Pubdate: Wed, 27 Feb 2002
Source: Herald-Palladium, The (MI)
Copyright: 2002 The Herald-Palladium
Contact:  http://www.heraldpalladium.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1378
Author: Bill Bradley
Note: Bill Bradley is chairman of the Van Buren County Libertarian Party 
and a member of the South Haven City Council.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/campaign.htm (ONDCP Media Campaign)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?200 (Rainbow Campground Shooting)

DON'T TRUST GOVERNMENT TO PROTECT YOUR BEST INTERESTS

Do you think our government can be trusted? If you do, you haven't been 
paying attention. Let me cite a few recent examples where government 
officials have shown that they have no regard for the truth.

First we have the twisted half-truths in the government sponsored drug 
advertisements run on TV during the Super Bowl. These ads, now being run in 
newspapers across the country, claim that people who use illegal drugs are 
financing terrorism, because some terrorists sell drugs to make money.

But according to the Hoover Institution, it is the failed War on Drugs that 
has created a black market and driven up the price of illegal drugs by as 
much as 17,000 percent. It is the failed War on Drugs that has turned 
ordinary, cheap plants like marijuana and poppies into fantastically 
lucrative black market products which terrorists or anybody else can sell 
for scads of money.

For the government to claim that drug users are financing terrorism is like 
claiming that the New York Port Authority financed the destruction of the 
World Trade Center. It is true that if the Port Authority hadn't paid for 
it, it would not have existed and so could not have been destroyed. But 
that is not what caused the destruction.

Next we have Rep. Fred Upton telling us how good the Shays-Meehan Campaign 
Reform Bill will be for us. The very name of the bill is a lie. It isn't a 
reform bill at all. Its proper name should be "The Shays-Meehan Office 
Holder's Protection and Preservation Act," because that is what it really 
is. Incumbents who seek re-election already win 90 percent of the time. 
This bill will just increase that percentage. Shays-Meehan is just another 
piece of self-serving legislation whose real purpose is to make government 
office holders even less accountable to the people than they are already.

At least part of the bill, and in my opinion the whole thing, is 
unconstitutional. Article I, Section 4, of the Constitution gives Congress 
the right to regulate the manner of holding elections. But, campaigning is 
not part of "holding elections." The Constitution does not give Congress 
any authority to control what people seeking office, or those who support 
them, may say or do, or how they may spend their money to get their 
opinions out.

The bill will prevent challengers from attacking an office holder by name 
within 60 days of an election. That is the very best time for a challenger 
to point out an incumbent's mistakes. The two-month period preceding an 
election is when the people who do pay attention to these things really do 
pay attention.

Then there is the fact that government officials are able to get lots of 
free publicity. Think about how many articles you have seen in The 
Herald-Palladium about Fred Upton. All he has to do is come home for the 
weekend and talk to somebody. Bingo, a story, with pictures, and that is a 
big advantage. He doesn't need a law to muzzle the rest of us on top of that.

The bill will also hit third parties, like the Libertarian Party, pretty 
hard. They do not have the resources that the Republicans and Democrats do. 
I personally explained this to Fred over a year ago. But, I guess he doesn' 
t mind making it harder for Libertarians to get their message out. After 
all, he isn't a Libertarian so why should he care?

Finally, let's talk about the new "Office of Strategic Influence" that has 
recently been created within the Defense Department. The mission of the 
office is to manipulate the release of information, that is tell lies, as 
the government sees fit. Of course, the lies are only going to be told to 
foreigners, only when necessary, and only to further what our government 
sees as good objectives. Sort of reminds me of the income tax. They said it 
was only a temporary tax, only a tax on the very rich, would never even go 
as high as 10 percent, and was needed for good objectives.

Now, if you still have any doubts about government lying to us, think about 
Ruby Ridge, Waco, or closer to home, Rainbow Farm. I rest my case.
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MAP posted-by: Beth