Lawson for Congress

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

This morning the government seized my property. You may have heard about it, or read about it, although probably not in the Old Media. Here’s an article that describes the raid on the Liberty Dollar headquarters in Evansville, IL.

You see, just over a week ago I placed an order for some Liberty Dollar “rounds”, or 1 ounce silver thingys. (I’m not going to call them “coins”, since they’re not “legal tender” and I wasn’t intending on using them as “money”.) They’re just attractive, and heavy, mementos of what money used to be — something with intrinsic value. Here’s a picture:

I gave them a check, and was awaiting receipt of my silver pieces, when I read the news today. What’s a guy to think? Is it now illegal to purchase silver in the United States of America? What has the government done with the silver that I purchased? Most importantly, when will the FBI show up at my house with an apology to give me my property?

It’s ironic, though, to consider all the stuff that IS being sold today. I just discovered Facebook a few weeks ago, and was amused to discover that people are apparently willing to exchange Federal Reserve Notes for “gifts” on Facebook that are entirely virtual. Check this out:

Oh, wow! A Jibble! I’ve always wanted one of those! And my friends would think I’m SO COOL if I sent them a few! Mom, can I have some money to send my friends some Jibbles??? (Better hurry, though… they’re only creating 100,000 of them! Will they finance???)

Question: What do you call a country with a $9.1 trillion national debt, and an $800 billion current account deficit, that seizes its citizens’ silver but has a profitable market exchanging its paper currency for Jibbles?

Answer: Bankrupt.

Maybe I’m asking too much of our government, and maybe the Fourth Amendment is still intact — perhaps I just need to change my expectations for the word “unreasonable”. But would it be unreasonable search and seizure if the government took away my Jibbles?

Addendum: Video just in.

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 15th, 2007 at 10:05 pm and is filed under gold standard, inflation, property rights, restore liberty. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.