Gangstas R Us!

So Sayeth the Judge!

by Ted Lang

Constitutional Chaos: What Happens When The Government Breaks its Own Laws, is the title of a book written by former New Jersey Supreme Court Justice, Andrew P. Napolitano.  In the introduction to this well-written, hard-hitting, factual account of monumental and ever-expanding freedom-destroying government wrongdoing, Judge Napolitano offers: “It should be against the law to break the law.  Unfortunately, it is not. In early twenty-first century America , a long-standing dirty little secret still exists among public officials, politicians, judges, prosecutors, and police.  The government – federal, state, and local – is not bound to obey its own laws.  I know this sounds crazy, but the events recounted in this book prove it true.  Constitutional Chaos should be a wake-up call for every American who prizes personal liberty in a free society.  Because it breaks the law, the government is not your friend.”  

I was invited to attend Judge Napolitano’s book-signing promotion and talk at my alma mater, Ramapo College , Mahwah , New Jersey , just a few weeks ago.  My friend, Dr. Murray Sabrin , is Executive Director of the Center for Business and Public Policy at the college and sent me the invitation.  Judge Napolitano proved to be a very effective and articulate speaker, and extremely knowledgeable in constitutional law.  

It is common to read the many accounts from so many informed political analysts and observers presented by the ever-growing number of Internet websites, all of which can and do so easily demonstrate abundant examples of the error of big government.   

Conversely, it is likewise astonishing to notice the virtual absence of such critical commentary in the “mainstream media” [news magazines, newspapers, radio, network/cable televised news, etc.].  Having a high-level member of the bureaucratic establishment so effectively “blow the whistle” on his own, is not only a refreshing affirmation of what others outside the system have so often written about and said, but legitimizes all the more the stark revelations made.  

Of course, it has been pointed out that a free, unbiased and independent watchdog press, thought embedded and ensconced as our “media,” just simply doesn’t exist, and as such, creates a dangerous myth of a government monitored and held accountable for its actions.  And whether one chooses to believe the distractions offered by partisan pundits advancing the distraction of a “liberal” media, the lack of any appreciable difference in available political party alternatives continues to exhibit itself.   

President George Bush stepped up once again to protect Bill Clinton, covering up the latter’s crimes, specifically those popularly referred to as “pardongate,” as the media refuses to expose and bring pressure on the crimes of both!  As pointed out in the March 20^th release from the Associated Press, “The Bush administration blacked out almost all the information in hundreds of documents before releasing them to a conservative organization looking into President Clinton’s controversial pardons four years ago on his last day in office.  The only items not deleted from the material are the names of the person who wrote the document and the person it was sent to.”  

The AP article, “Bush Administration Blacks Out Clinton Docs,” continues: “The government accountability group, Judicial Watch, said Friday that it received the Justice Department documents following a court battle that featured a Republican administration fighting to keep secret documents generated by its Democratic predecessor.”  

Sad to say, Judicial Watch has been labeled as a “conservative organization,” thereby blunting any semblance or modicum of objectivity.  The determining standard for government wrongdoing should be the Constitution and its Bill of Rights, but once again, the media resorts to labeling distractions demonstrating the childish exercise and nonsense of Democrats versus Republicans, or conservatives versus liberals.  

All of the forgoing is by way of explaining my position on precisely how we got to be ruled over by a gang of corrupt, treasonous politicians and big money manipulators; and this on a scale much greater in immorality and ruthlessness than that of organized crime.  The incubator for this political disgrace is the current system of party politics, rigged elections, special moneyed interests and a political spoils system on a scale exponentially grander than that of Boss Tweed and Tammany Hall.  

Judge Napolitano revisits some of the more brutal crimes perpetrated by all levels of government, including in-depth accounts of Waco, Ruby Ridge, witness-bribing, witness tampering, deliberate incarceration of known-to-be-innocent victims of government tyranny, and of course, the horrors of the illegal and unconstitutional USA PATRIOT Act.  He resurfaces many of the horrors originally reported by the “underground media,” the Internet, which is now, in effect, America ’s real free and independent press.   

For anyone truly desirous of reforming America , this book is a must read!  It is based on the actual hands-on judicial experience of a New Jersey Supreme Court Judge, a high-level honest government official.  For corrective action to be launched against that which needs to be remedied, it is best initiated by one of its own from within.  

But Judge Napolitano falls short, both in the book and in his presentation, by suggesting the usual solution in urging Americans to “participate” in government through elections via their votes.  He offers the remedies of term limits, and holding government accountable by allowing for lawsuits against both bureaus and government officials.  He advocates the latter by removing the principle of legal immunity for both government entities and their employees.   

Of course, holding the State and its employees accountable is an excellent idea.  But this will never happen because of the staunch legal and political obstructionism that can surely be expected from the very same corrupt officials so targeted.  It would require of them self-indictment, a process the New Jersey State legislature is now supposedly undertaking, and not surprisingly, failing to develop into meaningful reform.  

The solutions Judge Napolitano offered elicited some well-articulated frustrations from members of his audience during the question and answer period that followed.  While totally agreeing with his observations, a few decried as oversimplifications his offered remedies.  Yet, the main thrust of the book and his presentation were their candid and factual examples of the depth and breadth of government malfeasance and malevolence.  And it was obvious that this thrust was manifested by such success that most in the audience were stupefied into silence, reflection and fear.  And it is this that provides the real measure of success for Napolitano’s efforts.       

Of course, solutions are available, but before considering them, one must be realistic as to what will be encountered in attempting government reform.  Public momentum in the form of citizens/taxpayers action groups, strikes, tax revolts, and local government resolutions, such as those now being undertaken by local town and city governments in opposing the draconian provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, are all promising signs of the public’s ability to once again bring corrupt, despotic, runaway government under control.   

The crucial watchwords for citizen-driven alternatives are as they were back in Adolf Hitler’s pre-World War II Germany as offered by William L. Shirer in his Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.  Explaining why the German people were so complacent and unable to stop a dangerous minority, thereby allowing it to become a majority solidified in terror, he offered that the good German people were “unorganized and unarmed.”  We must organize and agitate, and fight to never allow “American” legislators loyal only to big money manipulators to take our guns!  For if as Judge Napolitano has so aptly proven in his book offering that government is not our friend, then what else is the State?  How can we continue to allow it to micromanage our daily lives and to confiscate our firearms?   

And if the State taxes US, and takes our rightfully-owned real estate from US via eminent domain in order to give to it to another private entity that pays more taxes, and then puts liens on our homes via local taxes to provide increased pay and benefits for a large powerful national union, can these be construed as “friendly” actions?  If government is not our friend and commits these atrocities against US as pointed out by Judge Napolitano, isn’t it obvious that our government uses force in exactly the same manner as organized crime?  Are they also considered “our friends?”