Who Loves Authority, Not Me: Why it's considered radical to dislike being told what to do

How much do public officials make? How much are they paid to move paper from one desk to another, to vote on new laws for us to obey, and to assert their authority over us? Find out with this fantastic Channel 9 report.

How much do we pay officials to send out letters like the one described below?

When I opened the envelope from Butler County Court of Common Pleas I was mildly excited, because the letter turned out to be what I thought it was; a notification for Jury Duty.

Now, I don’t mind such things. I see it as a civic obligation and I recognize the service in the spirit it was intended. I enjoy court because of the human theater. I usually learn a lot about human society in such places, so it would not be a difficult thing to ask me to participate.

However, I became infuriated at the wording of the letter: Dear Prospective Juror, You are COMMANDED to be available to appear and serve on the petit jury of the Butler County Common Pleas.

Now, wait a minute. Nobody commands me to do anything. Who do these idiots think they are? They serve me, I don’t serve them. Who has the right or obligation to command me to do anything? Who did I give permission over my sovereignty to command me to do anything? Nobody! I give no authority to any man on the face of this planet to have authority over me. No man, woman, child, spiritual entity, nobody on Earth. I recognize no leader over my family but myself. I seek no services from any resource but my own skill and labor, and I authorize no human being to have authority over me.

So what fool government worker sitting down at the Butler County Court House shoving paper around each day and getting paid excessively well to do so think in their wildest dreams that they have authority over me and my family?

The answer to this comes from the broadcast of Doc Thompson of 700 WLW about an Indiana Supreme Court issue that enables the police to enter a home without any warrant, under reasonable suspicion. Residents are not allowed to resist any search from the police of their homes.

Now, many will read my comments and think that my view is radical. That’s only because as an American, you are too far gone. Your perspective is skewed too far to the progressive thought process. Now this past week, there was an officer killed in the line of duty by a crazed maniac in Lebanon, Ohio. That is a very sad story. I feel terribly for the officer’s family. After all, the guy was just throwing down stop sticks, and he didn’t deserve to be killed by a lunatic.

But the emotion of the moment doesn’t change my opinion that police have no right to perform as a military device against the citizens. They have no right to sit perched on the sides of roadways like stalking hunters only to pull over random victims to raise revenue for their departments. They have no right to tell me to wear a seat belt. They have no right to impose themselves on me in any way.

I tend to take charge of the situation around me, and I don’t need a police officer to intercede. If I see a wreck on the highway, I’ll stop and help. I may even help direct traffic. If someone tries to rob me, I have the second amendment. I just need the officer to take the statement for my court appearance. About a month ago I was stuck in traffic in front of the Middletown Mall because of a major accident on I-75. The cops at the incident were way above their heads with the issue. They were holding up traffic for miles in front of the mall, while the police diverted highway traffic off the ramp and back onto the wreck up on the highway. I was parked right in front of the police holding up the traffic for over a half hour. People behind me were getting upset and were beeping their horns letting the cops know that they needed to relieve some of the traffic. It’s not the poor decisions of the cops handling the situation that I found offensive, it was the look on the officer’s faces that made me angry. The lead officer on the scene was strutting around arrogantly and was going up to cars and knocking on their windows angrily to tell them not to beep their horns. I saw on their faces the eyes of bullies that didn’t like to have their authority challenged. They were struggling to maintain their control of the situation.

I have a long history with police. When I was younger, I got pulled over all the time. Before my 18th birthday I had been to court more times than I had years on my birthday, just for traffic violations. Every time I went to court, my parents told me to wear my school jacket, because then the judge would go easier on me. Besides the traffic tickets, I had police altercations for fights, for deaths, for trespassing, thefts, just about everything you can imagine. Yet, I was not a bad kid. I didn’t drink. I didn’t do drugs. I didn’t treat people badly. But I did stick up for myself. I did have a hard-line where I refused to concede to authority and that made me a target.

As a man I’ve been to court for all those same issues, but add to those law-suits, various disputes, and employer-employee issues. I’ve watched a judge enter a room dozens and dozens of times to be told by the bailiff, “all rise, the honorable court so-and-so presiding,” only to have everyone in the court room sit back down. Somewhere when I was very young I saw the process as a scam, I lost respect for the whole ceremony, and I stopped wearing my school jacket to court, and instead wore my leather jacket. I learned that the people attracted to the profession of law enforcement in general are attracted to power, so to make a blanket statement that police are all honorable and above criticism is naive and foolish. I have seen these people from every angle, and that is my opinion. I respect whatever oath they chose to take for themselves, and in the context of society, I respect their rules. But my property, my sovereignty, intruding on it is an act of war from a foreign entity. An attack on me in any way, an improper entry to my home, even stepping on my property is an act of war by a domestic enemy. If we are on the highway, “neutral” territory, and they turn on their little lights and pull me over, I pull over. I consider such encounters as getting caught by a tax troll. But I don’t respect their law enforcement because I don’t respect the laws created by corrupt politicians who write those self-serving laws.

I feel so strong about this issue that I wrote an entire book about it that is currently under contract review with a publisher. For those that think my anger at school systems is extreme, or misplaced, it doesn’t hold a candle to my anger at law enforcement. I have a lot of stories I could tell. I have already told some of them at this link, CLICK HERE.

I do not give honor to a uniform blindly. I know police officers personally and they are not the kind of people who I’d trust with making a decision to enter my home because some scumbag politician passed a law that decided I was a threat to the law. Such things are subjective, and I choose to not be included in the little game.

As if my impression toward police officers were not cemented at an early age, I have a rage that continues to this very day over an incident that occurred in Sharonville when my wife, a fashion model at the time worked at her parents business as a receptionist for part-time money. Her and I were newly married. I don’t even think she was 19 years old yet. Well, her parents needed the police to take a statement about something, one was an older guy in his late 40’s, and was very over-weight and had a classic cop mustache. His partner was a skinny young man fresh out of the military, in his mid-twenties. So these cops came into this business and my wife greeted them. “Wow, you’re pretty,” said the older cop smiling at his partner. “And married too. What’s a pretty young girl like you doing married?”

“Oh, I met a great guy, and I’m very happy,” my wife said.

“Would you ever cheat on your husband?” the older guy said as both cops laughed.

“No,” my wife said becoming serious.

“Well,” said the old cop, “would you lay still while I do.” Both cops erupted into laughter.

My wife didn’t know what to do. Her parents had heard this, but feared to say anything, because they didn’t want to be on the bad side of the cops. When I came home from work that day, she was crying, feeling helpless. I called the police station, talked to the supervisors of those officers and let him know how I felt.

“Do you want to file a complaint?” he asked me. “Just come on down and fill it out.”

My wife begged me to drop it, because I had already lost my driver’s license at the time till I was like 26, and I was only 20 at the time. So she wanted no more court appearances and no more trouble. So we had to drop the case. But as I drove around Sharonville I looked for those cops to confront them myself which I never saw around town again. Police are no better than average people. They only have the authority we give them. They are not qualified to make decisions on our behalf. Politicians are not qualified to make decisions on our behalf, obviously. So unless other citizens start questioning these police actions, these police agencies and government officials will continue to encroach themselves into your sanctity.

That lady who wrote me the letter COMMANDING me to appear in court is out of her mind thinking such a statement has any justification in my life. Jury Duty is something I WANT to do. Commanding me to do so makes me to not want to do it.

Just some things to consider in relation to law enforcement. I’m happy to have them around. I think having police is important to keeping the peace. But, I see all too often that they abuse their power, and it goes to their head like everyone else that works in public service. They forget who they work for. And if left to their own devices, these intrusive stories will get worse and worse over time, and we’ll pay for it with our taxes and freedom.

Rich Hoffman
http://overmanwarrior.wordpress.com/2010/12/04/ten-rules-to-live-by/
http://twitter.com/#!/overmanwarrior
www.overmanwarrior.com