Hypocrisy in the Nation's Capitol!

Thursday, March 1st, 2012
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

CONGRESS SHOULD CLEAN UP THE MESS IT CREATED!

Two time presidential contender Adlai Stevenson had a quote concerning two-faced public officials. “A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.” Well said, and there should be little doubt as to where the greatest concentration of hypocrites can be found in America, today. Just look toward the nation’s capitol. Prognosticating in favor of proposed legislation, then voting against it, or vice versa, has become increasingly commonplace in Washington.

No better example can be found than by observing members of congress trying to “cover their tracks” by reversing a section in the recently enacted National defense Act. The Act itself is the vehicle to allow military spending of $662 billion for 2013. The U.S., with the approval of Congress, will continue a number of “everywhere and forever” military actions in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen, Iraq (we’re still in Iraq?) and possibly enter into a confrontation with Iran. Well, OK, so far, I guess. You just gotta trust our leadership -- right?
But now, with the overwhelming approval of Congress, the battlefield has come back home. A legislative atrocity now gives to this president, and any future president, the power to give an order to the military to detain and arrest American citizens, and indefinitely hold them without charges. That’s right. No charges, no trial, and hold them indefinitely. What happened to the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Amendments that were supposed serve as checks and balances, giving guaranteed protections to every American?

We hear admonitions from Republicans and Democrats alike, about “big, intrusive government.” What we hear little of is the constitutional guarantee, found in the Fourth Amendment that confirms “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects…” Any school kid knows this is nothing new. English legal doctrine set the tone for the Fourth Amendment when Sir Edward Coke stated back in 1609 that: "The house of every one is to him as his castle and fortress, as well for his defence against injury and violence as for his repose." Translated for members of Congress: If you don’t have specific charges to bring, leave us alone.

Right after he was sworn in to office, President Obama asserted: “Our values have been our best national security assets in war and peace; in times of ease and eras of upheaval.” Good rhetoric, but his performance in defense of basic individual liberties has been in direct contradiction to this.

President Obama began his assault of basic constitutionally guaranteed liberties by signing the so called Patriot Act. Simply put, the Patriot Act is one of the most egregious acts against basic rights and liberties that we have witnessed in our lifetimes. The President and many members of Congress will argue that they have a job to keep American safe. But that’s not the starting point. Their job is to see that the Constitution is enforced, and that means keeping us free. As Judge Andrew Napolitano said on his Fox News program recently, the job of these federal officials is to keep us “Free from tyrants who sought and claimed power from thin air; free from prince-like federal agents who could behave without constitutional or legal restraint; free to live with a government that obeys its own laws. Any president who keeps us safe but unfree is ignoring his oath to the American people.” And doesn’t keeping us safe include keeping us safe from the tyranny of our own government as well?

The President gave lip service to concerns over the recent Defense Act: “Despite having serious reservations with certain provisions,” I am signing this legislation.
Months before, The President had said, “my administration will not authorize the indefinite military detention without trial of American citizens.” Hey, Mr. President, that’s not what this law you signed says. It says just the opposite. You signed into law your complete authority to detain and indefinitely jail American citizens. No amount of rhetoric will obscure this fact.

A number of members of Congress apparently are feeling the heat of their outrageous and blatantly unconstitutional actions. There is an effort, led by Louisiana congressman Jeff Landry, to reverse parts of the National Defense Act that allows American citizens to be subject to indefinite detention. Landry says he was “hoodwinked” by California Congressman Bob McEwen, who handled the defense legislation on the House floor. Landry was assured by the house Republican leadership that American citizens were not subject to being held indefinitely, when in fact the opposite was true.

To his credit, Landry is trying to make amends. He has introduced new legislation making it clear that American citizens are not subject to the provisions of the Defense Act, and so far he has obtained 59 co-sponsors with Republicans and Democrats joining in his effort. But he still faces an uphill fight since he is being opposed by both the Republican and Democratic leadership in the House. You see, it’s election year and the leadership just doesn’t want to go back and open up old wounds. “Let it be,” they say. “The President said he wouldn’t enforce the law, so let’s just leave well enough alone.”

Hopefully, Landry’s repeal efforts will be successful. But troubling questions are still are being ignored by a majority of Congress as well as by the President. Does the Bill of Right mean anything anymore? Are Americans now guilty until proven innocent? Does the accused still have the right to defend himself? Or do we continue to follow the current mantra of “indefinite detainment,” in defiance of the constitution and the principals on which the United States was founded? These questions need to be raised to those who want to represent us in Washington.

How many congressmen will stand up for the premise that each and every American has basic constitutional freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? From what we have witnessed recently, the numbers in support of these freedoms are dwindling.
*****

“Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the country. You can read all is past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

Supreme Court Takes a Small Steps for Privacy and Feeedom!

Thursday, January 26th, 2012
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

SOME OCCASIONAL COMMON SENSE FROM THE SUPREME COURT

Is privacy dead in America? Many of us thought it was after a disastrous year of almost total usurpation of both freedom and privacy by the federal government. Since the founding of our country more than 200 hundred years ago, Americans have enjoyed the core rights and liberties that have made our country not just unique, but exceptional in protecting basic freedoms. But no more! Under the guise of protecting Americans from terrorism, congress and the past two presidents have stripped away many of the protections guaranteed to American citizens under the Bill of Rights.

Recently, Republicans and Democrats, alike have ignored Benjamin Franklin’s admonition made over 200 years ago when he said, “Security and freedom are not the same thing….in fact just the opposite. The more security you seek, the less freedom you have. The people with the most security are in jail. That’s why they call it maximum, security.”

First came the Patriot Act. Simply put, the Patriot Act is one of the most egregious acts against rights and liberties that we have witnessed in our lifetimes. The President and many members of Congress will argue that their primary job is to keep America safe. But that’s not the starting point. Their primary job is to see that the Constitution is enforced, and that means keeping us free.

As Judge Andrew Napolitano said on his Fox News program recently, the job of these federal officials is to keep us “Free from tyrants who sought and claimed power from thin air; free from prince-like federal agents who could behave without constitutional or legal restraint; free to live with a government that obeys its own laws. Any president who keeps us safe but unfree is ignoring his oath to the American people.” And doesn’t keeping us safe include keeping us safe from the tyranny of our own government?

The abuses under the so called Patriot Act began almost immediately. Two U.S. Senators have sent out early warnings. Senator Mark Udall from Colorado, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned: “Americans would be alarmed if they knew how this law is being carried out.” His concerns were echoed by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, also a member of the Intelligence Committee, who charged: “When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry.”

Then, during an unwatched hour on New Year’s Eve, when most Americans were focused on revelry and football, President Obama signed the latest assault on our freedoms. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 gives the President the authority to have American citizens arrested and detained indefinitely, without due process. We fought the British for our freedom, and as Judge Napolitano points out, even King George did not have the power to indefinitely detain any citizen. I gotta say it again. American citizens can be arrested on American soil and imprisoned indefinitely on the basis of accusations alone.

There is little good news, but every now and then, there’s a glimmer. Just this week, the U.S. Supreme Court, often notoriously blind to the cause of individual rights, unanimously decreed that a search warrant is necessary before law enforcement officers can use a GPS device to track and follow a criminal suspect. The Court used a little common sense for a change in ruling that despite advances in surveillance technology, the Fourth Amendment still applies.

But what if the police can track an individual without installing equipment? Many new cars have GPS devices factory installed. Do the same privacy rules apply?
How about the fact that current technology allows the government to track the locations of millions of cell phones at will? The court “punted” on any clarification here, and said they would consider these issues at a later time. Is your cell phone activity and location being tracked right now?

The basic freedoms and protections of American citizens under the Bill of Rights have never before been under such assault. The stripping of these freedoms began following 9/11 under the Bush Administration. Under the Obama Administration, civil liberties have been further cut to the bone. Lenin summed up the direction our nation is heading, well, when he said, “It is true that liberty is precious, so precious that it must be carefully rationed.”

There was a small step towards the protection of privacy in the Supreme Court decision this week. But if the call for security smothers the rights of privacy, and the right to be free, then the terrorists do win. How can America issue a call for freedom in other countries, while deserting it here at home? Our freedom train is off the track. We have some adjusting to do. Before the essential principles on which our country was founded disappear right before our eyes. Edmund Burke said it this way, "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."

*****

“Those who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty nor security.” Benjamin Franklin

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the country. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

Real Meaning of Independence Day!

Thursday, June 30th, 2011
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

WHAT’S HAPPENED TO FREEDOM ON THIS 4TH OF JULY?

Independence Day to most Americans means a three day weekend with gatherings of family and friends, barbecues, parties, games, food, parades, baseball games and fireworks. Traditionally, most of us know that July 4th is the recognition and celebration of our country’s independence from an oppressive government. But this mid-summer special day is really only about one thing. Freedom.

Most Americans agree on the importance of safeguarding basic freedoms protected by the constitution. But here’s where it gets a little murky. Do we have to give up certain of these freedoms to be safe and secure? The current and past presidents, one Democrat and one Republican, think that there are trade-offs, and that individual freedoms have to be compromised for the sake of security. In order to combat crime and terrorism, they say, it is necessary for the government to take away certain freedoms and civil rights. In the realities of the 21st Century, is our constitution “out of date?” Both parties in Washington would have you believe so.

In the opinion of a majority of both Democrats and Republicans in Washington, freedom has to make way for safety concerns. That disturbing view manifested itself in the recent passage of the so-called Patriot Act. In the name of fighting terrorism, members of congress drove a stake through the heart of the Bill of Rights.

Here is what members of congress did in their Patriot Act vote. They authorized and empowered federal agents on their own, in violation of the Constitution, and without you knowing it, to obtain records about you from your accountant, bank, boat dealer, bodega, book store, car dealer, casino, computer server, credit union, dentist, HMO, hospital, hotel manager, insurance company, jewelry store, lawyer, library, pawn broker, pharmacist, physician, postman, real estate agent, supermarket, tax collectors, telephone company, travel agency, and trust company, and use the evidence thus obtained in any criminal prosecution against you.

Congress, both Republicans and Democrats alike, at the behest of President Obama, tightly embraced the less-freedom-equals-more-security false prophecy. So here’s the tragic irony. On this special 4th of July weekend, when we celebrate our independence and our right to be free, we are being told by our leaders in Washington that, yes, America fought a war with the British, and over the past 230 years continued to fight wars to protect our freedom from foreign governments. But nevertheless, now, we have no choice but to let our own government compromise these same freedoms that we have sacrificed so much to maintain and protect.

Constitutional scholar Judge Andrew Napolitano hit the nail on the head when he said on Fox News recently: “President Bush argued frequently and forcefully that his first job was to keep us safe. He was wrong. The Constitution tells us that his sole job is to enforce the Constitution: and that means keeping us free. Free from tyrants who sought and claimed power from thin air: free from prince-like federal agents who could behave without constitutional or legal restraint: free to live with a government that obeyed its own laws. Any president who keeps us safe but unfree is rejecting his oath to the American people.”

Lenin’s words concerning freedom would apparently find solace with a majority of members of Congress. “It is true that liberty is precious, so precious that it must be carefully rationed.” And that’s the rub. Or politicians want to control our basic liberties in the name of security. The more security the bureaucrats in Washington try to impose, the more freedoms are taken away. You see, freedom and security are not the same. The most secure citizens in American are in jail. That’s why it’s called “maximum security.”

. When we hear all this talk of our members of congress fighting to protect American freedoms, a paraphrase of George Carlin’s observations comes to mind. “Crime fighters fight crime, fire fighters fight fire, so what do our supposed government freedom fighters fight?”

When I was studying at the University of North Carolina back in the early 1960s, poet Robert Frost came to speak. He talked a good bit about individual freedoms and the challenges of speaking up to protect constitutional freedoms. “Don’t leave it to the politicians,” he said. “Freedom is just too important. He went on to say that protecting freedom from within is hard work. “You have freedom when you’re easy in your harness.”

So is there some nefarious plot by congress and the president to undermine basic constitutionally guaranteed freedoms of the American people? No. But as is often the case, we allow a fictitious notion to grow that the government is only looking out for our own good. C.S Lewis, in his essays on theology entitled God in the Dock, addresses the issue head on:
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the food of its victims’ may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity many at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

Your congressman will no doubt protest that he or she is seeking the worthy goal of keeping you safe. The reply of the true patriot is, “Yes, but at what cost?” Is the benefit of some perceived (but often unproven) measure of safety worth, in this constitutional tug of war, the sacrifice of the basic liberties that American citizens have enjoyed for the past two centuries? Thomas Jefferson would argue no. Principals matter. The Bill of Rights matter. The Constitution matters. The best way to keep us safe is to keep us free. That’s the message on this Independence Day. And for every other day of the year.

*****

“Those who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security deserve neither liberty or security.” Benjamin Franklin

Peace and Justice.

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the South. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

Patriot Act Flat Out UnAmerican!

Wednesday, June 2nd 2011
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

CONGRESS BETRAYS BASIC AMERICAN FREEDOMS!

Since the founding of our country more than 200 hundred years ago, Americans have enjoyed core rights and liberties that made our country not just unique, but exceptional in protecting our basic freedoms. But no more. Just last week, The Congress of the United States sent a strong message to the American people that infringement on the Bill of Rights and the Constitution itself is just all part of the price we pay for “Big Government” to protect us. Thomas Paine warned us at the birth of our nation that “it is the responsibility of the patriot to protect his country from its government.” He would be stunned today to watch our Congress march in lock step with the President in renewing the so called Patriot Act.

Simply put, the Patriot Act is one of the most egregious acts against basic rights and liberties that we have witnessed in our lifetimes. The President and many members of Congress will argue that they have a job to keep American safe. But that’s not the starting point. Their job is to see that the Constitution is enforced, and that means keeping us free. As Judge Andrew Napolitano said on his Fox News program this week, the job of these federal officials is to keep us “Free from tyrants who sought and claimed power from thin air; free from prince-like federal agents who could behave without constitutional or legal restraint; free to live with a government that obeys its own laws. Any president who keeps us safe but unfree is ignoring his oath to the American people.” And doesn’t keeping us safe include keeping us safe from the tyranny of our own government as well?

Not only does this unconscionable law rip at the very fiber of each and every American’s basic liberties, several courageous U.S. Senators are charging that federal agents are now twisting the law with interpretations that go way beyond the few limits infused in this unpatriotic act. Senator Mark Udall from Colorado, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee warned: “Americans would be alarmed if they knew how this law is being carried out.” His concerns were echoed by Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, also a member of the Intelligence Committee, who charged: “When the American people find out how their government has secretly interpreted the Patriot Act, they will be stunned and they will be angry.”

The President may have inadvertently given an opening to opponents of the act to void it when he “signed” the legislation by using an autopen to reproduce his signature in Washington while he was in France. The primary purpose of the autopen (a machine) is to replicate numerous signatures generated by one person signing with one pen. I used such a pen as Louisiana Secretary of State where my signature was required on virtually all official state documents. But the law is clear that I had to be in the state at the time of signing, and the autopen was merely a convenience so as not to have to sign and hundreds of documents, one after the other, in one sitting.

Now I know that the present mind set in Washington is to pay little attention to the Constitution. But if anyone in charge is remotely interested, Article 1, Section 7 of our founding document clearly states and requires that a proposed law “be presented to the President of The United States; if he approve he shall sign it.” Nothing here about giving the OK to reproduce his signature from 3000 miles away by telephone. It would be interesting how the “strict constructionists” on the Supreme Court would interpret this action.

A lighter anecdote on autopens concerning this extremely serious subject. During the time I was Secretary of State backing the mid 80s, I was in Atlantic City attending a convention, and bought tickets to see one of the last performances of two of my favorites -- Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin. The show was to be held that evening, and I received a call from the Louisiana Governor’s office around 4:00 in the afternoon. The Governor needed my official signature to call an emergency special session of the Louisiana Legislature, and the proclamation had to be signed by midnight.

No way to make it back, I said. I was 1500 miles away and I certainly didn’t want to miss the concert. Just use my autopen. But the Governor’s two lawyers insisted I had to personally sign and it was imperative and vital that I make it home by midnight. I reluctantly hailed a cab from Atlantic City to Philadelphia, caught a plane back to New Orleans, and landed at 11:50 pm. The lawyers had flown down from the state capitol in a police helicopter, and were waiting on the runway as the plane landed. I signed the required document with only minutes to spare. The President may want to take heed. At least follow the dictates of the Constitution.

The next time you have the chance to talk with your Senator or Congressman, you might want to pose a few questions for his consideration. The Patriot Act has, for all practical purposes, driven a stake through the heart of the Bill of Rights. What I would like to ask my congressional representatives is just who will protect us from our government. Congressman, do you support the domestic surveillance of American citizens by authorizing (as you did by voting for the Patriot Act) far reaching authority for government agents to pry, without judicial authorization, into practically every aspect of a citizen’s personal life? Do you agree that government agents can now come to your place of employment and seize your personal and medical records, all without notifying you?

Congressman, do you have any problem with the FBI demanding customer records from a bank, the phone company, an internet provider, a doctor or your local library all without any notice or court approval? How about the monitoring of where one goes to church, clubs they belong to, or their lawful activities with any political organization? What about jailing American citizens indefinitely without allowing a trial? Is this the kind of country you want us to live in Congressman? Is this the kind of country we should ask our young men and women to fight and die for? Congressman, we would like to hear your answer!

*****
“A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”
Edward Abbey

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the South. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.

The Unpatriotic Act by Congress!

Thursday, March 17, 2011
Baton Rouge, Louisiana

BIG BROTHER HAS YOU UNDER CLOSE WATCH
THANKS TO THE PATRIOT ACT!

When Tea party candidates throughout the country ran for office last fall, most members offered soaring campaign promises to defend liberty of ordinary Americans, and fight governmental intrusions on basic freedoms. But whatever hopes there were that newly elected Tea Partiers would put the brakes on intrusive domestic surveillance, illegal wire wiretapping and warrantless searches went out the window just 20 days into the new Congress.

With only minor whimpers, Tea Party leaders did an about face by abandoning their previous opposition to the so called Patriot Act, voting to indefinitely extend this Orwellian law that flouts the Bill of Rights. The federal government has now been given carte blanche to spy on everything you do online, every call you make, and every trip you take. “But there is danger out there,” says your congressman. “So just get used to it!” Privacy is gone, so get with the new world. No more basic constitutional protections? “Get over it.”

As Brian Doherty writes in the American Conservative: “Thanks to the massive security apparatus erected after 9/11, the government now wiretaps telephone calls without warrants, creates profiles of citizens even if they’re not suspected of specific crimes, and seizes information without judicial oversight.” In this brave new world, private companies that maintain massive data bases of information on what we are saying, writing, buying and thinking, willingly turnover reams of information about their customers.

Here’s one example. Sprint Nextel provided the government with GPS locations on its subscribers 8 million times in a recent one-year period. Thanks goodness I use AT&T, who, to its credit refused to provide such private information to the FBI without receiving a warrant signed by a judge.

William Pitt stood up in Parliament back in 1763 and declared: “The poorest may, in his cottage, bid his defiance to all the forces of the Crown, the storm may enter; the rain may enter….but the King of England may not enter.” But because of the betrayal of a majority of the members of Congress, including most Tea Partiers, the FBI can now enter our personal cottage of electronic communications without the nuisance of any court oversight.

And three cheers to US Senators on both sides of the aisle who had the courage to stand up for the Bill of Rights. They include Sens. Mike Lee (Utah), Jon Tester (Montana), Rand Paul (Kentucky), Tom Udall (New Mexico), Jeff Merkley (Oregon), Ron Wyden, and (Oregon), and six other courageous senators. Boos to my home Louisiana delegation, who marched in lock step with political party leadership, and voted against basic American freedoms.
Peggy Noonan was Ronald Reagan’s speech writer and now writes a regular column in the Wall Street Journal. Here are her thoughts on the basic intrusions of the Patriot Act. “When we lose our privacy, we lose some of our humanity; we lose things that are particular to us, that make us separate and distinctive as souls, as, actually children of God. We also lose trust, not only in each other but in our institutions, which we come to fear. People who now have no faith in the security of their medical and financial records, for instance, will have even less faith in their government”

George Bush began the deep decline of basic civil liberties, but Barack Obama, has been no better a protector of the Bill of Rights. The President recently signed into law provisions allowing “roving wiretaps” that allows the FBI to wiretap phones in multiple homes without having to provide the target’s name or even phone number. The mere possibility that a suspect “might” use the phone is enough to justify the wiretap

The FBI continually protests that their investigations will be hindered if they have to go find a judge to approve such invasive surveillance. Getting judicial consent, a foundation of our basic protections, just “slows down the process,” they say. “Hogwash,” says Fox News commentator and former Judge Andrew Napolitano. Here’s his response.

“The time-is-of-the essence argument is nonsense. I once issued a search warrant in my gym shorts from my living room at 3 am, and I know a former FISA court judge who did the same from his cell phone while riding a motorcycle. While neither of these situations is optimal, there are at least written record of what was done to whom and why.”

The so called “Patriot Act” has driven a stake trough the heart of the Bill of Rights, violating at least six of the ten original amendments-the First, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, and Eight Amendments, as well. Conservative columnist John Whitehead put it this way: “In the name of fighting terrorism, government officials are now permitted to monitor religious and political institutions with no suspicion of criminal wrongdoing; prosecute librarians or keepers of any other records if they told anyone that the government had subpoenaed information: monitor conversations between attorneys and clients; search and seize Americans’ papers and effects without showing probable cause, and jail Americans indefinitely without a trial.”

Many Tea Partiers and other Patriot Act vindicators continue to hound us with the supposition that we have to choose between liberty and security. And if your only concern is security, then certainly if we lived in a police state, it would be much easier to catch the terrorists. If we just would allow the government to listen to your phone conversations, read through your mail, look at all your email communications, search your home on a whim, and lock you up because what you write or think, then we would surely catch more terrorists and other bad guys. But is that what America is all about? Do you want to live under such a restrictive cloud? Is that the kind of country that we ask our young volunteer soldiers to fight and die for?

In Herbert Hoover’s winning campaign backing 1928, his slogan was “A chicken in every pot, a car in every garage.” Today’s slogan could well be “a government agent on every corner, a wiretap on every phone.” It is, after all, for our own security, right?

*****
“Some things are unforgivable in a democracy. The patriot Act should be at the top of the list. Nobody who has supported this wretched law should ever be allowed to brag of defending liberty again.” Former CIA Agent Susan Lindauer

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers and websites throughout the South. You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at www.jimbrownusa.com. You can also hear Jim’s nationally syndicated radio show each Sunday morning from 9 am till 11:00 am, central time, on the Genesis Radio Network, with a live stream at http://www.jimbrownusa.com.