Presumed Dangerous, NO GUNS on the Surface, the Present Political Answer to Gun Control Seems Simple and Obvious: Simply Take Guns from Dangerous People

The Squad • California’s Vaccination Mandate • Wally Byam and the Airstream

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Vol. 35, No. 19 October 7, 2019

Cover Story

GUN CONTROL 10 Presumed Dangerous, No Guns by Steve Byas — On the surface, the present political answer to gun control seems simple and obvious: Simply take guns from dangerous people. The problem is that everyone could be deemed “dangerous.” duaneellison/iStock/GettyImagesPlus

Features

POLITICS 17 The Squad by Trevor Loudon — Four freshman representatives in Congress, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are liberal to the point of being pro-communist and dangerous.

HEALTHCARE AP Images 23 California’s Vaccination Mandate by Susan McGrath — California’s new vaccination mandate 23 takes from parents the ability to safeguard their children from the increasingly evident consequences of vaccinations.

HISTORY — PAST AND PERSPECTIVE 32 Wally Byam and the Airstream by Dennis Behreandt — Motivated by a love of travel and a growing desire on the part of millions of Americans to freely travel about the country and the world, Wally Byam developed the iconic Airstream travel trailer and played a central role in the development of the recreational vehicle industry.

THE LAST WORD AP Images 44 Playing Politics at the Federal Reserve by C. Mitchell Shaw 32

Departments

5 Letters to the Editor 31 The Goodness of America

7 Inside Track 40 Exercising the Right facebook.com/airstream

9 QuickQuotes 41 Correction, Please! COVER GettyImagesPlus TrailWinds p l a z a

SPACE AVAILABLE 5,640 square ft. Call 239-677-7441 or Email [email protected] Cleveland Ave. (Rt. 41) • Ft. Myers, Florida • Stamra Inc. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Publisher & Editor Gary Benoit Mercury in Vaccines our entire system to a halt? Does losing Senior Editor I found the cover story to the May 6 issue justify not working together to solve our William F. Jasper of TNA entitled “Forced Vaccinations” problems? Managing Editor to be commendable. There’s one caveat: When you have more loyalty to your rail inds Kurt Williamsen The article says, “Notably absent from the party than to your country, perhaps your T W table is autism, which many physicians value system needs some adjustment. Web Editor link to thimerosal, a mercury preservative William F. Hineser, DPM John T. Larabell in several vaccines, including MMR.” Not Arvada, Colorado Foreign Correspondent so. Thimerosal is not in the MMR shot be- p l a z a Alex Newman cause the vaccine has live viruses in it, and Vote Responsibly, or Else the mercury would kill them. The MMR’s Contributors true function, however, is just as deadly. If we support the wrong candidates, or if Bob Adelmann • Dennis Behreandt All live-virus vaccines contain glutamic we do not vote at all against the wrong Steve Byas • Raven Clabough acid (MSG), which acts as a stabilizer (feed- candidates, this is what the Democrats and Selwyn Duke • Brian Farmer er) of the viruses. MSG is also a precursor RINOs would do to us: Christian Gomez • Larry Greenley of a substance called glutathione, which Raise our taxes; invade our privacy; Gregory A. Hession, J.D. helps the body excrete heavy metals and shut down pro-freedom websites; outlaw Ed Hiserodt • William P. Hoar toxins. Glutamic acid in an injected vaccine, and confiscate our guns; charge us with R. Cort Kirkwood • Patrick Krey, J.D. which the body’s immune system would crimes and put us in jail; impeach our Warren Mass • John F. McManus react against, would tend to inhibit the pro- president and Supreme Court Justice Ka- James Murphy • Dr. Duke Pesta Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr. duction of glutathione at the best of times. If vanaugh; increase state and federal spend- C. Mitchell Shaw • Michael Tennant a live-virus vaccine such as the MMR were ing; foreclose on our homes through emi- Rebecca Terrell • Fr. James Thornton given at the same time as a vaccine that con- nent domain; increase crime, criminals, Laurence M. Vance • Joe Wolverton II, J.D. tained mercury, e.g., the flu shot, the interac- illegal drugs, and disease spread by open- tion would tend to inhibit the body’s ability ing our borders; merge the United States Creative Director to excrete the mercury. The result would with Mexico and Canada to form a single Joseph W. Kelly be, among other potential deleterious con- “North American Union”; get us into an Senior Graphic Designer ditions, brain damage. undeclared, no-win war that could lead to Katie Bradley The MMR is associated with the likes of World War III; and turn the United States autism, just in a different way from what is of America into a communist country by Research suggested in this highly important article. surrendering to a world communist gov- Bonnie M. Gillis Stan Stanfield ernment (United Nations). lliott raham Chief Strategy Officer Sent via e-mail E G Bill Hahn Glendale, California

Advertising/Circulation Manager The Blame Game Julie DuFrane I had a hangnail last week, and I definitely Balanced Budget Con know it was Trump’s fault — no question One of the main arguments for a Con- about it! Anti-Trump rhetoric is this silly. Con is the Balanced Budget Amendment Our country has endemic, systemic (BBA). I have three questions concerning problems that have developed over many a BBA. They are: years. Does it seem logical that these are all 1. If the crooks and mental midgets in the fault of Donald Trump, one person who D.C. do not follow the Constitution now, Printed in the U.S.A. • ISSN 0885-6540 P.O. Box 8040 • Appleton, WI 54912 has held office for a little over two years? why would they follow an additional 920-749-3784 • 920-749-3785 (fax) We have problems with debt, education, amendment? www.thenewamerican.com poverty, perceived racism, and wars all 2. Who determines if the budget is bal- [email protected] over the world. Is all this rhetoric logical? anced? Rates are $49 per year (Canada, add $9; foreign, add $27) Copyright ©2019 by Notwithstanding the problems and 3. If the budget is not balanced, will American Opinion Publishing, Inc. Periodicals constant complaints about the president, SCOTUS order a tax increase? postage paid at Appleton, WI and additional America is still the one country to which Howard Last mailing offices. Postmaster: Send any address changes to The New American, P.O. Box 8040, most people want to immigrate. Cheyenne, Wyoming Appleton, WI 54912. Why? The problems in this country pale in comparison with most of the Send your letters to: The New American, P.O. The New American is published twice monthly world. So gripers should ask: By play- Box 8040, Appleton, WI 54912. Or e-mail: by American Opinion ing the blame game are we really help- [email protected]. Due to vol- Publishing Inc., a wholly ing solve the problems? Does losing an ume received, not all letters can be answered. owned subsidiary of The John Birch Society. election by one party justify bringing Letters may be edited for space and clarity.

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ninjaMonkeyStudio/E+/GettyImages Klopfer family is reportedly in full cooperation.

China Seeks to Run UN “Crime” Agency The Communist Party of China is now pushing one of its agents, Other UN agencies under China’s control include the UN In- Andy Tsang-Wai-hung, to lead the powerful UN Office on Drugs ternational Civil Aviation Organization, the UN Industrial Devel- and Crime (UNODC). Headquartered in Vienna with a biannual opment Organization, the UN International Telecommunications budget of around $700 million, the UNODC claims to be a leader Union, and the powerful UN Department of Economic and Social in the fight against crime, terrorism, and more. Affairs. Beijing has agents serving as deputy leaders of multiple Among other roles, Tsang currently serves as deputy director UN organizations as well, not to mention the IMF, the World of China’s National Narcotics Control Commission. The outfit Bank, and beyond. has developed a global reputation for barbarism and horrifying The Trump administration has withdrawn from a broad array human-rights violations, including beating and torturing prison- of UN agencies and agreements, ranging from a UN deal pro- ers and using them for slave labor, as documented by Human moting mass-migration to the UN’s “education” agency, but it Rights Watch. Before that, while serving as police chief, Tsang should back the American Sovereignty Restoration Act (H.R. was instrumental in violently suppressing the peaceful “umbrella 204), which would end all U.S. government involvement and movement” protests in Hong Kong. funding for the “dictators club” that is the UN. In response to the latest candidate offered by Beijing to run a key UN agency and to the broader context of Communist China’s ongoing takeover of the UN, officials within the Trump administration are working on a strategy to counter those moves. Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas), for instance, has been a leader in speaking out about the effort to have Tsang run the UNODC. “The UN has no business putting yet another Communist Party cutout in a leadership position, especially one with a direct history of ad- vancing China’s abuses in Hong Kong,” Cruz said September 12. “The Trump administration should use its voice and vote to block this appointment.” bephotographers/iStock/Getty Images Plus

www.TheNewAmerican.com 7 Inside Track Study Claiming Trump Rallies Cause Hate Crimes Debunked “Hate crimes reportedly jumped by 226 percent in counties that causes the estimated effect of Trump rallies on reported hate inci- hosted Trump campaign rallies,” blared a March 24 Vox headline. dents to become statistically indistinguishable from zero.” “Counties that hosted a 2016 Trump rally saw a 226 percent in- “Many of Trump’s fiercest critics have proclaimed themselves crease in hate crimes,” declared the Washington Post March 22. to be staunch defenders of science in the face of a supposedly ris- Other media outlets followed suit. ing tide of anti-scientific sentiment,” observed Lilley and Whea- The source for this claim was a single, unpublished study by ton. “By rushing to promote academic results that are most in three professors from Texas A&M University and the University line with their own preconceived notions, Trump’s critics risk of North Texas. The academics compared the number of “hate committing the very error they decry.” crimes” in U.S. counties where Donald Trump held campaign rallies to the number of such crimes in counties where Trump did not hold rallies. But the study is based on such an obviously faulty methodology that two Harvard University Ph.D. students, Matthew Lilley and Brian Wheaton, were able to debunk it quite easily — and show that the same methodology could be used to “prove” that Hillary Clinton rallies also caused hate-crime spikes. Lilley and Wheaton explained in a September 6 Reason article: “Politicians tend to hold political rallies near where large numbers of people live. And in places with more people, the raw number of crimes is generally mechanically higher…. Nor is it sensible to interpret that one of these differences (hate crimes) is caused by the other (political rallies). Indeed, adding a simple

statistical control for county population to the original analysis AP Images

The Era of the “Post-9/11-Voter” Has Arrived Another nearly 2.5 million were born in the next 12 months. That is a lot of voters for 2020 who have never known freedom from surveillance. The post-9/11-born generation is the generation that expects surveillance. Study after study — plus personal experience in dealing with young people — has convinced this writer that most of that generation rarely even thinks of the issue of mass surveillance. When they do, they typically either defend it as part of the “war on terror,” or react to it by adopting the radical thinking of the Left. Often ignored is the stable middle ground that says that the Surveillance State must come down while rights and liberty remain intact. In fact, it must come down so that rights and liberty remain intact. This means that the job of the constitutionalist ihsanyildizli/iStock/GettyImagesPlus patriot is one of getting busy showing the post- With the 18th anniversary of 9/11 now past, America is entering 9/11-born voter that freedom and liberty are not to be found in a new epoch: As of Thursday, September 12, millions of people the excesses of either what is too often called “conservatism” or who were not even alive when the World Trade Center and Pen- “liberalism” — but in constitutionalism. That of course means tagon were attacked and when a plane crashed in a Pennsylvania showing someone who has never seen freedom and liberty what field on its way to destroy 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will be those things mean. Fish don’t know fish are wet because they eligible to vote in the next elections. don’t know what “dry” is, and the post-9/11-born generation — The advent of the post-9/11-born voter is something new and having always lived under the weight of tyranny — does not different. There were roughly 2.7 million people born in the 12 know they are tyrannized because they don’t know what freedom months between September 11, 2001 and September 10, 2002. and liberty are. We have to help them know. n

8 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 QuickQuotes

Hong Kong Protester Addresses Recent Turmoil in Her Home City “Our financial and business sector is important to [Beijing’s leaders] so if they hurt us, they will be hurting themselves too. If we don’t speak out, I’m afraid that Hong Kong will be no more.” A 30-year-old accountant and Hong Kong resident, Ada Wong par- ticipates in the demonstrations against Beijing’s recent moves. She willingly says what practically all Hong Kong residents are thinking.

President Trump Has Harsh Words for Journalists “Journalism is nothing more than an evil propaganda machine for the Democratic Party.” Donald That President Donald Trump detests journalism in general is no Trump secret. He considers most in that field to be heavily partial to Demo- GageSkidmore crats and their programs.

High Justice Department Official Accuses James Comey of Violating FBI Rules “Inspector General Michael Horowitz lambasted former FBI Director Comey for his leadership of the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s use of a private email server while she was secretary of state accus- ing Comey of insubordination and flouting Justice Department policies in deciding that only he had the authority and credibility to make key decisions on the case and speak about it publicly.” Writing in the Washington Post, Matt Zapotosky summarized the violations of FBI policy committed by James Comey when he was the bureau’s top official.

Now She’s Claiming Scientific Knowledge in Microbiology “There are a lot of diseases that are frozen in some of these glaciers that scientists fear that there’s a potential that a lot of diseases could escape these melted glaciers…. They’re going to get into our water, and humans could contract them, and they’re going to be diseases that are thousands of years old that have vectors that we are not prepared for, that we have never seen. Um … and so that’s a concern.” The answer to the alleged problem of melting glaciers, according to New York Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, is the Green New Deal, which would bankrupt the country while chas- ing wild environmental claims. She cited no scientific evidence when Alexandria making her unusual demand for action to fight a problem that very few Ocasio-Cortez nrkbeta others believe even exists.

Military Leaders Disappointed With Unhealthy Recruits “Today, about nearly one-third of potential recruits are too heavy to enlist. And many recruits who are trim when they get to boot camp gain weight once when they have access to Uncle Sam’s all-you-can- eat dining facilities.” The Defense Department reported that 22 percent of the Navy’s potential recruits are rejected for obesity. Records show that obesity was also found in 18.1 percent of Air Force recruits, 17.4 percent of those seeking entry into the Army, and 8.3 percent wanting to be Marines.

He Supports Ousting of John Bolton, Sees No Reason to Continue Afghan Fight “I think they will fight [in Afghanistan] until the end of time. I have a tough time sending them [U.S. soldiers] to potentially lose their lives in Afghanistan when I can’t delineate what their mission is, the reason we’re there anymore.” After congratulating President Trump for removing war-happy John Bolton as national security adviser, Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) re- stated his opposition to continuing the war in Afghanistan. n Rand — Compiled by John F. McManus Paul GageSkidmore

Call 1-800-727-TRUE to subscribe today! 9 GUN CONTROL

Presumed Dangerous, NO GUNS On the surface, the present political answer to gun control seems simple and obvious: Simply take guns from dangerous people. The problem is that everyone could be deemed “dangerous.”

duaneellison/iStock/GettyImagesPlus

by Steve Byas flag laws, which would take guns from peo- legislatures are considering some form of ple reported to authorities as being likely these benign-sounding red flag laws. he latest scheme to confiscate fire- to shoot someone, are justified by recent But red flag laws are not benign. They arms from American citizens who mass shootings. Desperate to appear to “do are a serious threat to every American’s T have not been found guilty of any something” about the sporadic, but tragic, right to keep and bear arms. crime — or even charged with a crime — mass shootings across America, politicians In California, a woman and her husband is popularly known as a “red flag” law. Red from the White House to Congress to state experienced the tyranny of a red flag law

10 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 in their state. In an enlightening video pro- perwork that she was admitted “invol- tive of how a red flag law could work in duced by Reason.TV, which can be viewed untarily,” and would have to stay in the your state. Let us look at what a red flag law on YouTube, the effect of an actual red flag facility for 72 hours. But once the hospital is, why such laws are spreading across the law — California’s Armed Prohibited Per- psychiatrist actually had a chance to visit country on a state-by-state basis, and why sons System — demonstrates the danger to with her, he told Lynette that there should they are a real threat to become federal law. our Second Amendment rights. This law be better policies and procedure in effect, In short, red flag laws are simply the aims to confiscate guns from persons found so this doesn’t happen again. He then re- latest in the long-standing effort to make in three groups: (1) those with a history of leased her before the 72 hours was up. the Second Amendment guarantee of an violence; (2) wanted criminals; and (3) Because of the “involuntary” commit- individual’s right to keep and bear arms anyone who the state believes has a severe ment, however, she was placed on the meaningless — one step at a time. Red flag mental illness. But as we shall see, the law’s armed prohibited persons list. Even a laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protec- effects go beyond that in practice. letter from her personal psychiatrist that tion Orders (ERPOs), allow a judge to re- Lynette Phillips told Reason.TV, “Be- she had sought treatment voluntarily, not voke a person’s right, or at least suspend his cause one nurse wrote false information, involuntarily, did not get her off the list. right, to own or possess a firearm, directing now I’m on a prohibited persons list,” but, Nine California Department of Justice of- law-enforcement officers to take a person’s she added, “I’ve never done anything to ficers showed up at the couple’s house, guns if family members or other people hurt anybody.” Phillips explained what without any warrant, and took every gun believe him to be a danger to himself or happened. “I was diagnosed about 13 in the house, including the gun that she others. Seventeen states and the District of years ago with anxiety disorder.” had bought her husband for Christmas. Columbia have passed some form of this She noticed she was crying easily, so she Very obviously, more people have their restriction of the Second Amendment. went to check herself into a local hospital. rights removed by red flag laws than sim- Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) is It was full, so they referred her to Aurora ply “dangerous” people. quite open about the fact that red flag Charter Oak. “That was where my night- More than 11,000 guns have been con- laws are merely one step on the road to mare started,” she recalled. Someone wrote fiscated in California under this program. confiscating firearms. “We Democrats down that she might drive herself off a cliff, are not going to settle for half-measures but it is unknown who wrote that down. What Is a Red Flag Law? so Republicans can feel better and try to Even more serious, despite admitting This story of the nightmare faced by Ly- push the issue of gun violence off to the herself, it was written down in the pa- nette Phillips and her husband is illustra- side. Democrats in the Senate will seek

Good intent, bad result: Extreme Risk Lynette Phillips told Reason.TV, “Because one nurse Protection Orders (AKA red flag laws) are just wrote false information, now I’m on a prohibited the latest scheme to justify gun confiscation. While one can understand the frustration of persons list,” but, she added, “I’ve never done those who are sincerely concerned about mass anything to hurt anybody.” shootings, the urge to simply “do something” may lead to the loss of a constitutionally protected right, while doing nothing to stop mass shootings. AP Images

www.TheNewAmerican.com 11 GUN CONTROL

“We don’t want people who are mentally ill, people that are sick — we don’t want them having guns,” Trump said recently.

ly arguing that he is confining his desire for confiscation to the mentally ill. “We don’t want people who are mentally ill, people that are sick — we don’t want them having guns,” Trump said recently. Since then, Trump has warned that such laws present a potential risk of a “slippery slope.” Not only are Republicans wavering on protecting the rights of all gun owners, Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, takes the liberal position on gun control. According to Con- servative Review, Ivanka Trump is working “behind the scenes,” lobbying members of Congress to support more gun-control legislation, including red flag laws and universal background checks. One Democrat senator with whom she has reportedly spoken is Joe Manchin of West Virginia. Manchin

AP Images ran as a pro-Second Amendment Demo- Anti-gun girl: Were President Donald Trump to buckle and support red flag laws, many crat, but is now cosponsoring enhanced Republicans might be emboldened to support them as well. Those who support the Second background-check legislation with Senator Amendment should be very wary of the influence that the president’s daughter, Ivanka, has on her Pat Toomey (R-Pa.). Evidently, Ms. Trump father. She is actively supporting the passage of such laws. believes that since Manchin abandoned his support for gun rights with that bill, he will be a person who could potentially support red flag laws. Trump’s son, Don, Jr., however, reportedly fears that red flag laws to require any ERPO bill that comes to Trump and Republicans and expanded background checks could the floor is accompanied by a vote in Wavering on Red Flag Laws infringe on the civil liberties of gun own- the House-passed universal background Indeed, as mass shootings have continued ers. He has also reportedly told his father checks legislation.” over the years — from Columbine to New- that if he supported such measures, it could Even if it were true that the ERPOs, town to Las Vegas, and finally, El Paso and wind up costing him votes in next year’s would only take guns from people deemed Dayton — even Republican politicians, presidential election. by their acquaintances to be imminent many of whom were elected on promises Of course, it is largely fear of losing threats (and that’s not true), Schumer’s re- to protect the Second Amendment, are get- votes because of the public outcry over marks make it very clear that were a fed- ting weak-kneed, and more are joining the mass shootings that is probably causing eral red flag law to pass, it would not be anti-Second Amendment crowd in favor- Trump, some Republicans, and even the the final gun-control measure pushed by ing the policy of “doing something.” National Rifle Association (NRA) to give anti-gun-rights activists. Even President Trump is wavering. the appearance that they are “doing some- Why? When a mass shooting happens Trump has delivered an inconsistent mes- thing” about the continued scourge of mass anyway, the argument will be that these sage when it comes to the Second Amend- shootings. In other words, these laws are laws have failed, leading to a proposal ment. In February 2018, Trump said that “feel good laws” intended to make the vot- to include more individuals in the group due process was not as important for the ing public believe that something has been to be disarmed. When all “dangerous” mentally ill as making sure that they do done. But laws made in such an atmosphere people have already been disarmed via not have access to firearms. “I don’t want of hysteria are almost never good. measures such as red flag laws and uni- mentally ill people to be having guns,” Former Milwaukee County Sheriff versal background checks, and they have Trump said. “Take the guns first, go David Clarke made this very point recent- failed to stop mass shootings (and they through due process second.” ly: “I like to remind people that we should will fail), firearms will have to be con- Since then, Trump has swung from sup- never make sweeping policy changes in fiscated from everyone — except the port to opposition to support and back to a state of hysteria. A wiser course of ac- government. opposition when it comes to ERPOs, usual- tion would be for elected officials to talk

12 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 people in off the ledge so we can have a son why we are dealing with civil asset not live in a direct democracy. We don’t reasonable conversation about the hor- forfeiture laws today. Politicians voting live in a nation where issues are simply put rific incident after things settle down. for red flag laws today may very well re- to a vote and the majority rules.” Emotion-based policy always turns out to gret doing so in a few years, but by then, If the United States were a direct de- be a lousy policy loaded with unintended it will be too late. mocracy, then the Bill of Rights — indeed consequences.” the Constitution itself — would be super- Along these lines, in the 1980s, Presi- Putting Liberty Up for a Vote? fluous. There is nothing in the wording of dent Ronald Reagan’s attorney general, With the public apparently in the mood for the Second Amendment or in the Bill of Edwin Meese, was a strong supporter of politicians to “do something,” many poli- Rights or the Constitution indicating that civil asset forfeiture laws — laws in which ticians who do not hold to principles are any of these liberties protected therein can a person’s property can be seized without prepared to give the public what they want be taken away simply because the major- due process because law enforcement sim- — or at least what the politician thinks ity does not favor this or that right. ply “believes” the person is a criminal, even the public wants. An APM Research Lab/ Should free speech be up to a vote? What if he is never charged with any criminal Guns & America/Call to Mind Survey, about religious liberty? Should we just take action. These laws were intended to fight conducted in July, found that 41 percent a vote and decide that every person has to big drug kingpins and the like. Since then, of those surveyed strongly support allow- attend a certain religious institution, rather Meese has publicly expressed his deep re- ing police to confiscate privately owned than the one they wish to attend? If the ma- gret for his role in pushing through these firearms, on their own, while 44.6 percent jority desired to reinstitute slavery, should laws. Such laws have been used to seize would strongly support allowing a judge the 13th Amendment have to give way? property of thousands of people across the to issue a court order to take away a per- Even Alan Dershowitz, a retired liberal country, most of whom are never charged son’s guns, if a family member is able to law professor, expressed concern about with a crime. In many cases, their prop- persuade a judge to issue such an order. where this is all headed. “How many law- erty is never returned. It has been claimed Only 14.4 percent strongly oppose al- abiding people are we prepared to deprive that government takes more in a year from lowing the police to take a citizen’s guns, Americans than thieves steal. Regardless on their own volition, while only a mere of the accuracy of that statement, it is defi- 12.6 percent oppose it being done with a nitely true that under civil asset forfeiture court order, following the desires of a fam- Don’t penalize the law-abiding: Dick Gessell, pictured here, is one of millions of American the innocent get caught up with the guilty, ily member. gun owners who have never hurt anyone. In which is simply un-American. Fortunately, as Harry Wilson, director Gessell’s state of Wyoming, a gun owner can Despite Meese’s present position, his of the Institute for Policy and Opinion Re- carry concealed weapons without a permit. past support for these laws is a large rea- search at Roanoke College, said, “We do Even as most gun owners safely exercise their rights, criminals ignore the gun-control laws already on the books. AP Images

Call 1-800-727-TRUE to subscribe today! 13 GUN CONTROL of guns to prevent even one mass shoot- Before crafting the Second Amendment, thinking: “Proponents of ing? Can the government deprive a citizen Madison had already written on the impor- gun control (and make no of a constitutional right based on a predic- tance of citizens possessing weapons to mistake, red flag laws are tion? If the government can take your guns preserve liberty. In The Federalist, No. 46, gun control) want you to based on a prediction today, what will stop written before the Constitution was ratified think, ‘I’m not like them. it from taking your liberty based on a pre- and before the Second Amendment was ad- This isn’t about me.’ But diction tomorrow?” opted, Madison said that Americans have you are like them, and it Many Americans are largely uncon- “the advantage of being armed,” noting is about you. It’s about cerned about the right to keep and bear that the rulers of other nations “are afraid everyone.” After all, if arms, but before they support more laws to trust the people with arms.” It is here government can deny the to restrict that right for citizens who have that Madison succinctly explains why indi- liberties of anyone without never used a gun to commit any crime, vidual citizens have a natural right to keep due process of law, then much less mass murder, they should un- and bear arms — as a last line of defense the rights of all of us are derstand why the Second Amendment is against tyrannical government. It is not to endangered. Protections part of the Bill of Rights. It should be un- protect the right of citizens to simply hunt, against the abuse of our derstood that James Madison, the principal or to engage in sport shooting. freedoms by government author of the Bill of Rights, initially did Many Americans are willing to surren- are intended not to pro- not want a Bill of Rights in the U.S. Con- der this right because they are convinced tect the guilty (who can be stitution, arguing that some people might that these laws would never be used against found guilty in a court of later claim that the rights contained therein them. But state Representative Tony Lo- law) but the innocent. would be the only rights Americans had. vasco (R-Mo.) recently challenged this Not only is the Second Amendment under assault with red flag laws, so are several other rights one presumes that Even Alan Dershowitz, a retired liberal law professor, Americans treasure. Lovasco explained that every American citizen, even one expressed concern about where this is all headed. “How who owns no guns at all, stands to lose many law-abiding people are we prepared to deprive of rights in this effort. “The right to face your accuser. The right to due process. guns to prevent even one mass shooting?” The right to protection against unreason- able searches and seizures. Every one one of these rights is explicitly violated under red flag laws.” Added Lovasco:

James Madison was the author of the Such laws often allow a judge to Second Amendment, but in The Federalist issue an order of confiscation “ex Papers, written before the enactment of parte,” meaning without you [being] the Second Amendment, Madison made it present. Because it’s a civil process, very clear that Americans had a natural right to keep and bear arms. He also you aren’t entitled to a public defend- explained that the purpose of the right was er, or even afforded the opportunity as a check on the possibility of tyranny by to defend yourself. government officials. Once a protective order is issued, law enforcement [officers] are dis- patched to search your property and seize your weapons — without criminal charges ever being filed, or even probable cause that an actual crime has been committed. To make matters worse, red flag hearings can be adjudicated based on uncorroborated claims made by a single individual. Perhaps it’s an angry spouse, jealous co-worker, or disgruntled neighbor. All it takes is for someone to make a convincing argument that you are a danger to

mashuk/DigitalVisionVectors yourself or others, and your property

14 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 sity, wrote in The Conversation, “Every time the country is shaken by a tragic mass shooting and the loss of innocent lives, the same debates are repeated.” Javanbakht said it is predictable that we will be “discussing warning signs of mental illness, and its role in the actions of the murderer.” This suggestion — that those who commit such shootings are mentally ill — rais- es some practical questions, Javanbakht wrote, such as, “Who will decide whether a patient with mental illness should not have access to firearms — a psychiatrist, an independent forensic psychiatrist, a committee of psychiatrists or a judge? How about those who do not seek psychiatric evaluation and treatment?” Other questions that Javanbakht raised

monkeybusinessimages/iStock/GettyImagesPlus included, “Should a psychiatric examina- Fill out a form, lose your guns: The federal government encourages physicians to have their tion be integrated into the background patients fill out forms supposedly to intervene and help those patients with emotional problems. It check process for each person who wants is likely that these government-inspired forms will be used to take away the guns of millions of law- to purchase a gun? As severe mental ill- abiding American citizens — and those of family members who happen to live in the same house. ness can start at any point in life, will gun owners need periodic psychiatric assessment (like a vision exam for renewing a driver’s license)?” is taken from you and you lose the certainly use this false narrative (that the It should also be noted that it was a right to defend yourself. mentally ill are more likely than the gen- common practice in the old Soviet Union eral population to commit acts of mass under Joseph Stalin to use the assessment Representative Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) violence) to soften the public’s resistance that a person who was opposed to com- recently joined with John Lott, president to mass confiscation of firearms — all in munism was “mentally ill,” and to send of the Crime Prevention Research Center, the name of public safety. the person off to a mental health “hospi- to challenge the red flag law enacted in Based on this faulty premise (that mental” for “treatment.” Colorado. They noted that, under Colora- tally ill people are more likely than oth- Besides that, as Javanbakht noted, do’s law, “anyone at all can make a phone ers to go on shooting rampages), the U.S. “There are more than 200 diagnoses listed call to the police. They don’t even have to Preventative Services Task Force released in the most recent version of Diagnostic be living in the state. There is no hearing. two recommendations in 2016 that pri- Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, All the judge has before him is the state- mary care physicians screen all persons which is released by the American Psy- ment of concern.” 12 years of age and older for depression. chiatric Association. This includes condi- Many Americans have seen these forms in tions such as anxiety disorders like spi- Red Flag Laws and the Mentally Ill a doctor’s office — asking questions about der phobia, social phobia, social anxiety Many make assumptions about red flag their emotional and mental health. disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, laws, such as the proposition that all Writing for the National Alliance on hair-picking, pathological gambling,” and mass shootings are the work of mentally Mental Illness, Elena Schatell said that several others. ill people, and that mentally ill individu- this is only a suggestion — so far. “De- With this in mind, Javanbakht asks, als are more likely to commit acts of vio- pression screenings are typically short ten- “Now, when one suggests that gun access lence than the average person. Then, once question surveys that can be incorporated should be restricted for people with mental that underlying assumption is accepted, into wellness programs,” Schatell wrote. illness, do they mean all of these condi- the next step is to target the mentally ill No doubt these forms can also be used tions?” when deciding whose Second Amendment to include more individuals in the pool of What many would consider the most rights should be forfeited. citizens who will lose their right to keep serious mental health disorder — schizo- Such assurances — that only the men- and bear arms — and when this fails to phrenia, which affects about one percent tally ill would be affected by red flag laws, stop acts of mass violence with firearms, of the U.S. population, is actually not and that the mentally ill are more likely to the enemies of the right to keep and bear commonly associated with people who are commit acts of violence — are not borne arms can agitate to expand that pool. at risk of harming others, or even at a risk out by the facts. But anti-gun-rights ad- As Arash Javanbakht, assistant profes- to act violently. “Despite the widespread vocates within the federal government sor of psychiatry at Wayne State Univer- belief that a person with a serious mental www.TheNewAmerican.com 15 GUN CONTROL

that he “was into planning mass murder,” but in the end the police failed to produce any actual Facebook posts to that effect. Make no mistake — Wagshol is hardly a model citizen. But his rights — and the rights of his father — were clearly violated. And if Congress were to enact a national red flag law, what else could be considered grounds for taking away a person’s right to keep and bear arms? Hillary Clinton considers half of those who voted for Donald Trump “a basketful of deplorables.” She is not alone in this assessment. More than one leftist commentator has asserted all those who support Trump are racist. Would that be enough to strip them of their Second Amendment-guaranteed rights?

How Red Flag Laws Can Affect You

AP Images As the Mises Institute explained, quoting Making a list: “Background checks” to buy guns are sold to the public as a way to keep firearms Gunpowder Magazine, “Anti-gun family out of the hands of “dangerous” individuals. The truth is that most guns used in crimes are not members, friends, or acquaintances can bought legally, but are usually obtained by theft. Background checks provide to the government levy dubious accusations to justify the the names of millions of American gun owners. While such transactions are not supposed to be recorded, does anyone really believe that? confiscation of law-abiding gun owners’ guns. They can take these accusations to a court of law, even if the individual in question was not charged or convicted of a crime. In turn, due process rights are illness like bipolar disorder or schizophre- tweets, posting bigoted remarks on so- turned upside down, as gun owners are nia can be dangerous,” Javanbakht notes, cial media. While many would find this presumed to be guilty and must then prove “only three to four percent of all violent disgusting, it is not yet a criminal act. their innocence.” crimes committed in a given year in the As Guns in the News noted, “The First Sadly, even if red flag laws were fully U.S. are committed by people who have Amendment protects his right to voice his implemented nationwide, along with more been diagnosed with a commonly cited hate in the same way [that some argue] it extensive background checks, mass shoot- mental illness of schizophrenia, bipolar protects flag burning. No one has to like it, ings would still occur. As President Warren disorder or depression.” (It’s noteworthy but it’s not a criminal act.” Harding opined in 1920, “All human ills are that by 2014, one in eight Americans over Someone told the authorities that not curable by legislation.” Despite this fact, age 12 reported recent use of an antide- Wagshol had shared a scary meme on there will be calls for ever-stricter gun con- pressant, according to the CDC.) Facebook, and the FBI received another tip trol laws and the expansion of red flag laws Understandably, Javanbakht expressed that Wagshol had tried to buy high capacity to more people, probably millions of peo- concern that “when ‘mental illness’ is so magazines from out of state. This led police ple. Anti-gun zealots will never be satisfied vaguely addressed in gun debates, those to confiscate all the weapons in the house until all firearms are completely outlawed. with a mental illness without an increased where 22-year-old Wagshol lived — all of Even then firearms will continue to risk of violence or impairment in judg- which were legally owned and registered to exist, in the hands of the government and ment (such as anxiety or phobia) may his father. Investigators seized a .40-caliber in the hands of criminals. The only per- avoid seeking treatment.” handgun and a .22-caliber rifle, along with sons who will be stripped of their Second ammunition; a camouflage shirt, pants, and Amendment rights will be those least like- The Threat of Red Flag Laws belt; a camouflage bag; and body armor ly to commit mass shootings. n to the Rights of Family Members with a titanium plate. The recent Reason.TV episode involving They also took Lynette Phillips and her husband illus- some flashlights. trates vividly Javanbakht’s concern. According to the EXTRA COPIES AVAILABLE Some could pass the Phillips’ story off Hartford Courant, ➧ Additional copies of this issue of The as, “Well, that is California,” but the truth Norwalk police Lt. New American are available at quantity- is that such abuses are common through- Terry Blake said discount prices. To place your order, visit out the country. In Connecticut, Brandon Wagshol had post- www.shopjbs.org or see the card between Wagshol was known to write some racist ed on Facebook pages 34-35.

16 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 POLITICS SQUADThe

Four freshman representatives in Congress, led by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, are liberal to the point of being pro- communist and dangerous.

by Trevor Loudon

enator Lindsey Graham (R- S.C.) called them a “bunch of S communists.” Donald Trump, Jr. called them the “HAMAS wing of Congress.” The Left claims that President Trump told the group “to go back to where they came from” (he didn’t). Most people know them as “The Squad.” Whatever you think of them, there is no doubt the freshmen congressmembers Alexandria AP Images Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib Put upon: “The Squad” is made up of four women of color who can find sexism or racism in (D-Mich.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), and anything, even in conversations about the environment. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) have gained huge fame/notoriety for themselves and their causes in a short space of time. The mainstream media idolizes Ocasio- are the tip of a spear that seeks to bring this But who are “The Squad”? Where did Cortez and company and is seldom willing country to its knees. they come from? What ideas drive and to say anything negative about the most bind them? What do they aim to achieve? obviously radical congressmembers since Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez The name “The Squad” was coined pro-communist Vito Marcantonio repre- The most famous Squad member is Al- by Ocasio-Cortez and derives from East sented East Harlem in the 1940s. exandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC, as she Coast “hip-hop” culture. It reportedly de- The Squad’s obvious socialist lean- is usually known, actually has the least scribes “a self-chosen group of people that ings are acknowledged, but are certainly political experience of all of her radical you want to identify with.” not treated by most commentators as any clique. While working as a bartender, The average age of “The Squad” is 38 real threat to our freedoms. Yet the “Four AOC became a candidate in a “casting” (compared to 57 for Congress as a whole), Horsewomen of the Apocalypse,” as Pres- process involving hundreds of potential they are all “women of color,” and they are ident Trump has dubbed them, all have ties candidates conducted by Justice Demo- all far left. They are perfectly suited to ap- to some of America’s most dangerous en- crats, an organization closely affiliated peal to a large chunk of today’s millennials. emies — both foreign and domestic. They with the country’s largest Marxist orga-

Call 1-800-727-TRUE to subscribe today! 17 POLITICS AP Images

Willing to spend your money: The Squad supports the Green New Deal, which would cost untold trillions of The average age of “The Squad” is 38 (compared to 57 dollars, yet not fix the environment. for Congress as a whole), they are all “women of color,” and they are all far left. cratic districts in the country, was a fore- gone conclusion. In Congress AOC serves on the Com- nization, Democratic Socialists of Amer- A DSA endorsement is not just a mittee on Oversight and Government ica (DSA). rubber stamp. We’re not just saying Reform and the Subcommittee on Civil On June 26, 2018, Alexandria Ocasio- you should vote for these people…. Rights and Civil Liberties. She has used Cortez shocked the Democratic Party When DSA endorses you, it’s like, the latter position to advocate for the re- (and the nation) by comfortably winning yeah, we’re going to knock 13,000 lease from prison of former Weather Un- her bid in the Democratic primary for the doors.… We’re going to mobilize. derground terrorist Judith Clark. In 1981, 14th U.S. Congressional District in New Clark was the getaway driver in the ter- York. AOC had taken down long-standing DSA also helped AOC’s campaign rorist-related robbery of a Brink’s armored incumbent Joe Crowley, often seen as a through the Detroit-based media compa- van in Nanuet, New York. This crime led likely successor to Speaker of the House ny “Means of Production.” The company, to the deaths of two Nyack, New York, po- Nancy Pelosi. owned by three DSA comrades, made a lice officers and a security guard. AOC’s AOC formally joined DSA during her promotional video for Ocasio-Cortez support of Clark signals that she appar- primary run, and this immediately gave that went “completely viral,” earning ently believes that violence in the name of her access to a seasoned team of door- over 300,000 views in one day alone. socialism is warranted. knockers, phone-bankers, and organizers. According to Naomi Burton, one of the The actions of AOC’s cohort — the DSA has over 5,000 members in New company’s co-founders, they supported DSA — show it leans the same way. De- York, so it was not hard to mobilize com- AOC because of “her unapologetic so- spite often saying that it models its poli- rades to blitz the 14th District for their cialist platform and articulation of work- cies on Sweden and Norway, DSA is in candidate. ing peoples’ needs.” fact a militant communist organization. DSA comrade Aaron Taube, who co- In the end AOC defeated Crowley with At its recent national convention, DSA ordinated the DSA’s field operation for a little more than 15,000 votes in a dis- entertained several international guests. Ocasio-Cortez, said the group’s volunteers trict with a total population of more than None of them were Northern European so- went to work for her “the day after she re- 700,000. The ensuing general election cial democrats; almost all were bona fide ceived its endorsement in April.” battle against valiant Republican Anthony communists. They included leaders of the Wrote comrade Taube: Pappas, in one of the most heavily Demo- Austrian Communist Party and the former

18 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 East German Communist Party, two Bra- Rashida Tlaib a longtime affiliate of the Council on Is- zilian Marxists, a leader of a Communist Rashida Tlaib won Michigan’s Seventh Dis- lamic Relations (CAIR). Tlaib regularly Party of the Philippines spinoff, a repre- trict, a seat formerly held by longtime pro- attends CAIR functions and invited CAIR sentative from a Sudanese Communist communist Representative John Conyers. president Nihad Awad as a guest to her in- Party front organization, and a former aide Like AOC, Michigan’s Rashida Tlaib auguration. CAIR cooperates closely with to Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro. formally joined DSA during her primary several American communist parties and The DSA comrades also passed a resolu- campaign. Unlike her famous colleague, is closely connected to the Middle East- tion in support of communist Cuba and sev- however, Tlaib has been a far-left activist ern terrorist organization HAMAS. Before eral favoring Venezuela’s Marxist regime. for many years. HAMAS was officially named a terrorist AOC is equally on the left of the foreign- From at least 2008 to 2011, Tlaib organization by the U.S. State Depart- policy spectrum. In January she hosted a served on the board of directors for the ment, Nihad Awad openly supported the meeting in her Washington, D.C., office Maurice & Jane Sugar Law Center in De- group. Before that, Awad was a leader of with Christine Ahn, the most prominent troit and was actively involved with the the General Union of Palestinian Students pro-North Korean activist in the country. organization even throughout her primary — a support network for the Soviet-found- A month later AOC joined with nearly 20 campaign. Named after famous Detroit ed terrorist group Palestine Liberation other far-left Democrats to sponsor a House lawyer and Communist Party USA sup- Organization and an affiliate of the still- resolution to officially end the Korean War porter Maurice Sugar, the center is close- existing Soviet front World Federation of (which is in a longstanding truce). Though ly affiliated with the communist-initiated Democratic Youth. unsuccessful, the resolution was in line National Lawyers Guild (NLG) and is a Tlaib is all on board with DSA pro- with North Korea’s long-held policy to of- hub of far-left legal activism. grams such as Medicare for All and the ficially end the war, a step to ending sanc- Tlaib served on the Sugar Center board Green New Deal. Currently she is working tions of the communist dictatorship. alongside two supporters of the Commu- with Detroit DSA to campaign for a Great AOC is also the public face of the nist Party USA spin-off Committees of Lakes Authority, a concept modelled on Green New Deal (GND) — a DSA/Jus- Correspondence: Bill Goodman and Julie the Tennessee Valley Authority of Presi- tice Democrats proposal that would end Hurwitz, both also NLG activists. Two dent Roosevelt’s 1930s “New Deal.” The U.S. fossil-fuel use by 2030. The GND other board colleagues — Jeanne Mirer Detroit plan is basically a version of the would also unionize virtually every and Marjorie Cohn — are also active in Green New Deal to be centered in the worker in the country, destroy the mili- the NLG and have been leaders of the still- Midwest, with massive public investment, tary budget, and socialize virtually every existing Soviet front International Associ- “Green Jobs,” and endless new govern- aspect of the economy. Stalin would have ation of Democratic Lawyers. ment “make work” programs. balked at such a radical plan, but AOC As an American-born Muslim of Pales- thinks it’s just dandy. tinian extraction, Rashida Tlaib has been Ilhan Omar Ilhan Omar represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District, a seat previously held by longtime Communist Party USA and DSA associate Keith Ellison. As a Somali-born Muslim, Omar once served as a CAIR Minnesota board member and also has a strong connection to the equally leftist Muslim American Society. In recent years Omar has cultivated strong ties to Turkey, which has effectively replaced Saudi Arabia as the leader of the Sunni Muslim world. On September 24, 2018, Ilhan Omar, then a Minnesota state representative, at- tended meetings at both at the Turkish Con- sulate and Turkish residences in Chicago. A week earlier, state representative Omar had flown to New York City to hold a closed-door meeting with the president of Turkey, Recep Erdoğan, who was in town for the 72nd UN General Assembly.

AP Images According to Conservative Review: Being racist is no problem — for them: Both Ilhan Omar (right) and Rashida Tlaib are blatantly anti-Israel. Insofar as their politics go, they are also very anti-American, wanting to change the Omar said that she met with Erdogan country at its very core. for about an hour and that the two www.TheNewAmerican.com 19 POLITICS

Downright socialist attitudes: Ayanna Pressley, like the other members of The Squad, got help from the Democratic Socialists of America in her run for office. In exchange, The Squad members are founts of socialist rhetoric.

ment would be mostly about image, messaging, and narrative. If TCDSA endorsed Omar, and Omar won a seat in congress, I would feel absolutely gross if some leftist rag wrote an article like “Democratic Socialists of America Just Elected A Somali Refugee To Congress. Check- mate, Pelosi.”

In other words Twin Cities DSA supports Ilhan Omar, but she was going to win anyway, so there was no point in publicly AP Images endorsing her, especially when it might embarrass the Democratic Party.

Ayanna Pressley Ayanna Pressley, a former Boston city discussed … investment and trade be- While several DSA-controlled or in- councilor, represents Massachusetts’ 7th tween Turkey and Somalia. The meet- fluenced groups such as Our Revolution, Congressional District. ing ended with Erdogan asking Omar National Nurses United, Southside Pride, Like all her Squad colleagues, Pressley to voice her support for Turkey…. and Justice Democrats endorsed Omar in has been close to DSA for some years. As Omar not only met with Erdogan, but 2018, Congressional Twin Cities DSA de- far back as 2009, DSA debated whether to also with the Turkish prime minister clined to do so — but not for the reasons endorse Pressley in her first City Council and other senior Turkish officials. you might think. race. Whether they actually did or not is Nicolas Ray, co-chair of Twin Cities unclear. In January of the same year, Omar at- DSA, wrote an article in Medium (an on- Several DSA comrades volunteered for tended a “human rights” conference in Is- line publishing platform) entitled “Should Pressley’s 2018 primary, where she defeat- tanbul, Turkey. The International Human TCDSA Endorse Ilhan Omar?” ed long-term incumbent Mike Capuano, Rights Advocacy Conference brought who, ironically, was once pretty tight with together activists “in order to make the I really like Ilhan Omar. I will abso- Boston DSA himself. struggles that are going on in different lutely be voting for her at the ballot Since being elected, Representative countries visible and to open space for box. I will probably even knock some Pressley has avidly supported Medicare sharing experiences.” doors and make some phone calls for for All, the Green New Deal, and other Omar appeared on a panel entitled her campaign. I do not think Twin DSA policy proposals. “What can a person change?” Also on Cities DSA should endorse her. Even more concerning though is Press- the panel was Sherin Khankan, a feminist Members of Twin Cities DSA and ley’s long relationship with the Maoist- imam who opened the first female mosque the Omar campaign reached out to leaning Freedom Road Socialist Organ in Denmark. In an interview following the me shortly after AOC’s victory in ization (FRSO) and its allies and front event, Khankan said her goal is fighting New York seeking a DSA endorse- groups: the Boston Chinese Progressive “Islamophobia” and challenging “patriar- ment. Her campaign assured me that Association, City Life/Vida Urbana, and chal structures.” they were interested in an honest, Right to the City Boston. Like her colleague Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan two-way relationship. Pressley has worked closely with Right Omar is also very comfortable in the so- The Omar campaign and I were to the City — an “anti-gentrification” cialist world. Though not a confirmed DSA honest with each other that in no group — since at least 2013. While on member, she has been extremely close to way was DSA providing the crucial the Boston City Council, Pressley worked the group for some years. She echoes most number of votes that the campaign closely with FRSO-led “housing advo- of the DSA talking points: Medicare for needed to get over the top. That cacy” group City Life/Vida Urbana to get All, Green New Deal, etc. means, then, that an Omar endorse- a major anti-landlord measure, the “Jim

20 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 Brooks Community Stabilization Act,” According to CPPA chair Tom Louie: No End in Sight passed by the Boston City Council. The Squad is no aberration. They are the Pressley has worked closely with the As City Councilor, Ayanna Press- result of a deliberate and systematic plan Chinese Progressive Association (CPA) ley has been a champion of issues by the Democratic Socialists of Ameri- for years. Like its identically named San affecting communities of color, im- ca and their Communist Party USA and Francisco counterpart, CPA is largely led migrants, working families, women, Freedom Road Socialist Organization by former Maoist radicals from the League and those who are marginalized… comrades to take complete control of the of Revolutionary Struggle — a feeder Ayanna Pressley is not afraid of majority wing of the Democratic Party. group for the current FRSO. Both the challenging the status quo, pushing No doubt their Chinese, Russian, Cuban, San Francisco and Boston CPAs worked for a bold progressive agenda for Venezuelan, and Iranian allies are taking closely with Chinese government offi- equity, social and economic justice. a keen interest in their progress. cials, from the Chinese Consulates in San In the last two years, these American Francisco and New York, respectively. “I am humbled to have earned the support Marxists have elected more than 100 pub- CPA leaders regularly attend Chinese of CPPA,” replied Pressley. “CPPA and lic officials across the country and placed government-sponsored events and work to their members have been on the frontlines several hundred more comrades into Dem- promote Beijing’s interests in Boston and of many of the most important movements ocratic committees in virtually every state. the Massachusetts Legislature. The orga- and policy decisions since their founding Already more than 20 Marxists are nization is effectively an unofficial agent in 2011, and I’m proud to have partnered running for the U.S. Senate and House of the Chinese communist regime. with them throughout my time on the Bos- in 2020. Hundreds more are running for Ayanna Pressley has enjoyed a close ton City Council.” lower-level races across the country. working relationship with CPA leader Su- In March 2019, CPA showed its grati- This country’s security services should zanne Lee since at least 2009. She regu- tude for services rendered by presenting start going after the real subversives now larly attends its events and banquets. their annual Pioneer for Justice Award to running rampant in the Democratic Party. In August 2018, Chinese Progressive Po- Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley. And we should all play a role in defeat- litical Action (CPPA), the political wing of Representative Pressley is one degree of ing these anti-American representatives, Boston’s Chinese Progressive Association, separation from America’s most danger- so “The Squad” doesn’t become “The endorsed Ayanna Pressley for Congress. ous international adversary: China. Squadron.” n Your family. Your community. Your country.

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CALIFORNIA’S VACCINATION MANDATE California’s new vaccination mandate takes from parents the ability to safeguard their children from the increasingly evident consequences of vaccinations.

by Susan C. McGrath

sincerely hope Bonnie and Finn have received their mea- “I sles vaccinations,” said a dear friend to me recently. We had been laugh- ing over the exploits of my two grandchil- dren, ages four and two, when she abruptly expressed her concern. “Why do you ask?” I queried. “Because of the dangerous outbreak of measles I have heard about on the news. It’s frightening.” I quickly allayed my friend’s fears of a measles epidemic. During the first seven months of this year, 1,164 cases of measles have been reported in the United States. With a total population approach- ing 330 million, the outbreak is neither dangerous nor frightening. In California to date, with a population of 40 million, 62 cases of measles have been reported, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Of these cases, 14 were pediatric (under 18 years of age) and 48 were adult. Although the vaccination status is not given for all 62 cases, at least 14 of the adults had been vaccinated for measles. The CDPH does not identify whether or not any of the individuals were foreign visitors to the United States. None of these cases have resulted in death. In

Susan C. McGrath is the author of The Long Sadness (2014) and To the Waters and the Wild (2019), and has lived in California all her life. AP Images www.TheNewAmerican.com 23 HEALTHCARE

When I was growing up in the 1950s and early ’60s, measles was just another childhood illness we all got. I remember being in bed for several days with a fever and rash.

past 100 years, calling clean water “one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century.” Of concern, then, is the CDC’s assertion that the introduction of the measles vaccine in 1963 is responsible for the dramatic decrease in measles deaths. Since the measles mortality rate had already declined by 98 percent by 1963, it seems only logical to give primary credit to clean water, proper sanitation, and improved nutrition and hygiene, yet the CDC makes no reference to these factors. Of far greater concern is the CDC’s inscrutable misrepresentation of the measles mortality rate. On the CDC website page entitled “Top 4 Things Parents Need to Know About Measles,” parents are told that “1 to 3 out of 1,000 people with measles will die, even with the best

AP Images care.” The CDC is telling parents that the It’s really your business: As parents, you notice things about your children that others don’t, mortality rate from measles is 100 to 300 especially what they are sensitive to. Yet Big Brother says it knows what is best for your children. per 100,000 people. In 1900, it was 10 per 100,000 people who contracted measles. By the time the vaccine was available, the mortality rate was 0.3 per 100,000. How then, in 2019, can the mortality rate in the fact, there have been only two reported and surface droplets remain active and United States have increased so dramati- deaths in the United States attributed to contagious for about two hours. Prior to cally? Furthermore, how can the CDC de- measles since 2003, the last being in 2015. the introduction of the vaccine in 1963, rive such a mortality rate when there have When I was growing up in the 1950s approximately 90 percent of children had been only two reported measles deaths in and early ’60s, measles was just another contracted measles by the age of 15, thus the past 16 years? One must ask why the childhood illness we all got. I remember affording them lifelong immunity. By the CDC would knowingly mislead parents. It being in bed for several days with a fever time my siblings and I contracted measles is unfathomable. and rash. My mother kept the curtains in the late 1950s, the mortality rate for the From January 4 through April 2, 2015, drawn to protect me from the possibility disease had dropped from 10 per 100,000 159 cases of measles were reported in the of photophobia (sensitivity to light). As I population at the turn of the century to United States. Of these cases, 111 were recall, my older brother and sisters con- 0.3 per 100,000 population. Clean water linked to Disneyland visits in California tracted measles before I did and were al- systems, proper sanitation (sewage and from December 17, 2015 to the 20th. It is ready feeling better by the time I showed solid waste disposal), and improved hy- believed an infected foreign traveler visit- the first symptoms. We all recovered with giene and nutrition were credited for the ing the theme park was the source of this rest, fluids, and calamine lotion to relieve dramatic 98-percent decline in mortality outbreak. Of the nationwide cases, approx- the itching. The same was true for all the rates, not vaccinations. Other infectious imately 82 percent of the individuals had other kids in my neighborhood. There was diseases such as TB, typhoid fever, in- not been vaccinated for a variety of rea- none of the hysteria that seems to accom- fluenza, scarlet fever, yellow fever, and sons, including religious and philosophi- pany measles outbreaks today. malaria saw similar declines in mortality cal beliefs, medical contraindications, and Measles is a contagious viral disease during the first half of the 20th century. age restrictions. That leaves vaccinated that can be contracted by breathing in in- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) individuals making up 18 percent of the fected droplets or touching an infected ob- credited public drinking water disinfection measles cases. The CNN article stating ject and then rubbing your mouth, nose, or and treatment for the dramatic decline of these vaccinated to unvaccinated per- eyes. It is believed that both the airborne typhoid fever in American cities over the centage statistics went on to say that the

24 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 measles vaccine is 99 percent effective. nations was mentioned, and those parents toxins injected into their children under Apparently not in this outbreak. There choosing not to vaccinate their children the CDC schedule. were no deaths among the vaccinated or were characterized as uneducated, hysteri- Only medical exemptions remained unvaccinated cases. The total number of cal, and a threat to the health of all. Yet, after SB 277, and parents with personal, measles cases for 2015 was 188. according to a survey in Pediatrics, most philosophical, and religious opposition The print and visual media’s response to unvaccinated children in the United States to vaccines were left with the option of the Disneyland outbreak was hyperbolic, have a college-educated mother who is at homeschooling or leaving California. warning of a health crisis that did not exist. least 30 years old and a household annual Meanwhile, Senator Pan, whose Twitter Using such language as “scary,” “alarm- income of at least $75,000. and social-media pages read like those of ing,” and “devastating,” the media warned In the midst of the media fervor over a big-pharma lobbyist, sanctimoniously of the “skyrocketing” number of measles the Disneyland measles outbreak, Califor- stated, “It is our duty and responsibility cases in recent years. The blame for the nia State Senator Richard Pan introduced to protect all children who attend schools increase was laid exclusively at the feet of and Governor Jerry Brown signed into law in California.” the growing number of parents who have Senate Bill 277, which eliminated person- Now, four years later, Senator Pan is adopted a modified vaccination schedule al and religious belief exemptions to the back, this time pushing Senate Bill 276 or have chosen to forgo vaccinations al- CDC vaccination requirements upon entry that would prohibit physician-issued together. Citing a 2014 AP-GfK survey to public and private elementary and sec- medical exemptions, despite earlier finding that only 53 percent of Americans ondary schools. In effect, California law promises he would never go after them. were confident vaccines were safe and ef- usurped parents’ rights regarding the health Instead, the authority to issue these ex- fective, a Washington Post article stated and well-being of their children. Parents emptions will rest with the California that those 47 percent who were not con- who believe abortion is a mortal sin are Department of Public Health. Physicians fident are similar to the “proportion who faced with the prospect of their children will be required to complete a standard- believe that houses can be haunted by being injected with vaccines using aborted ized exemption form and certify that it is ghosts.” Almost without exception, the fetal cells if they are to attend school. Other “true, accurate, and complete,” and then media parroted the CDC mantra that vac- parents, having researched the risk of vac- submit it to the CDPH. SB 276 would cines are safe and effective, and that the cines versus their benefits, are denied the also limit valid medical exemptions to measles vaccine is solely responsible for right to choose a more reasoned approach, the dramatic decline in measles mortality. either delaying vaccines or modifying the None of the risks associated with vacci- schedule to lessen the harmful effect of Vaccination epidemic? In the year that SB 277 was signed into law, autism rates for California kindergartners increased by 17 percent. AP Images

Call 1-800-727-TRUE to subscribe today! 25 HEALTHCARE only a handful of contraindications as his or her parents may decline a medical ing from a man whose political career has specified by the CDC. procedure? And what parents, having wit- been and continues to be heavily funded by The list of “appropriate” versus “incor- nessed their child suffer a severe vaccine the pharmaceutical industry. This funding rectly perceived” contraindications reads injury, would ever subject their younger looks suspiciously like a reward for intro- like something from an alternate-reality children to what amounts to vaccine rou- ducing Senate Bills 277 and 276. horror film. For example, your child will lette? SB 276 has now been signed into Section 1 of SB 276 states that “the leg- be exempt from a subsequent dose of vac- law by Governor Gavin Newsom, and that islature finds and declares” that “but for cine if he or she suffers a “severe allergic is what parents will face. The health and a small number of individuals, immuniza- reaction (e.g., anaphylaxis)” or if “en- well-being of our children will be in the tions are safe and effective.” It is unclear cephalopathy (e.g., coma, decreased level hands of the all-powerful state of Califor- why the drafters of this bill included such of consciousness, prolonged seizures)” nia and its appointed officials. a declaration. It may have been included to results “within 7 days of administration.” Perhaps not surprisingly, Section 1 of SB reassure legislators who were voting away However, if from that same vaccine, your 276 gratuitously provides the CDC measles parental rights that they were doing so for child suffers “collapse or shock-like state case totals for 2019, both nationwide and the good of all, insuring “community im- (i.e., hypotonic hyporesponsive episode) in California, apparently as sound justifi- munity.” More likely, however, the decla- within 48 hours of a previous dose” or cation for what can only be described as a ration was included to repudiate a growing suffers a “seizure ≤ 3 days after receiving draconian law. In introducing the bill, Sena- number of parents who, after years in the a previous dose,” he or she is not exempt tor Pan also assailed the rise in medical ex- trenches, believe vaccines are not safe and from subsequent vaccinations. Neither emptions since the passage of SB 277, and that — not a few, but many — children would your child be exempt from vacci- stressed the need to close that “loophole.” in this country are paying a dear price for nation if an older sibling suffered a severe Pan said, “It is clear that a small number of putative “community immunity.” adverse event after the vaccine. One has physicians are monetizing their exemption- Nearly every vaccine injected into our to ask: What type of society demands that granting authority and profiting from the children today contains either aluminum, a child first suffer a severe injury before sale of medical exemptions.” This is com- aborted fetal cells, or both. Aluminum is an environmentally abundant metal, found in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. It is also a neurotoxin — inhibiting many vital biological functions — and has been linked to neurodegenera- tive and autoimmune diseases. In Septem- ber 2008, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, issued a public health statement on the toxicology profile for aluminum. The preamble states, “This information is important because this substance may harm you. The effects of exposure to any hazardous substance de- pends on the dose, the duration, how you are exposed, personal traits and habits, and whether other chemicals are present.” Under the current CDC vaccination schedule, on day one of life an infant receives 17 times more aluminum than would be allowed if doses were adjusted per body weight. Minimum Risk Level (MRL) safety guidelines continue to be exceeded for at

AP Images least the first two years of life. Furthermore, Infused with toxins: On the first day of life, an infant receives 17 times more aluminum than safety inferences were made based on oral would be allowed if doses were adjusted per body weight according to FDA recommendations. consumption and not injection. When we

The CDC is telling parents that the mortality rate from measles is 100 to 300 per 100,000 people. In 1900, it was 10 per 100,000 people who contracted measles. By the time the vaccine was available, the mortality rate was 0.3 per 100,000.

26 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 eat foods with aluminum, we absorb 0.2 to mune system to attack his/her own body. more and more were added to the CDC vac- 1.5 percent. With normal functioning kid- In January 1979, the FDA (Federal Drug cination schedule. Typically, before a drug neys, it will be excreted. When aluminum Administration) approved the manufactur- receives approval for use in the United is injected as a vaccine component into ing switch for the rubella virus from an States, a rigorous and thorough three-phase our children, 100 percent is absorbed. No animal-based cell line to a human fetal clinical trial process is conducted. All clini- safety testing for aluminum is required for cell line. Since 1980, there have been sus- cal trials include a control group (partici- vaccines. Nor is the MRL of aluminum ad- tained increases in the rates of autism and pants who receive a neutral placebo, e.g., justed appropriately to account for the im- other autoimmune diseases such as aller- saline solution) or other ways to eliminate mature renal function of infants and young gies, asthma, multiple sclerosis, and pedi- research bias. Less than 10 percent of all children. It takes two to three years for atric inflammatory bowel disease. drug candidates will successfully make it full renal maturity, and an infant’s limited Despite the demonstrated risks associat- through all three phases so that the drug de- kidney function is outpaced by the CDC ed with aluminum and aborted fetal DNA, veloper is allowed to submit a New Drug schedule, potentially resulting in aluminum thorough toxicity profiling was never per- Application to the FDA. Even after FDA loading. Instead of the neurotoxin being ex- formed on these vaccine components prior approval, deadly risks associated with a creted, it stays and builds up in bones and to FDA approval. Standard protocol clinical drug may still appear, invariably resulting organs, including the brain, since aluminum trials were not conducted by pharmaceuti- in a recall. can permeate the blood-brain barrier. cal companies on any of the vaccines prior It is impossible, then, to reliably evaluate Early on, aluminum loading afflicted to FDA approval. Why? Nor were clinical the risks associated with vaccines when no dialysis patients, who have little or no trials conducted testing the safety of inject- vaccine clinical trial — nor any subsequent renal function. Exposure to aluminum ing our children with multiple vaccines as study after approval — has studied a large from contaminated water used group of participants over time for dialysis caused severe and with a control group receiving sometimes fatal encephalopa- only a placebo (i.e., no vac- thy, bone disease, and anemia. cine component whatsoever). Although these diseases once Post-approval studies invari- occurred in epidemic propor- ably compare sick vaccinated tions in some dialysis popu- children to healthy vaccinated lations, aluminum toxicity is children or some other varia- now uncommon because the tion of vaccinated to vaccinated neurotoxin was removed from children. The CDC offers these the water used for dialysis. types of post-approval studies Why have we not afforded on its website, thus obfuscating our children the same protec- — whether intentionally or un- tion from aluminum? intentionally — the desperate The MMR II vaccine, need for open dialog regarding among others, is manufac- the health risks of vaccines. tured using aborted human Notwithstanding the lack of fetal cell lines that are contam- thorough and reliable safety inated with human fetal DNA. studies, healthcare profession- Because this fetal DNA cannot als and state and federal health be eliminated during manufac- agencies continue to assert turing purification process, it that vaccines are “safe and ef- can reach high enough levels fective.” On the CDC’s web- after vaccination to trigger au- site under “Vaccine Safety,” it toimmune attacks in children. highlights a tome, Adverse Ef- Even small amounts of fetal fects of Vaccines, Evidence and DNA can trigger powerful Causality. The first sentence of autoimmune responses. Take the preface reads, “Vaccines are labor, for instance. Labor is widely recognized as one of the triggered by fetal DNA from greatest public health successes the baby building up in the of the last century, significantly mother’s bloodstream, result- reducing morbidity and mortal- ing in a massive immune re- ity from a variety of bacteria AP Images jection of the baby. Injecting Human costs: Over $4 billion has been paid out for vaccine injuries and viruses.” Perhaps not sur- a child with human fetal DNA by the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program. Even so, fewer prisingly, in the “Concluding contaminants carries the risk than one percent of adverse reactions are reported, according to the Comments” the committee of triggering the child’s im- Department of Health and Human Services. tasked with compiling and as- www.TheNewAmerican.com 27 HEALTHCARE sessing this evidence said, “This report is tions by the time he enters kindergarten. the age of 15 and is the principal reason for not intended to answer the question ‘Are Parents in California must now adhere to missed school days. The medical commu- vaccines safe.’” After 800-plus pages, the this schedule if they want to send their nity can describe the symptoms associated reader is no closer to the truth. children to public or private schools. with autism, allergies, and asthma, but can Over the last 50 years, the number of If vaccines are safe and allegedly a only speculate as to the causes and have vaccines administered to a child by the panacea for childhood diseases, then why no explanations for their increase over the time he/she is two years old has more have our children become increasingly years. Other serious and sometimes deadly than tripled. The types of vaccines and ill over the past 50 years? The dramatic illnesses have also risen dramatically over their concurrent delivery and frequency rise in vaccinations should have resulted the past 30 years, including childhood have all increased. In a 1967 “well baby” in healthier children. This is not the case. cancers, febrile seizures, atopic dermati- pediatrician visit, a two-month-old infant Between 1975 and 2019, the autism rate tis, pediatric inflammatory bowel disease, received two vaccinations: DTP (diphthe- in the United States soared from one in type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. ria-tetanus-pertussis) and OPV (oral polio 5,000 to one in 59, and in boys to one in Vaccination proponents are quick to as- vaccine). Today, a two-month-old infant 37. Food allergies increased 50 percent sert that correlation is not causation. And receives six vaccinations: HepB (hepatitis from 1997 to 2011. An estimated eight they are correct. Without unbiased, long- B), RV1 (rotavirus), DTaP (diphtheria-tet- percent of children — one in 13 — have term studies using a placebo containing anus-pertussis), Hib (influenzae type b), food allergies. Food allergies are a lead- no vaccine component whatsoever, it is PCV13 (pneumococcal conjugate), and ing cause of anaphylaxis, resulting in ap- impossible to establish a causal relation- IPV (inactivated poliovirus). This is in ad- proximately 200,000 emergency room vis- ship between the precipitous rise in these dition to the three vaccinations the infant its per year. Most school lunches included diseases and the correlating increase in vac- has already received: HepB at birth, and peanut butter-and-jelly sandwiches when cinations. Evidence of vaccine injury none- influenza and TDaP in utero. I was growing up. Even in the late ’80s theless abounds. The Mayo Clinic website While there was a steady increase in the and early ’90s, when our daughter was in states that “autism spectrum disorder has no number of vaccinations during the 1970s school, they were common. Now many single known cause. Given the complexity and ’80s, the most dramatic rise has oc- schools provide peanut/nut-free lunch of the disorder, and the fact that symptoms curred over the past 30 years. Between tables or prohibit nuts from being brought and severity vary, there are probably many 1989 and 2019, seven new vaccines and to school altogether. causes. Both genetics and environment their concomitant injections were added Asthma is another serious illness on the may play a role.” In bold, the website then to the vaccination schedule (Hib, HepB, rise. Asthma prevalence increased from states there is “No link between vaccines Varicella, HepA, pneumococcal, influen- 3.6 percent in 1980 to 9.3 percent in 2010. and autism spectrum disorder.” za, and rotavirus). Today, if a child is vac- It is the leading chronic disease in U.S. If genetics plays a role in autism, it cinated according to the CDC schedule, he children today. It also ranks third in the seems an unlikely culprit for the dramatic will have received a total of 37 vaccina- cause of hospitalization for children under rise in autism. Why would there be expo- nentially more children genetically pre- disposed to autism today than 30 to 40 years ago? Blaming the environment for the rise in autism seems similarly without basis. Under the Clean Air Act administered by the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency (EPA), aggregate emissions of six common pollutants dropped 73 percent between 1970 and 2017. Also administered by the EPA are the 1976 Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and 1972 Clean Water Act, regulating the handling, treatment, and disposal of hazardous wastes. The use of toxic pesticides — also regulated by the EPA — has plum- meted between 1970 and today. How can a cleaner environment account for the rise in autism? One has to ask the question, what other variable is left? Vaccines. The onset of these chronic, debilitating,

AP Images and sometimes deadly diseases afflicting Kids can’t eat freely: The economic cost of children’s food allergies is nearly $25 billion per our children today can often be directly year. The constant threat of anaphylactic shock takes an immeasurable emotional toll on these connected with recent vaccinations. Yet children and their parents. parents have no recourse against the phar-

28 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 Imgorthand/E+/GettyImagesPlus

Kids can’t breathe: In 2015, 47.5 percent of children age 18 and younger who had maceutical companies who manufactured or manifestations) listed on the Vaccine asthma reported having one or more the vaccines that injure or kill their chil- Injury Table, his/her “estate” will re- asthma attacks in the past year. dren. The National Childhood Vaccine Act ceive $250,000. Additionally, claim peti- of 1986 exempted vaccine manufacturers tions must be filed within 36 months of from vaccine injury liability. Undoubtedly, a vaccine injury. Even with these nearly has only to ask one question, “Cui bono?” government politicians were pressured, insurmountable obstacles, over NVICP’s Pharmaceutical companies who manu- threatened, and lobbied by pharmaceutical 30-year history, 20,000 claims have been facture the vaccines, to be sure. Between companies to pass this act. The stated rea- filed and $4.1 billion has been paid out for 1982 and 2018, the market for vaccines has son for the act was fear that the increasing vaccine injuries and deaths. grown from $169 million to nearly $50 bil- injury lawsuits filed by parents would drive Vaccine injury is a reality. There is an un- lion. Merck & Co., Inc., a big pharma com- vaccine manufacturers out of the market, deniable correlation between the dramatic pany that manufactures Gardasil, Gardasil thereby endangering the much-touted ben- rise in diseases such as autism, asthma, and 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, Pneu- efits of nationwide vaccination goals. food allergies, and the rise in the number movax 23, RotaTq, and Zostavax, reported In almost Orwellian fashion, an “alter- and concurrent injections of vaccines ad- revenue of $6.8 billion for these vaccines in native remedy to judicial action” was en- ministered. Our children are sick, and more 2018 alone. Many of the studies conclud- acted to address vaccine-related injuries. are getting sicker each year, and yet health- ing that vaccines are safe were sponsored The National Vaccine Injury Compensa- care professionals and agencies continue and funded by and had study participants tion Program (NVICP) was established, to say that vaccines are safe and effective, linked to the very pharmaceutical compa- with a “vaccine court” deciding what in- and adverse events are rare. Also repeated nies manufacturing the vaccines. juries would be eligible for compensation. ad nauseam is the chant, “Vaccines don’t Politicians also benefit. In 2013-2014, One has only to visit the NVICP’s website cause autism.” Medical professionals admit pharmaceutical companies gave more than to appreciate what a daunting task it is to they don’t know what causes autism, why $2 million to members of the California file an injury claim. It would be impos- some children are more susceptible to it, State Legislature. Nine of the top 20 re- sible to navigate the claim process with- or why there has been a dramatic increase cipients were either legislative leaders or out a lawyer specifically familiar with the in the disease over the past 30 years. Yet served on either the Assembly or Senate program. More disturbing are the limited they nevertheless state unequivocally that health committees. Not surprisingly, Sena- number of vaccine injuries that qualify vaccines don’t cause autism. Physicians, tor Richard Pan was the top recipient, add- for compensation, and the monetary caps healthcare agencies, and politicians are un- ing more than $95,000 to his campaign for those injuries. For example, if a child willing to acknowledge, and even actively coffers. California SB 277 eliminating dies as a result of a vaccine injury and it suppress, any notion that vaccines may personal and religious exemptions to CDC fits the criteria (including narrow time- have created a healthcare crisis far more vaccination requirements was introduced period specifications for first symptoms devastating than the measles. Why? One in January 2015. For 2018, Senator Pan

Call 1-800-727-TRUE to subscribe today! 29 HEALTHCARE received more than $150,000 in campaign pro-vaccine comments are often quoted in no provocation. A four-year-old healthy contributions from pharmaceutical compa- the media, said “an infant can safely receive little girl went in for her well-child visit nies. If one takes into account the contribu- up to 10,000 vaccines at once.” and, within 10 seconds of receiving her tions he received from health service orga- Parents with real concerns about vac- vaccinations, lost consciousness. Within nizations and doctors associations heavily cines cannot compete with big pharma an hour she was temporarily paralyzed. lobbied by big pharma, the total for Pan in and its mountains of gold, and therefore This is what I see. Are these vaccine inju- 2018 alone is closer to $500,000. their pleas to all but a few politicians fall ries? It is impossible to know without open Finally, and perhaps most troubling, pedi- on deaf ears. Even most pediatricians, dialogue and unbiased vaccine studies. atricians benefit. Dr. Robert S. Mendelsohn whom parents should be able to trust, A young mother I know with an infant (July 13, 1926 - April 5, 1988), a pediatri- have abandoned them, strictly adhering to boy recently expressed concern about cian and vocal critic of many modern medi- the pro-vaccine mantra. Yet many parents vaccinations and the risk of autism to her cations and surgical procedures he consid- continue to fight. Most have either experi- pediatrician. The doctor retorted, “better ered not only unnecessary but dangerous, enced first-hand or know family members that than dead.” Despite this unbelievably was an anti-vaccination activist. In How to or friends who have suffered the tragedy irresponsible and ugly response, it does Raise a Healthy Child… In Spite of Your of a vaccine-injured child. One need only raise an important question. Have vaccines Doctor, Mendelsohn characterized well- look around. Among family, friends, and eradicated typically week-long childhood baby office visits during which vaccines my immediate neighborhood, there are too illnesses, only to cause chronic, life-long are administered as the “bread and butter” many ill children. There is the two-year- diseases? It seems so. Whether or not to of the specialty, claiming that pediatricians old boy with such severe food allergies vaccinate a child is a very personal decision will defend these routine immunizations “to that his mother cannot take him to the park parents must make based on knowledge, the death.” Dr. Paul Offit is a pediatrician for fear he might be exposed to another experience, faith, and conscience. With SBs and a vocal proponent of vaccines. In 2008, child’s food. There is the boy down the 277 and 276, California has usurped par- Paul “for profit” Offit, of Children’s Hospi- street with mild autism and the little girl ents’ right to make that decision. Instead, tal of Philadelphia, made an estimated $46 with eczema. There are the two brothers California will decide — the state that can- million as part of a $182 million sale by the with asthma, severe enough to result in not even properly maintain and ensure the hospital of its worldwide royalty interest in multiple hospitalizations. Another young safety of its roads, bridges, dams, and reser- the Merck RotaTeq vaccine. Offit, whose boy has shrieking outbursts with little or voirs. A truly frightening prospect. n

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Suicide Intervention movie. The vehicle spun out of control, my friends?” Harper told NBC affiliate Steven Midgley was honored on July 31 for flipped over, and trapped Hernandez inside. KNWA in Fayetteville, Arkansas. saving a suicidal man from jumping off an “After everything was settled and done, Jernigan agreed before realizing she overpass onto Interstate 15 in Layton, Utah. I just remember thinking, ‘OK, OK, I’m didn’t know the boy’s shoe size. Midgley recalled driving back from his alive, I’m conscious, I’m still breathing,’” Jernigan jokingly asked the clerk what mother-in-law’s house in Layton with his Hernandez told the Chicago Tribune. it would cost to purchase all of the re- family on April 13 when he spotted a man “Now the only thing is, how am I going to maining shoes in the store, and an idea on the overpass. Midgley instinctively get out of this situation?” was born. When the clerk took her request knew that something about the situation Thankfully, Hernandez did not have to seriously, Jernigan thought it wasn’t such was not right. worry for long. He heard a bystander ask a crazy notion. She left her number with When he pulled over, his wife called him if he was conscious. Then, suddenly, the store, and received a phone call from 911 while he approached the man as the his vehicle was surrounded by strangers, the manager later that day. man prepared to jump off the bridge. all of whom managed to flip his truck to The intent was originally to purchase According to KUTV, Midgley caught its side and help him out of it by breaking just the remaining 300 or so shoes in the hold of the man and held him tightly until the window and cutting his seatbelt. store. But Jernigan learned that a shipment the police arrived. Midgley even tore his Despite the intensity of the crash, Her- of shoes had arrived, and there were closer rotator cuff in the process, but wouldn’t let nandez managed to escape with just a few to 1,500 pairs. go of the man. scrapes and cuts, thanks in part to his seat- Inside Edition reported that Jernigan When police arrived, they were aston- belt, and, of course, to the intervention of worked out a deal with the manager to buy ished at the scene before them. The man those dozen strangers. all of the shoes, more than 1,000 of which had let go of the fence at the edge of the One of the people who rushed to Her- were kids’ shoes. overpass. Midgley was the only thing keep- nandez’s aid is Tom Meyers, who was The shoes went home with Jernigan, ing him from falling to the freeway below. leaving work when he happened upon the who intended to ask others in her commu- Officers immediately intervened, reach- crash. Meyers pulled up to the truck and nity to help her distribute them. She posted ing through the chain-link fence to hold sprang into action. He later told ABC that on Facebook to ask her friends for ideas the man by his wrists. And when the time he simply had an “urge” to help. about where the shoes could be dropped came to pull the man to safety, Midgley Despite this being perhaps the most off, but members of the community had and the officers supported each other to frightening moment in Hernandez’ life, he even better ideas. prevent themselves from falling over the could not help but be moved by the hu- Churches and local businesses instead bridge. manity from the good Samaritans. helped plan a big back-to-school event Because the suicidal man remains anon- “You know how there’s terrible things to give away the shoes, along with other ymous, it is not known whether his mental happening and people lose faith in things, goods and services. health has improved. Hopefully this expe- faith in the world?” Hernandez said in a “Local people, business and churches rience was just what he needed to give him local news interview. “But seeing that, have turned this into just this huge back- a new lease on life. that sort of restores that goodness in your to-school event,” she told USA Today. heart.” “We’ve already had 700 backpacks do- nated. All the school supplies that you Heave, Ho! can dream of on a list. I’ve already got When a Ford pickup truck turned over Shoe Sale of a Lifetime more donations for more shoes. We’ve along Interstate 88 in Chicago in July, Thanks to the generosity of Carrie Jerni- turned it into a huge event. We’ve got at least a dozen witnesses immediately gan, lawyer and mom of three in Alma, eye exams, dental exams, haircuts, free rushed to the driver’s aid. Arkansas, 1,500 people in need will books.” Orlando Hernandez lost control of his have new shoes and many other valu- Jernigan’s daughter also set up a Go- vehicle after the tread of a tire partially able amenities. FundMe page to raise money for the event, separated from the wheel. At the time, Jernigan was shoe-shopping with her which took place on August 10. The page he thought he had a tire blowout. He told daughter, Harper, at a local Payless that raised more than $2,000. ABC News he knew what was coming was going out of business when Harper And still, despite the enormous suc- next and braced for impact. spotted a pair of shoes that she wanted to cess of the event, Jernigan said, “But if it Still, he could not imagine what was to buy for her friend, whose shoes were too continues to grow and … it makes you do come next. In an instant, his vehicle flipped. small. one little thing for that student fixing to “I just remember flipping and I just saw “I know he likes Avengers, so I saw go back to school then it matters to that the glass coming at me,” he said. some Avengers shoes and I said, “Hey one kid.” n The crash was like something out of a mom, can we get these shoes for one of — Raven Clabough www.TheNewAmerican.com 31 HISTORYHISTORYPAST AND PERSPECTIVE

WALLY BYAM and the Airstream Motivated by a love of travel and a growing desire on the part of millions of Americans to freely travel about the country and the world, Wally Byam developed the iconic Airstream travel trailer and played a central role in the development of the recreational vehicle industry.

by Dennis Behreandt

s the 19th century drew to a close and the first years A of the 20th century rolled by, the still-young United States of America stood upon the precipice of a sea-change in the ways and means of living. Much of what had gone before was not terribly different than the way life had been lived for hundreds of years. Building and construc- tion, agriculture, travel, and much else besides depended upon manual labor, with horses and oxen and other beasts of burden acting as the primary means by which human civilization supplemented its own natural physical strength. After the great upheaval of the Civil War, however, it was beginning to be apparent to those who may have been able to step back and observe develop- ments that change was in the offing. Steam power was rapidly transform- ing industry and transportation, the first discoveries in electromagnetism were translated into practical means of long-distance communication, and, similarly, the great electrical innova- tors Edison and Tesla soon brought electrification, artificial illumination, and other new wonders to the United

facebook.com/airstream States and the world. Clearly, the civi-

32 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 lization was on the cusp of an accelerating transformation of life. Born into this boundary between the old and new on July 4, 1896 was a boy who, based on the circumstances of his family, seemed destined for a life of mundane, everyday labor. This was Wally Byam. Born to disadvantage, abandoned by his father as a boy, his mother and stepfather both dying shortly after he finished high school, he was determined, nonetheless, to succeed — at something. In her biographical sketch of Byam, author Tara Cox noted that after high school, as a young man looking out at an uncertain future, Wally Byam compiled a set of goals, including: “Cease this easy- go-lucky stuff”; “Get enjoyment out of little things”; and, foreshadowing things facebook.com/airstream to come, “Don’t live for past or future. Seeing the world: Wally Byam with the Airstream trailer that took him and wife Stella around Make history.” the world on “caravan” tours. Dates and locations printed on the side of the trailer correspond to Wally Byam would go on to become a caravan tours the Byams led. successful businessman, unofficial citizen ambassador, adventurer, and inventor. With a passion for freedom and a knack for invention, he would, in fact, go on to make history, creating a legacy in the form and some books. Though it couldn’t take of camping that would suit his wife, he of the Airstream travel trailer. Not only did him far or fast, this was Byam’s first ex- was also noting the opportunity presented his shiny aluminum trailer become a be- perience with a moveable home.” No by a rising interest in camping in general. loved bit of American art and design that doubt, this would be a foundational expe- After the First World War, Byam re- millions of Americans continue to use on rience for the young boy who would go counted that he noticed Americans were a daily basis to embrace personal freedom on to become the leading advocate for and taking to the road to explore camping. “It through travel and adventure, Byam’s tire- designer of travel trailers, and the world- was a common sight to see the beloved less promotion of the wonders of trailer famous designer of the iconic silver RV, Model T chugging along the highway travel were instrumental in building up the the Airstream. under a mountain of camping equipment success of the entire recreational vehicle After working his way through col- strapped to the roof and the front and back industry. Now an industry worth over $20 lege at Stanford University, Wally landed bumpers, canvas covers flapping in the billion annually, it — and the freedom of several jobs in advertising. Eventually, he breeze,” he recalled in 1960 in his book Americans to travel as they wish around owned and operated seven magazines, be- Trailer Travel: Here and Abroad. Even- the country and the world, something coming a successful publisher by the late tually, among all the Model Ts he saw a Byam cherished — faces an uncertain 1920s. At this time, too, he introduced his trailer for hauling camping gear that also future as progressive dogmas threaten to first wife, Marion, to camping, with some had a collapsible tent and then one with a bring the age of the internal combustion lack of success. Recounting this early his- contraption that featured “a box which lit- engine to an end. tory, the Airstream company notes that erally rested upon the axle and contained though “they went camping regularly a bed you could crawl up into, protected From Covered ... Marion never loved sleeping on the from the elements.” This sort of thing Wagons to Silver Airstreams ground in a tent.” That may be putting it became Wally Byam’s first home-built Tara Cox, author of Airstream: The Silver mildly. Cox notes, “As legend has it, she travel trailer, though he added some ac- RV, noted that by the time Wally Byam stated she would not go camping without coutrements. “It was engineering of the was 12 years old, he had been given the her kitchen … so Byam complied by de- first order when I installed a shelf to hold job of taking care of a flock of sheep. veloping and perfecting a travel trailer.” a water bottle, flashlight and a few other “Alone with the animals in the outdoors, The invention of what became the Air- woodland necessities,” he recalled. he lived in a canvas-topped two-wheeled stream, and, in fact, the invention of an Byam was still a publisher at this time, vehicle pulled by a donkey,” she writes. entirely new industry, came about through but he was finding that his passion was in “The tailboard came down, and behind the convergence of both challenges and developing a better travel trailer. “I was it was a sleeping mat, a small stove and opportunities. As Byam was facing the so excited about it that I wrote a story some space for food, water, a wash pail personal challenge of devising a method on how to build a trailer for Popular

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No road, no problem: Caravan tours together with lightweight, arched alumi- tested the mettle of both man and num ribs. The self-contained units came machine. In many cases, Wally to include, by the 1950s and ’60s, 12- Byam caravans traversed trackless wilderness where roads had yet to volt lighting as well as “shore-power” be built. 120-volt systems, integrated plumb- ing with hot water heaters and onboard water filtration, full-sewage capabili- ties, and built-in heating, along with a kitchen, lounge and sleeping quarters, and closet and storage space. Today’s Airstreams remain remarkably similar in design, differing primarily in having up- dated heating and air conditioning systems along with support for such nice- ties as electronics connectivity and even solar power for long-term self-contained camping, known among those who do it as “boondocking.” There is, without doubt, something unique about Byam’s creation. When you have one in your front yard, people slow down as they drive by and stare. If you are towing one, when you stop along the way you are likely to have people walk up and ask you about it or tell you how much they’ve always admired and wanted one. The shiny silver Airstream, whether it be a humble 16-foot “Bambi” trailer or a more imposing 31-foot “Land Yacht Sovereign of the Road,” facebook.com/airstream is an American icon of design with its aircraft-inspired, streamlined fuselage having come to symbolize the dream of freedom on America’s scenic high- Mechanics,” he recounted. That article zines went under, and he needed a new ways and byways. There are few things generated a surprising amount of inter- venture,” the Airstream company notes as iconic as the sight of an Airstream est, with readers writing in for more in- in its biography of the company founder. gleaming in the sun of the American formation. “I got so much mail asking In his own description of the time, Byam Southwest, poised in front of the tower- questions and requesting more detailed wrote: “In those days ... a well-built trailer ing Rocky Mountains, or parked under a data that I published a little booklet giv- was its own best salesman. Before I knew palm tree on a Florida beach silhouetted ing precise directions,” he said. it I was head over heels in orders, and in by the setting sun. The booklet sold well, Byam recalled. 1930 I closed out of the publishing busi- How well? According to Tara Cox, they ness and went into the trailer business. It On the Caravan Trail sold “for $1 a piece and proceeded to was a decision I’ve never had reason to The development of the Airstream is make $15,000” for Byam, a princely sum regret,” he wrote. one of the great success stories of early on the verge of the Great Depression. Oth- Over the next several decades, Byam it- 20th-century free enterprise. Like Henry ers asked Byam to build the campers for erated and tinkered with the design of the Ford, Wally Byam discerned a need in them, “so I hired a fellow to help me rig up Airstream. Eventually, he landed on the the market, developed a solution, and a few, and sold them on order,” he wrote. combination that remains in use today: offered it for sale. When the market re- The Depression presented the next chal- a light steel frame on which is mounted sponded, he continued building more lenge and opportunity. “Wally’s maga- an aircraft-grade aluminum body, all tied and bigger and better Airstreams. As a

There is, without doubt, something unique about Byam’s creation. When you have one in your front yard, people slow down as they drive by and stare.

34 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 result, the company he founded built on work that has come to be known as the reason or another transitioned into public that success, and is thriving still today. Great Indian Warrior Trading Path that is access roads over time. But today’s socialists, echoing former today commemorated by several histori- As technology improved, so did the President Obama, would say he “didn’t cal markers located along portions of the nation’s roads, in a symbiosis of private build that.” Specifically, on the campaign route. It became the most heavily traveled innovation spurring public-sector road trail a few years ago Obama said: “Some- road in Colonial-era America. development. Until the development of body invested in roads and bridges. If In addition to pre-Colonial pathways bicycles, early roads remained built of you’ve got a business — you didn’t build and trails that grew, with usage, into many dirt and gravel and were used primar- that. Somebody else made that happen.” of the roads still in use today, as settlers ily for horse-drawn traffic. Bicycles, and The implication being that government in- moved west they created their own roads then cars, once introduced, brought de- vestment made the roads and bridges hap- and trails that have gone on, again through mand for better road surfaces. Journalist pen, providing the necessary foundation en- increased usage over time, to be codified Carlton Reid summarized the impetus for trepreneurs such as Byam and others need. into parts of the nation’s transportation in- the improvement of early dirt roads in his That’s partially true, of course, but it frastructure. Timber companies, as one ex- book Roads Were Not Built for Cars. As overlooks some long-forgotten parts of ample, often contributed to road building. Reid notes, “Cyclists were the first and the American “roads and bridges” story. In far northern Wisconsin, for instance, staunchest evangelisers of motoring be- In fact, long before European colonists ar- there remains a little-known network of cause they had been the first to awaken rived there was already a network of paths remote roads linking far-flung communi- to the possibilities afforded by self-deter- and trails in wide use by Native Ameri- ties that were built in the early 20th centu- mined mobility — free from fodder, free cans. Many times, parts of these grew into ry by a lumber company. Today they serve from timetables, free from rails. And, as more formalized roads as traffic increased primarily as Jeep trails and snowmobile they were intimately aware of the benefits post-colonization. In eastern North Amer- routes in the winter. In many other cases, that came from the provision of smoother ica, stretching down the coast, was a net- roads started by private enterprise for one surfaces upon which to glide, pushy Victo- rian cyclists agitated for highway reforms. In America cyclists formed the hugely influential Good Roads movement. In Britain there was the trail-blazing Roads Improvement Association, a campaigning body founded by cyclists ten years before it was legally possible to drive a motor car on British roads.” In other words, government didn’t necessarily build the roads first, thereby enabling transportation entrepreneurs to take advantage of the situation. Instead, innovation in transportation forced government to improve road surfaces. That improvements in roads and other infrastructure continued to be spurred by technological advances in the private sector is demonstrated by Wally Byam’s penchant for taking early Airstream trailers on wild, even seemingly inconceivable, journeys. The first of these expeditions, which he dubbed “Caravans,” occurred in 1951 when he had an outrageous idea: take a group of trailers on an expedition to Panama. There was just one problem: There was no highway that reached Panama. Byam recounted seeing “a story in the papers about an adventurer who had gone all the way down to Panama in a Jeep on the new Pan American Highway,” he recounted in facebook.com/airstream Experiencing travel: According to Byam, trailer travel is the best way to meet people and learn Trailer Travel. “We knew from that story about them. “Average tourists really never have an opportunity to get to know a country or its that the road wasn’t finished all the way, people very well,” he wrote. “But if you really want to understand a country, go trailering through but we thought we’d like to try it and it. You will meet people in their homes and they will meet you in yours.” see how far we could go.” It turned out www.TheNewAmerican.com 35 HISTORYHISTORYPAST AND PERSPECTIVE

that this audacious idea was attractive to In Africa, this meant that the Caravan- mechanical efforts were others, and soon enough 50 trailers were ners would build their own road. “We not enough, we resorted signed up to make the attempt. gradually began to understand what every- to muscle power and The trip south went reasonably well, all one from Capetown to Nairobi had been found that sixteen men, the way through Mexico, as Byam recount- trying to tell us,” Byam recounted, “there ten women, and nine ed it in Trailer Travel. But further south, was no road to Addis Ababa! The line on children on a one-inch the journey started to present challenges. the map represented nothing more than a nylon rope could de- The group “traveled at a snail’s pace on the camel trail which a few World War II jeeps liver more power than a dirt-and-boulder road Guatemalans call a had crossed. To drive to Addis Ababa we winch and a 160-horse- highway — a rocky and rutted trail through would have to build our own road inch by power engine,” Byam dense forests and underbrush,” Byam re- painful inch for 900 miles!” Incredibly, wrote. counted. Still, the group had a motto, “Ma- this is what the group of Caravanners tow- The entire trip nagua or Bust,” indicating that the Caravan ing their Airstreams did. sounds ludicrous, per- would at least make it to the Nicaraguan “The Caravan began to separate into haps even impossible. capital. Getting there required much use of three groups, strung out as much as ten or It is tempting to think a winch, fording of streams, and gunning of twelve miles,” Byam wrote of the adven- that it didn’t happen in engines through gullies, Byam recalled. At ture. “The advance ‘road builders’ — the the real world but was one point, getting a trailer up a hill meant toughest, sturdiest men and teen-agers — confined to the fer- a Nicaraguan farmer using a team of oxen worked tirelessly shearing down ruts, filling tile imagination inside was enlisted to help with the effort. When, in mudholes or removing big boulders. The Wally Byam’s head. at last, the Caravan reached Managua, middle group, the main body of the Cara- But there are photos. In Byam recalled, “The United States Ambas- van, helped each other whenever necessary. one, there is an Airstream being towed by sador ... gave a party for us, as did many Finally came the cripples, ‘The Broken an International Harvester truck, just about prominent Nicaraguans.” Spring and Axle Club.’ Before we reached to enter a mud hole that might as well have The arrival of the Caravan induced ef- Negelli, nearly two weeks out of Nairobi been a small pond. In another photo, the forts to improve infrastructure in Mana- and a bare 300 miles from the Kenya bor- men and women of the Caravan are seen gua, Byam recounted. At the campsite der, we had broken seven truck axles, num- at work building the road to Addis Ababa. chosen for the Caravan, he recalled in berless springs, and torn out three transmis- And they succeeded, eventually meet- his book, “we were overwhelmed to find sions.” In addition to mechanical power, ing with the country’s ruler, the Emperor that they had run in special electric and the Caravan found that muscle power Haile Selassie, whom Byam described as water lines.” Small matter though this could be decisive. “When our combined “a slender man of medium build, with a may seem, it demonstrates how increased private activity can and does catalyze improvements in municipal infrastructure. Lest this be seen as “exploitive” by the Byam Caravanners, it’s worth keeping in mind that these dozens of trailers were nothing less than a traveling village that, in later Caravans comprised of as many as 500 trailers, could amount to over 1,000 people. The Caravanners would live for days or weeks in local areas, purchasing goods and services from local businesses. Their arrival meant a significant financial windfall for those living in and around the towns the Caravans visited. It’s no wonder Wally Byam Caravans, as they began to be known formally, were received with joy- ous welcome everywhere they went. And they went everywhere. Under Byam and his second wife, Stella, they made repeated visits to Mexico along with

a second trip to Central America. Caravans facebook.com/airstream went to Canada, to Europe, and, most in- Business success: As Byam’s Airstream company grew, models ranging in sizes from small, credible of all, Africa, where Byam led a such as the famous “Bambi” trailers, to larger, luxuriously equipped models were introduced. group of Airstreams from Cape Town in Combined with the internal combustion engine, travel trailers opened up new opportunities for South Africa to Cairo. individuals and families to exercise their freedom to travel.

36 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 facebook.com/airstream

A giant caravan: Byam masterfully promoted Airstream trailers and led thousands of Americans to adopt trailers as a favorite short beard and mustache and solemn dark journey they parked their Airstream on the way to hit the road. Wally Byam and fellow eyes, gracious and soft spoken.” beach near Los Angeles and had a weekend Airstream enthusiasts led by example, and The Caravan ended in what may be one beach home “for a few dollars a month.” in Trailer Travel, Byam emphasized the of the most surreal of mid-20th-century Byam pointed out that this allowed the cou- importance of freedom. “Fun is the freedom photographs. Twenty-nine Airstream trail- ple, or others with travel trailers, to modify to do as you please,” Byam wrote, “and doing ers drawn up in wagon-wheel formation in their living arrangements when desired, es- as you please means pleasure. This is a pretty good definition of trailer travel. It’s as close to the desert of Egypt at the foot of the Great sentially exercising their inherent right of complete freedom as anyone can get.” Pyramid at Giza. freedom to associate. “Think of all the people who build Freedom and Independence houses in places which later become dom, personal responsibility, and the value Freedom in an Airstream, or another travel overdeveloped and crowded but who of people freely choosing to associate with trailer or motorhome, is really all about can’t move because of their property in- each other on a personal basis. Traveling the freedom to associate with others as vestment,” he wrote. “If they used a trailer by trailer, he said, was the best way to get one may desire. This leads naturally to as a second home they could simply hitch to know others. “Average tourists really the right to travel freely and stems from up and haul their house off to a new, less never have an opportunity to get to know a the basic natural rights inherent in every populated site.” Or, if they “get tired of the country or its people very well,” he wrote. person. Writing in his famous Commen- beach they can look for a new spot in the “But if you really want to understand a taries, the great jurist William Blackstone desert or the mountains and still use their country, go trailering through it. You will explained: “This natural liberty consists mobile ‘second home’ on trips to Canada, meet people in their homes and they will properly in a power of acting as one thinks Mexico or Europe.” meet you in yours. Instead of speeding fit, without any restraint or control, unless Byam was passionate about opposing over the country side ... catching a fleet- by the law of nature.” regulations that interfered with this free- ing glimpse of fields, forests and little Acting as one thinks fit necessarily en- dom of mobility. “We think traveling by villages, when you travel in a trailer you compasses the idea that one should be free trailer is cheaper, more educational and can stop in all three. You can park on the to move physically from place to place as more fun,” he wrote in his book Trailer outskirts of a town, meet the mayor, talk desired, as long as that movement doesn’t Travel. “To do this expediently we need to to the townspeople in cafes, and you learn infringe the rights of someone else by, for be free of regulations that limit the quality what the price of bread is because you instance, trespassing on someone else’s of the trailers we prefer to travel in [and] naturally stop at the boulangerie, too.” property. the speeds at which we can drive (within Still, as intriguing as he was, Byam had Thus could Wally Byam describe one normal limits, of course),” and have “local at least one questionable view, namely that of the “secondary uses” of Airstreams and administrations refrain from passing dis- boundaries should be eliminated in order other travel trailers. criminatory zoning laws regarding park- to achieve “one world.” But there seems Discussing the lives of one couple who ing for travel trailers.” to have been a significant difference be- participated in his Caravan tours, Byam Byam clearly emphasized throughout tween Byam and other globalists. The noted that when they were not on a Caravan his life and in his writing personal free- latter pursue their ideas of world govern-

Call 1-800-727-TRUE to subscribe today! 37 HISTORYHISTORYPAST AND PERSPECTIVE

Government didn’t necessarily build the roads first, thereby “Fun is the freedom to do as you please,” Byam wrote, probably not know- enabling transportation entrepreneurs to take advantage ing he was paraphrasing Blackstone, “and of the situation. Instead, innovation in transportation forced doing as you please means pleasure. This is a pretty good definition of trailer travel. government to improve road surfaces. It’s as close to complete freedom as anyone can get.”

Restricting Mobility Byam’s words are about to take on greater significance in the 21st century. Bureau- crats in Europe and even in some Ameri- can locales are contemplating laws, and even implementing regulations, that will outlaw internal combustion engines (ICE) in some cities. Others are advocating and implementing regulations, such as extreme fuel economy standards, that make such engines either prohibitively expensive or technically difficult to produce. These are the very technologies that made it possible for the majority of Americans and others to travel freely and inexpensively over long distances, whenever desired, for the first time in all of human history. Needless to say, these are the technologies too, start- ing with the Model T first used by Wally Byam to build travel trailers, that make

AP Images recreational vehicle trailers possible as the Made in the USA: The Airstream factory in Ohio continues to churn out the iconic silver trailer, ultimate tool for that purpose. and demand for Wally Byam’s classic has remained strong. The proposed replacement for the internal combustion-powered vehicle is the battery electric vehicle (BEV). But these ment because they seek a more thorough entire time were spent taking siestas. They have limited range and take longer to re- hegemony over all mankind. Byam seems are represented as being dirty, indolent, and charge. As a result, they will likely serve to have thought only about how remov- sly. Anyone who has spent much time there to reduce and restrict the viability of the ing national boundaries would eliminate knows this is not true, and I’ve traveled type of travel Americans have grown ac- restrictions on the rights of individuals enough to know that the popular image of customed to. They will certainly impact to travel freely. Moreover, he argued that other people — and the image of Ameri- the ability to tow an Airstream or fifth- free citizens were far better diplomats cans abroad — is just false.” wheel trailer, or power a motorhome. than were the government bureaucrats. Sadly, not much has changed in the way Edmunds, a car-shopping website, test- “Half the time we’re traveling through- reporting and journalism is handled, and ed the Tesla Model X BEV SUV towing a out our own country or somebody else’s what has changed these days is usually for small, single-axle camper over a 217-mile we’re breaking down the walls that divide the worse, with an overabundance of “fake route. As the video they posted to You- people. Even some of our diplomats have news” and propaganda. Using these tools to Tube demonstrates, they had to stop to re- admitted to me that this was a good thing, misinform and misdirect the people allows charge before reaching their destination. though sometimes I think we practice government manipulations and economic All told, they reported that the total time what they preach better than they do.” chicanery to force people into unnecessary to cover the distance towing with the Tesla Byam was also concerned about break- poverty, a situation preyed upon by statist was eight hours and nine minutes. Of that, ing down the stereotypes and propaganda demagogues and their allies in the media actual drive time was five hours and two broadcast by the press about other nations who seek to erode freedoms and fasten a minutes. Meanwhile, they spent over three and people by encouraging people to see system of socialist shackles on the world. hours recharging the car’s battery. Keep in for themselves through personal experience If Byam was a globalist, that is a regret- mind, too, that this was while towing, by via trailer travel. “It bothers me,” he wrote, table oversight on the part of a man who was American standards, a very small camper “to see what some people think about the otherwise an exemplar of American initia- — a Happier Camper HC1 with a length of Mexican people. Some cartoonists show tive and tireless industry. Still, he was none- only 13 feet and a dry weight of just 1,100 them lying under a tree snoozing, as if their theless a champion of personal freedom. pounds. Most campers that you see on the

38 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 roads range from 23 to 32 feet and weigh hurry.... Cancel a couple long flights, and utopia of the future it’s been restricted by from 5,000 to 9,000 pounds. Fifth-wheel you can halve your carbon footprint.” its very inconvenience. And it is much eas- campers can be larger still. In an all elec- Stop driving all over the place in inter- ier to control a population that can’t travel tric future, these may be made entirely im- nal combustion engine cars and trucks, than it is to control a free people who have practical, essentially ending the freedom and you can contribute even more to sav- the ability to travel the country to see what to travel cherished by Wally Byam and ing the planet, according to progressives. is happening “out there” for themselves. that American families with travel trailers In 2013 under the Obama administration, This, of course, would be anathema to currently enjoy. the Department of Energy published a re- Wally Byam, who lived and worked in a Of course, limiting the mobility of the port examining prospects for “behavioral different age, when anything was possible, American people is the goal of environ- changes” that might be encouraged that when freedom was venerated rather than mental alarmists. To save the environment, “may have the effect of reducing travel, despised as it is today, and when anything according to the progressive playbook, the shifting travel to more efficient modes, could be achieved by a free people will- right to travel must be restricted. Since it or improving the efficiency of existing ing to work hard to reach a goal. That’s a would be political suicide for policymak- travel.” The primary concern of that report legacy worth remembering as regulators, ers to attempt to curtail such a fundamen- was reduction of travel through implemen- bureaucrats, and socialists seek to circum- tal right via legislation, the progressive tation of various strategies. Replace ICE scribe the natural rights and freedoms of establishment publishes propaganda and cars with BEVs and you make travel re- the people both through overt laws and, pushes policies aimed at demonizing trav- duction a reality. BEVs still use energy, of more commonly these days, through co- el, on the one hand, and making it techno- course, but because they are inconvenient, vert policy “nudges.” logically unappealing on the other. especially when towing or hauling, people One of those natural rights, and one that On the propaganda side, you have pun- will use them less than they would use is of significant importance, is the right dits such as Jack Miles, “a Pulitzer Prize ICE-powered vehicles, reducing energy to freely associate, and, consequently, and MacArthur ‘genius’ award-winning consumption and saving the planet. That’s to travel freely as one may desire. The author” lamenting in the Washington Post a win, say progressives. Airstream travel trailer, as conceived by about the damage done to the planet by And the progressive wins keep com- Wally Byam, came to symbolize that free- air travel. “Staying home” he avers, is all ing, because even if the right to travel is dom even as it made exercising that free- it takes to make “a big difference in a big not legislated out of existence, in the BEV dom easier and more enjoyable. n

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Be Ready penter received a letter from the Florida for the return of his firearms at his own There are two key components to suc- Department of Agriculture and Consumer personal expense! AmmoLand explained cessful armed self-defense: (1) be pre- Services notifying him that his concealed that the law that enabled this travesty of pared, and (2) have a quick response handgun permit was suspended. The exact justice to occur was passed after the Park- time. The CBS affiliate in Philadelphia wording of the notice stated that on “Au- land school shooting and is Florida’s ver- reported on August 26 about an incident gust 12th, 2019 in Osceola County, Flor- sion of a red flag law. that perfectly exemplified these points, ida, an injunction was entered restraining The story did have a happy ending: Am- and it was all caught on surveillance cam- you from acts of domestic violence or acts moLand reported on August 22 that Car- era. It occurred at a phone store in south- of repeat violations.” penter got his gun rights restored. Ammo- west Philadelphia when an armed burglar Carpenter was floored because he had Land reported that since it first broke the wearing a hoodie strolled into the store no prior criminal record. Carpenter spoke story, pro-Second Amendment organiza- and tried holding up the store employee with AmmoLand and explained that when tions such as Gun Owners of America and who was working behind the counter. he read the notice, he was “shocked and Florida Carry got involved, and through The burglar tossed an empty bag on the confused.” He contacted the Florida De- their network of allies put the police di- counter and told the employee to fill it partment of Agriculture and Consumer rectly in touch with the woman who filed with phones. Unbeknownst to the burglar, Services to find out what happened. the injunction. The woman confirmed that the employee was armed, and he wasted The first step, he learned, was that he Carpenter did not match the description no time in pulling out his own handgun, had to get paperwork from his local clerk of the person she sought the injunction firing it at the suspect multiple times. A of the courts stating that there weren’t any against. The Sheriff’s Office then quickly witness later told CBS that there were criminal actions against him. To clear his got the restraining order removed, and roughly 10 gunshots in quick succession. name, he quickly contacted the courts, Carpenter’s gun rights were restored. But The wounded suspect collapsed to only to learn that it was a case of mistaken his story is a dire warning of the danger the floor, and the store employee called identity: Someone with his same name had facing gun owners across the country who police, who soon arrived on the scene. gotten himself in trouble. But fixing the may someday be presumed guilty until The suspect was later pronounced dead, mistake would not be that easy. After the they’re proven innocent. and police determined that the store em- county clerk referred him to the Sheriff’s ployee was lawfully licensed. Investiga- Office, and the Sheriff’s Office provided tors reviewed the video of the deadly Carpenter with details of the injunction The Heroic Neighbor encounter, which only lasted 12 seconds against him, it took only a brief review The ABC affiliate in Tampa, Florida, re- and showed the lighting-fast reflexes of to see that the accused man in the injunc- ported on August 21 about a domestic- the store employee. tion had a completely different physical violence incident in Pasco County that Police explained that one of the reasons description than him and the events de- ended when a neighbor intervened. The the employee was prepared and ready to scribed did not involve Carpenter at all. Pasco County Sheriff’s Office is still in- react might have been the fact that the store But that was not the end of the story, with vestigating, but it says a neighbor heard is located in a high-crime neighborhood, him getting the injunction removed. the sounds of a woman crying out for and it had been robbed multiple times in The Sheriff’s Office still ordered him help and ran to her aid. When the neigh- the past. Philadelphia Police Captain Scott to turn over his guns. Carpenter couldn’t bor arrived at the source of the screams, Drissel told CBS that the employee “dis- believe what was happening! He was pre- he witnessed a badly beaten mother try- charged his firearm at the robbery suspect sumed guilty and had to give up his Sec- ing to escape from the second story of numerous times, striking him.” Drissel ond Amendment rights without even get- a house with her three small children. added that the store was so frequently tar- ting a chance to formally defend himself Pasco County Sheriff Chris Nocco said geted for robberies that police maintained before a judge. “The last thing on my mind the neighbor quickly helped the woman a logbook on-site. “There’s a police log- was me having to turn over my gun…. I to lower the children to safety. Then the book inside there. Officers will typically was upset when the Sheriff told me that I man accused of beating her emerged go inside the store and meet with the em- need to surrender my gun before any due from the house, pointed a gun at the ployees in there and sign the logbook.” process,” Carpenter told AmmoLand. neighbor, and fired at him. The neigh- Not only was Carpenter told to surren- bor was also armed and quickly returned der guns before due process, he was also fire at the armed attacker. The abusive Red Flag or False Flag? told that he had go to court for the accuser man was fatally wounded and died at AmmoLand reported on August 18 about to see him and confirm for the judge that the scene. Nocco held a press conference the inherent danger of “red flag” laws, he was not the same Jonathan Carpenter where he praised the neighbor as “a hero” which shift the burden of proof from ac- she had sought the injunction against. and said, “Protecting somebody’s life is cusers to the accused. The case happened If this all happened smoothly, then Car- a priority.” n in St. Cloud, Florida, where Jonathan Car- penter would have to petition the court — Patrick Krey

40 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 During Hurricane Season, Price Gougers Are Vilified — but Gouging Saves Lives Item: As residents of the southeastern United States prepared for the arrival of Hurricane Dorian, reports surfaced of a different kind of “storm surge” — price gouging. The Miami Herald noted on Sep- tember 3 that the office of Florida Attor- ney General Ashley Moody received over 2,400 reports of price gouging in the days leading up the storm’s relatively lacklus- ter stint in the Sunshine State. Among the offenders: A gas station selling packs of water regularly priced at $3.98 for $9. AP Images Stocking up: In response to natural disasters, people logically stock up on items they might Item: To make it easier for Floridians to report price gougers, Attorney Gen- need. If prices are low, stocking up often becomes hoarding, and many people can’t get items they need. eral Moody launched an app called “NO SCAM.” The app allows users to take pic- tures of receipts and prices, fill out com- North Carolina, politicians (and the people “Essential commodities” include food plaints, and then immediately forward the who vote them in) haven’t learned two im- goods, ice, gas, and lumber. information to the Moody’s office. portant lessons: (1) price controls never Such laws seek to establish compulsory Item: Florida Agriculture Commissioner work; and (2) a price control by any other altruism. Critics of price gouging say it’s Nikki Fried sought to combat price goug- name is still a price control. Ironically, “unfair” and “greedy” for sellers to raise the ing by temporarily lifting state restrictions Republican leaders such as Governor De- prices of their goods when disaster causes that prohibit gas stations from selling gaso- Santis rightly condemn the food shortages, supply to go down and demand to go up. line for less than they paid for it. The Ag- power outages, and other forms of human In a scathing reproof of price gouging, riculture Department’s website announced misery in Venezuela, yet they’re enabling Dallas Morning News contributor Daniel that Emergency Order 2019-003 “suspends shortages and long lines here at home Fridman called raising prices “kicking portions of the Motor Fuel Marketing Act through their opposition to price gouging. vulnerable people when they are down.” that prohibits fuel retailers from selling The term “price gouging,” commonly People such as Fridman are aghast that gasoline below the price they paid for it, used to refer to higher-than-usual pricing someone would make a profit off the mis- ensuring that fuel remains affordable to during emergency situations, gets tossed fortune of others. But if we shut down all consumers throughout the storm period.” around every hurricane season. At least the professions that make a living off oth- Item: Just two days after Florida Gover- 13 states (most of them red states) have ers’ misfortune, we’d have no physicians, nor Ron DeSantis declared a state-wide laws on the books that specifically target funeral workers, police, or lawyers, to state of emergency (a move that put the the practice. Other states take aim at price name just a few. anti-gouging policy into effect), residents gouging under general deceptive trade A widespread perception is that price faced shortages of critical supplies such as practice laws. gougers are “taking advantage” of people. gasoline and water. The Highland News- In Florida, the state’s price-gouging But if the question is one of morality, then Sun observed August 31, “Some gas sta- hotline states that “during a state of emer- what’s really immoral? Letting sellers turn a tions were out of fuel Friday morning, some gency, it is unlawful to sell, lease, offer to profit in exchange for getting supplies to the had only premium grade gasoline, while sell, or offer for lease essential commodi- people who desperately need them? Or let- others got a resupply and had lines waiting ties, dwelling units, or self-storage facili- ting people go without food, water, gasoline, to buy regular gas.” To “prevent hoarding ties for an amount that grossly exceeds the and power out of a belief that they should and running out of supplies too quickly,” average price for that commodity during have these things cheaply or not at all? many grocery stores kept purchases of the 30 days before the declaration of the Because in the real world — not the water down to two cases per customer. state of emergency, unless the seller can ideal world price-gouging opponents wish Correction: It’s unfortunate that even justify the price by showing increases in we lived in — hiking up prices during in red states such as Florida, Georgia, and its prices or market trends.” times of emergency saves lives.

Call 1-800-727-TRUE to subscribe today! 41 When prices in a free market are allowed to rise naturally in response to the diminished supply and heightened demand brought on by a natural disaster, people think twice before stocking up on things they don’t need — leaving enough for those who really do need them and are willing to pay the higher price. If prices remain at their normal rate, people hoard. The small group of buy- ers who manage to get to the store first purchase more water and batteries than they’ll use, leaving none for everyone else. The first drivers to make it to the gas station top off their tank and take several jugs home with them — leaving evacuees without enough fuel to flee the area. The same applies to lodging. At regu- AP Images lar room prices, an evacuating family of Storm surge: When storms hit, stocks of food, water, fuel, and other supplies often run out. If prices were allowed to rise with increased demand, the free market would respond to high prices and bring four might rent two rooms. But at high- in more supplies, an effort sellers probably wouldn’t undertake without financial incentive. er prices, they will decide to share one room, leaving a room available for another family who would otherwise have man, who reportedly once told Stossel that only moral way of providing disaster re- been left out. “gougers deserve a medal”). lief probably have no issue with the work “Restrictions on price gouging make After Hurricane Katrina, Shepperson saw of FEMA — even though FEMA workers the problem worse by creating shortages,” news reports of many people without elec- are salaried staff who help because they Samford University economist Art Carden tricity. So he bought 19 generators, loaded get paid to do so, and the aid money in told KIRO 7. “They actually make it a lot them into a U-Haul, and drove 600 miles to FEMA’s coffers isn’t from magnanimous harder for people to get their hands on a disaster-stricken area of Mississippi. donations, but from American taxpayers. supplies. The reason we have shortages To recoup his investment, Shepperson Apparently, compulsory altruism still of bottled water and plywood is we don’t charged twice what he had paid for the counts as altruism. allow the price to change.” generators. The people he met were eager The absurdity of price-gouging restric- Some would try to alleviate the effects of to buy them at that price. tions is best summed up in the story of price controls with more controls, such as But authorities didn’t take kindly to Carol Baumann, a Florida woman who limiting how much of an item a consumer Shepperson’s brand of capitalist humani- reported a motel for price gouging after may buy during an emergency. But the best tarianism. He was arrested, and his gen- she discovered they were charging $79 for way to stop hoarding is the simplest: Allow erators were confiscated. a room instead of the $59 she was quoted. the market to make it expensive. Thanks to anti-gouging laws, Missis- Why did Baumann need a hotel room? And raising prices eliminates shortages sippians had to sit in the dark without air The Port St. Lucie resident explained she in another way: It leads to more supply. conditioning while the generators went didn’t want to go to a shelter because she When distributors see that there’s a unused in police storage. Incredibly, some wanted to avoid being separated from her greater profit to be made, they’re willing continue to defend crackdowns on gougers nine-year-old Shih Tzu, Mollie — even to take greater risks to get supplies to the even in the face of such stories. though the shelter allowed pets. affected area. One YouTube viewer responded to one “She’s deathly afraid of thunder and By contrast, there’s little incentive for of Stossel’s gouging videos, claiming, lightning,” said Baumann, explaining that suppliers to take on the extra time, work, “Being moral is loading up supplies and she had to be near Molly to comfort her. expense, and even danger if there’s no op- donating them to people in need.” Forget the families who had nowhere to portunity for a higher payout. That sounds good in theory. And there go who would have been more than happy This principle is perfectly illustrated by will always be some people who are will- to pay the $79. The evil that is price goug- the story of Kentuckian John Shepperson, ing and able to donate out of the goodness ing clearly must be stopped — if only to as recounted by John Stossel in his column of their heart. But charity can run short, make life more comfortable for the Carol “Give Price Gougers a Medal” (the title is and it takes valuable time. Baumanns and the Mollies of the world. n a throwback to economist Milton Fried- Those who argue that donating is the — Luis Miguel

42 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 of the UNITED NATIONS

Getting US Out of the UN for Good! — REPRINT The UN is consistently anti-Israel and anti-Christian, avowedly totalitarian (and is largely composed of dictatorships), anti-American, and corrupt — as repeated rape, pedophilia, and murders by UN troops show. With Democrats and Republicans ac- knowledging these facts, it’s time to get out. (2017, 8pp, 1-24/$0.50ea; 25-99/$.40ea; 100-999/$.35ea; $1,000+/$.30ea) RPGUOFG America and the United Nations — BOOKLET This analysis of the United Nations traces its history from its forerunner, the League of Na- tions, to the present, and compares the basic foundational documents of the UN with those of the United States with regard to the protection of human rights. (2013, 45pp, 1-9/$2.95ea; 10-24/$2.00ea; 25-49/$1.50ea; 50-99/$1.00ea; 100+/$0.95ea) BKLTAAUN The UN Founding and Founders — REPRINT At the end of WWII, globalists — mainly socialists and Marxists — used the specter of a third world war to convince the world to begin the United Nations. But the end goal was always world government — as they admitted. (2017, 8pp, 1-24/$0.25ea; 25-99/$.15ea; 100+/$.10ea) RPUNF Inside the United Nations A brief, readable introduction to the United Nations, and to the people who created it and support it. Inside the United Nations goes beyond the public-relations campaign of the UN to examine the hard reality of the UN system — and its dangerous objectives. This version is footnoted, elevating the book from “conspiracy theory” to “conspiracy fact.” (2013ed, 135pp, pb, 1-4/$9.95ea; 5-19/$8.95ea; 20-59/$7.95ea; 60+/$6.95ea) BKIUN The United Nations and You — PAMPHLET (2013, four-color trifold pamphlet, 1-99/$0.20ea; 100-499/$0.15ea; 500-999/$0.13ea; 1,000+/$0.10ea) PUNAY Freedom From War — 7277 — BOOKLET Official policy of the United States, this alarming document reveals the plans of the American government to transfer its military forces to the United Nations. (State Department Document 1961, 1-99/$1.00ea; 100+/$0.50ea) BKLTFFW U.N. Me — DVD In a film that exposes the incompetence and corruption at the heart of the United Nations, filmmaker Ami Horowitz takes us on a harrowing, yet often hilarious, trip through the farcical world of the United Nations. (2012, 93min, 1-4/$14.95ea; 5-9/$12.95ea; 10+/$11.95ea) DVDUNM Get Us Out! of the UN— 6”x 6” WINDOW CLING Influence others to get involved in the Get US Out! of the UN campaign with this window cling. (2012, 1-9/$1.00ea; 10-99/$0.85ea; 100+/$0.75ea) WCGUO Get Us Out! of the UN — YARD SIGN Spread the word and show your support for our Get US Out! of the UN campaign by displaying this sign in your yard. (2017, 4-color, 1/$11.95ea; 2-4/$10.95ea; 5-9/$9.95ea; 10+/$9.45ea) YSGUOUN Get Us Out! of the UN — BUMPER STICKER 3" x 10" regular bumper sticker (1-9/$1.00ea; 10-25/$0.85ea; 26-99/$0.75ea; 100-999/$0.50ea; 1000+/$0.45ea) BSGUO Get Us Out! of the UN — ENVELOPE STICKERS “Get Us Out! of the United Nations” 1 set=10 sheets of 12 stickers per sheet = 120 stickers per set (1-4/$4.25ea; 5-9/$4.00ea; 10-19/$3.50ea; 20+/$3.25ea) ESGUO

Go to ShopJBS.org to view additional downloadable Get US Out! tools. 191007 Order Online THE LAST WORD by C. Mitchell Shaw Playing Politics at the Federal Reserve

n a recent op-ed piece dependence and its ability to published by Bloomberg, achieve its employment and I former New York Fed- inflation objectives,” he is eral Reserve President Bill claiming that acting political- Dudley called for the Fed ly — by moving to cost Trump to tailor its policies to harm the election — the Fed can President Donald Trump’s maintain its “independence.” reelection bid. While making Not only is that claim ridicu- that request, Dudley implied lous in that it is self-refuting that such an action would be a (perhaps Dudley pretends not great departure from the previ- to understand the meaning of ous policy of the Federal Re- the word “independent”), but serve. That, of course, is non- it is also ridiculous to assume sense: The Fed has a history of that any such “independence” tweaking the American econo- exists in the first place. my for political purposes. Bill The Fed — further propa- In his political screed, Dudley gating the myth of “indepen-

Dudley attempted to lay out AP Images dence” — rejected Dudley’s his argument that “President overt call for meddling with Donald Trump’s trade war with China keeps undermining the the election, claiming it would threaten that alleged “inde- confidence of businesses and consumers, worsening the eco- pendence.” nomic outlook,” and that, with the “ultimate goal” of a “healthy Former Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) called that myth economy,” the Fed should consider the option to “refuse to play “Bill Dudley’s noble lie” and wrote in an article originally pub- along.” His recommendation? Refuse to adjust interest rates and lished at the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity and set an economic policy trap that will spring on Trump, to make later published on this magazine’s website that “Dudley claims it “abundantly clear that Trump will own the consequences of the Federal Reserve bases its policies solely on an objective his actions” — “including the risk of losing the next election.” evaluation of economic conditions.” He went on: As if that weren’t pointed enough, Dudley sharpened it a bit by ending his piece saying: This is an example of a so-called noble lie — a fiction told by elites to the masses supposedly for the people’s own good, There’s even an argument that the election itself falls with- but really designed to maintain popular support for policies in the Fed’s purview. After all, Trump’s reelection argu- that benefit the elites. Dudley’s noble lie is designed to bol- ably presents a threat to the U.S. and global economy, to ster a rapidly (and deservedly) eroding trust in the Federal the Fed’s independence and its ability to achieve its em- Reserve. The truth is the Federal Reserve has always been ployment and inflation objectives. If the goal of monetary influenced by, and has always tried to influence, politics. policy is to achieve the best long-term economic outcome, then Fed officials should consider how their decisions will Paul then lists several examples of the Fed’s incestuous relation- affect the political outcome in 2020. ship with politics, including both houses of Congress and the White House. Those examples include George W. Bush blaming While Dudley’s overt call for the Fed to deliberately and ob- his 1992 defeat at the hands of Bill Clinton on the Fed’s refusal viously meddle with the political process is cause for raised to lower interest rates. Not only does that resemble what Dudley eyebrows, it is far from unheard of. In fact, the only departure is calling for, but the Fed — after handing Clinton the election here is the flagrant honesty of saying it aloud (or writing it out — was quite cozy with Clinton. Paul writes that “Lloyd Bentsen, plainly, in this case). That honesty is stained, though, by Dud- Clinton’s first Treasury secretary, wrote in his autobiography that ley’s mendacity in pretending that this would be a new direction the Clinton administration and the Federal Reserve had a ‘gentle- for the Fed. Dudley wrote that the power brokers in the Fed man’s agreement’ regarding support for each other’s policies.” “typically take what happens outside their realm as a given, and In what universe is a “gentleman’s agreement” regarding sup- then make the adjustments needed to pursue their goals of stable port for each other’s policies not the exact opposite of “inde- prices and maximum employment,” and that “staying above the pendence”? political fray helps the central bank maintain its independence.” Regardless of how one feels about President Donald Trump, it Further, by claiming that “Trump’s reelection arguably pres- is obvious that the Fed — an unelected, unaccountable body of ents a threat to the U.S. and global economy, to the Fed’s in- oligarchs — presents a grave danger and should be dismantled. n

44 THE NEW AMERICAN • OCTOBER 7, 2019 Spread

Presumed Dangerous,Word No Guns The latest solution to reduce murders is to take guns away THE from dangerous and mentally unstable individuals — without a presumption of innocence and without the ability to defend oneself. That’s dangerous! (October 7, 2019, 48pp) TNA191007

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China: Making Your Facebook: Censorship Climate Change: It’s Rescuing Our Socialist Jackpot? Medicine & Hypocrisy (Not That) Complicated Children

China is rightly renowned for Socialism has great appeal Facebook’s censoring of Are you one of the many American children are making inferior and unsafe because, in theory, it claims conservatives now includes millions of Americans who progressively doing worse products, yet most of America’s to nearly provide utopia on The John Birch Society, the really want to do something in math, reading, and pharmaceuticals originate there. Earth, but in reality, it leads to parent organization of The about climate change? We’re other subjects, while being This has already had deadly less wealth, poorer healthcare, New American, for the crime with you, and have a solution indoctrinated with leftist effect. We point out the problem and greater inequality. of being politically incorrect, to the problem. (April 22, 2019, pablum — the cause and and what needs to be done. (September 2, 2019, 56pp) even while Facebook allows 48pp) TNA190422 the prognosis. (February 4, (September 16, 2019, 48pp) TNA190902 threats of violence by liberals. 2019, 48pp) TNA190204

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