May 30, 2008

Mr. Jacob Hornberger
President
Future of Freedom Foundation
11350 Random Hills Road  Suite 800
Fairfax, VA 22030
 

Dear Jacob,

Please know that I have long been an admirer of yours and of so many others, like you who have been writing about the virtues of and threats to those principles that are essential to the Republic, and I do wish you well in all that you do, but I am now compelled to appeal through you to our nation’s freedom-oriented, civic-education elite to do more.

The Future of Freedom Foundation reports on its web site that it, “is once again holding one of the most important conferences in the history of the libertarian movement, ‘Restoring the Republic 2008: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties.’ This conference is a follow-up to the fantastic conference ‘Restoring the Republic: Foreign Policy and Civil Liberties’ that we held last year.”

You say the conference, “will feature some of the finest, most principled speakers in the country on the two burning issues of our time”
 
After providing a long list of abuses of power by the federal government you say, “With ever-growing debacles in U.S. foreign policy and related monetary crises, there has never been a better time to come together to share ideas on restoring the limited-government, constitutional republic envisioned by our Founding Fathers. It is to that end that we are hosting this exciting and important conference. When you review our list of 20 speakers — libertarians, liberals, and conservatives — you will see that this is going to be one exciting intellectual experience you are not going to want to miss.”
 
“Not only will you have the opportunity to listen to speeches by some of the greatest speakers on foreign policy and civil liberties, you will also have the opportunity to mingle with them as well as with conference participants from all over the country who share the same concern about the future direction of our nation and the same passionate commitment to our fundamental rights and freedoms.”

Question: With respect, if FFF and its audience know the Government has stolen our Republic, our money and our unalienable liberties, has committed our nation to a legally (and morally) unjustifiable foreign policy, and has condemned our People to an all but certain future of uncontrollable debt, dependency and decay, then what plan of action or specific remedy does FFF offer to actually restore our Republic, with its Constitution and essential principles?
 
Surely you would agree we cannot elect our way out of tyranny, and that something more than patriotic speeches, intellectual debates, and social mingling year-after-year is required to save our Republic. Surely you would agree that as important as civic education is, civic education without civic action is for naught, particularly in perilous times such as these where the Constitution is hanging by a thread and Liberty itself hangs in the balance.

Rather than intellectuals simply debating the rate of increase in the list or pitch of our Ship of State we need all opinion leaders who are alerted to the present danger to explicitly exhort others to “GET BELOW AND MAN THE PUMPS.” (At the very least, we need intellectuals less willing to distance themselves from the “grease monkeys” who have sprung into action, for they are not unlike those who dressed as Indians and dumped the tea into the harbor.)
 
The oppressions you complain about are not issues of public policy subject to political debate. These are violations of the Constitution, not to be tolerated by anyone who holds himself out to be a constitutionalist and who believes in the supreme law of the land. You should identify these tyrannical violations for what they are, for a solution is only as good as the definition of the problem.

Again, as a voice in defense of Liberty, does FFF have a plan it can offer that might constrain the despots and restore the Republic and our Freedoms?
 
PLEASE commit to coming out of your upcoming conference with more than mere restatements and reinforcements of beliefs that the Ship of State is taking on water. After speaking about a particular problem, please give the audience something beyond voting that they can do about it. Offer them something to get up out of their chairs and go do. Reach agreement on some plan of action.

You may want to consider, as a point of departure, the Plan the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education has developed (outlined below and discussed in WTP’s initial web posting and on YouTube and Google video.)  Click here for the short video: PART 1 and PART 2.

We would welcome your comments on THE PLAN and your support and participation.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter, your respect for the Republic and your concern for the Constitution.

Sincerely,

/S/

Bob Schulz

Chairman

We The People Foundation

for Constitutional Education, Inc.

Mr. Anthony Romaro

Executive Director

American Civil Liberties Union

125 Broad St., 18^th Floor

New York, NY 10004

Dear Mr. Romaro:

ACLU reports on its website that, “The mission of the ACLU is to preserve …Your First Amendment rights –freedom of speech, association and assembly; freedom of the press, and freedom of religion.”

Question: Why has the ACLU omitted the Right articulated by the last ten words of the First Amendment? Does the ACLU believe our Founders penned those last ten words to redundantly reference the Right of Speech? Why, in light of the now well-documented body of legal research establishing the historical context, purpose and original intent of the fifth of the five Rights explicitly enumerated and protected by the First Amendment does the ACLU fail to list the Right of the People to Petition the Government for Redress of Grievances?
 
In fact, the Right of Petition is what the legal scholars have named the “capstone Right” because its practical, constitutional function "caps" all other Rights as the guarantor of the first great Right of the People, i.e., government based on the consent of the People and Popular Sovereignty -- the Right to directly, individually and peaceably, hold the government accountable to all other provisions of the Constitution.

The ACLU also reports on its website that, “The American system of government is founded on two counterbalancing principles: that the majority of the people governs, through democratically elected representatives; and that the power even of a democratic majority must be limited, to ensure individual rights…Majority power is limited by the Constitution’s Bill of Rights….”

Surely you would agree that it is possible for the Judiciary to collude with the Executive, with the acquiescence of the Legislative, to effectively deny the People their individual Rights. Surely you would agree that our nation is now far down that path.

Surely you would agree that without an individual, substantive Right of Redress to cure constitutional torts, the People are unconstitutionally denied the civil Liberties your organization exists to protect, and the People are essentially reduced to a pure democracy, dependant upon the permission of the majority and the proclamations of their “democratically elected representatives” for the enjoyment of their unalienable, individual Rights.

Surely you would agree that such a government violates the essence of Liberty secured by our Founding documents and should not be long or lightly tolerated.

Surely you would also agree that no organization -- not one -- has yet to succeed in substantively stopping the Government's relentless attacks on our Liberties.

PLEASE commit to broadening ACLU’s mission to include, and embrace, the defense of the First Amendment’s capstone Right of Redress. Please commit your organization to educating the nation about the true meaning of the last ten words of the First Amendment and defending those that have dared to claim and exercise this most precious constitutional check against tyranny. Please commit the ACLU to championing alternative means of restoring Freedom beyond those now available through our largely corrupted Judiciary.
 
Additionally, we would welcome your comments, if not your open support and participation in the Plan put forth by the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education (outlined below and discussed in WTP’s initial web posting and on YouTube and Google video.) Click here for the short video: PART 1 and PART 2.

More information and tools for Right to Petition activists are available at our website, www.GiveMeLiberty.org/revolution.

As you know too well, without a meaningful change in the course of events, the days of our Republic are now numbered. We hope you join us in our peaceful revolution to repel the despots and restore Constitutional Order while we still possess the means to do so.

We believe that means is the exercise -- and peaceful enforcement -- of the profound First Amendment Right to Redress.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

/S/

Robert L. Schulz
Chairman
We The People Foundation
for Constitutional Education, Inc.