http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org/…

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.

The Park Service’s “no sleeping” rule did not effectively cancel the hunger fast. Those who where to be part of the We the People hunger fast who are deciding to go along with their rule cancels it. If you are asking the government for permission you deserve to be told no. I find it sad that some of these people will go out of their way to not pay income tax because the government won’t respond to them yet true civil disobedience scares them off. They need to realize that it’s not their government. It’s a group of thugs who need to be denied legitimacy and resisted. Canceling the fast is a sign of weakness in their resolve and just further legitimizes the government’s claimed authority over them.

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.

It’s unfortunate that Paul’s staff if not also Paul himself are afraid of responding claiming that doing so would open the door for more petitions and they don’t have the staff to deal with that. Even if they don’t answer them promptly they could at least queue them up and let the petitioner know it’s queued. They get to it when they have the ability to do so. The very idea that it would lead to the Congressmen being inundated with petitions for redress of grievances should be reason enough to do so.

March:

Where: North East Lawn, Washington Monument, Washington, D.C.
When: July 12th, 2008, 9:30AM
Route: Constitution Avenue.

9:30 AM Assemble on the North Lawn of the Washington Monument
10:30 AM Begin march down Constitution Avenue. Rally begins at 11:00 AM.

Rally:

Rallying Point: West Side of Capitol Hill, begins at 11:00 AM.

Theme: The main theme of the March and Rally is Ron Paul’s message of Peace, Prosperity, and Freedom through adherence to the Constitution.

Confirmed Speakers:

• Tom Mullen - Private citizen, patriotic American, and our grassroots representative, with an important message for our servant government.
• G. Edward Griffin – founder of Freedom Force International and author of The Creature from Jekyll Island, shares his in depth research and analysis concerning the Federal Reserve System and the forces behind its inception.
• Charles Goyette – syndicated talk radio host based in Phoenix, Arizona to discuss a return to the country’s constitutional traditions of sound money and limited government, the foundation upon which a viable economy can be rebuilt.
• Bob Schulz - founder of We The People Congress and We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education, to speak on the People’s ability to hold the government accountable to the Constitution and restore the Republic by exercising their natural Right of Redress.
• Marcy Brooks – Juror in the tax trial of Whitey Harell v. State of Illinois (featured in Aaron Russo’s America: From Freedom to Fascism will talk about the responsibility of being a juror in tax evasion cases.
• Thomas E Woods Jr - author of “Who Killed the Constitution?: The Fate of American Liberty from World War I to George W. Bush” to discuss how the federal government has circumvented the Constitution and is systematically dismantling the rights and freedoms that are the foundation of a Constitutional Republic.
• Naomi Wolf – advocate of progressive politics and author of “The End of America: A letter of warning to a young patriot”. Ms. Wolfe will take a historical look at the rise of fascism, outlining the 10 steps necessary for a state to take control of individuals’ lives.
• Jack McLamb – Military Veteran, retired police officer, and radio talk show host to discuss the potential for martial law to come to America.
• Howard Phillips - Chairman of The Conservative Caucus since 1974, will discuss the multifaceted plan to turn the U.S., Canada and Mexico into a North American version of the European Union.
• Terri Hall – Founder and Director of Texasturf.org to discuss among other things, the ranches that are being unconstitutionally confiscated to build the Trans-Texas Corridor (NAFTA Superhighway).
• Jim Guest - MO representative to discuss the potential loss of U.S. Sovereignty; U.S. jobs that will permanently be lost; and environmental issues among other things, with the Kansas City Smart Port.
• Jeff Lewis - National Director of Fire Coalition to discuss the economic impact illegal immigration has had on the country as well as the tie between the lack of enforcement of our immigration laws and the NAU, as well as discussing why we are fighting a war on terrorism when our borders are still not secured.
• Michael Scheuer – 22 year veteran of the CIA and bestselling author of ‘Imperial Hubris’ to discuss American foreign policy and its implications on terrorism, security, and Iraq
• Adam Kokesh - Representative from the Iraq Veterans Against the War to address IVAW’s strategy to end the war, the greatest injustice of our time, and how that strategic thinking can be extrapolated to the broader movement in terms of active resistance.
• Chuck Baldwin – Constitution Party Presidential Candidate, Pastor, and radio talk show host to speak about hope for America and a new breed of politician.
• Ron Paul - to speak about the future of the Revolution.

The entire rally is supposed to be broadcasted live on RonPaulRadio.com.

You can catch their live stream here. http://ronpaulradio.com/listen.m3u

According to RevolutionMarch.com over 15 thousand people have pledged to be there. If half of that shows up it’ll be a success in my book.

http://www.wethepeoplefoundation.org Docket 07-680, 07-681
petition for writ of certiorari: A document which a losing party files with the Supreme Court asking the Supreme Court to review the decision of a lower court. It includes a list of the parties, a statement of the facts of the case, the legal questions presented for review, and arguments as to why the Court should grant the writ.
writ of certiorari: A decision by the Supreme Court to hear an appeal from a lower court.

The Statement of the Claim in the complaint says:

1. This Complaint arises from the failure of the President of the United States and his Attorney General and his Secretary of the Treasury and his Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service, and the failure of the United States Congress, to properly respond to Plaintiffs’ Petitions for Redress of Grievances against their government, namely: grievances relating to violations of the U.S. Constitution’s war powers, taxing, money, and “privacy” clauses.

2. This complaint also arises from the Executive Branch of the United States government in its retaliation against individual Plaintiffs for: Petitioning the government for a Redress of Grievances, namely grievances relating to violations of the U.S. Constitution’s war powers, taxing, money and “privacy” clauses, and for Peaceably Assembling and Associating with other individuals under the umbrella of the We The People Foundation for Constitutional Education and the We The People Congress.

I heard Bob Schulz speak at the Liberty Forum though not his primary presentation. I’ve been familiar with WTP for some time but their 1990’s style website always gave it a dilapidated feel and I never bother to look into what they were doing. I just found out about the lawsuit at the Liberty Forum and he had said they expected the SCOTUS to issue a judgment on whether to hear their appeal. As I suspected they denied their appeal and left the lower courts ruling intact. As far as I understand they said that you can petition the government for a redress of grievances but they don’t need to respond. I’m not so sure the original intent was to say it’s OK that people can ask the government questions without them answering. Otherwise the right to redress the government would be no different than the right of free speech. When I argue with people about the problems of the government, how they do things through force and it’s difficult to combat what they do, and they respond “we are the government” I have to try to describe how the government may supposedly represent us and is physically made up of our neighbors but we are decentralized. We have lives to live. Jobs to work and kids to feed. Their lives and jobs are expanding government and controlling people. We have an uphill battle. There is that quote which goes something like “One activist is worth a thousand layman.” According to Data360.org their is 19,514,000 government employees. That’s at local, state and federal levels. Nearly 7% of the population. Even if you account for freedom moles working within the system at a 1:1000 ratio or even 1:100 or even 1:10… we are outnumbered. I hope things like this help show those individuals that the deck is stacked against us. They have the upper hand and we have to work twice as hard to get things done. We screw up and our boss can be fired in a heartbeat. If a politician does something so blatant to upset those he represents he’s probably got the average of over a year till you can kick him out and than you can almost guarantee that the guy who tries to replace him will be almost the same regardless of what they say.

We need more activists who are on our team to help balance out the field. Hopefully the Ron Paul Revolution will help with that.