Justice went out the window in this nation when congress passed its first prohibition. That somehow by prohibiting the possession of certain items you can prevent a person from harming another is a false idea.
Government is force. The use of violence. Our founders rightly concluded that force should only ever be used in defense. Never in offense.
Thus a just government is designed to protect the liberty of the people by using a collective defense to find and punish those who violate the life, liberty, or property of another.
Yet prohibition of any kind flips that idea around. Soliciting the government to punish those who have not harmed life liberty or property of another but only because they possess an item or are engaging in an act the majority finds distasteful.
Whether the prohibition is from building a house on one's own land without permission, or possessing a medicine without a prescription, or whatever. Our entire justice system is riddled with more prohibitions than actual crimes against life liberty or property.
How can one respect a judicial system that doesn't respect individual liberty?
I lost all respect for the judicial system years ago when I first learned about jury nullification and how judges actively suppress that knowledge and downright lie to potential jurors about it.
There are no repercussions from lying. No condemnation. No penalty. Politicians can say the most outrageous and divisive things, and all it does is fire up their base because they will believe anything their side says, and even if you tell them it is bullshit, they will ignore you and jump on the next outrageous lie as fact.
It used to be that the right would bite their tongue and try to take the high road, but all that did was make the left more brazen in their bullshit. But, once the people on the right decided to take the gloves off, it’s become a Donnybrook of who can fire up their base more.
But the lies aren’t anything new. Good people trying to do the right things for their country have been vilified and destroyed by lies. People have died because of it. And there is a complete lack of shame. They just don’t care, as long as they keep their position in life, they will do anything to crush the opposition.
Being civil isn’t going to fix that. I understand the sentiment, but after decades of watching one side being beat to death while taking the high road, I am not inclined to play nice anymore either. I am not talking about stooping to the other sides level, but simply responding with the truth loudly.
I can't disagree re: Lies. Political types spreading information that they know to be false in order to support their narrative and position, is extremely harmful.
Who is to blame though?
The politician who lies, and has been shown to lie, over and over again?
Or us, for suspending all good judgement and believing the next lie from his or her mouth?
Jul 28, 2022·edited Jul 28, 2022Liked by Cameron M. Bailey
I'm going to tell you a story about a great American hero. A man who cared deeply for his country, and fought to expose the subversion and corruption within his own government. He was vilified, and virtually crucified, driven from office, where just a few short years later, died alone from alcoholism. And to this day, people still believe the lies told about him. His name is still used (but not so much now, as Hitler seems to become a better label) for anyone accused to xenophobia. His name was...Joseph McCarthy.
Senator Joe fought to expose the communist agents working within our own government, mainly the state department of Harry Truman's administration. McCarthy received his information from another great source - J. Edgar Hoover, who has also been vilified by historians but also fought to rid our government of communists.
The democrats fought him tooth and nail. They couldn't let this junior senator expose the left's bed sharing with the enemy, so they did everything in their power to destroy McCarthy's career, which eventually they did. They used a ginned up committee hearing to falsely charge him with entering falsehoods into the congressional record. They lied, but that didn't matter. They were able to achieve their goal of getting rid of McCarthy.
Most people believe that Joseph McCarthy was lying, and using his cases to grandstand and puff up his record. Perhaps, but that doesn't take away that he was also right. There were dozens of soviet agents working within our government, and papers later released by the Russian Government (the verona papers) proved it. Of course, most all of you have never heard of this, because it didn't get any exposure by our fourth estate.
And to this day, most people confuse the House Unamerican Activities Committee with Joseph McCarthy (House...not Senate) calling it McCarthyism - making people associate the vilified and condemned ex-senator with the committee's work, throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. even though the HUAC's information was derived from the very same source - the FBI and was almost universally right.
And ultimately, Justice was never done. The communists mostly kept their jobs, or when the evidence was too overwhelming, they were shuffled off into other sections within the government and called good. Our state department hemorrhaged our secrets, including our most valued atomic ones to the Soviets and Chinese all through these agents. How many people's lives have been destroyed by all of this? We'll never know.
All because one party had to destroy a man they feared would expose their own corruption.
Sounds familiar, right? Sounds like current events, except now the media of all shapes and sizes are in lock step to continue the lies and destroy reputations, without caring a whit, as long as they maintain power.
He was 100% opposed to the concept of political parties as we know them. I think we would have done well as a country to have heeded that wisdom. Alas though, extremely divisive politics (and campaigns even rougher than what we are used to now) were firmly entrenched by the time he left the Presidency.
“I would suggest that much of this is a symptom of the disease of incivility that has gripped our entire society. To identify a friend, colleague, neighbor, or even a family member as an enemy, as someone who needs to be silenced.” I love debate. I guess that comes when you work with the public as a small business owner for a quarter century. Why would I want to silence someone on the other side that’s willing to calmly and civilly discuss their stance? It’s a learning opportunity. I’m not afraid to adjust my viewpoint based on additional points of view. And the person on the “other side” appreciates the respect I show them. It’s a win-win situation.
“To engage in online witch hunts, saying the most horrific things possible while hiding behind a computer screen.” To me, it’s just like people’s poor driving habits. I’ve brought up in Lodge meetings to debate about whether people’s driving habits are a reflection of their true character. An example is the 1950 Disney short cartoon “Motor Mania,” featuring Goofy as Mr. Walker and Mr. Wheeler. While the goal of the cartoon is to show bad driving habits, I think it also shows who we really are, in the apparent anonymity of our automobiles. Same thing with the computer. The son of one of our late Past Masters was mean to his father, almost vile, in the comments made on our Past Master’s social media posts. It really angered me that he treated our Brother that way online. Yet when I met him in person, he was meek, with a light handshake and a whimpering voice, almost what you would call a “wimp.” You would have never guessed he would have made those comments online. Same thing with E-mails. At times I and others have noticed some people have two versions – the in-person version, and the “E-mail” version. Jekyll and Hyde yet again. Once again, for us Freemasons, we can follow our Charges and the lessons in our Lectures, and chip off those rough edges that really show themselves when we engage people in our cars, in social media, or other indirect methods of communication.
The charges in our degrees, as well as our lectures, really drive home the point of how we carry ourselves not only among our Brethren, but out in the world, should be an example of what we all should be doing. While everyone else is out there behaving like the Tasmanian Devil, the people known to be Freemasons should be out there behaving properly, and according to our Lectures and Charges. Doing the Right Thing. Setting an example. And when a Brother doesn’t do that, his Brethren should be admonishing him, and not be afraid to do so. It has helped me immensely through the years, when I miss a step and do something stupid, many Brethren in my Lodges have “scolded” me in a proper, constructive manner, and I listened. And I learned.
This is what this Fraternity is all about, my Brothers. It’s what we came here to do.
Justice went out the window in this nation when congress passed its first prohibition. That somehow by prohibiting the possession of certain items you can prevent a person from harming another is a false idea.
Government is force. The use of violence. Our founders rightly concluded that force should only ever be used in defense. Never in offense.
Thus a just government is designed to protect the liberty of the people by using a collective defense to find and punish those who violate the life, liberty, or property of another.
Yet prohibition of any kind flips that idea around. Soliciting the government to punish those who have not harmed life liberty or property of another but only because they possess an item or are engaging in an act the majority finds distasteful.
Whether the prohibition is from building a house on one's own land without permission, or possessing a medicine without a prescription, or whatever. Our entire justice system is riddled with more prohibitions than actual crimes against life liberty or property.
How can one respect a judicial system that doesn't respect individual liberty?
I lost all respect for the judicial system years ago when I first learned about jury nullification and how judges actively suppress that knowledge and downright lie to potential jurors about it.
Indeed, it is a fundamental check against encroachment on freedom:
https://fija.org
Great essay MW sir. I agree with you 100%.
Thank you Brother!
The biggest problem is…lies.
There are no repercussions from lying. No condemnation. No penalty. Politicians can say the most outrageous and divisive things, and all it does is fire up their base because they will believe anything their side says, and even if you tell them it is bullshit, they will ignore you and jump on the next outrageous lie as fact.
It used to be that the right would bite their tongue and try to take the high road, but all that did was make the left more brazen in their bullshit. But, once the people on the right decided to take the gloves off, it’s become a Donnybrook of who can fire up their base more.
But the lies aren’t anything new. Good people trying to do the right things for their country have been vilified and destroyed by lies. People have died because of it. And there is a complete lack of shame. They just don’t care, as long as they keep their position in life, they will do anything to crush the opposition.
Being civil isn’t going to fix that. I understand the sentiment, but after decades of watching one side being beat to death while taking the high road, I am not inclined to play nice anymore either. I am not talking about stooping to the other sides level, but simply responding with the truth loudly.
I can't disagree re: Lies. Political types spreading information that they know to be false in order to support their narrative and position, is extremely harmful.
Who is to blame though?
The politician who lies, and has been shown to lie, over and over again?
Or us, for suspending all good judgement and believing the next lie from his or her mouth?
I'm going to tell you a story about a great American hero. A man who cared deeply for his country, and fought to expose the subversion and corruption within his own government. He was vilified, and virtually crucified, driven from office, where just a few short years later, died alone from alcoholism. And to this day, people still believe the lies told about him. His name is still used (but not so much now, as Hitler seems to become a better label) for anyone accused to xenophobia. His name was...Joseph McCarthy.
Senator Joe fought to expose the communist agents working within our own government, mainly the state department of Harry Truman's administration. McCarthy received his information from another great source - J. Edgar Hoover, who has also been vilified by historians but also fought to rid our government of communists.
The democrats fought him tooth and nail. They couldn't let this junior senator expose the left's bed sharing with the enemy, so they did everything in their power to destroy McCarthy's career, which eventually they did. They used a ginned up committee hearing to falsely charge him with entering falsehoods into the congressional record. They lied, but that didn't matter. They were able to achieve their goal of getting rid of McCarthy.
Most people believe that Joseph McCarthy was lying, and using his cases to grandstand and puff up his record. Perhaps, but that doesn't take away that he was also right. There were dozens of soviet agents working within our government, and papers later released by the Russian Government (the verona papers) proved it. Of course, most all of you have never heard of this, because it didn't get any exposure by our fourth estate.
And to this day, most people confuse the House Unamerican Activities Committee with Joseph McCarthy (House...not Senate) calling it McCarthyism - making people associate the vilified and condemned ex-senator with the committee's work, throwing the baby out with the bath water, so to speak. even though the HUAC's information was derived from the very same source - the FBI and was almost universally right.
And ultimately, Justice was never done. The communists mostly kept their jobs, or when the evidence was too overwhelming, they were shuffled off into other sections within the government and called good. Our state department hemorrhaged our secrets, including our most valued atomic ones to the Soviets and Chinese all through these agents. How many people's lives have been destroyed by all of this? We'll never know.
All because one party had to destroy a man they feared would expose their own corruption.
Sounds familiar, right? Sounds like current events, except now the media of all shapes and sizes are in lock step to continue the lies and destroy reputations, without caring a whit, as long as they maintain power.
Lies. Lies are what's killing this country.
I asking myself, what would George Washington be doing about now?
He was 100% opposed to the concept of political parties as we know them. I think we would have done well as a country to have heeded that wisdom. Alas though, extremely divisive politics (and campaigns even rougher than what we are used to now) were firmly entrenched by the time he left the Presidency.
“I would suggest that much of this is a symptom of the disease of incivility that has gripped our entire society. To identify a friend, colleague, neighbor, or even a family member as an enemy, as someone who needs to be silenced.” I love debate. I guess that comes when you work with the public as a small business owner for a quarter century. Why would I want to silence someone on the other side that’s willing to calmly and civilly discuss their stance? It’s a learning opportunity. I’m not afraid to adjust my viewpoint based on additional points of view. And the person on the “other side” appreciates the respect I show them. It’s a win-win situation.
“To engage in online witch hunts, saying the most horrific things possible while hiding behind a computer screen.” To me, it’s just like people’s poor driving habits. I’ve brought up in Lodge meetings to debate about whether people’s driving habits are a reflection of their true character. An example is the 1950 Disney short cartoon “Motor Mania,” featuring Goofy as Mr. Walker and Mr. Wheeler. While the goal of the cartoon is to show bad driving habits, I think it also shows who we really are, in the apparent anonymity of our automobiles. Same thing with the computer. The son of one of our late Past Masters was mean to his father, almost vile, in the comments made on our Past Master’s social media posts. It really angered me that he treated our Brother that way online. Yet when I met him in person, he was meek, with a light handshake and a whimpering voice, almost what you would call a “wimp.” You would have never guessed he would have made those comments online. Same thing with E-mails. At times I and others have noticed some people have two versions – the in-person version, and the “E-mail” version. Jekyll and Hyde yet again. Once again, for us Freemasons, we can follow our Charges and the lessons in our Lectures, and chip off those rough edges that really show themselves when we engage people in our cars, in social media, or other indirect methods of communication.
The charges in our degrees, as well as our lectures, really drive home the point of how we carry ourselves not only among our Brethren, but out in the world, should be an example of what we all should be doing. While everyone else is out there behaving like the Tasmanian Devil, the people known to be Freemasons should be out there behaving properly, and according to our Lectures and Charges. Doing the Right Thing. Setting an example. And when a Brother doesn’t do that, his Brethren should be admonishing him, and not be afraid to do so. It has helped me immensely through the years, when I miss a step and do something stupid, many Brethren in my Lodges have “scolded” me in a proper, constructive manner, and I listened. And I learned.
This is what this Fraternity is all about, my Brothers. It’s what we came here to do.
Well said VW. Thank you!