I discovered William Grigg's excellent website, Pro Libertate, quite by accident. What a fortunate accident it was! I was instantly aware that this was a writer of no small talent nor intellect. His insights into the nascent police state the Dear Leader (GWB) is assembling are dead on accurate and simultaneously chilling.
Because I enjoy Mr. Grigg's blog so much, I decided to purchase and read his book, Liberty in Eclipse. Oh. My. God.
For the first time in my life I understand, REALLY understand, what has happened to us as a nation. To use a Matrix analogy, I took the red pill when I read this book. Hang on, Dorothy! This book is the literary equivalent of a two-by-four to the mind.
The first thing that struck me was how unaware I was of the construction of Police State infrastructure that had been happening right under my nose for more than a decade. I was wholly unaware of the number of Congressional bills signed into law with innocuous sounding names like the Military Commissions Act. These bills served to bestow more and more power to the president to trample on the human liberties of both citizen and non-citizen alike.
Had you heard anything about the MCA before I mentioned it here? I ask because I hadn't, and I consider myself to be extremely well-versed in the political and social issues of our day. While the mainstream media is consistently beaten up for leaning to the left, I think a more apt description may not be "left-leaning" but rather "pro-Big Brother". How else can you explain why only Jack Cafferty of CNN (who usually comes across as a socialist stooge) said jack about the MCA during the course of its run through congress as it became the law of the land?
And what is the significance of the MCA? It basically makes the president a law unto himself. Anyone, citizen or non-citizen, once designated an "enemy combatant", loses ALL Constitutional protections as well as protections that pre-date the Constitution, such as Habeas Corpus. Once you're designated as an Enemy of the State (to use Soviet nomenclature) , you can kiss your ass good-bye; it's off to the Gulag for you!
One thing that really jumps out and grabs you about this book is how patently EVIL GWB is. Two things that really stand out are:
- He has been the driving force for torture of "enemy combatants" against the wishes of the military whose job it is to administer the torture.
- He has used the practice of "signing statements" (utilized in the past by presidents to clarify to those charged with implementing a signed congressional bill what they are implementing or how to do it) a staggering 435 time during his presidency; prior to GWB, that practice had been utilized only 322 times in 212 years. And he's not using those signing statements to clarify; rather, he's using them to NEGATE and effectively override the will of Congress and substitute it with his own will.
Among the other topics dealt with in the book are no-knock warrants, the militarization of Police departments, and the manifest ways that the government tries to "collectivize" us.
Mr. Grigg finishes his book with a chapter which proclaims his optimistic opinion that all is not lost, that what we had CAN be recovered. I wish I could say I was that optimistic. But I'm not. We're too far down the rabbit hole to make it back without some sort of miraculous change in the mindset of the American people. Given my utter lack of faith in them, chances are slim.
I would strongly encourage you to read this book. Get your eyes opened to what we've become. It's some kinda education.
