It is early Sunday morning on July 1st, and I am reflecting on the astonishing events of the last week. For me, the events center on a simple theme of individual freedom and sovereignty.
On a beautiful Saturday morning, just yesterday, I gathered with almost 500 Americans, 300 of whom were about to participate in the First Annual US Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn Memorial Frogman Swim. Aaron gave his life in service to this country as one of the Navy SEALs killed in the Chinook helicopter shot down in Afghanistan last year. I have come to know his father, Billy, and met the entire family. One thing you can certainly ascertain is that Aaron grew up in a loving Christian family who understood devotion to Duty, Honor, God, and Country.
Looking at the splendor of the Atlantic Ocean, I reflected upon the sacrifices made over all these years by individuals such as Aaron for the individual freedoms, liberty, and democracy which we enjoy here in America. The wholehearted willingness to lay down one’s life for another is truly amazing and is an essential part of the American experience, our exceptionalism.
Aaron was one of the best this country offers, a US Navy SEAL. He was part of a legacy which began not too far up the coast in Ft. Pierce, Florida, home of the Navy Frogman, Underwater Demolition Team. However, Aaron is part of a legacy that spans all the way back to the first men who answered the call to arms -- those brave patriots at Lexington and Concord who fired the shot heard round the world.
It was those first “Minutemen” who stood ready to defend a new nation which embodied a fledgling idea of the sovereignty of the American individual... a sovereignty that emanates from our Creator, not from man or government.
And how those patriots would have shed tears upon hearing the decision coming from the Supreme Court of the United States of America this past week. This decision has set a precedent by collectively subjugating the individual rights of Americans to the subjective whims of the Federal Government. This decision has given the Federal Government unlimited taxing authority to unleash a new era of behavior modification by way of taxation. This decision has taken us back to exactly the point and reason for America’s founding -- onerous taxation.
As we come upon the 236th anniversary of the document setting America apart from all other nations, the Declaration of Independence, consider the achievement of Thomas Jefferson all those years ago. Thomas Jefferson would create the longest running Constitutional Republic the world has ever known. He would set forth a concept that was foreign at the time, of rule by the consent of the governed, not by the monarch. His idea that our unalienable rights did not come from a single ruler but were embedded in each of us from our Creator wholeheartedly altered the relationship between God, leaders, and the people.
Yet, in a single moment five Supreme Court justices decided that Jefferson’s words had no meaning. These Justices decided that James Madison, John Jay, and Alexander Hamilton had it all wrong.
Quite contrary to the serenity of the morning where we memorialized Aaron Vaughn.
I respect our concept of separation of powers and the three branches of government, but I have utmost respect for the fundamental premise in America of individual sovereignty and liberty.
My parting challenge to all who read this missive before this 4th of July -- read the entire Declaration of Independence with your families. Read and understand that which Thomas Jefferson set forth here some 236 years ago.
Read the grievances which he listed from an invasive and intrusive King George III and England and find the similarities to today.
Read and understand the impeccable birthright of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness that has been given to all who earn the title of American.
Read, and notice, that Thomas Jefferson stated pursuit of happiness, not guarantee!
Read, and read again if necessary to ensure that our children and grandchildren recognize the blessing of having been born in the greatest nation the world has ever known… a nation for which men and women have given their lives… a nation for which many have left other places in order to become a citizen within the laws of the land.
Read, my fellow Americans, and when you feel that swelling of pride within your hearts and the tears well in your eyes, then you are ready to do as 56 men did 236 years ago -- pledge your life, your fortune, and your sacred honor to restoring the legacy of this Constitutional Republic, these great United States of America!
Thanks to the five United States Supreme Court Justices who have reminded us, true Americans, of what tyranny looks like.
Steadfast and Loyal,
