Lies the government told you by Andrew Napolitano (best e reader for epub TXT) 📗

unfortunate that the Supreme Court failed to address the overuse of RICO because this abuse is impacting our economy in many ways. It forces expensive litigation on behalf of the nation’s businesses, expensive prosecutions using government money, and the crowding of jails with long-term sentences often for nonviolent criminals. And why do we have RICO? Because the federal government fanned flames of fear about some aging mob figures whose wealth it wanted to seize, but whose guilt it could not prove.

Don’t Give In! Our Democracy Depends on It.

In times when the nation is fearful and hysterical, we are generally willing to give up some rights. Yet, even giving up some of our civil liberties sets us up for danger. As with most constitutional rights, there is a slippery slope. Once some rights get taken away, other liberties are more easily curtailed; and then the process repeats a generation later. Soon, more rights are lost, and the entire notion of democracy falls apart.

We cannot acquiesce in the destruction of our liberties; we cannot allow the government to hoodwink us into being an obedient flock of sheep. Fear is a powerful weapon for the government, and it knows it. One of the great thieves of life and fortune in American history, FDR, told us as much when he articulated that “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” Unfortunately for 2,700 American sailors at Pearl Harbor, he knew exactly what he was talking about.

Do you still think that the rights God gave you and that are guaranteed by the Constitution can be exercised in bad times, as well as in good?

Lie #14

“Your Boys Are Not Going to Be

Sent into Any Foreign Wars”1

In 1915, a German U-boat sank the Lusitania, a British liner carrying nearly two hundred Americans. It was an event instrumental in bringing the United States into the war in Europe. The sinking of the ship, however, was not a surprise. There is significant evidence pointing to the fact that not only were the British aware there were German submarines in the area, but also that the Americans had knowledge of an impending attack. The British wanted the Americans involved in World War I to strengthen their chances of victory, and President Woodrow Wilson wanted innocent American deaths to justify politically American entry into what he called “the war to end all wars,” so that after the war, he could “make the world safe for democracy.” The United States fought for about a year and a half in World War I, from April 6th 1917, until the war ended on November 11th 1918, and lost 116,502 lives, 53,402 of which were lost in combat.2

It was not the first time, nor the last, that the United States government created fear and hysteria to justify war; and then used war to enhance fear and hysteria. It is commonplace in America for our leaders to lie in order to enter or initiate armed conflicts. Despite this tradition, Americans continue to stand on the sidelines while the government hijacks power, often leading us into imprudent and devastating wars. Less frequently, the government has waged war for good reason, but lied to win our consent. Regardless of their intentions, our leaders do not get elected or appointed or paid to lie to us. They are elected to protect our liberties and our way of life, but not to use their authority to deceive and exploit us. It is the American experience and experiment that the government works for us, and not the other way around.

We must not allow the government to continue treating the Constitution, and our natural rights, and our pursuits of happiness as minor speed bumps along its path to unlimited power, especially when its plans involve the sacrifice of American lives. Niccolo Machiavelli, the famous Florentine philosopher and political theorist, stated the following in his treatise entitled The Prince: “[M]en are so simple, and so subject to present necessities, that he who seeks to deceive will always find someone who will allow himself to be deceived.” Let’s stop proving him right; there’s just too much at stake. But right he is.

Building a Tradition of Deception

As we learned in an earlier chapter, some of the biggest misconceptions concern President Lincoln and the Civil War. Lincoln was not the “Great Emancipator.” He did not oppose slavery. Before the Civil War, he rarely spoke about slavery. When he did, Lincoln stressed that the president was not constitutionally permitted to do anything about slavery, and suggested that if anything was to be done, the blacks should be shipped to Africa; whether forced to come here or born here. While working as a lawyer, Lincoln represented slave owners, and in that capacity he prosecuted fugitive slaves, returned them to their masters, and was paid handsomely for it.

Furthermore, the Civil War initially was not about slavery. It started because the South vehemently opposed the federal government’s increasing power at the expense of the states. The tipping point occurred when the federal government, upon Lincoln taking office, passed a high tariff that benefited the North and harmed the South. The high tariff forced the South to purchase higher-priced Northern goods, and cut off its business relationship with Europe. Lincoln did not introduce the abolition of slavery as a goal until two years into the war, and his Emancipation Proclamation was grossly ineffective.

Lincoln did not attempt to free the slaves in the “border” States of Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, Tennessee, and Missouri. His so-called Emancipation Proclamation expressly permitted slavery to exist and remain lawful in those states. Nevertheless, Lincoln is viewed as a hero and is falsely recognized by the government and its school systems as the greatest United States president. He was a tyrant.

The point of this story is that the government—and especially our presidents—continually seek to control the news, lie to us in order to reach their objectives, and smother or even prevent dissent. During the Civil War, Lincoln shut