tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196201224507060771.post8956612627250870543..comments2023-12-18T05:12:50.293-05:00Comments on LAW PROF on the LOOSE: Sad Echo for a Tax ProtestorJon Siegelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05903271363747693689noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196201224507060771.post-43361907469265165452009-07-15T14:59:13.085-04:002009-07-15T14:59:13.085-04:00Ed and Elaine Brown did not stand up to our govern...Ed and Elaine Brown did not stand up to our government and refuse to pay taxes on the ground that government is unjust and that we are unfree. They made the ridiculous claim that there is no law requiring them to pay taxes. That's not being a hero; it's just being an idiot. (Except that, as I have said, they appear to be mentally ill.)<br /><br />I might respect someone who refused to pay taxes out of deep moral disagreement with government action, but that person should expect to go to jail as a result. <br /><br />Our revolutionary forefathers protested taxes, but they didn't claim those taxes didn't exist. <br /><br />Also, our revolutionary forefathers did not protest taxation per se; they protested taxation without representation. After the Revolution, they set up a government with taxing powers.<br /><br />Today, we have taxation with representation. The level of taxation is determined by our elected representatives. If you don't like it, vote for people who will lower taxes.<br /><br />Comparing current tax protestors with our revolutionary founders is inappropriate.Jon Siegelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05903271363747693689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196201224507060771.post-35069394225582252712009-07-15T13:09:18.931-04:002009-07-15T13:09:18.931-04:00When we're less free than we were before the R...When we're less free than we were before the Revolution, the people who stand up to the nightmare "our" government and criminal justice have become are as heroic as the Founding Fathers.<br /><br />In case you've forgotten, they were criminals, too.<br /><br />"Our" government lost any shred of legitimacy when it started ignoring the Constitution on a pretty much constant basis. People like you and me who pay tribute to the jack-booted thugs are nothing more than cowardly traitors who are supporting the enemy.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14624397579318321013noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196201224507060771.post-4004366891479223252009-07-15T11:34:58.645-04:002009-07-15T11:34:58.645-04:00The Browns are not heroes. They are criminals. M...The Browns are not heroes. They are criminals. My latest post about them was hardly gloating. I was expressing some sympathy with people, such as the Browns, whose crimes result at least partly from their apparent mental illness. (Well, at least Ed. I'm less sure about Elaine.) But even taking that into account, the Browns should have been capable of understanding that the law requires them to pay taxes, and while they are not required to like doing so, it was against the law for them to fail to pay, and to resist arrest once convicted.Jon Siegelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05903271363747693689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6196201224507060771.post-81015958003770499622009-07-15T09:20:26.753-04:002009-07-15T09:20:26.753-04:00Honestly, the sad part about this story is people ...Honestly, the sad part about this story is people like you who gloat over their tragedy.<br /><br />For anyone who cares about little things like freedom and justice, the Browns were (and are) heroes.<br /><br />I guess no one should expect a law professor to have the first clue that lawyers have pretty much destroyed freedom and justice in this country. Leaving us with a government that no patriotic American could possibly support.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14624397579318321013noreply@blogger.com