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REQUIEM

Below are the two final essays to be posted on Allegiance and Duty Betrayed. The first one is written by a friend -- screen name 'Euro-American Scum' -- who, over the past four years, has been the most faithful essayist here. He has written about everything from his pilgrimage to Normandy in 2004 to take part in the 60th–year commemoration of the invasion, to his memories of his tour in Vietnam. His dedication to America’s founding principles ... and those who have sacrificed to preserve them over the past 200+ years ... is unequaled. Thank you, E-A-S. It has been a privilege to include your writing here, and it is a privilege to call you my friend.

The second essay is my own farewell. And with it I thank all of the many regular visitors, and those who may have only dropped in occasionally, for coming here. I hope you learned something. I hope a seed or two was planted. But, even if not, I thank you for stopping by ... 25 March, 2010

12/28/2009

It's Time to Take Back Our Government


... we here highly resolve
that these dead shall not have died in vain

...from Plumb Bob Blog:
The outcome of the Senate vote regarding the Democrats’ health care monstrosity is actually moot. The fate of the dollar is already sealed; even without the new, dead weight of yet another unfunded and unfundable ball on the end of our fiscal chain, the collapse will come sooner rather than later. The massive debt accumulations, the rising mandatory spending, the inability of the government to find lenders, the unwillingness of government to even begin to address the easily recognizable fiscal disaster, and the abandonment of free enterprise and the rule of law, have all worked their corrosion; it seems unlikely to me that the nation will even be able to provide even the first dollar of the new health care regime. The outcome of this “debate” does not matter.

What matters is what the incident says about the Democratic party.

We’ve just witnessed a massive assault on individual liberty. Every word produced by the Democratic party during the “debate” was a lie; not a single claim from the party was true. At no time did they participate in the system in good faith; at every point they made every effort to hide their intentions, to bury the true effect of the bill under mountains of opaque verbiage. They passed their measures hurriedly, in the dead of night, knowing that they lacked the support of the nation, knowing that their own Senatorial support would evaporate if permitted exposure to the folks back home. Even the few who supported the measure are misled. None of the alleged goals of the new system have been met in the new bill. It is not cheaper. It does not increase access. It does not reduce claim assessments from unfriendly adjusters. It does not improve health care in any way; it simply adds power to the Democratic control machine. That was the goal: power to the Democratic party. And less liberty for you.

They used a technique I’m calling the Kamikaze Ratchet. They know perfectly well that there will be a voter reaction in 2010, and that many who supported this measure will face opposition that might not have had any force except for anger over the health bill. Some will lose their seats. They know this; that’s the Kamikaze part. The Ratchet part is that they’re betting that the new Congress in 2010 will not have the numbers, or the guts, to substantially change the new health regime. They may lose their seats, but the new Masters in Washington will have acquired their authority permanently.

The point is that the Democratic party is not a participant in the American experiment in liberty. It has not been, in fact, at any time since the beginning of the 20th century. At all points in time, the Democratic party has represented the element in American culture that wants to throw off the cumbersome engine of compromise required to keep the nation free, and replace it with a sleek, streamlined autocracy run by experts, an oligarchy of the scientifically-minded elite. They believe that they, and they alone, know how to make the trains run on time, how to usher in the Age of Aquarius, how to build a new and more perfect world. They’ve been hankering after the power to do what they have in their minds, unmolested. Their every move, from 1914 onward, has been to acquire that power in order to end Government of the People, by the People, and for the People.
Patriot American citizens support freedom-lovers and oppose tyrants no mater what their party affiliation. But the fact remains that this latest tyrannical obscenity of a health care bill was crafted in secret meetings and rammed through in the middle of the night by Democrats alone, with no Republican participation.

We may be non-partisan, but we're not blind.

Certainly the Republican party bears some of the blame, since during the last decades they too have initiated many government power grabs. But let's be clear: Never has such a massive amount of freedom been taken from the people by the majority party without a single vote from the opposition. The Democrats own this latest tyranny.

If you read the rest of Phil's excellent essay, he recommends that the States "where it appears that the majority of the citizens retain belief in citizen government" get together and secede from the Union. Phil is not alone in wanting to separate ourselves from the looters and thugs. In a recent (Nov. 2nd) guest column in the Transylvania Times, reader Meriam Matthews of Lake Toxaway wrote:
It has become clear that the ideological differences between the two main political world views - liberalism and conservatism - have become irreconcilable...

I find myself being forcibly married to half the country whose ideology I find morally and politically repugnant...and I want a divorce.

Here are my settlement terms: I want all the red counties...[and] the liberals can have the blue counties...We'll split North Carolina and take the Western half...

Give me back my Constitution. I want my taxes reduced, my incandescent light bulbs, my health car plan, my car, my church and my Bible. Hands off my Internet, the free market, my small business profits, my free speech...

I want my schools free of sexual and political indoctrination, the founding documents and history books free of historical revisionism...
While the idea of leaving the left to lie in the bed they have made is appealing, and with all due respect to Phil and Mr. Matthews, unilateral succession has been tried before with disastrous results. Not only did 260,000 Americans give their lives during the American Civil War, but the drastic measures President Lincoln used to prosecute the war fractured the U.S. Constitution.

The Declaration of Independence proclaimed to the world:
...Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
Sure, it's theoretically possible for the U.S. Congress to call a Constitutional Convention with the intent of abolishing the current federal government and replacing it with another. But that will never happen, of course; Congress likes having unlimited power over us. Thankfully, there is another way out of this mess.

Article V of the U.S. Constitution provides the mechanism to peacefully change the government without the consent of Congress.
Congress...on the Application of the Legislatures of two thirds of the several States, shall call a Convention for proposing Amendments, which, in either Case, shall be valid to all Intents and Purposes, as Part of this Constitution, when ratified by the Legislatures of three fourths of the several States, or by Conventions in three fourths thereof...
I believe that the time has come to work toward that end. The last few weeks have made it abundantly clear that our so-called 'representatives' no longer represent the people, and instead, represent only their insatiable lust for power. We've petitioned them until we're blue in the face, and frankly, they just don't care any more.

There's an old Sicilian saying, "Don't ask for what you can't take," and I say it's time we stopped asking our U.S. legislators to respect the U.S. Constitution and instead, take back our government.

I believe we need to do that from the bottom up, starting at the County level, then the State.

The Asheville, NC Tea Party, of which I am a member, has been ahead of the game in supporting the Sovereignty of the States under the Tenth Amendment with its support of HB 849 - The North Carolina Sovereignty Act.

Unfortunately, that bill is being blocked by eight-term Assemblyman Bill Owens [D-Elizabeth City]. Last April, various Tea Party groups (including ours) presented Owens with a petition containing over 1,000 signatures, urging him to move this bill forward. But like our U.S. Representatives, he didn't hear us either. After repeated calls to his office pressing for a response, any response, to our petition, Assemblyman Owens issued this worthless statement though a voicemail message left by his assistant:
Representative Owens did see [the petition,] and he said that House Bill 849 probably would not be heard because it's the Senate's policy that they do not consider State legislation dealing with Federal policy, and that even if it passed in the House, the Senate wouldn't do anything with it.
-- Assemblyman Owen's assistant Linda, 6/2/2009
"Destructive of the ends of liberty..."
  • massive debt accumulations, unretirable in multiple lifetimes

  • rising mandatory spending, with no end in sight

  • inability of the government to find lenders to fund its appetite for debt

  • abandonment of free enterprise in favor of nationalized industry

  • casting aside of the rule of law in favor of the rule of men

  • full embrace of socialist government programs designed to keep an increasing number of Americans dependent upon the government

Those who stood aside as mute observers as this agenda came to fruition; those who assisted feebly in the effort by refusing to do their sworn duty (i.e. Assemblyman Owens). In the end, they share equally in the blame with those who put their full weight into the effort to push these agenda items through. All played critical roles in despoiling Liberty as given by the Creator and once guaranteed by the US Constitution.

The U.S. Constitution is a peace treaty which allows men to live together freely in peace and prosperity. We should all seriously consider the ramifications if we allow the government to trample this precious document upon which our very lives depend.

by John Cooper
(contributing Team Member of Allegiance and Duty Betrayed)
- with contributions by JaneQ Republican -

17 comments:

John Cooper said...

Joanie--

Once again, thanks for posting my humble words (and those of Jane Q. Republican.

"Both of our political parties, at least the honest portion of them, agree conscientiously in the same object—the public good; but they differ essentially in what they deem the means of promoting that good. One side believes it best done by one composition of the governing powers; the other, by a different one. One fears most the ignorance of the people; the other, the selfishness of rulers independent of them. Which is right, time and experience will prove."

--Thomas Jefferson

robmaroni said...

"Destructive of the ends of liberty..."

massive debt accumulations, unretirable in multiple lifetimes

rising mandatory spending, with no end in sight

inability of the government to find lenders to fund its appetite for debt

abandonment of free enterprise in favor of nationalized industry

casting aside of the rule of law in favor of the rule of men

full embrace of socialist government programs designed to keep an increasing number of Americans dependent upon the government

_________________________

A good summary of the crimes being committed against us all. Wake up America!

Cal Brindisi said...

I admire your secession plan but I don't think there's time for that and I don't think there will ever be enough support for it to succeed. I hope I'm wrong.

You're a good researcher and writer. Thank you for that and for your love of country.

John Cooper said...

Rob--

Jane Q. wrote that part. I'll tell her you appreciated it.

Anonymous said...

The Kamikaze Rachet concept is spot on, as is the rest of the report. Nice work.

Anonymous said...

Cal Brindisi,

I agree that thoughts of secession are too optimistic, but I admire the people who are promoting it.

2ndAmendmentDefender said...

...Whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

233 years ago people were self-reliant, independent and did most of their thinking for themselves. Today we are a nation of lazy, stupefied ignoramuses.

It was visionary of the founders to put that clause in the Constitution, but they had no idea how far we'd fall. You, John Cooper, and your members of the Tea Party movement, and Joanie, and most of the readers of this blog are in a small minority. We don't have time to educate the masses anymore. They're moving too fast and their programs will be permanent. We'll go down fighting but go down we will.

I belong to my own "movements" and I'll never stop speaking out, or acting out when I have the chance. But I don't believe we'll win this fight.

Damn them.

statusquobuster said...

Glad to see support for an Article V convention; learn all the facts and see some 750 applications from all 50 states at www.foavc.org, and become a member. Congress and all status quo, plutocratic political forces fear a convention, because actual reforms of our corrupt and dysfunctional government could be proposed and earn broad public support.

John Cooper said...

Cal--

It's an interesting intellectual exercise trying to figure out how much abuse the people will take before they drop their remotes and get up out of their recliners, isn't it?

Other than secession, a Constitutional Convention could be used to invalidate legislation, too. For example, this Amendment might be a good start:

"As used in this document, the term "General Welfare" does not grant Congress any powers beyond those listed in Article I, Section 8."

Of course, Congress would no doubt ignore that like they ignore the rest of the Constitution. The only option then would be for the States to back up their wishes with military force.

John Cooper said...

How To Curtail the Federal Beast by Judge Andrew Napolitano:

"What should freedom lovers do?

Here are a few simple steps. First, agree on the wording of two amendments addressing commerce and income taxes. Next persuade the state legislatures of 34 states to enact a resolution by a simple majority vote of each house of the states’ legislatures instructing Congress to convene a constitutional convention for the express and sole purpose of considering these two amendments. I don’t know if 34 states will agree to this; but I firmly believe that as the number of agreeing states approaches 34, Congress will become terrified, and will begin to curtail its regulation of our behavior and lower our taxes. If the convention does come to pass and sends the two proposed amendments to the states, the goal is then to get 38 states to adopt the amendments. Note, the state legislative process of demanding a convention and the state legislative process of approving an amendment only requires a simple majority in each house of a state legislature, and neither is subject to a governor’s veto."

John Galt said...

Cooper, Judge Napolitano is great! How the hell did he get into such a corrupt profession? ;)

This is a good article and these movements to have the states exercise their Constitutional power before it's too late are good. The bottom line is do we have the time, and the next to bottom line is do we have the manpower?

Good work here.

On another note, in relation to the attempted terrorist attack on Christmas, and the administration's ridiculous response:

“When you have somebody in charge of an organization like the Dept. of Homeland Security who is totally unqualified for the job that she has when you read her own bio, what you have is that cascade leadership failure, you have egg on the face of the Obama Administration again frankly, if I can be blunt here, Janet Napolitano couldn't lead Tiger Woods to a free weekend at the Mustang Ranch.”

http://hotairpundit.blogspot.com/2009/12/homeland-security-expert-on-foxnews.html

Anonymous said...

To me it seems obvious and logical that there will be a Civil War Two in the future. I do not see the possibility of Communism and Capitalism Co-Existing in the United States. I would personally seceed as an individual if I could and waive all future Federal handouts goodies freebies Social Security Medicare all of it. In exchange for Freedom from them.

Steve Leiden said...

Similarly, from another forum:

American Special Forces troops have been trained to recruit local allies into their team, which is called force multiplication. It's hard work but good strategy and part of the reason why our troops have friends all over the world who understand the ideals of Liberty and Justice that America stands for.

This concept can also be applied in American elections, which are indeed a battleground. Liberal news media pick their candidates and slant news coverage to bring "celebrity name recognition" to their favorites so uninformed voters will elect them. Many instances of false voter registrations and fraudulent absentee ballot voting were found in the 2008 election and this practice is not expected to lessen in 2010 or 2012. We should all work to expose election registration frauds like we did with ACORN in 2008, but there is something else that politically aware Tea Partiers can do this election.

Overwhelm election registration fraud and "celebrity name" votes with legitimate, informed votes.

The idea is simple and involves three steps; election registration forms, information and follow-up.

Step 1. Election registration forms are usually available at the County level. Whatever County we live in, we can go to their elections website or call them up. They may have printable forms online or anyone can go down to their office or a branch office and get some. Keep some forms at work and in the car. Tea Party leaders should keep a big stack. We can ask all our common sense friends and relatives "are you registered to vote?" If not, help them register with our handy form! Find other places to register voters.

Local Tea Parties can hold seminars on "How To Properly Register Voters" and pass around ideas on where to find places to help register voters in a non-partisan way. Local rules for voter registration are probably on the County website. One good place is local churches. Ask the Pastor! Another is our Armed Forces. Military spouses and veterans can form a group at their local base or post to help troops register to vote, order their absentee ballots as early as possible and get them turned in early, too. Partner with a talk radio station to have a voter registration event. Tea Party seminars can think of lots of other places!

Step 2. It's important to continue having Tea Party rallies and events to keep people informed on the issues. After all, liberal news media is not going to do it. We must continue to write letters to the editor and use online comment forms available on internet news media. Try to get guest editorials written in our local newspapers. In the case of particularly slanted coverage we notice, we can contact our local news station producer and politely complain. They may be embarrassed enough to give better coverage.

Tea Parties are great places to talk about other ways to get information on the issues past mainstream news censors to the people; we must continue that tradition and expand it through the election year.

Step 3. Whenever we get a family member, friend, or other person registered, request their phone number and follow up. It's better if we help them fill the form out and turn it in for them but if they just took a form, follow up and make sure they register. The night before election we can call up everyone on our "Registration List" and remind them to vote, unless they already voted with an early ballot.

In some Counties we can also help our "Registration List" people get absentee ballots and vote early. Give them voting tips like "You don't have to vote for every entry" and "here's where to research that issue." (Make up our own local list of tips to give out.) Give the list your phone number for any questions.

In all this maintain integrity, be honest and follow the rules. "We" are not "Them" and don't have to be!

Let's have great election years in 2010 / 2012 by becoming force multipliers!

lori_gmeiner said...

Excellent facts, and accurate interpretations of the founders' intent. Thanks for this "weapon" that I can use in future arguments. ;)

Anonymous said...

I say we all move to Alaska and seceded. We can be energy independent forever and can certainly afford to import everything else. No joke.

Sharon Gold said...

That Plum Bob column is excellent! I've added him to my "must read" links.

Thanks for the excellent analysis, too.

Franklin said...

America is now akin to a Giant Oak tree that has been rotting on the inside for years.
A branch here or there falls off over time but, doesn't appear to have a problem. More branches whither and fall off, no real damage done. You notice the tree's bark is not as appealing and healthy looking as it once was but it still drops it's leaves and has new growth every year so nothing to be concerned about.
One day a large limb falls off barely missing your house. So you trim back a little and shape it up some but it's still a strong looking tree.
One day a storm moves through the area and a huge limb breaks and causes the tree to split off part of the trunk, falling onto your house almost killing a sleeping child.
Stunned you look at your old strong huge Oak tree that has offered shade and beauty for so many years and find that it is dead inside and has been rotting from the inside out for years and only looks strong and healthy.
You look at all options and find the tree can no longer be saved it has suffered to much rotting even down into the very Tap root of the tree and must be cut down or simply allowed to further deteriorate and rot until it collapses of it's own rot and weight killing and damaging everything underneath it.

This is a picture of America. Amnesty or a easy pathway to citizenship for the millions of illegal immigrants will be the storm that finally exposes the dead rot that is inside of America that has been killing America for years.

American taxpayers cannot bear the weight of a rotten country. And, support and fund other countries all over the world while being abused and betrayed by it's own corrupt and self-serving government leadership at every level of government.

City, State and Federal governments are smothering, abusing and creating a living environment that is becoming more and more UN-affordable for more and more people.