[For the full story on these transcript excerpts, see
Part 1 of our exclusive special series at Mother Jones.]
Closing night address by Judge Andrew Napolitano of Fox News
As introduced by Fred Young
Koch Brothers' 2011 Summer Seminar
Ritz-Carlton Beaver Creek Resort - near Vail, Colorado
Transcribed from audio recorded June 27, 2011
Transcription by Emily Levy for The BRAD BLOG
ANDREW NAPOLITANO (CON'T): Now, you're home one night, there's a knock on the door [thump, thump, thump]. You open the door. There's a guy with a gun. The guy says to you, "Give me your money. I want to give it away in your name." You said, "What the heck is this all about?" You call the police. Turns out it was the police. It was a federal agent! Come to collect your taxes. Would you give some thug with a gun your money and let him give it away in your name? Of course not! Would you give your money to your neighbors and let them give your money away in your name?! Of course not! Why would you let the government do that?! Charity comes from the heart! Charity is only charitable when it's done voluntarily! Not when it's done at the point of a gun!
That's the tax system that we have today. Don't pay your taxes, they'll come with guns. What happens to your taxes? You know how much of them the government gives away because the government wants to be charitable. So, the post office is broke. Amtrak is broke. Medicaid is broke. Medicare is broke. Social Security is broke. When the government took over the Mustang Ranch, because they couldn't pay its taxes, they ran that into the ground! [laughter] So the same government that can't provide girls and hookers, puts hookers in the desert, wants to run health care! [laughter and applause]
...
All right, my friends. You know, Fox is a great place to work because you, you can enjoy yourself and address these unpleasant subjects with a sense of humor. But of course the subject that I have attempted to articulate to you tonight is of the utmost and dreadful seriousness. And that is the loss of liberty by those in whose hands we have reposed it for safekeeping. I have bristled to hear modern-day Presidents say, "My first job is to keep you safe." That is not true. Read the Constitution! The President's first job is to keep us free! And if a President keeps us safe and unfree, he's not doing his job! [applause]
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Republicans assault civil liberties, Democrats assault financial liberties. I have often argued --- sometimes I get in a little bit of trouble at Fox --- we don't have two parties in this country. We have one big government party. There is a Republican wing that likes war and deficits and corporate welfare and assaults on civil liberties and there is a Democrat wing that likes war and taxes and individual welfare and assaults on commercial liberties! And they both write laws to keep themselves in power and neither of them are interested, for the most part, there are some exceptions, in the Constitution! [applause]
So what do we do? We do what you're doing here. We wage a lawful battle against the government. We amass the wealth that is necessary to take the government on. Now, it's impossible to amass the wealth the government has because they have a printing press and they can print whatever money they want and write all the laws that they want. Occasionally the system works. Occasionally judges will invalidate these laws. But the time period between the enactment of the law and the time period of its judicial invalidation can cause a great loss of freedom and a great loss of property.
So what does the government fear the most? I think the government fears fear. I'm afraid the government is going to take the property and the freedom of everybody in this room. The government should fear that we will take its power away from it and put it into the hands of worthy custodians of our freedom.
Jefferson articulated this when he said, "When the people fear the government, there is tyranny. When the government fears the people, there is liberty."
Thank you and God bless you, my friends. [applause]
CHARLES KOCH: You know, Judge, I wish I had said that. [laughter]...
[For the rest of Charles Koch's closing remarks, both audio and complete transcript, click here...]
[For the full story on these transcript excerpts, see
Part 1 of our exclusive special series at Mother Jones.]