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“The record of the Waco incident documents mistakes. What the record from Waco does not evidence, however, is any improper motive or intent on the part of law enforcement.” Joseph Biden, U.S. Senator, Delaware (D) and member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which issued the Waco Investigation Report The siege of the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, is an important event in American history because it directly led to one of the biggest terrorist attacks on American soil – the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building. It’s not necessary to defend this act of terrorism to understand why the entire freedom movement of the time was so incensed by it. Indeed, it stood as a symbol of federal overreach and the corruption of the Clinton Administration. It’s important to separate fact from fiction when it comes to the siege of Waco, just as it is important to do so with the siege of Ruby Ridge or the attack on the American consolate in Benghazi. With every event, it is important to stick to the facts and what can be extrapolated from them to make the strongest argument about what went wrong and why, and what could be done differently in the future. Background: Who Are the Branch Davidians?

One of the unfortunate rules of power is that those who are least equipped to exercise it judiciously are the most inclined to seek it. The Founding Fathers understood this, which is precisely why the presidency was so limited in its powers. George Washington was seen as an exemplar of what a president should be precisely because he accepted power only reluctantly and was happy to give it up when he felt his time was over. It wasn’t until Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected four times that anyone thought to term limit the presidency with the Constitution. Only two other men sought a third term: Ulysses S. Grant, who did so half-heartedly and mostly let his followers do the work, and Theodore Roosevelt, who ran for a non-consecutive third term the same way he did everything else – with great vigor and gusto. The powers of the presidency have expanded greatly since the time of George Washington, making the term “imperial presidency” more than just a throwaway phrase. Executive Orders carry great weight, perhaps even more so than statutes drafted and passed by the Congress. The Founders did not foresee such a situation, which is far more akin to the British Crown’s powers than to that of George Washington or any other president bar Abraham Lincoln, who presided over the nation at a time of great crisis. “Among the vicissitudes incident to life no event could have filled me with greater anxieties than that of which the notification was transmitted by your order...The magnitude and difficulty of the trust to which the voice of my country called me, being sufficient to awaken in the wisest and most experienced of her citizens a distrustful scrutiny into his qualifications, could not but overwhelm with despondence one, who, inheriting inferior endowments from nature and unpracticed in the duties of civil administration, ought to be peculiarly conscious of his own deficiencies.” – George Washington, First Inaugural Address, April 30, 1789 “You are afraid of the one – I, of the few. We agree perfectly that the many should have a full, fair and perfect Representation.—You are Apprehensive of Monarchy; I, of Aristocracy. I would therefore have given more Power to the President and less to the Senate.” – John Adams, Letter to Thomas Jefferson, December 6, 1787

On this special episode of the Resistance Library Podcast Sam Jacobs invites Pedro Gonzalez onto the the show. Pedro Gonzalez is the assistant editor of American Greatness and what might be called a friendly critic of the Trump Administration. We discuss what went wrong and what a winning conservative movement of the future looks like. Come for the political analysis, stay for the synthwave track recommendations.

It’s hard to miss the Gadsden Flag these days. Although it sprung back into popular American consciousness when the Tea Party first got its legs, this is a flag with a long and storied history. In fact, the flag is older than the United States itself. Back in 1751, Benjamin Franklin designed and published America’s first political cartoon. Called “Join Or Die,” it featured a generic snake cut into 13 parts. The imagery was clear: join together or be destroyed by British power. But why a snake? Around this time, Great Britain was sending criminals over to the colonies. Franklin once quipped that the colonists should thank them by sending over shipments of rattlesnakes. As American identity grew, so did an affinity for American (as opposed to British) symbols. Bald eagles, Native Americans and the American timber rattlesnake – the snake depicted on the flag. A Popular Symbol of America By the time 1775 rolled around, the rattlesnake was an immensely popular symbol of America. It could be found throughout the 13 colonies on everything from buttons and badges to paper money and flags. No longer was the snake cut into pieces. It was now recognizably the American timber rattlesnake, coiled into an attack position with 13 rattles on its tail. The flag takes on a special historical significance at the Battle of Bunker Hill. This battle, still celebrated in Boston, is where Colonel William Prescott famously gave the order not to fire “until you see the whites of their eyes.” One thing the battle underscored was that the Continental forces were woefully low on ammunition. In October of that year, the Continentals learned that two ships filled with weapons and gunpowder were headed for Boston. Four ships were commissioned into the Continental Navy, led by Commodore Esek Hopkins, ordered to get those cargo ships as their first mission.

On this guest episode of the Resistance Library Podcast Sam Jacobs has Benjamin Braddock on the show. Benjamin Braddock is a prolific Twitter user and writer for online publications such as American Greatness. We had him on to discuss the Thunderdome style of politics, whether or not the GOP needs a celebrity candidate for 2024 and the power of raw eggs.

America was founded on a single principle: Freedom. We are, ultimately, a nation for adults, built for people willing to accept responsibility for their lives for good and for ill. Indeed, the Founders were well aware of the allure of despotism. It is safe to be protected by someone else and to not have to make decisions about one’s own life. What’s more, the Founders knew that true liberty requires eternal vigilance. They understood that even a limited government would constantly be looking for ways to acquire more and greater power over the lives of its citizens. We need no further evidence of this than the United States government of today, with a far greater scope than what the Founders – who rebelled over a small tea tax – would have been willing to tolerate. Liberty is difficult to obtain, even more difficult to maintain, and very easy to lose. This is what the Founders believed. On Liberty “Where liberty dwells, there is my country.” – Benjamin Franklin “Liberty must at all hazards be supported. We have a right to it, derived from our Maker. But if we had not, our fathers have earned and bought it for us, at the expense of their ease, their estates, their pleasure, and their blood.”

Wells King is the Research Director for American Compass, an organization that seeks to push labor-friendly policies in the conservative movement. With 40 percent of union voters going for Donald Trump in the 2020 election, it is clear that a fresh look at unions and workers' power is in order. Sam Jacobs and Mr. King discuss woke-ism in labor unions, the free market as a tool rather than a principle and proper role of government in the current housing shortage.