by Russell D. Longcore
"God grants liberty only to those who love it, and are always ready to guard and defend it." ~ Daniel Webster (1834)
"Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty." ~ Wendell Phillips (1811–1884)
I’ve just finished reading the book Constitutional Homeland Security, Volume 1: The Nation in Arms, by Edwin Vieira, Jr., Ph.D., J.D.
This is the definitive book on (1) how every American State has forsaken its DUTY to maintain a Militia, that force that is "necessary to the security of a Free State," (2) how states can revitalize their Militias, and (3) how Citizen’s Homeland Security Associations (CHSA) may be organized.
This book should be read by every State governor and every State legislator in the USA. But it should be read by every citizen that desires liberty...true liberty in their lifetime.
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." ~ Benjamin Franklin
| |
Vieira devotes five of the twelve chapters in the book to the formation and operation of the CHSAs. He contends that a program of public education be instituted to inform the public of the necessity of state militias.
Citizen’s Homeland Security Associations are completely different than the "Committees of Safety" of old. The CHSA is a grass-roots organization that will build awareness in the populace in anticipation of the formation of the Committees of Safety and legislative action on re-forming state Militias.
The original Committees of Safety were composed of actual members of the States’ legislatures, recognized activists and other leaders within the States...who were appointed to the Committees by the legislatures, to serve as the legislatures’ agents and advisors, and to carry on the legislatures’ work during recesses. The Committees were never independent of the legislatures, and never carried out any plans that were not approved by the legislatures.
The chief concern of the Committees was the safety of the public: "to put the territory under their supervision in a state of defense and maintain it there effectively."¹
The author wrote this book in 2007, and mentions that we don’t have much time to reinstitute militias in the states before societal events begin to occur that will throw America into chaos. It’s now almost three years since publication, and many of the events have taken place, while more events loom just over the horizon.
We can thank the government schools of the entire United States for the dearth of knowledge in the populace about the Constitution and the necessity of the State Militias. But what could we really expect? The very Federal government that benefits from the LACK of militias could hardly be expected to promote a concept that would diminish their power. Still, remember that the Federal Department of Education did not exist before 1980.
"Those who have been once intoxicated with power and have derived any kind of emolument from it can never willingly abandon it." ~ Edmund Burke
So, what of the states? Education has always been a state issue. Can you think of any reasons that states would shrink from their obligation under their own state Constitutions to maintain a state militia?
How about these?
(1) State legislators and governors view themselves as servants of Washington.
(2) Maintaining a state militia is expensive. The money could be used for other purposes that would make more voters happier.(3) Nearly 150 years have passed since the War of Northern Aggression, in which Lincoln called up the state militias to invade the Confederate States of America. So generations of state legislators have not seen a need for militias.
(4) Besides, states have a National Guard, don’t they? What’s the difference?
I’m sure there are others, but those reasons should do for now.
"Liberty cannot be preserved without a general knowledge among the people." ~ John Adams
Here are some of my own thoughts on secession and state militias.
1. Any individual who has reached the age of majority in the United States who does not own a firearm has accepted the position that they have no duty to be a part of the well-regulated Militia that is NECESSARY for the security of a Free State.
2. Any state of the fifty states that comprise the United States of America that either has enacted or will enact any legislation that infringes on the individual right to keep and bear arms has accepted the position that a well-regulated Militia is NOT NECESSARY for the security of a Free State. That state government is an enemy to liberty and a lackey of Washington.
Patrick Henry did not say "Give me safety and security or give me death."
3. There is seemingly very little interest in the general populace or the state governments to revitalize state militias. But there is interest coming from a restless citizenry about state secession. We must tie the two together into an inseparable bundle, as one relies upon the other.
4. Here is a forecast of how secession and militias will likely play out.
a. Economic meltdown, bank holidays, hyperinflation
b. Societal chaos, riots, rampant crime
c. Washington declares martial law and tries to clamp down
d. The grave crisis jolts states out of their slumber, and secessions begin
e. States NOW begin reformulating their militias
f. The citizenry, in full panic mode, get very focused on liberty issues
g. The United States goes the way of the Soviet Union and dissolves
This is an extremely exciting time in which to live in America. The people of the nation have been lulled to sleep over generations. The tyranny laid upon them is destructive, and any type of destructive force is based in low energy. Happily, freedom and liberty are creative forces of a very high energy level. Just like light dispels darkness, so too will liberty eventually win over tyranny. People will be drawn to the energy of liberty as a moth to a flame.
You can find Dr. Vieira’s book at Amazon.com.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ... God forbid we should ever be twenty years without such a rebellion; what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms." ~ Thomas Jefferson, 1787
¹Agnes Hunt, The Provincial Committees of Safety of the American Revolution (Cleveland, Ohio: Western Reserve University, 1904), at 161.
December 19, 2009
