Statist Quo Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy is the status quo among statists, especially statist politicians, who think that they should get away with doing what they are commanding you and me not to do. That’s why most of us just don’t trust politicians. That’s why politicians occupy the lowest level of status in the social order; lower than used car salesmen and snake oil peddlers.

So it comes as no surprise to me that California State senator, Leland Yee, known for his outspoken views in support of gun control, was arrested by the FBI last week and charged with illegally trafficking in firearms along with multiple counts of public corruption.

Of course, the law presumes Sen. Yee not guilty of the crimes until the charges against him are proven beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, so I’m not prejudging him here. However, this is the kind of thing that statist politicians have been doing since the dawn of human civilization.

The FBI affidavit claims that Yee offered to negotiate illegal firearms sales on multiple occasions in exchange for financial donations towards his campaign. He allegedly told an undercover FBI agent of his connections to firearms dealers in Asia and Russia, and that he knew an arms dealer who’d been shipping “cargo containers” of weapons to Muslim rebels in the Philippines.

That will have to be proved if Yee is guilty, but what we do know for certain is that this statist politician is ostensibly a rabid gun control advocate on behalf of his Democrat Party constituents. He sponsored legislation, for example, that would have closed a loophole in California’s ban on assault weapons.

Yee has repeatedly claimed to the public that he feels strongly about limiting access to guns by criminals. “This is not an easy issue,” he told reporters in 2012. “But I am a father, and I want our communities to be safe, and god forbid if one of these weapons fell into the wrong hands.”

His politics are about strict gun control but the FBI has shown evidence that his private business is running guns. It’s political hypocrisy pure and simple.

During the dark days of prohibition in America the statist politicians in Congress were all for banning the sale and consumption of alcohol to the public, but behind closed doors, in their congressional offices no less, these same politicians – the very people responsible for ratifying the constitutional amendment that banned alcoholic beverages -- enjoyed easy access to and a steady supply of their favorite booze.

George Cassiday, Congress’ favorite bootlegger, aka “the man in the green hat.” was the guy who kept the supply rolling.  For 10 years he ran a bootlegging operation for Congress right out of the House and Senate office buildings.

“He kept them wet, even though they all voted dry,” explained Garrett Peck, author of the book “Prohibition in Washington, D.C.: How Dry We Weren’t,” during a news interview in the Prohibition-era wine cellar that once belonged to President Woodrow Wilson. 

Cassiday estimated that “four out of five” members of Congress drank alcohol despite their votes in favor of Prohibition. “This whole idea that there was somehow a consensus to change the Constitution to ban alcohol, just turned out to be totally ridiculous,” says Peck. “Prohibition turned the whole country into a bunch of scofflaws, and a bunch of hypocrites, as well.”

It’s the same situation today with the War on Drugs.

Statist quo hypocrisy.

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