The bias of the mainstream media has never been more apparent. After 8 years of kissing Obama's ring and his "scandal-free" term in office, the wrong dupe got into the Oval Office. During the Ron Paul years, he was consistently ignored although his message rang true with the republican ideal. Had the media given him a platform, he could have gotten the nomination -- he won all the debates. The media is essentially controlled by the Council on Foreign Relations, of which every MSM talking head is a member as well as nearly every presidential candidate -- I do believe all past presidents have been members.

But now that the card game has been 'Trumped,' the mainstream media has gone nuts. It's no-holds barred attacking the lawfully elected President including promoting impeachment for merely not being liked by the opposition. I think it is great, though, because I turned off that crap over 20 years ago and have been trying to get my family to turn that 'programming' off. Just a bunch of parroting the party-line. The propaganda has never been more obvious.

The left is 'progressively' authoritarian. The 'deep state' are those that have become the authorities to whom we must pay our tribute for 'security.' The terms left and right are too vague to really make an argument for or against. If one talks about the left, it must be in relation to whatever is defined as 'right' or 'not left.'

Generally, those on the left and those on the right define personal responsibility differently. The left seem to count on an authority of some kind to manage/care for them, their creed being helplessness. The right seem to represent self-reliance, self-determination, independence, and voluntary charity, their creed being wholeness. But still the definition is lacking -- left and right are not necessarily opposites. A child is born a 'leftist' and grows into a 'rightist'. And the parent is an authoritarian during that phase, and later may be cared for by their self-sufficient children. I agree that love and compassion are essential to happy relations between all on their various journeys. The error is to impose laws/rules that command one to meet the standards of love and compassion (as if it could even be done). Again, it comes back to personal responsibility.

I remember that everything written is spoken by a person, so everything is subjective, objectivity is in fact relative. So I know that every word spoken is biased to the speaker's perspective -- it cannot be otherwise. But that's why I read poets and authors, for their perspectives. I have lived in several countries, and my children's text books reflected the culture of those people. In one country they read about that battle when 'we' pushed those pesky Spaniards back to Spain; in the other Spanish country, they read about the battle to push those pesky Brits back to England.

I believe the discovery of the truth is through telling the truth, as honestly and objectively as possible -- knowing that whatever I come to understand is and will always be colored by my unconscious biases and impulses.

I read everything, and the first thing I do is try to figure out where the speaker is coming from in order to put their words into context. I do not expect unbiased speech -- I assume it. But there is gold to be mined within.

Trump-bashing is entertainment, and war makes headlines, not the lack thereof. My mother used to work in TV/radio news. The worst days were when there was no bad news -- you had to find something to draw an audience, anything. And if you are a shock jock, the longer you go at it, the more bizarre the stories have to be. I stay wary of any broadcasts that aim to trigger my 'blood lust' -- it's just too easy to manipulate people's fears and then aim the rage at a political target.

Mike, the sons and daughters of liberty are not gone, just ignored. But the cat is out of the bag, and there is no getting it back in. It is just a matter of time now; people in other countries are tired of authoritarianism -- whether from the church of old or the governments of today. The double-speak of socialism is imploding on itself -- California wants sovereignty now! (They already have it, they just want money from the rest of the USA, too.) ;-) Self-rule, of the individual and thusly through his associations, is still a strong impetus in humankind -- it has not been bred out of us yet. And remember what truly rules this world -- and what can never overtake it. The Liberty Movement continues!

Absolutely! An un-harvested carrot cannot be eaten, it is worthless. One's labor is one's liberty. Money, in its many forms, allows the trading of one form of labor for another. The 'fruits' thereof are essentially the storage of labor -- they can be traded for other kinds of labor or the fruits thereof. But fruits can rot, so in order to 'save,' the goods being traded for labor must not be perishable. So labor is traded for coins which are non-perishable. Certificates for those coins held in storage are also traded in lieu of the actual specie. As long as no one cheats (i.e. fraud), the trading system works.

But here is the rub. Today the 'certificates' used as money represent IOU's for money. The money is 'created' when it is 'borrowed' and is destroyed when it is returned -- like an IOU. The problem is that people's labor is controlled by the issuance of 'loans' in currency. Every dollar bill is just that, a 'bill' for a dollar, it is not a dollar itself. In fact, the corruption has gone so far that people using the money do not know what a 'dollar' is! It is a unit of measuring weight -- one ounce of silver.

Long story short, if you control the money supply/system you control labor and the value of labor of all those that must use this 'money' for trade and savings. The 'dollar' has been turned into a leaky vase as well as a yoke upon the necks of all. The value of the money has been stolen by 98% since 1913 -- the Federal Reserve got all the nation's gold, representing the entire labor savings of the entire nation. The biggest heist in world history with only one in a million understanding the con.

America will regain its liberty once we turn back from this road. A good start would be the return to a gold standard, which the US President can do and has done several times in US history. If Nixon can take us off, Trump can put us back on.

The powers-that-should-not-be are losing control of the narrative. The truth begs to be known. Their only defense is to counter with a flood of lies to make discernment difficult. But the Truth rings, it resonates within. This generation is in the middle of global awakening. Self-rule is becoming popular again as people are getting tired of being fed BS by their mis-managers.

Gandhi was against the disarming of the Indian people, which the British had enforced. I do not believe rendering aid to someone being attacked which results in the death of the assailant is considered 'killing' or murder. We possess firearms to protect ourselves from being killed. Deadly defense is not killing, per se. Without a means to defend oneself, servitude is inevitable.

Oh for goodness sake, we've had nothing but demagogues and despots for the last 100 years! The federal government in Washington DC was supposed to be like the UN and all the States sovereign -- indeed that is the federal government We The People chartered. However, the old guard died out, and with it the brilliance that was Jefferson, Washington, Adams, Franklin. The concepts of liberty, responsibility, sovereignty, honor, and compassion have been twisted to mean their polar opposites. Every 'free' American is yoked to literally unpayable debt and more is foisted upon people individually as well. To offend someone has been elevated to an insult of the Crown with punishment due for daring to bear witness to reality. Crimes are justified and 'words' are offences to be dealt with. Sheesh! We have come a long way, baby, indeed.

Is he thus saying there are no courts of Justice? Or that law and justice are two different things and that he stands with the law, and justice be damned? Sounds like Holmes...

I believe that speaking is the very essence of our nature. "In the beginning was the Word..." Creation itself follows the word, and I believe we are in a constant state of creation, not in a state of entropy dying out. We live in a world of words, really. Change your mind, and the world changes. ;-)

I don't know, if I were the child I might have turned around and said, "Hey! Why did you let me touch that! What good are you?" ;-) I'm not sure I would have learned the same lesson. ;-)

"The conviction that you know what’s best insulates you against reflecting morally on your own actions..." So true. Self-righteousness in whatever form has a stench to it, no matter how lofty the intentions. When I was a kid in school, I didn't know what it was exactly that just didn't sit well with me -- it all seemed so contrived for pre-planned outcomes. While I was told I could do anything I put my mind to, the actual practice of such was not well received when it didn't follow the 'program.'

Real questions that challenged the narrative were brushed off, or I was sent to the school psychologist. At that age I could not put my finger on what was wrong, but somehow the story just didn't fit. Falsity does not have a natural place to take hold within -- it needs to imitate truth in order to be assimilated, after which one feels kind of sick until the missing parts are restored and the extraneous parts are expelled. As my uncle likes to say, 'Telling the truth feels good.'

Our own culture is the most invisible to us -- any departure from the norm stands out. For what purpose does the neck tie serve? What did people use before toilet paper? Why is income tax an obligation? Who among us has ever butchered an animal for food? It's enough to cause me to admit that what I know is but a fraction of what is so. But what do I seek to know and why? ;-)

Is it too much to ask to make an argument for your ideals rather than simply regurgitating euphemistic jargon and insults, Mick? What is "accidental birth" and "structural disadvantage"? Fair questions. And may I ask you, who is responsible for your well being? Who is responsible for your birth?

I am in total agreement that 'nurture' is integral to personal development. I want to work with Nature, not against it. The Earth by itself IS nurturing; Nature, by its nature, is bountiful -- we are a part of that bounty. Perhaps I wish to nurture in others something you don't? Like self-reliance or the study of Nature and the deep philosophical reasons for being? Must I accept YOUR view that I am to obey the dictates of some authority other than my own conscience? It may be more than a subject of the Crown and a ward of the State can fathom.

Have you ever actually been to an American slum like those in Chicago, NYC, Detroit? There's your 'nurturing' for you. These are hellholes, and I believe kept that way just for the purpose of keeping the racket going -- and public services are unionized rackets through and through. We should be closing these places down, not propping them up. These places will never nurture anything but victimhood -- and that is what you are promoting, victimhood. "Accidental birth" - a victim. "Structurally disadvantaged" - a victim. 'Victims' of racism, 'discrimination' (a term with no limit), 'sexism' - all victims with apparently no responsibility for being in the situations in which they become 'offended.' Hair-trigger tempers whenever someone feels a 'slight' against them, calling every white person a racist while it's impossible for a black person to be racist. ;-) Victims, all, and what are they begging for? Will/Can it ever be satisfied? What exactly are they responsible for?

Thanks, Bruce!

Mike, excellent distinctions made between the individual and an office!

No, Mick "racism is" NOT "woven deeply into the pattern of the American tapestry." You are confusing race with culture, of which America is the 'melting pot.' The foundation of American culture is Liberty. The process, which continues today, has freed MILLIONS from slavery, but also returns the freeman's responsibility for himself back to himself.

I do not understand "accident of birth and structural disadvantage" -- according to whose structure? I agree that I should help those I can who are in need -- but I do not agree that someone else gets to tell me WHO to choose to help or to be compelled to help or to pay for help.

I think it is you, Mick, that paints a very bleak, paranoid, loveless and untrusting picture of those who are free from your control. You do not trust them to be compassionate or safe or respectful of other people's cultures.

Let me tell you something: I have never called anyone a racist -- you know why? because it IS racist to do so. Do I have preferences in music, food, entertainment, and friends -- of course! Who doesn't -- and who shouldn't?! What gives you the moral high ground to impose your will on others?

The whole point of a republic that does not dictate to the citizen what he MUST do (because we will never all agree) is to protect the rights of people to do most anything as long as they take responsibility for it and to make amends if they violate anothers' rights or property. There's also the possibility of being forgiven for transgressions.

That's why there are hundreds of thousands of associations, groups, clubs, churches, bands out there serving their fellow man as they see fit. Do you think that compassion is legislatable? Do you think people are generous because of your preaching or because they are compelled to by law? The denial of good in people seems to be your failing.

I am neither paranoid, loveless or untrusting in the laws of nature -- I have complete trust in the process of life, I have love for my fellow man/woman, and consider life to be a tremendous gift and blessing (most of the time ;-). However the most distressing part about this life is when somebody has 'done me wrong' intentionally or maliciously. Call them bullies or thieves or gangsters or liars, whatever, getting attacked, tricked, robbed, beaten, assaulted in any way physically or emotionally is the worst. It makes you question the 'gift' and struggle with "why?"

So what to do? Turn the other cheek? Lock the doors? Seek restitution? Seek punishment?

Tough questions, but you know what, they are MINE TO ANSWER, not you, not anyone. I will have to bear the consequences, I have to take responsibility for the situations I'm in.

The American Way is a liberating way, an independent self-empowering way, that we share with others along the way. I hope that one day you'll understand. Cheers.

Sounds like the US Attorney General, whomever he/she is. Always furthering an agenda to further the party line and destroy enemies. It's a form of war. The Department of Justice is an oxymoron.

I can't tell if Gardner is for it or against it?

Socialism is as much a religion as any other, and Ayn Rand was raised in such a faith -- which she rejected on its face. As far as building interstate highways, read Rand's 'The Fountainhead' which glorifies the unrestrained designs and ideas of architects who dared to build the tallest buildings in the world only to be hampered at every step by government bureaucracy. The belief that great things can only be accomplished by centralized government is to worship power.

So I guess it takes a Hitler to create an 'auto-bahn.' The interstate highway project allowed the federal government to extend its jurisdiction across every state, rather than keep them in the swamp of DC. The glory of fascism: the interstate highway system. Where did they get all that money? Face it, anyone with the power to create money out of thin air to spend across the nation to make them dependents is creating a seat of power to rule all.

The belief that everything is controllable by man is the fuel of politics. "If only we had more 'power' we could solve the problem of poverty and war." -- all the while ignoring the causes of poverty and war, They then disarm/tax/disempower the people (the very definition of poverty, powerlessness) in order to empower the Centralized Power with which wars will be waged against poverty and war. (!!)

"a disproportionate number of these people are black is not due to an inadequate welfare state Mr Archer, but overt and covert racism and associated poverty." Absolute Bullshit! Sorry, my friend, you have been sold a lie. I've lived it, my family and friends have lived it, my children live it. We don't like or dislike people because of their race, but we do like or dislike people based on their personalities, words, actions.

It is unfortunate that the 'urban plantation culture' has so dominated the mainstream media while suburban cultures with a proportional number of black representation within them are quite happy and mutually helpful with one another.

Seriously, this "racism" crap is propaganda. It is the content of one's character that makes the individual, not the body. There is no need to preach that to Americans -- we already practice that. Those stuck in generations of welfare-mentality are not empowered enough to stand on their own, so they justify their slavery by referring to the slavery of old. The difference is ignored -- they are free to move off the plantation! Instead they are demanding more -- which is understandable because what the government provides is basically the 1st circle of hell for living quarters. The problem is that they get used to it as a way of life, and hell has another foothold. And hellish conditions promote a hellish existence.

AS always, taking responsibility is the way out. There is no other.

Guns, knives, spears, swords, arrows, clubs, hammers -- hammers are very common murder weapons, especially in Britain -- are all designed to centralize force into a concentrated point. Like the spines of a porcupine, the sabers are displayed as a warning to would-be predators -- I assume, Mick, that you are vegetarian? Otherwise, well, how do you think those animals arrive at the grocery?

The proliferation of weapons/tools of every kind throughout human history is total -- they are everywhere, we have drawers and closets full of them. You cannot change the nature of the world of predator and prey. People who wish to be your master exist and they are armed. There are those that desire your money, your loyalty, your service -- any way they can get it. They can appeal to you with reason or intimidate with threat of force. Slaves are not permitted to defend themselves in any way. They are taught the honor of 'service' to their master.

Do you not see that the only way to prohibit weapons in the hands of the common citizen is with the use of weapons by our rulers? Only power checks power. You must love being ruled and domesticated so much that you cannot see why anyone would need to defend themselves -- even those you eye for increasing their taxes (decreasing their power) to make things 'fair.' Who can you possibly trust to regulate this dream? And why do you think there will be no price for you to pay?

Guns are simply weapons/tools. Tools that increase the user's power in some way. Explosives are used world wide for a great many purposes -- it is indeed dangerous work. Ask yourself, what would be the purpose of making explosives 'illegal' to use or possess? The common answer is for 'safety.' However, the primary purpose of possessing such a power for defense is that there are those that use such powers to steal, enslave, and murder.

To prevent the possession of powers of defense is to invite and encourage crime, whether civil or governmental. The entire premise of forming a representative government is for our mutual protection. We are not giving up our rights to defense, we are pledging them and their protection -- that's the whole point!

Civil disarmament is like a teacher punishing the whole class for what one student did -- it is arbitrary control. The result is division within the class and between the teacher and the students. It is the essence of collectivism and socialist principles. May we ever grow up?