Chris of Rights Will Always Support Free Speech

My wife is upset with me for my post on Brett Kimberlin last week. I understand why. Aaron Walker was arrested for blogging about Kimberlin. Stacy McCain and his family are in hiding for blogging about Kimberlin. Patterico had police with weapons drawn in his house looking for bodies, and all because he dared blog about Kimberlin. And now, blogger and tweeter who tweets under the handle @ali says his family has been threatened for the crime of supporting the people mentioned above.

So, you can understand why my wife might be upset with me for getting involved in this. I’m only semi-anonymous on this blog. It’s not that hard to find out my real name if you want to do a bit of research. I’ve given enough personal information on this blog that you could certainly find me and my family if you knew my name. She doesn’t want our family to go through what others are going through. And that’s a very reasonable viewpoint. And I don’t want my wife upset with me. The quote “happy wife, happy life” is a true one, after all. Nor do I want my wife and children to be in danger. Particularly over something that I use as more of an expressive outlet than anything else. I know I have very few daily readers, and that doesn’t bother me. That’s never been the point. The point is that I get all of this bottled up inside me, and this is my way of expunging it.

Despite that, I have no intention of lessening my support for Aaron Walker, Patterico, Stacy McCain, @ali, or any one else facing the wrath of Kimberlin and his lackeys.

Why? Am I just crazy?

No. Remember the name of this blog. It wasn’t chosen just to be cute. It’s not just happenstance. As I’ve mentioned numerous times, the Bill of Rights, particularly the First Amendment, are extremely important to me. This isn’t a left/right issue. It’s a right/wrong one. If the roles were reversed, and it was Kimberlin who was attempting to blog, and Patterico, for example, had sent police to his house on a fake 911 call, I would still be writing this, only in support of Kimberlin.

I believe in Free Speech. No matter whose speech it is. The left should be coming out in support of these bloggers as well. They need to be shamed into it, if necessary. Freedom of speech is, in my opinion, the most important of our God-given rights. If you let them take that away from you, then they can take anything away from you, including your life.

You need to understand. What’s going on here is beyond terrifying. I try to avoid comparisons to Nazi Germany. I think they’re overdone. And I think that hyperbole tends to weaken, rather than strengthen your argument. But here the comparisons to the Third Reich are warranted.

This is exactly how it started in the 1930s with the Jews. Jews were targeted, isolated, and attacked. And not just Jews, but the people who came out in support of them. Most of the general citizenry of Germany didn’t agree with this. But it was made clear to them early on what happened to people that spoke up in defense of Jews who were unfairly attacked. So, instead of standing up, they lived in fear that the eyes of oppression would turn next to them. And they did their best to hide from those eyes.

I can’t do that. I’m not trying to be macho here, or pretend that I’m displaying real courage. For me, it’s a decision that I can’t live in shame and in fear. I have to be able to look at myself in the mirror every morning and know that I’m a good person and a good father. I couldn’t do that if I didn’t stand up here.

Kimberlin and his associates are trying to destroy freedom of speech in America. The left, in their silence here, is complicit in this. We cannot allow this to continue.

I have one more link, and I want you to follow it, and read every word. It’s from Ace of Spades HQ. I support his decision, and will be participating in the National Day of Blogger Silence on Friday.

One quote, but do read the whole thing:

On Friday, this site will be absolutely dead-silent, which is what Brett Kimberlin and his stalker crew seeks, and what the media and our supposed Representatives in Congress would permit.

The only post on Friday will be a bold-faced Open Letter to Congress, urging them to act and not attempt to pass the buck to others.

They are our representatives; we would like some representation.

They vowed to defend and protect the Constitution; they can honor that vow now.

I will post links of Congressmen's and Senator's email addresses and offices and phone numbers, and urge every concerned American citizen to let them know, in no uncertain terms, that a crime in progress against the First Amendment (and people's safety) is occurring, and we humbly request they take this seriously.

They are literally going to get someone killed. That is their endgame here.

Will the media and Congress pretend "we didn't know" when this happens?

ABCNews knows.

The Weekly Standard knows.

The Daily Caller knows.

And many, but not yet all, Congressmen and Senators know.

I encourage all bloggers and twitterers to essentially strike that day, or write nothing except your desire that you expect your Congressmen to take threats to your First Amendment rights seriously.

Black Is White, Up Is Down, Right Is Wrong, And…

Aaron Walker is in custody as I write this.

Who is Aaron Walker? He’s one of the bloggers who has been harassed by Brett Kimberlin. I’m sure you remember who that is.

He has been taking into custody for violation of the following peace order:

What did Walker do? He blogged about Kimberlin’s attempt to frame him and silence him. Today a judge agreed with Kimberlin that Walker has no First Amendment rights.

For years now, Glenn Beck has been saying “you will wake up one morning and no longer recognize your country”. Today is the day.

Stacy McCain (who has been forced into hiding, due to being another blogger facing Kimberlin’s wrath) reports:

FROM AN UNDISCLOSED LOCATION
Aaron Walker, whose complaint against convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin became a conservative cause célèbre this past week, was reportedly taken into custody today after a court hearing in Rockville, Maryland.

One person who attended the hearing in Montgomery County District Court said that Kimberlin asserted that Walker’s continued blogging represented a violation of a “peace order” Kimberlin had obtained against the Virginia attorney, who says Kimberlin tried to “frame” him for assault earlier this year.

During the course of the hearing — which reportedly lasted about an hour — Judge C.J. Vaughey appeared to become increasingly hostile toward Walker, who was taken into custody when the hearing concluded.

On Thursday, May 17, Walker published a 28,000-word account of his experience being targeted by Kimberlin, which soon caught the attention of leading figures in online New Media, including University of Tennessee law professor Glenn Reynolds, who writes the popular Instapundit blog, and bestselling author Michelle Malkin, who warned her readers, “Please remember: Kimberlin is a radical, violent, lying, dangerous felon.”

Further updates may be found on McCain’s blog. As Professor Reynolds says, “read the whole thing”.

Lee Stranahan (one of the organizers behind last week’s “Everyone Blog About Brett Kimberlin Day”) has called for an “Everyone Blog About Aaron Walker Day” – right now.

This affects everyone in America. I have blogged in the past that the left hates free speech. I’ve actually been working on a follow-up to that post, regarding Rush Limbaugh, our President, Media Matters for America and their war on Fox News, and the aforementioned Brett Kimberlin.

I’ll finish that up, but later. This is more urgent. The left will use this victory today against free speech (and make no mistake, that’s what it is) to further their goals of shutting up those who disagree with them. Expect the Kimberlin method to repeated as often and in as many places as possible. Without the protection of the First Amendment, all of our other God given rights are assailable.

The battle lines have been drawn. In the end, there will be no bystanders. You will either fight back against this oppressive government control over your life, or you will fall victim to it.

I, for one, have no intention of being a victim. I stand with Aaron Walker.

UPDATE: More info from Patterico. He paints the same description of the shredding of the First Amendment and it’s implications, but with greater detail. Read here.

Who is Brett Kimberlin?

Today is “Blog about Brett Kimberlin Day”. Living in Indianapolis, I think I have a little bit different perspective on this sociopath than some, so I’m going to talk about his history.

If you know nothing about his present activities, this is the man who has been harrassing (that’s a mild word for it) conservative bloggers. Among his victims are Andrew Breitbart, Patterico, Liberty Chick, Aaron Worthing, & Stacy McCain. All of these people became his victims merely for writing blog posts about this man and his activities. I encourage you to read the links above. I would quote from them, but there’s too much there. I don’t feel I can properly excerpt any of it. But believe me when I say that his tactics against them have been nothing short of chilling.

Remember this scene from “The Untouchables”? Imagine Brett Kimberlin as Frank Nitti, and you’re getting warm. He’s been far worse than Nitti here though.

 

Anyway, on to the more distant past, and Brett Kimberlin’s initial “claim to fame”.

This is Brett Kimberlin:

Brett C. Kimberlin schemed to elude justice with a series of bizarre plots designed to murder, maim and rob his enemies, create havoc at Speedway and discredit the chief government prosecutor.

…

On sheets of yellow legal pad, Kimberlin asked another inmate in the Marion County Jail to arrange for the murder of Bernard L. (Buddy) Pylitt, the former first assistant U.S. attorney who coordinated his prosecution.

The offer contained a list of 10 names, including a potential prosecution witness, Robert Scott Bixler. Some names had crosses next to them. These indicated those marked for murder, it was learned.

…

“There were six to be killed, two or three to be roughed up and one or two were to be robbed”, a source said.

You might ask exactly what charges Kimberlin was facing and why he’d go to this trouble. Here’s your answer. This is Brett Kimberlin:

It was about ten minutes before 10 p.m. on Sept. 1, 1978 when the first two bombs went off. A third exploded at 10:45. They'd been placed in trash cans and dumpsters and no one had been close enough to be hurt, but the blasts were plenty large enough to do some real damage.

Still, it seemed like it might have been the work of teenage boys, who may have been sufficiently startled by their own handiwork to reconsider how they spent their idle time.

But the next night another bomb went off, and then another.

…

A Speedway High School gym bag had been left by itself, as if forgotten by a player. One of the parents, Carl DeLong, 39, walked over to retrieve it when the bomb went off. His right leg was nearly blown off and his left leg and right hand were severely damaged. Doctors tried to save his leg but had to amputate.

The bomb that maimed Carl DeLong on Sept. 6, 1978 turned out to be the last one, but residents of Speedway didn't know that. Each day people wondered when and where the Speedway Bomber would strike again. As far as the public knew, investigators had no idea who was behind it.

Brett Kimberlin is the Speedway bomber.

The shooter below is not Brett Kimberlin, but believed to have been working for him:

On July 29, 1978, Speedway resident Julia Scyphers, 65, answered a knock at her door. A man she didn't know was standing on her stoop asking about items she'd recently tried to sell at a yard sale. She let him into the garage to look at the items and he shot her in the head.

Mrs. Scypher's husband, Fred, 68, heard the bang and came out in time to see a car pulling out of the driveway. He would later tell police he'd gotten a glimpse of the man who'd come to the door.

Why would Kimberlin want this old lady dead? Good question. This is Brett Kimberlin:

Speedway police were puzzled by the murder. “She had no enemies,” they said.

But she did. Investigators learned her daughter, Sandra Barton was a close…very close friend of Brett C. Kimberlin. The relationship between the pair was complicated by his strange affection for Mrs. Barton’s pre-teen daughter, Debbie

The article I’m quoting was written in 1981. In 1981, that’s how they worded thing like that in the news, “strange affection for Mrs. Barton’s pre-teen daughter.”

Not following me, yet? Let me make it clearer with the following paragraph from the same article. This is Brett Kimberlin:

Investigators learned Debbie accompanied Kimberlin on several long, unsupervised trips, including holidays in Florida, Mexico and Hawaii.

Mrs. Scyphers violently disapproved of Kimberlin’s questionable relationship with Debbie and her mother.

Getting it now? “Strange affection”, “questionable relationship” are euphemisms.The author is trying very hard to state without stating that Brett Kimberlin is a pedophile.

This is also Brett Kimberlin:

Five years later, in 1988, Kimberlin vaulted himself into the national news when he claimed he'd once sold pot to Dan Quayle, then a U.S. Senator from Indiana and candidate for vice president. Quayle vehemently denied the charge and Kimberlin produced no proof beyond making the claim.
Kimberlin was paroled in 1994 after serving about 13 years of his 50-year sentence. But when he made no effort to pay the DeLong judgment his parole was revoked in 1997 and he went back to prison for about four more years, released again in 2001.

Finally, this is Brett Kimberlin:

Kimberlin is the business partner of leftist blogger Brad Friedman who frequently plays fast and loose with the facts. They are both involved with a group called Velvet Revolution which also receives funding from the Tides Foundation.

JTMP has received at least $70,000 in grants from the far-left Tides Foundation since 2006.  The 2006 grant in the amount of $60,000 was for general operations which means JTMP could use the funds without restriction. The 2008 grant of $10,000 was also for general operations.

Another noteworthy donor is singer and liberal activist Barbra Streisand who has given JTMP at least $10,000 through her Barbra Streisand Foundation since 2006 ($5,000 in 2006 for general operations and $5,000 in 2008 for general operations).

Yet another is Teresa Heinz Kerry, wife of Sen. John Kerry (D-Massachusetts).  Mrs. Kerry is CEO of the Heinz Family Foundation which has given JTMP at least $20,000 since 2006 (the grant was earmarked for general operations).

See, the “tolerant” left has no problems being associated with Kimberlin. In fact, the left loves him. Why?

Do the people at the Tides Foundation, Barbra Streisand Foundation, and Heinz Family Foundation know that they have given money to an organization run by a litigious, violent, radical felon who appears to delight in intimidating people whose views he disagrees with?

Oh wait. There’s no point in answering that question in the Obama era, is there?

Because he’s on their side, and he practices politics the Chicago way. Wow, and now we’re back full circle to Frank Nitti.

That is Brett Kimberlin.