Nacirema

Over the long holiday weekend, I had the misfortune of being in the company of a classic ConservaCon type. The only thing he was missing was the tricorn hat and over-sized copy of the Constitution. No matter what the topic, he somehow circled back to some version of “we need to get back to our constitutional principles.” It is the abracadabra phrase of these people. If we just say it enough times, poof!, we’re in the 18th century again, with better hygiene. It really is annoying, even if it is understandable.

On the way home I started thinking about the rights that actually exist in the Bill of Rights and how much of them we actually have now. I though it might make a good topic for the podcast, so that’s what I’m doing this week. It is one of those topics where after some thinking about it, you end up sounding like a radical civil rights lawyer. Well, like what radical civil rights lawyers used to sound like when we still had something resembling a constitutional republic and stable demographics. Funny how that worked out.

Something I did not discuss this week, but occurred to me while editing, is that our side needs a William Kunstler. He was the old publicity hound, who represented the radicals of the 60’s and 70’s. It was not so much that he was a great attorney, but that he knew how to work the press in favor of unpopular clients. Those old radicals knew how to normalize the defense of villains, thus making them less villainous, but also making it more difficult to railroad the inconvenient. He raised the cost of what passed for virtue signalling.

This week I have the usual variety of items in the now standard format. Spreaker has the full show. I am up on Google Play now, so the Android commies can take me along when out disrespecting the country. I am on iTunes, which means the Apple Nazis can listen to me on their Hitler phones. The anarchists can catch me on iHeart Radio. YouTube also has the full podcast. Of course, there is a download link below. I’m now on Spotify, so the millennials can tune in when not sobbing over white privilege and toxic masculinity.

This Week’s Show

Contents

  • 00:00: Opening
  • 02:00: Our Rights
  • 07:00: Freedom of Religion (Link) (Link) (Link)
  • 17:00: Speech & Assembly
  • 27:00: Gun Rights (Link) (Link)
  • 37:00: Privacy (Link) (Link)
  • 47:00: Taking the Fifth (Link)
  • 57:00: Closing (Music)

Direct Download

The iTunes Page

Spotify

Google Play Link

iHeart Radio

Full Show On Spreaker

Full Show On YouTube

https://youtu.be/sbwaic2PNvg

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Glenn
Glenn
6 years ago

Z-man, I’m a little confused. Like most Americans it seems to me that you believe the Bill of Rights is important and you would like to see it enforced as designed. Given that, I don’t get why the ConservaCon irritated you so badly. Is it because you don’t think moving back to the letter and spirit of the law is possible? You didn’t really highlight why this guy was so off base. Having listened to all of your podcasts I’m pretty sure you believe that with the balkanization that has happened in the U.S. it is not possible to go… Read more »

sirlancelot
sirlancelot
6 years ago

Schoolhouse Rock. Now there’s a blast from the past !
The one I remember was , ” I’m Just a Bill only a bill and I’m waiting to go on Capitol Hill ” ( or something like that )

Great podcast as always. A poignant look at our rights or lack thereof.

newrouter
newrouter
6 years ago

Question for the readers: Why is it a crime to lie to the FBI?

“”Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech,”

You should be able to tell the truth, lie or make stuff up, that is “freedom of speech” when speaking to the federal government with no penalties.

Mark Matis
Mark Matis
Reply to  newrouter
6 years ago

It is a crime to lie, not only to the FBI, but to ANY “Law Enforcement” agent anywhere in the country. Because it is inconvenient for them. They, on the other hand, can lie to you with impunity. And regularly do so. Even worse, they routinely lie UNDER OATH. Look up “testilying”. Understand what it is. And understand that the best estimate is between 25% and 50% of testimony and evidence presented in court by “Law Enforcment” is “testilying”. Swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God? Not if you’re a… Read more »

Hendrick Lorentz
Hendrick Lorentz
6 years ago

“YouTube has banned all gun-related videos.”

I was alarmed to hear you say that. Fortunately, it’s not true. For example…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyEZntmqZws

1Gandydancer
Member
Reply to  Hendrick Lorentz
6 years ago

“YouTube will ban videos that promote or link to websites selling firearms and accessories… Additionally, YouTube said it will prohibit videos with instructions on how to assemble firearms.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-21/youtube-bans-firearm-sales-and-how-to-videos-prompting-backlash

Hendrick Lorentz
Hendrick Lorentz
Reply to  Hendrick Lorentz
6 years ago

Excellent. So you are putting your trust in a fake news report from March 2018 over your lying eyes. Obviously, the Left’s work is done as far as you’re concerned.

The Bloomberg piece is entitled “YouTube Bans Firearms Demo Videos.” Click on the link above or simply search AR-15 or AK-47 and you’ll find videos on how to shoot these weapons, how to clean them, how to buy them.
Here’s a personal favorite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXUlLIeNT6A

Gandydancer
Member
Reply to  Hendrick Lorentz
6 years ago

Moron, I’m not trusting anything, and definitely not you. What my lying eyes tell me that neither of the videos you linked to fit the description I quoted of videos Youtube said it would ban, so your linking to the second one is pointless and gormless.

King Tut
King Tut
6 years ago

The various arms and branches of government will always look for opportunities to extend their power, reach and influence. It’s to do with the nature of bureaucracies and it is just as true in pluralist democracies as it is in formally one-party states. But what is really haunting me is the “terms of service terror” now being implemented by the corporate world. As well as deplatforming, I know of one or two cases where dissidents have been threatened with (or actually denied) banking facilities. What next, no-fly lists for racists? How long will be be until someone finds that they… Read more »

1Gandydancer
Member
Reply to  King Tut
6 years ago

Risk-avoidance doesn’t explain the NFL or Nike.

Rod1963
Rod1963
Reply to  King Tut
6 years ago

The people who run the big corporations attend the same schools and come from the same socio-economic backgrounds as the SJW crowd does. White, upper middle-class, attended a Ivy or near Ivy League school, etc. They have nothing in common with the “deplorables” or “dirt people” nothing. They have no qualms to setting sweat shops in Asia and work people at the point of a gun in some cases to make their goods. They don’t care that they pollute the hell out of those countries or that people work themselves to death in their shops. By any modern day standards… Read more »

TBoone
TBoone
6 years ago

Great podcast. I was unfamiliar with Nacirema…. 🙂 are we, in ‘our thing’ a special sub group of the Naci-reme? La Cosa Disidente? To mangle a phrase…

Backwoods Engineer
Backwoods Engineer
6 years ago

“our side needs a William Kunstler. He was the old publicity hound…”

Our side has a publicity hound. He got elected President in the fall of 2016.

thekrustykurmudgeon
6 years ago

Z – i’m not an expert on the law – but isn’t the colorado civil rights commission engaging in RICO offenses?

Drake
Drake
Reply to  thekrustykurmudgeon
6 years ago

One of the big problem with politicians, bureaucrats, and cops is the lack of consequences. Colorado might waste $ millions going after that baker, then lose in court and have to pay him off – but it won’t cost the members of the commission a dime.

Hankus Pankus
Hankus Pankus
6 years ago

Z,
One of your best podcasts ever! Keep up the good work.

Severian
6 years ago

I know where “Nacirema” comes from, but damn it, I now I’ve got that stupid “Macarena” tune stuck in my head. “When I dance they call me Nacirema/ I used to be great but now I’m a communista”…. Thanks a lot Z Man.

1Gandydancer
Member
Reply to  Severian
6 years ago

I( had no idea.

For the convenience of others: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nacirema

Reziac
Reziac
Reply to  1Gandydancer
6 years ago

I’m immediately reminded of Digging the Weans.

http://www.joshpachter.com/pages/weans.pdf

George Orwell
George Orwell
6 years ago

The striking thing about this podcast is the way the abrogation of our constitutional rights have been outsourced to private enterprise. If the government guarantees you the right to wear yellow pants, but the restaurant refuses you service because you’re wearing yellow, and the credit card company cancels your account because you bought yellow pants, and your boss discovers you wear yellow pants outside of work and fires you, then the very notion of this right becomes utterly meaningless. The predation of our actual rights portends considerably more peril then a hypothetical choice of florid pantaloons, of course. When a… Read more »

Karl Horst (Germany)
Karl Horst (Germany)
6 years ago

@ Z – To Teapartydoc’s comment – the captcha code requirement is missing and also the ability to edit.

bilejones
Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

See if you find one that enables a list of comments by commenters.

1Gandydancer
Member
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

All of the comment systems of which I am aware are abysmal. There are some additional capabilities but, apart from that, dozens of bulletin board systems did it better.

Karl Horst (Germany)
Karl Horst (Germany)
6 years ago

I’ve always found the phrase “…and the pursuit of happiness.” a uniquely American perspective. That point alone says everything about America, and I mean that in a very positive way. I wonder if anyone’s ever challenged your Supreme Court ruling on grounds their right to persue their happiness was infringed upon. I would think you could get a lot of mileage out of the vagueness of that phrase. To the point of the Christian baker, I completely agree he, and everyone else, has the right to decline work they don’t want to do. Why he declined to bake a cake… Read more »

David Wright
Member
Reply to  Karl Horst (Germany)
6 years ago

Pursuit of Happiness is the Declaration of Independence not the Constitution. Not subject to rulings by the Supremes as far as I know.

Karl Horst (Germany)
Karl Horst (Germany)
Reply to  David Wright
6 years ago

Thank you for the clarification.

Ganderson
Ganderson
Reply to  Karl Horst (Germany)
6 years ago

Still- I like your idea, though. Fabelhaft!

Glenfilthie
Glenfilthie
Member
6 years ago

There are no rights. The only rights you have are those you can defend and enforce, either by agreement or force of arms. All leftist constitutional attacks are based on double standards and as long as he keeps getting away with it, this will continue. Most bullies are cowards inside so it wouldn’t take much. A few Antifa mugs being shot and killed as a warning to the others would be a great start. Throw in a few particularly offensive journalists, activists and queers for emphasis. We let them get away with this. Everything in life is a choice right… Read more »

Carrie
Reply to  Glenfilthie
6 years ago

Amen Glenfilthie.
I suggested the same as you, and one of the regular posters on here (began with double-P’s, if I recall correctly) poo-poo’d me and called it “the rr or izm.”
I am not sure where he left his [spine]. Body part has ged to remain somewhat demure.
But i’M sure you get the gist.

Teapartydoc
Member
6 years ago

Have you changed the comments format?

Ganderson
Ganderson
Reply to  thezman
6 years ago

Amusing, given your earlier post this week. Well, probably less amusing for you…

Drake
Drake
6 years ago

I wish the Z-Man was asking the questions at Kavanaugh’s hearings instead of the morons in Congress.

Drake
Drake
6 years ago

James Fields probably won’t be convicted on any heavy state crime. Because of this: https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2018/01/armed-antifa-professor-admits-chasing-charlottesville-driver-rifle-deadly-crash/

The fact that the story has been forgotten in the press is a good indicator too. So yes, the Feds will probably jump in a charge him with thought crimes eventually.

Apex Predator
Apex Predator
Reply to  Drake
6 years ago

You just don’t fucking get it man. I am so very tired of those that don’t get it.

That story is from January, nothing has changed. He will be convicted on vehicular manslaughter at a minimum. Even if that antifa goon had discharged his weapon into the car’s windshield he would STILL be convicted and the antifa scum would walk.

You are slated for extinction and/or incarceration white man. The rules no longer apply. Why are you people so dense?

1Gandydancer
Member
Reply to  Drake
6 years ago

He’ll be convicted, partly because he’s guilty. Having a gun brandished at him on some other block, if it happened, won’t excuse his driving into the marchers.

Brenden Frost
Brenden Frost
6 years ago

I know that, depending on the day, z-man’s blog is blocked by the US Navy’s network (and presumably the DOD generally). The block is justified by categorizing it under the “race/hate” label. I once called our local IT department to ask about this (I told him the site I wanted to visit had been flagged as “racist” and “hateful”). The clerk I spoke with (who sounded like a typical ignorant (black) pencil pusher) was initially surprised and reticent, saying at first he didn’t know and that his department was not involved in those decisions. He did tell me that he… Read more »

Brenden Frost
Brenden Frost
Reply to  Brenden Frost
6 years ago

In fact, this brings to mind an occasion where new members of the command I had just arrived at were undergoing the mandatory indoctrination (“indoc”). As part of indoc, we were lectured by a white, thin gay 2nd class “personnel specialist” who warned us not to get involved with hate groups and certainly not to do so while representing, explicitly or otherwise, the USN. He then pulled up the SPLC’s hate map and randomly selected a hate-group (it happened to be counter-currents (I almost busted up)) as an example. Of course, he made sure to tell us that it was… Read more »

Severian
Reply to  Brenden Frost
6 years ago

“In the Navy! You can protect the Motherland! In the Navy! You can serve your fellow man!” (Way too easy, I know, but but a gay personnel specialist in the navy. telling you it’s ok to attend pro-gay rallies? Way to fight the stereotype there, Popeye). Seriously, though — if you won’t get in trouble, can you tell me: how are the noncoms, politically, in today’s kinder gentler military? Does this stuff really have traction, or is it only the higher-ups who are all in on Diversity?

Brenden Frost
Brenden Frost
Reply to  Severian
6 years ago

It’s hard to say. It seems that a lot of people who join the navy already agree with the progressive agenda as it pertains to social issues (the navy just concretizes it). There are an astonishingly large number of LGB (and now T) members, a disproportionately large number of blacks (American and African, usually Nigerian or Ghanaian) Hispanics, and Filipinos, and lots of mulattoes (as well as some White- and Black-Asian varieties). As you can imagine, it’s hard to categorize these folks. Very broadly speaking, the average enlisted sailor is a blank-slatist, socially liberal, pro-diversity, pro-marriage, pro-natal, college-as-a-means-to-a-good/secure job, pro… Read more »

bilejones
Member
Reply to  Severian
6 years ago

Brought to mind Churchill’s comment about the traditions of the Royal Navy

“Traditions of the Navy? Traditions of the Navy?
Rum, Sodomy and the Lash, Don’t talk to me about traditions of the Navy”

sirlancelot
sirlancelot
Reply to  bilejones
6 years ago

Just wanted to thumbs up this post but apparently that’s not an option anymore. That’s a great Churchill quote

Tullamore92
Tullamore92
Reply to  Severian
6 years ago

I’m alwys a bit sceptical of the “military members would never turn on their fellow Americans were a dictator to take control because they’re all conservative, American-loving, at Cetera et al.” argument. My own data set – admittedly small ( 6 or 7) – tells me about half of them are lefty lefty.

Brenden Frost
Brenden Frost
Reply to  Tullamore92
6 years ago

you’re not alone in your skepticism.”american-loving” is a term which is now applied to antifa/alt left meth addicts. with the right propaganda, they’d take /us/ out.

Drake
Drake
6 years ago

I would love to “to get back to our constitutional principles” too.

The only way I can imagine it happening has a politician, bureaucrat, and their like hanging from every lamppost in DC.

bilejones
Member
Reply to  Drake
6 years ago

My only bumper sticker:

“Rope, Lamppost, Politician
Some Assembly Required”

Mark Matis
Mark Matis
Reply to  Drake
6 years ago

Better yet, their heads, and those of their enablers, and their enablers’ families, on pikes all the way around the Beltway. As a reminder of the penalty for treason.

Where is Vlad Tepes when you need him?

The time to begin is rapidly approaching.