Information about this group has been coming to me for a few months. Lately, I've started watching for their messages because most of them are quite well written and make a lot of good sense -- from the American "mom, Flag and apple pie" point of view that we once called "the American Way." Besides, they echo so much of what I have been writing over the years that I feel I would fit right in with their group.

The group is national. As near as I can tell, they are now well formed and active in at least fourteen states. But, apparently, the group is still using two names, which somewhat complicates things.

In some areas of the country, they call themselves the "Fourth Way." An associated group in at least one area of the country goes by the "Fourth Brigade." For many reasons, we believe the "Fourth Way" is much more descriptive of the group's goals and sounds a whole lot less like a radical group. After all, if the "Third Way" socialists think their name is acceptable, they should have no problems with a little one-upmanship.

Based on their own literature, the "Fourth Way" handle was intended to be a play off the "Third Way" socialist's moniker. According to them, our "First Way" was the early colonial government under England. The "Second Way" was our Constitutional form of government as was originally intended by the Founding Fathers. The "Third Way" is the socialism starting with the FDR administration and now perpetrated by Clinton, Lieberman and their 150 or so Democrats in Congress. The "Fourth Way," then, is a citizen's group intending to drive the central government back to a return to the original intent of the Founding Fathers.

That sounds very good on this end, of course. We've been proposing that for many years. Therefore, we fail to see exactly where the name "Fourth Brigade" fits here. However, it is still used by some.

The "Fourth Way" is a political group, of course. I have yet to see any messages about guns or paramilitary training. They are, however, doing considerable research on winning campaign techniques. They are also looking into political fund-raising.

One point I would make is that the "Fourth Way" might want to join forces with the quickly expanding Republican Liberty Caucus. Their goals seem to parallel nicely. And, the goals of both the "Fourth Way" and the Republican Liberty Caucus parallel nicely with most of the folks on the Free Republic web site.

Which brings us to yet another very interesting point: Free Republic and the Republican Liberty Caucus are becoming political forces that must be reckoned with by the left. Some members are active in both groups, which insures that information gets out to interested people nation-wide almost instantly. Free Republic was started, more or less, like a modern Liberty Tree where people could post news and views for discussion by many. Lately, though, Free Republic has sprouted off into a coalition of state and local groups -- each politically active in their respective areas. So, while the Liberty Tree aspect of Free Republic is still very active and growing, so is their political activism.

Better yet, the "Freepers" of Free Republic are having a great deal of fun with being political activists. Many readers will remember, during the second and third vote recounts in Florida, that protesters were outside the Vice President's mansion every evening shouting, "Get out of Cheney's house!" That was, of course, the D.C. chapter of Free Republic -- with a few "Freepers" from other chapters visiting periodically.

The Republican Liberty Caucus isn't exactly into demonstrations yet, but that could change. A number of RLC members joined the "Freepers" in their outward expressions of displeasure with Clinton and Gore around the country. Even this scribbler drove down to the airport when Clinton came for a local fund-raiser. (In the interest of fair reporting, I must admit to being a proud member of both the Republican Liberty Caucus and Free Republic.)

People soon find that, although the vitriol of the left has disturbed us some, it has not infected us at all. The friendly people are on our side of the political equation. That's because freedom and liberty are happy things.

Those looking for doom and gloom in politics should look to the socialists and Marxists. They seem to be able to find a problem with nearly everything in human existence. And, each of their perceived "problems" always requires yet another level of intervention by the central government. Most Americans now realize the fallacy of the left. That is why Liberty minded organizations are growing so fast.

And so we welcome the new "Fourth Way" (if they ever choose to go public) into the quest for Liberty. Come on in, folks. The water is warm, the conversation is spirited yet friendly and there is plenty of room for more good people. We look forward to you joining the fun.

"How fitting," a friend who is the popular middle aged pastor of an inner-city church, said over the telephone as I was reaching for my first coffee of the morning. "It's hard to believe this guy is really moving into an Harlem enterprise zone."

Having not heard the news yet that morning, the Pastor had to inform me it was official. Bill Clinton was chasing a social services woman's care office and a children's day care center out of an enterprise zone building so he could set up a large private office there. In a neighborhood overrun with prostitution, drug dealers, street crime, and sometimes full scale riots, ex-president Bill Clinton injects his former-president's office.

The Right Reverend Pastor was exactly correct: "How fitting!" If nothing else, that will certainly keep Clinton's Secret Service detachment alert and busy.

Because, there will come a time when the news will leak out about what the Clinton presidency did to so many of his so-called "friends" on the left. When that happens, there may come a day when the people of Harlem will join millions of people across the country and start expressing their displeasure for him. They may also get just a little vocal about it.

Already, union members across the country are shaking their heads, knowing they were hoodwinked into wasting their vote. In Clinton's wake, there will be a number of the Teamsters and AFL-CIO leadership in prison for campaign finance money laundering and other odds and ends.

There are quite a number of Clinton's past friends who either have, or may soon be, doing some prison time. If that list is ever published, the reaction should be very interesting. Clinton pardoned people for money, but he turned his back on everyone who supported him in his run for office. Already, there is grumbling about that in liberal circles.

Union members are also a bit upset with all the "deals" Clinton made with communist China. The communists are now sending tons of products into our country, costing hundreds of American union jobs. That huge trade deficit we have with China affects us all, just as if it were a hidden tax. It doesn't help when union members read of the wholesale persecution of Christians by Clinton's friends, the communist Chinese, either. Union members also know that some of the products China sends here are made by slave labor in prison camps.

Things were not any better with Clinton and national security. According to the Washington Times last Monday: "Bill Gertz also reported earlier this month that, according to U.S. intelligence officials, the FBI has identified more than 3,000 Chinese government-linked businesses operating in the United States. The FBI's 'counterspies' claim that at least 300 of those Chinese entities not only fund Beijing's military, but are used to provide cover for intelligence officers or intelligence- gathering activities and acquire technology that could have military applications."

Clinton allowed the communist Chinese to rip off whatever of our military secrets they needed. Now these communists have ICBMs with nuclear warheads large enough to evaporate a half-million Americans per bang pointed at our cities. Worse, China refers to the United States as "Enemy No. 1."

Of course, Clinton got a little out of that deal, too. Besides the few million illegal bucks the communists laundered into the Clinton & Gore campaigns, China will also support Clinton in his bid to become the UN's Secretary General next year. Meanwhile, Fapai, a Chinese firm specializing in men's garments, offered Clinton two million bucks to be its "image ambassador." Yet another pay-off? Probably.

And so it goes. Clinton will never go away because he can't. He simply does not realize that ostentatious, illegal and immoral are words that pertain to things a president or ex-president should not do. Everyone in his past was burned by his indifference and lack of loyalty and so will everyone in his future. The Clintons are little more than common grifters -- con artists who successfully fooled the 24% of the electorate necessary to get into the White House.

Now it's the dictatorship of communist China's turn to pay. They made a mistake allowing Clinton's cronies to sell all that fancy electronic equipment -- including satellite television and access to the Internet -- to the common people. Like all people, when the Chinese see what liberty and freedom are like, they are going to want some. It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the Chinese people to rise up and smite their oppressors. Surely, the communist party is getting a little worried about now.

One President said that a rising tide raises all boats. People are now starting to understand that Bill Clinton's wake capsizes a lot of them.

Ask any public servant if our Constitution is the "law of the land" and they will reply in the affirmative. However, if one mentions to anyone in government that any action, law, rule, or regulation performed or proposed that is contrary to the Constitution must then be a violation of the law of the land, one would get a blank stare -- and an angry bureaucrat.

The sorry fact is that all public servants must swear an oath to God to support the Constitution, but few even know or understand it. Therefore, they violate the law of the land regularly. And often intentionally.

One maxim in the law many lawmakers like to use to admonish citizens with is that ignorance of the law is no excuse. The problem is, none of us can know the law anymore because there is too damn much of it. So, as citizens, we much prefer James Madison's (in The Federalist Papers No. 62) admonishment to those in government:

"It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man, who knows what the law is today, can guess what it will be tomorrow. Law is defined to be a rule of action; but how can that be a rule, which is little known, and less fixed?"

Many of our laws, rules and regulations today are not even close to being Constitutional. Alexander Hamilton (in The Federalist No. 78) admonishes both the American people and their public servants on that:

"There is no position which depends on clearer principles than that every act of a delegated authority, contrary to the tenor of the commission under which it is exercised, is void. No legislative act, therefore, contrary to the Constitution, can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy is greater than his principal; that the servant is above his master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people themselves; that men acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid."

The United States Supreme Court agreed with Hamilton. In "Norton v. Shelby" (118 US 423), the Supreme Court said that: "An unconstitutional act is not law. It confers no rights, it imposes no duty, it affords no protection, it creates no office."

There is no Constitutional authority for the federal government to pass laws concerning our personal arms, our local environment, personal vehicles, food, toilets, water, drugs, farming, and a few hundred other things they are involved in regulating. They wrongly assumed their own authority.

Even when the Supreme Court tells Congress and the administration they have no authority to do certain things, they disregard the Court's order and continue on anyway. In so doing, they also violate our Constitutional rights.

18 USC 241 states that "if two or more persons conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District in the free exercise or enjoyment of any right or privilege secured to him by the Constitution or laws of the United States ... They shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, they shall be fined under this title or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death."

More tuned to Congress, the administration and law enforcement is 18 USC 242: "Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death."

So, on our side we have the Constitution. We have the legal explanation of the Constitution in the Federalist Papers. We have a few Court cases on our side. And, we even have some statutory law with which to use to prosecute those in government who violate the above.

All we need now is a citizen's grand jury and a prosecutor and judge willing to do their duty.

Any volunteers for jury duty?

With a membership of 1.5 million throughout the United States and Canada, it is probably not a good idea to get the International Brotherhood of Teamsters too riled up. But, due to a problem left over from the Clinton administration, that is exactly what is happening. Thanks to missteps and inaction by the Clinton administration, the folks we depend on to deliver nearly everything we buy today may be adversely hit in the pocketbook.

It's simple economics, actually. Every truck we see on the highway should represent two important things to us: an American at work providing a useful service for us and American commerce on the move. The government tightly regulates the trucking industry -- too much so, many say. But the fact remains that the United States fields the safest truck drivers and the best maintained vehicles in the world.

But, that may be changing somewhat. On February 6, a North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) dispute panel effectively told the United States that it was no longer in complete control of its own highways.

For many years, Mexican trucks could enter the United States, but could go no farther than 25 miles of the border. From there, U.S. trucks would carry the loads to points around our country. There were actually a number of very good reasons for this policy.

Generally, Mexican trucks are not maintained nearly as well as our trucks and many of the Mexican drivers are not very well trained. There has also been a problem of illegal alien smuggling via truck -- one truck was found to have over 90 "passengers" in the trailer. And, of course, tons of illegal drugs enter the United States each month through Mexico. Besides roadworthiness and smuggling, officials say Mexican trucks are often overloaded and their safety and pollution control systems are often out-of-date or even nonexistent.

Studies done by the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Inspector General and the U.S. General Accounting Office have concluded that far too many safety hazards remain unresolved, and that the United States is not prepared to handle the massive influx of foreign traffic that would result from opening the border. Furthermore, DOT reports that none of the driver safety programs and regulations we have are in place in Mexico.

United States drivers pay over $100,000 each for their tractors and tend to take great care of their investments. In Mexico, if the truck runs, they will use it. The average age of a United States trucking fleet is approximately 5 years, the average age of a Mexican trucking fleet is 16 years or more.

Anyway, the NAFTA dispute panel told the Clinton administration that the United States was discriminating against Mexico. Instead of telling NAFTA to shove that silly idea someplace where the sun doesn't shine, Clinton let the clock run out and the NAFTA board ruled against the United States.

So, under the new ruling, the United States will be required to either approve access for Mexican trucks that meet U.S. standards or make big payments (fines?) to the Mexican government.

Now comes President George W. Bush complicating the issue. In an interview last year with "eTrucker," Bush chastised the Clinton Administration's policies. "I support NAFTA trucking," Bush is reported as saying. "Clinton has closed the [Mexican] border to trucks because he just doesn't want to cooperate with the spirit of the law."

Wrong answer, Mister President.

The first time one of those dilapidated Mexican trucks runs over a small car containing a family of four on the Interstate, or crashes into a loaded school bus at 55 miles per hour, there will be open season on them from coast to coast. We the American People have a perfect right to know that the trucker piloting that eighteen wheeler next to us on the highway is driving excellent equipment and is an expert at operating it. This is not negotiable. That trust must not be violated for any reason.

Bush knew that. Therefore, he then qualified his statement somewhat: "Obviously we want to make sure the trucks coming from Mexico are safe."

Yeah. And free of illegal drugs and illegal aliens would be nice, too. Therefore, all Mexican trucks must be inspected 100% before entering the United States. But, the federal government does not even have enough inspectors to check 10% of them. That's already a major part of the problem.

So, the United States may no longer prevent Mexican trucks from coming into the country. Not officially, anyway. Don't look for the Teamsters to just sit back and be quiet, though. Because, there's yet another problem that has not been addressed:

A retired trucking company executive indicated that some companies could realize a great savings in shipping costs from this ruling. That is, those companies close to Mexico could intentionally ship merchandise down to Mexico simply to take advantage of the lower labor and equipment costs. Mexican drivers can then deliver the product to its ultimate destination in the United States.

Of course, that works the other way, too. Some Mexican trucking companies worry that large U.S. carriers will steal their best drivers. American companies could double the Mexican driver's rate of pay and still save a bundle compared to paying an American driver.

Until all of these concerns are adequately addressed, we look for a loud debate among governments, unions, safety groups and trucking businesses. Meanwhile, we all should contact the White House and Capitol hill and tell everyone we can find simply: make those Mexican trucks stay home.

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