Run by an elitist ruling class, they prove daily that an elected body can trample rights the same as a sitting monarch or dictator.
The soft tyranny we endure now on a daily basis has turned scores of Americans into reluctant activists, no longer satisfied with participation in mundane “demonstrations” that prove and accomplish nothing.
Rising tide of anger
Some recent cases in point bear rise to this unrest, and if history is a guide, such occurrences will only become more frequent – and more violent – as our rights, traditions and heritage are trampled, disregarded and disrespected.
Take one case in New Jersey recently, where a state Senate panel on gun control cut off testimony on a bill – citing “procedure” – when citizens in attendance clearly had more they wanted to say, as evidenced by their requests to do so from the gallery. As seen in this video, a couple of individuals who attempted to speak were made to leave by a court police officer, but when one man – Frank Fiamingo, president of the New Jersey Second Amendment Society – had enough of the Senate panel’s dismissive attitude, he organized the dozens of attendees into reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, at which time the a) the Senate panel abandoned its attempts to have audience members thrown out; and b) mostly refused to stand during the recitation of the pledge (one senator finally stood towards the end of the pledge).
Here’s how it went down, according to one witness account:
After a late start, and a “ten minute break” that lasted more than a half hour, the NJ Senate committee on gun control decides to cut off public comment on the proposed gun control bills at 4 o’clock. The chairman and most of the committee then refuse to honor the pledge of allegiance. This took place at the NJ Senate gun control hearings in Trenton on April 30, 2013. People in the audience were wearing NRA caps which I am sure was not lost on the Senate committee members. The officers from the court who were harassing the people who attended at the end of the clip looked from behind like jack booted Nazi enforcers.
The anger in the room was palpable, as was the frustration.
Freedom going out of style?
At a separate protest, civil rights activist Adam Kokesh – who has pre-announced an armed civil disobedience march on Washington D.C. on July 4th – was violently dragged from a “Smoke Down Prohibition” protest in Philadelphia over the weekend of May 18. Though in this video Kokesh, who is being dragged away from the event by police, has his hands up and is clearly not resisting arrest, that was the ultimate charge leveled against him:
According to Adam Kokesh supporter “Brother Lucas,” Kokesh never even smoked pot during the protest, so his arrest is sending shockwaves across the liberty movement because it appears to be illegal and unjustified. The video seems to depict a lawless gang of badge-wearing thugs committing an act of kidnapping against someone merely exercising their free speech rights in a public forum.
What is interesting – even encouraging, if you are lover of liberty – was the reaction of the crowd to Kokesh’s detention. As you can see in the video, demonstrators followed police to a barricade they reinforced after taking Kokesh through it. The crowd openly challenged officers and was visibly angry.
These are scenes being repeated all around the country, and with increasing frequency, as more Americans tire of the soft tyranny being directed at them on a daily basis. Look for more unrest in the future.