This great meeting of the People was held beneath a beautiful blue sky smeared
with chemtrails by the military as we stood there
watching and listening. The sunlight warmed us,
however, as we joined together in a show of solidarity
with huge banners waving in the breeze of an
unseasonably mild November day.  There was music, too,
by a wonderful band called Poker Face and the
tones fit the mood: melodic, patriotic and
bittersweet. 

Everywhere I looked, I saw flags waving,
heard horns honking, saw smiles on the faces of
strangers.  My fellow Americans, attendees of Freedom
Drive 2002 - a celebration of freedom and the
Constitution for the United States of America - came
from every corner of the land, put their lives on hold
for a few days, and stuck their necks out on a limb
that day.

To say that I was inspired would be an understatement.
It was a clear sign to me that patriotism, true
patriotism, is alive and well in America.   There are
still some people who care enough to take some
initiative, to ACT, to journey across the land for
love of freedom and country, to sacrifice in spite of
personal inconvenience, loss of wages, or the
hardships imposed upon them by factors such as the
weather, which was horrible and stormy until the day
of the rally.

Victor Thorn and I drove to Washington, D.C. to take
part in this celebration.  We wanted to be there in
the flesh, to witness and participate in this rally,
to hear the words of men and women such as Bob Schulz,
organizer of Freedom Drive and founder of We the
people Congress; Nadine Strossen, President of the
ACLU; Sherry Jackson, Joe Bannister, and John Turner
(former IRS agents); and Walker Todd, who spoke about
the Federal Reserve system.
 
In addition, we had the opportunity to listen to stirring speeches by Rick
Stanley, James Madison and Chuck Houchins of Founding
Quotes as Patrick Henry, and their words lit fires in
the hearts of every American present.  Houchins'
powerful and passionate rendition of Patrick Henry's
infamous speech literally brought tears to my eyes.
As I looked around, I sensed that others around me
were swept up in the momentum of those unforgettable
words, ending with "As for me, give me Liberty, or
give me Death!" 

And, there we were, hundreds of us,
ordinary citizens of this great land, proudly bearing
signs and flags which read: Live Free or Die.  I had
never felt this simple statement so keenly as I did on
that afternoon, under chemtrailed D.C. skies.
We stood together on that day, We the People, bound
together in our common belief.  We waited patiently
for our elected governmental representatives to appear
before us, after being served with papers regarding
the fundamental purpose of this rally: we wanted a
response to our petitions for redress of grievances.
We got none. 

At 2 pm, which Bob Schulz characterized
as the "Moment of Truth", the whole lot of us stood on
that muddy field and cleared a wide path for our
"government", which never showed up. 

Our "representatives" refused to appear before us, the
People.  This was not a shock to my system, but more
like a stinging slap in the face of every person
standing there that day.  I doubt very much that
anyone present really expected our government to face
the People squarely in the sunlight, because our
legislators are more comfortable hiding behind the
ornate doors of our federal buildings (which they
did), rather than coming clean and telling us the
truth, which they didn't.

What does this tell us?  I can say with conviction,
having stood there myself for many hours, that the
government's lack of response to our petitions for
redress of grievances, their failure to acknowledge
the People who pay their wages (that's US), their
absolute indifference to this conspicuous event 
shows without a doubt where their allegiance lies.
And, it doesn't surprise me at all that this
allegiance does not lie with the citizenry of this
country.  Rather, it lies with the corporate entity
known as the UNITED STATES.  

Our government chose to HIDE from the People on November 14th, 2002.
It chose to ignore us -- again.

What were (and are) our grievances?  There are four:

1.      The first has to do with the War Powers Clauses of
the Constitution and concerns Iraq.

2.      The second deals with the unconstitutional Patriot
Act, an apparent violation of our fundamental rights.

3.      The third weighs in with respect to the Federal
Reserve System, which was characterized as about as
"federal" as "Federal Express" - and the
constitutional clauses which give Congress power to
coin money.  The Federal Reserve Act violates
provisions of our Constitution.

4.      The fourth deals with the income tax system, of
which there is a substantial body of evidence
indicating that it is both fraudulent and illegal.

The petitions for redress of grievances were posted
online on October 7, 2002 and were signed by thousands
of Americans.  Our government has been fully apprised
of these petitions.  And, our government is hiding.
It has failed to recognize our sovereignty and failed
to acknowledge its duty to respond to the Peoples
questions, as has been their consistent pattern of
behavior.

Our so-called excuse of a government does
not feel it has to answer to the citizens of this
nation.  We are the ones who pay the salaries of these
"officials".  We are the ones who provide them with
their cushy lifestyles, their vacation homes, their
fancy cars and fat bellies.  Yet, we do not exist.
Pretty ironic coming from an administration that
speaks with such bravado when it comes to brandishing
its weapons upon other nations and threatening to
destroy them. This same administration is AFRAID of
its own citizens.  I call that false bravado.  I call
that extreme cowardice.

We do not exist to our government because our
government fears us.  It does not want to stand in the
sunlight and try to defend the indefensible.  It does
not want to admit to our faces directly or otherwise,
that it has been ripping us off every single year.

So, the path of least resistance is evasion.  We have
a government in hiding from the People.  How
impressive is that?

Not only did our legislators and our oh-so-great
leader, George "Dubbya" NOT show up at this rally,
but coincidentally, the mainstream media decided it to
be unworthy of coverage as well.  Not surprising,
since the government and its media whores are in bed
together.  Media coverage of this event would have
brought more national attention to the questions
raised by the People, and these are hard questions
that the powers-that-be will not and cannot answer 
out of FEAR. They couldn't  (and didn't) let a thing
like that happen.  God forbid. They are afraid of the
repercussions that would follow media exposure,
fearful of the consequences which inevitably follow
admissions of GUILT. 

Our governmental "leaders" have
shown their true color, which is YELLOW.  With all
their pomp and circumstance, with all their droning
speeches full of empty words, they are nothing but
COWARDS.

As James Madison reminded us on that bright afternoon,
each of us has a responsibility to our government and
to our People.  Our government once again has made it
quite clear that it bears no sense of responsibility
to uphold our Constitution, and it has no intention of
extending to the People the common courtesy and
respect we deserve -- as their EMPLOYERS and as human
beings.

What is needed now, according to outspoken Freedom
Drive organizer Bob Schulz, is for the People to
"institutionalize vigilance."   We need to spread the
word amongst groups of people other than ourselves,
those who are not talking about these issues, who are
unaware of what is going on with respect to the
patriot Act, the war, our monetary system, and the
illegal income tax system.  We need to widen the
circle and expand the lines of communication.  We will
go around mainstream media, since they are in
collusion with the de facto government.

At one point, I walked over to Rick Stanley, (former
Libertarian Senatorial candidate for the state of
Colorado, who drove to the rally in his green and
white Allegro motor-home, with flags flapping and horn
blaring as he circled the designated route around the
Capitol prior to the speeches) and I asked him to
share his impressions of Freedom Drive and the
subsequent rally. This is what he had to say:

"Bob Schulz says, obey the Constitution or else.  I
agree.  But they keep ignoring 'or else'.  The Million
Gun March petition at http://www.stanley2002.org is
the final 'or else'.   Bob Schulz has said he is not
going to pay taxes anymore and neither am I.  There
will probably be many others that follow.  These
people in power will not leave by themselves .  When
we have the Million Gun March, we will insure that the
current U.S. government will comply with the
boundaries outlined in the Constitution."

Following the outstanding speeches of the day, "We,
the People", on behalf of ourselves and our fellow
Americans who were not in attendance, proceeded to
show our further indignation and dismay by walking a
route that included circling the Capitol building,
Supreme Court, and other federal buildings.  As we did
so, we wore jackets lettered with the words "Tyranny
Response Team" and held our flags and signs high.  We
stood before the steps of the Capitol and Supreme
Court buildings, directly in front of the police,
shouting "Show us the Law!"  and "You work for US!"
and "No Answers, no taxes!"  We were not allowed to
climb the steps to these buildings, as the police had
them blocked off with uniformed personnel.  We made a
very loud and undeniable presence as we demonstrated,
and I am certain we were heard within the building.

The bottom line of all this is that since our
petitions for redress of grievances have been ignored,
"We, the People" are well within our rights as
American citizens to withhold our monies from said
government until our petitions are answered and our
questions resolved.  It is the responsibility of this
government to respond to the People.  It is our duty
as Citizens to hold government's feet to the floor,
to shine the light into their faces, to force
accountability.  We owe this not only to one another ,
but also to our children.

By being pro-active, by refusing to buckle to fear and intimidation tactics,
and by continued vigilance, we can restore the
Republic.  "We, the People" are charged with the
responsibility of bringing this government back under
the control of the People and the "Rule book". 

Until this happens, we can only expect a worsening of the
current conditions in America.  And, I will remember
November 14, 2002 as the day I saw my government hide
from the American People.   This decision on the part
of the de facto thug factory which is the UNITED
STATES government will cast a very long shadow,
indeed.
 

(End of article)

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