Darnton vs Clark Case Withdrawn

It's a sad day for New Zealand (or, at least, should be) as Bernard Darnton, the man brave enough to stand up to big government corruption, has officially withdrawn his case from the courts. We should remember it, however, for giving even the most hardened Socialist a wake-up call that governments are not above the law contrary of how many act, and that there's more to the running of this country than meets the eye.

The most shocking part of the whole ordeal is that, although the government's misspending of public money was widely talked about (an issue which I myself discussed with the Audittor-General some time ago), the government's passing of legislation making that money legal was largely ignored. This was an even more important action and one that should go down abysmally in the history of New Zealand politics. The government gave itself the power to be above the law. The government's actions resembled that of a third-world dictatorship, not a Western-world Liberal Democracy. New Zealanders completely ignored that. The reaction by New Zealanders was no short of disgusting and disgraceful.

On a lighter side, I also have some congratulating to do-and thanking, because these people stood up for my, and every New Zealander's, civil liberties. The first person I will thank is the Audittor-General. He bravely stood up to the government declaring that the money was illegally used, and stood beside his decision in the face of increasing government coercion. During these times, he showed us what an ideal civil servant was: not a puppet of the government, but a man independent of the government's power.

I also have to thank Bernard Darnton. The faithful leader of the Libertarianz did what's right, and what any citizen should do when the government declares it's above the law: he sued it. He, like the Audittor-General, bravely stood up for your rights. Your liberties. A true Libertarian indeed.

Everyone who signed the petition to the governor-general about the issue also needs to be thanked. They expressed, no matter how small a name their's may be out of the tens of thousands who signed, a clear concern for civil liberties, government corruption, and government power.

So, as above-the-law as the government may seem, this court case will always be around to remind us that there still are people who care about the government's size, scope and power in this little southern Pacific nation, and that these people are still alive and well today. And as long as these people live, the government will never be truly above the law.