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Picture this. A photo on front pages (and
the Internet) in countries around the world:
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Photo WTP-TV
Americans hungering for Freedom at
home |
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Picture this as the headline and news story that could
accompany each photo: |
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Mass Hunger Strike to Restore Constitutional
Order
Commences in U.S. Capital
WASHINGTON, 9/18 --
On
September 17, 2008, the 221st anniversary of the U.S. Constitution,
thousands of Americans gathered in
Washington,
DC to begin to
“Hunger for Redress.”
They began their mass hunger strike to draw
worldwide attention to the fact that the Government
of the United States of America has not only been
flagrantly violating its own Constitution,
it now refuses to respond or even acknowledge
the People's Petitions for Redress of these
Grievances despite the fact the Constitution requires the
Government to do so:
1. The Iraq invasion in violation of the war powers
clauses.
2. The Federal Reserve System’s violation of the
money clauses.
3. The USA Patriot Act’s violation of the privacy
clauses.
4. The direct taxes on labor in violation of the
tax clauses.
5. The gun control laws in violation of the Second
Amendment.
6. The failure to enforce immigration laws in
violation of the
“faithfully execute clause.”
7. The construction of a "North
American Union" without constitutional
authority.
Until recent times, the founding principles of
America---limited government, due process of law,
respect for private property, personal
responsibility and self-reliance---were the defining
attributes of the American culture and way of life.
Now, however, with almost weekly escalations of
government control over their lives, threats to the
lives of innocent men, women, and children in
foreign lands, the imposition of a national
police/surveillance state and a politicized judicial
system which has become incapable of Justice,
Americans finally appear willing to say "No! Enough
is enough! You have gone too far for decent
Americans to any longer tolerate these acts of
despotism. We hereby claim and exercise our Right to
hold you -- the Government -- accountable to the
Constitution."
“The Government of the
United States of America is out of control and refuses to be held accountable to
the Constitution,” said Bob Schulz, founder of the
We the People Foundation for Constitutional
Education. “The Government is now routinely
violating the war powers, money, privacy, tax, and
other restrictions explicitly placed upon it by the
Constitution, and in a further act of constitutional
defiance the Government refuses to listen or respond
to the People’s Petitions for Redress.”
“Our Government refuses to be held accountable for
these violations,” said Schulz. “We need to
expose the true character of the Government, and
draw attention to the fact that the People of
America, as a free People, are
-- by design -- the
final arbiters of the Constitution and that the
servant Government has usurped the power of the
People, taking over the House that Liberty built.
Our repeated Petitions for Redress have been
answered only with repeated injuries. Enough is
enough.”
The Constitution of the
United States of America was signed on
September 17, 1787,
establishing America as the
land
of
Freedom and
Opportunity. The Constitution established a Republic with a
Government of strictly limited powers, to secure the
unalienable Rights of the People to independent thought and
individual liberty.
The Petitions for Redress are accessible at
www.GiveMeLiberty.org/revolution.
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Hunger protesters camped out on
the National Mall with large banners |
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Curious crowd of D.C. visitors gather
in support of the protesters |
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Needed: Bad Press for the U.S. Government
One thing Governments do not like is bad
press. Ours is no exception.
Let’s reward the Government’s
unconstitutional behavior and failure to respond to
the Petitions for Redress by giving it a good dose
of bad press, both overseas and right here in
America.
Maybe, just maybe, our actions will timely prod (or
embarrass) the Government enough to find some
respect for the People and Constitutional
governance, carried out in decency and good order.
Let us demonstrate for the nations of the
world that
America
remains the Light of Liberty and the land of the
Free to which all can aspire, and that the
Constitution is not some quaint anachronism, but is
instead, a vital instrument of Natural Law by which
the People can peacefully secure their fundamental,
divinely endowed Rights.
Let's give the media of the world a chance
to see how the Government of the
United States of America really works. Let's come together
for an event that is so large and so controversial
in its nature that it is "shocking to the senses."
Let's show the world the hypocrisy of a Government
that crows loudly about Freedom to every corner of
the planet, yet denies such to its own People.
The Concept
Now that Congress has been served with the
Petitions for Redress and they have wholly
refused to respond -- including Rep. Ron Paul
[more details to follow], we need a
civic action designed to directly confront the
members of the U.S. Congress and the President.
This civic action needs to be peaceful, bold and
newsworthy. It requires the participation of a large
number of individuals to succeed.
Here's the image: row upon row of tents
lined up on the National Mall, filled with true
Patriots who, with love of their Creator, Country
and Constitution have assembled to directly confront
their Government for its gross breaches of the
Constitution. These People have assembled for a
non-violent hunger strike, communicating the fact
that the Government of the United States of America
is violating the war, money, tax, privacy and other
provisions of its Constitution, and refuses to
justify its behaviors or be held accountable in
any way by the very People who gave birth to a
servant
Government that would secure their individual
Rights, Freedoms and Liberties.
Photographs of such a compelling sight,
provided by the Foreign Press Service, would
immediately catch the attention of newspaper and
magazine editors around the globe and end up on
their front pages and covers, as was the case
following our silent vigils in front of the White
House in our “V” for Vendetta costumes with our
“Dear Government, Obey the Constitution, or Else…”
banner and signs. Those images were extraordinarily
powerful.
The imagery of row upon row of tents in DC housing
thousands of Americans being forced to wage a
hunger strike to secure the very same
Freedoms allegedly being defended across the globe
by the U.S. Government would be even more powerful.
It won’t be easy. It’s not in the natural
order of things. People can't hear what they don't
see.
The energy, time and resources of professed
Patriots are typically dissipated by a variety of
low-risk activities that have no practical effect on
stemming the rising tide of tyranny in
America. Those activities center on Speech, rather
than Redress – political "pep rallies" under the
Speech, Press and Assemble clauses of the First
Amendment, rather than actions by the People which
are designed to lay claim and effectively exercise
their unalienable Right of Popular Sovereignty in
order to (peacefully) hold the government
accountable, as expressly guaranteed by the First
Amendment Petition clause.
While such rallies, marches, music and
political speeches may be exciting to the
participants, they are not designed to confront
those whose acts constitute tyranny. They do not
advance
Liberty.
They offer no meaningful solutions to our problem of
rapidly eroding Freedoms. They have no impact beyond
reinforcing the general political beliefs and
customs of the participating “Patriots.”
Our Congressional representatives are
expected to return to DC on
September 9, 2008, for three to four weeks before adjourning for the rest of
the year. They will be in
Washington,
DC on Constitution Day,
September 17, 2008.
Our challenge is to have hundreds of tents
set up by night fall on September 16, so that when
the sun rises on Constitution Day 2008, it rises on
thousands of Patriots and a new era of civic action
and Freedom in
America.
Remember, we love our Country. Our goal is to
expose the hypocrisy of the Government of the
United States and to give it a large dose of bad
press. Numbers are absolutely crucial to this
effort.
The Urgency
Anyone who believes that the current system
of governance in America now stands as a mere shadow
of the visionary construct penned by our Founders
with Divine Providence,
who believes that our Republic faces grave and
imminent risks, and who believes that the
Constitution cannot defend itself, must find his or
her
way to DC before sunrise on Constitution Day, Wednesday,
September 17, 2008.
There must be no excuses for those who are
not seriously disabled. It's a matter of personal
priorities. Cars can be pooled. Money
can be pooled. Bus, train and plane tickets can be
purchased. Busses can be chartered. Whole trains and
planes can be chartered by groups of people who live
near our Gulf and West coasts.
Just do it! The cause is Freedom. If not
now, when? If not us, who? Will the clarity of our
crisis or the urgency of the moment be more easily
discerned at some future point?
Dare we risk the consequences of failing to act?
For whatever reasons, our Government has by it's
actions, in effect, declared
war against the People.
The time has arrived for us to rise above
our personal differences and individual interests. We,
for one, apologize and/or forgive those with whom we have
had our disagreements over the years. Victory will
not come without a price - and never has. It
requires teamwork, resources and individual
sacrifice -- and it requires them now.
We cannot afford to let the First Amendment
Right to Redress disappear altogether. It’s the
capstone Right and sword the People must wield to
cure the cancer that threatens our Republic. Without it, we
cannot peacefully hold the Government accountable.
The dominant media appears unable to recognize that
violations of the Constitution are violations of
Human Rights, and in any event are disinclined to pay
attention to individuals and small groups seeking
reforms that would hold the Government accountable
to the Constitution.
However, neither the media nor the constitutionally
challenged among the People will be able to long
ignore the stark spectacle of thousands of Americans
hungering on the front doorstep of their federal
Government
simply because it refuses to listen or
respond to their calls for Constitutional Order.
Tents and Chairs to Sleep On
Our First Amendment permits from the
National Park Service allow us 24/7 occupancy, to set
up tents to shield us from rain and sunshine and
lounge chairs to sleep on. We will have to meet
certain specifications. We will have more to say
in a few days.
Start to make your travel plans!
If you can commit to
coming to DC for the SEPT 16-17 Constitution Day
event, please
Click Here.
(Note: we have initiated a new
"Hungering for Redress" database. We will not be
providing public access to this new list).
Between Now and September 17
Bob Schulz’s four personal ties to the
federal government (Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand,
Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, and
President Bush) were all served with the Petitions
for Redress on
June 30, 2008. They were each asked to respond
within 40 days. They have failed to respond or
even acknowledge receipt of the Petitions.
Between now and September 16, Bob will speak
at venues located
New York State. He will discuss the importance of
accountability in government, the meaning and power
of the Right to Redress as guaranteed by both the
federal and State Constitutions, the content of the
current Petitions for Redress, and the urgent need
for the People to institutionalize their oversight
of the Government.
Bob’s schedule will be posted in a day or two. He
will begin his speaking tour at 7 PM on August 29th in his
home town of Queensbury, New York, at the Scoville
Learning Center of the Adirondack Community College.
Turn Up the Heat in NY
To further our Government's
awareness of the mounting constitutional crisis
resulting from its failure to Respond to the Petitions
for Redress, Schulz is
urging WTP’s New York supporters to begin contacting
Schulz's New York congressional
representatives and question them regarding their
refusal to Respond to the People's Petitions as
required by the Constitution. Schulz's local House
Representative is Kirsten Gillibrand.
To call Rep.
Kirsten Gillibrand:
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Washington D.C. Office
Phone: (202) 225-5614
Fax: (202) 225-1168 |
Western District Office
Delhi, New York
Phone: (607) 746-8449
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Southern District Office
Hudson, New York
Phone: (518) 828-3109
Fax: (518) 828-3985 |
Central District Office
Saratoga Springs, New York
Phone: (518) 581-8247
Fax: (518) 581-8430 |
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Northern District Office
Glens Falls, New York
Phone: (518) 743-0964
Fax: (518) 743-1391 |
To call Sen. Chuck Schumer:
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Washington, DC
Phone: 202-224-6542
Fax: 202-228-3027
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New York City Office
Phone: 212-486-4430
Fax: 212-486-7693 |
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Albany Office
Phone: 518-431-4070
Fax: 518-431-4076
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Buffalo Office
Phone: 716-846-4111
Fax: 716-846-4113
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Binghamton Office
Phone: 607-772-6792
Fax: 607-772-8124
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Peekskill Office
Phone: 914-734-1532
Fax: 914-734-1673
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Melville, L.I., Office
Phone: 631-753-0978
Fax: 631-753-0997
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Rochester Office
Phone: 585-263-5866
Fax: 585-263-3173
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Syracuse Office
Phone: 315-423-5471
Fax: 315-423-5185 |
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To call Sen. Hillary Clinton:
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Albany Office
Phone: (518) 431-0120
Fax: (518) 431-0128 |
Rochester Office
Phone: (585) 263-6250
Fax: (585) 263-6247 |
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Buffalo Office
Phone: (716) 854-9725
Fax: (716) 854-9731 |
Nyack Office
Phone: (845) 613-0076
Fax: (845) 613-0110 |
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Melville, L.I., Office
Phone: (631) 249-2825
Fax: (631) 249-2847 |
Syracuse Office
Phone: (315) 448-0470
Fax: (315) 448-0476 |
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New York City
Phone: (212) 688-6262
Fax: (212) 688-7444 |
Westchester County
Phone: (914) 725-9294
Fax: (914) 472-5073 |
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Lowville (Adirondacks) Office
Phone: (315) 376-6118
Fax: (315) 376-6118 |
Washington, D.C.
Phone: (202) 224-4451
General Fax: (202) 228-0282
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Go to
www.GiveMeLiberty.org/revolution
for all the details of this important Liberty project.
Donations
to the tax-exempt 501(c)3 WTP Foundation are fully tax
deductible.
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