Did you know Kentucky state law bans marriage between first cousins? But you will find no such prohibition right across the border in Virginia. So, here are a couple of questions. Doesn't Kentucky's law against first cousins getting married discriminate? And doesn't it violate the 14th Amendment's equal protection clause (As interpreted by the Supreme..
Read moreMonopoly Government: The Power to Git-R-Done
Anyone wondering about my general antipathy toward the state need look no further than the circus surrounding gay marriage licenses in Kentucky. The two sides squared off against each other in the Great Kentucky County Clerk Gay Marriage License Debate seem diametrically opposed and impossibly divided by a yawning, unspannable chasm. But at their core,..
Read morePodcast: Hero of Liberty; Charles Langston and the Oberlin-Wellington Rescue
In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I tell the story of a hero for liberty and the rescue of a fugitive slave. Northern abolitionists who defied federal law to assist accused runaway slaves demonstrated the kind of courage we need today. They weren’t deterred by [insert horrible thing the feds will do here]...
Read moreThe Moral Authority of the Mob
Does a mob have moral authority? No more than an individual. All things being equal, a group of people does not have the right to do anything that an individual can't do. Let me explain by example. Say one of your neighbors - let's call her Jill - falls seriously ill and can't pay her..
Read morePodcast: How to Limit the Federal Government
In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I tell you how we can limit federal power based on James Madison's blueprint. The federal government exercises seemingly unlimited authority and inserts itself into virtually every area of our lives. But the feds were never meant to have this kind of power. As James Madison asserted..
Read more133 Words or Less: Gun Grabbers Teach Kids Violence is Wrong Using Violence
An organization called The Coalition to Stop Gun Violence posted this meme. This organization seeks to "strengthen our gun laws." So, if these people manage to make open carry illegal, and I do it anyway, what happens? Well, some guys with guns show up, take my gun and lock me in a cage. If I..
Read more133 Words or Less: Cyber Book Burning
I've said since the whole Confederate flag controversy blew up that it's just one small step from taking down flags and removing statues to full-blown censorship. Amazon took that step. The online retailer recently removed This Flag Never Goes Down, a non-fiction book about the Confederate battle flag by historian Michael Dreese. Being a nonfiction..
Read moreNo, Secession is Not Treason
Those seeking to erase Confederate flags and other symbols of the Confederacy from the public sphere most often refer to the association with slavery and racism. I strongly condemn this movement to purge and censor. Tossing inconvenient or uncomfortable history down the proverbial memory hole smacks of Orwellian tyranny. Totalitarian regimes cleanse history. This rising..
Read moreConstitution 101: Constitutional Interpretation – Living and Breathing is Dead
The first and governing maxim in the interpretation of a statute is to discover the meaning of those who made it.” –James Wilson, Of the Study of Law in the United States, Circa, 1790 Many Americans today view the Constitution as a “living, breathing” document. By living and breathing, they mean the Constitution was written..
Read morePodcast: National Power: A Tool for Slavers
In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I explain how centralized, national power institutionalized and perpetuated slavery in America. The recent controversy over the rebel flag and other Confederate symbols has propelled the issue of slavery into the spotlight. Conventional wisdom inextricably ties the idea of "state rights" to slavery. Most Americans think southerners..
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