2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY #260 "CAMPAIGN SLOGANS"

 The GraySharpe2020 campaign for the Libertarian nomination for President and Vice President is in full swing, so I thought you might like to hear some of our campaign slogans and cites.  Of course, regular readers of this 2 Paragraphs series and listeners of my weekly podcast “All Rise!  The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray” will recognize many of them.  But I see these as effective ways to show people how logical and effective our Libertarian principles, values and approaches really are.  So they are:

·         “I don’t care if you worship one God, 20 gods or no god.  It doesn’t pick my pocket and it doesn’t break my leg.”  Thomas Jefferson – a prototypical Libertarian;

·         “We should judge our programs by their results and not their good intentions.”                    Milton Friedman;

·         “Anyone who believes they can thrive by relying upon the Government need only talk to the American Indian.”  Henry Ford;

·         “Think about it: Can you point out any instance where the involvement of Government in the marketplace did not result in the prices going up and the quality of the products and services didn’t go down?”  Judge Jim Gray;

·         “Ron Paul told us that our country has about 400 military reservations in other countries all around the world.  A simple audit performed by the military considering today’s realities would probably result in us being able to close down three-quarters of them without much controversy – and this would probably actually make us safer.”  Judge Jim Gray;

·         “We as a country must decide what the purpose is of our educational system: To educate our children (What a concept!), or to protect below-average teachers.  And guess which one we are mostly following today.”  Judge Jim Gray;

·         Do you know that the USA has 5 percent of the world’s population, but 25 percent of its prisoners?  When former US Senator Jim Webb of Virginia heard these statistics he responded: “Either we are the most criminally-oriented people in the world, or we are doing something wrong.  Which do you think it is?”;

·         “If you think healthcare is expensive now, wait ‘til it’s free.”  P. J. O’Rourke;

·         Our Founders bickered, debated and even fought at the 1787 Constitutional Convention about numbers of issues.  But the one thing that each of the 55 delegates agreed upon was that the most important function of government is to protect our freedoms and liberties from the encroachment of government. The second most important was to keep us safe.

·         “Our country will need a bloody revolution every generation to keep the vested interests at bay.”  Thomas Jefferson.  Fortunately, our Constitution allows the revolution not to be bloody,  but how long has it been?  Maybe since the Republicans took over from the Whigs?  And don’t you agree that we Libertarians are the right ones for a new revolution?

·         “We should reserve our prison space for people we are afraid of, not people we’re mad at.”  Judge Jim Gray;

·         “No society has ever raised itself up out of poverty except through a system of free enterprise and private property rights.”  Milton Friedman; and,

·         If you want your healthcare services to be controlled by the equivalent of the department of motor vehicles, we are well on our way.”  Judge Jim Gray.

Please give me your feedback about how effective you think they are, and maybe some suggestions for others.  In law school I was known as a “bearded outside agitator in disguise,” and, actually, I have never backed off from that definition.  What do you think?  

Quote for the week from a young surfer-type:  “Dude!  I just learned that there is no popcorn in popcorn shrimp.  So I guess there’s no reason for me to eat pot roast.”

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: #245 "INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY"

     My great friend Judge Andy Guilford recently called my attention to an insight that I will pass along to you: the Judiciary is probably the most important of our three branches of government.  Why?  Because the Executive is dependent upon the majority to stay in office, and so is the Legislature.  So it is only the Judiciary that truly upholds and enforces minority rights.  And that is what makes America what it is.  In other words, the very soul of our great country is our freedoms and our liberties.  And that soul is continually under attack, if only in the name of “keeping us safe.”  Wiretapping, surveillance cameras, unnecessary pre-trial confinement, license plate and facial recognition cameras, reduced rights under our search and seizure laws cloaked under the guise of the so-called War on Drugs, and on and on.  And it is really only the Judicial Branch of Government that stands in the way of even more erosion of our precious liberties.  I have said it many times in these columns, and it bears repeating: the Delegates at our Constitutional Convention in 1787 fought, debated and bickered over numbers of things, but literally each delegate agreed that the most important function of government is to protect our Liberties from the encroachment of government.  (The second most important was our security.)

      So what can we do to protect our Judicial Branch of Government?  Primarily we must protect its independence!  In the past few years we as a society have allowed our judiciary to become more politicized, even to the extent that several states have allowed judicial candidates to be endorsed by political parties.  In addition, many judicial branches, including California, have been intentionally underfunded by the legislatures in response to judicial decisions that the legislatures did not agree with.  These are dangerous precedents, because all of us are in the minority in some regards and, “There but for the Grace of God,” each of us could in fact be overly or even wrongly prosecuted by the government for just about anything.  We simply must have an independent judicial system to protect us from all of these potential abuses.  So everyone please be aware of this continuing threat, and lend a hand to protect us all against it.  We simply must keep our Judicial branch of government independent!

Story for the week: A Doctor gave a man six months to live.  But the man couldn’t pay his bills, so the Doctor gave him another six months.

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: #241 "AN ANTIDOTE TO POLARIZATION"

      Our society is now more polarized than at any time of my life.  Why has that happened?  Two reasons come to mind.  Originally, when cable television news stations began to multiply I thought that it would be great because, with so many choices, all of us would be exposed to many more viewpoints – which would be healthy.  And boy was I wrong!  Instead, each station deciphered what the political leanings were of its target audience, and then expressly catered to what that audience wanted to hear.  So we are the good guys, and people who do not have our beliefs are scoundrels or worse.  A second reason is the gerrymandering of the congressional voting districts.  “I don’t care if you of the opposite party get a politically safe seat as long as I can get one too” has become the position of those drawing up voting districts.  And this has allowed many members of Congress to take some radical positions without being held accountable to the views of more moderate voters.  Both of these situations have allowed polarization to flourish.*

        And there is also a third reason as well.  Thomas Jefferson famously said that our country should have a bloody revolution each generation in an attempt to keep the vested interests at bay.  Fortunately our Constitution keeps the revolution from having to be bloody, but how long has it been?  Probably since the 1860s when the Republicans took over from the Whigs.  And how strong have the vested interests become in that time?  Strong enough for many people to believe that our institutions are no longer working.  “The Presidency doesn’t even try to represent all of the people,” “Congress is working against us,” and even “The Courts are only providing ‘justice’ to the wealthy” are conclusions that many people have reached.  And this situation has resulted in us being so polarized.  So what is the antidote?  Voting Libertarian!  It is not an exaggeration to say that Libertarians are the only mainstream political party in our country today.  We believe in financial and other responsibility at all levels of society, including personal, group, corporate and governmental.  And we are socially accepting with a “Live and Let Live” philosophy.  In addition, Libertarians are the only political party that does not seek to gain by being involved in government.  Thus we would strongly reduce the crony capitalism or corporate welfare that is rampant in our governments today.  So do you want an antidote for polarization, and to be proud of your votes at the same time?  Consider voting Libertarian.  

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*As an anecdote, in my research in composing a musical about our nation’s 1787 Constitutional Convention entitled “Convention: the Birth of America,” I learned that one of the delegates was named Elbridge Gerry, who later became the Governor of Massachusetts and was also the Vice President under James Madison.  But he also was so well known for his politics in drawing the boundaries of voting districts for political purposes that the practice soon took up his name, and it still does to this day.

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 should judge our programs by their results, not their good intentions.” 

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: #225 "FREE TRADE ENRICHES US ALL"

         Because of my research for our new musical “Convention: the Birth of America,” which is about the 1787 Constitutional Convention, I have become quite familiar with the beliefs of our Founders.  And one of those beliefs, which was enshrined in Article I, sections 9 and 10 of our Constitution, was that there would be no tariffs imposed on trade between or among the states.  Can you imagine the harmful effect it would have had if, for example, Virginia had been able to have imposed tariffs for goods it imported from Maryland?  Such tariffs would have been deeply destructive to our nation’s economy.  As a result, Virginia, Maryland and all of the other states since that time have been able to focus upon what they did best, and also derive the benefit of receiving goods and services from other states that were derived from what they did best as well.  And this accrued to everyone’s benefit.

          But today it is far easier for businesses in our country to trade with China, India, Germany or any other country than it was for Maryland to trade with Virginia in the 18^thCentury.  And trade barriers among countries have the same effect as they would have had among our states.  So let China, Mexico, Japan and Indonesia focus upon what they do best, and let our consumers here benefit by being able to purchase high quality products for reasonable competitive prices from those countries. All the while the businesses in our country will be able to focus upon what they do best, with the same result.  And, besides, this will also bring numerous other additional benefits.  For example, countries have a deep tendency not to go to war with their own customers, so this will reduce military strife.  And if the people in Mexico, Guatemala and Indonesia are better able to profit from producing goods in their own countries, their economy will be stronger, with the result that not so many people will feel the necessity to emigrate from their country to ours.  So, once again, Liberty works!

The two best signs in my memory that were held up by fans at sporting events:  First, I was listening to a Dodgers’ broadcast on opening day in about 1962 from Shea Stadium in New York when the Mets were not playing good ball when Vin Scully started laughing on the air.  He then explained that he saw a fan holding a sign up in the right field bleachers that said: “Wait Til Next Year!” And this was on opening day!  The second was at a UCLA Basketball game, when a young man stood up in his seat while holding a big sign then said: “The People Behind Me Can’t See.”

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 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: #207 "WHAT HAPPENED TO THE 10TH AMENDMENT?"

     On occasion as a judge I have the opportunity to swear in various officers into organizations like the bar associations and others.  So, as you know, all of these oaths of office require that people swear that they will uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.  But after they say they will, I ask them to keep their hands up, and also swear that they will read the Constitution.  This normally gets some chuckles, but there is a purpose, because even some of the appellate opinions I have read make me question whether the authors have read the Constitution.  And this is a scary concept.

        The most egregious example is the 10^th Amendment, which holds unambiguously that “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States, respectively, or to the People.”  And which powers are delegated to the federal government?  They are found in Article I Section 8.  Very briefly, they are: powers to lay and collect taxes, pay debts, provide for the common defense, borrow money, regulate commerce with foreign countries and among the various states, form rules for naturalization and declaring bankruptcy, coin money, punish counterfeiting, establish post offices, provide for a system of patents, establish a court system, punish offenses that occur on the high seas, declare war, raise and support an army and navy and make rules to regulate them, call forth a militia to suppress possible rebellions, and make rules to govern military posts as well as a capitol city (which eventually became Washington DC).  Yes, sometimes issues can be complex and ambiguous, but since that time the federal government has expanded far beyond the expectations of the Founders.  For example, it owns large amounts of land within the various states, controls wildlife, enacted laws of Drug Prohibition, and has entered into the fields of healthcare, housing, education and the arts.  In fact, the list of powers the feds have entered into and even controlled goes on and on.  But our country was founded upon the concept of federalism, which allows our “50 crucibles of democracy” each to try out various approaches to address issues, and then we all can learn from each other.  So ask yourself the question: “Who believes the federal government has all the answers?”  If you say no it doesn’t then help us Libertarians go back to the approach in the Constitution.  And we can start that approach by reading it.

  Quote for the week: “I hate it when people don’t know the difference between the words “your” and “you’re.”  There so stupid!”  Fortunately Anonymous

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

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.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #190 "THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY"

     Demonstrably since the time of FDR the presidency has usurped to itself or been abrogated by Congress increasingly large amounts of power.  As such, in many ways, it has been turned into an Imperial Presidency.  But we should all be reminded that we do not have a monarchy in this country.  Instead we have a democracy based upon the Separation of Powers as expressly set forth in our Constitution – and this works for the benefit and protection of us all.  Thus a president should not be able unilaterally to send our combat troops into war in places like Korea, Vietnam, Serbia, Panama, Somalia, Iraq or Afghanistan.  Similarly, President Obama should not have been able unilaterally to change our laws to keep “Dreamers” from being deported.  And President Trump should not be allowed unilaterally to impose tariffs, withdraw us from treaties, or stop the practice of awarding citizenship to people solely because they were born in this country.

        Regardless of whether we agree with the decisions made by our presidents or not, we should insist that the Constitution be followed. (I happen to agree with President Obama about the “Dreamers,” and also agree with President Trump that people born in this country should not have automatic citizenship – but I still strongly object to the procedures used by them both!)  Congress should be involved before we change our laws or treaties, and before we go into battle on an extended basis.  And if the interpretation of the 14^th Amendment is to be changed such that people who are born here are no longer determined automatically to be citizens, a test case should be brought in our federal courts, eventually leaving it to our Supreme Court to make that interpretation.  Congress has allowed these usurpations to happen because not enough of the individual members want to take the political responsibility for the various outcomes.  But if they don’t act within the Constitution, they should be replaced by others who will.

Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with

Governor Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

Fake news report:  Recently a reporter was interviewing President Trump, and asked: “I know that your name is Donald J. Trump, but what does the ‘J’ stand for?”  The response:  “It stands for Jenius.”

                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.

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: #183 “A FAILURE OF DUTY”

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      A while ago a long-time good friend of mine gave me the book Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of Seal Team 10, by Marcus Luttrell and Patrick Robinson (Little, Brown and Company, 2007).  As many of you know, this book describes the killing of three Navy Seal Team members and the severe wounding of one more (Author Marcus Luttrell) by somewhere between 30 and 50 Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in late June of 2005.  And, as a preface, the book discusses the ordeals that all Navy Seals go through in training, where a large percentage of the aspirants “voluntarily” drop out because the demands are so onerous.  So I expect that no one can read this book without sharing my opinion that Navy Seals are among the truly best and most dedicated fighting forces in the history of the world of combat!  These gallant warriors quietly and simply follow orders and place their lives on the line on an increasingly regular basis.  And they are, and should be recognized as, our heroes.

       However, that means that our nation’s political leaders should never call upon the talents, lives and devotion of these heroes unless it is truly in our national interest.  But in this critical task, I believe our leaders have often failed us all.  Were our “military police actions” in places like Vietnam, Korea, Panama, Iraq and Afghanistan really necessary to protect our National Security or National Interests?  Our Constitution provides some strong protections in this matter.  Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution expressly delegates the power to declare War only to Congress.  But there have been no declarations of war since 1941, which began our involvement in World War II.  Instead Congress has reneged in its duties by passing various “War Powers Acts,” and other enabling legislation which purportedly allowed the sitting President to do whatever he (or, hopefully soon, she) thinks best to protect our nation.  But that is not the same thing.   Except when immediate action is needed, the protection for our courageous military warriors is for Congress to debate whether there is such a threat, from whom and where, and when we will  know that the threat is abated – and then publicly to vote on it!   That means that, not only must Congress take direct responsibility for our involvement, it also strongly increases the chances that our nation will continue to support that involvement once the vote is taken.  However, in that regard, I firmly believe that at least our invasion of Iraq (which was the biggest foreign policy mistake in my lifetime) would not have passed that test.  Maybe not even Vietnam.  And, although Afghanistan would have passed it after the attack on September 11, 2001, it almost certainly would have limited our troops to going into Afghanistan, finding Osama bin Laden and his cohorts, annihilating them and then withdrawing from that country – along with the warning that we would return and do so again if they remained a threat.  But Heroes like those in Seal Team 10 should never have been put into the position they found themselves in Afghanistan, because our nation’s political “leaders” failed their Constitutional duty to them – and to us!    

--> Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)

--> 2012 Libertarian candidate for Vice President, along with Governor

--> Gary Johnson as the candidate for President

A Lexophile: “No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.”

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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!