An Anonymous Rebuttal

http://www.michaelconnelly.jigsy.com/

An Anonymous Rebuttal

September 30, 2014

On February 20, 2013 I wrote and posted the first article on my blog titled “Disarming America’s Heroes” detailing what was happening to veterans who were being denied their Second Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights. It was reposted on many websites and within a few days attacked on Michelle Malkin’s blog called “Twitchy”. The article attacking my article was posted anonymously by someone using the handle “GothGuy” who claims to be a former Veterans Advocate.

          He basically claims that my article is totally inaccurate and misleading and that no veterans are losing their Second Amendment rights.  It is in fact his claims that are totally inaccurate. For example, he makes the following statement “What he (the author) has written is misleading on a couple of points (actually, more than a couple). Not just ‘someone in the VA’ can declare a veteran incompetent, the veteran must be diagnosed by a doctor as incompetent during an examination”

          In fact, virtually none of the veterans we are representing at the USJF have ever had such an examination by a doctor, and certainly not by a psychiatrist or a psychologist. They may have been diagnosed with having PTSD, but that is not classified as a mental illness and certainly doesn’t make someone incompetent to handle their own financial affairs, or incapable of owning a firearm.

          The anonymous writer then goes on to state: “Further, the author cites the 5th Amendment, well, again, it’s misleading the way he wrote this. The veteran is free to submit evidence, request a pre-determination hearing before being declared incompetent to handle his or her affairs, and trust me, I have participated in those hearing many times over 16 years, and have won virtually all of them prior to the final determination. No 5th Amendment rights are violated.”

In fact, this comment proves the very point I made in my article. The due process clause of the Constitution requires the government to prove that someone is guilty or in this case incompetent.  Yet, what the writer states is that the veteran bears the burden of proof at his or her own expense to prove that they are competent. There are numerous other inaccuracies in this article but the bottom line is that this anonymous writer is clearly defending the illegal actions of the VA.

What is even more disturbing to me is that within a few days of the appearance of this attack on a conservative website, the article was posted on a blog sponsored by the American Legion called “Burn Pit”. The person who posted it is named Mark Searcy and he not only endorsed the comments of the writer, but added his own inaccurate comments like: “A lot of well-meaning folks are sending me links to this piece at "Red Flag" news about how the VA is trying to confiscate the guns of people with PTSD.  It's not entirely accurate.”

          Unfortunately, it appears that Mr. Searcy either did not read my original article or has distorted what it says. It dealt with veterans losing their second amendment rights for numerous other reasons than just PTSD. He concludes his comments by stating: “So here's the real deal....yes, it is happening, but only to people who are adjudicated as being mentally incompetant for purposes of handling their financial dealings.  It isn't everyone with PTSD, everyone at 100 percent disability, or anything of the like.  If there is someone out there who has been adjudicated incompetant, and is worried about being added to the NICS list, contact us immediately so we can help you.” (The misspellings of incompetent are his, not mine)

          As I clearly point out in my article, there is no legal adjudication involved, and Mr. Searcy seems totally uninterested in the fact that these veterans are losing their right to own a firearm and being put on the FBI National Instant Criminal Background Checklist. Yet there are thousands of veterans who have lost their right to own a firearm who have not been adjudicated to be “mentally defective to the point of being a danger to themselves or others.”

          It is obvious that neither Mr. Searcy nor the person known only as GothGuy have never talked to any of the veterans I have nor have they talked to the VA whistleblowers who have provided me with confirmation of the information in my articles. Yet, this anonymous article was posted on a conservative website, picked up and amplified on an American Legion website and is now being forwarded to veterans all over the country.

          Ironically, I am a lifetime member of the American Legion and a past post commander, yet no one at the Legion ever contacted me to give me a chance to show the evidence we have accumulated and verify that everything I have said is true. Our veterans deserve better.

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|   Tags veterans veteran competency veteran gun rights hr 3200 2nd amendment american legion michael connelly constitutional


Michael Connelly,
Constitutional Lawyer
Executive Director of the United States Justice Foundation. (www.usjf.net)
Personal website and blog: Michael Connelly blog
CLA site: Constitutional Law Alliance
Author of "The Mortarmen" a book about my father's unit in WWII; "Riders in the Sky: The Ghosts and Legends Of Philmont Scout Ranch",my novel "Amayehli: A Story of America", and the newly released "America's Liveliest Ghosts "
I also have written a booklet on the U.S. Constitution that highlights each section and amendment the way it was originally written. Then I add my comments about what they all truly mean. This a pocket size booklet that every patriotic American should own and distribute to friends and relatives. Find out more and how to order it at:  Constitutional Law Alliance
Check out my radio talk show every week called "Our Constitution" at: http://www.americaswebradio.com/showpages/OurConstitution.php 
 

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  • Obama clearly does not like US military or people who have been or are in the US military.

  • SADISTS,PSYCHOPATHS FIND NEW HOME ONLINE

    Here's your answer Col. They are sick people.

  • Well I can only speak for myself.The VAMC in Grand Jct. sent me up to Mental Health-because I am diagnosed as bi-polar --and have a seizure disorder.I am currently taking NO medications for either.The woman who drew my file  started off fixated on my Sexual fantasies. (why  "progressives" always fixate on other peoples fantasies  I cannot figure out)  I attempted to explain I am a Happily Married Christian and my wife is My fantasy  and anything else does not matter because it is as worthless as looking at  those sex books children like to look at. You can lookie all you want but only thing touching is Manuella and her sisters. It is fantasy--and a waste of time. SO  she asked my wife (I don't trust the VAMC to speak to me alone any more.) My wife  agreed with what I said. So we moved on.The  Mental caseworker Next attacked her  intended target. She asked if I had any guns --and I said last I heard we still have a second amendment. She told me "a lot of people think the Second Amendment does not apply to people like you." I responded that is NOT what it declares! Next she insisted I needed to let her  help me  get any guns out of my house.  I said I stand on the Second Amendment --and will Not leave my family unprotected." She said that's what the police are for.I reminded her that the Courts here in Colorado have declared  "the police are under no obligation to protect anybody --NOT even a woman who had jumped through all of the hoops required by  law to secure a Court Ordered Restraint against an abusive Ex (like the woman in Castle Rock had done  and her EX ignored the Court order kid knapped her children drove them to Denver and killed them) Yet everyone except the ex did what the Law required. A lot of noise is going down about the Islamic Terrorist who had killed and beheaded one of his fellow workers-- and was killing another --in OK The Government refuses to call it what it was and acts as if the man who ended the assault was acting wrongfully .Because he was a legal concealed carry.We need more of them. The local VAMC says they can't do anything for me because I won't let them take away my Rights.I have Never used a firearm against anybody (except when I was on active duty --and it was necessary) I have Never pointed any of my guns at another. I did admit I would live to regret not pushing my wife aside and going for my guns to protect my  family when the Local DHS  used police force to take my grandchildren. (two out of three) Then used that honest account to justify the taking of my grandchildren. (I grew up in a home that kept several hunting rifles and .22. varmit  rifles--and pistols--and always at least one or two loaded . None of our guns were ever needed to  prevent trespassing or  harm . go figure.  Last I heard all--or nearly every shooter in every school shooting had been prescribed some form of psychotropic drugs. The problem is Not  so much the guns --but people who use them knowing they have a soft target-- and the cops won't stop them.It is more the drugs-- and our secular society that are more  responsible for the gun violence and suicides than  anything else. I'm happy and trust the palladium of all our rights The Second Amendment --more than I trust the "progressive" shrinks and wanna be such at the VAMC.

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  •   The establishment needs to  remove arms from  every law abiding citizen. We are their largest problem . Well trained military Patriots are their largest fear. The foreign invaders they are bringing in now will be like the Iraq soldiers,drop their weapons and run when faced with true Americans defending OUR NATION.

  • COL, my Brother in law was a Ranger in Vietnam. He has PTSD and goes to the VA. On his first visit, some other Veterans warned him that if he showed signs of being unable to control himself, he could be visited by a "team" who would confiscate all his weapons, then he would never be allowed to own any again.  There is NO process once the Va decides the Veteran is a threat to himself or to the community.  It is entirely arbitrary.

    Thanks for writing your article.  The left is so focused on controlling everything in our life that they will do and say anything to force their agenda on us all.  One of their highest priorities is to steal our weapons and our rights along with them.  We must not allow that to happen so your work with USJF is critical if we are to preserve our rights.

    • Hello Mike..........yep, the warning is needed.  I experienced a similar interview but gave no hint that would send the "team" after me.  Thanks for sharing your brother's experience.

      By the way, Michael Connelly wrote the article.  Michael is a solid supporter of everything American and has written Articles of Impeachment against Obama and always supports our military.

  • It seems very obvious to me from reading this article & other comments (as well as removing top military personnel from the 'old school') & Obama's attempts to remove guns from the general population, that the "powers that be" are scared witless that there could be an uprising of the people & ultimately civil war. I would say that these actions are intended to try to curb their fears to change these "imagined" outcomes. Every dictatorship started with the disarming of the people.

    • IT is as it was written long ago the easiest way to enslave a people is to disarm them. My ancestors I am told learned how to  get creative  when the Brits controlled Ireland.

  • The "science" of phrenology, which proposed to attribute certain faculties and characteristics of the human character to specific areas of the brain, maintained that heightened activity in these areas resulted in enlargement that was reflected in the shape and configuration of the skull housing it. Phrenologists sought to measure the location and size of cranial "bumps" to identify various personality types and predispositions to criminal or violent behavior. Serious professional medical practitioners immersed themselves in attempting to map the human brain and obtain a quantifiable scientifically relevant measure of personality from measuring and mapping of the topography of the cranium. In theory, if a "bump" at a specific location was common to convicted murderers, but not to the general public, a child developing a "bump" at that identical location would bear watching and indicate a need for therapy and possibly confinement.

    I once heard an apocryphal anecdote in college about one of the last authorities in the field of phrenology. Supposedly this individual was an upstanding member of the community, a husband, and the father of several children by his wife. The story maintains that this individual had never undergone an examination of his cranium based on phrenology. When he died suddenly, his colleagues decided to do a mapping of his cranium for posterity. After a thorough examination they concluded that the results indicated that he was "a raving queen", a euphuism for a sexual deviant, and all of them promptly abandoned the "science" of phrenology.

    Modern medicine is as much an art as a science, despite the general reputation of physicians as wonderfully talented healers who perform near miracles. The truth is more that they are gifted surgeons that have learned to repair damage, stop bleeding, stimulate the heart to resume beating, restore normal breathing, amputate or excise faulty bits and pieces, make educated guesses on the administration of chemical compounds, and apply time-tested therapies that counteract trauma and enable the human body to heal itself. In the thousands of years mankind has been trying to treat illness and injury, it was only a couple of centuries ago that physicians were still bleeding patients to remove "bad humors", administering tobacco smoke enemas to treat bowel ailments, did not know of the existence of bacteria or viruses, and did not sterilize their hands or equipment before treating a patient.

    Psychology and psychiatry are even younger branches of the medical art than binding wounds or making potions, and they are attempting to master the most complex organ in the human body with a woefully inadequate knowledge of its functioning. What pitifully few tools they possess to diagnose and treat aberrant behavior consist of x-ray film images, monitoring of electronic activity in the brain and nervous system, observation, communication with the patient, verbal manipulation, tests that measure relative intelligence, creativity, perception and attitude, invasive surgery, electroshock therapy, and a host of practices to analyze and treat mental illness that are worthy of a witchdoctor, primitive medicine man, gypsy fortune teller or an exorcist. Modern psychiatry can no more be relied upon to accurately predict human behavior than phrenology can distinguish between a budding sociopath and a future librarian. Psychiatrists express their opinions in generalities, possibilities, and alternatives. There is no more reason to give their opinions credence than there is to expect an accurate diagnosis and psychological profile from a Voodoo Priest.

    When a psychiatrist can accurately and consistently predict whether a person walking across an open area will continue walking straight, turn around and walk back, change direction and walk left or right, or will simply halt, then I will  begin to believe in the merits of their science. Until then, I will continue to believe that they are mere mortal flawed human beings no more qualified to assess the threat posed by another person with access to a firearm than their patient is of diagnosing their psychiatrist's emotional and mental state. Psychiatrists are just shills for the social engineering project being conducted by the current federal government administration. Whatever the Secret Service is paying its agents to protect Obama, it may not be enough to guarantee that one of them will not eventually commit regicide or simply allow someone else to do the job.  

      

    • A learned reply--T'anks. And I pray that we may hear that one of his own  has either done --or allowed what you suggest  for I have no confidence of any justice being served via Congress which appears complicit in the crimes against our Country.

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