s next
“extremist,” some real enemies are waging war against the freedoms and liberties of our once-great republic. And, ladies and
gentlemen, these enemies are much more subtle, a lot closer, and much more dangerous than almost anything you are being told about.
Here are some of freedom’s real enemies:
Big Cities
When the United States was a much smaller–much more agricultural–nation, our freedoms were mostly intact. The mass exodus out
of rural America into urban America has been a bane of freedom–and it will continue to be so.
Thomas Jefferson addressed this issue astutely when he wrote in a letter to James Madison, “When we get piled upon one another in
large cities, as in Europe, we shall become corrupt as in Europe.” (Source: The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, A Comprehensive Collection of
the Views of Thomas Jefferson)
Jefferson spoke again of this danger in a letter to Benjamin Rush. He wrote, “I view great cities as pestilential to the morals, the
health, and the liberties of man. True, they nourish some of the elegant arts, but the useful ones can thrive elsewhere, and less perfection
in the others, with more health, virtue and freedom, would be my choice.” (Source: Ibid.)
Big cities are most always more liberal, more socialistic, more utopian, and more centralist. Citizens living in big cities readily submit
to the machinations and designs of Big Government with much greater regularity than do their rural counterparts. In states where a handful of
big cities dominate State politics, Big-Government policies almost always take over the politics of the entire State. If you doubt that, just
speak with freedom-loving citizens in New York, Illinois, or Maryland.
Consider, specifically, the freedom most necessary to preserve our liberties: the right of the people to keep and bear arms. People in
states that are less populated enjoy much greater liberty than do people in heavily populated states. For example, Boston’s Gun Bible
(BGB) ranks the states according to the degree of gun ownership (and possession) protection in each State. It is no coincidence that the
states with sparser populations are much freer than states with denser populations.
Here is BGB’s breakdown of the most and least free gun ownership states:
Most Free States:
1. Vermont
2. Idaho and Kentucky (tie)
3. Louisiana and Alaska (tie)
4. Wyoming
5. Montana
Least Free States:
1. New Jersey
2. Illinois
3. Hawaii
4. Massachusetts
5. New York
Population density in the “most free” states is less than 50 persons per square mile, while in the “least free”
states it is more than 460 persons per square mile. Case closed!
While big cities will typically tolerate much more in the way of licentiousness and sexual perversion, they are also the first to tolerate
Big-Government socialism. Without a doubt, Thomas Jefferson was right: big cities are “pestilential to the morals, the health, and the
liberties of man.”
If you want to live free in the future, you will probably need to leave the big city–and perhaps the states that are dominated by
big cities.
The National News Media
For the most part, the national news media is no friend of freedom. About all most of them know of the US Constitution is the part about
the “freedom of the press” (from the First Amendment, of course). Watch any of the Big Three television network newscasts on any
weekday evening, and what will you see? You will see the exact same stories regurgitated over and over again–even with the exact same
spin! And that spin is most always tilted toward bigger and bigger government. This goes on night after night, week after week, month after
month, and year after year. But this is all just coincidental, right? Get real!
The cable news networks are not much better. About the only difference between cable networks is that CNN will provide cover for Big
Government Democrats while viciously attacking all things Republican, and FOX NEWS will provide cover for Big Government Republicans while
viciously attacking all things Democrat.
Face it: the national news media is intoxicated with Two Party Politics. They really don’t care nearly as much about the fundamental
tenets and principles of liberty as they do about whether a Democrat or Republican wins office. Washington’s media elite are wined and
dined by the same party politicians that they cover on television or in the newspaper. (What a racket!) Do you really think any major media
news personality is going to risk losing his or her job (which is exactly what would happen) by asking too many questions, or boring too
deeply, or straying too far off the reservation? Once again, get real! All of these guys and gals know exactly where the line–and the
“third rail”–is located. And they all will stay clear of both! It’s not about reporting the news, or defending
liberty, or anything of the sort. It is about pleasing their big corporate sponsors–corporate sponsors who are in bed with the elites
from both major political parties, by the way!
As long as the American people continue to allow the national news media to manipulate and spin the news, our liberties will continue to
erode.
Big Business
In fact, Big Anything can be freedom’s enemy: Big Business, Big Labor, Big Media, Big Cities, and Big Religion. Big Anything!
However, the rate and degree to which Big Business has been able to advance during the last half of the twentieth century–and now
into the twenty-first century–is especially problematic for the survival of liberty. Dear friend, it is a mistake to equate Big
Business with freedom. Big Business has little to do with capitalism and free enterprise and much to do with monopolism and globalism. Big
Business does not want to compete with private enterprise; it wants to crush it! Big Business sees Big Government as a friend and partner. In
fact, Big Business and Big Government are conjoined twins. They grow and live as one.
Accordingly, it is no accident that when the Bilderbergers got together a few days ago at the Hotel Dolce in Sitges, Spain, for their
super-secret meeting, the list of attendees included the cabal of super-elites from Big Government, Big Business, Big Academia, and Big
Media. People such as Bill Gates (Microsoft), Roger Altman (former Deputy Secretary of the US Treasury), Martin Feldstein (Harvard
University), Niall Ferguson (Harvard University), Philip Gordon (Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs), Donald
Graham (The Washington Post), Richard Holbrooke (Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan), Robert Hormats (Under Secretary for
Economic, Energy and Agricultural Affairs), Henry Kissinger (former Secretary of State), Klaus Kleinfeld (Chairman and CEO, Alcoa), Craig
Mundie (Microsoft), Peter Orszag (Director, Office of Management and Budget), Charlie Rose (Producer, Rose Communications), Robert Rubin
(Co-Chairman, Council on Foreign Relations; former Secretary of the Treasury), Eric Schmidt (CEO and Chairman of the Board, Google), James
Steinberg (Deputy Secretary of State), Lawrence Summers (Director, National Economic Council), Christine Varney (Assistant Attorney General
for Antitrust), and Paul Volcker (Chairman, Economic Recovery Advisory Board). And please remember that these are only the names of those
that were published. The complete list of attendees is top secret and never released. For example, was Secretary of the Treasury Timothy
Geithner there? He is a Bilderberg (and CFR) member.
But of course, this meeting–complete with the tightest security and secrecy possible–is only for the purpose of social
fellowship and clubmanship, right? That the world’s most interconnected business, governmental, and media elites would meet outside the
viewing and listening of everyone is supposed to be dismissed as irrelevant and insignificant, right? Well, if you get your news from ABC,
CBS, NBC, CNN, or FOX NEWS, that is exactly what you are being led to believe.
Yet, Big Business has been conspiring with Big Government for the purpose of personal aggrandizement (at the cost of liberty, of course)
for decades–probably centuries. Remember, it took an act of Congress to stop old Prescott Bush (George H.W. Bush’s father and
G.W. Bush’s grandfather) from sending financial assistance to Nazi Germany. Know, too, that international bankers today are supporting
governments (some that are openly hostile to the United States) in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Again, Big Business and Big Government
are conjoined twins–an interconnected body that grows in unison at the expense of our liberties.
Freedom has many more real enemies that could be added to this list, of course; and maybe in the future we can talk more about them. For
now, recognize that our liberties are hanging by a thread in this country. And the next time you hear someone in Washington, D.C., or the
national news media railing against the latest “crisis” that requires Big Government to fix, please remember who the real enemy
is.
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Dennis Prager Q & A At University of Denver (Thanks to Erick for this info)
TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday called for cooperation among world states to forge a new world order.
"The conditions we are experiencing today need planning for new orders in the world and (our)
cooperation and co-thinking for organizing the conditions," Ahmadinejad told reporters before departing for Istanbul, Turkey to take part in
the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).
Reminding that major world and Asian players will take part in the Istanbul conference, the Iranian president underlined that "Iran, too,
will have active participation in drafting the final statement, taking stances as well as mutual consultations" with participants in the
conference.
Ahmadinejad said that his visit will take place at the invitation of Turkish President Abdullah Gul, and pointed out that he is slated to
meet other foreign officials during the visit.
Ahmadinejad further confirmed his subsequent trip to Tajikistan, saying the visit will come in response to Tajik President Emomali
Rahmon's visit to Tehran in March 2010.
The Iranian president mentioned that he will take part in the 'Water for Life' international conference in Tajikistan.
The CICA Conference is underway in Istanbul on June 4-10.
Turkey will take over the rotating term presidency of the CICA from Kazakhstan during the conference.
Last year, Gul accepted Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's offer to take the presidency of the body.
CICA is an inter-governmental security forum in Asia which was initiated by Kazakhstan's then president in 1992 and currently has 18
member states, including Iran, Russia, China, South Korea and Turkey.
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NASA: Solar Storm Could Cause 20 Times the Damage of Hurricane Katrina
Richard Fisher, a leader with NASA, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, says that the earth and space are about to come into
contact in a way that is new to human history, adding that the sun is waking up from a deep slumber and in the next few years, we can expect
to see much higher levels of solar activity. Fisher said that at the same time our society who has more technology that in the past has
developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms with GPS navigation, air travel, financial services, radio communications, and even
our power grids that could be knocked out by intense solar activity.
The National Academy of Sciences has warned that a century
class solar storm could cause 20 times more economic damage then Hurricane Katrina did several years ago.
Jimmy's Prophetic Prospective on the News
The warning by NASA and The National Academy of
Sciences that a soon coming solar storm could cause economic damage 20 times that of Hurricane Katrina is a precursor to the end of times
scenario that can be found in Bible prophecy.
Leaders of NASA and The National Academy of Sciences are warning that our
technological society must wake up to the fact that the sun is waking up from a deep slumber that could wreak havoc to our society today with
all of its technology used in daily life. This report seems to be a page out of Bible prophecy and what the ancient Jewish prophets said
would happen in the last days.
The book of Revelation is full of passages that foretell of this type of activity in our solar
system. Revelation 6:12 speaks of the solar changes that affect the earth. Revelation 8:7-11 reveal ecological judgment on the earth from the
heavens. John, who wrote the book of Revelation, wrote of the sun being destroyed by one third (Revelation 8:12). John also revealed that the
sun will scorch man on earth to the extent that he will even blaspheme God for this judgment. These judgments upon the earth and earth
dwellers happen in the seven year Tribulation period that is coming.
This warning from NASA is indeed a precursor to the
fulfillment of Bible prophecy.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit today upheld the permanent injunctions prohibiting Pulaski/McCreary Counties from
posting three separate Ten Commandments displays in their courthouses. The Court agreed with District Court Judge Jennifer Coffman’s ruling
that the displays violated the constitution because the Counties acted with a predominantly religious purpose in erecting the displays, and
because they failed to sufficiently establish a predominantly non-religious reason for the third display as of September 2007.
LONDON TIMES STORY OUTLINING NUKE ATTACK ON IRAN CITED
AS ISRAELI DECEPTION TO MANIPULATE U.S. STOCK MARKET
By Gordon Duff STAFF WRITER/Senior Editor
The London Times reported today that Saudi Arabia has given permission for Israel to fly over their territory to attack unspecified
“nuclear facilities” in Iran. Mention of specific Saudi actions including deactivating their air defense systems to allow Israel
use of their airspace was directly referenced by the Times in their story by Hugh Tomlinson. However, not only is such a possibility not a
possibility, the story itself is designed to destabilize world markets.
Iran is capable of closing the Straits of Hormuz and stopping all oil shipments from, not only the Persian Gulf states, including Kuwait
and Iran but Saudi Arabia itself. At the first sight of an Israeli plane, every tanker and oil facility in the Gulf would be destroyed and
the Saudi capital in ruins from Iranian missiles.
Gordon Duff is a Marine Vietnam veteran, grunt and 100% disabled vet. He has been a featured
commentator on TV and radio including Al Jazeera and his articles have been
carried by news services around the world. He has been a UN Diplomat, defense contractor and is a widely published expert on military and
defense issues. He is active in the
financial industry and is a specialist on global trade. Gordon Duff acts as political and economic advisor to a number of governments in
Africa and the Middle East. Gordon Duff
is currently working on economic development projects in Pakistan and Afghanistan to counter the effects of poverty and global
extremism.Email : gpduf@aol.com
The closing of the Straits alone would crash the world’s stock markets instantly throwing the world into an immediate depression.
Oil would go over $250 a barrel overnight and gas prices in the US would hit $10 per gallon. This is not speculation.
IRANIAN SILKWORM MISSILE NEAR HORMUZ
Iran’s military capability has been focused entirely on closing the Straits and cutting off much of the world’s oil supply.
Thousands of Chinese Silkworm missiles are at the ready, set into the islands of the Straits seized by Iran years ago or hidden along the
coastline or on mobile launchers. In fact, the US Navy is would have to immediately withdraw from the region.
Every defense specialist in the world knows all of this. The United Arab Emirates sits across the Straits from Iran and stares into this
mass of missiles, torpedo boats and submarines. They are funding a massive missile defense system and have even considered spending billions
to construct a canal bypassing the narrow straits. Iranian troops have been dug into islands adjacent to the Straits for decades. When
talking about the Straits of Hormuz, the term “tight as a tick” comes to mind. “Duck in a barrel” is another analogy
with us being the ducks.
The game isn’t to start a war, knowing full well that America would be required to defend Saudi Arabia though there are no
agreements to defend Israel, especially if they are the aggressor. With over $2 trillion dollars pumped from the US economy by
Israeli-American companies like Goldman Sachs during the Bush sponsored “pump and dump,” the “banksters”
weren’t satisfied. They now want to pick America’s bones.
Any attack on Iran that involved Saudi Arabia in any way would bring an automatic response from Pakistan. Without their military efforts,
the US would be forced to withdraw from Afghanistan in weeks. Even with their help, and increased force levels, America’s presence is
unsustainable as the Karzai government has already collapsed. Nobody is admitting it yet but Karzai and his US backers rule nothing and
control nothing, even worse than when Bush left office.
The real players in the Middle East are Turkey, Iran and Pakistan. Two of these nations are major US allies. The population of the three
nations exceeds that of the US and their combined armies number, with reserves at two million, over double that of the United States. Were
the three to join together, Afghanistan and Iraq would be forced, out of survival to join in, creating a contiguous state, a nuclear state,
capable of taking Saudi Arabia in days and doing so without any US resistance. After all, these are American allies and Saudi Arabia would
be, technically, an aggressor nation. Though mutual defense pacts do not include Iran, a history of resentment against Saudi-Israeli
collusion and the current chill between Israel and Turkey would build this polyglot coalition state almost overnight.
In the long run, such a country would be the real strategic partner the US has always desired, with a single nuclear arsenal under
Pakistani control and Iranian issues eliminated as they would be the junior power in a coalition with decades of ties to the US. If any of
this seems difficult to grasp, position papers outlining this exact situation have been around for years.
Given the chance, Israel would join this group of states. Those familiar with private “back channel” diplomatic initiatives
know that this has is considered. Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan all maintain a covert level of cordial relations with Israel,
relations poisoned by the Gaza crisis.
Israel’s aggressive stance toward apartheid expansionism, fueled by the hubris supplied by American hegemony in the region is only
one of the considerations needed in evaluating the dynamic in the region. The humiliation Turkey suffered, despite the fact Turkey’s
powerful military has always worked closely with Israel, threatens to destabilize their civilian government and add to Islamic militancy
there.
Iraq is going through a rough period after recent elections. They are expect to ask the US to keep troops in place in significant numbers
well past the agreed upon date of withdrawal.
Iran, a country whose civil government is extremely unpopular with its own people, maintains stability through police state tactics
rivaling those of the Shah’s Savak and punishes its own population by maintaining status as a rogue state, a virtual pariah nation, as
a way of clamping down on dissent.
Afghanistan is in total collapse. Along with the Taliban, a number of additional divides with the nation have occurred and the new
national army and police force are total failures. An informal defacto government is now ruling increasing areas of the country and may be
able to build stability if certified by the royal families. President Karzai is trying to work closely with Pakistan, a major policy change
for him, out of a combination of necessity and panic. However, Karzai has burned too many bridges to be able to bring cordial relations
between Pakistan and Afghanistan, nations with a history of rivalry and some acrimony.
Pakistan may be the key to the puzzle. Pakistan’s unsteady democracy has been ineffective but current military leadership in
Pakistan is highly competent, very pro-US and moderate. The primary problems are Pakistan’s economy, nearing total collapse and the
instability of terrorism that has pushed Pakistan to the edge. Pakistan’s desire is to underwrite economic growth but has no oil
resources for such as task. Without the ability to overcome internal corruption and address the root causes of extremism in the tribal areas
along the border with Afghanistan, Pakistan faces destabilization. Membership in a coalition state would address some of these problems.
Occupation of Saudi Arabia under an “Islamic Protectorate” necessitated by Israeli incursions into Saudi airspace would solve all
of Pakistan’s problems.
The media can be a powerful thing. When a story, such as the one in the London Times, could jolt markets or push nations to irational
acts, a poor understanding of regional conditions and history could have quite another effect, one entirely unexpected.
People & Power - Alberta's Oil Sands - 12 Mar 08 (Recent article below video)
Oil sands output set for takeoff, CAPP predicts
New projects to boost production as they return from backburner Sinopec Corp. and PetroChina, both state-owned corporations, injected more than $2 billion into the flagging oilsands in 2009, buying stakes in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp.' s and Total SA's Northern Lights projects This year alone, investment in Alberta's oilsands is expected to jump by $2 billion to $13 billion, up from $11 billion last year. More recently, China Investment Corp. invested $817 million in a project with Penn West Energy Trust, and Sinopec paid $4.65 billion US for a stake in Syncrude Canada, the largest oilsands operation in the world.