People have every right to envy those of us able to live here in the Kern River Valley. Clean air and water, no pollution or heavy traffic, all the amenities close at hand. Surrounded by beautiful mountains, the Kern River flowing from up north into Isabella Lake where the fishing is terrific, and beautiful, pristine trout streams like Bull Run Creek nearby. Adding to the attraction is the lack of graffiti and no gang warfare over drug turf.

But recalling the area before the lake went in when the Kern River flowed unrestricted through the valley, when Isabella had a population of about 35 and Kernville 115, when the whole of the Sequoia National Forest was my personal area to explore, hunt, and fish hardly ever seeing another person was living a life as a boy that now seems a fairy tale. At that, despite the small population at the time there were enough characters out of Peyton Place and those like the “mad scientist” of Isabella to make social life interesting, and the local gossip was more therapeutic than malicious, akin to the communal washdays and quilting parties I recall from my childhood in Little Oklahoma, southeast Bakersfield.

However, there is a looming disaster here in “Paradise.” In the beautiful Sequoia National Forest portion of Kern County the marijuana plantations are threatening the peace and quiet of this part of the world. Recently: “About 11 remote growing areas were found during an aerial search of public lands in the Sequoia National Forest; in fact the entire operation had to be by helicopter. In a 2 day mission The Major Violators Unit of the Kern County Sheriff’s Department hauled more than $100,000,000 worth and almost 45,000 pounds of marijuana out of the Kern County mountains. The operation was so large, the Sheriff was assisted by Bakersfield Police, Bureau of Land Management, US Forestry and a Department of Justice task force called CAMP, the Campaign Against Marijuana Planting. Neil Cuthbert is with the California Department of Justice and part of the CAMP task force, he says they make every effort to closely integrate the marijuana eradication with their investigations. He says the job can also be very dangerous, from 1994 he says there has been at least one shooting a year during a marijuana raid.”

While there can be no doubt the Mexican drug cartels are behind this foreign invasion and assault on our national forest, neither is there any doubt such a thing could not possibly be done without the cooperation of our own state and federal government, despite the claims of some in government agencies. For years I have advocated for the legalization of marijuana, and the continued opposition to this from state and federal government means there are too many politicians bought from the profits of keeping it illegal. It comes down to the comparison between organized crime and our government operating from the same motive of profits. Invariably you will find “cooperation” between the two when it suits their profit motive, as in the government giving amnesty to drug smugglers for their testimony against border patrol agents attempting to do their jobs. This is no different than the tyranny of Bush treating the Oval Office as his throne from which he issues edicts designed to protect the rich and powerful.

But political correctness denies We the People a voice. To even mention illegal aliens are a problem is to be denounced by a few with screaming voices attempting to drown out reason with shouts of “Racist!” This is nothing less than sinister. When you find the same people damning Bush while supporting illegal aliens you know there is something sinister at the basis of this.

The fact that a relatively minuscule number of illegal aliens finds so many of the rich and powerful supporting them has to have some sinister motive, much in the way of counterfeiting. Just the other day, a friend sent me an article he had written on economics in which he used a quote from me back in 1960: “If you planned to print up a batch of counterfeit money, you wouldn’t print triangular bills on orange paper with a picture of Bob Hope on the front.”

While I had said this in regard to the various sects and cults masquerading as being “Christian,” he went on at length using the quote to elaborate on his theme of economic philosophy. But I was surprised that I recalled what I had said in 1960 as though it were only a short time ago; a seeming characteristic of advanced years.

Those supporting this illegal invasion from Mexico are only counterfeits of real Americans. But the very same people so quick to denounce Bush and his administration while supporting illegal aliens seem not to notice their hypocrisy. Illegal aliens have never had more support from any president in our history. And for those damning Bush while at the same time supporting the illegal invasion of America by Mexico at taxpayer expense is to say the least extraordinary, if not hypocritical. But they remain counterfeit Americans, to paraphrase Theodore Roosevelt, not the real thing. And as Jesus pointed out, Satan is not divided against himself else his house would fall. But not a few dupes seem complicit in Bush’s (the Devil’s?) tyrannical work, attempting to deny Americans have any rights as citizens of a sovereign nation to our heritage, culture, language, and secure borders. In the meantime, the phony “war on drugs” will continue while politicians and their corporate masters reap the profits, here in Kern County and elsewhere.

Now for those of you who continue to want to explore the glory and grandeur of our national forest here in Kern County, the pristine trout streams and other wonders our county has to offer be sure you go well-armed. It is no longer the bears and mountain lions you must be prepared for, but the marijuana “farmers.” And I will continue to enjoy the rare privilege of living where the water and air are clean, where there is no graffiti, drive-bys or gang warfare over drug turf. Don’t you folks in the “big city” wish you could have it so good? Don’t you wonder why you can’t?