I’m a proud member of the FREEDOM MOVEMENT! That group of people working throughout the grassroots across the country spreading the message of freedom; personal liberty, lower (or no) taxes, no central bank, less (or no) government, an end to corporatism and an end to the military industrial complex.
In the last year and a half many people and groups have attempted to hijack the movement, which began growing during the Ron Paul Presidential campaign of 2008. Glenn Beck and his 9/12 group are just one example. Beck, for instance in 2008 publicly supported the PATRIOT Act and banker bailouts, Sarah Palin did the same. Now, we’re supposed to believe that these people, the groups they’ve started and the people that support them believe in smaller government & lower taxes. It is certainly possible for people to have a legitimate change of heart and change their opinion on issues. However, I find it incredibly coincidental that these people have had such a drastic change of heart and opinion at the same exact time that their favored half of the political duopoly is no longer the “ruling party.” It seems to be a case of “it’s different when WE do it.”
Many in the freedom movement have been told directly or indirectly they are no longer welcome in the local “tea party” groups that follow the ideology of Beck & Palin. One of my friends was even threatened with arrest for supposedly trespassing at a “tea party” event for passing out Constitutions without permission from the event organizers. Does this sound like a proponent of freedom?
My fellow freedom fighters, do not be discouraged. There are plenty of groups and people acting independently that will welcome you with open arms – though association or membership may land you on a watch list published by the Southern Poverty Law Center. The Liberty Restoration Project “is composed of a politically diverse group of concerned citizens who have decided to throw down the arbitrary barriers (such as political parties) that divide us and work together as American Citizens to improve our country, starting as locally as possible.” LRP is fighting to educate individuals and groups about issues such as: Food Sovereignty, Real I.D., Smart Port/NAFTA Superhighway, U.S. War Policy, Intrusive Legislation (Patriot Acts, Military Commissions Act, Homegrown Terrorism Act, New Born Children Save Lives Act, Real ID Act, NAIS, etc…), Presidential Executive Orders, Right to Keep and Bear Arms – Second Amendment, Federalism & the War on Drugs. Another active group that has held true to the ideas of limited government is the We the People Foundation, “a non-profit research and educational foundation. In short, the mission of the Foundation is to protect and defend individual Rights as guaranteed by the Constitutions of the United States and the fifty states of the Union.“ Bob Schulz, founder of “We The People” has been involved in many lawsuits, The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia acknowledges, “they have engaged since 1999 in “a nationwide effort to get the government to answer specific questions” regarding what plaintiffs view as the Government’s “violation of the taxing clauses of the Constitution” and “violation of the war powers, money and ‘privacy’ clauses of the Constitution.” In the end, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, thus upholding the lower court ruling that while you have a Constitutionally protected right to petition the government for a redress of grievance, the government is not obligated to answer.
Other groups include the Campaign for Liberty, founded by Ron Paul at the conclusion of his 2008 Presidential campaign. Though many within the C4L are adamant about an attempt to “reform the Republican Party” and refuse to acknowledge or support “third party” candidates. This seems counter-productive. Why spend time and energy attempting to reform a party that is controlled by corporations and working in cahoots with the Democratic Party to attain as much power as possible at the expense of the people?
Another group that will welcome you, if you agree to move to New Hampshire, is the Free State Project. “The Free State Project is an agreement among 20,000 pro-liberty activists to move to New Hampshire, where they will exert the fullest practical effort toward the creation of a society in which the maximum role of government is the protection of life, liberty, and property.” There are also two other “competing” Free State groups; Free State Wyoming & Free West Alliance – a group “attempting to organize the migration of libertarians and the like-minded into the U.S. states of Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, in order to influence local political policy toward libertarian ideals. It also seeks to mobilize current residents of the states who have libertarian politics.” I’d like to see every State become a Free State!
If you’re a member of the FREEDOM MOVEMENT continue to stand up and speak out, we can take our movement back from those who are attempting to hi-jack it and we will regain our stolen freedoms. Remember the words of Adam Kokesh, “The revolution that we speak of is a revolution of values, a paradigm shift, and a renewed commitment among the American people to patriotism, not loyalism. Our patriotism is resisting state power and being ever-ready to defend this country . . . from the government. This is in direct opposition to the current propaganda driven definition that has perverted patriotism into loyalism, the worship of power and authority and willingness to cede the rights of self-ownership to an external power that is the source of all unjust powers in the world. As a political force, they should fear us.”