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December 8, 2011
ON A WING AND A PRAYER
The
phrase, “On a Wing and a Prayer” originated with the
WWII patriotic song
Coming in on a Wing
and a Prayer, 1943, by Harold Adamson
and Jimmie McHugh, which tells of a damaged
warplane, barely able to limp back to base:
One of our planes was missing
Two hours overdue
One of our planes was missing
With all its gallant crew
The radio sets were humming
We waited for a word
Then a noise broke
Through the humming and this is what we heard
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
Though there's one motor gone
We can still carry on
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
What a show, what a fight, boys
We really hit our target for tonight
How we sing as we limp through the air
Look below, there's our field over there
With just one motor gone
We can still carry on
Comin' in on a wing and a prayer
Severely Challenged, But Still Managing To Get The
Job Done.
The meaning that has been given to the phrase, “On a
Wing and a Prayer” is “In poor condition, but just
managing to get the Job done.”
The phrase fits the We The People Organization. Like
that damaged warplane, we too are challenged, but
still managing to continue the mission, while
relying on the continued courage and skill of the
pilots and the support troops on the ground.
We are in a precarious position. We are having a
difficult time covering our expenses, charging many
of them to Bob’s personal credit card. Bob is trying
to sell another two acres of his land to cover the
expenses and debt, but getting the approvals from no
less than five state agencies (yes, five!) is time
consuming and expensive in its own right.
Perhaps you are in a similar place. The reality of
hard times ahead is upon us.
We know there are many demands on your time and
resources, and we never like the fund raising part
of our work, but things are what they are. So please
click
here to make a donation and/or click
here
to check out the mix of year-end fund raising items
we offer in exchange for your donation.
Current Missions: Constitution Lobby, N-CEL,
Occupy Wall Street…and Tax Court
CONSTITUTION LOBBY:
If you have followed the chain of
events these past months, then you know of our
earnest effort to work with Americans wherever there
are willing hands and hearts, to lay the foundation
for permanently institutionalizing citizen vigilance
to hold our elected officials accountable to the
Constitution on an ongoing basis, totally separate
and apart from the electoral process, regardless of
what party we belong to (or don’t) and who we vote
for. This we can and must do.
As Incorporators for “We The People of New York,
Inc,” we have spent the last five months blanketing
the state with meetings and presentations on the
Constitution Lobby and there is widespread support
for the Lobby and its purpose among those who have
heard us speak. Now the need is to expand the
Lobby’s member base dramatically, appoint regional
coordinators and organize specialized groups led by
volunteer professionals to focus on communications,
development, viral marketing, and member-building.
In addition to ongoing efforts in
New York,
we continue to work with citizens in many others
states who want to establish a Constitution Lobby.
We have a plan to bring all together under a
national Lobby when the time is right.
We are especially grateful for the brave and steady
efforts of those in Connecticut, Kansas and Nebraska
who have established Constitution Lobbies there and
all those who are en-route to doing the same. Our
National Call on Wednesday nights continues,
interrupted only by live presentations elsewhere.
There aren’t enough hours in the day to fill the
demands of this time.
N-CEL:
Thanks to the generosity of YOU we filed a timely
appeal of the lower court’s decision to dismiss the
case for lack of standing. The Motion to Expedite
the Appeal is now in the hands of the Court of
Appeals in Manhattan. We expect the Motion will be
granted. We will keep you up to date as the case
proceeds. In the meantime, click
here for a copy of our last Brief to
the District Court, and
here for a copy of the Motion to Expedite the
Appeal.
OWS:
You know that we started a Constitution Working
Group at Occupy Wall Street in early October, to give the Constitution
a voice within the Occupy Movement. Since that time,
the Group has held numerous meetings in NYC (yes, we
are driving the four hours down and four hours back
to Queensbury each time!) and a few on-line. We have
appeared before their General Assembly and Spokes
Council.
We have obtained the domain
www.OccupyTheConstitution.org where we have
posted a Statement of Beliefs for review and
approval by electronic signature. We have now
posted Seven Petitions for Redress for review and
comment and are doing all we can to encourage
dialogue and comments on the Petitions before
seeking consensus of the General Assembly this
Sunday. The remainder of this week will be filled
with conference calls, a webinar, and live
“Constitution Teach-ins” on the “Petition Packet,”
hosted by us as organizers of the Working Group.
Given consensus by OWS, we will roll out a
nationwide program through
www.OccupyTheConstitution.org to accept
signatures on each of the seven Petitions for
Redress from 3-5% of America’s population, IN AND
OUT OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT. If enough people sign
and stand behind the Petitions, these instructions
can then be served on the President, each member of
Congress and State Legislators for response.
Pay no attention to the denigrating news stories
about the Occupy movement. For the most part, their
issues are legitimate, their participants are
bright, clear thinking young people who are eager
and quick to learn and are searching for
intelligent, rational, non-violent, legal solutions
to real problems plaguing America. Yes, there are a
few kooks doing stupid things that seem to catch the
attention of the media. You would do well not to
paint the whole of the movement with the “kooks”
brush, any more than you would label all People
living in NYC as criminals based on the acts of the
City’s thieves, murderers, arsonists, rapists and
drunk drivers.
U.S. TAX COURT:
Based on a series of events from 1999-2003 and a
very specific project we undertook in 2003, (minor
for us, but struck a major nerve for them), the IRS
took WTPF and WTPC to court and the result was a
swift injunction that said we were not to
distribute any more materials which questioned the
constitutionality of withholding from paychecks.
Other patriots in the movement at that time,
suffered through a 6700 case as we did and found
themselves railroaded through, without due process.
Fortunately for the Foundation and Congress, our
efforts to Petition government on the
constitutionality of the income tax and withholding
is only one of many violations of the Constitution
about which we have made effort.
Not satisfied to let it lie, the IRS came back in
2008 to retroactively (!) revoke our tax-exempt
status back to 2003 (!), based on the previous
case. We did not have official confirmation about
this decision on their part until February, 2010
(!). Believing we have strong legal arguments to
stand on, we are resisting the revocation. The
matter is in Tax Court and should soon be decided.
If necessary, the matter will go to the U.S. Court
of Appeals in Manhattan. Whatever the outcome, we
will continue on, tax-exempt status or no, if the
people want our work to continue.
Click
here for a copy of our Brief in
Response to the Government’s Motion for Summary
Judgment. You can follow the proceedings at
www.ustaxcourt.gov. The Docket number of the
case against the Foundation is 20998-10. The Docket
number for the case against the Congress is
20999-10.
WHAT HAS BEEN ACCOMPLISHED?
Related websites:
www.OccupyTheConstitution.org – Statement of
Beliefs and Petitions to remedy violations of our
Constitutions.
www.GiveMeLiberty.org - Portal site and home of
Constitution Lobby Project
www.WeThePeopleOfNY.org - Home of New York
State's Constitution "Lobby"
www.WeThePeopleFoundation.org - Civic Education:
helping people to become better informed about their
constitutionally guaranteed Rights
www.WeThePeopleCongress.org - - Civic Action:
organizing people to hold government accountable,
intelligently, rationally, professionally and
non-violently.
www.JekyllIslandProject.com - Jekyll Island
Project, May 2009
www.CC2009.us - Continental Congress 2009
www.ArticlesOfFreedom.us - The work product of
Continental Congress CC2009 - "Articles of Freedom"
www.LibertyWalk.us - Liberty Walks Across
America to Honor the Constitution
www.NationalCleanElections.com - Updates on the
"NCEL" federal lawsuit to ban all electronic voting
systems: they count votes in secret, a violation of
our Federal and State Constitutions
That’s it for now. Until our next Update, stay well
and stay vigilant.
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