Remembering Waco

15 years ago today, around 80 civilians, mostly old men, women, and children, were murdered by the federal government in Waco, Texas. I say they were murdered because the siege that culminated in the fire that destroyed the Branch Davidian compound was the result of a bogus search warrant that should never have been issued in the first place.

The implications of this tragic event, however, seem to have been lost on a public willing to ignore federal abuses of the Constitution. It's understandable, I suppose. Who's going to argue with the ones rolling in with the tanks, automatic weapons, and grenades?

I agree with Chuck Baldwin: "There must never be another Waco!":

It is incumbent upon each of us to seriously ponder our future. It is imperative that each of us be willing to study, once again, the great principles upon which this country was built. Such a study demands that we re-familiarize ourselves with the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. We must re-read our Declaration of Independence. We must read the words of wisdom and warning delivered by our Founding Fathers. In short, we must be completely familiar with the principles of liberty, because those principles made us, and those principles will keep us. Without them, liberty's future is about as permanent as the wooden buildings at Mt. Carmel. Without them, the fire of tyranny will reduce us to the cinders of obscurity as surely as did the fire outside Waco, Texas on April 19, 1993.

Anthony Gregory reminds us why Waco still matters:

The police state in this country is very real, and for any who do not understand the truly violent nature of law enforcement, it is worth considering the costs of non-compliance. The truly unique thing about Waco was not just that so many innocent people lost their lives. The unique thing was that people resisted. And that's why they lost their lives.

In America it has become increasingly easy to get oneself killed by the government. Simply "resisting arrest" -- including arrest for a fabricated offense -- can get one tased and beaten. Sometimes, even the most unsuspecting members of society, like Derek J. Hale, are murdered by the state. If your home is under full-blown siege by government jackboots, delaying compliance can mean death. It did in Philadelphia, at Ruby Ridge, and at Waco, Texas.