My Last Call

My original intention was to write an open letter to the government applauding their damn-near awe-inspiring ability to enslave people while simultaneously giving the illusion of freedom and then to go on with a "Declaration of Independence"-style letter detailing the whys of why I feel I must "dissolve the political bands which have connected" me to my beloved country. This included washing my hands of trying to help anyone else see what was going on and do something about it. But as I calmed down a bit, I felt that perhaps one final plea to my fellow Americans (and to a lesser extent, the world at large) was in order to try to sway them, not to my beliefs, but to open their eyes and see for themselves the horrors about to befall us, and let them decide the path from there that they wish to walk. So, here it is, my final plea.

"When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation."

Here are the causes for which I feel I must dissolve said political bands as it pertains to me individually:

The government "has refused [their] assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good." We have elected too many leaders who have promised to uphold the will of the people and to act as the voice of their electors who have, finding power and prestige in their appointed positions to be the more important, changed stances, broken promises, and disregarded the ideas that were the initial reasons they were chosen.

"[The government] has kept among us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature" and "has affected to render the military independent of and superior to civil power." There was never meant to be a regular army. It was always to be a militia of the people, trained and armed, ready at a moment’s notice to defend the boarders from foreign invasion and domestic tyranny. Check "The Federalist" if you don’t believe me. I believe it is number 29. I love the men and women who serve our country and am thankful for their sacrifices. But, they do not serve the people; they serve the nation. If martial law is declared for example, their duty is to protect those in power, not the citizenry.

"For imposing taxes on us without our consent." Do I really need to spell this point out? There are a limited number of taxes that can constitutionally be required of the people. Beyond those few enumerated by the Constitution, the government must have the consent of the people to raise taxes, consent I have definitely not given. Consent that none have given.

"For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments." We established ourselves as a constitutional republic, using a guiding set of common laws and modelling thereafter a form of government where the people were to have the rule and the government only such powers as the people willingly bestowed to them. The Constitution of our nation is dead now. Has been for years. Technically, it was officially gotten rid of during the Great Depression (I think the exact year was 1933) and was never reinstated as the law of the land. Though the origins can be traced back even before that where Presidents such as Lincoln ignored all constitutional rights (the writ of habeas corpus was one of the first to go, quickly followed by the freedoms of the press, religion and speech) without the consent of Congress or of the governed. So it is nothing new, only a continuation of a process that has been in effect for well over a century.

"In every stage of these oppressions we have petitioned for redress in the most humble terms: our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated injury." There have been protests against the wars, the taxes, the bailouts. There’s been the TEA Party Movement, the Occupy Movement and various and sundry other movements. Independent speakers unaffiliated with any of them (myself included) have voiced our opinions to our elected officials. Speaking only for myself, I have talked to my senators, congressmen and women, city and county officials, making efforts to effect change in our country on all levels. Some have helped, some have never responded, some have flat out lied to me (I have the emails to prove it…I was going to call names, but as some of them are in enough hot water for illicit affairs, I’ll play nice), others have responded that they don’t care what my opinion is, they are going to do what they want. Behold, my tax payer dollars and vote hard at work! But I digress. My main point is we have exercised repeatedly our constitutional rights and attempted through free speech and redress of grievances and elections to reform and things have gotten progressively worse.

You will notice that much of what is here is in quotations. For those of you not history savvy, these quotes are from the document entitled "A Declaration by the Representatives of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in General Congress assembled", more commonly referred to as "The Declaration of Independence". Written by Thomas Jefferson, it stated, in no uncertain terms, the reasons for the colonies that would become the United States of America to separate themselves from their mother country of England. The same grievances that our forefathers brought against King George when they labelled him a tyrant, are the same grievances I bring to bear against this current government and governments of the last several decades. From Lincoln to Bush Jr. we have been forced into things not in agreement with the constitutional pact made between the general populous of the people and the government those people established.

Truly, I have hardly begun to touch upon the subject. I have not yet gotten to the historic and recent examples of the government’s outright defilement of our Constitution or the Bill of Rights. Spanning from the Lincoln years when armed troops forcibly shut down newspapers that argued in favor of the succession, to the passing of the Patriot Act during the years of Bush Jr. and continuing into the present with large bailouts, overbearing gun control laws, innumerable taxes from an agency not affiliated with the government and not in any way provided for by the constitution, the list of tyrannical atrocities perpetrated by a government no longer the servants of the people continues as it long has and continues to expand. A war declared without the consent of congress, a violation of article 1 section 8 of the constitution, has been going on for over a dozen years, though it has now twice been declared that this illegal war is over. We have been taxed to pay for this war since, a violation also of section 8 which states that congress can only tax people to raise and maintain an army for a maximum period of 2 years. According to section 9, "a regular Statement and Account of Receipts and Expenditures of all public Money shall be published from time to time". I have heard of but n

ever seen a FULL account of the government’s expenditures and seen to what ends my money has been appropriated, nor do I believe some of the reported expenditures that I have seen.

Time constrains me to briefen my thoughts on the matter. To bring my (still incomplete) list of grievances to a close, I would remind our President of the oath he took before he assumed office. "I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Our senators and representatives must make a similar oath before taking their respective offices.

To be blunt, you are oath-breakers, liars, thieves, charlatans, and frauds of the worst kind! You are obliged by the offices you possess, the offices you were elected to by the people, to represent the people and to uphold the Constitution, an obligation few of you even attempt to fulfill. This country does not need pretty speeches filled with empty promises. The only "change" it needs is to change back to doing things by the founding documents of this country.

I call upon my fellow countrymen and women to take a look around you and see for yourself that things are, to say the very least, amiss. Act! Do whatever is necessary to prevent the furtherance of tyranny in this nation. Do not let us reach the day again where, as Thomas Jefferson so succinctly put it, the "tree of liberty must from time to time be refreshed with the blood of patriots and tyrants".