Live Free, or Die

Cross posted at City Tavern

Over the course of the 2008 Election cycle I have become aware that a great many Americans misunderstand, or misinterpret the Constitution of the United States, specifically the Bill of Rights. People tend to see the first ten amendments as consisting of rights granted to us by the Constitution. This is essentially what we are taught in public school from a young age. I myself labored under this misguided notion for many years until I realized that this is wholly and totally false. The Bill of Rights does not guarantee us any rights whatsoever. It defines the rights that the government cannot attempt to abrogate, and grants us any and all powers not given to the federal government, or the states.

The Declaration of Independence states that we are “endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness.” The Bill of Rights elucidates more of you’re unalienable rights, and makes it plain the government may not infringe upon them.

This is a vital distinction of the utmost importance. It is failure of Americans to understand this that allows the government to impinge upon that which is yours. As I have mentioned numerous times, all three branches of government are in violation of the Constitution.

Your right to peacefully assemble, to worship the religion of your choice, to free speech, to petition the government for a redress of grievances, to habeas corpus, to be free from warrantless invasions of your privacy, to not have soldiers quartered in your home, to possess and bear arms…these are your inherent rights. Governments do not have the power to grant these rights, or take them from you. You are born with them. They are your birthright, and it is your obligation as an American citizen to stand up and oppose any body that attempts to infringe upon your rights.

You have the unalienable right as a human being, not simply as an American, to peaceably assemble. The Constitution clearly states that this right cannot be abridged. Exercise that right. We have the indefeasible right to speak freely. No longer refer to our elected officials as Senator this or Congressman that or Representative the other. These men and women are criminals. They are in violation of the Constitution of the United States. We are not obligated to observe or abide by any law that this Congress issues, or this President signs. Any one of them that fails to stand up to the Executive is a criminal; period.

Now is not the time for fear. Now is the time for courage. Before the delegates of the Continental Congress voted for independency they sent a peace offering to the king of England, a petition for a redress of grievances, and an attempt at reconciliation that became known as the Olive Branch Petition. The king never set eyes on it. He declared the colonies to be in a state of rebellion, and that the leaders of the revolt, and anyone else participating in it could either swear fealty to the Crown, or be executed as a traitor. These same delegates signed the Declaration of Independence; it was their death warrant. Had the revolution failed, all the names that have become icons of history: Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Hancock, on and on...would have hung by the neck until dead. They staked their very lives upon the independency of this nation, to the good, and ill that it has committed over the last two centuries, so that there might be one place where the rule of law existed to one cause and purpose: defending human liberty.

Look within yourselves and draw on whatever strength you possess, whatever well of inspiration is within you. Your life, your children, their future posterity, their thriving or subjugation is entirely in your hands. Gather in your homes. Talk to your families. Talk to your neighbors. Whatever they might have thought of the man in the White House before, there is more than enough evidence to show that he is a liar and that he, and the people behind him, and the Congress that marches along without question, mean to do us and this republic irreparable harm. The time to dose your friends with the kool-aid antidote is now.

Time is short my friends. Gather. Speak out. Do not stop. Do not be silent. Now is the time for courage. Now is the time, regardless of where we came from, or how light or heavy our purse, to stand up and say, "No more!"

Phone calls are not enough. Letters are not enough. Your elected officials have offices in your state. Go there. Take your children. Put faces to the one thing they need almost as much as their money and power: your vote. You are a human being. Go to their offices. Show your faces. Make them see you. Email them photos of your families. If you can make the journey, go to Washington to see them. Go to their offices. Make their staff see you. Tell them you are not just a vote. You have needs, desires, dreams. They are not your masters unless you allow it to be so. Make it clear to them that if they do not oppose the man in the White House then their services are no longer required. Put them on notice that they do not rule by your consent. Fire the lot of them. They are nothing but criminals.

You are endowed with the unalienable right to live free from the rule of oligarchs and criminals. You have the indefeasible right to alter or abolish any government that does not effect your Safety and Happiness. Do not be afraid. They are flesh and blood, not gods. If they detain one of us, another takes their place. If they silence one, another will speak. And as the Mahatma said, if they kill us they will have our dead bodies, not our allegiance. If we come in non-violence and they arrest us; we win. If we come in peace and they kill us; we win. The only way we lose is by doing nothing.

Doing nothing is no longer an option. This is not simply a struggle to preserve our republic. This is a fight for human rights; your human rights. No government is endowed with the power to violate them, regardless of the words of dictators, or the policies of oligarchs. This is not about Republicans or Democrats, conservatives or liberals. Human rights knows no party, knows no ideology save one: Freedom.

We are human. It is our natural state to live free. We live free, or we die.



I for one am not willing to be enslaved, or be a puppet to an oligarchy. What say you?