The Terrorist State: Are YOU on the Right Side of History?

I will be the first to admit when I use hyperbole or exaggeration to make a point in my writing. Unfortunately, I am using neither when I describe the City of Anaheim as a Terrorist State. Limited government is crucial because the state is incredibly powerful and inherently predatory. Governments have favored access to technology, the media, and, above all, information. A State (meaning any type of government) is naturally predatory because it can not exist without extracting resources from the public, i.e. taxes. When a government uses its inherent advantages to stay in power through the use of fear and intimidation, the social contract underlying its legitimacy is destroyed, and it becomes a Terrorist State.

Over the past year, I have found that it is difficult to engage the public on the issue of abusive government. People are certainly inclined to believe that the government is abusing its power, but at the same time, they have no appetite for the specifics. At the local level where government is closest to the people, the public responds to state abuse by withdrawing from the public arena. That is not surprising; the state’s reach appears endless, and feelings of helplessness and powerlessness lead to apathy and nihilism.

Because of the anxiety people have towards the state, perhaps, when people hear of government abuse close to home, it is comforting to write it off as a conspiracy theory or just business as usual. Doing so, allows one to escape a feeling of responsibility for what is being done in their name and with their money. Nevertheless, people do act to bring down governments, legally or otherwise.  At some threshold, the public realizes that their government acts only to bring on instability by preserving itself; and for stability’s sake, the people replace the government.

In Anaheim, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore the Terrorist State that has developed at City Hall under the Council Majority. Thanks to the regime’s own incompetent cruelness, it can now easily and credibly be explained how the city promotes insecurity when it exercises its power to put fear in the opposition. Of all things, this was made possible when the powers that be at City Hall mutilated a stuffed teddybear. The notion is so absurd that people can’t help but inquire, and when they make sense of the situation, the depravity of the Council Majority comes into view.

You can find my write-up on the twisted teddybear incident here. But suffice it to say, it revealed the isolation and moral ineptitude of Anaheim’s ruling clique. The adults running the city purchased a stuffed bear, lit it on fire, tore it apart to rip out some of its insides, and photographed it along with a mock candlelight vigil scene. Happening right before Christmas, the city’s propaganda department posted the photo on the night of a yearly scheduled candlelight vigil, held by the mother of a man shot and killed by the Anaheim Police Department. No one was fired, the Council Majority was largely silent, and the city passed it off as a joke.

Truth be told, the twisted event probably signaled the beginning of the end for the regime in Anaheim. After-all, what parent wants to spend the holidays with their kids telling them how mom/dad helped mock a mother who lost her son in a violent death. Moreover, to the extent the meaning of the episode sinks in, it puts everything the city does in a different light. All of a sudden, something that once sounded like a conspiracy theory begins to sound like a modus operendi. It does not take  a skeptic then, to wonder why the Council Majority wants to destroy a memorial to another man killed by police to build a monument honoring its infamous police dogs.

So, forgive me if I ever sound paranoid. I must admit, when I heard that “gangs” came to Anaheim Hills and chopped down trees in a park, it is hard for me not to imagine Councilwoman Kris Murray and Anaheim Chamber of Commerce head Todd Ament dressed in all black running around with axes laughing at their own cleverness. That is what the Terrorist State does: it uses its authority to strike fear in the population hoping it will change the terms of the debate in a manner that is more conducive to reelection. Over the past year, the Council Majority has all but but begged Anaheim to riot. This of course, focuses the public’s attention on criminals in the streets, and not on the criminals at City Hall.

While spending and policy are high on the list, the Terrorist State is why the election in November is of paramount importance to Anaheim. It is impossible to get spending and policy right in the current political environment. The Council Majority uses fear to stifle debate, but only debate creates good ideas. Instability comes when the government no longer functions to effectually represent the people. In Anaheim, a vote against the Council Majority is a vote for stability.

If the City of Bell or Irvine’s Great Park Audit teach us anything about local government, it is that if YOU are up to no good at City Hall, YOU will be found-out and held accountable. Your children, friends and neighbors  will, eventually, know that YOU stole from them, as well as every other taxpayer. So if you are like Angels player Adam Kennedy, who is appearing as a special guest at a fundraiser for the Council Majority, remember that you are being judged by history. YOUR role in the Terrorist State will not go unrecognized by posterity.


About Daniel Sterling Lamb

Daniel is an attorney in Orange County, California. A conservative activist born in Anaheim, he is driven by his dedication to fiscal responsibility and transparency in local governments. "Government does not solve problems—it subsidizes them” Ronald Reagan, first said in 1967 and used many times as governor of California and while campaigning for president of the United States. He loves that quote! Follow Dan on twitter @DanSterlingLamb