Should Federal Clerks and Archivists Have Guns and Badges?
August 13, 2010 | Filed Under Constitution, Crime, Freedom, Government, Guns, History, Law, Police, Policy, Regulation, Warner Todd Huston | 2 Comments
-By Warner Todd Huston
To attest to the ever more authoritarian nature of our federal government, I give you the stormtroopers of the National Archives who, for some unfathomable reason, have guns, badges and the power to “raid homes.”
The L.A. Times published a story recently detailing the poor state of security of our National Archives holdings. The piece penned by Faye Fiore is one that everyone should read because it details the utter incompetence of our federal government even at so small a level as safeguarding our nation’s historical records and archives. (And we want these nincompoops to take over our healthcare?)
Fiore reveals to her readers that thousands and thousands of our important national documents have disappeared over the decades, stolen by underlings and researchers who then sell them to collectors — not to mention the occasional Democrat operative that steals records to hide them from probing political eyes.
Fiore tells us that the Wright Brothers 1903 patent application has been stolen, a copy of FDR’s “Day of Infamy” speech is gone, items once belonging to Harry Truman, Lincoln, and others as well as thousands of Civil War documents, all have been stolen to be sold to private collectors.
Then Fiore tells us of the dedicated work of Paul Brachfeld, the inspector general of the National Archives. Brachfeld has undertaken a massive campaign to scour historical artifacts shows, dealers and ebay to try and begin to recover these priceless artifacts that inform us of our national history. The piece even tells us of the Archives’ Facebook page where you can help track stolen artifacts.
Brachfeld has the force of law behind him and anyone caught stealing these artifacts and records can most certainly be arrested and charged with a crime, as well they should. These are important documents that help us understand our past and must be safeguarded from abuse, theft, and indifference.
But nestled into Fiore’s report is this paragraph…
Mitchell Yockelson, a veteran archivist, is the team’s historical brains. He decides what belongs to the nation and what doesn’t. *Special agents Kelly Maltagliati and Dave Berry are the law enforcement brawn. They carry guns and raid houses.
I’m sorry… what? These people, what are essentially glorified clerks, have guns, badges and can “raid houses”?
What sort of Gestapo state are we running when mere paper shufflers are give guns and the police powers?
This is idiocy beyond imagination. Why do these people need guns? Are they going to get in a running gunfight with the 300-pound civil war aficionado that stole a few documents to sell on ebay? Is Clintonista Sandy Burger going to open fire on these clerks when they find the documents he stuffed in his underwear?
Yes, we should use the U.S. Marshals service when these glorified clerks find a document thief, but these people — dedicated as they are — DO NOT belong having badges, guns and the power to “raid homes.”
There are far too many “officers” of the state running around with guns, badges, and police powers. From federal and state treasury agents, to useless BATF guys that couldn’t get into a real police force, to any manner of dog catcher and street light repairman, we have these people being issued guns and given powers that far exceed their station.
No wonder we see more and more average, everyday Americans looking or concealed carry rights. When every last postal clerk, ditch digger, and paper shuffler in government seems to have a gun, a badge and the power to “raid homes” the average citizen needs a gun just so that these out-of-control government lackies don’t get the notion in their head that they are unaccountable to the lowly people!
I salute these National Archives employees and am glad they are trying to get our nation’s heritage back in the national archives where they belong. But these people do NOT need federal police powers and government issued guns to do it.
When did America become such a police state?
*These two are “Special Agents” of the National Archives and Records Administration.
____________
“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
For a full bio, please CLICK HERE.
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