Topics:
“Happiness is a choice”, Mom said 3/12/2024
Who Bakes the Cake? 3/3/2024
Consent of the Governed- 2/24/2024
Political Conflict 2/20/2024
Remember- 2/11/2024
Common Sense Applied Today: Introduction 1/25-29/2024
Endless Nights 1/26/2024
Your Flag is Upside Down 1/22/2024
A Dream 1/18/2024
Is there but one Just Man? 1/13/2024
Washington DC a foreign city or our Capitol 1/8/2024
Reply to Matthew Graves:1/7/2024
Power of the Pen 12/30/2023
Light Over Darkness 12/24/2023
Animals 12/20/23
Choice 12/17/2023
Letter to the Press- Looking Back 12/12/2023
Consent 12/10/2023
Jail & Thoughts
“Happiness is a choice”, Mom said 3/12/2024
“…Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms ~ to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” This eternal truth was the conclusion of holocaust survivor Victor Frankl. I was taught this as a child, grounded to home, prevented from playing with my friends, (I am sure for some nonsense). I told my Mom I was bored, I demanded some entertainment, something…she replied with a statement of fact, I have never been able to distill further, “Happiness is a Choice”.
Our country threw off the shackles of tyranny with the infamous Declaration of Independence, wherein Thomas Jefferson wrote: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and they are endowed by their creator with certain unaLienable rights among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
The founding fathers understood that happiness was achieved by living a life in accord with God’s Natural Law. That Natural Law is “True Law”, as Cicero in Rome described: “True law is right reason in agreement with nature; it is of universal application, unchanging and everlasting; it summons to duty by its commands, and averts from wrongdoing by its prohibitions…it is a sin to try to alter this law, nor is allowable to repeal any part of it, and is impossible to abolish it entirely. We cannot be freed from its obligations by the senate or people, and we need not look outside ourselves for an expounder or interpreter of it. And there will not be different laws at Rome and at Athens [or the USA, or D.C., California or Mexico] or different laws now and in the future, but one eternal and unchangeable law will be valid for all nations and all times, and there will be one master and ruler, that is God, over us all, for he is the author of his law, its promulgator, and enforcing judge. Whose disobedience is fleeing from himself and denying his human nature, and by reason of this very fact he will suffer the worst punishment (quoted in Ebenstein, Great Political Thinkers, p. 133)
Your right to pursue happiness cannot be abandoned by legislators, it cannot be altered, it cannot be repealed even by the people themselves, even though in ignorance we feign to do so. In natural law we are dealing with absolute reality, 1+1=2, A is A.
John Adams explained, “All men are born free and independent, and have certain natural, essential, and unaLienable rights, among which may be reckoned the right of enjoying and defending their lives and liberties; that of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property; in fine, that of seeking and obtaining their safety and happiness.” (The Political Writings of John Adams p. 96)
“Happiness is a choice,” said my mother. Life, liberty and the pursuit of Happiness is living in accordance with natural law, true Law. The wisest of all men once said, the truth will set you FREE.
In Black’s Law Dictionary under “Liberty; liberty to contract” it reads, “The ability at will, to make or abstain from making, a binding obligation enforced by sanctions at the law. The right to contract about one’s affairs, including the right to make contracts of employment, and to obtain the best terms one can as the result of Private Bargaining. It includes the corresponding right to Accept a contract proposed…it means freedom from arbitrary or unreasonable restraint…the right to make contracts with competent persons on a place of relative parity or freedom of choice and within the limits allowed or not forbidden by law”
Your right to be happy is unaLienable, you cannot even take your choice to be happy away from yourself. Even the U.S. Supreme Court has established through Erie v. Tompkins that in essence everything is a contract, you have a choice to pursue happiness exercising your “liberty to contract” by choice.
Salt Lake Attorney Denver Snuffer asked: “What, in the end, do you prize most? Do you prize all the risks, all of the responsibilities, all of the potential for failure, all of the individual accountability? I mean -…- what was the purpose of the Constitution? It was to make you free so that you can exercise moral agency, and you get the opportunity to succeed or fail. The purpose of the Constitution is to set you in a position in which it is possible for you to accomplish either one, so that You – You – become accountable – not to some back in Washington, not someone to whom you have surrendered your choice, not someone else to run your life, not someone else to tell you the comings and the goings, the when’s and the where’s and why’s. YOU the Constitution was designed to accomplish. YOU become morally accountable, because you are the agent that gets to choose…
…Cowardice is unbecoming anyone who would try to lay hold on the riches of heaven. Because down here, in this dark well, you have an opportunity to prove WHO you are. You have an opportunity to prove WHAT you are. And you don’t prove that you are anything worth preserving into eternity if you don’t live with Nobility.”…[you must use your liberty to choose], and I don’t care who is pressuring you or what means they think they can employ” [even the full weight of the Federal Government]. “That statement ‘I regret that I have but one life to give for my country’ is not the language of a slave. It’s not even the language of a captive. There is a Man who is free In-Deed, even though he’s about to be killed. You know, we lack fortitude – we lack self-confidence – to hold on to our freedom. You surrender to fashion. You surrender to peer pressure. You surrender to those people that you think are respected members of society. You surrender, but you don’t have to. Freedom is still possible to this day.”…
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Who Bakes the Cake?3/3/2024
Often, I get asked “what now” or “what can WE do?”, when discussing the perils and pitfalls that our country, society and communities face. The current perils we face require something more than a mere band-aid bill or more than fiat-money thrown at it. Many perils are baked into the proverbial cake. It requires us to examine the cake’s very ingredients to see why it tastes so bitter. My suggestion is to examine the very words by which we bind ourselves and see if our misappropriation and misunderstanding has given us a national ingredient list that is quickly becoming unpalatable.
Let us examine two words, which most do not comprehend fully their significance. People and Person. Black’s law dictionary defines people as: A state; as the people of the state of New York. A Nation in its collective and political capacity. The aggregate or mass of the individuals who constitute the state. In a more restricted sense, and as generally used in constitutional law, the entire body of those citizens of a state or nation who are invested with political power for political purposes.
In summary, the people are the collective body of people. Generally, the people are viewed in its larger sense, “the collective” in whom all political power resides. However, the definition begins with “A state”…what does this mean?
A state can mean a few things, according to Black’s Law. In its largest sense, a state is: “a body politic or a society of men, again another sense that the collective is the state”. But Black’s law also says a state is “The circumstances or condition of being”…so a Being is also a state, as in a “State of Being”. Ask yourself, are you at this given time in a “state of being?”. I hope so! Who is reading this, if not a man or woman in a state of conscious being. It’s not a stretch to say you are a people among the people. You are one being (people) who make up “the people ”, the collective.
Next let’s look at the word Person. It’s important to note, in all the Black’s law definitions of People, and State, the word “Person”, is not used. You’ll see why. It’s because the people are alive, they are “beings,” in the individual and collective state. Black’s law defines a Person as: “In general usage, a human being (i.e. natural person), though by statute the term may include labor organizations, partnerships, associations, corporations, legal representatives, trustees, trustees in bankruptcy or receivers…scope and delineation of term is necessary for determining those whom the fourteenth Amendment of the constitution afford protection since this amendment expressly applies to the “Person”.It goes on to say, “COMMERCIAL LAW. An Individual or Organization” and “CORPORATION. A corporation is a “Person” within the meaning of fourteenth Amendment, equal protection and due process provisions of the United States Constitution.
So, to summarize, a person is both potentially a human being…and a corporation, or just about any other non-living entity. The People are exclusively living beings, the persons are not necessarily living beings, but persons, corporations and humans are equal.
What does this mean? The founders made clear distinctions. For example, in the 4th amendment it says, “The right of the People to be secure in their persons, houses, papers and effects…” They clearly understood the “people” as “being” and the “person” as the corpse or body. There IS a difference. Fast forward to the 14th Amendment, which reads, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subjected to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside.” Do you see the slight of hand? It could have read “All people born or naturalized”, but instead, in 1868, all persons was used. And the Labor Union, the Corporation, suddenly became equal to a citizen. The 14th continues, “No state SHALL make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor any state deprive a person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” I often ask myself the question: If the people in 1868 understood that by granting persons all protections of law, which was originally designed to protect the People from the Person?
The People now compete with corporations like Facebook, Apple and other “persons” for rights like freedom of speech or association. The People are superior to the State, the People (being) controls the Person (body). But now the Body is equal to the Being.
The cake has a poisonous ingredient; the Corporation is equal to its master. Both collectively, and individually the consequences of the 14th Amendment have created 50 states that are so alike, that the idea of 50 experiments where people experiment with ideas of governance cannot be tested. It has led to ideas, often bad, being implemented on a grand scale, because they applied to People and Persons alike. It has led to Committees and Boards of Directors in the form of persons usurping rights intended to be reserved to the living people. In a figurative sense, the living have become the dead, by treating your life as mere franchise of a corporate state.
What can we do? Start acting Alive, start calling yourself a people, a living being, rather than a person. You are a being with a person! Be the change you want to see in the world. Once you put a small switch into your understanding, you will start to see how you are, in your living capacity, superior to anything else. The people are the power, the people can make the change, the people on a Board of Directors can change the actions of a corporation. The People can change their State. Change the ingredient, change the State. It’s the people who Bake the Cake.
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Consent of the Governed- 2/24/2024
To vote and hope is not a solution. We, the January 6th defendants, grapple with a judicial system that is designed to discourage the exercise of our rights, that Americans allegedly hold dear. Your right to a speedy trial…waive that! Your right to a trial by jury…how about a bargain where we have Bench Trials and plea deals in exchange for a lesser sentence?! A trial tax!…don’t worry we will only call it that in a hushed whisper between defense attorneys, sworn officers of the court, and defenders to get them to waive their rights! Want to testify, tell your side of the story? 3 more points towards sentencing! If you go to trial and testify, you will serve DOUBLE the time!
No wonder defendants go against their conscience and take deals, read scripts and beg for mercy from a merciless system.
Yet here we are, proud Americans, consenting to be governed by a system we trusted to bring truth to the light. Little did we understand why lady justice wears a blind fold. She is blind, she can’t see truth, merely the weights on scales of justice, and who can outweigh an argument made with the full weight of the federal government?
When in the history of the world, has a single government’s prerogative been true? The answer is never. The people, the individuals of each country consent to their government. Yet to vote and hope… and allow government officials to count the vote?!
The problems are obvious, they are in our face. The two-party system writes the script. For years, if you opposed violence against the unborn, you voted for a party that supported foreign war. To oppose foreign war you voted for abortion! How could we be left with such choices? The tide is turning, Americans are wising up. In 2016 a man who opposed both violence against the unborn and violence abroad was elected. He flipped the economic switch and stepped aside and allowed the American entrepreneur to explode the economy.
What happened on J6 was a national shame, true. 1,300+ Americans, enough to fill an entire prison, have confronted a justice system, jail and prison system which have been decried by minorities for decades. Now that MainStreet has seen it up close and personal, it’s time for a change. In my trial the judge told me personally, he only had the authority the legislature prescribed, which means the DC court is a legislative tribunal! Congress sets the rules. It’s congress who created the Trial Tax, it’s congress where our remedy lies!
The people have the power, you must communicate with every Congressman and Senator, the system is unjust! They have the power to change it. No more penalties for standing on your rights. “He who stands on his rights injures no one”, not even himself. The DOJ has incentive to “overcharge” to create the pressure for deals, truth and facts be damned.
We are here because the people on the outside, the ones reading this, have consented. Be the change you want to see in the world. Don’t vote and hope. Make a call, write a letter, be relentless in your effort, posterity depends on it.
Someone with integrity needs to lead. To lead in speaking out, lead in social circles, in conversations, in churches, in communities, in countries and in business. We face perils that are not going to be solved by the very pathetic voices that dominate everywhere today.
Truth is both resilient and infectious. Proclaim it and it will win. Stay silent and it will be ignored and forgotten.
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Political Conflict- 2/20/2024
Political science is the “science of power”, specifically power over people. Politics is a synonym for power. Political conflict by definition is a struggle for power. Political peddlers, or as Thomas Payne calls them, political physicians, prescribe various government systems to control, harness and direct power over people. In its most basic sense, government comes from the words govern = to control and ment = mind. Quite literally government is in the business of “mind control”. Politics is the machination of a body politic, which is, the control of the people, the source of all power…vox populi, vox dei.
The collective has inherent within it all power by a series of shared collective fictions. We
share language, customs and culture which the collective enforces by tradition and some-
times organized government. These customs and cultures give rise to theories on how the
power of the collective can enforce the government required (mind control) to advance the needs of society.
There are two broad principles that all political theories begin and end with, no matter what
it boils down to, Individualism and Collectivism.
Individualism begins and ends with the individual man or woman being its highest priority and
purpose of the language, customs, culture and government. All those things function to uphold
the rights of the individual FROM the collective. Individual rights to property, life and the pursuit
of happiness are upheld. The functions of society and government begin and end with the
individual as its priority. Individualism by definition does not allow any form of power maintained
by brute force or compulsion over other individuals, excepting to prevent an individual
from being harmed. Individuals must deal with each other on the basis of equity, not always
however, from a place of equality. Republicanism and Volunteerism are its brands.
Collectivism has as its priority the “good” (usually determined by a nefarious elite) of the
collective. Collectivism sets out not to support the individual as a means to itself, but rather the
individual is a means to support the collective. Collectivism is team play and tribalism. Collectivism
is individuals sacrificing something for the “common good”. It is equality at the sake of equity.
Typically this drags the individuals down into a state of equality, rather than raise the collective up
to the level of the achievers. Collectivisms are your democracies, the rule of 50%+1, Fascism, Communism,
Marxism, Socialism, etc.. These are collectivist prescriptions. Collectivism, no matter its form, amounts to a boot on your neck, wether it comes from the left or right foot, it’s a boot on your neck.
When the individual is sacrificed to the collective, tyranny is present. The extent to which the
seed grows is based on the “constitution” of the people, individualist vs collectivist. It is not the
Constitution (written laws) of the government, because those laws are always changing (based on the “constitution” of the people), either to expand or restrain the collective power over the individual.
America was founded on individualism. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, were un-a-
LIEN-able. But the collectivism seed has slowly taken root and the fruit of collectivism is upon
us. Our political conflict, our fight, is over which boot we want on our necks, rather than
wether anyone should be able to wear a boot at all.
“A republic if you can keep it!”
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Remember- 2/11/2024
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Common Sense: Applied Today- Introduction – Recorded 1/25-29/2024 .
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Endless Nights 1/26/2024
Many people know how long a dark night of the soul can be. Wrapped in anxiety, loss of personal control over any given situation can rob a person of their rest. In the quiet of the night, one’s thoughts of doubts can drive one deeper into the mental darkness.
The federal contract that jails like the “DC Gulag” have, I believe, contains a requirement that inmates receive 6 hours of undisturbed time for sleep. Yet, in this facility, that is rarely possible. Let me describe a typical night for an inmate at the “DC Gulag”. The ‘Pod’ has essentially no acoustic dampening. Voices, clanging keys, radio beeps, telephones ringing, guards talking to other staff on the phone (or occasionally a girlfriend), pod doors slamming as errands get run in and out of the pod, TV volumes, etc all echo and reverberate to a degree that, unless you are locked in the box of the cell, it is hard to appreciate.
On a typical night, with detail on cleaning duty until close to midnight, there is little chance of real sleep till then. Often detail wraps up at 11:30 pm or thereabouts, and when the new guard comes on duty, each shift, the guard yells “shift change!”.
Allow me to describe the events of the endless nights along with challenges of the cell.
In the “DC Gulag” we have steel bunk beds, probably 28-30″ inches wide, with a 3” cot pad. There are two flat sheets provided, which the typical inmate learns to knot onto the pad. The pad has a plastic liner so it sweats. It’s cold in the winter and hot in the summer. Pillows are contraband, so MOST inmates use extra clothing to improvise a pillow. The blankets are a wool/synthetic fiber mix (we joke, but are half serious that the ‘synthetic fiber’ is dryer lint). In fairness to the DC DOC, most new pads have an elevated area for the head. The pads are thin enough that all the inmates complain that with a single pad, their butts, hips, and sometimes shoulders push through to the metal cookie sheet tray we lay on top of. The length of the bed is 6’3″ (an estimate). Our 6’4″ and 6’5″ inmates complain that they hang off, because their feet climb the concrete wall. Getting comfortable, except for the easiest of sleepers, is a challenge.
Every 1/2 hour the guards make their rounds. They walk to the end of each hall with some contraption that they tap on a steel plate on the wall which chirps loud enough to hear in EVERY cell. There are 6 chirps for the 3 walls they touch, once on the lower tier, once on the higher tier. There is never total darkness in the pod, and each door has a window half the length of the door, 4″ inches wide, that keeps the cell fairly well lit. As the guard walks by once every 1/2 hour he casts a shadow into your cell. Often they linger, peering into the cell at night with a flashlight. They will tug on the door. The steel doors have some play in them. They do this to get you to stir, so they can see signs of life. On cold nights the outer concrete wall, which our beds back up to, is not insulated. It can get to be frigid to the touch and create a down draft of cold air across one side of your body. On super cold nights, a strategy to stay warm is to hang an extra sheet, blanket or even all your shirts, pants and underwear across the open end of the bunk, to catch and hold what heat you can. If you do this, at some point it is likely a guard will unlock your cell, come in and pull the “’drapes” aside and put a flashlight directly in your eyes. Usually this is on their first or second round at 12:00 am or 12:30 am, but I have seen it happen at 3 am. The guards also have a ‘night light’ switch outside the cell. The sound of the heavy switch clunks in the cell, and illuminates the cell pretty well. Guards will regularly forget to turn them off when they use them. Last night, the inmate I share a wall with, had the guard unlock the door (all this makes a lot of noise, waking me and my neighbor up), walk in and put a flashlight in his face. This was at 2am! Then he forgot to turn the ‘nightlight’ off when he left. My neighbor waited 1/2 hour for the guard to come around at his window (he didn’t want to wake others banging on his door). When the guard walked by at 2:30am he walked by so fast, he had to bang his door anyways, to get the guards attention The guard came back and loudly and accusatively asked “what do you want?!”, to which my neighbor replied “turn off the light!”. Clunk, off went the light.
Many times a “white shirt” or other guard will come in during the night. The pod entrance doors can’t help but slam, you can literally feel this sound when laying in your bunk. They don’t seem to possess volume control and greet the guard and will carry on loud conversations. I often wonder if they know we can all hear them as if we were out there with them!
Sometimes the guards watch TV and turn the volume up. These are usually substitute guards. Someone will inevitably bang a door and yell for the guard to turn the volume off.
Breakfast can be really early, it’s “room service”, but can range from 5am to 8am. I pray it’s later, but often isn’t. Some guys are so exhausted by the time breakfast comes they are finally sound asleep. I am always woken by the unlocking series of doors leading up to mine, when I meet breakfast at the door. Little secret, breakfast isn’t usually EVER worth eating and inmates head right back to bed.
The guards have radios that chirp and have radio chatter literally all night long, and the phone can ring at any moment. We have a couple large fans that create enough white noise, that we leave on all night. This will usually make it so we can’t understand what the radio says, but we still hear it. There has been multiple nights I wondered if I ever actually fell asleep, rather just dozed off over and over again as the noise made me stir. Some nights you pray and become almost desperate to lose yourself to sleep, only to have your mind return to thoughts of home as the guard’s heavy footsteps and clanking keys make their rounds. Even though, in theory, there is plenty of time to sleep, few if any inmates ever feel the rejuvenation of real rest. It’s easy at night, alone with your thoughts, to sink into despair. There’s a hopelessness, the full weight of the federal government bearing down on you, longing for home, feeling forgotten and trapped in these walls. We pray all night, every night, we won’t be forgotten, trapped inside these walls. We pray all night, every night, we won’t be forgotten by history and that our story ends well. It’s you, “The People”, who must end the endless nights.
-Taylor Johnatakis
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Your Flag is Upside Down 1/22/2024
“Your flag is upside down”, I said to a guard in an elevator with two other guards. The flag was a Velcro patch on the guard’s gear pouch. He looked at his patch, and with a thick foreign accent said, “No one ever has told me”.
In the J6 Pod of the ” DC Gulag”, many of us display American Flags ‘in distress’, flown with the stars to the bottom and right. We do this with purpose and true intention. Occasionally I see a guard with a flag upside down. I assumed that was done with intention…
I said, “The flag is in distress, there are *hostages being held here”. The ranking C.O. questioned, “*Hostages?”.
“Some people say”, was my reply. He let the comment go without disagreement.
The guard with the flag didn’t seem to understand what it was I was implying. He fumbled around, until he reset the flag opposite as it had started. A sadness entered my heart, as I realized a man working to hold me did not even know the proper display our symbol of freedom.
Perhaps I was right in more ways than one. What amazing distress our country is in when those paid to wear the flag literally don’t know IF, or WHY “Your flag is upside down”.
Happened on 1/18/2024
-Taylor Johnatakis
One night I dreamed a dream.
Along a pathway I walked, no place to go or be. I traveled without purpose. Others passed me, going to and from, but where or from was not known to me. Some seemed to have purpose, some passed quickly, some at a lingering pace.
I asked within myself, where am I to go, what am I to do? There must be something to give meaning to this journey. Suddenly a still small voice whispered, “ay, see the clearing over there?”. I looked and beheld an opening, a meadow. I walked into the opening and saw others toiling in a labor. One was building a foundation, others erecting walls. I heard the voice again and joined in menial labor, gathering stones. I gathered both large and small to pile into the center.
No one spoke to each other of a grand plan. There were no blueprints to examine, no leader to consult. People would come off the trail, look around and see nothing of value. Some would come with hastened purpose and contribute skillfully to the labor. A wall would go up, with craftsmanship to be admired. Some would complete a task, and without consultation one with another, would stand aside. They would pause and wait for another instruction from the voice within, the voice we all seemed to be following. Some would grow impatient and return to the path. Some would linger and soon, without direction, join in another labor.
I watched with amazement (as I gathered stones), at the skill with which the structure was arising. There were many sides, each connecting and turning inward. WIth perfect symmetry it surrounded the pile of stones in the center. Each wall had an opening, where people could come in to admire from the inside. No roof was erected. With the structure near complete I noticed an old woman standing not far off, holding a bundle of sticks. She stood and watched the walls go up. There was no laborer talking.
A masterpiece unfolding without direction from any one man, but contributed to by all. A masterpiece was unfolding.
Soon the pile of stones was tall, seemingly just a pile. Each stone had been picked and placed as the still small voice had uttered. The voice became the master. Soon a slab was selected, different from all the stones. It sat atop the pile and turned it into an altar.
The work complete, the laborers stood back in awe of what they erected. The artistry and craftsmanship was more than any expected. Laborers who contributed greatly had come and gone. Some lingered after their assignment, then started again, without external prompt to begin new work, to bring the creation of the master to completion.
How could so great a thing be built by so many, with seemingly no one to direct them?
By the end we all knew the voice, even without saying. The master’s voice, dear to each and every. We watched the lady, old and frail seemingly without much to contribute, walk inside and place the sticks on the altar. What happened next amazed us. Flames shot through the structure, rising well above its walls, such that all the people on the path stopped and saw with amazement. Drawn in, we all heard the voice loud and clear, “Sometimes all that’s needed is your testimony, your witness, your flame and my work for all to see!”
Prologue
I have pondered on this dream for many years. I have allowed the “voice” to guide me and it led me directly here. What part in the grand work I contribute, I know not. There are no plans from which to work, no outward direction to follow. I listen to the voice. It tells me the next step to take, what to do, say and write. I trust the voice, knowing I don’t know the end from the beginning. I have watched as others came along the way, some mocking my actions and intentions, while others joined the work without request or prompting from me. Our hands worked together for a time, then separated without hurt or anger. When I have tried to force my issues, I have always been met with defeat. When I listen to the master’s voice, which I have come to know and love, my labor has led me into prison walls. I know my life is to build an altar, so that the testimony of one can be heard by all.
-Taylor Johnatakis
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Is there but one Just Man? 1/13/2024
Written for a J6 Newsletter
“Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also a prison.” Penned by Henry David Thoreau in 1849 rings true today. The VAST majority of January 6 defendants are patriots, father’s, business owners, and generally those that contribute greatly to American society. Men and women who care deeply for our Liberty and WHAT we as a society pass on to our children.
Thoreau asked “Unjust laws exist: shall we be content to obey them or endeavor to amend them, and obey them until we have succeeded, or all we transgress them at once? Men generally, under such a government as is, think that they ought to wait until they have persuaded the majority to alter them. They think that, if they should resist, the remedy would be worse than the evil. IT [government] makes IT worse…Why does IT [government] always crucify Christ, excommunicate Copernicus and Luther, and pronounce Washington and Franklin rebels?”
In a system that is not fair Ayn Rand through her character of Fransico D’Antonio says, “If you want to defeat any kind of vicious fraud- comply with it literally, adding nothing of your own to disguise it’s nature”. Christ said in the sermon on the mount, “For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes [the lawyers and bureaucrats of the day] and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:20 KJV)
“Perhaps you may consider whether the remedy will not be worse than the evil; but if it is such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another [by complying with an unjust system] I say, break the Law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine. What I have to do is to see, at any rate, that I do not lend myself to the wrong which I condemn” (Thoreau). Is there but one just man?
We vote with our eyes, our dollars and our clicks, find out more at www.DollarsVoteLouder.com and www.PeasantsPerspective.com
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Washington DC a foreign city or our Capitol 1/8/2024
During my jury selection process, something unexpected became painfully obvious. The city of Washington, and the District of Columbia (in theory they are one place) are actually 2 separate things.
The jury pool was made up of residents of the city of Washington, District of Columbia, which does not have a vote in the electoral college, with regards to the presidency of the United States of America. On one occasion one of the potential jurors expressed how disturbed they were around January 6, 2021 with so many ‘foreigners in red hats taking over our city and walking around on our streets’.
Almost without exception, the jury pool’s personal lives were affected by the events surrounding January 6, 2021. Many of their lives were disrupted by the post J6 military occupation, roadblocks and other evidences of the mass number of people that had been in and around the city. There was a real feeling that the people who attended Trump’s rally were foreigners, invading their “home”. They were crime victims themselves.
On the other hand, the District of Columbia, DC as it’s known to the 50 states, is the federal capitol, “Our Capitol”. The residents of the 50 states, unlike residents of the city of Washington, have votes in the electoral college, and send representatives who legislate both for the nation and their districts. Those who traveled from outside the city of Washington, DC, they felt that this is “Our Capitol”.
Do you see the distinction? The vast majority of protesters felt like they were on “our Capitol” grounds. We felt like we had a right to finally be there, to finally redress our grievances directly, especially after phone calls, letters and twitter posts had failed. A common chant on the Capitol grounds was, “Who’s House is it?!”, with the chant reply, “Our House!”
To the jury pool, this was not their belief, I don’t believe. The residents of Washington actually have a license plate that says “End Taxation without Representation”, I assume because they actually don’t have a vote that counts in the legislature.
By strict definition, all US citizens are citizens of the District of Columbia, OUR Capitol. But the residents who live here call it Washington, THEIR city. In the city of Washington, it feels like a stratified society. There are two job classes, government (or something connected to it, lobbying, nonprofits and law) and the service industry (food service, parking lot attendees or something behind a counter). My impression of DC was there is a giant sucking sound, drawing in tax revenue, but the city of Washington has little or no manufacturing or industry to speak of. And yet, there are brass plated fire hydrants…does your neighborhood have brass plated fire hydrants? I doubt it…
In a very literal sense, Washington is surrounded by ‘foreigners’, people who do not share a similar understanding of the difference between DC and the City of Washington.
The jury pool is full of people who (I believe) intuitively felt like those in the 50 states did not belong in their city that day, and those in the 50 states felt that they had every right to be in their Capitol.
What a difference these two perspectives can make? People describe Washington, DC as a ‘bubble’. Wouldn’t you if you lived here? The residents of the city have little at stake with who the President is, they have no representation in that regard. But on J6, the residents could easily see US citizens coming from the 50 states as invaders, in THEIR city, OUR Capitol.
Taylor
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Reply to Matthew Graves:1/7/2024
I was informed on the third anniversary of January 6, 2021 Matthew M. Graves gave a speech, of which a video of me featured prominently.
To Matthew:
I would ask, if you, or anyone inquired into that video? Did you know I used the word “we” to avoid being arrogant about others actions? Did you know I have tried to do this in public speaking since I gave a fiery sermon in Brazil 20 years ago,when I told the audience things like “you need to do…xyz”. I was told the speech would be more relatable if I said “we” instead? Did it occur that “we” was a way to not accuse another but yet still document the emotions and statements I heard from others that day?
Did you ask if I was misinformed about the nature of Ashli Babbitt’s death, politicians being hauled out in black bags, and events in 1817 were totally misinformed?
Will you, and the world forgive my statements made in ignorance? I made a mistake.
Matthew, do your records reflect that I have accepted your offers and other presentments and returned them to you to settle and close the matter without arguing any facts, law, jurisdiction or venue? Is it honorable to use statements without inquiring into those matters? How can we finally settle this matter?
-Taylor Johnatakis
If I may, I would love to add to Taylor’s thoughts about this. He is unaware of my addition here, and maybe I shouldn’t butt in, but… fools rush in:
Words were said, and I will make no excuse for those. But, the situation in which the words were said, I think is interesting and relevant. Taylor was leaving the Capitol grounds, the day was emotional for those that went, for everyone really. He possessed no weapons, had no grand plans, was not conspiring with others to take some sort of violent action. Those words weren’t even said to anyone at the rally, they were said to the ether via Facebook. He had just watched a video where he had seen an unarmed woman wearing an American flag get shot by a police officer point blank. I imagine he was emotional, who wouldn’t be? If you watch his podcast describing his January 6th experience (on the home page) you will get a glimpse at the emotion of the day. Unfortunately, this video on facebook led to some really great sound bites to spread fear to the American people. Fear, that I believe (at least from actions that he would ever take) is not even based in reality.
Oh, the “news opium” we all consume.
-Marie
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Power of the Pen 12/30/2023
Newsletter contribution
Politicians, in large part, are no different than social media influencers, they respond to positive reinforcement. When a politician does something you like, and you tell them you like it, they will be inclined to do that thing again. If a politician does something you dislike, and you tell them, they will be inclined not to do that thing again. Most politicians will do (as they have been elected to do) what their constituents love and not do what they hate.
Have you written, called or emailed your states senators and congressional representatives lately? The squeaky wheel does get the grease after all! If you, like millions, are disgusted by the J6 prosecutorial process, where MainStreet American’s 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th and 6th amendment protections have been continually and repeatedly violated…have you written a letter or picked up the phone? If yes, have you made it a weekly habit?
Politicians will only rock the boat on “norms” when they believe they will be rewarded with positive attention. Have you reinforced your feelings about J6 by rewarding Politicians who care, and ask questions to those who don’t (doing a positive action like a letter or phone call)? Even letting Politicians who remain silent know that they will receive support IF they speak up?
You vote with your eyes, your dollars and your clicks. Will you let your WILL be known with the Power of the Pen?
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When Light Overtakes the Darkness 12/24/2023
The holiday season means a lot to a lot of people. Around the world various holidays are celebrated. I grew up celebrating Christmas and as an adult, I have heard the arguments for and against the holiday. I however, want to draw your attention to the time of year itself. Both Christmas and Hanukkah fall close to or sometimes on the winter solstice, the day when light begins to overtake the dark. As fall and winter wear on, things decay and die, but magically, this time of year, light slowly comes back, life is renewed and by spring things are new again.
For the 1,300+ J6 defendants, the last three years have felt as though darkness continues to grow. Few “breaks” have happened in the overall J6 “narrative”, particularly as the courts are concerned. Defendants increasingly are tried, convicted and sentenced. For many, sentencing is their solstice. A release date is assured, when this dark time will end, and each day will bring you closer to the light at the end of the tunnel. 2024 will also bring much resolution to J6 defendants. It’s expected the Supreme Court will rule once and for all on the 1512 Obstruction charge. No matter the Supreme Court decision, this will bring closure and the end of darkness of doubt on the most serious charge for the majority of defendants. 2024 will also bring to conclusion the political direction the country will take, we will take. We will know once and for all. Donald Trump’s political status “may” bring relief to many ensnared in J6 prosecutions and people serving sentences. No man knows for certain all that 2024 may bring, but surely it will be a year where much light and clarity will be brought to J6 defendants. May our hope be in God, that his design and will be made manifest.
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to all!
-Taylor
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Animals
This letter was written 12/20/2023
Today was the highest of highs and lowest of lows kind of day.
Like Groundhog’s Day, every day starts and ends the same. Breakfast from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m., doors unlock at 9 a.m. and close from 3 to 5 p.m., and again at 10 p.m., you are locked in for the night.
It’s the in between time that chaos can happen.
I had a pre-scheduled appointment with the standby council and the pre-sentence investigator. I was notified, right as lunch was being delivered to the Pod, that I was to leave for a hearing. The CEO’s (Correction Executive Officers) never know what kind of hearing, only that you got to go. So I threw my thermal top on, under my orange shirt, and prepared to leave.
I know the drill. Transport takes you through a maze of halls, elevators and catwalks, until you reach a holding cell and wait to be called to the conference room for a phone call. You always want the thermal top, because you never know what the temperature will be. When I reached the holding cell, I did think, based on the appointment time, I would need to wait for more than one hour.
Boy was I wrong!
While waiting, a black man across the hall asked, through the glass and doors, “what are you in for?”. I said, “J6”, to which he replied, “you are with the good men”. He asked about some of the long-term detainees here. He had shared some time around them, at a point, on a block. He was being released today. He was happy. When he came to jail, and eventually a six-year sentence in prison in Broward, his boys were six and seven, now they are 12 and 13. “So big”, he said. He was excited to be with “his woman” too..
When I asked him, “What are you in for?”, he said “murder”, I paused… “really?”. “Yep six years for murder”. I didn’t ask for details…that seemed light. My previous co-defendants received six and eight years, plus three years probation, for essentially being rowdy at the wrong place and at the wrong time. He was going to go home and do five years probation, checking in once a month with a 7p.m. to 7 a.m. curfew. Not bad for murder, I guess.
What was great was he said, “J6ers changed the jail, and for the better, big time”. He said, “When you guys got here it was bad, but you guys used the power of the pen to get things changed”. He said the jail was cleaner and he credited J6er’s for inmates getting tablets. I was unaware of that fact. He said, “J6ers in prison, won’t have a problem with the blacks”. He said, “Us (blacks)”,knowing federal prisons, are pretty much totally segregated, “will respect you and even welcome you”. He said, “inmates love Donald Trump, he is like one of us now, a victim of the system”. I mentioned how we are treated like animals and that we are human, he wholeheartedly agreed. He was eventually taken from the cell for release. I wished him luck, and off he went.
My cell was graffitied with “J6 was an inside job” and “government equals mind control” and “COVID isn’t real, you slave in a mask diaper” (with a picture of a face with a mask). My holding cell also had Cheerios smashed on the floor and no toilet paper either, but a soil pair of briefs someone else had sacrificed to the cause, prior to my arrival. Remember how I said they treat us like animals, this is what I mean. I sat and sat and sat and sat, with no sense of time. Occasionally a CEO would hurry by, transporting another inmate here or there. Eventually the CEO’s started asking my name, which is never a good thing.They seemed confused, why was I still there? Finally someone came to take me to the conference room, but then I overheard him saying, “transport to CTF”, this meant I was going back to the pod SANS pre-sentence investigation conference call. I told him, “you guys forgot me, I missed my appointment, didn’t I!?”. I sure did! It was everything I could do to hold back from doing as other inmates do, lashing out verbally. I had made my point, and that was enough.
When I got back to the Pod, over six hours had elapsed, and all I had done was miss lunch and sat alone in a holding cell. I also found out, because I was transferred from CTF to CDF, my phone privileges were locked for a few hours. Eventually the tablet phone unlocked and I called Marie. While on the phone, three max CEOs walked in. They looked like they had a purpose, and they did! They began an unannounced raid on five of the most veteran guys here. They removed “contraband” from their cells. Homemade pillows, extra blankets and extra mattresses, along with commissary purchases, extra towels and various other items. This was clearly targeted, and I have no idea the reason, other than because of their veteran status… where tend to get away with things like having an unlocked door or wear orange shorts, rather than orange sweats. This made multiple inmates unhappy, and they did the only thing that you can do, which is yell.
Watching them take pillows and blankets felt like a gut punch. We have no privacy. We can be strip searched any time for any reason. Our measly possessions are not even our own. The guard who led the searches is our normal evening floor CEO. He is the kind of guy who thinks enforcing every tiny rule justifies his tyranny.I have made peace with it, knowing when he is on duty we have to be on our best behavior.
Today it was made very clear. My name is no longer Taylor, son, husband, father, man, rather its just #387358, surety to a security. To add to the stress, a prominent J6 lawyer posted online that the FEDs have informants in the J6 Pod, “building cases against 14 defendants. This ultimately turned out to be false, but who knows, maybe it is true! Here you own and control nothing but the six inches between your ears, and even friends can be foes. Jail is not somewhere you can relax, not even for a minute. There are currently 28 people in the J6 pod. Half might be targets and half informants, who knows. I only know what I am, I am a peasant who hasn’t said nothin’. After all, “snitches will get stitches”, or so they say.
-Taylor
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Taylor was asked to write something for a news letter- here it is…
12/17/2023
Choice
Nietzsche once said “the purpose of criminal law is to punish the enemies of those in power”. The black community has long complained of ‘unequal justice’, the Muslim community after 9/11 endured abuses under the guise of ‘guilty by association’ (watch the movie The Report for reference) and now J6ers are feeling both ‘unequal justice’ and ‘guilt by association’ with the overwhelming weight of the federal government bearing down on us.
In all that is suffered and endured, we must not loose ourselves, if we do, all this pain and turmoil will be for nothing. Victor Frankl wrote about prisoners in concentration camps who walked the huts giving comfort and sometimes their last piece of bread as proof “that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way”. Dostoesvki said “There is only one thing I dread: not to be worthy of my sufferings.”
As we J6ers bear the weight of the Department of Justice, DC Gulag, and the bureau of prisons, burdens of incarceration and our families who must carry on without us, let us CHOOSE! May we be worthy of the burdens we bare, find meaning and purpose to show by example how to bare these burdens and the challenges we face with grace. I have heard more than one guard say the J6 pod is “the best pod of all”. Blessings to those who endured the early days to improve conditions for all to come.
Nietzshe also said “our crime against criminals lies in the fact we treat them like rascals”. My hope and personal purpose is to prove those in power wrong, to never let them take my choice to live a “good life” from me, no matter where current life plants me. May we blossom where we are planted.
Taylor
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12/12/2023
Letter to the Press–
Looking Back
Taylor was asked to write a letter to the press- these are his thoughts, looking back:
My name is Taylor James Johnatakis. That’s the name you will see on court documents and in the media. But that is not who is being punished by my incarceration, it’s my family. My beautiful wife and five children, ages 17, 14,11,6 and 4, are the ones who are really being punished, and they are as innocent as can be. I grew up in a wonderful loving family. I make no claim to perfection, or being close to it, but dedicated myself to trying to live a “good life”. I grew up an air force brat. My first memory was holding my fathers hand crossing the street to go to a carnival on the Yokota Air Force base, in Japan. Later my father got into the computer industry and we moved all over the west, with stops in Utah, California, Oregon and Colorado. Eventually my family settled in Meridian Idaho, near Boise. I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Brazil. While there I had a chance encounter with the woman who would eventually become my wife upon my return to the Boise area, nearly 20 years ago.
Since we reunited in Boise, we have been together everyday, with only a handful of separations that lasted no more than one week. We started a family while still in college. We have 5 children, although we have had 6. We lost one child, when while on a cruise, my wife went into early labor. Disembarking in Puerto Rico, we spent a few weeks there while my wife and newborn fought for their lives. My son Destin (short for destiny) passed away after 8 days of mostly breathing on his own…he had finally succumbed to his struggle. Even through this struggle with J6, losing a child was the hardest thing I have ever gone through. I remember the night my wife was released from the ICU, we prayed that God’s will be done. The next day Destin passed away. Looking back now, I recognize that experience gave us strength to endure the many more challenges life would bring our way, including the J6 prosecutions, where we have also prayed that God’s will be done.
We have always tried, and for the most part have, lived good lives. We have remained married, and brought 6 children to the world. I have always worked hard, most recently designing and installing septic systems in the Kitsap and Olympic Peninsula regions in Washington state (yes I know…it’s a crappy business). I did this so that my wife could be a stay out home mother and homeschool our 5 children, which she has done. Our home is a home where we have sought to make a place of peace and harmony. It’s a place where we could live and act out our core beliefs of God, family and country.
In college, I earned a degree in Political Science. I viewed politics as the ultimate WWE sport …much of what happens is for show, BUT, there is a direct line from the president’s desk to my dinner table. Government policy and regulations affect everything from the price of food to the cost of gas. I did not think Trump in 2016 would be any different. Sure he gave Trump speeches and appealed to the working man, but we had been through this many times with ”Mr. Hope and Change” himself. Donald Trump won me over after 4 years in office, when he did his best to keep his promises. When Trump was in office the price of diesel fuel, which I bought by the thousand of gallons for dump trucks and excavators, was affordable. My business partner once said, “when Trump got elected, it was like someone flipped a light switch and we started making a profit”.
Fast forward to January 6, 2021. I came on a whim, invited by an in-law on a whirlwind trip. I made the 2,000 mile journey from Washington state to Washington, DC. I was under no illusion that Trump would likely not win the electoral college count, given the conditions at the time…but remember I viewed politics like WWE. In the summer of 2020, like many Americans, I was disgusted by COVID and the political insanity that followed. I started a podcast called “The Peasant’s Perspective, New Commentary for the Common Man”. The premise of the podcast was that no matter what the government does, we peasants have to stay focused on our families, and in many cases, survive day to day. January 6th for me, was an opportunity to get “content” for experiential storytelling, to see a major moment in history, win or lose. I was NOT incited by Trump. Before I set foot on capitol grounds I knew Mike Pence had denied the challengers to the election. I did not know a “riot” or “property damage’ or a pipe bomb had been placed at the DNC and RNC headquarters. But, rather I thought the overwhelming voice of the people would be heard and noticed by the politicians on the inside. Because I don’t carry violence or hate in my heart, I simply wanted to be heard. After watching my town board up their windows for a 2020 BLM/Antifa march and nearby Seattle lose a city block and the east police precinct (nearly without consequence), I viewed the rules of engagement more liberally. I assumed the cops would tolerate rowdiness and would let us know when the “lines were crossed” to a civil disturbance. In Seattle I had seen things like pepper spray used to guide a crowd or protect a “police line”, and frankly I was misinformed and misguided in the foreign land that DC is. I chose to get rowdy, but not violent, at the time I felt it was a right born of necessity. I would have gladly accepted the $65 “Welcome to DC protest” tickets that I had seen people from Martin Luther King Jr to Laura Loomer receive. Sadly, no such ticket came, rather I was charged with 3 felonies and 5 misdemeanors. The DOJ dropped one misdemeanor charge the morning of trial and I was convicted on 7 charges.
I chose to stand in my equity, to accept the charges (not a plea deal) to appear specially, as the people have a right to do, Judge Royce Lambert allowed and acknowledged this. I did not attempt to rebut or argue any facts, law, jurisdiction or venue. I asked many questions but never argued, there is a difference. I followed the example of Christ and subjected myself to their buffetings, without casting stones or claims in return. I know this path is not for everyone. Judge Lamberth was concerned enough for my mental state, he had me meet with a psychologist two times! Which, anyone who knows me, finds hilarious.
In the trial by jury, I asked the three police officers who testified if, “I hurt, harmed, threatened or injured them in any way?” their uniform answer was “no”, I then asked if they accepted my sincere and heartfelt apology in my role in the events of that day, to which they all said “yes”, one even saying “it’s water under the bridge”, and another saying “yeah, we are good”, with a smile on his face, another admitted we did not even interact. Ultimately I was convicted, no surprise there. The definition of a railroad is a track or course where the destination is determined. The J6 experience is a railroad….I accept that. Judge Lamberth told me, emphatically before trial, with emotion in his voice, ‘when you are done with this, you are going to jail’. He made good on his promise, remanding me one day before Thanksgiving to the DC gulag. My family thought I would have a few months to put affairs in order…instead I had my belt and shoelaces taken in court and was taken to a holding cell behind Lambert’s bench. In that cell the toilet was clogged, with feces and toilet paper piled high with a 3” dead cockroach on top, like a cherry on a crap fudge sundae. Psychological warfare … .or a bad cleaning and maintenance crew at the courthouse…I’m ot sure?
I entered the J6 pod of the DC Gulag on my birthday, November 28, 2023. I was grateful to be out of the near solitary confinement that they put you in for the first week, and to meet my new J6 family. Now the punishing part, watching my family daily struggle and suffer the unexpected loss of their husband, father and breadwinner. They are left to figure out how to continue on without me for who knows how long. It’s the families that are left behind that suffer. Any love, help and support would truly honor my family. My wife set up a Give Send Go account after I was remanded, It can be found at: https://www.givesendgo.com/johnatakisfamilyhelp
There my wife posted a link to the podcast I did upon my return to Washington state. It was a play by play of my J6 experience The DOJ refused to allow it into trial. When you watch it you will see why, take a look it’s worth the time.
Thank you so much,
Taylor James Johnatakis
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12/10/2023
A lady who visits the jail was putting together a newsletter and asked Taylor to write something. Here it is…
Consent
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