The Conspiracy Against Gold: The Smoking Gun

For several years now a growing body of suspicious folks has been investigating rumors of a fix in the gold market. They have accused bullion banks – firms that facilitate the lending of gold and silver – of colluding with central banks and governments to jimmy the gold market.

But nobody could find the smoking gun.

Then last December James Turk, editor of the Freemarket Gold & Money Report (Box 5002, N. Conway, NH 03860, http://www.fgmr.com/) found the gun, and it was still smoking. This came in the form of proof that the US Treasury’s secretive Exchange Stabilization Fund (ESF) was intervening in the gold market.

THE MEANS

The Roosevelt regime created the ESF as a presidential slush fund (without any congressional oversight or control) to monkey in the currency and gold markets to manipulate the value of the US dollar and gold – and silver.

So where was the surprise? A string of high level Treasury officials and Federal Reserve officials, including Treasury Secretary Larry Summers (through intermediaries) and Fed chairman Alan Greenspan, had been denying that the government and the ESF had been acting in the gold market recently. But James Turk established that the amount of gold in the US Reserve assets had been changing, and that the changes resulted from ESF games in the gold market since 1996.

THE MOTIVE

But where’s the motive for the crime? Money. Bullion banks were lending gold – borrowed gold -- at a 1.5% interest rate. The gold was coming from central banks eager to put a "non-performing asset" to work, at any price. Hedge funds and others were borrowing the gold, selling it into the market, and investing the funds in safe US Treasury bills, pocketing a neat 5% gain with no risk.

Except the risk that gold’s price would rise. If that happened, well-connected bullion banks and other "players" would have been forced to repay borrowed gold that didn’t exist, or be ruined.

THE OPPORTUNITY

In April James Turk turned up yet more smoking guns.

The Federal Reserve Open Market Committee tapes its minutes, transcribes them, and releases them five years later. However, they only release them after they have heavily edited anything they want to conceal from the public. Apparently James Turk found one place they missed. In a 1995 meeting the chief legal advisor to the Federal Reserve, Virgil Mattingly, opined that the ESP statute was so broad that "it has covered things like the gold swaps."

What gold swaps? James Turk asked himself. Obviously, the gold swaps which the ESF had already been making in the market.

The trail didn’t stop there. Then Jim put that bureaucratic slip-up together with the new audit of West Point gold storage taken when the US Mint got a new director. Bureaucrats tend to be very cautious about a change of management. They don’t want to get stuck with responsibility for something that doesn’t exist.
The August 2000 Status Report on US Treasury Owned Gold stored at West Point is designated "Gold Bullion Reserve". But in the September 2000 status report and later ones, without any explanation this same gold stored at the US mint in West Point is designated "Custodial Gold."

James Turk theorizes this happened because the US Treasury wanted to loan gold to bullion banks. To keep the banks from defaulting on their gold loans, they had to find gold somewhere. Treasury (and the bullion banks) also needed to keep the gold price low enough that the likelihood of the banks defaulting would be lessened. James suspects the US Treasury swapped this gold with the German Bundesbank – they couldn’t throw all their own gold onto the market because it was coin melt, 90% pure bars that would raise too many eyebrows. Nor could Treasury act itself without raising too much attention, so it had to use a cat’s paw: the ESF. Since the banks needed gold to deliver in Europe, the Treasury through the ESF just swapped the gold to the Germans. German gold in Bundesbank vaults becomes ESF gold for delivery in Europe, while US gold in West Point was titled over to the Bundesbank.

James Turk writes, "Case closed. They mystery of the abnormally low gold price is solved. The ESF did it."

What does this mean for us? That these criminal manipulations by rogue bureaucrats and criminal insiders from the bullion banks have created deep, deep imbalances in the gold market, suppressing the gold price far below its true market rate. One day they will lose control, as manipulators always do, and that day gold will blast them all aside.

For that ride we have to buy our tickets now.

F. Sanders

Jane Seymour On The Hallmark Channel

Jane Seymour will be making an appearance as Prudence McCoy in Dear Prudence premiering Saturday, August 23 (9/8c) on the Hallmark Channel. Be sure to tune in!

Candidates I'm Voting For

I've decided to put in my vote for Lenny Ladner in the Democrat Primary while considering between Chuck Baldwin and Bob Barr for President.

Another candidate worth supporting is Michael Dohihe:

By Gary Gray - Reporter / Bristol Herald Courier - Published: July 29, 2008

Democrat Michael Donihe says he brings a clean slate to the race for the congressional seat held by U.S. House Rep. David Davis, R-1st.

“I have no ties to any business or organization, but only to the citizens of the 1st District of Tennessee,” he said in a recent interview.

Though Donihe, 48, has never served in an elected office, he said his top priority would be to do away with the Federal Reserve – a pretty bold subject that not many candidates have broached.

“We’re facing times worse than the Great Depression,” he said. “I saw my parents when I was growing up in the ’50s and ’60s, and they got to enjoy the American dream.”

Donihe says Congress must abolish the Fed – an institution he calls “the central bank for profit, which does not act in the interests of the average American.”

“I think Congress needs to work at banking reform,” he said. “Inflation has grown dramatically since the creation of the Fed. The Federal Reserve was originally created to make sure we didn’t have to suffer through a depression. Over the past 10 years, I’m paying double for things and getting less.”

He also blasted NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, as not being “free trade” at all.

“I’m not a protectionist, but NAFTA is managed by the elite,” he said. “We’re seeing our jobs leaving our country. The nation that produces nothing will not survive.”
The Kingsport resident, who works for that city’s building maintenance facility as a general laborer, also believes the government should be looking at alternative energy sources such as nuclear and solar. He said he thinks there are untapped oil surpluses available in Montana , Kansas and the Dakotas .

“It’s not just about ANWR [Arctic National Wildlife Refuge] or offshore drilling,” he said.

When asked how he would shore up Social Security and make health care affordable for all Americans, Donihe again referred back to the current monetary system.

“Without addressing our monetary problem first, we can never fix health care to be more affordable or accessible, in addition to any other consumer services,” he said. “Social Security is definitely in jeopardy. People have been putting into the system all their lives, and they won’t be getting anything back.”

Calling Social Security and Medicare “socialistic programs,” Donihe suggested a return to the use of gold and silver as “intrinsic” currency. Donihe said the Fed is creating money from thin air to cover loans and debt services incurred by both government and consumers by printing and circulating more and more money.

Meanwhile, Donihe favors withdrawing troops from Iraq immediately, but by the safest means possible.

He also said America is not truly engaged in a “war on terror.” If so, why are American borders left open and illegal aliens given free checking accounts and subsidies without proper identification, he asked.

During a recent visit to the Herald Courier, Donihe acknowledged it would be tough for a Democrat to win in a district that historically votes Republican.

“I know what my chances are,” he said.

The primaries will be held Aug. 7 and the election is on Nov. 4.

What is the first Hitchcock film you ever saw?

The first Alfred Hitchcock film I ever saw was The Lady Vanishes on VHS in 1993. Ever since that time, I've been a Hitchcock fan. I like many of his movies, but if I were to pick a top five (wouldn't do him justice I admit), it would be these:

1) Vertigo
2) Rear Window
3) Rebecca
4) North by Northwest
5) The 39 Steps

My favorite Hitchcock leading man would be James Stewart followed by Cary Grant and my favorite leading woman would be Joan Fontaine followed closely by Kim Novak and Grace Kelly.

Another pet peeve about today's movies

Recently, I wrote about why Hollywood has declined from what it once was.

One thing I find amusing especially with the summer blockbuster is how they go around suggesting that their movie is soon to be the highest grossing film or something along those lines. We'll see. The phrases like "highest grossing film of all time" among others is really subjective in light of factors like being able to attend a movie in 1939 for a quarter as opposed to today's movies which run in the neighborhood of $7-$9 dollars.

I thought the newest Batman movie was passable, but certainly wouldn't crack my Top Ten List. Even though it was well over two hours long, it still felt rushed and left many loose ends.

WBIR Cancels Style

WBIR has decided to cancel Style which has been on the air since 2002. Personally, I think the first big mistake WBIR made was what appears to be have been a coup d'état of sorts back in 2004 in getting rid of Nicole Henrich and replacing her with Moira Kaye. Nicole worked hard to make the show a success in its initial run and had this girl next door quality. While Moira may be a nice gal, she can't seem to stay anywhere long enough to be worthwhile and I can't help but to question her role in the coup or at least that is how I see it.

I was of the opinion at the time after seeing Nicole and Michele Silva work together that they should have been the co-hosts.


Perhaps they could have made it a half hour show at 12:30 p.m. instead of running "The Beverly Hillbillies" reruns. But what is done is done. I wish all the individuals affected the best in their future endeavors.

Creepy scene from Rebecca

This is one of the more interesting scenes from Rebecca. While I enjoy Joan's performance very much in Suspicion, I find this particular movie to be more complicated and Joan pulls it off very well as the young innocent looking wife who no one particularly wants around.

I first saw this movie in early 1995 and that was when I became a Joan Fontaine fan.
I couldn't help but to notice that many of her scenes with Mrs. Danvers indicated that she was being "hit on". Hitchcock had a great way of getting past the censors. What is surprising is that even to this day most people haven't picked up on this.

To The People of Knox County

I ask you, are you going to vote the bums out? As in those commissioners, the County Mayor's Office, not to mention the hugfest that goes on in places like the Register of Deeds and the Sheriff's office. That is why I've been supportive of candidates like Scott Emge.

The good ole boy network that runs things there really screw things up even worse than the Bush administration. That is at least one thing I don't miss about Knox County. The real question to be asked is are people finally going to vote the bums out notwithstanding vote fraud that is sure to be committed.

The Knox County General Election is Thursday, August 7 with early voting through August 2.

Brett Favre Soap Opera Continues

Jonathan Daniel / Getty Images


Are you getting as tired of the Brett Favre soap opera as much as I am?

Brett, you made the decision to retire or did someone force you to? I have a hard time believing Packers management forced your hand especially since it is the fans who are literally the owners and would have created a backlash that would surely have been felt. Your outstanding career aside, if you were having reservations about your retirement, calling the Vikings behind the Packers backs was not the way to handle it. You of all people should know this. So, either get in line or stay retired. In any event, grow up!

Are We In A Recession?

Officially, no. The economy is not in recession until a panel at a private institution called the National Bureau of Economic Research says so. Unofficially, many economists think a recession started six or seven months ago, even as the economy has continued to expand -- albeit at a tepid pace.

Don't Ask In China

Posted by Tim Johnson
Tue Jul 22, 5:46 AM ET

Posters are appearing around Beijing guiding locals about how to interact with the (few) foreigners coming for the Summer Games.

The posters instruct residents on the “eight don’t asks” when chatting with foreign guests. Here’s a rough translation, courtesy of the Peaceful Rise blog:

Don’t ask about income or expenses, don’t ask about age, don’t ask about love life or marriage, don’t ask about health, don’t ask about someone’s home or address, don’t ask about personal experience, don’t ask about religious beliefs or political views, don’t ask what someone does.

So what is one to ask? Maybe the relative merits of fencing versus marathon swimming?

Now, for the foreigners out there, here’s the No. 1 dud question to ask a Chinese person. It’s a question that will draw a blank, non-comprehending stare:

“Hey, pal, tell me about your president. Is he doing a good job?”

Tim Johnson is the China correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers. A 2000-2001 Knight Fellow at Stanford University, he has worked as a foreign correspondent in Asia and Central America and has covered U.S. policy from Washington, D.C. He has been reporting from China since 2003.

If only the Cards would put together a winning team

Cardinals fans have "created a decisive home-field advantage" the past two years, and the team wants to keep it that way by discouraging single-game ticket sales to Cowboys fans, team spokesman Mark Dalton said.

Letter to GOP

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

10,000+ Republican Supporters Sign Pledge to Not Vote for McCain

Over 10,000 former Ron Paul supporters have signed a letter to the GOP stating the reasons they will not vote for presumptive nominee John McCain. They feel that McCain can not beat Obama in the presidential race, and if McCain is the nominee, they will be voting for somebody other than McCain for president.

Colorado, July 21, 2008 -- As the Republican party calls for "Party Unity", most Ron Paul supporters have vowed to not vote for McCain for president. These Ron Paul supporters, arguably the most active grassroots group this election season, will move their support away from the Republican party to either Bob Barr, Chuck Baldwin, or even Barack Obama, if McCain is the Republican nominee. Ron Paul suspended his campaign in June of 2008, but his supporters remain active, and are supporting Ron Paul's new advocacy group, Campaign For Liberty. In an effort to keep Ron Paul supporters within the Republican party and defeat Barack Obama, http://www.lettertogop.com urges the GOP to reconsider "Party Unity" under John McCain, and will continue its efforts by reaching out to delegates to the Republican National Convention.

"I feel the Republican Party has ignored true conservative positions in recent years and Senator John McCain is just going to keep us going down a war path with no economic recovery in sight. Like Senator Obama keeps declaring, we need Change, but the Change we need is toward more freedoms, more economic sound principles, better relations will all countries, and LESS dependency on government programs. For these reasons I support a GOP nomination of Representative Dr Ron Paul, and I have pledged that support at http://www.lettertogop.com" - J. Adams - Golden, Colorado

Most Ron Paul supporters feel that John McCain is too liberal and too far from the Republican platform on many issues to deserve their vote. Many of them have already started supporting the Libertarian candidate, Bob Barr, who is now polling as high as 9% in some states. Letter to the National GOP believes that if Ron Paul was the Republican nominee, it would pull most of the Bob Barr supporters back into the Republican party. This shift would be enough to defeat Obama in many states where Obama is leading according to current polls (http://www.zogby.com/50state/).

Ron Paul received over a million votes in the primaries. If it is a tight race, these one million voters could be the deciding factor of this presidential election.

Letter to the National GOP has accomplished its original goal of 10,000 pledges to not vote for McCain for president, and encourages all who are dissatisfied with McCain as the presumptive nominee to sign the letter at http://www.lettertogop.com.

For additional information on Letter to the National GOP, contact Kenneth Griffin or visit http://www.lettertogop.com.

Contact:

Kenneth Griffin
direct: 719-293-2239
http://www.lettertogop.com

Now this is a limo!

How many people out there can relate to this scenario?

Just ask Bea Dewing. After she earned a bachelor's degree -- her second -- in computer science from Maryland's Frostburg State University in 1986, she enjoyed almost unbroken advances in wages, eventually earning $89,000 a year as a data modeler for Sprint Corp. in Lawrence, Kan. Then, in 2002, Sprint laid her off.

"I thought I might be looking a few weeks or months at the most," says Ms. Dewing, now 56 years old. Instead she spent the next six years in a career wilderness, starting an Internet café that didn't succeed, working temporary jobs and low-end positions in data processing, and fruitlessly responding to hundreds of job postings.

The low point came around 2004 when a recruiter for Sprint -- now known as Sprint Nextel Corp. -- called seeking to fill a job similar to the one she lost two years earlier, but paying barely a third of her old salary.

Meet Charles and Max

They are up for adoption.

Update on Joan Fontaine

I heard from Joan's assistant yesterday. All in all, her home is out of the general direction of the fires and she isn't too adversely affected by it although much of the Carmel/Monterrey area is still in duress from the fires. Continue to pray for the residents.

Obama vs. McCain: Oh the parody!

JibJab - Time for Some Campaignin'

Ron Paul vs. Ben Bernanke

Colleen Moore: She's so funny

I don't know if you are into silent films or not, but one of my favorites is Colleen Moore. I've been doing a lot of research on the Roaring 20's over the past year or so, and it has re-established in me an appreciation for "the purest form of cinema" as one person put it.

Our "leaders" talk and talk and talk

Countrywide's Snafu

Within days, Mr. Mozilo’s e-mail was widely circulated on the Internet and in the news media, offering a rare instance when candid comments from a powerful C.E.O. entered the public realm. For Mr. Bailey, however, the disdain that Mr. Mozilo expressed was depressingly familiar.

Back In The High Life Again

Back In The High Life Again

People who like the song "Back In The High Life Again" describe themselves as Spiritual, Cautious, and Carefree. The dominant color is Blue and the sign of most people who dig it is Libra.

(I'm a Taurus, but Libra comes pretty close).

More information on the Dollar

Liberty Dollar celebrates 6th anniversary; gaining in popularity across U.S.

Your Dollar May Not Be Worth What You Think It Is

Before the crunch, a beer at a bar in Harare, the capital, cost 15 billion Zimbabwean dollars. At 5 p.m. July 4, it cost 100 billion ($4 at the time) in the same bar.
An hour later, the price had gone up to 150 billion ($6).

Does God send people to hell?

God doesn't "send" anyone to hell. Nor do you get into Heaven simply through good works or merely saying the right things. We don't know another's mind or motives, but we can't fool God. With Christ's death, we were given a choice.
It is for us to decide what that choice will be.

Personally, I lean more towards the deist view of God. God does not intervene with the affairs of human life and the natural laws of the universe. He created it, but he does not manipulate it as if we were just puppets. It just is.

Otherwise, how do you figure that some people die from cancer because they angered God, but other people die from cancer just because [insert your answer here].

I thought God was principled and consistent, but this interpretation presents God as unprincipled and inconsistent. Something for these preachers to think about.

God's greatest gift to humanity is not religion (a human creation), but the ability to reason. There is a reason why God gave us a brain in addition to a moral center.

Using practical means to demonstrate the love of Christ is important because it gives us an opportunity to relate to non-believers in the struggle for liberty and human rights. If we are to be Christ like and if we love the nature of God, which is liberty, we HAVE to get beyond religion, the rules and legalism and get beyond using worldly means to “spread the Gospel”.

Pray for Joan Fontaine and other California residents

As most of you are probably aware of by now, the fires in California have been raging for a few weeks now particularly in the central coastal areas and the northern part of the state. Quite frankly, wildfires have been burning on and off for several years all over the western part of the United States.

One of my favorite actresses, Joan Fontaine lives in the Carmel area which is south of San Francisco. She fears losing this home to fire just as she did her Brentwood home in the 1960's. You can read more of her interview in the March issue of Vanity Fair.

The Fed is going to protect us! Really?

So I now read that the Federal Reserve is unveiling "new" rules supposedly aimed at protecting us. Of course, they say nothing about the U.S. Dollar losing almost 100% of its value since 1913.

Basic economics (something they didn't teach in school) tells us that the more there is of a good, the less valuable it becomes. This is also true of money. The dollar is worth four cents of what it was when the Federal Reserve was created in 1913.

For example, a house that costs around $150,000 today would have sold in the range of $7,000-$8,000 in 1913. Either Ben Bernanke is a clueless nitwit or really evil depending on his state of mind.

The Federal Reserve creates inflation when it issues US dollars backed by government debt otherwise known as "fractional reserve banking". The more "money" the Federal Reserve creates - the less your Federal Reserve "money" will buy.

From 1913 to 2001 the national debt grew to $6 trillion. Over the next three years it increased to $7 trillion dollars. In the following year it increased sharply to over $8 trillion dollars. The national debt is now well over $9 trillion dollars!

Let's face it people. The Federal Reserve as well as the legislative branch (Congress) and the executive branch (President) are all responsible for this current mess as well as past and inevitably future bubbles and collapses. The 'Fed' does not stabilize the economy. If so, why did the Great Depression among other economic calamities occur on their watch? Something to think about.

Chris’s Own Special Burgers

You can make them however big you want. Personally, I like making them about a pound each. For the record, I don’t use lettuce, onions and all that other stuff on top of my burgers; it ruins a burger that didn’t need to be fixed anyways!

Laura’s Lean Beef (my preference); generally I don’t eat the generic store brand beef for a number of reasons

Spicy Burger

Caynenne powder (my preference although cumin or chili powder will work)
Chipotle sauce
Cheddar Cheese (any brand will do, but go for fine grated/shredded) (one package)
garlic, pepper and salt (I eyeball it instead of measuring)

Mix cumin powder and cheese well in a bowl or round container and top with sauce.
Use your own judgment on how much of each ingredient to use.

Put in oven on 350 degrees for 30 minutes or just grill it the old fashioned way

Top with either Sticky Fingers Habanero Hot, Tennessee Whiskey sauce, Jack Daniels Original No. 7 or Spicy Original.

Sweet Burger

Ginger
Molasses or honey
Mozzerella cheese finely grated/shredded (one package)
garlic, pepper and salt

Repeat instructions from above

Top with Sticky Fingers Sweet Carolina, Jack Daniel’s Honey Smokehouse or Hickory Brown Sugar sauce. Or if you want, just make your own BBQ sauces. There are plenty of recipes on the net.

The Decline of Hollywood - Who’s Responsible?

I have to say: I suspect and perhaps correctly that unlike the majority of people in my age range (I'm 32), I am much more knowledgeable about and prefer movies that were made back in the "old days". Generally, today's movies bore me. I appreciate the use of special effects and computer generated effects when it is warranted, but today, they are the preference to what drove movies in the old days: plot and character development. Of course, working within the confines of the Hays Code, and without today's technologies, they had to work with something. What they did have going for them was original content at least from a certain perspective. Gone With The Wind speaks for itself. Could such a movie be made as well today? I doubt it.

Now in life, changes do happen and in Hollywood, it has been no different.
Just about all of the "big-time" directors, actors, and producers of Hollywood's Golden Age have faded away.

The decline of the studio system and consequently Hollywood's Golden Age can be traced initially to two factors:

* a federal antitrust action that separated the production of films from their exhibition;
* the advent of television which would later expand to VCR/DVD, HBO, etc...

Later on, other factors continued to chip at the movies market dominance and market share:

* The rise of the internet and other alternative forms of entertainment. This is probably the most significant. There’s just plain too much competition for business as usual in Hollywood. If I were twenty and starting out in film today, I wouldn’t even think about Hollywood. I’d go straight to the internet and start from there.
* younger people's preferences for alternative forms of entertainment such as video games (I was quite a video game freak in my younger days too). I am told by some teenagers today that they are often more original than today’s movies. Guess what? I don't doubt it.
* The continued corporate take-over of Hollywood. It has been going on now for decades and has reached a tipping point. It used to be said that movies were the blending of art and commerce with commerce finally taking precedence. Now, art isn’t even mentioned. At one time, movies could bring you in with a good story and plot combined with good acting and overall production values; now they’re like industrial parks making industrial product, "an emotional Detroit" as Lillian Gish once said.

There is also the "The de Havilland decision" that brought about more artistic and contractual freedom for actors. Of course, Olivia de Havilland happens to be the sister of one of my favorite actresses, Joan Fontaine.

However, the problems for Hollywood are deeper than just actors having more artistic freedom (which is actually a good thing in my opinion), technology or right-wing versus left-wing politics. I don't think one's personal politics determines whether one is a "good" or "bad" actor or what not. John Wayne was a republican. Claudette Colbert was a republican. John Ford was a democrat. Frank Capra voted for FDR. James Stewart once got into a fight with his good friend, Henry Fonda once over a political squabble. But far and away, most people would have some admirable to say about their contributions to the history of cinema. In Wayne's case, the term "icon" and "living legend" have been used to describe him and for good reason. But let's face it, they can't be brought back. There is no one alive today that reminds us of John Wayne or Humphrey Bogart. Of course, the way movies are made today, most if not all of these people, even in their prime, would have to find another line of work.

One thing that I do find disturbing about many of today's movies is due to CGI, among other technologies have made the production of movies feel like olestra running through your body. Sometimes the real thing is best.

I'm sorry folks, but making movies the way of 300 (a good programming feat which marketers made sound like the second-coming of Lawrence of Arabia) completely devoid of human interest, or plot is not about to solve them.

Another part of the decline is that today, it is all about being a celebrity. That is a story onto itself. Few of today's "movie stars" are truly actors. Very few of them are truly dedicated to acting as an art form and passion, learning and being dedicated to their craft. They are mostly pretty faces filling celluloid. Sorry people, all the constant rah rah about Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Britney Spears bores me to death. The same can be said about the people who run the business end of things too. Of course, you never hear about the perhaps millions of people over the past 100 years or so who have gone to Hollywood and didn't "make it". Some went about their lives after realizing it wasn't in the cards and others sadly turned towards another fate.

I don't claim to have an answer towards fixing this trend. Maybe I shouldn't even try. Maybe we should just let bygones be bygones and watch Turner Classic Movies if we want to relive those past moments. That was a special time and we will never live it again. But I wouldn't have minded being born 50 or 75 years earlier, so I could have experienced those days first-hand working with Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Irving Thalberg to name a few. Now that would have been something.

The Battle of Athens

On 2 August 1946, some Americans, brutalized by their county government, used armed force to overturn it. These Americans wanted honest, open elections. For years they had asked for state or federal election monitors to prevent vote fraud -- forged ballots, secret ballot counts, and intimidation by armed sheriff's deputies -- by the local political boss. They got no help.

These Americans' absolute refusal to knuckle-under had been hardened by service in World War II. Having fought to free other countries from murderous regimes, they rejected vicious abuse by their county government. These Americans had a choice.

McMinn Countians showed us when citizens can and should use armed force to support the Rule of Law. We are all in their debt.