"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about a recently published academic paper that obliterates conventional thinking about nullification and interposition. In 1798, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison penned the Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions in response to the Alien and Sedition Acts. These documents, approved by the..
Read moreAmerica: Untethered from Its Constitutional Moorings
Americans have untethered their government from its moorings. The colonists fought a war to tie government down. Under British rule, government had become more and more arbitrary. Parliament and the King could issue edicts and pass laws detached from any absolute guiding principles. Americans called it tyranny. In the British system, the constitution evolved. Government..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #34: The Constitution and Federal Lands
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about what the Constitution has to say about federal land ownership and management. The recent standoff between the feds and ranchers at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon thrust the issue of federal land ownership and control into the..
Read moreNullification: The Path to Liberty – Burns, Oregon, 2016 (Speech)
The federal government was conceived as an institution with limited, enumerated powers. As James Madison put it in Federalist #45, "The powers delegated by the proposed constitution to the federal government are few and defined." Today we have a system that bears no resemblance to the founders' vision. This supposedly limited government claims the authority..
Read moreRefusal to Cooperate: The Moderate Middle Road Between Revolution and Unlimited Submission
Ammon Bundy and the other ranchers arrested after taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside Burns, Oregon,tried to go toe-to-toe with the federal government using raw force and power. They failed. The feds killed one man, and the rest of the ranchers now sit in jail, facing charges under a law passed during the..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #33: Things I learned in Burns, Oregon
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I share some of the things I learned during my recent trip to Burns, Oregon, along with some personal thoughts and insights. Earlier this week, I had the opportunity to speak in Burns, Oregon. I talked about unconstitutional federal actions and how..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #31: Embracing Tyranny
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I explain how America has embraced the very tyranny the founding generation fought to reject. America's founding generation fought a long, bloody war to free itself from British tyranny. Virtually every American knows this, but very few actually understand what it was..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #30: Gridlock Isn’t Necessarily a Bad Thing
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about the importance of conflict in government. Gridlock isn't always a bad thing! People often complain about "gridlock" in government. But gridlock isn't necessarily a bad thing. In the minds of America's founders, government was meant to be adversarial and..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #29: The Supreme Court Isn’t…
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head, I talk about the absurd, fallacious concept of absolute judicial supremacy. Most Americans believe the Supreme Court enjoys absolute supremacy in the American political system. After all, the word "supreme" is right in the name. They believe when the Supreme Court offers..
Read moreThoughts from Maharrey Head #28: The Constitutional Limits of Presidential Power
"10 Minutes Closer to Freedom" In this episode of Thoughts from Maharrey Head I talk about presidential executive orders and the constitutional limits of executive power. Earlier this week, President Obama issued his promised executive orders relating to firearms. Many Democrats and gun control advocates praised the president for "taking action when Congress won't." Meanwhile,..
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