Campaign for Liberty » Civil Liberties http://www.campaignforliberty.org Reclaim the Republic. Restore the Constitution. Tue, 09 Jun 2026 14:26:17 -0400 en-US hourly 1 <![CDATA[Ron Paul Statement on Schatz-Paul Amendment to the NDAA]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/ron-paul-statement-on-schatz-paul-amendment-to-the-ndaa http://www.campaignforliberty.org/ron-paul-statement-on-schatz-paul-amendment-to-the-ndaa#comments Thu, 16 Jul 2020 09:25:54 -0400 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/ron-paul-statement-on-schatz-paul-amendment-to-the-ndaa here.]]> <![CDATA[Not a normal year]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/42346 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/42346#comments Sat, 11 Apr 2020 13:43:32 -0400 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/42346 In any other “normal” year, many of us would be gathering with family and friends this weekend to celebrate the Easter holiday.But this is anything but a normal year. Back in 1916, the Irish chose Easter as a time to rise up against British oppression and proclaimed themselves a republic -- a daring move inspired by a desire for liberty. This Easter in the United States of America, rather than an occupying one, we face a government that is becoming more and more oppressive daily through the coronavirus crisis and stripping away our liberties every step along the way. Thomas Jefferson famously said, “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” That does not only mean that we should be prepared to defend against foreign invaders. Perhaps more importantly it means that we must retain the lessons from the original American and Irish revolts and guard against a government that views the people as the enemy. Americans are told they must stay in their homes. They are told they cannot assemble for religious reasons. Their businesses are forced to shut down because the government deems them “non-essential.” Those who speak out are criticized profusely. Government officials are advocating for the right to hold those arrested without a hearing or bond. One hundred years ago, a young writer Randolph Bourne said, “war is the health of the state,” and he lamented governments' success at taking authority and resources during conflict.  But Bourne further explained that, “if the State's chief function is war, then the State must suck out of the nation a large part of its energy for its purely sterile purposes of defense and aggression. It devotes to waste or to actual destruction as much as it can of the vitality of the nation.” The “war” we face today is not against foreign enemies, but rather on American soil against our own government as they seek more and more power, and as they suck out the vitality of our citizens. The actions being taken benefit the special interests. They benefit the statists whose “expertise” is leading to disaster. They benefit the mainstream media. They benefit the wealthy. The government is using the threat of this virus to further gut our  First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth AND Tenth Amendment rights.  All under the guise of “keeping us safe” from the threat du jour. The state uses their power to take away our freedoms. If we wish to survive as a free society, we must begin to exercise some of that “eternal vigilance” Jefferson spoke of against an ever more oppressive state -- and that is exactly what we intend to do. If the people demand change, the politicians will listen. These are truly somber times. But please don’t forget this Easter and Passover holiday, like this time of year, is about renewal and freedom. I hope that you have a peaceful weekend and are able to spend some time with your loved ones. For liberty, ]]> <![CDATA[End the Shutdown; It’s Time for Resurrection!]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/end-shutdown-time-resurrection http://www.campaignforliberty.org/end-shutdown-time-resurrection#comments Mon, 06 Apr 2020 18:20:20 -0400 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/end-shutdown-time-resurrection de facto martial law, etc. – with very little knowledge of just how deadly is this disease. On March 24th, the CDC issued an alert stating that doctors should classify “probable COVID-19” or “likely COVID-19” as Covid-19 deaths. Perhaps that explains the seeming drop-off of pneumonia deaths this year and the simultaneous spike in Covid-19 deaths as some researchers have reported. The BBC reported last week that, “At present in the US, any death of a Covid-19 patient, no matter what the physician believes to be the direct cause, is counted for public reporting as a Covid-19 death.” Does that sound like a scientifically sound way of determining how deadly Covid-19 really is? What is most dangerous is that although this virus will eventually disappear, the assault on our civil liberties is not likely to be reversed. From this point on, whenever local officials, county officials, state governors, or federal bureaucrats decide there is sufficient reason to suspend the Constitution they will not hesitate to do so. Anyone who challenges the suspension of the Constitution “for our own good” will be labeled “unpatriotic” and perhaps even reported to the authorities. We have already seen hotlines springing up across the country for Americans to report other Americans who dare venture outside to enjoy the sun and build up their vitamin D protection against the coronavirus. The government is justified in canceling the Constitution, we are told, because we are in an emergency situation caused by the Covid-19 virus. But do people forget that the Constitution itself was written and adopted while we were in an “emergency situation”? Did the framers of the Constitution fail to add an 11th Amendment to the Bill of Rights saying, “oh by the way, none of this counts if we get sick”? Of course not! Those who wrote our Constitution understood that these rights are not granted by the government, but rather by our Creator. Thus it was never a question as to when or under what conditions they could be suspended: the government had no authority to suspend them at all because it did not grant them in the first place. Our country is far less at risk from the coronavirus than it is from the thousands of small and large authoritarians who have suddenly flexed their muscles across the country. President Trump would do well to end this ridiculous shutdown so that Americans can get on with their lives and get back to work.
Americans should remember the tyrants who locked them down next time they go to the ballot box. Let’s demand an end to the shutdown so we can resurrect our economy, our lives, and our liberties!
]]> <![CDATA[Ron Paul on the FBI’s refusal to say whether it spied on Campaign for Liberty]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/ron-paul-fbis-refusal-say-whether-spied-campaign-liberty http://www.campaignforliberty.org/ron-paul-fbis-refusal-say-whether-spied-campaign-liberty#comments Wed, 08 Jan 2020 16:10:04 -0500 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/ron-paul-fbis-refusal-say-whether-spied-campaign-liberty here.]]> <![CDATA[Texas bans red light (s)cameras]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/texas-bans-red-light-scameras http://www.campaignforliberty.org/texas-bans-red-light-scameras#comments Tue, 04 Jun 2019 08:43:26 -0400 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/texas-bans-red-light-scameras <![CDATA[The Revolution at Ten]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/revolution-ten http://www.campaignforliberty.org/revolution-ten#comments Fri, 20 Oct 2017 19:33:12 -0400 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/revolution-ten The Revolution at Ten, is a great read.  One can learn more about economics, politics, history, and the philosophy of liberty from this 130-page book than from most lengthy academic works. Starting with the early legal codes protecting individual rights to the Magna Carta, the American Revolution, and the movement toward liberty in the 19th century,  Dr. Paul discusses how America abandoned the philosophy of limited government, free markets, and non-interventionist foreign policy in the 20th century.  Dr. Paul explains  how liberty was lost as progressives gained control over the government, began constructing a welfare state at home and a warfare state abroad. The progressive's crusade to use state power to "perfect" America and the world was facilitated by the twin mistakes of 1913 – the creation of the income tax and the Federal Reserve. Dr. Paul then recounts the rise of the rEVOLution in 2008 and 2012. While the media proclaims it is dead, Dr. Paul sees it as still growing as support for the ideas of Liberty continue to grow and the failures of progressivism become more obvious. The unifying theme of the book is that we are in the last stages of the progressive era and what replaces it depends in large part on how successful we are in getting a critical mass of people to embrace liberty and join our movement. Dr. Paul covers the major challenges facing us, including foreign policy, civil liberties, the “deep state,” climate change hysteria, and, of course, monetary policy and the Federal Reserve. My favorite chapter is on cultural marxism. Dr. Paul ties the “social justice warrior” crusade to censor all speech they deem offensive to the progressive goal of destroying civil society in order to use government power to exercise total control over individuals. The last two chapters of the book compare the libertarian society with one governed  by "progressive" values and looks at the chaos that could come from the collapse of the Keynesian welfare-warfare state. Dr. Paul is optimistic that a free society can emerge after the next crisis. I share Dr. Paul’s optimism. Dr. Paul’s predictions should inspire us to redouble our efforts to work to grow the liberty movement and force the plot and to change course before an economic crisis leaves us no other choice. This is one of those books you likely will want to buy multiple copies of — one to keep for yourself and several to give to both those in need of a quick introduction to the ideas of  liberty, and those already involved in the movement who could use something to inspire them to get up the fight. Remember, if you join Campaign for Liberty's Patriot Club before October 24, you will be entered into a drawing to win one of ten autographed copies of Dr. Paul’s new book. You can join here. You can purchase a copy of the book (unsigned) here.]]> <![CDATA[Will the Trump Administration Overdose on Authoritarianism?]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/will-trump-administration-overdose-authoritarianism http://www.campaignforliberty.org/will-trump-administration-overdose-authoritarianism#comments Mon, 22 May 2017 10:40:05 -0400 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/will-trump-administration-overdose-authoritarianism The Ron Paul Insitute for Peace and Prosperity.]]> <![CDATA[Stupid government trick: fining an engineer for doing math ]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/stupid-government-trick-fining-engineer-math http://www.campaignforliberty.org/stupid-government-trick-fining-engineer-math#comments Fri, 28 Apr 2017 11:19:22 -0400 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/stupid-government-trick-fining-engineer-math 60 Minutes. So, of course, his findings were welcomed by the local authorities who pledged to work to address the problems he identified . . . right? Not exactly.  Instead of fixing the flaws in red light cameras, the State of Oregon has been busy prosecuting Mr. Järlström for practicing engineering without a license. You see, even though he has a degree in engineering, Oregon does not consider him an engineer because he does not have an engineering license. And, even though he did his research on his own time and not for pay, Oregon has determined that his research amounted to practicing engineering without a license. Mr. Järlström is challenging Oregon in federal court, where he is being represented by the Institute for Justice. Read more about Mr. Järlström's case here and here. Campaign for Liberty's state groups are leading the fight against red light cameras and have been successful in rolling back these cameras in many instances. Please support our efforts. (h/t: Heather Danielowski, Campaign for Liberty's Director of State Operations)]]> <![CDATA[Norm Singleton discusses the future of efforts to ban online gambling ]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/norm-singleton-discusses-future-efforts-ban-online-gambling http://www.campaignforliberty.org/norm-singleton-discusses-future-efforts-ban-online-gambling#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2017 11:23:57 -0500 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/norm-singleton-discusses-future-efforts-ban-online-gambling here.]]> <![CDATA[Learning to Love Big Brother ]]> http://www.campaignforliberty.org/learning-love-big-brother http://www.campaignforliberty.org/learning-love-big-brother#comments Fri, 03 Feb 2017 09:07:44 -0500 http://www.campaignforliberty.org/learning-love-big-brother best movies of the year and my comments on the Presidential inauguration I addressed the cult-like atmosphere surrounding President Obama. I thought that Obama-worship could not reach new heights of absurdity than this...but I was wrong. Saturday Night Live--which used to be an "equal opportunity mocker"-- closed out its last show of the Trump years with a little tribute to Obama. SNL cast members Ceclily Strong and Sasheer Zamata, standing behind a photo of President Obama sang "To Sir with Love" and announced they got a special gift for Obama, a "World's Best President" mug. The choice of song is revealing. To Sir with Love is the theme of a 1967 movie of the same name about a teacher who turns around the lives of his class of juvenile delinquents. Here is a sample of the song's lyrics:
The time has come For closing books and long last looks must end And as I leave I know that I am leaving my best friend A friend who taught me right from wrong And weak from strong That's a lot to learn What, what can I give you in return?
Unlike the singers in the video linked above, Strong and Zametra are not children, but adults. Yet their choice of a song shows they have a childlike view of Obama as an all-wise teacher whose job is not to head the Executive Branch but to set the people on the right course and help us resolve all our difficulties. This worshipful attitude toward the President is dangerous to liberty. After all, if the President is an all-wise, benevolent teacher then why should he (or she) be bound by the chains of the Constitution?]]>