Left v Right
As we prepare to observe Independence Day, it is fitting that we pause
to consider the origins of the American Revolution and the liberty it
enshrined for generations since.
As James Madison aptly notes, it all began with an act of civil
disobedience in rejection of a tax on tea — a Tea Party.
On December 16th, 1773, “radicals” from Boston, members of a secret
organization of American Patriots called the Sons of Liberty, boarded
three East India Company ships and threw 342 chests of tea into Boston
Harbor.
This iconic event, in protest of oppressive British taxation and
tyrannical rule, became known as the Boston Tea Party.
Resistance to the Crown had been mounting over enforcement of the 1764
Sugar Act, 1765 Stamp Act and 1767 Townshend Act, which led to the
Boston Massacre and gave rise to the slogan, “No taxation without
representation.”
The 1773 Tea Act and resulting Tea Party protest galvanized the Colonial
movement opposing British parliamentary acts, which violated the
natural, charter and constitutional rights of the colonists.
In response to the rebellion, the British enacted additional punitive
measures, labeled the “Intolerable Acts,” in hopes of suppressing the
burgeoning insurrection. Far from accomplishing their desired outcome,
however, the Crown’s countermeasures led colonists to convene the First
Continental Congress on September 5th, 1774, in Philadelphia — the
first step toward formalizing a declaration of liberty.
Today, once again, we find ourselves subject to unjust taxation. And
while we enjoy a token and technical representation in Congress, we are
continually being taxed for purposes not expressly authorized by our
Constitution. That tax burden is levied to satiate contemporaneous
political constituencies, but at an ever-increasing cost under which
free enterprise will, ultimately, collapse.
As a result of this abject violation of constitutional Rule of Law,
greatly amplified by the current Leftist administration of Barack
Hussein Obama, American Patriots have, once again, mustered a Tea Party
movement, which is growing in strength. This movement is not about
revolution but restoration
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/04/08/restoration-or-revolution/>
, at its core — advancing any and all measures to restore Rule of Law.
Despite the best efforts of Beltway Republican establishment types,
Libertarians and conservative special interest groups endeavoring to
co-opt the Tea Party for their own purposes, these Patriots have shown
remarkable devotion to their guiding principles, rejecting any and all
suitors attempting to commandeer the movement.
So, just what is the Tea Party?
Let me first answer that question by describing who it is.
We are American Patriots, defenders of First Principles
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/03/11/when-debating-a-liberal-star
t-with-first-principles/> and Essential Liberty
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/09/03/essential-liberty-part-1/> .
We are Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, Coast Guardsmen and public
servants standing in harm’s way at home and around the world, who are
loyal, first and foremost, to our revered oath to “support and defend
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2008/11/14/our-sacred-honor-to-support-
and-defend/> ” our Constitution.
We are grassroots leaders and local, state and national officeholders
who, likewise, honor our sacred oath.
We are mothers, fathers and other family members nurturing the next
generation of young Patriots. We are farmers, craftsmen, tradesmen and
industrial producers. We are small business owners, service providers
and professionals in medicine and law. We are employees and employers.
We are in ministry at home and missionaries abroad. We are students and
professors at colleges and universities, often standing alone for what
is good and right.
We are consumers and taxpayers. We are voters.
We are Patriot sons and daughters from all walks of life, heirs to the
blessings of Liberty bequeathed to us at great personal cost by our
Patriot forebears, confirmed in the opinion that it is our duty to God
and Country to extend that blessing to our posterity, and avowed upon
our sacred honor to that end. We are vigilant, strong, prepared and
faithful.
We are not defined by race, creed, ethnicity, religion, wealth,
education or political affiliation, but by our devotion to our Creator,
and the liberty He has entrusted to us, one and all.
Second, the Tea Party is not a political party, per se, organized around
a national platform. However, grassroots Tea Party groups across the
nation do have a well-defined and uniform slate of principles on which
they center their advocacy and support for political candidates.
Those principles include, first and foremost, advocating for Essential
Liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the
judiciary, and the promotion of free enterprise, national defense and
traditional American values.
If this sounds familiar, it’s because this is, and has been, the mission
statement of The Patriot Post <https://patriotpost.us/donate/> since
our inception.
These core principles have been expanded in a more formal statement, the
“Contract from America”
<http://patriotpost.us/reference/contract-from-america/> , which closely
parallels the original Tea Party manifesto, The Patriot Declaration
<http://patriotpost.us/petition/declaration/> , which I encourage you to
both read and sign <http://patriotpost.us/petition/declaration/> .
<http://image.patriotpost.us.s3.amazonaws.com/2010-06-24-alexander-2.jpg
>
Patriot Declaration <http://patriotpost.us/petition/declaration/>
The Patriot Declaration is based on the rights enumerated in our First
Statement of Conservative Principles
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/02/25/the-first-statement-of-conse
rvative-principles/> , our Declaration of Independence and its
subordinate guidance, our Constitution.
Today, those who support the Tea Party principles understand, as did our
Founders, that the power to tax
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/04/15/the-power-to-tax-and-revolt/
> is the most invasive threat to liberty and its economic expression,
free enterprise.
As Chief Justice John Marshall concluded in 1819 (McCullough v.
Maryland), “An unlimited power to tax involves, necessarily, a power to
destroy; because there is a limit beyond which no institution and no
property can bear taxation.”
Alexander Hamilton detailed the economic consequences of excessive
taxation, noting in Federalist No. 21, “If duties are too high, they
lessen the consumption; the collection is eluded; and the product to the
treasury is not so great as when they are confined within proper and
moderate bounds.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote, “To take from one, because it is thought his own
industry and that of his fathers has acquired too much, in order to
spare to others, who, or whose fathers, have not exercised equal
industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of
association, the guarantee to everyone the free exercise of his industry
and the fruits acquired by it.”
Because of the menacing threat of excessive taxation, Jefferson
suggested that taxes “should be continued by annual or biennial
reenactments, because a constant hold, by the nation, of the strings of
the public purse is a salutary restraint from which an honest government
ought not wish, nor a corrupt one to be permitted, to be free,” and
ultimately, that “excessive taxation … will carry reason and
reflection to every man’s door, and particularly in the hour of
election.”
Indeed, if American Patriots, who inherently subscribe to Tea Party
principles, can adequately rally enough of our fellow citizens to our
enlightened cause to restore Rule of Law, then it will be possible to
reset our nation’s course and re-establish our Constitution’s integrity.
However, it will take more than one election cycle to undo decades of
Democrat socialism and more recently, Republican malfeasance.
But if Liberty, as affirmed at our nation’s birth, is to survive another
generation, we must reinstate Rule of Law. It will take tireless
devotion and forbearance to do so peacefully, but it is my fervent
prayer that restoration can succeed without firing a shot. Still, the
history of throwing off tyrannical governments, as with the founding of
our great nation, is not on the side of peaceful rebellion.
One of the great strengths of the grassroots Tea Party movement is its
lack of any central organization, which would be subject to corruption.
But that lack of central organization can also be its weakness. If the
movement fails to unite behind the tactics required for restoration of
constitutional integrity and the Rule of Law, it risks devolving into a
plethora of special interest constituencies which will be easily
defeated, or at best, will have no more power than the para-political
organizations that vie for their allegiance.
As Benjamin Franklin said famously when signing the Declaration of
Independence, “We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we
will all hang separately.”
We derive great strength in forming a unified Patriot Tea Party front to
support and defend our Constitution as our primary objective. We must
refuse to waste our political capital on policy arguments, and must,
instead, frame every debate around First Principles
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/03/11/when-debating-a-liberal-star
t-with-first-principles/> and Essential Liberty
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2009/09/03/essential-liberty-part-1/> .
There is an excellent tool, a Tea Party “bible” of sorts, available as
the foundational resource for our movement. It is the pocket-sized
“Essential Liberty Guide”
<http://patriotshop.us/product_info.php?cPath=85&products_id=124> , a
resource which no Patriot should be without.
Thomas Jefferson once declared, “Honor, justice, and humanity, forbid us
tamely to surrender that freedom which we received from our gallant
ancestors, and which our innocent posterity have a right to receive from
us. We cannot endure the infamy and guilt of resigning succeeding
generations to that wretchedness which inevitably awaits them if we
basely entail hereditary bondage on them.”
Indeed, but too many Americans have become complacent in comfort, unable
or unwilling to comprehend that the consequences of foregoing Liberty
for refuge are dire. As Franklin wrote, “They that can give up essential
liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty
nor safety.”
Barack Obama has disparaged Tea Party Patriots, portraying us as a gang
of malcontents “waving their little teabags.” Such undignified
characterizations notwithstanding, Obama and his Leftist cadres are
clearly concerned that an enlightened grassroots movement to restore
Rule of Law will undermine their Socialist agenda in the upcoming
midterm election.
My fellow Patriots, stand fast for Essential Liberty, stay the course,
hold your ground and keep your powder dry. Real “change” is on the
horizon.
Semper Vigilo, Fortis, Paratus et Fidelis!
<http://image.patriotpost.us.s3.amazonaws.com/ma-sig.jpg>
Mark Alexander
Publisher, The Patriot Post <http://patriotpost.us/subscribe/>
<https://patriotpost.us/donate/elbonus3/>
(To submit reader comments click here
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/06/24/the-tea-party-movement/#post
-comment> .)
________________________________
Opinion <http://patriotpost.us/opinion/>
* Thomas Sowell: A Sad Day
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/thomas-sowell/2010/06/24/a-sad-day/>
* Ann Coulter: What a Sack of Sacrosanct
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/ann-coulter/2010/06/24/what-a-sack-of-sac
rosanct/>
* R. Emmett Tyrrell: Concern at Home and
Abroad
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/r-emmett-tyrrell/2010/06/24/concern-at-ho
me-and-abroad/>
* Victor Davis Hanson: Saving Obama From
Himself
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/victor-davis-hanson/2010/06/24/saving-oba
ma-from-himself/>
* Lawrence Kudlow: From New Jersey to Beijing
and Back Again
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/lawrence-kudlow/2010/06/24/from-new-jerse
y-to-beijing-and-back-again/>
* Ben Shapiro: Why McChrystal and the Military
Should be Able to Speak up
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/ben-shapiro/2010/06/24/why-mcchrystal-and
-the-military-should-be-able-to-speak-up/>
* Paul Greenberg: We Just Can’t Have This
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/paul-greenberg/2010/06/24/we-just-cant-ha
ve-this/>
* Larry Elder: US, Mexico Agree To Act on
Illegal Immigration — By Suing Arizona
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/larry-elder/2010/06/24/us-mexico-agree-to
-act-on-illegal-immigration-by-suing-arizona/>
* Cal Thomas: Loose Lips Sink Generals — and
Wars
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/cal-thomas/2010/06/24/loose-lips-sink-gen
erals-and-wars/>
* George Will: The McChrystal Debacle
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/george-will/2010/06/24/the-mcchrystal-deb
acle/>
* Jeff Jacoby: There Is No ‘Good’ Communist
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/jeff-jacoby/2010/06/24/there-is-no-good-c
ommunist/>
* Michael Gerson: Franken and His Bile Return
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/michael-gerson/2010/06/23/franken-and-his
-bile-return/>
* Walter E. Williams: Government Aggravated
Tragedy
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/walter-e-williams/2010/06/23/government-a
ggravated-tragedy/>
* Debra Saunders: Rolling Stone Gathers a
General
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/debra-saunders/2010/06/23/rolling-stone-g
athers-a-general/>
* Austin Bay: Will Corruption Kill the Euro?
<http://patriotpost.us/opinion/austin-bay/2010/06/23/will-corruption-kil
l-the-euro/>
More Opinion <http://patriotpost.us/opinion/>
________________________________
Patriot Headlines <http://patriotpost.us/headlines/>
* Nearly 1,300 Prison Inmates Wrongly Received
More Than $9 Million in Homebuyer Tax Credits
<http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9GH29I80&show_article=1>
* Senate Democrats Struggle to Revive Jobless
Aid <http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9GH71HO1&show_article=1>
* Reid and McConnell Lead Letter to Obama
Defending Israel in Flotilla Incident
<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/105093-87-senators-def
end-israel-in-flotilla-incident>
* Former Acting Solicitor General Walter
Dellinger Predicting an End to Roe v. Wade
<http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0610/38899.html>
* Kagan Calls Israeli Activist Judge ‘My Hero’
<http://politics.usnews.com/news/blogs/washington-whispers/2010/06/23/ka
gan-calls-israeli-activist-judge-my-hero.html>
* Bank of America Boosts Staff Handling
Troubled Loans
<http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-23/bank-of-america-hires-2-000-st
aff-to-handling-troubled-real-estate-loans.html>
* Liberal Dems’ Battle to Cut Defense Spending
Reaches a Turning Point
<http://thehill.com/homenews/house/105195-liberals-battle-on-defense-bud
get-hits-turning-point>
* China’s Plans to Provide Pakistan With More
Nuclear Reactors Raises Proliferation Concerns
<http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/68362>
* North Korea Threatens More Punishment for
American
<http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_on_re_as/as_nkorea_american_deta
ined>
* Israel: Flotillas Aim to Get Weapons to Gaza
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/23/AR20100
62301369_pf.html>
* Pelosi Asks for Donations to Fend Off
Potential GOP Investigations
<http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/105013-pelosi-asks-for
-donations-to-fend-off-gop-investigations>
* Confidence Waning in Obama, U.S. Outlook
<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB100014240527487039000045753252632749512
30.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories>
More Headlines <http://patriotpost.us/headlines/>
________________________________
Policy
* The Heritage Foundation
<http://www.heritage.org/research/policydate.cfm>
* The Cato Institute <http://www.cato.org/>
* Hoover Institution
<http://www.hoover.org/pubaffairs/dailyreport>
* National Rifle Association
<http://www.nraila.org/>
* Ludwig von Mises Institute
<http://mises.org/articles.aspx?action=gallery>
* National Center for Policy Analysis
<http://www.ncpa.org/>
________________________________
(Please pray for our Armed Forces standing in harm’s way around the
world, and for their families — especially families of those fallen
Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen, who granted
their lives in defense of American liberty.)
________________________________
<http://www.facebook.com/PatriotPost> Fan us
<http://www.facebook.com/PatriotPost> on Facebook |
<http://twitter.com/patriotpost> Follow us
<http://twitter.com/PatriotPost> on Twitter!
Subscribe FREE <http://patriotpost.us/subscribe/>
Manage Your Subscription <http://patriotpost.us/login/>
Unsubscribe <http://patriotpost.us/login/>
Support The Patriot <https://patriotpost.us/donate/>
Post a Comment
<http://patriotpost.us/alexander/2010/06/24/the-tea-party-movement/#post
-comment>
<http://media.patriotpost.us/img/broadcast/edition/fill.png>
*PUBLIUS*
The Patriot Post <http://patriotpost.us> is protected speech pursuant
to the “inalienable rights” of all men, and the First (and Second)
Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. In God we
trust. Copyright (c) 2010 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.
REPRINTING, FORWARDING AND POSTING: Subscribers may reprint, forward or
post original content from The Patriot Post, in whole or part, in
accordance with our Terms of Use <http://patriotpost.us/about/terms/> ,
with the following citation: “The Patriot Post
(www.patriotpost.us/subscribe/ )”
You have received this email because you are subscribed to The Patriot
Post. To manage your subscription or to unsubscribe, link to
http://patriotpost.us/manage/ and log in with your email address.
<http://link.patriotpost.us?136-1890-1890-195048-13572>
