Liberty or Tyranny?
“The citizens of the United States are responsible for the greatest trust ever confided to a political society. If justice, good faith, honor, gratitude and all the other qualities which ennoble the character of a nation and fulfill the ends of government be the fruits of our establishments, the cause of Liberty will acquire a dignity and lustre, which it has never yet enjoyed, and an example will be set, which cannot but have the most favourable influence on the Rights on Mankind. If on the other side, our governments should be unfortunately blotted with the reverse of these cardinal and essential virtues, the great cause which we have engaged to vindicate, will be dishonored and betrayed; the last and fairest experiment in favor of the Rights of human nature will be turned against them; and their patrons and friends exposed to be insulted and silenced by the votaries of tyranny and usurpation.” —James Madison
The cause of, and necessity for, the American Revolution was the violation of fundamental rights endowed by the “Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God.” Unjust taxation was the catalyst for the first American Revolution and the attempt to disarm the People resulted in the “Shot Heard Round the World.”
Once again, the irrevocable Rights of Man are being violated, and that encroachment is both legislative and judicial, sustained by wealth confiscation and redistribution, including the wealth of future generations in the form of debt, for purposes not expressly authorized by our Constitution. As was the case at the dawn of the American Revolution, taxes and regulations are the catalysts for undermining our rights. Liberty is not secure for us, nor for our posterity, if the legislature institutes regulations, collects taxes, and accumulates insurmountable obligations of debt to support government agendas and expenditures that are clearly outside the limits of our Constitution.
Consequently, our nation approaches the precipice of insolvency, and the bill is rapidly coming due. It will most certainly be repaid in the currency of tyranny unless Liberty and Rule of Law prevail.
Our Constitution, as written and ratified, stipulates in its preface that it is “ordained and established” by the People to “secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity.” The incremental revocation of our ability to defend ourselves from encroachments on our rights has dramatically diminished our capacity to secure those blessings today, let alone for future generations.
“We, the People of the United States,” must demand that members of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches abide by their sworn oaths “to support and defend” our Constitution as mandated in Article II and Article VI.
Laws, regulations, tax collection, and debt accumulation for expenses having no express constitutional authorization are an abject violation of our Constitution. The oaths of those sworn to uphold the Constitution as the supreme law of the land have become lip service. “Representation” does not exist where there is no assurance that elected legislators will abide by their oaths and affirm Rule of Law.
Again, as George Washington observed, “Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation deserts the oaths?” Those representatives who allocate unlawful expenditures of the treasury as an instrument to perpetuate their reelection, whose allegiance is secured with confiscated and redistributed wealth, betray their oaths and do great injury to our Constitution and our Liberty.
We American Patriots must, “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor,” as we endeavor to restore Rule of Law and our Constitution’s limits on the central government’s power.
As eighteenth-century Irish statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke said of complacency and indifference regarding Liberty, “When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”
Likewise, on this critical need for association, on July 4, 1776, Ben Franklin advised, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” This is sage advice for today and for all those days to come.
Fellow Patriots, be reminded that at the dawn of the first fight for American Liberty, Thomas Paine wrote, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” And so it is today.
This treatise is not a call for revolution but for restoration.
Our mission is to provide our fellow Americans with a foundational understanding of Liberty so that we may be united in undertaking whatever measures are dictated by prudence and necessity to restore the integrity and primacy of the unalienable Rights of Mankind — those rights enumerated in our Declaration of Independence and enshrined in our Republic’s Constitution — that we may fully commit to “Support and Defend” those first principles.
Remember the words of Samuel Adams: “Let us consider, brethren, we are struggling for our best birthrights and inheritance. … Let us disappoint the Men who are raising themselves on the ruin of this Country.”
George Washington professed, “It should be the highest ambition of every American to extend his views beyond himself, and to bear in mind that his conduct will not only affect himself, his country, and his immediate posterity; but that its influence may be co-extensive with the world, and stamp political happiness or misery on ages yet unborn.”
In his Farewell Address Washington said: “Citizens by birth or choice of a common country, that country has a right to concentrate your affections. The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.”
But Washington also warned, “Guard against the impostures of pretended patriotism.”
Our mission and advocacy — and that of all genuine Patriots who embody the legacy and spirit of the Founders — is framed by our commitment to Liberty over tyranny.
We are not defined by labels — Right or Left, Conservative or Liberal, Republican or Democrat. We are not defined by race, creed, ethnicity, religion, wealth, education, geography, or cultural affiliation.
We are defined, first and foremost, by our commitment to this essential affirmation: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness…” We believe that all people are created with equal value and dignity, and that the Judeo-Christian faith is both the foundation upon which this affirmation rests and its eternal guardian.
The hard reality is that, for all time, Liberty has been and will continue to be threatened by its antithesis, statist tyranny and those who embrace it. The future of Liberty does not rest on one political campaign or cycle. It rests on the courage and fortitude of Patriots who remain steadfast in defense of the Unalienable Rights of Man.
Defending American Liberty and our Republic’s Constitutional Rule of Law has never been achieved, nor will it be, without a heavy price. The forces of tyranny — the forces of evil — have always been and will always be relentless. We are bound by our “sacred honor,” our obligation “to support and defend” Liberty at all cost, to rise as Washington declared, to the “exigency of the times.”
Fellow Patriots, stand fast and firm in the knowledge of who you are, who we are together, and the blessed legacy of Liberty we are charged with defending. Our charge is mandated by two enduring commitments: Our unwavering devotion to Liberty and our sacred obligation “to support and defend” our Constitution.
Together we are mothers, fathers, and other family members nurturing the next generation of Patriots. We are farmers, craftsmen, tradesmen, and industrial producers. We are small-business owners, service providers, and professionals in medicine and law. We are employees and employers. We are in ministry at home and missionaries abroad. We are students and professors at colleges and universities, often standing alone for what is good and right.
We are first responders and public servants dedicated to others before self. We are consumers and taxpayers. And we are voters committed to the integrity of elections at every level of government.
We are Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen among the more than 41 million veterans who have served our nation since the American Revolution, standing in harm’s way at home and around the world, bound until death by our sacred oath “to Support and Defend” our Constitution and Republic.
We are Patriot sons and daughters from all walks of life, heirs to the blessings of Liberty bequeathed to us at great personal cost by our Patriot forebears, confirmed in the opinion that it is our duty to God and country to extend those blessings to our posterity, and avowed upon our sacred honor to that end. We are vigilant, strong, prepared, and faithful.
Patriot brothers and sisters, we take the long view of Liberty — which endures any year, any decade, any century. The steadfast defense of Liberty is an eternal cause. And as George Washington wrote, “Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind.”
Make it known far and wide that we remain steadfast in our duty to extend the legacy of Liberty to the next generation, and upon our sacred honor will fulfill the duty. Only time separates our obligations from those of generations of Patriots gone before, who were as we are today, devoted to the timeless cause of Liberty for all people. We will make no peace with any measure of oppression.
Remember Washington’s advice: “Of all the dispositions and habits, which lead to political prosperity, Religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great Pillars of human happiness — these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens.”
In 1630, Pilgrim John Winthrop, the first governor of Massachusetts, wrote, “For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us.”
Finally, on the eve of his first election in 1980, Ronald Reagan declared: “Let us resolve tonight that young Americans will always see those Potomac lights; that they will always find there a city of hope in a country that is free. And let us resolve they will say of our day and our generation that we did keep faith with our God, that we did act ‘worthy of ourselves’; that we did protect and pass on lovingly that shining city on a hill.”
In his 1989 Farewell Address, President Reagan asked: “How stands the city on this winter night? More prosperous, more secure, and happier than it was eight years ago. But more than that: After 200 years, two centuries, she still stands strong and true on the granite ridge, and her glow has held steady no matter what storm. And she’s still a beacon, still a magnet for all who must have freedom, for all the pilgrims from all the lost places who are hurtling through the darkness, toward home.”
Reagan concluded his last national address at the 1992 Republican National Convention by saying, “My fondest hope for each one of you — and especially for the young people here — is that you will love your country, not for her power or wealth, but for her selflessness and her idealism. May each of you have the heart to conceive, the understanding to direct, and the hand to execute works that will make the world a little better for your having been here. May all of you as Americans never forget your heroic origins, never fail to seek divine guidance, and never lose your natural, God-given optimism. And finally, my fellow Americans, may every dawn be a great new beginning for America and every evening bring us closer to that shining city upon a hill.”
Hold fast to these words of encouragement from President Reagan: “America’s best days are yet to come. Our proudest moments are yet to be. Our most glorious achievements are just ahead.”
For indeed they are!
God bless you and your family, and God bless our great nation!
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776
Mark Alexander