2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #248 "RESPECT THE PROCESS!"

       Many people have complained that President Trump has wrongly set aside some of President Obama’s “good works” regarding things like DACA, which has kept people who were brought into our country as small children without complying with our immigration laws from being deported.  But the problem does not lie with Trump, it actually lies with Obama and Congress.  Why?  Because Mr. Obama issued Executive Orders for our laws not to be enforced for those young people.  So, that being the case, no one has a legitimate complaint when Trump similarly issues Executive Orders counteracting them.  However, if President Obama had respected the process and successfully attempted to have the immigration laws changed, President Trump would have been forced to follow suit.  (What’s good for goose also good for gander. . .)

        In other words, the process is critically important.  We don’t have dictators in our country who can rule by fiat.  The DACA issue to me is clear: we should keep those young people who have adapted well into our society here – and I believe most Americans would agree with that result.  So if I were in Congress, I would vote for the modification of our immigration laws to enact that result.  But this is yet another example of Congress abrogating its lawmaking responsibilities to a president.  Another huge example is Congress’ having passed the so-called War Powers Acts that have allowed presidents, in effect, to declare war on other nations or peoples.  No, Constitutionally only Congress can declare war!  Of course our laws still allow a president to respond to an immediate threat.  But otherwise it is meaningless for a country to be based upon the Rule of Law if its elected officials don’t respect the process– and these failings are laid at the feet of Congress!    

Quote for the week: “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”  George Bernard Shaw

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.  In addition, my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, is now available at Amazon.com.   Please read and discuss it with friends, and send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #242 "THE LARGEST 'COMPANY' IN THE WORLD"

     Question: What is the largest and most expensive “company” in the world?  Answer: Our federal government.  It is virtually mindboggling to see how large this government is!  If you want to get an idea, Google either “The Plum Book 2019“ or “Political Appointments by Donald Trump” in Wikepedia.  These will show you that there are 7,000 civil service “leadership and support” positions in the Executive and Legislative branches of government, and that the President actually appoints 4,000 of them, of which about 1212 must be confirmed by the Senate.  (A partial list is enclosed herein.)  Our federal government alone has 15 separate departments, as well as two more independent intelligence agencies and another 9 separate agencies, plus additional agencies, banks, commissions, councils and offices – and these do not include any of the judicial branch of government.  And virtually all of these positions pay well more than $100,000 per year!

      Unfortunately, the government of the Government of the State of California is just as bad.   Google “List of California State Agencies” in Wikipedia and see that there are 231 separate state government agencies alone!  Maybe there are some that have outlived their usefulness and should be abolished?  Or at least there might be some jurisdictions that are duplicated that could be combined.  In that regard, how about agency numbers 225, the California Water Commission, 226, the California Water Quality Monitoring Council, 227 the Department of Water Resources, and 228, the State Water Resources Control Board?  Is anyone looking into these issues?  Does anyone else join me in thinking that the public sector workers are becoming the privileged class in our society today, with good pay, benefits and job security, all at taxpayer expense?  Does anyone else agree with me that “the bigger the government, the less important the citizens and their liberties?”  You know the saying: “Fish swim, birds fly, and regulators regulate,” even though none of them are elected by “We the People.”  And you wonder why taxes and government spending are so high, and our liberties are being reduced . .  Our Founders would truly be shocked!

Quote for the week: No one would remember the Good Samaritan if he’d only had good intentions.  He had money as well.”  Margaret Thatcher

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows on demand as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.  In addition, my new book entitled “2 Paragraphs 4 Liberty: Solutions that are Practical, Effective, Responsible, Libertarian, is now available at Amazon.com.   Please read and discuss it with friends, and send in a review.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #217 "WE THINK IN WORDS"

 We all think in words.  Thus if people do not understand the shades of meaning between two (or among three or more) different words, those people do not understand the concepts.  For example, I heard that there are more dialects in languages around the world that do not draw a distinction between the word “enemy” and the word “stranger.”  As a result, if I were to stumble out of the wilderness into your remote village, and you didn’t understand this distinction, I would automatically be your enemy.  Imagine how much needless violence, or at least lost opportunities, have occurred just from this situation alone!  Similarly, when we are driving our cars in the countryside and see the sign “Slow Traffic Keep Right,” what often goes through our minds?  “Oh, I’m not slow traffic, so I’ll stay in the fast lane.”  But if, instead, the sign were to say: “Left Lane Only For Passing,” our thoughts would more likely be: “Oh, I’m not passing, so I’ll move back to the right lane.”  Same intent, but different result.

                Other common but neglected differences in words that I find to be interesting and even fun are:

·         May vs. Can: permission as opposed to ability.

·         Imply vs. Infer: Speakers imply and listeners infer.  So many problems occur when the implications are different than the inferences.

·         Solution vs. Resolution:  Most human problems have no solutions.  If you want a solution, become a mathematician.  Human problems almost always are limited to resolutions, but they allow people to put those problems behind them and move on with their lives.  (I use this illustration often in my mediations.)

·         You’re welcome vs. No problem:  The former implies that the doer was happy to help; the latter implies that if it had been a problem, the doer wouldn’t have done the good deed.

·         Need vs. Want:  We want to be alive, but don’t need to be.  But we do need oxygen to be alive.  (Or, in a political context, a “need” is just a “want” that you should give me.)

·         Love vs. Like:  We can Like many things, but Love is special, and should be thought of in that fashion.  

·         Education vs. Indoctrination:  Upon reflection, that difference should be apparent.

·         Risk vs. Gamble:  Almost all things we do have some risks to them, but they can be controlled – think going for a swim.  Gambles cannot be controlled – think roulette.

·         Rule of Law vs. Rule of Man: The former strives to provide Equal Justice for All; the latter is often used to rewards one’s friends and punishes one’s enemies.

There are many more, and I think they’re both fun and important.  I hope you agree.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

  Quote for the week:  “We travel not to escape life, but for life not to escape us.”  (And speaking of traveling, I will be on vacation for the next two weeks, so there will be an interruption in our series.)  And, BTW, last week I recommended people boycott the movie “Long Shot,” but this week I recommend people see the movie “A Dog’s Purpose.”  It was wonderful, and much redeeming social value!

Please listen to our weekly radio show entitled “All Rise!  The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” as we discuss these and other timely issues, and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches.  You can hear it every Friday morning at 7 Pacific/10 Eastern by going to www.VoiceAmerica.com, clicking on the Variety Channel and then upon the word “live.”  You can also hear past shows as well.  And, by the way, these 2 Paragraph columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #196 "IT'S ABOUT WHO WE ARE"

      Last August Reason magazine editor Matt Welch commented in an editorial in the New York Times about the teachings of the late Senator John McCain on the subject of torture.  He said that McCain taught us that torture “produces faulty intelligence, that ‘every man has a breaking point,’ (and) that military personnel derive a motivational pride from America having higher moral standards than its debased adversaries.  ‘Your last resistance, the one that sticks, the one that makes the victim superior to the torturer, is the belief that were the positions reversed you wouldn’t treat them as they have treated you.’”  But we must continue to learn from McCain, because interest in this important issue appears to have waned.  And it should not because, as Mc Cain says, “This is a moral debate.  It is about who we are.”

     The prison at Guantanamo is still open, much to our discredit!  And, although President Obama banned torture as soon as he took office, our present president has stated publicly that torture “absolutely works.”  Furthermore, our government even under Obama has continued secretly to send terrorist suspects off to third-party countries to be “questioned.”  So do we care?  Have we learned from Senator McCain that unaccountable power behaves unaccountably?  Yes, we know that after Osama bin Laden was located and killed, many officials in our government widely spouted that this never would have happened without using “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques.”  But was this true?  Ask McCain, who subsequently wrote: “In truth, most of the C.I.A.’s claims that abusive interrogations of detainees had produced vital leads to help locate  Bin Laden were exaggerated, misleading, and in some case, complete bullshit.”  But even if it worked, the very soul of the United States of America is its Freedoms and its Liberties.  Do we not believe that our soul is under direct attack if we do not treat everyone in our custody humanly?  Of course, we should also define what we mean by the word torture because there is a significant difference between breaking bones and subjecting people to sleep deprivation and loud music.  But in the end, it is not about other people, other countries or even the Geneva Convention, it’s about who we are!  

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Thought for the week:  Technically Moses was the first person with a tablet to download data from the Cloud.

By the way, these columns are now on Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray@wordpress.com.  Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty.