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Thus far, Texas Rep. Ron Paul has “responded” to the
Petitions for Redress by having them “forwarded to
the Clerk of the House.”
While such a move is unique among the Members of the House,
and is not a bad first step in etching the concept
of Government accountability into the minds of some
of the Members and advancing ever so slightly the
question of the constitutional meaning of the last
ten words of the First Amendment, it is highly
unlikely that the Petitions for Redress will advance
to House Committees for consideration, much less a
vote to provide Redress. With the possible exception
of Ron Paul, we know of no other politician willing
to consider the notion of being held accountable to
the People outside the periodic electoral process.
Whether or not the Petitions for Redress served on Ron Paul
advance beyond the Office of the Speaker of the
House, a constituent’s Right to Redress (like that
of Religion, Speech, Press and Assembly) is an
individual Right that does not depend on the will of
any person or majority, not in the House, not in the
Senate, not on any Court bench, and not among those
voting in any election.
Forwarding the Petitions for Redress to the Clerk of the
House has not relieved Rep. Ron Paul of his
individual obligation to respond by answering the
questions embedded in each of the seven Petitions
for Redress. Even if his answer is, “I lack
knowledge enough to admit or deny,” he has a legal
(constitutional) obligation to respond.
We pray Rep. Paul will personally respond to the Petitions
for Redress.
His staff appears to be against it. The staff admits
Petitions for Redress of Grievances are
constitutionally different from other petitions or
routine constituent communications, and that
Petitions for Redress of violations of the
Constitution are far more important than Petitions
for Redress of other types of Grievances.
Nonetheless, they argue that if Ron Paul responds
to our Petitions for Redress (of violations of the
constitution), it would open the “northwest passage”
to inquiries and petitions of lesser importance from
constituents, overwhelming the office with
paperwork, with no budget to pay for it.
Against the backdrop of their main concern about the
“practical consequences” of a direct response by the
Congressman, Ron Paul’s staff then raises question
of whether Ron Paul has the legal authority to
respond to Petitions for Redress.
This, in spite of the fact that Ron Paul’s response to the
Petitions for Redress would not be “on behalf
of the House of Representatives,” his constituents
are entitled to know where he stands on the serious
and ongoing abuses of the Constitution by the
Government, and the Redress requested by the
Petitioners requires nothing more than "admit or
deny" responses to a limited number of single
sentence questions regarding the Government's
violations.
Click here for an
exchange of emails with Rep. Paul’s
staff.
Click here for a copy of
Ron Paul’s partial response to the
Petitions for Redress.
Schulz Asks to Speak in Minneapolis!
WTP Chairman Bob Schulz flew to
Washington on Tuesday to personally deliver a
written request to Rep. Ron Paul asking him for a
limited speaking slot in Paul's upcoming gathering
of patriots in Minneapolis, which is part of Paul's
new "Campaign for
Liberty."
The Paul event takes place simultaneously with the
Republican Party national convention in St. Paul.
Schulz wants to address the estimated 12,000
Constitution-minded attendees to expose them to the
Foundation's groundbreaking academic research
regarding the profound, but little-known, power of
the First Amendment Petition clause.
In his
letter to Rep. Paul, Schulz makes the
argument that given the urgency imposed by current
world and domestic affairs and our Government's
escalating disdain for the Constitution it would,
"be wrong to, in effect, rely solely on the
electoral process to cure what ails and threatens
our nation."
For some time now, Schulz has attempted, without success, to
arrange a personal meeting with Paul to discuss the
critical importance of the Foundation's work in
advancing the broader battle to salvage
Liberty and restore Constitutional Order. Despite
the clear importance of this research, Paul has yet
to publicly embrace or even discuss the Right to
Petition.
The Foundation has assembled a significant body of legal and
historical scholarly research that has firmly
established that the Right to Petition is the
"Capstone" Right of the Bill of Rights. Its history
in written Western law originated in Section 61 of
Magna Carta (1215) and gave citizens the individual
Right to use all means, up to and including
the use of force, to cure Grievances involving the
King's abuse of fundamental Rights.
Since then, this powerful Right of the People has
been entrenched as a foundational element of English
Common Law, and was included as part of the English
Bill of Rights (1689). In 1776 the Right was
expressly claimed as the final legal and moral
justification for the Revolutionary War against King
George in the Declaration of Independence. The Right
was subsequently articulated again in 1789 as the
last ten words of the First Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution.
More information about the Right to Petition go to
www.GiveMeLiberty.org/revolution.
For several key historical quotes regarding the
nature of the Right,
click here.
Government Vetoes Planned Hunger Fast!
Last Sunday we posted our Web Update titled “Next
Step: Large Scale Hunger Fast.”
Last Tuesday, WTP Chairman Bob Schulz met for the third time
with the staff of the National Park Service (NPS) to
discuss the details of WTP’s permit for the hunger
fast. The fast was originally scheduled to start on
August 11, but was rescheduled to start on September
16, due to the current five week break by Congress.
Until Tuesday, the conditions of the permit included a 24
hours a day, 7 days per week hunger fast, with tents
as shelters, provided there were “no sleeping bags,
blankets and pillows for comfort.” Chairs would be
allowed.
Last Tuesday, NPS informed Bob that no one would be allowed
to sleep during the hunger fast! Anyone caught
sleeping, they said, would be cited for violating
the permit. The cost would be $75 for each citation
plus court costs. Bob argued, without success, that
our Hunger Fast was a First Amendment expression of
our disgust with the Government’s failure to respond
to our Petitions for Redress, and that a “no
sleeping” rule would, in effect, amount to a denial
of First Amendment Rights to Petition, Speech and
Association.
Absent the initiation of yet another legal challenge, or
hungering by People on 2-3 day shifts, the Park
Service's “no sleeping” Rule effectively cancels the
large scale hunger fast.
CONSTITUTION
GARDENS ON CONSTITUTION DAY
Here is what WTP will do to celebrate the 221st
anniversary of the signing of the Constitution and
to draw some attention to the fact that the
Government is not only violating the Constitution,
but is refusing to respond to the People’s Petitions
for Redress.
On Tuesday evening,
September 16, 2008, we will gather at the area of
the National Mall known as
Constitution
Gardens, which includes a memorial to the 56 signers
of the Declaration of Independence and is situated
between the WW II Memorial and the Viet Nam
Memorial. Click here for
aerial photos of the venue which lies
directly across Constitution Avenue from the Federal
Reserve building.
6
PM, September 16th to 6 PM September 17th will be a
day to celebrate our Constitution. For some, it will
be a day of celebration and fasting. For others
still, it will be a day of celebration, fasting and
prayer.
WTP will provide tents and chairs and a mobile bathroom set
up for our overnight use. There will be a stage, a
sound system and a large video screen.
We will not sleep.
J
Instead we will watch movies all night on a large
screen, including “1776,” “Washington, Your Fired,”
“America, Freedom to Fascism” and other films
apropos.
From sunrise to
9:30 a.m. on September 17th, we will be
inspired by several widely recognized inspirational
speakers (to be announced later).
At
9:30 AM we will march from Constitution Gardens to
the front of the White House for a silent, one-hour
vigil. As many of us as possible will be wearing “V”
for Vendetta costumes to give expression to the fact
that we are becoming a police state.
(Click
here to obtain a "V" costume). We will be
carrying signs and banners demanding that the
President “Respond to the Petitions for Redress” and
“Obey the Constitution.”
After returning to
Constitution Gardens for a break from 11:30 AM to
1:00 PM, we will walk from Constitution Gardens to
the U.S. Capitol for a silent, one-hour vigil. As
many as possible will be wearing “V” costumes. We
will be carrying signs and banners demanding that
the members of the House and Senate “Respond to the
Petitions for Redress” and “Obey the Constitution.”
At
3:00 PM we will return to Constitution Gardens for a
short workshop on organizational development.
At
6:00 PM we will say our goodbyes and Godspeeds to
one another.
PLEASE JOIN US
There is a crisis of leadership, a crisis of strategy and a
crisis of what the future looks like for those
allegedly leading and directing the fight to restore
Constitutional Order. Although these "superpatriots,"
talk a mean game, they unfortunately appear to focus
most of their energies toward garnering the most
votes and selling the most newspapers, books,
magazines, DVDs and convention seats.
Some of these super-patriots see a bright future for Freedom
resulting from blogging.
Some super-patriots see a bright future for Freedom resulting
from civic education alone.
Some super-patriots see a bright future for Freedom resulting
from civic education and a magically re-engineered
electoral process.
Some super-patriots see a bright future resulting from civic
education coupled with an organized, critical mass
of Patriots proactively confronting their servant
Government and enforcing their Right to Redress.
Still others see a bright future emerging only by the tar and
feathering (or worse) of those in public service who
would dare tread on the Natural Rights of others.
WTP stands with those who do not utilize Freedom as a profit
center, who do not believe we can elect our way out
of tyranny, who believe civic education without
pro-active, non-violent confrontation is for naught,
and who believe dissent is the highest form of
Patriotism.
Tell us if you will be joining us at the
Constitution Gardens. We need to know how many tents
to set up.
Click here to commit to coming to
Washington September 16-17.
Even if you have signed up
previously, please use
the new secure link above to sign-up again.
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