The Fight for Freedom in America - The Death of Joe Louis's Sister, the IRS, the Iraq War, Ron Paul, Mike Gravel, and the Brown Bomber by Jake Towne, the Champion of the Constitution
(libertarian)
Friday, February 22, 2008
This week the frozen corpse of 92-year-old lady was found outside her assisted-living center in Detroit, Michigan, wearing only pajamas and one shoe. She had worked for the Detroit school district for 25 years. She was suffering from Alzheimer's disease. She was a sister of the late Joe Louis, aka the Brown Bomber, one of the greatest fighters in boxing history and a Patriot of the United States of America. 1
In 1938, it was Joe Louis who defeated the fearsome German fighter Max Schmeling, the symbol of the Nazi party, Aryan race and backed by Hitler. In this short, violent bout, Louis KO'ed Schmeling in 124 seconds, which you can see live on YouTube. Americans, both black and white, rejoiced together in this perceived fight against unspeakable evil. It was a welcome reprieve from the spartan times of the Great Depression. 2
Shortly following the destruction of the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor, Joe donated his total winnings from a title fight to the Navy war relief. "We should all turn over a lot to our country at this time," he said. He volunteered and joined the US Army in 1942, but continued to fight, donating some of his winnings to the US Army. He was awarded the Legion of Merit. However, what he did not realize was that the IRS would tax all those checks he donated, and the tax and interest on his debt led him to continue fighting long after the war and his prime, falling into a massive amount of debt and crushing interest, which made the life for his family (6 children, 4 adopted) tough. 3 What this short movie clip doesn't mention, however is that he made quite a few bad business deals along the way, which also contributed to his eventual role as a greeter at a Las Vegas casino. 4,5 But no matter how much you have and earn, the Internal Revenue Service of our government will take and take.
Joe Louis died in 1981, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery. 5 Max Schmeling was both a pallbearer and helped fund his funeral. As an aside, Max was tossed aside as a German icon by Hitler upon his return to Germany. He never joined the Nazi party, and sheltered two young Jewish brothers, a few months after the Louis fight, during Kristallnacht when rioting destroyed Jewish shops, homes, and synagogues. He was drafted and fought against the Allies in WWII, but later became a successful entrepreneur by bottling for Coca-Cola after the war. 6
I wonder what Joe would think of his sister's death from hypothermia in her pajamas in the city they both grew up in and loved. I think he would be a little angry. I wonder if he knew that the constitutional basis of the federal income tax is indeed quite questionable, and at the very least there is no reason why the Congress has to continue 'obeying' the 16th Amendment to tax personal income.7 I feel a sting when I lose 20% of my paycheck, don't you? What would you do with all your pay in your pocket? Or perhaps you feel guilty about not funding your government. But what if a politician said you wouldn't have to pay it if we left our 700 bases in over 130 foreign countries and brought not just the 160,000 or so troops in Iraq home, but the 40,000 in Japan, the 40,000 in South Korea, the 75,000 in Germany, the 40,000 in the rest of Europe, and however-many-we-have in Afghanistan? 8 Then Ron Paul is the guy for you. Still want to pay your government? OK, OK. What if a politician who singlehandedly stopped funding for the Vietnam War and the Vietnam Draft in the Senate said he had an idea to end the income tax and alleviate poverty at the same time? Then Mike Gravel's Fair Tax is for you. He also wants to amend the Constitution to enable We the People to make laws.
Pearl Harbor was the 9/11 of the 1940s. But the way our country reacted to WWII was much different than our actions to defend our national security after 9/11. Instead of the sacrifices of great men with golden hearts like Joe Louis after the 9/11 of my generation in 2001, President Bush told our stunned ears to just 'keep shopping.' And now we are to receive a $600 tax 'rebate' back of our own money so we buy more stuff from China! (Bet that did not happen in WWII!) And instead of sending mobile, specialized crack units of the finest soldiers on the planet to bring Bin Laden to justice, we ended up sending a large, encumbered army to invade a nation unconnected with Al-Qaeda, to patrol the streets of Iraq and protect our oil supply. This unjust war, by the way, violates the Constitution of the United States of America, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 11 as only Congress has the right to declare War.9 We have never declared War since WWII, and we have never won a war - although we have fought quite a few.
So since 2001, how much have we sacrificed? I mean really sacrificed the past 6 years now?
The seeming answer, materialistically, for most Americans is probably close to nothing. Indeed, we are even receiving $600 tax 'rebate' back of our own money so we buy more stuff! Sure, for the 3,969 Americans who have died to date in Iraq, they have paid the ultimate price. Remember their deaths break the hearts of their 3,969 families. Over 29,000 Americans have been physically wounded picture missing arms, legs.10 They and their families have also paid a price. And remember all those soldiers who have been traumatized psychologically for the rest of their lives. 11 And remember the approximately 958,000 dead Iraqis who we have, directly or indirectly, killed as a result of the preemptive and illegal invasion of Iraq.12
Have you been drafted to go fight in this war? Have you had to foreclose on your home? Have you lost your job? Have you paid more in taxes? Have you had to downsize your car? Have you had to recycle iron, paper, aluminum, plastic? Have you had to put off with buying that new IPod, new car, new clothes, new phone, new movies, new gadgets? Have you been drafted? Do you have to worry about dying the death of Joe Louis's sister? The answers to the above are all no, or probably no, for the average American.
But I am here to tell you this may change in the coming years. The War in Iraq spreads to Iran. Maybe more warring in the Balkans, where WWI started no less. World War III with Russia or China. The Housing Crisis continues. The death of the American consumer - personal credit card debt. Negative or Negliable Household Savings Rates. Hilar-O-bama-Care. Federal Reserve - the private bank that deflates the purchasing power of any dollar you have or will earn by printing money at prodigious rates. We choose to ignore "If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their money, first by inflation and then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around them, will deprive the people of their property until their children will wake up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson Nine (9) trillion dollars in National Debt. 13 Your upcoming National ID Card "papers please!" The Crash of the Dollar and with a lot of factories overseas and continuing to close, perhaps a Depression, not just a Recession here? The Patriot Act and loss of Habeas Corpus - in English, you can now be imprisoned indefinitely by your government without ever seeing your day in court maybe I will eventually be imprisoned for writing this article and telling you? Bet you can't ask those imprisoned in Guantanamo. Remember the expense of the Iraq war - mayhem and bombing, nation-building and providing for the support and protection of our forces is not cheap.
The future is not forlorn and hopeless because we still have enough liberties to enforce a change. But the above are all notable risks, and, unless you prove me otherwise, they are worth paying attention to.
Where are our heroes? The only millionaire-athlete/Joe Louis and patriot of our times I know of was Pat Tillman, NFL Arizona Cardinal cornerback, who went to bring Osama Bin Laden to justice as an Army Ranger and who died under friendly fire in Afghanistan. His family? Angry about a government cover-up concerning his death. 14,15 How many members of our elite, our Congress, our President are sending their sons and daughters into harm's way and donating to our armed forces? Please enlighten me.
In conclusion, I hope I have provoked more thought or disagreement from you, the reader. Or perhaps you already agreed and just need some suggestions. If that's the case, please help save this country before she goes down in flames. So, where are our heroes and heroines? Here's a hint - they will be starting to stare right back at you at mirrors near you. But have you:
Researched the ideas and platform of Ron Paul, the anti-war Republican presidential candidate. www.ronpaul2008.com or this intro video [A New Hope]
Donated to either of the above cause? I am talking $5, $10, whatever - and start talking with others about their ideas. Money talks. If you believe the presidential election is already over, this is your protest vote. If you believe the presidential election is not over, this is your protest as well.
Talked with your friends who are Obama fans? Their hearts are probably in the right place. But if they are a typical American and think Senator Obama will bring troops home from Iraq, I urge you to ask them to please reevaluate. He wants to expand the military by 100,000. It says so on his website under Iraq. Why do we need to do this if the 160,000 troops are really returning home and not redeploying for another war elsewhere? Be careful what is said, Senator Obama is a very gifted, charismatic speaker with a silver tongue - judge instead by his actions. In 2006, Senators Clinton and Obama voted to continue the war without a timeline to withdraw [senate.gov vote link] If they are resolute that this is not true, how can they refute these points? (I would like to know too!).
Write to your representative in the US House of Representatives [house.gov link] and to both of your state's US senators saying to stop the Iraq war now and encourage others to do so. It's easy and won't take long. Add their emails to your contact list for future correspondence. This is YOUR government! [senate.gov link]
Join the Ron Paul March for Freedom on Washington DC this summer. www.ronpaulmarch.com
Last, a closing statement from Tom Paine from the post-Revolutionary War world of 1782. He was referring to the European powers of his day but, sadly, I believe his comments apply to our America:
"[The purpose] of other nations are, in general, little more than the history of their quarrels. They are marked by no important character in the annals of events; mixed in the mass of general matters, they occupy but a common page; and while the chief of the successful partisans stepped into power, the plundered multitude sat down and sorrowed. Triumph on one side and misery on the other were the only events. Pains, punishments, torture, and death were made the business of mankind, until compassion, the fairest associate of the heart, was driven from its place, and the eye, accustomed to continual cruelty, could behold it without offence.
But as the principles of the present Revolution differed from those which preceded it, so likewise did the conduct of America both in government and war. Neither the foul finger of disgrace has hitherto put a blot upon her fame. War, so much the trade of the world, has here only been the business of necessity; and when the necessity shall cease, her very enemies must confess, that as she drew the sword in her just defence, she used it without cruelty, and sheathed it without revenge."
This, Senators John McCain, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Pastor Mike Huckabee. This, Mr. Romney -- (oh wait, 'Islamofascists' and the fear of terrorists winning killed your chances for president by your own admission, see you as VP for McCain or in 2012 spend another 35 million of your personal fortune!) This is the Republic I want. Start dreaming and believing the same dream as Mike Gravel, Ron Paul, and I.
We must together remove this true disgrace to our national honor in the coming days, months, years... however long it takes.
Your author asks for your pardon in my shortcomings for eloquence.
Jake, yet another Champion of the Constitution
As always, unlike the NFL, the author grants full permission to allow any accounts of, rebroadcasts, retransmissions, repostings in part or full of this article to your blog or anywhere else in order to promote the Restoration of our Republic.
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