Constitution Party of Massachusetts

From the February 2009 Idaho Observer:

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By Ron Cole

I spent the hot summer of 1993 in the crosshairs of a riflescope living just outside Waco, Texas, in a small single story home. Occupying every available space in that house lived those few who had survived the terrible atrocity of earlier that year when federal authorities had attacked our Christian community, known to the outside world as the “Branch Davidian cult compound.”

Rather than assent to a warrantless raid on our home, we had decided to defend ourselves from the violent and lawless military-style assault on our community and, after a 51-day standoff, we were exterminated—almost to the last man, woman and child—in a horrid conflagration.

I was 24-years-old then, thrust by circumstance and passion onto a collision course with those forces responsible for all of that death. I channeled my anger into writing and publishing a book about what had happened (”Sinister Twilight” [1993]). While wielding my pen as if it were mightier than the sword, I was hoping to bring about positive change in America and spare others from experiencing the kind of violence that befell my brethren at Mount Carmel.

That idealism died hard and the persecution I’d hoped to avoid would all but consume my life over the next 15 years.

In the spring of 1994 I acquired a secluded ranch in the mountains of Colorado to serve as a safe retreat for the survivors of our church. We were immediately subjected to terror tactics, overt surveillance, government agents bullying our neighbors and, ultimately, signs of an impending assault. When Americans learned of the government’s ongoing aggression, however, many rallied to our defense—in person, on the radio and through direct pressure against the FBI. Attorney General Janet Reno later referred to our terrifying experience as “almost another ‘Waco standoff’” and, for awhile, the threats subsided. But our intended retreat had by then become an epicenter, so we returned to Waco.

The incident fueled my determination and that fall I embarked on a national speaking tour with one of the Waco fire survivors. We also filed a billion-dollar civil lawsuit against the federal government for their handling of the ‘93 standoff.

In late 1994 the by-then-expected pressure tactics were again escalating with the disturbing addition of local police visiting our home almost every day with their guns drawn, allegedly responding to 911 calls we never made.

Then all hell broke loose. Gunfire erupted outside our house in the dead of night.

A car wrecked, intruders in the yard; shouted warnings were ignored and shots were fired. A fully-equipped SWAT team suddenly appeared. By some miracle nobody was hurt and very mysteriously nobody was arrested. A retired Waco police detective later explained,

“This was a ‘soft raid,’ [The police] tried to lure you outside where they could have shot you down and made-up whatever story they wanted.”

I was thunderstruck by the attempt and we again left Waco for Colorado where at least we’d had good relations with local law enforcement.

We were living in Boulder when, on the 2nd anniversary of the Waco fire, the federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed. A young man, Timothy McVeigh, was arrested for the act and a copy of my book Sinister Twilight was recovered from his getaway car. Federal authorities claimed publicly that my words were a “motivating factor” behind the bombing, a clear attempt to bloody my hands. I was mortified by both the act and the government’s response.

Under the broad justification of counter-terrorism, the FBI declared war against anyone remotely connected to “antigovernment” activity which, by extension, included just about everyone who’d been supportive of us since the fire. Those who could be tied to petty violations of federal law and who, under any other circumstances would never be prosecuted, were the first to fall victim.

I could have retired from public view at that point and maybe I should have. But the fallout after the OKC bombing had turned the spotlight again upon our plight; upon the government’s violence that had been the source of so much rage. I did Nightline and Maury Povich - I racheted up my public rhetoric as the federal authorities escalated theirs.

On May 1, 1997, our home in Colorado was raided by the FBI in an operation that dwarfed the original ‘93 Waco assault.

The crime: Unregistered firearms - technically a tax offense.

I was told that prison was a foregone conclusion and was allowed no bail—all in spite of a previously spotless record.

Prison was a nightmare - but thanks to outside support I was able to maintain my websites and continued to publish articles highly critical of the government’s abuse of its powers.

In 1999 I was released on probation after serving a 27-month sentence. I was then 30 years old and my first priority was to marry my fiance’. I never expected the government to be so petty as to stand in the way, but my “supervised release” officer did, refusing to authorize a legal union under threat of a probation violation and a return to prison.

I couldn’t accept that outrage, as I’m sure they knew I wouldn’t and I fled the country with my new wife.

As the FBI and U.S. Marshals beat the bushes from New York to Texas, my wife and I had an improvised honeymoon in a safehouse thousands of miles away—all made possible by some very generous supporters. But we ultimately required a real life, and when we learned we’d soon be parents, we returned to the United States and I turned myself in.

I served another 18 months in federal prison, during which time our son was born. All in all it was a small price to pay for my beautiful family, but one had to spend.

Over the next few years I focused on being a good husband and father, while establishing myself as a successful industrial designer.

In late 2005 an employee of mine found a drivers’ license in my office with a different name under my picture - a relic from the old days. He called the police; the police uncovered my history and called the FBI. A federal “anti-terrorist unit” ransacked my home, car and office and took all of my computers. Then nothing happened.

On November 20, 2007—two years later—I was picking my son up from school. A SWAT team forced my car off the road and violently pulled me into the street; they were screaming and pointing their guns. The FBI placed me under arrest. The crime: Possession of an altered drivers’ license; I was sentenced to another 27 months in prison. My wife was expelled from her masters’ degree program and physically banned from campus. Her crime: Being married to me.

These experiences spanning 15 years are extreme but not unique. Many Americans who run afoul of the government—due to their religious or political beliefs and outspoken determination—are enduring similar experiences right now and it’s getting worse.

“Government is a living organism. Like every living thing its prime characteristic is a blind, unreasoned instinct to survive. You hit it, it will fight back,” wrote Robert Heinlein in his classic epic “Stranger in a Strange Land.”

I hope that through sharing some of my story I can help reveal the sinister methods our government uses to fight against its own people. That it has happened to me, means that it can happen to you.

Ron Cole

#27523-013

FCI Elkton, PO Box 10

Lisbon, Ohio 44432

www.ColesAircraft.com

Constitution Party of Massachusetts State Secretary Kevin Thompson was recently interviewed on the millerpolitics.com blog. Kevin was asked about his thoughts concerning the Constitution Party presidential nomination.

You can read the interview here - http://www.millerpolitics.com/6/post/2008/04/kevin-thompson-on-the-constitution-party-in-2008.html

Unbeleiveable! Just this morning I saw the article posted on the Drudge Report. I still cannot believe it. The article reports on Chelsea Clinton, daughter of Senator Hillary Clinton, touring prominent gay bars in PA.

If you have the stomach, go ahead and read this article on msnbc - http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/19/921148.aspx

Given the choice between Hillary and Obama, and cannot understand how any devoted Christian can remain a member of the Democratic Party. Already in Congress there have been attempts made to force a radical homosexual agenda on the American people, and yes, even our churches and religous organizations. If either Hillary and Obama are elected, I suspect that not only will we see more of such legislation proposed, but even passed with support from the White House. Of course, this is all done in the name of tolerance, love and acceptance.

Christians need to wake up and see what is going on in the world around us, Burying our heads in the sand and waiting for the rapture is not what Christ would have us to do. We need more pastors, churches and believers willing to stand up for righteousness. We cannot afford to be silent.

More than just a political statement for “family values,” we must be willing to declare sin to be just that, sin. This world needs to know they have offended a sovereign, holy God who tells us the wages of this sin is death. Only then can we share with them the wondrous truth about the gospel. Without a knowledge of sin there is no need of a saving of any kind from it.
This is a message that will not be heard in any political campaign or press release. Pastors, Churches and Christians need to start doing their job once again. When high-profile presidential candidates and government officials can take such offensive actions, how can the church remain silent? Who else is there to voice their outrage?

We have allowed issues such as homosexuality and abortion to become merely political issues instead of theological and moral issues. The Bible has much to say on both of these issues. Matters of human sexuality, orientation and certainly matters of life and death are absolutely issues that Scripture addresses and our Lord has given commands concerning. Yet, they have become merely political issues in the minds of most Americans simply because politicians are the only ones speaking about them! Again, America’s pulpits have remain silent, by and large.

Where is the modern-day John the Baptist who stand firm against the immorality of modern day Herods? If Christians will not declare the truth against sin, who will? Christians, wake up!

Kevin Thompson is an Assistant Pastor in MA, a former candidate for the US House of representatives, as well as a member of the Constitution Party of Massachusetts state committee. You can visit his website at www.kevinjthompson.info, read his blog at http://kevinjthompson.wordpress.com, or listen to him weekly on the Understanding our Times internet radio broadcast at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes.

Congressman Ron Paul

Taxes were on the forefront of many Americans’ minds this week as they scrambled to meet the April 15th deadline to file their returns. Tax policy in this country hurts taxpayers twice – once when they pay taxes, and then when the government spends the money. Americans are sick and tired of the financial burden and the endless forms to fill out. To add insult to injury, after collecting this money the government does some very detrimental things to the economy.

The burden of complying with the income tax is tremendous. Since its inception in 1913, the tax code has gone from 400 pages to over 67,000. The Tax Foundation estimates that around $265 billion dollars and 6 billion hours are spent just on compliance. That expense amounts to about 22 cents of every dollar the IRS collects. Imagine the boon to the economy if we spent that time and money expanding our businesses and creating jobs!

Aside from the direct loss of money and productivity, the funds from the income tax enable the government to do some very destructive things, such as vastly over-regulating economic activity, making it difficult to earn money in the first place. The federal government funds over 50 agencies, departments and commissions that formulate rules and regulations. These bureaucracies operate with little to no oversight from the people or Congress and generate around 4,000 new rules every year and operate at a cost of about 40 billion dollars. There are some 75,000 pages of regulations in the Federal Register that Americans are expected to know and abide by. Complying with these governmental regulations costs American businesses more than one trillion dollars per year, according to a study by Mark Crain for the Small Business Administration. This complicated system drives production to other countries and shrinks our job market here at home.

Big government is destructive when it takes your money and when it spends it. There is no economic benefit to supporting a government sector as massive as ours. In fact, this country thrived for well over 100 years without an income tax. Today, if you took away the income tax, the government would still have revenue from other sources equal to total government spending in 1990, when government was still too big. $1.2 trillion should be more than enough to fund a government operating within its constitutional confines, and that is exactly what we need to get back to.

I have introduced legislation many times to abolish the IRS and the income tax. It is fundamentally un-American to require taxpayers to testify against themselves and be considered guilty until proven innocent. Abolishing the IRS altogether would trigger an avalanche of real growth in the economy.

With these financial hard times only just beginning, this would be the most efficient and logical way to get our economy growing again, and Americans would need not dread the 15th of April every year.

No one in the Republican Party likes John McCain. This is the conclusion I am beginning to come to. I have been asking my friends still in the GOP, and all who support McCain are doing so only out of a sense of duty or party loyalty. To put it bluntly, they support Senator McCain because he is not Senator Clinton or Senator Obama. Though they are not happy with his support for amnesty, stem cell research, campaign finance and a host of other conservative-issue compromises, they are willing to settle for the lesser of two evils.

Most conservatives I know are deeply disturbed by the results of this year’s election. What happened? Where is the conservative-standard bearer we were all hoping for? I think the more important question that must be asked is this – if conservatives do not like McCain, how in the world did he get the nomination?

Some would suggest that the conservative vote was siphoned off by a number of different candidates. In other words, conservatives failed to back one candidate and so their support was weakened by supporting a number of different candidates such as Fred Thompson, Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Yet, as I recall, conservatives were not happy with those selections either, and with good reason.

The truth is, there were real conservatives in this race – Tom Tancredo, Duncan Hunter, Ron Paul and Alan Keyes. However, no one was willing to throw their support behind these men. Their conservative message and principles never caught on within their own party – at least on a national level.

It is time to wake up and realize what has happened here. The Republican Party, quite frankly, is no longer a conservative party. Conservative parties are made up of conservative voters who nominate conservative candidates. The GOP did not even come close to this. It is time conservatives understood this, they have been betrayed.

So what is a conservative voter to do? They could support the lesser of two evils, hold their nose, and cast their vote for McCain – the lesser of two evils. At least that way we prevent a Democrat from taking office. Of course, should you choose this route, please realize you have done nothing to promote your own values or principles. You will have still failed to elect a conservative.

Is there another option? Yes. We can follow the lead of Dr. Alan Keyes. A lifelong Republican, Dr. Keyes has announced he has finally had enough. On April 15, he announced his departure from the Republican Party? Where will he go? He is openly expressed a desire to run with the Constitution Party.

As I Constitution Party member since 2006, I admire the courage of Dr. Keyes and others like him. I too had to make this decision, and it was not easy. But enough was enough. I could no longer support a party who refuses to protect our borders or even to protect innocent human life in the womb. You have to draw the line somewhere.

This year is an exciting year for the Constitution Party. On April 26, next Friday, we will select our Presidential nominee. Our two leading candidates are Dr. Alan Keyes and Dr. Chuck Baldwin. Unlike the choices in other parties, our nomination is between two excellent candidates, either of whom I would be more than happy to support.

Dr. Alan Keyes is a proven champion of family and moral values. Our country does not have a more passionate, eloquent defender of the pro-life cause. Dr. Keyes’s name recognition and national campaign operation would be a valuable asset to the party. Just his name alone would attract more people into our fold. Learn more by logging on to www.alankeyes.com.

Dr. Chuck Baldwin was our 2004 Vice Presidential candidate, an outspoken pastor not afraid to speak out on the issues that matter most. He is often referred to as the “Conscience of the Constitution Party.” Baldwin hosts a daily radio program and writes a widely syndicated newspaper column. Learn more by logging on to www.chuckbaldwinlive.com.

Both candidates have their strong points and their weak points. But, either way, we will have a strong candidate who will fight to restore the Constitution and defend the liberties we hold so dear.

To my fellow conservatives still remaining in the GOP, I say this, haven’t you had enough? Aren’t you tired of being in a party where your views are merely tolerated, instead of championed? Come, take a brave step of faith, and join us over here. You’ll have a home with others who are like-minded. Do we have a chance of winning? Some say no. I say otherwise. Yet ultimately, this decision rests in your hands. Candidates are elected only have the people have spoken. How will you use your voice? Should you chose to support McCain, he may just win and our candidate would lose. If enough patriots decided to vote their conscience, then there is absolutely no telling what could happen.

Two weeks ago it was my humble honor to walk upon the famous Lexington Green in Lexington, MA. Here, hundreds of years ago, a shot was heard around the world, the start of a war that would lead to our country’s independence. This war was waged not between two armies of equal strength and might, but between the most power army on the face of the earth and rag-tag bunch of farmers with little to no battle experience. Yet, within this much smaller “army,” was a desire for freedom that would never be satisfied with anything less than their liberty. One author once told us to never doubt a small group of concerned citizens who claim they will change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.

Will we win? The choice is yours? Do you have the courage to make the right decision?

Kevin Thompson is an Assistant Pastor in MA, a former candidate for the US House of representatives, as well as a member of the Constitution Party of Massachusetts state committee. You can visit his website at www.kevinjthompson.info, read his blog at http://kevinjthompson.wordpress.com, or listen to him weekly on the Understanding our Times internet radio broadcast at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/understandingourtimes.

By Coach Dave Daubenmire
April 17, 2008

Prodigal–a person who spends, or has spent, his or her money or substance with wasteful extravagance; spendthrift.

Did you see this? Food costs are rising faster in America than anytime in the last two decades. Is it any wonder?

We are burning our food. It is the last sign of foolishness in the mind of secular man. We live in a society today where God and the things of God are deemed foolish. It is right out of Romans 1.

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…”

The American ship is being steered by fools. The official policy of the American government is the worship of nature. (“Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened…..Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator,)

The captains of the “ship of fools” have turned to worship of the creation rather than the worship of the “Creator.”

It’s global warming I am talking about. Environmentalism, rain forests (Tarzan called them jungles), no drilling in ANWR and “going green” are nothing more than re-worked paganism endorsed by our government and proselytized in our government schools.

The official policy of the United States government is “Earth Worship.” Gaia is Eastern Mysticism dress up as “Environmentalism.” We have exchanged the Truth of God for a lie.

The Bible is out and Global Warming is in. Even some churches are buying in to the “new religion.”

The reprobate mind is leading America.

I am sure that you have noticed the steady rise of food prices at the grocery. It has been going on for several years now. A few years ago a friend of mine who is a dairy farmer shared with me that he was on the verge of bankruptcy. His costs for producing a gallon of milk did not equal the price he was receiving in the market. But all of that changed about sixteen months ago. In our latest conversation he shared with me that in all his years in the milk business prices had never been higher. He was actually turning a profit.

“Why is that John?” I asked. His answer made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. “The price of grain is going through the roof because the ethanol producers are buying it all to try and turn it into alternative fuels. There is a big fight going on in the markets. Should the grain be used for fuel or food?”

We are burning our food while huge new deposits of oil are being discovered on American soil.

As I was thinking about this yesterday it reminded me of the story of the Prodigal Son. Take time to read it, only replace “son” with “nation.” “And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country; and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks that the swine did eat:

If we continue down this road, America we will end up “eating the husks.”

What has become of wise men? What has become of common sense? What has become of wisdom?

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”…… “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools…”

What type of leadership burns our food?

The American Church is paralyzed by what Gary DeMar calls “Last-Days Madness.” In a nutshell, the modern American Church has become so obsessed with End-Time prophecy that Christians have ceased to be the “salt and light” that Christ has commanded us to be. Convinced that things are “only going to get worse” Christians have neglected Jesus’ mandate to “Occupy until I return and have instead turned the gates of authority over to the enemies of the cross.

“Worse is better!” I heard one Christian-radio pundit say. “As things get worse that means the return of the Lord is near.”

What hogwash! Is the Lord glorified by the multiplication of evil? “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth…” Did Jesus pray against His own will?

I don’t want to turn this into a theological discussion and get us all wrapped in the minutia of fig trees and famines. For the Lord’s sake, man, STAND UP AND FIGHT!

I have often wondered what America would look like if the Church believed in revival as much as it believed in the rapture. What would happen to this land if the churches turned their eyes towards heaven and bombarded the gates with cries of repentance? What would happen if we begged the Lord to send us true spiritual revival?

Every time I read the story of the Prodigal I am struck by a verse hidden in the parable. “And when he came to himself…”

Isn’t it time that we “came to ourselves” and returned to the Father?

In 1970, Hal Lindsay wrote a book “The Late, Great Planet Earth” where he suggested that the rapture would occur within forty years of the formation of the nation of Israel in 1948. When the end didn’t come in 1988, he and a few others changed the date to forty years after the capturing of Jerusalem in 1967. Lindsay and his fellow prognosticators are working on borrowed time.

But let’s say Lindsay is right. Let’s assume that the return of Christ occurs next March. Will our efforts to restore Jehovah as King over this Nation have been in vain? Doesn’t it make more sense that the closer we get the harder we should fight?

On the other hand, what if the rapture doesn’t occur in the next few years? What if the “prophets” have been wrong and time marches on? What if it is another forty years? What will this nation look like if Christians continue to allow this nation to wallow in the pig-pen?

If your house was on fire would you watch it burn….or grab a hose?

America must return to God. If God-fearing men and women rise above the insanity and call the nation to a return to the Father we have His Word that He will “heal our land.”

I don’t know what the future holds. But I look in the eyes of my children and envision a future beyond description. As the Church has yielded all authority to the “government” the flood of evil is rising like a tidal wave. Thinking that the wave is to be ridden to heaven, Christians will be shocked as they are slammed head-first onto the rock.

Could this be the final sign from the Lord? Could He be pleading with us to return home? The eating of the husks brought the Prodigal to his senses. Will it take starvation to turn us around?

Is America a prodigal nation? We are lost but can we still be found? If so, we must pull ourselves out of the moral muck.

We are burning our food in a sacrificial ritual to the environment. I can see that God is turning up the heat. It gives new meaning to “global warming.”

“I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee,” Our choice is clear. America must come to her senses.

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Coach Dave Daubenmire, founder and President of Pass The Salt Ministries www.ptsalt.com and Minutemen United www.minutemenunited.org, is host of the high octane Pass The Salt radio show heard in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1999 Coach Daubenmire was sued by the ACLU for praying with his teams while coaching high school in Ohio. He now spends his energy fighting for Christian principles in the public domain.

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Chuck Baldwin
April 18, 2008

On February 28, 1993, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF, now known as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives or BATFE) began their assault on the home of the Branch Davidians outside Waco, Texas. An unarmed David Koresh was shot by the agents as he stepped onto his front porch. A shootout resulted with several deaths on both sides.

Shortly afterward, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) took charge of the situation, and on April 19, 1993 agents from both departments (utilizing military hardware and both U.S. and foreign military advisers) assaulted the dwellings, which resulted in the deaths of 80 American citizens. Most of the victims were old men, women, and small children.

The events at Waco have contributed to the disdain of federal abuse of power like nothing since the Boston Massacre back in 1770. (By comparison, the British killed 5 Americans in that assault.) Moved by grassroots pressure, the Congress of the United States convened special hearings into the conduct of those federal agencies responsible for the Waco debacle. The result was less than satisfactory to many Americans.

The congressional hearings, along with eyewitness testimony and subsequent infrared video of the events at Waco led many to believe that federal agents were allowed to lie under oath with impunity. It is a fact that crucial evidence was conveniently “lost” by federal agents. Worse still was the release of videotapes of the events by investigative reporters showing the utter absurdity and duplicity of the government’s account of the tragedy.

At the end of the hearings, questions remained unanswered, and no one within the federal government was held accountable. Davidians who survived the raid were tried for murder. A jury found them innocent, but no charges were ever brought against any federal agents.

Whatever one thinks of David Koresh and the Branch Davidians, they had committed no capital crimes. Neither could the charges of child abuse, illegal weapons, or illegal drug activity (charges that were used by the feds to justify their raid) be substantiated.

Furthermore, it is unconscionable (not to mention a violation of U.S. law as prescribed in the Posse Comitatus Act–a law that President Bush recently had the audacity to expunge, by the way) that tanks and other military equipment would be used against mostly women and children within our own country. The bizarre tactics employed by the BATF and FBI at Waco are unfathomable and unforgivable! Our government has been more lenient and patient when dealing with many of America’s deadliest enemies than it was in dealing with those poor Davidians.

There must never be another Waco!

God-given, constitutional liberties apply to every American, even those who are considered strange or unconventional. Under no circumstances must we allow federal agencies (or any other agencies, for that matter) to circumvent the laws of our nation that protect individual life and liberty. And, unfortunately, with the advent of the Patriot Act, the federal government has far more power and authority–and individuals have far less freedom and protection–than in 1993. This portends an even more ominous future for liberty.

The demands of liberty and justice rest upon us all. Certainly, Congress plays a part. Their investigation into Waco was inept, to say the least. The media also plays an important role. They have the power to inform; they also have the power to sedate. Absent a love for truth and justice by a lackadaisical media and a cowardly Congress, the fires of Waco still burn in the heart of the American conscience.

Beyond that, under the Bush administration, we have watched the size and scope of the federal government burgeon to proportions never before seen. It seems clear that we have entered an era of unlimited and unbridled federal power and authority. Can we assume, therefore, that more Wacos are on the horizon?

It is incumbent upon each of us to seriously ponder our future. It is imperative that each of us be willing to study, once again, the great principles upon which this country was built. Such a study demands that we re-familiarize ourselves with the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. We must re-read our Declaration of Independence. We must read the words of wisdom and warning delivered by our Founding Fathers. In short, we must be completely familiar with the principles of liberty, because those principles made us, and those principles will keep us. Without them, liberty’s future is about as permanent as the wooden buildings at Mt. Carmel. Without them, the fire of tyranny will reduce us to the cinders of obscurity as surely as did the fire outside Waco, Texas on April 19, 1993.

*If you enjoyed this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php

© Chuck Baldwin

Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Baldwin is also the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show “Chuck Baldwin Live” and was the Constitution Party vice-presidential nominee in 2004.

To learn more about his radio talk show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state

Chuck Baldwin
April 15, 2008

Every four years, conservative “pragmatists” trot out the “We Can’t Let So-And-So Win” mantra. Of course, the so-and-so in question is always the Democratic Presidential candidate. For all of my adult life, I have been listening to so-called “conservative” Republicans warn us of the impending doom that would befall our country if the Democratic candidate were elected. And this year is no different.

This year’s Republican primary did provide a wonderful aberration, however, to the usual choices between Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Republicans had an opportunity to nominate a real American constitutionalist, a statesman in the similitude of Thomas Jefferson or James Madison. That man was Texas Congressman, Ron Paul. Unfortunately, the Republican faithful seem to be incapable of discerning the marks of true greatness, not to mention fidelity to constitutional government. It is doubtful that most of them even understand what constitutional government is. And as for Christian conservatives, they can barely see any issues beyond abortion and “gay rights.” To try and convince them to support a constitutionalist candidate is like talking to a brick wall.

So, what choice does the Republican Party offer the American people this year? The worst of all possible choices: good old John “McSame” McCain.

Let’s be clear: a John McCain Presidency will be no better than a Hillary Clinton or a Barack Obama Presidency. In fact, in many ways, a McCain White House will be WORSE than a Democratic one.

On many issues, there is virtually no distinction between John McCain and any potential Democratic candidate. John McCain is no friend to gun owners. He is no friend to pro-lifers. He is no friend to fiscal conservatives. He is no friend to property owners. He is no friend to “family values” voters. He is no friend to America’s blue-collar workers. He is no friend to small business owners. He is no friend to opponents of illegal immigration.

On the other hand, John McCain is a great friend to Big Business. Similarly, he is a friend to Big Government and Big Brother. He is also a friend to open borders, supranational government, regionalism, and American imperialism.

But this is where the Boogeyman comes in.

At this point, Republican Party lackeys will break in and say, “We can’t let Hillary Clinton win. We can’t let Barack Obama win.” Even the favored son of the Religious Right, Mike Huckabee, has endorsed John McCain, not to mention Mitt Romney and virtually every other Republican “bigwig.” (Thank God, Ron Paul has maintained his integrity by NOT endorsing McCain.)

I, for one, am fed up with this baloney, because what we are actually faced with is not the “lesser of two evils” but “the evil of two lessers.” (To quote a good friend of mine.) And the reason John McCain would actually be a worse President than either Obama or Clinton is because of the manner in which conservatives go to sleep whenever a Republican occupies the Oval Office. Furthermore, the next couple of years are “crunch time” for this burgeoning North American Union and related issues.

America is currently facing the most serious threat to its national independence and sovereignty since the War of 1812. The forces of globalism have declared an all-out war against our country’s independence. Illegal immigration, the NAFTA superhighway, the North American Community, a regional currency called the Amero, and “free trade” deals are just a few of the weapons in their arsenal. And John McCain will use every bit of his power as President to facilitate all of this chicanery. And, because McCain is a Republican, conservatives and Christians will sit back and let it happen without even the slightest whimper of resistance. If Obama or Clinton were sitting in the Oval Office, however, massive numbers of conservatives and Christians would rise in protest over every inch of ground ceded to these nefarious nabobs. So, tell me, who is the greater evil? I say it is John McCain.

I realize that there are many readers shouting to themselves right now and saying, “So what do we do, Chuck? We have to vote for one or the other.” To which I say, No you don’t. You can think outside the box. You don’t have to throw your vote away on either of these wretched candidates. You can cast a vote for principle and vote for a third party candidate.

I can hear readers screaming at me now, saying that voting for a third party candidate is a wasted vote. I strongly disagree! Casting a vote for a person who you know is unfaithful to your principles is a wasted vote! Voting for someone who you know will keep our borders and ports open to illegals, continue George Bush’s preemptive war doctrine, and facilitate a burgeoning hemispheric government–not to mention someone who will increase and augment a burgeoning Orwellian police state–is a wasted vote!

At some point, we Americans must decide whether we will tolerate the continued sellout of our freedoms and principles or not. Will we swallow the shallow squeals of the establishment elite who think we are a bunch of sheep to be herded into their New World Order? Or will we stand our ground? Will we vote our principles and our conscience?

It does not matter that the pundits and experts say we can’t win. That is not our business. As John Quincy Adams said, “Duty is ours; results are God’s.” When will Christians, especially, quit trying to play politics and start standing for principle? They talk a lot about principle, but when it comes down to where the rubber meets the road, most don’t act like people of principle.

If God intends to give America another chance, if He intends to return these United States to constitutional government, and if He intends to preserve America’s independence, it will only come in the form of a miracle. And miracles do not happen by the machinations of pragmatic planners. Miracles are just that.

America was born a miracle, and it could now be given a new birth by miracle. If so, it would demand that people of principle start acting like it. That we cast aside the pragmatic, the reasonable, the sophisticated, and the expected. That we–as did the priests of old–would be willing to step out into the raging current of the Jordan River, knowing that either God would part the water or we would drown. That we would be willing to sign our names to a document–as did our Founding Fathers–that would make us either the enemies of the state or the inventors of a new nation. It means taking risks; it means doing the impractical; it means rejecting accepted wisdom and standing for principle.

I am convinced that only a miracle can save America now. And I am expecting God to grant such a miracle. Beyond that, I am willing to do my part to place myself in a position to let God use my voice and my vote to accomplish this miracle. And if that means voting for someone who “has no chance of winning” in order to let God take the glory for whatever victory results, it is the least I can do. So, who will join me?

*If you enjoyed this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

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© Chuck Baldwin

Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Baldwin is also the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show “Chuck Baldwin Live” and was the Constitution Party vice-presidential nominee in 2004.

To learn more about his radio talk show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state

Congressman Ron Paul

There has been a lot of talk in the news recently about the Federal Reserve and the actions it has taken over the past few months. Many media pundits have been bending over backwards to praise the Fed for supposedly restoring stability to the market. This interpretation of the Fed’s actions couldn’t be further from the truth.

The current market crisis began because of Federal Reserve monetary policy during the early 2000s in which the Fed lowered the interest rate to a below-market rate. The artificially low rates led to overinvestment in housing and other malinvestments. When the first indications of market trouble began back in August of 2007, instead of holding back and allowing bad decision-makers to suffer the consequences of their actions, the Federal Reserve took aggressive, inflationary action to ensure that large Wall Street firms would not lose money. It began by lowering the discount rates, the rates of interest charged to banks who borrow directly from the Fed, and lengthening the terms of such loans. This eliminated much of the stigma from discount window borrowing and enabled troubled banks to come to the Fed directly for funding, pay only a slightly higher interest rate but also secure these loans for a period longer than just overnight.

After the massive increase in discount window lending proved to be ineffective, the Fed became more and more creative with its funding arrangements. It has since created the Term Auction Facility (TAF), the Primary Dealer Credit Facility (PDCF), and the Term Securities Lending Facility (TSLF). The upshot of all of these new programs is that through auctions of securities or through deposits of collateral, the Fed is pushing hundreds of billions of dollars of funding into the financial system in a misguided attempt to shore up the stability of the system.

The PDCF in particular is a departure from the established pattern of Fed intervention because it targets the primary dealers, the largest investment banks who purchase government securities directly from the New York Fed. These banks have never before been allowed to borrow from the Fed, but thanks to the Fed Board of Governors, these investment banks can now receive loans from the Fed in exchange for securities which will in all likelihood soon lose much of their value.

The net effect of all this new funding has been to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the financial system and bail out banks whose poor decision making should have caused them to go out of business. Instead of being forced to learn their lesson, these poor-performing banks are being rewarded for their financial mismanagement, and the ultimate cost of this bailout will fall on the American taxpayers. Already this new money flowing into the system is spurring talk of the next speculative bubble, possibly this time in commodities.

Worst of all, the Treasury Department has recently proposed that the Federal Reserve, which was responsible for the housing bubble and subprime crisis in the first place, be rewarded for all its intervention by being turned into a super-regulator. The Treasury foresees the Fed as the guarantor of market stability, with oversight over any financial institution that could pose a threat to the financial system. Rewarding poor performing financial institutions is bad enough, but rewarding the institution that enabled the current economic crisis is unconscionable.

Chuck Baldwin
April 8, 2008

“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.” (1 Corinthians 10:14 KJV)

This is a strange verse, is it not? After all, the Apostle Paul is addressing Christians. How can Christians be guilty of idolatry? I thought idolatry was something that only heathens could be guilty of committing. Yet, Paul plainly addressed believers when he said, “my dearly beloved.”

Christian idolatry: I submit it is more rampant than anyone wants to admit.

Simply put, idolatry is the sin of giving someone or something a place of preeminence above the Lord God. It is the violation of the First of the Ten Commandments. And, yes, Christians can be just as guilty of this sin as unbelievers.

In these United States, there is perhaps no area where the sin of idolatry is more universally practiced than in the area of government. Call it civil affairs, or politics, or affairs of state. Call it what you will, the result is the same: Christians by the millions have surrendered Christ’s authority and principles to humanism and pragmatism.

For one thing, a sizeable number of believers allowed President George W. Bush to redefine their Christian principles almost out of existence. They willingly looked the other way while Bush betrayed his word (not to mention the Constitution) and catapulted conservative principles into outer darkness. To the point, that they can now even support someone as liberal as John McCain and still call him a “conservative.”

I will say it straight out: any Christian or conservative who supports John McCain has no principles left worth defending!

Can anyone remember when George W. Bush ran for the White House in 2000, promising the American people that he would pursue a non-interventionist foreign policy? So much for that promise.

George W. Bush has orchestrated the most meddlesome, interventionist, and nation-building foreign policy of any President in modern memory. And Christians became his most vocal supporters. Now, John McCain gets in front of international television and jokes about bombing Iran, and once again, Christians stand up and cheer.

Christians have swallowed the Bush/McCain Kool-Aid as surely as did the followers of Jim Jones. They are drunk with denial and deception.

Bush promised the American people that he would promote less government spending. He then turned around and led the U.S. government to borrow and spend more taxpayer dollars than any President since Lyndon Johnson. And, again, Christians looked the other way.

President Bush promised the American people that he would preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. He promised to respect the Bill of Rights, including the Fourth Amendment.

Since becoming President, however, George W. Bush has ignored the Constitution and trampled the Bill of Rights, especially the Fourth Amendment, with utter abandonment. And what did Christians do? They either looked the other way or, in some cases, even lauded his unconstitutional conduct.

How could Christians sacrifice their principles and convictions so easily? How could they be so willing to surrender their loyalties–both to Christ as the organic Sovereign of this land, and to constitutional government, which is, itself, built on Biblical principles?

Some Christians would say they are supporting President Bush because he is “one of us.” Of course, this reasoning betrays logic. If George W. Bush is truly “one of us,” he should be held to a higher–not lower–standard. That we would be willing to look the other way because Bush is “one of us” is repulsive to true Christian principles. Plus, it brings Christianity as a whole into disrepute with unbelievers. And this is exactly what has happened. Instead of unbelievers being attracted to Christ and His Word, George W. Bush–and the Christians who follow him–have turned unbelievers away from Christ. Bush and Company have made it harder–not easier–to present Christ to a lost and dying world. And that goes for people in foreign countries as well as people in America.

However, I am convinced that the reason Christians support President Bush is not because he is a professing born-again Christian. I say that because these same people are now also supporting John McCain, a man who has never professed a born-again relationship with Jesus Christ. Oh, he claims to be a “Christian” in a general sense, but what politician doesn’t?

McCain is also a man who has consistently betrayed conservative principles throughout his political career. He has even lampooned and denigrated Christian people, calling them “agents of intolerance.” Yet, today Christians are supporting John McCain. Why? It is not because of his religious profession. It is not because of a conservative track record. Why are they supporting him, then? Why are they willing to surrender their convictions? There is only one reason: John McCain (like George W. Bush) is a REPUBLICAN.

There it is: countless millions of professing Christians will eagerly abandon their commitment to constitutional government and Biblical principles in order to accommodate a Republican Presidential candidate. In the minds of many Christians, the Republican Party is more important than the U.S. Constitution. It is more important than conservative principles or even Biblical injunctions. In essence, the Republican Party has become an IDOL in the hearts and minds of many professing believers.

So, how can we ask God to bless America when God’s children have set up the groves of idolatry in their hearts? How can we expect God to heal our land when Christian pastors, Sunday School teachers, deacons, ushers, and faithful church members place more loyalty and allegiance in a political party than they do in the very Word and principles of God?

As surely as the pagans of the Old Testament worshipped before the gods of Baal and Ashteroth, many Christians worship before the GOP. They are willing to sacrifice their children to the policies and practices of unscrupulous, evil politicians–as long as they have an “R” behind their names. They will turn their back on their pastors, their churches, their friends, and their commitments before they will turn their backs on the Republican Party.

To many Christians, God cannot work in America outside the Republican Party. God cannot bless America, except through the Republican Party. There is no success, no help, no assistance, and no redemption except through the Republican Party. If this is not idolatry, I do not know what is!

If Christians will support John McCain, they will support anyone. Support for John McCain means no principle is sacred; no conviction is secure.

It is one thing for radio and television talking heads to allow themselves to be Republican lackeys for profit. It is quite another thing for pastors and Christians to allow themselves to idolize the GOP for no good reason at all.

Why can Christians not see what their blind loyalty is doing to our country? Why can they not rise, as did Daniel and the Hebrew children, for truth and right? Do they not realize that God may want to use some other vehicle, some other source, some other instrument than the GOP to bring restoration and revival to America? And if He did, how would Christians today recognize or understand it? Has it not dawned on our brethren that the GOP may have become lost beyond redemption, and that they are being led as blind men–by blind men–into the ditch? And would they know it, if they were?

Oh, Christian friend, please open your eyes! Take a good, hard look at truth. Remember our history. Put your confidence in God and right, and throw off the fetters of blind loyalty to Republican compromise. Bind our civil magistrates down with the chains of the Constitution. If you do not, they will certainly bind us down with the chains of oppression (which they are already doing). If we, as Christians, cannot hold our civil leaders accountable to the Constitution, how in the name of common sense can we hold our churches and our children accountable to the Bible? It is no coincidence that we are losing constitutional government and Biblical practice simultaneously. They indeed go hand in hand.

When our Christian forebears fought our War for Independence, they had one motto: No King But Jesus. The day that our brethren reclaim that spirit and tear down the political altars they have erected to the GOP is the day God might begin to bring life and restoration back to America.

“Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”

*If you enjoyed this column and want to help me distribute these editorial opinions to an ever-growing audience, donations may now be made by credit card, check, or Money Order. Use this link:

http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/donate.php

© Chuck Baldwin

Chuck Baldwin is Founder-Pastor of Crossroads Baptist Church in Pensacola, Florida. Dr. Baldwin is also the host of a lively, hard-hitting syndicated radio talk show “Chuck Baldwin Live” and was the Constitution Party vice-presidential nominee in 2004.

To learn more about his radio talk show please visit his web site at: www.chuckbaldwinlive.com. When responding, please include your name, city and state