"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many
things:
Of shoes--and ships--and sealing-wax--
Of cabbages--and
kings--
And why the sea is boiling hot--
And whether pigs have
wings."
The
Walrus and The Carpenter, by Lewis Carroll
(from Through the
Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872)
I scarcely know where to begin. Like a deer frozen in the headlight
glare, I can't decide which is more important or what to do, so I
sometimes do nothing, which is in itself a choice of (in)action.
Things are happening so fast these days that the full implications
escape even us chicken littles.
The classic Lewis Carroll vignette, "The Walrus and the Carpenter,"
relates how a group of oysters went for a stroll on the beach with the
Walrus and the Carpenter and, distracted by conversation, failed to
notice until far too late how they had become dinner.
Come with me, fellow oysters, and let us talk of many things.
Ruby Ridge Redux - The Boundary County Board of Commissioners
announced this past week that they have decided to continue with their
interim appointee as their Prosecuting Attorney, at least, until the
election next year, that is.
As many know, my name had been placed on
a short list of recommended candidates by the county's Republican
Central Committee, which made a great many nervous since I made clear
my intention, if selected, to re-indict Lon Horiuchi and reach up the
chain of command ladder as high as I could with other indictments for
the murders committed at Ruby Ridge years ago.
Though this decision almost certainly ends any official reinquiry
into the tragedy enshrouding Ruby Ridge, the lessons from those days
remain emblazoned upon the consciousness of all patriots, reinforced
by the many instances of governmental overreaching and outright
tyranny since. We will never forget.
Thought Police - Lonny Rae's "hate
crime" trial begins in seven days in Payette County, Idaho. Lonny, you
may recall, faces five years in prison for hurling the epithet
"nigger" through the open door and down the empty hall of the building
into which a hulking black man who had just mauled his wife had
disappeared. Five years.
This is an exceptionally important First Amendment case since it
shows how the ADL's "malicious harassment" statutory language, already
adopted by over 30 states and now being pushed at the federal level by
Kennedy and company, today is being stretched to cover pure speech
cases, with no physical injury component whatsoever.
This case has the further outrageous component of a "victim" who
actually was the initial aggressor, who did inflict physical injury
upon another and who has never been charged by the Adams County (where
the incident took place) Prosecutor with anything. Talk about having
gone through the Looking Glass!
I will be preoccupied next week with finishing up preparation of
the defense of Lonny Rae's case. As usual, I am the only lawyer on
that side of the courtroom. Rest assured that, should a conviction
result, I will take this case all the way up to the Supremes. The
issue is far too important for us all, to do otherwise. Though I never
issue guarantees to clients, this is certainly a case I have no
intention of losing, however.
Christine update - Brian and Ruth
Christine are still in jail in Douglas County, Oregon, held under the
outrageous (and, in my opinion, unconstitutionally high) bail of over
a half million dollars each. They are the couple charged with
kidnapping, at gunpoint, three small children, and fleeing the state.
Problem is, the kids were their own. The state took the kids initially
on a bogus charge of child endangerment (the "evidence" is singularly
lacking in this case) and then began to adopt them out under a new
Federal program whereby states get big bucks for this "snatch and
sell" routine. Pretrial maneuvering continues and I will have much
more to say about this case as time goes on (and we get past the Lonny
Rae trial next week).
McGuckin Trust Fund - Of the $32,000 donated by almost 700
wonderful people throughout America, nearly $22,000 has now been
refunded at the specific request of the donors.
JoAnn McGuckin, you may recall, refused to accept the money,
claiming that it would somehow interfere with her right to social
security benefits. I suspect it was also a part of the "advice" she
was receiving from her Public Pretender, the same one who wanted me to
pay him some of the trust fund because he wasn't paid enough to
represent her (I worked for free). He lied to the State Bar when they
asked him about that (illegal) request after I reported it, and they
said that there was no basis for disciplining him. Remind me to have
witnesses present when I deal with public defenders, henceforth.
Of the remaining money, I spent $490 for postage and check charges
to send out the initial request for directions, then to actually
refund the money. My wife and children spent many, many hours typing
data in the computer, printing out letters, stuffing envelopes and
carrying box after box of envelopes to the post office. We have all
done this at no charge, of course.
I have learned my lesson about this sort of thing and will never do
it like this again - more on this below. The appalling debacle
surrounding the Red Cross handling of WTC donations was particularly
galling to me. The president of the Red Cross, who drew a $485,000
annual salary, lost her job because of the stated intent to use a
great deal of that money for other than that for which it was donated
- the relief of the victims' families. She should have been imprisoned
for criminal fraud, in my opinion.
So, we have almost $10,000 left for the
McGuckin children. I had hoped that most would ask their donations be
redirected to a college fund for those kids, but felt we had to offer
the money back in view of JoAnn's intransigence. Ironically, JoAnn
recently changed her mind (she does that a lot, you know) and asked
for the money after all. The money that remains is specifically for
the kids, however, so she is out of luck. Of course, she has refused
to do anything that might be calculated to get her kids back, anyway
(they continue in foster care), so maybe this is for the best. I have
unilaterally decided to spend $1,000 of the remaining fund on clothes
and presents for the McGuckin children so that they have a nice
Christmas this year, in any event. I hope that is okay with the
donors. The remaining $9,000, I suppose, we will set up in irrevocable
trust funds at a local bank, for the benefit of the children. I'll let
you know how it finally turns out, of course.
By the way, JoAnn's public pretender, Bryce Powell, no longer
represents her. I hear he is working on a book and is expecting a
large advance from a publisher. Lessee now, he got her to edge me
aside early on. Then, she lost her kids and her home and spend an
unconscionable amount of time in jail on provably bogus charges. She
didn't even get the benefit of the trust fund I collected for her. But
he gets a book deal. As you may have noticed, I have a passing
acquaintance with the word processor, yet I have not attempted to cash
in on my relationship with this whole affair. Indeed, I have been
punctilious in my handling of the money donated. You just gotta love
the American justice system, doncha? Sigh.
PCLU - I have founded and am organizing what is known as a 501(c)3
organization, which derives from that section of the Internal Revenue
Code governing nonprofit organizations. The Patriot Civil Liberties
Union will do what I have already been doing, pro bono, only it will
enable people to make tax deductible contributions to enable us to
defend those being tyrannized by governmental and institutional
interests, with particular emphasis upon the First Amendment. I will
no longer solicit contributions to the defense of specific cases or
persons, but to the PCLU, which will use donated funds to handle
cases, pro bono, for people like JoAnn McGuckin, Lonny Rae and Brian
and Ruth Christine.
I will let you know when we have our IRS approval letter, so that
contributions thereafter are tax deductible. Should that be of no
consequence to you and you've a mind to, then we would be delighted to
receive your contributions immediately, of course. They can be mailed
to PCLU, PO Box 1255, Sagle, Idaho 83860. Or, you can still contribute
online via Paypal.com, just type "PCLU" in the description and direct
it to steele@plainlawtalk.com
.
We'll get a PCLU web site up shortly.
There's so much more that I wanted to discuss with you today:
- That American kid who was caught fighting for the Taliban, and
why he is not a traitor
- The astounding revelation by Bush the
Second that he watched video of the first WTC plane crash, either as
it was happening or minutes afterward and before he went into that
classroom to read to the kiddies.
- Herr Ashcroft's statement that
you are a traitor if you question his military tribunal setup
-
More evidence of Israeli involvement with the WTC disaster
- The
National ID card, which is now a fait accompli, and why it is such a
travesty for us all
- The coming war on Iraq
- Why the arabs
have nothing to do with the Anthrax letters
However, this is already overlong and tomorrow is another day.
-ed
