-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.15/pageone.html <A HREF="http://www.zolatimes.com/V3.15/pageone.html">Laissez Faire City Times - Volume 3 Issue 15 </A> ----- The Laissez Faire City Times April 12, 1999 - Volume 3, Issue 15 Editor & Chief: Emile Zola ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send in the Waco Killers a book review by Sunni Maravillosa Got an out-of-control sheriff trampling the rights of citizens in your town? Has the EPA declared your back yard a wetland because of a small puddle that forms once a year�in which the rare spotted tree toad breeds�and now your kids can�t play there? Or has the IRS come after your uncle merely because he attended a peaceful protest of the income tax? Send in Vin Suprynowicz. Why Vin? Because when it comes to writing about such encroachments of liberty, Suprynowicz is among the best. This and his many other wordsmithing skills are evident in his new book, Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998. Although this is Suprynowicz�s first book, he�s hardly new to writing. He�s been a newsman for many years, and currently is an editorial writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Suprynowicz also writes a syndicated political column, "The Libertarian", that runs twice a week in newspapers around the country. It�s from his columns that the book springs, but individuals familiar with Suprynowicz�s column (it�s available on the Internet at the Vinyard, http://www.infomagic.com/liberty/vinyard.htm, or the Vindex at http://www.nguworld.com/vindex) should not conclude that they will find nothing of interest in it. Rather than simply tossing together related columns, the material has been reworked into chapters which flow beautifully and logically, offering an in-depth analysis of the topic. The result is nine chapters, covering topics such as the War On (Some) Drugs, public education, and the mainstream media. Each chapter is a clear elucidation of the libertarian position on the issue, along with examples of why government "help" is typically anything but helpful. Although I read a lot of political essays on the World Wide Web, I will confess that I hadn�t read many of Suprynowicz�s columns. A few of them crossed my screen, but more often, I saw quotations from them in people�s sig lines, or as support for an argument being presented. The pieces that I did see struck me as being very well done, and when I began to read Send in the Waco Killers I wondered if those were his best work. I now know that Suprynowicz�s writing is uniformly high quality. That level of quality is somewhat surprising among today�s newspaper professionals, the majority of whom dub some phenomenon with a catch-phrase and proceed to bleat it ad infinitum. In the entire book, I saw only one repeated phrase, and it was used precisely twice. Suprynowicz is one of a vanishing breed, a journalist with true skill. Suprynowicz is also not just a writer, but an investigator of the things about which he writes. Thus, Send in the Waco Killers is not just a volume of solid, thought-provoking essays from a libertarian perspective, but it offers substantive facts to support the points and arguments being offered. Checking into obscure FDA regulations and proposals; repeated, in-person interviews with individuals on both sides of a situation; finding historical precedents for current judicial shenanigans; and repeated, detailed follow-ups on stories are regular tools he uses. This is the way journalism is supposed to be, and this is one reason why his columns are powerful individual statements. Together in book form, those statements form an unwavering declaration, that at least one individual in the media knows how badly rigged the gummint game is, and isn�t afraid to tell others about it. Particularly effective in this regard is the chapter titled "Why People Hate the Government". It recounts stories of typical people who are victimized by government "assistance" or thuggery in a manner which makes the chapter an ideal vehicle for introducing the freedom philosophy to individuals who aren�t likely to read Rand or Hayek. One such story is that of Sissy Harrington-McGill, who became a target of FDA attention. She sold all-natural pet foods that she developed, doing quite well with her business. The FDA first started bugging her for failing to list ingredients that were not in her products, and then for not having those ingredients in the products. Even though she changed her labels almost yearly for close to a decade, they never satisfied the FDA. Harrington-McGill claims that the intent was to financially drain her company, an explanation which has merit. Then the FDA said her stores had to be closed, under a statute they refused to reveal to her. (It turns out that the "statute" was in a bill that the House had passed, and the Senate was expected to pass relatively quickly, but did not.) When Harrington-McGill insisted on a jury trial, the judge refused to grant her one and sentenced her to jail. While in jail, she had a stroke and received treatment while chained to a hospital bed. When the Senate did pass a version of the House Bill, it did not have the FDA provisions that the House one had� and not long after that, the judge gave Harrington-McGill a "compassionate release". Suprynowicz could find no one at the FDA or the judge�s office who was willing to talk about the case. And in checking into the laws authorizing the FDA, he found that they have no power in matters of pet and animal feeds. By carefully documenting and powerfully relating such cases, Suprynowicz makes it difficult for any person of integrity to ignore the abuses the government regularly heaps upon its citizens. In fact, the entire book, while uncompromisingly libertarian�and increasingly outraged�in tone, has a dignified air about it. Rather than slipping into name calling and ad hominem attacks, Suprynowicz allows the govgoons to hang themselves by their own rope and hand; he simply supplies appropriate adjectives and adverbs along the way. The combination of Bumper Hornberger-style solid research and L. Neil Smith-type emotional color puts Send in the Waco Killers in a class of its own. For conservatives, Send in the Waco Killers will likely get the standard complaints of being too "extreme" (a label Suprynowicz deftly handles in the book). To today�s liberals, it is likely to be held as an example of why we "need" government, to "protect" the poor benighted people from radicals like Suprynowicz. For libertarians, Send in the Waco Killers is a chapter-by-chapter bulls-eye on what�s wrong with the current American system of government. It is also a wonderful way to introduce those new to the ideas of the freedom philosophy to specific examples and historical information, without drowning them in intellectual argumentation. For anyone who aspires to be a reporter in the proud tradition of days long gone, Send in the Waco Killers is a rare example of journalism done properly, and with the respect for the readers that is absent from most newspapers. Despite this high praise for Mr. Suprynowicz�s work, I do have one criticism of Send in the Waco Killers: it�s too short. While each topic is covered in depth, and the volume as a whole moves satisfyingly toward the climactic final chapter, titled "It Keeps Coming Back to Waco", plenty of issues were not addressed, among them asset forfeiture and taxation. To be fair, though, it�s unlikely anyone could adequately address every area of injustice in a mere 500 pages. I prefer quality of presentation over quantity of issues discussed anyway. Besides, this leaves room for readers to hope for another collection from Vin. Send in Vin Suprynowicz! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send in the Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998, by Vin Suprynowicz. Copyright 1999, Vin Suprynowicz, published by Mountain Media in trade paper. Retail price $21.95. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Sunni Maravillosa is a psychologist and web mistress for the Liberty Round Table (URL http://home.lrt.org/ ). These days you can also find her in Freedom City part of another pro-freedom activity she co-founded with Don L. Tiggre, The Freedom Channel (URL http://www.evanstonwy.com/freedom ). -30- from The Laissez Faire City Times, Vol 3, No 15, April 12, 1999 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Published by Laissez Faire City Netcasting Group, Inc. Copyright 1998 - Trademark Registered with LFC Public Registrar All Rights Reserved Disclaimer The Laissez Faire City Times is a private newspaper. Although it is published by a corporation domiciled within the sovereign domain of Laissez Faire City, it is not an "official organ" of the city or its founding trust. Just as the New York Times is unaffiliated with the city of New York, the City Times is only one of what may be several news publications located in, or domiciled at, Laissez Faire City proper. For information about LFC, please contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. 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