Mark S. Blackburn, Veteran USA
In the last two California Gubernatorial Elections I have supported and voted for the honorable Steve Kubby. Steve is a wonderful American, husband and father. He is also the only individual in medical history to have survived Adrenal Cancer. He believes that it was medical marijuana which made the difference for him. Do I care what kind of medical treatments he uses? No, I'm just glad that a true American who understands liberty has survived this battle with cancer.
Sadly, even more daunting than adrenal cancer is the cancer of a militarized domestic police force which wastes their time and our dollars tracking down individuals who use native american plants for medicine--even after the Citizens of California passed by referendum a bill to guarantee this right.
After nearly outright killing Kubby by removing his medicine from him, and imprisoning him like a common criminal (in retribution for his tireless efforts to secure the rights of Californians to take the medicine which many are convinced is the least harmful and the most helpful) Steve and his family have fled to Canada to avoid the terror of the US police state. This is a very thought-provoking article which was published in World Net Daily.
-Mark
GOVERNMENT IS A TERRIBLE MASTER
By Steve Kubby
© 2001 WorldNetDaily.com
Everyone's talking about terrorism these days, but my family and I have
experienced terrorism up close and personal. We survived our terrorist
attack and, in the process, we learned a great deal about how
state-sponsored terrorism actually operates in America today.
In our case, our home was invaded early in the morning. We were robbed at
gunpoint and then kidnapped. These terrorists even tried, though
unsuccessfully, to extort $200,000 (in bail) from us. Worst of all, these
terrorists had badges, and were empowered by laws that were originally
passed to be used against "drug lords." Despite the fact that we
were
lawfully exercising rights granted to us by a medical marijuana law we
helped to pass, we found ourselves facing 19 criminal counts.
After two and a half years and a quarter of a million dollars in legal
expenses, a jury acquitted us and we regained our freedom, but little
else.
Even though we had proved our innocence, none of the terrorists involved
were ever punished for this illegal raid, nor was any of the property
stolen
from us returned, not even the data off of our computers. But we survived
and sought an escape from such terror in the freedom and wildness of
British
Columbia.
From the safety of Canada, we now watch in horror as America's police and
military are handed the keys to the country. Because of our experience
with
"drug lord" laws being used against our family, we understand
that, with the
passage of the "U.S.A. Act," the Constitution has effectively
been suspended
and martial law imposed.
Our leaders assure us that Congress is standing up to terrorists by
passing
this law, but just the opposite is true. Congress is refusing to stand up
for the freedom and rights that are the heritage of all Americans.
Congress
is failing to use its constitutional power (and fulfill its constitutional
obligation) to check and balance the other branches of government.
Cowering
before the police, the military and public hysteria, Congress is bartering
away our rights.
The USA Act may be the greatest act of appeasement since Chamberlain waved
a
piece of paper in the air and told the British they were safe from Hitler.
Congress has just handed over unprecedented and unconstitutional powers to
the police. Have we forgotten that these are the same police who just a
few
months ago were making headlines for violating human rights, profiling
minorities, placing a third of black males under the control of the
criminal
justice system, and planting guns and drugs on innocent young men in Los
Angeles?
No one has the right to barter away rights guaranteed by the Constitution.
Yes, it's horrific that 5,000 innocent people were so brutally slaughtered
on Sept. 11. But what about the hundreds of thousands of brave American
patriots who willingly gave their lives to defend the guarantee of
inalienable rights? Who will speak up on behalf of these brave patriots
who
paid the ultimate price to preserve our heritage of freedom?
The American patriots that created and bravely defended our Constitution
and
Bill of Rights deserve to be heard. If they were alive today, they would
be
outraged.
Benjamin Franklin would remind us: "They that can give up essential
liberty
to gain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor
safety," and,
"Wherever liberty dwells, there be my country."
Wise old Thomas Jefferson would then raise his voice and with calm
firmness
explain that rights are indivisible and can never be separated from us by
any law or government. "A free people [claim] their rights as derived
from
the laws of nature, and not as the gift of their chief magistrate."
Then a hush would fill the air, as everyone turned and faced the great
general and first president, George Washington. The assembled patriots
would
all show their deeply-held respect for Washington, an American legend,
whose
death inspired the proclamation, "First in war, first in peace, first
in the
hearts of his countrymen!"
The founding father of the United States of America would then speak
directly to every citizen in America and repeat the warnings he issued
upon
leaving the White House: "Over grown military establishments are
under any
form of government inauspicious to liberty, and are to be regarded as
particularly hostile to republican liberty ... Government is not reason.
It
is not eloquence. It is a force, like fire: a dangerous servant and a
terrible master."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Steve Kubby is the founder of The
American Medical Marijuana Association and
played a key role in the passage of California's Prop. 215, the statewide
initiative legalizing medical use of cannabis.
Mark Blackburn
Mark S. Blackburn, MBA
1310 E Street Victorian
Sacramento, CA 95814
916.444.6500
Write to Mark: Mark_Blackburn@Yahoo.com