Give Me Liberty

No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the House. But different men often see the same subject in different lights; and, therefore, I hope that it will not be thought disrespectful to those gentlemen, if, entertaining as I do opinions of a character very opposite to theirs, I shall speak forth my sentiments freely and without reserve.

This is no time for ceremony. The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my own part I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery; and in proportion to the magnitude of the subject ought to be the freedom of the debate. It is only in this way that we can hope to arrive at truth, and fulfill the great responsibility which we hold to God and our country. Should I keep back my opinions at such a time, through fear of giving offense, I should consider myself as guilty of treason towards my country, and of an act of disloyalty towards the majesty of heaven, which I revere above all earthly kings. Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren, till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?

For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth -- to know the worst and to provide for it. I have but one lamp by which my feet are guided; and that is the lamp of experience. I know of no way of judging of the future but by the past. And judging by the past, I wish to know what there has been in the conduct of the British ministry for the last ten years, to justify those hopes with which gentlemen have been pleased to solace themselves and the House? Is it that insidious smile with which our petition has been lately received? Trust it not, sir; it will prove a snare to your feet. Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious reception of our petition comports with these warlike preparations which cover our waters and darken our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a work of love and reconciliation? Have we shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled that force must be called in to win back our love? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir. These are the implements of war and subjugation -- the last arguments to which kings resort. I ask gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, if its purpose be not to force us to submission? Can gentlemen assign any other possible motives for it? Has Great Britain any enemy, in this quarter of the world, to call for all this accumulation of navies and armies?

No, sir, she has none. They are meant for us; they can be meant for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet upon us those chains which the British ministry have been so long forging. And what have we to oppose to them? Shall we try argument? Sir, we have been trying that for the last ten years. Have we anything new to offer on the subject? Nothing.

We have held the subject up in every light of which it is capable; but it has been all in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and humble supplication? What terms shall we find which have not been already exhausted? Let us not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer.

Sir, we have done everything that could be done to avert the storm which is now coming on. We have petitioned; we have remonstrated; we have supplicated; we have prostrated ourselves before the throne, and have implored its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands of the ministry and Parliament.

Our petitions have been slighted; our remonstrances have produced additional violence and insult; our supplications have been disregarded; and we have been spurned, with contempt, from the foot of the throne. In vain, after these things, may we indulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. There is no longer any room for hope.

If we wish to be free -- if we mean to preserve inviolate those inestimable privileges for which we have been so long contending -- if we mean not basely to abandon the noble struggle in which we have been so long engaged, and which we have pledged ourselves never to abandon until the glorious object of our contest shall be obtained, we must fight! I repeat it, sir, we must fight! An appeal to arms and to the God of Hosts is all that is left us!

They tell us, sir, that we are weak -- unable to cope with so formidable an adversary. But when shall we be stronger? Will it be the next week, or the next year? Will it be when we are totally disarmed, and when a British guard shall be stationed in every house? Shall we gather strength by irresolution and inaction? Shall we acquire the means of effectual resistance, by lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the delusive phantom of hope, until our enemies shall have bound us hand and foot?

Sir, we are not weak, if we make a proper use of the means which the God of nature hath placed in our power. Three millions of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in such a country as that which we possess, are invincible by any force which our enemy can send against us. Besides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. There is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us.

The battle, sir, is not to the strong alone; it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. Besides, sir, we have no election. If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable -- and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come!

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, "Peace! Peace!" -- but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!

Check this out

http://www.narlo.org/

Dear Friends and Associates,

This fight is building by the day. Following are some words well said.

What we’re doing is entirely in accordance with citizens’ rights enshrined in the Constitution and it is intended to clarify to all that the Constitution is: the inviolable, sacrosanct and supreme law of the land — from which each and every federal office-holder including the president, without exception, derives authority and legitimacy.

If ANY federal office-holder denies the supremacy of the Constitution — he destroys the legitimacy of his own authority!

Follow the updates here at www.RiseUpForAmerica.com.
The most powerful thing I have seen just came in from Ron Ewart and follows.
Andrew
“A DECLARATION OF INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENCE AND
REAFFIRMATION OF AMERICAN CONSTITUTIONAL SOVEREIGNTY”
By Ron Ewart, President
National Association of Rural Landowners
© Copyright July 1, 2009 - All Rights Reserved

Whereas, Patrick Henry said: “The Constitution is not an instrument for the government to restrain the people, it is an instrument for the people to restrain the government.” James Madison wrote: “It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice, if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood; if they be repealed or revised before they are promulgated, or undergo such incessant changes that no man who knows what the law is today can guess what it will be tomorrow. For far too many decades, government, at all levels, operating almost virtually unrestrained by the constitution and lobbied by socialists, radical environmentalists, corporations, bankers, unions and foreigners, has far exceeded its constitutional authority and has continuously assaulted or taken away our constitutional rights as regards the ownership of our land, as well as many other of our freedoms and liberties, as guaranteed and protected by the U. S. Constitution, and

Whereas, all natural born or naturalized Americans are sovereign and free citizens of the United States of America and are only bound by the Constitution of the United States (and laws not in violation thereof) and by the Constitution of the state in which each of us resides, and further, each believes in the words of Alexander Hamilton wherein he wrote: “No legislative act contrary to the Constitution can be valid. To deny this would be to affirm that the deputy (agent) is greater than his principal; that the servant is above the master; that the representatives of the people are superior to the people; that men, acting by virtue of powers may do not only what their powers do not authorize, but what they forbid. It is not to be supposed that the Constitution could intend to enable the representatives of the people to substitute their will to that of their constituents. A Constitution is, in fact, and must be regarded by judges as fundamental law. If there should happen to be a irreconcilable variance between the two, the Constitution is to be preferred to the statute”, and

Whereas, corrupt legislatures and bureaucrats, at all levels, in violation of their oath of office to preserve, protect and defend the U. S. Constitution, have passed and are continuing to pass, voluminous, unreadable, incoherent acts, ordinances, regulations, restrictions, edicts, laws and ratify treaties that are in direct violation of the strict and literal interpretation of our federal or state constitutions, pursuant to the intent of the framers or drafters of said constitutions, and

Whereas, the U. S. and state supreme courts have failed in their duty to literally interpret our Constitutions as the supreme law of the land and have inserted, in some cases, radical political, environmental, or socialist bias into their decisions, thereby rendering those decisions void, and

Whereas, we consider the words of George Sutherland, Associate Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court to be inviolate, wherein he wrote: “To give a man his life, but deny him his liberty, is to take from him all that makes his life worth living. To give him his liberty, but take from him the property which is the fruit and badge of his liberty, is to still leave him a slave”, and

Whereas, the net result of these acts by government, is that all American citizens have lost most if not all of their freedoms, their liberty, their property rights and American sovereignty, to the corrupt, unconscionable and unconstitutional violations of the supreme law of the land, at the hands of federal, state and local politicians, lawmakers and bureaucrats.

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that I, the undersigned, an independent, natural born, or naturalized, sovereign and free citizen of the United States of America, being of sound mind and body, do hereby decree, ordain and affirm that I am not a slave of the federal, state or local government, in any respect, or in any regard, and I will only be bound by the federal and state constitutions, or under my historical right of jury nullification and my interpretation of that right and I shall be bound by only such laws that I interpret to not be in violation of said constitutions, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that I hereby place government, in all forms and at all levels, on notice that I stand ready to defend my sovereign and individual, unalienable rights and American sovereignty, as did our forefathers and all those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedoms. And further, if it becomes necessary, “I do hereby solemnly pledge to all others who will defend constitutional liberty and sovereignty, my life, my fortune and my sacred honor in this pursuit, as did the framers of our Constitution..

Signed, executed and affirmed by me this 4th day of July, 2009.

Ron Ewart

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A copy of our “Petition Declaring Individual Independence and Reaffirmation of American Constitutional Sovereignty” with the above language, can be requested at info@narlo.org.

Ron Ewart, President
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF RURAL LANDOWNERS
P. O. Box 1031, Issaquah, WA 98027
425 222-4742 or 1 800 682-7848
(Fax No. 425 222-4743)
Website: www.narlo.org

That said, there is a real absence of leadership in the society as a whole. Leadership rests on princples...it’s difficult to have that when you are force-fed moral relativism from the time you leave the hospital in a receiving blanket.

Leadership, where and when shall it emerge from its constraints?

We live in a time of moral relativism and in a time of great hypocrisy. I think, and none need agree with me, that we seek too much perfection in the humbleness of man. We are so thirsty for that leader of perfection that in many ways we cast aside the good soldier if for nothing more than but human flaws.

We complain that we cannot tolerate the hypocritical shots fired off by our opponents, but it is our own claim to "higher standards," that functions to destroy us. Instead we remove and abolish the offending person, only to have another take their place.

We had a perfect example of what to do about impropriety last fall. A daughter in crisis was not turned away by her family, but instead was surrounded by them. The stones thrown at the situation failed to penetrate the protection the family provided. And while they admitted a failure, they demonstrated forgiveness and love inspite of human frailty.

Our own venom and condemnation of human imperfection keeps our real leaders from revealing themselves. Too often we ask and wonder, "Why, how, and what an embarrassment," at their human errors. To say we expect them to be better than a common man is to neglect man's pitiful nature.

Leadership will only emerge in these times such that the good they bring to the situation is truly needed more, than the distraction of their sins.

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