Statist Tools: Suppression of Critics

In the news yesterday, thanks to Breitbart, was a story of an airline pilot whistle-blower.

The Transportation "Security" Administration (TSA) went after him with the sort of heavy-handedness we associate with banana republics in their early stages. I think it is clear that such top-down efforts to stifle whistle-blowing is another assault on America and for what it stands to the common man. Whatever happened to the Left-backed whistle-blower PROTECTION law, hmmm? Is that a non-starter when the Left is in power? Will the sun rise in the East tomorrow morning?

What's more to come? Watch this video report, and you tell me if you can guess the answer. I don't think it is an admission of ineptitude, and promise to reform, and a thank you to the pilot.

[This is a video that does not appear in some streams. Go to the blog entry to see it.]



It was once typically American for local sheriffs to ask "who the hell are you" of heavy-handed Feds.
Sadly, today, it is more typical that local entities seem to fall into line and add on more unpleasantness, gratis, to subjects of Fed displeasure.

Statist Tools: Snares and Intimidation #2

Early in December, I ended part 1 with this about the injustice dealt to gun-owner Brian Aitken by the state of New Jersey:

Hey you liberals: I think that your beliefs that judges always act mercifully are in need of serious review.

I personally think that this judge has displayed a lower sense of mercy than that of a common criminal. The common criminal doesn't pretend that he's punishing you for the sake of respect for the law.

I surely hope New Jersey allows its chief executive to commute sentences, and that Governor Christie overrides this injustice very soon.

Well yesterday, that happened. (h/t Ace) That's great news. Way to go Governor Christie!

Sadly, intimidation for owning guns continues. But, perhaps in response to prayers, one individual will not have to suffer any more on the Statist altar.

His prosecution was persecution.
His persecution served the purpose of intimidating YOU.

Whatever happens in future to Governor Christie, good or bad, learn from his example today. Become the sort of leader he is today.

***Update***
Hold on. There's a good caveat regarding Christie. It comes to mind when considering the question proffered by Allahpundit at the hotair link.

"Exit question: Why commute his sentence instead of pardoning him outright?" 

Yeah, the man remains a felon under the conviction, and the conviction was used by his ex-wife to deny Brian parental custody of his son. His son was the reason he moved back to New Jersey in the first place so that he became ensnared in this nightmare.

See? Those in power continue intimidating us. They simply cannot help themselves. 

Come. Let us help them reform.

***Update 2***
The answer to the question in update #1 is: By only commuting the sentence and not pardoning the conviction, governor Christie left Mr. Aitken and supporters standing to overturn, through the appeal process, the conviction  and the practice of legal persecution that led to that conviction.

If Mr. Aitken and defense team do fight further for his rights -- and our rights by extension -- then the commute rather than the pardon is indeed an effort to "Let us help them reform." That would be an excellent course of action, and I support the thinking.

Now pray for the follow through and for success.

Restoring Rationality To Argument

As I've been rereading CS Lewis' The Abolition of Man, I began to recognize how our Conditioners have removed rational thought from so much in our lives.

I wasn't thinking of that when media, having played down the size of the 8/28 Rally, spurred to build the scaling tool last Saturday afternoon to shine a light on their lies.

But since then I thought about what I had done, and it dawned on me I had something even more important to share. I had worked to introduce rationality to my argument, and its something that is woefully missing from so much we see in media.

Comparing quantitative sizes of objects to aid argument is literally rational. And because what I did can be duplicated, everybody who does knows I'm telling the truth. It's real value to my efforts to increase honest discourse and reduce the dishonest is in its duplicability.

And we know that the media has the tools to do exactly what I did, but they didn't. Why? Because then they couldn't lie about the size of the crowd. Oh they could try; but then others would come along and try to duplicate it, and thus their lie would be exposed. That would make their lie explicit. This way, their lie is only implicit -- but still a lie with which they've been trying to wiggle out of with really stupid density figures.

More than just math.

But rational argument is more than just math. When we compare attitudes or agendas, and gauge where their leaning or heading, we are engaging in rational thought. CS Lewis, in the first of his lectures in The Abolition of Man, the chapter titled Men Without Chests, he told of the new direction in methods that had been taught the next generation of teachers. Most striking was how the next generation of students would deliberately be taught to throw out the hard earned lessons of the past, and to think of each old problem entirely anew. They would be denied learning of the history of the past so that they could no longer compare the results of what worked and what did not work.

In that course of events were buried deliberate efforts to destroy access to knowledge that allows us to be fully rational.

What are you going to do about trying to remedy that horrible scheme?

Well, I'll tell you what I have done. The last three days are the beginning of a series in which I've striven to point out where rational argument can be reintroduced. One of these was in the line wherein I strongly recommend restoring balance to our judgment. We often hear about the loss of our American meritocracy. Well duh! We can bring it back by giving credit where it is due and pointing out where the shortcomings are, and stop worrying about hurt feelings. Better hurt feeling than someone die because no one dared caution them that they were headed off a cliff. It's not a hard concept to grasp.

And by all means, if you see someone misleading another, and it's not to teach the lesson that a mild misdirection will provide, then speak up and warn the misled subject even if you forgo berating the misleader.

"What I'm talking about today is our need to think twice before will succumb to our earnest desire to project our decency on they who are not (do unto others as thou would have done to thee) so as to better balance that with our need to reward and withhold reward based on merit. For where we are too lax in assuring there is balance, we should not be surprised to find ourselves up to our eyeballs in a muck that is the consequences of demerit after demerit overlooked."

"It's None of Your Business!"

Had seven time Cy Young Award winner Roger Clemens told Congress in 2008 "it's none of your business whether or not I took steroids or HGH," he wouldn't be facing 30 years of prison for lying to Congress today.

He may have been charged with contempt of Congress in 2008, but in that he'd have become a political prisoner and a famous leader in an attitude that may be fast becoming the new American pass-time: Contempt of Congress.

Here is an example that we need to teach each other to say to our unprecedentedly arrogant Step-Nanny Statists:

Where in the Constitution do you find the authority to demand from me the knowledge of how I acquired my professional skills?

Since you guys are apt to pass a retroactive law penalizing me for God knows what, under the protection afforded me by the 5th Amendment of the Constitution, I refuse to answer.

No epithets are needed here. Read between the lines.

Middle Class General Strike

I'd really like to know: what is forestalling such a series of actions?
The competent in our society have the means to force the incompetent to cry "uncle." But do we have the nerve?

Is it simply a lack of leadership? What is preventing that? Same thing?

**Update**

A funny thing happened while I've been awaiting an answer from the working world. I discovered that on Thursday, Mark Steyn published a screed that pretty much touched upon the reason that prompted my interrogatory to you.

We’re too broke to be this stupid

Mr Steyn Concluded:

Across the developed world, a beleaguered middle class is beginning to understand that it’s no longer that rich. At some point, it will look at the sheer waste of government spending, the other shoe will drop, and it will decide that it no longer wishes to be that stupid.

Public Corporations Inquiry

Posted as submitted on 10-17-08 by Ombudsman

Establish a special prosecutor to investigate if there was collusion between and among different Boards of Directors to give each other bonuses. "You vote for mine and I will vote for yours."

This report shall be available within 15 months.

Public Corporations

Posted as submitted on 10-17-08 by Ombudsman

The days when the CEO built up the corporation so that he could hand over a larger and more prosperous one to his children are over.

The CEOs of today are trained to worry over this year's bottom line, not future ones, because the current one affects his bonus and ability to skim the corporate coffers. His contract won't cover following years.

Thanks to a variation of what Mario Puzo said in The Godfather; Wall Street has a new program:

• Steal $50 -- petty larceny.
• Steal $50, 000 -- grand larceny.
• Steal $500, 000,000 -- an astute financial manipulation.

Now that the background has been established we can proceed to changes. No commission is needed for this problem: unbridled greed and avarice.

The total compensation for the top person at any public corporation shall be limited to 30 times¹ the average compensation of salaried non-management personnel.

Under our system, the feds cannot dictate to the Board of Directors what to pay the top dog. However, the feds do have the authority to tax. Any compensation above the threshold shall be taxed at the rate of 95%. For computing total compensation, anything of value shall be included. This includes, but is not limited to event tickets, vacations, bonuses, golden parachutes, private use of corporate jets at charged cost of jet, not cost for public ticket for the same flight, etc.

It is the intent of this proposal to force the Board of Directors to say to themselves, "we will not pay these taxes to the feds. We will take these funds and:

• Modernize the plant.
• Establish sinking funds to pay for future modernizations.
• Reduce the price of the product.
• Increase the pay and/or benefits for the employees.
• Or -- horror of horrors -- increase the dividends to the stockholder.

The 95% tax rate is no doubt onerous. This is not unprecedented as they have been this high before. However, this time there is a difference. This time there is a way out. When the corporation pays these taxes -- shareholders take note -- it is because The Board of Directors chose to pay them.
______________________________________________________________
¹ 30 is subject to review and study; used here to demonstrate philosophy being suggested

Wall Street Inquiry III

Posted as submitted on 10-17-08 by Ombudsman

Appoint a special prosecutor to determine if criminal activity was taking place during the collapse of the financial markets. This inquiry shall include mortgage, stocks, bonds and any other financial instruments used.

This is a parallel activity and the report shall be returned within two years.

Wall Street Inquiry II

Posted as submitted on 10-17-08 by Ombudsman

The commission of Wall Street Inquiry I shall continue its work to return a report, in 15 months, of recommendations for new rules and regulations to prevent a recurrence.

It should be abundantly clear by now that Wall Street, CEOs and Congress, by themselves, will not do the "right thing." It is very difficult for Congress to do the "right thing" because they do not know what it is! This is obviously not 100% across the board. Not even Ivory soap is 100% pure.

Wall Street Inquiry I

Posted as submitted on 10-17-08 by Ombudsman

Appoint a commission of highly qualified individuals to highlight those practices that led to the current disaster. The group shall consist of lawyers, CPAs, economists, CEOs and money managers.

The requirements for selection shall include, but not be limited to:

• No previous or present conection to Wall Street or Washington politics.
• Never having been a lobbyist or affiliated with one.
• No conflict of interest, either real or apparent, through family or friends.

Task:
Report back in four months what in their opinion caused and/or facilitated the disaster. The causes specified may include anything that, in their opinion, facilitated the collapse. They may include, for example, philosophies, rates, regulations, memos of understanding or any other instrument, procedure or instruction that was used.

The intent of this report is to identify only, not to suggest changes.