The wheels of injustice creak along slowly.
Indicted in October last year, the Oklahoma Three — Rick Carpenter, Susan Johnson, and I — have still not had a full preliminary hearing. That first step has now been pushed back to next February.
Our alleged crime? Oklahoma’s Attorney General, Drew Edmondson, argues that we conspired to hire non-residents to gather signatures on a petition.
Never mind that state officials said the campaign’s hiring practices were perfectly legal. Never mind that the law itself is under constitutional challenge, with similar laws in Arizona and Ohio having been struck down earlier this year.
The real goal? Frighten and intimidate those who would dare petition to do things like cap runaway government spending, provide protection from government’s abuse of eminent domain, or limit the terms of politicians — like, say, Mr. Edmondson.
Opponents of the petition that triggered this prosecution amounted to a who’s who of wealthy, powerful Oklahomans, including entrenched political interests such as the teachers’ and public employees’ unions.
Recently I sent out a news release with a statement declaring our innocence and attacking this politically-motivated prosecution. Next thing I know, the Citizens in Charge website gets shut down. An email from the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority complained to our hosting service that the news release was spam.
The website was restored, but I tell you: “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
That’s Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
5 replies on “Wheels of Injustice”
This just goes to show you that politicians are so afraid of us taxpayers, because we can fire them at the ballot box rather than needing term limits. When will they realize that We the People are the government?
I want to know why a “server” or “host” can shut down a website with no “due process?” It seems to me they took the word of an organization, with no supporting evidence & they did that group a favor by shutting down your site.
This leaves a significant chill on the issue. If one website can be shut down, because the host or server owners want to do a favor, how many others can be shut down for the same partisan political motives?
Free speech is under direct attack by those who want only speech “they” approve of, to be heard. These attacks apparently will multiply over the next few years.
At issue is “Free Speech.” Many want to define it. Of course their definition will match what “they” think & will have nothing at all to do with “free” speech.
For the past eight years we have heard the left denigrate, attack, and generally malign anyone who did not subscribe to their political philosophy. Now that liberals will run Congress, all of the sudden they are interested in speech that does not offend.
I say, the past eight years defines free speech for all & that means, there can be no restrictions unless it can be proved such speech will incite a riot or create havoc such as crying out fire in a crowded theater.
The Supreme Court already ruled on free speech numerous times over the decades. So for the left to now want a “new” definition, is simply an effort on their part to shut up anyone who may have an opposing view to theirs.
If Americans are not frightened by such actions or attempts, they should be. The same tactics were used by the National Socialists in Nazi Germany & they ended up causing WWII & the deaths of millions. That is NOT a stretch folks. Freedom can be lost quickly & it happens when we allow a select group to define what freedom is, w/o our input.
So why haven’t you enlisted the aid of the ACLU to bring legal action against these clowns for oppression under the color of office, deprivation of Constitutional rights and more?
LAW SUITS CAN BE TURNED AROUND AND THOSE ELECTED WHO ARE CAUSING PROBLEMS FOR THE “SOVEREIGN GOVERNMENT OF AMERICA”, “WE THE PEOPLE” ARE ACTUALLY VIOLATING THE CONSTITUTION.
LOOKS LIKE THE PROSECUTING ATTONEY AND HIS GREEDY RICH FRIENDS ARE ALL “REVERSE ROBIN-HOODS” JUST LIKE CONGRESS AND MANY STATE LEGISLATORS.
“ROBBING FROM THE POOR AND GIVING TO THE RICH” IS NOT THE HONEST INTENTION OF OUR FOUNDING FATHERS OR OUR FOUNDING DOCUMENTS. HONESTY SHALL PREVAIL AND MAY GOD HAVE MERCY ON THE SOULS OF THE CORRUPT.
Obviously they don’t want you to have your day in court. They want this “hanging over you” for as long as they can, since they know they cannot win. How a news release on a web site can be “spam,” I don’t know. Sounds like a typical politician’s twisting of the truth. Denver Mayor Wellington Webb’s press flack once accused me of “sending him spam” when I sent him a copy of a newsletter I was publishing then as a courtesy, since it contained some sharp criticism of Webb. I asked him if he was smart enough to know the difference between a personal message and spam. I never got an answer.