Andrew P. Napolitano

By JOHN NORTH

LAS VEGAS, Nev. — Judge Andrew P. Napolitano’s message about threats to the Constitution was among the most enthusiastically received of the keynote speakers at FreedomFest 2011 July 14-16 at Bally’s.

The conference, which drew an estimated 2,400 liberty-minded people, also featured major addresses by John Mackey, Peter Schiff, Wayne Allyn Root and Steve Forbes.

Napolitano, a former superior court judge in New Jersey and now a Fox News political and legal analyst, spoke July 14 on “Do We Still Have a Constitution?”

In speaking of the Constitution, the judge prompted much applause when he noted that “your right to bear arms has nothing to do with hunting,” but rather citizens’ rights “to shoot at the government.”

He then paraphrased former president Ronald Reagan, whom he noted was on target when he once said, “Let me remind you that the states formed the federal government and not the other way around ... And the power that the states give the government, they can take back.”

In the founding of the United States, Napolitano said a key battle was between “overweight, pompous” John Adams and other Federalists, “and the small-government guys, like Thomas Jefferson.”

The conflict was important, he said, because “the lust to dominate ... exists in all human situations” — and, fortunately for the U.S., Jefferson sought to limit government.

While it is well known that British kings punished subjects for what they said from the floor of Parliament, it is less well-known that in early American history, “(Vermont) Congressman Matthew Lyons referred to John Adams as ‘Your Rotundity.’ He was prosecuted for violating the Alien and Sedition Acts, convicted and sentenced to two years in prison.” With a smile, the judge added that “Lyons ran for re-election from his jail cell — and he won.

“When Jefferson won the presidency, he ended the practice (of jailing political opponents for their criticisms) and everyone jailed for that reason was freed.”

The practice drifted back later, as former President Abraham Lincoln “incarcerated 3,000 journalists for writing critically about his practices” during the Civil War. “After Lincoln died, a Supreme Court that he appointed let these people out of jail,” noting that there is no exception, such as in wartime, for such incarcerations.

On another constitutional issue, Congress in 1917 enacted the Espionage Act, which, he said with a note of amazement, still is in effect.

He told of a man who allegedly hurled into the air copies of pamphlets that said, in Yiddish, “If you are drafted, don’t go.”  Napolitano said the absurd aspect was that the courts could find nobody — among those in the area where the pamphlets were tossed — who could read what the man had written. Still, he was sentenced to 20 years in jail “for expressing his opinion.” The judge blamed the government, led by then-president Woodrow Wilson, for creating “an atmosphere” of repression of free speech.

“In World War II, FDR (then-president Franklin Delano Roosevelt) imprisoned people, mainly Japanese, but others, too,” Napolitano charged. The president, as commander in chief, was allowed to “lock up people if he thinks they could hurt the war effort. Where does he get that? It’s not in the Constitution.”

Napolitano then jumped ahead to current times, taking aim at what he termed “the most abominable act in (America’s) 200 years — the Patriot Act. It allows people to write their own search warrants ... It takes about 25 hours to read the Patriot Act in its entirety.

“Why didn’t Congress read the Patriot Act first, before they voted on it? Because they wanted the soldiers to be able to write their own search warrants.”

Since America’s founding, “We’ve come 360 degrees —  from a king and Parliament that can write a search warrant against anyone  — to a popularly elected government that allows its own agents to write their own search warrants,” the judge said.

“We have regulation without end. You want the cash, you accept the strings ... The lust to dominate must be eradicated from everyone in government,” he reiterated. “The only way to eradicate it is for government (officials) to fear the loss of their power.”

After a pause, Napolitano asserted, “On July 14, 2011, 2,500 lovers of freedom gathered in an air-conditioned room to celebrate freedom. Will there be anything worth celebrating? The answer to that lies in the hearts of each of you. As long as it resides there, no tyrant can take it away.”

Following a standing ovation, Napolitano fielded questions from the audience, begining with a man who asked if libertarians are born or made — “is it nature or nurture?”

“I suppose you could make the case for both,” the judge replied. “Our intellects may be limited, but our free-wills are not ... All living things love freedom. It comes from our existence.”

Another man asked if the judge knew of any major cases of jury nullification.

“Under the Reagan administration, John DeLorean — he was entrapped by the government. That case was nullified,” Napolitano said.

Someone asked, “What can we do to ensure freedom?

“Carefully monitor everything they (government officials) do,” Napolitano said. “Badger them at every turn ... I keep hearing the first job of the president is to keep us safe. We need to say the first job of the president is to keep us free. What use is safety without freedom?”

On the question of President Barack Obama’s actions re-energizing the conservative movement, the judge said, “I take issue with the word ‘conservative.’ What does that mean anymore? Today, we have one political party — the big-government party.”

Napolitano charged that the Democrats and Republicans together “basically write laws, so they can stay in power.”
“Does Fox News ever try to silence your voice?” somone asked.

“No,” the judge replied, concluding his program.

Following is a capsule summary of some of the other speakers’ presentations:
• Rick Rule, who addressed “Crisis Means Opportunity in 2011,” said that “the greatest risk you face is to the right of your right ear and to the left of your left ear.”

He added, “Try to make changes in your life that make you owners, rather than customers (or employees) of this great casino” of a troubled economy. As a business owner, Rule said, one has the maximum control of his destiny.

• Bert Dohmen, who spoke on “Financial Apocalypse Ahead? Or Prosperity?” projected rough times ahead for the U.S. economy and repeated — several times — the mantra that “timing is everything.”

He said that the total money supply of the world is probably $70 trillion, noting “that’s a lot of confetti.”

Dohmen then asserted, “If you look back the last 3,000 years, gold is the only asset that’s endured” over time.
“The IMF (International Monetary Fund) says European banks will face $3.6 trillion in maturing debt in the next few years,” he said. “There’s not enough in the entire financial system to borrow ... We’ll have periods of inflation scares and deflation scares.”

If one does not time purchases and sales properly, “you will buy high and sell low, which is a difficult way to make money.”

In what was billed as an all-star prediction panel discussion, Rule said, “We are in a recession again. We’re being sold a bill of goods from Washington ... Same with China with its supposed great growth.”

Panelist Hank Brock said, “The stock market is not real. It’s manufactured.”

When Skousen, the moderator, asked him what “is real,” Brock replied, “Inflation. With inflation, interest rates must always follow the inflation rate. Interest rates will be much higher.” Brock also said the national debt is “real,” adding that it “is so much of a problem” to America’s economy.

“The problem with predicting is you’re either right or you’re wrong,” Brock said. “It’s better to prepare than to predict because that way you’re OK either way. My message is about preparing” for a rocky U.S. economy ahead.

Panelist Don Luskin said, “Cassandra was a contrarian. I haven’t heard one syllable about contrarianism.” He said predictions of hyper-inflation are “the consensus in this room.”

Luskin asserted, “If you want to be a contrarian, there’s only one thing to do — and that is to be bullish” on the stock market.

As some in the audience mumbled their disagreement with Luskin, Skousen prompted laughter when asked the contrarian, “Do you believe in flying saucers?”

Panelist Ty Andros said of Luskin’s bullish stance, “Not!”

He then pointed out “that I believe in history. This financial system is completely insolvent. The stock market is completely an illusion — and it’s a Keynesian illusion ... Make no mistake, we’re in the end game. The idea of borrowing money” rather than balancing budgets and paying off debt eventually results in disaster.

“Incomes (in the U.S.) are collapsing” and the future is clear “if you set your sails according to Austrian economics and history,” Andros said. “There is no income growth (anywhere) in the developed world.”

To wrap up the discussion, Skousen asked Luskin, whom he described as “the only bull on the panel,” to respond to points made by Andros.

Luskin replied, “I can’t. That was a fire-and-brimstone sermon ... I’ve got to tell you, the Roman Empire finally collapsed, but there were some hulluva good times” for a long time before that happened.” The crowd laughed appreciatively at his quip.

Skousen then asked Luskin if he was a bull during the 2008 collapse.

“Yes,” Luskin answered. “But what you have to understand is, nobody gets it right all of the time ... Everybody here has been bearish since the earth was cold. In that time (since 2008), the stock market has doubled. They (most experts) missed that ... You show me someone who’s never wrong — and I’ll show you a liar.”

Brock interjected, “That’s why it’s better to prepared than to predict.”

To Brock, Luskin asked, “Tell me something I’ve never heard of.”

“If you invest for the next couple of weeks, you’re a fool,” Brock replied. “Nobody know exactly how to invest because this is a zigzag” economy.

Next, Skousen asked each of the panelists to give their most contrarian prediction of what will happen to the U.S. economy in the next year.

Andros said, “The collapse of the stock market. You’re going to be given the best buying opportunity in forever,” with hyperinflation looming.

Dohmen asserted, “Beware of the numbers you hear” from the government. “The market is now worth what it was in 2007.” He predicted “the depreciation of the purchasing power of all currencies. In my opinion, the appreciation of gold is the only certainty.”

Brock said, “I think it will get so bad in the next few years that the pews in the churches will refill.” Specifically, he predicted that 98 percent of the U.S. population will suffer severely, while 2 percent “will soar.”

Luskin, ever the contrarian, said, “I predict that U.S. stocks will have reobtained their all-time highs” in the next year.
To Luskin’s bullishness, Andros triggered the crowd’s laughter when he quipped, “The greatest-performing stock market in the world has been Zimbabwe’s.”