The American Bar Association is pushing state and local governments to adopt firearm confiscation laws similar to those in California. During their 2017 Annual Meeting, the ABA House of Delegates adopted Resolution 118B, which urges governments to enact statutes, rules, or regulations authorizing courts to issue gun violence restraining orders, including ex parte orders.

If the legal fraternity actively undermines people's rights, who can be hired as a lawyer for the defense of those rights? This is fascism, pure and simple. Add the ABA to the long list of private corporations that have a monopoly on power. The Federal Reserve is another monopoly with the exclusive power to issue paper currency. Just as the Church placed itself between man and God, these private monopolies put themselves between us and our responsibilities, requiring their permission (and license) to act.

Unless there is a revolution among the licensed lawyers in this country, how can we ever return to the rule of law in accordance with Liberty?

America was not founded as a democracy -- trying to make it so guarantees a 'deep state' which does the counting. Duopoly is exactly what you get with a 'democracy' of right and left. Freedom and responsibility of the individual FIRST. Robert, you can't really be buying this communist BS, can you? Remember that communism is a democracy -- and all you have to do to see how it devolves is take a look at the last DNC primary 'super-delegates' and chicanery with the votes. Obviously, the common man's vote is nothing but an opinion poll -- an opinion that has been cultivated by those in power.

I bet you are not dependent upon any government services, Robert, and probably earn a comfortable living, travelling world-wide -- why do you treat others as victims in need of saving? It is an elitist view and furthers statism/totalitarianism. You disagree with the preaching of the church but are doing the same thing with socialist government as the church and political power as God. As Mike calls it, a statist theocracy.

Excuse me but the president providing "health care, food, and education" is straight-up totalitarianism, whatever flavor you wish. The UN is a socialist body pushing centralized government upon all, with ultimately global decisions all theirs to make. Honduras has a Constitutional republic, and Chavez worked to help Zelaya remain in power, like so many Central American 'presidents' once they are in power.

Venezuela has nowhere to go, as the current president and his family now own the country's oil reserves, have suspended the Constitution, essentially, installed a puppet 'council' that reports directly to Maduro, and the opposition are being murdered or thrown into jail. Chavez's regime was no different. State control of the people will eventually fail, because the job belongs to the individual people, not some 'leader' on high that controls their food, energy. money, labor, everything. Wake up.

Sure the CIA may be doing their black work, and I am sure they do not really try to bring liberty to any country, only put them under their control. That doesn't make totalitarianism better. I suppose you supported Castro as well? Same story, same oppression for the people. Free health care, food and education? Keep it! I don't want any of that crap, it has been pushed down my throat for years, it's no good. It is only for those that do not want to be free, responsible, or work hard. 'Working for the government is a lot easier -- it comes with many strings attached, but at least I don't have to struggle to survive.' That philosophy is the enemy of self-realization -- it enslaves and promotes slavery.

Venezuela's elections are even more fixed than in the US. This is the direction of socialism. Chavez and Maduro are nothing but classic socialist dictators trying to accomplish what Castro did -- not for the people or justice, but for wealth and power. Central and South America is full of them. Socialist revolutions are bloody tyrannies, with the people even more oppressed than when they started out. Zelaya in Honduras couldn't pull it off, even with help from Chavez in the wings. Zelaya tried to hold an election to change the Constitution -- he had no authority to do so, but distributed ballot boxes throughout the country for a vote. He was arrested with the voting totals already tabulated on his computer -- guess who won? Sure the US gov and CIA is all over Central and South America -- oil and coca are big black markets for them. War is their trade.

Robert, you've got to be careful though, look at Venezuela. Parliament has been dissolved and all power drawn to the President. For the US, the States need merely to re-assert their sovereignty and just abstain from DC altogether -- they do not need permission!

Awesome, Mark! ;-)

If it's voluntary, it is not a tax. If it is by consent, it is not a tax. If it is by mutual agreement, not a dictate to another, it is not a tax.

Note that in order to raise money above and beyond what the government collected in taxes, the government would issue 'treasury bonds' at interest to get people and companies to 'invest in their government' -- backed by the full faith and credit of the United States. But when the people did not support the government's efforts, they could withhold buying bonds.

To get around this pesky obstacle, the bankers figured out a way to force the purchase of government bonds -- by simply replacing the current gold money supply with the bonds themselves.

The money supply was replaced (stolen) and now if we don't buy the bonds, the Federal Reserve will. And all US banks need these bonds as their reserves to even do business.

It's all about money now. The US government is a bank that is in debt to private central banks which actually hold the gold (and all property), the debts, and the exclusive issuing power of the world's currencies.

Taxes are merely to regulate the people, protect corporate monopolies, political power, central banks, and wage war against any and all who resist.

That needle in the arm goes both ways -- sucking the life blood out and putting in something to dull the senses and become dependent upon.

RBE, the very premise that a solution needs to be found and then, I suppose, compelled upon others to accept/follow, is the very antithesis of liberty. Abstinence from government services and incurring debts to survive is a good place to start. I call this taking the needle out of my arm. If 1/3 of the populace lives off taxing the other 2/3, that 1/3 isn't going to like being cut off voluntarily and will use its power to force all to "pay their fair share." This was one of the "solutions" that has been embraced to take care of the poor and unemployed, and look how this has turned out. Enough with government solutions! Sheesh.

We have perfect examples of how a nation's laws can be used to transform a federation of sovereign states into vassal states and a citizenry subject to the dictates of the head of state. These rackets are well known among the ruling class. Study how Germany became a fascist democracy (with lifetime terms) -- has any of the same happened in the US? ;-)

Seriously, the steady march continues because the system has been corrupted to funnel power to the ruling class. The trick is to get the populace to demand their own dependency and to make them volunteers in the army against a common enemy to blame. False flags, propaganda, secret police, paid agitators, and straight-up assassinations are the tools of SOCIALISM. Millions upon millions have been murdered by socialists -- learn your history. 'Temporary' emergency powers are the foot in the door -- just look at the Patriot Act, still in effect, renewed every October. This act authorizes holding anyone without charge indefinitely if an 'authority' suspects a possible 'terrorist' connection. And as those who objected warned, labeling someone a terrorist arbitrarily has become common practice.

The fascist loves the police and the socialist loves the psychologist. Neither really love the common people unless they follow 'the program'.

Mick, your aim is to regulate people into behaving the way you believe is best for humanity -- you believe your intentions are good. You propose censoring yourself and others from pointing out the differences between people in order to prevent fear, suspicion, hate and violence. You equate equality with being equally bound together which makes many strong as a group but unable to move individually. Men are to be used for a purpose, guided by a leader who is not bound, who will determine for the group what is best. That is fascism. And the good of humanity has always been its excuse.

You are trying to make us all the same, to ignore the differences between us, to condemn genius, innovation, self-discovery. You are answering the question 'why am I here?' for me. That is simply a religion, with the 'law' as the Bible, the government as clergy, and the ruler as God. Have we yet found out how to elect angels to rule over us? This has been done over and over for eons -- it does not work, except for the ruling class, of which you are not, and somehow your plans still do not get you there. So you demand a better condition of your servitude and insist none have any more power than you have been delegated. That is socialism. And it will never deliver, because it is a killer, it sucks life away to the powerful, and we become mere beasts of burden. Screw that nonsense! It is the philosophy of servitude.

Dick, fascism is a form of socialism, and yes, I would agree with you that fascism has been embraced in the US -- you can thank FDR for that. But if there is a right and left, there is an up and down, and a back and front. Additionally there is a direction, a heading, a speed, an attitude, and a pitch. It takes 2 wings to fly, plus you have to know where this route takes you.

Where does socialism lead us? Either towards communism or fascism -- totalitarianism. Make the distinction between how a socialist answers the question 'who am I and why am I here?' and how a freeman answers it. Are you flying the plane or are you merely a passenger? And what about everybody else? Can they fly or are they to be grounded until their flight plan is approved?

There is another spectrum besides the right/left supremacy of the State. I see the independent and responsible in the center, moving to the right, left, up, down are different flavors of delegating responsibility and can take different political forms. If we go too far away from the center, we become indebted, dependent, and potentially bound by the false identity taken on by using our responsibilities as currency. Go too far to the edge, and the forces of nature will remind you -- to ignore them is to become lost.

Be empowered and return to center! ;-)

Mick, that is straight-up fascist double-speak. Freedom is not through the "acceptance" of what "binds us." The symbol of fascism are sticks bound together -- it is not freedom. Why is it that the left do not recognize that fascism IS the very form of socialism they espouse? And why not 'recognize and accept' the atrocities committed under Stalin and Hitler were the product of socialists ideologies? The 'Antifa' is absolutely 'Profa' and just like their early soviet comrades do nothing but try to tear down, thinking that someone will take care of them when the dust settles -- they'll be the first to starve or join the army and goose-step with the rest of them.

"The privilege to be free" does not sound right. We are free, and I suppose it requires others to respect that. To respect anothers' freedom is not a privilege I extend, but a right I observe and respect. To do 'right' contributes to the commonwealth. Is it a duty or an obligation? I don't think of it like that. As you sow, so shall you reap.

Waffler ever confuses freedom with democracy. For him, freedom is getting to pick from the menu himself (somehow Waffler segues into the joy of voting -- so the kid gets to order, but the others still get to vote on what he will eat too). For me, it is to not have a menu put in my face and pressured to pick from those choices. Some days I just do not want to be 'sold' something pre-packaged -- usually crap. Where is the self-discovery? Where is the self-direction? I don't like the scripts being given to me, I'll write my own, thank you. ;-)

"The most numerous and most flagrant violations of personal liberty and individual rights are performed by governments." It always has been! That's the reason behind the Declaration of Independence -- and will be the reason for the NEXT liberty revolution/reformation. (And the next and the next...)

How do people have those 'self-realizations' that liberate themselves from the lies they have clung to for so long? How do people muster courage? This is the engine of human progress, in my view, and the structures of governance or lack thereof will reflect the hearts and minds of the people.

It seems then to me that it's the same as it ever was, and my roles and responsibilities are 'built in.' The world awaits the answer to the question, "who am I" -- either I write my own narrative or someone will write one for me. ;-)

The entire premise of a republican form of government is to breakdown the various jurisdictions into numerous small pieces -- counties with a representative local government. A republican government does not regulate the citizens that chartered it. It facilitates the due process of Common Law which places no duties or obligations upon the individual. The counties form states and the states form a confederation. The president of the nation does not command the States or the state citizens. A republican form of government distributes power -- why? Because there are still people with the desire to rule -- it does not end. Government is the game of power, and the Constitutions place limits on what the government's powers may be used for.

It's about power - money, fuel, food, knowledge, transport, communications, arms -- and God. Yes, people are either serving God or playing God. The power of God is no less the goal of the power-hungry. Every SJW is playing God. Every army fighting the heathens are playing God. Everybody trying to 'save' us from ourselves is playing God. And yet, that is how civilization has come about. ;-)

It all goes back to the responsibility to educate yourself -- do I have to figure out what I am going to do and learn how and do it, or is that responsibility the State's? In England, all are subjects of the Crown, wards of the State. The commoner is regulated like cattle if he has not the means to pay his own way.

Schools are businesses -- labor and resources. Advanced degrees have always cost money ever since there were schools. What is a person to do if they do not have the money? They study on their own with books and apprenticing. Homeschooling was fairly popular a hundred years ago. And what do a community of parents do? They build a little school house, hire a teacher, and send their children to the school. That's how it is done -- in a group of families that take responsibility for their education. The State has merely co-opted that responsibility and rather than provide an economical solution, they hijack the responsibility and then force feed an 'education' that furthers dependence upon the State, a corruption of power.

I, too, homeschooled my children and also helped form a new school for a dozen families, and I am well aware of the politics and challenges of building a curriculum and a consensus between parents, teachers, and students. One of the problems with mainstream education is that students are brought up believing everything is laid out for them. They just show up and are told what hoops to jump through today. The mindset between the homeschooled student and the government schooled student ultimately is different -- one sees himself as the driver of his life, the other a mere passenger in it.

A self-evident truth -- so why is it ignored?

RBE, my recommendation for Americans (not the government) is to educate themselves, stop demanding 'free' education from the state and other government services. As well, think for yourself. Take responsibility for your health -- insurance is not a right but a business with risks and benefits. Essentially, once Americans start taking responsibility -- and plenty do, that's the only reason the whole thing hasn't completely collapsed.

Here's the thing: it's finally out, FAKE NEWS. And it wasn't just recently fake, it's been fake for a LONG time. Fake news, FAKE GOVERNMENT operating under FAKE LAWS. Have you got that yet, America? Lies from the press, lies from the schools, lies from the government. All to yoke the labors of the populace -- it's called servitude.

If you are waiting for the government to 'free' you, forget about it. A free country is made up of free individuals acting in their own sovereign capacity. The free and responsible person is another pillar in a free republic. Reject the govt's claims on your property and your person -- they are FAKE.

Mick says, "Good government should concern itself with creating and maintaining sustainable environments that meet human needs and therefore has to be caring and also controlling in relation to evil and wickedness." ;-) Your altruistic groupthink is showing again.

It is the PEOPLE that concern themselves with creating and sustaining their environment and family. I'm sure you have many great ideas on how government 'should' do this or that, but rather than get consent and agreement from all those you wish to socially engineer, you push for the 'rules' of the sustainability program to become 'laws' that all must follow.

What part of Liberty do you not get, Mick? What price shall we all pay for your dreams of utopia? Who will decide what gets weeded from the garden (environment)? Who determines what sustainable is? And who is paying these people? Government is a corporation, it is collective power. It has no compassion and cannot care -- forcibly controlling people, taxing their every move, is the result of putting the government in charge of governing the people themselves. That's the source of revolutions.

Love it!

I'm with Mike on this one. This view of the Bill of Rights while true seems to imply that the Bill established rights when it actually prohibited the government from making any laws that would abridge these enumerated rights. Some statesmen worried that by making such a declaration the people might think that these were their only rights, instead of a prohibition on government -- seems like they were right.

"Freedom is a quality of life..." I like it! I lived in India for a while -- poverty is a state of mind. Freedom is the ability to exercise my power -- the primary risk is the amount of power being exercised. Happy is the man whose pleasures are cheap (requiring little power). The poorest Indian children living in the dirty streets were as happy as any kid in NYC on a summer day. Free with little power -- that is the complaint. ;-)

To "secure" liberty is the real security.

Harmonious order, like a song, has a rhythm and a melody that I may dance to and even sing along with. If you don't like the beat, change the tune. There is never a shortage of songs to sing or improvise, and we can enjoy different types of music. Harmony requires musicians agreeing and playing in tune. It's hard! Some notes just don't go together, and everyone but the tone deaf knows it when they hear it. But wonderful music moves people and creates worlds. Music is not music unless it is ordered harmoniously -- in harmony with natural law. Bending the right notes is a way of playing the song, but bend them too far and it hurts people's ears. ;-)