We, at The STAR Forum, feel this letter was good, even though there are things we do not necessarily agree with. We believe it is not just the current administration that is responsible for our current situation, but 100 years of bad policy against our Constitution. We have disagreements with the Bush policies as well as the policies of this administration, and our Congress as a whole. However, we wanted this letter to be posted in its entirety so that you could read it, comment on it, and give your the feedback. After all, the TEA PARTY movement is YOUR voice.
The Beginnings
A Voice For The Movement
By: Samuel Hackwell July 4, 2009
To: The President of the United State of America , and to all members of Congress
From: Samuel Hackwell, A Voice for the Movement,
Dear Mr. President,
Hear! O hear the petitioning voice of millions upon millions of Americans who stand united. Our grievances and afflictions are too much for American citizens to endure without complaint and without action.
We, the citizens of the United States, are seeing our sacred rights – granted to us through Providential inspirings and bestowals – restricted and revoked. We are seeing our freedoms and our liberties – which were bought and paid for by the blood of our noble Patriots – limited, denied, and taken. We are seeing our Constitution – the precious pearl of our government – being cast down and trampled upon by the calloused and hurried hooves of beastly indifference and irreverence.
We are seeing our hard-earned tax money squandered in the amounts of hundreds and thousands of billions of dollars, totaling trillions. We are groaning under this heavy hand of tyranny and oppression. We therefore imploringly stretch forth our hands towards the highest councils of our nation and demand redress of these abuses and usurpations of our rights, our liberties, and of our freedoms.
For too long Mr. President, politicians have used party affiliations and social issues to divide us as a nation.
But let the unmistakable rumblings from the Giant of Silence, who is now gathering its forces, organizing, and raising its voice that will be heard as well as felt, be a clear warning of what you have stirred and awakened. This Tea Party Movement – the largest grassroots movement in the history of this country – is only the beginning! The participants have come from every political party – we are Independents, we are Republicans, we are Democrats, we are from all parties and from no party at all, and we are all ablaze with the passion of protectionism of our freedoms, of our rights, and of our Constitution!
We stand united. We stand united in principle and in purpose.
We stand united against the undisciplined spending, waste, and corruption.
We stand united against the unconstitutional bail-outs and soaring deficits.
We stand united against the abuse of governmental power and its unrestraint.
We stand united against the ever-expanding government and its ever-expanding intervention.
We stand united against the drift to and the doles of Socialism – whether in whole or in part.
We stand united against the injustice and the blatant disregard of our rights as citizens.
We stand united against the dismantling and desecration of our Constitution.
We stand united against the lack of real concern for the future of America.
In whole, we stand united against the self-righteous attitudes and the coercive maneuvers of big government imposing standards that most Americans DO NOT approve of!
Our rallying cry to you is that this nation’s greatness cannot be maintained when the freedoms and liberties of its people are unconstitutionally denied and taken by its government, and when government abuses its proper role and its privileges. These grievous governmental interventions and meddling are taking us down dangerous and destructive paths.
Political economist Frederick Bastiat once said of this, “It is impossible to introduce into society… a greater evil than this; the conversion of the law into the instrument of plunder.” (The Law, Bastiat, p 12)
We want so desperately to work freely and fairly together, but we ask you, how tight will these oppressive chains become? The inescapable consequences of your overzealous federal agencies (many of which are unconstitutional) and your programs and policies will reach far into our future. Sadly, it is not only us, but it is our children, and our children’s children as well, who will find themselves enslaved, bound to the relentless servitude of national debts and programs and policies that have been so forcefully shackled upon us. Demonstrably, in your rampant pursuit of progress and power, you have shown us little mercy and given us virtually no say in these matters or in our future.
No president in the history of this nation has ever squandered so much of this nations wealth, plundered so much of its future, and diminished so much of its Constitutional greatness in such a short period of time. Clearly, you have overstepped your bounds and at times carelessly abused your powers and your privileges.
Mr. President, you must never forget your place. You are nothing more than a servant unto this people. It would be well to remember that the Federal government itself holds absolutely no power or authority to do anything its people do not bestow. We must remind you that the Constitution clearly explains that the primary function and role of government is to secure the rights and freedoms of its people – the heart and soul of this great nation – and anything more than this is usurpation and oppression.
By constitutional decree, you simply cannot meddle in areas where government is strictly prohibited. So contrary to any personal agenda or campaign slogan, the truth is, “No,… you can’t!”
History can teach us great things. A wise person, and a wise nation, will listen to those who have already worn out both their soles (spelled s-o-l-e) and their souls(spelled s-o-u-l) treading the paths of experience through trials and tribulations. These great forebearers have already born great pains, learned great lessons, and can thereby teach us great wisdom.
President Herbert Hoover once said of the Great Depression, “Economic depression cannot be cured by legislative action or executive pronouncement[!] Economic wounds must be healed by the action of the cells of the economic body – the producers and consumers themselves. Recovery can be expedited and its effects mitigated by cooperative action… The best contribution of government lies in the encouragement of the voluntary cooperation in the community.”(Memoirs of Herbert Hoover, Vol 3, The Great Depression, 1929-1941, pg 429-430)
We believe in this “voluntary cooperation.” We believe in serving our neighbors as well as serving our country. We believe our government owes us nothing and we do not seek to receive that which we have not earned. We believe the happiest and most productive people on earth are those who enjoy the most freedoms and liberties.
We therefore believe the absolute best policy is to leave private industry (and our private lives as well) with their freedoms and privileges of setting their own course, solving their own problems, and operating and conducting themselves with little to no governmental intervention or control. The American free enterprise system was designed to work best when left to its own inspiration, determination, and by the sweat of its own brow and by the labor from its own hands. Thomas Jefferson once declared, “A wise and frugal government shall leave [men]… free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it had earned. This is the sum of good government.” (Jefferson, Thomas, First Inaugural, 1801)
These are fundamental God-given rights of self-reliance and prosperity, and the same of which our Founding Fathers so strongly believed, established, and fought so hard to defend.
Henry Grady Weaver wrote, “Most of the major ills of the world have been caused by well-meaning people who ignored the principle of individual freedom, except as applied to themselves, and who are obsessed with fanatical zeal to improve the lot of mankind-in-the-mass through some pet formula of their own… The harm done by ordinary criminals, murders, gangsters, and thieves is negligible in comparison with the agony inflicted upon human beings by the professional ‘Do-Gooders’, who attempt to set themselves up as gods on earth and who would ruthlessly force their views on all others – with the abiding assurance that the end justifies the means.” (The Mainspring of Human Progress, Weaver, p 40-41)
It is not you Mr. President that makes this nation great; although the Office has its place.
It is not America’s soil; although by the richness of its harvest it is considered to be the world’s breadbasket.
It is not America’s industry; although it produces the major part of the world’s best products and services.
It is not America’s Democratic government itself; although it is the Ensign to all nations and by which all others are compared.
No, it is America’s people. It is their ingenuity. It is their strength, their courage and their hard work. It is their sacrifice and their passion. It is their charity – the most charitable country in the history of the world. But above all, it is their love. It is their love of freedom, of liberty, of equality, and of justice. It is its people and their love of goodness and of God which makes this nation so great.
We are the people of this great nation and hereby stand today like the patriots of old who stood at the harbors of Boston. We stand united and unwilling to allow being unfairly taxed, unfairly treated, and unfairly represented. We are seeing our tax money shipped off to the coffers of corruptible empires. We are seeing the unwanted cargo of debt and Socialism forcefully off-loaded against our will. We are seeing a tide of unconstitutional abuse of governmental power, which has been intrusive and oppressive to our lives. We are seeing a pilferage of our fortunes and of our properties; and we are seeing a shameful dishonoring of our sacred honor. We therefore plead with the captains of our country for justice and for freedom, and demand that you turnabout your invading ships from our shores.
Mr. President you must stop and listen to the people. You must listen to the voice of those who have gone before and of those who are here now. Many of your ideals, feelings, and agendas ARE NOT in line with the majority of people of this nation. You cannot simply strong-arm us into submission by one-sided solutions and then force us to do all the sacrificing.
Admittedly, we are at a unique time in our history, a time of great crisis and great opportunity. Indeed, we are faced with tremendous challenges and almost endless problems that need to be solved. But there is hope. There are solutions. America is still great and can still have a great future because we believe that “great things happen in America under great hardships.” (Contreras, Janet, The Letter)
America alone stands as the worlds great hope for freedom. Freedom is the very foundation and by which everything else seems to rest. Freedom is truly what America stands for and what we are so willing to fight for. Tragically however, our freedoms are being eroded and thus our foundation as well. We demand a stop to such dangerous and corrosive practices. We must rebuild and strengthen not only America’s infrastructure, but more importantly, we must rebuild and strengthen its foundation – its foundation of freedom. We believe in making America strong again. But you must free us so that we can make these great things happen! We must be free to choose, free to organize, free to think, free to speak, free to write, free to work and produce, free to create, and free to give.
Stop trying to control us and everything about us. Stop trying to make every decision for us. Stop trying to be something you are not. Stop trying to subject us to your will and to every whim of your doctrine and your philosophy. Fulfill your oath and “faithfully execute” your office and obligations as President by doing all you can to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States,” for that is all we ask of you and nothing more. (Oath of Office of the President of the United States)
Let there be no mistake about it, we need good government. We need honorable, moral and ethical leaders who will sustain and be integral parts of such governments. America must not be weakened by its leadership, it must be strengthened by it. We need order and we need law. But for the most part, we, as American citizens, can do so much more if government would just get out of our way!
Respectfully Sir, our message to you, and to any governmental body or person who performs outside of Constitutional bounds, is clear and our pledge is the same:
Get out of our businesses! And let us again be happy in our pursuits of self-reliance and self-regulation.
Get out of our fortunes! And let us again be prosperous and charitable.
Get out of our lives! And let us again be free.
It is to this end we stand. We stand in defense of our Constitution, of our rights, and of our freedoms. Let this be the mark of the beginnings of a new voice, a new energy and a new force. And may God bless all of us in seeing that true freedom rings again.
(There is so much more to say,…that will be said)
Respectfully written and submitted by,
Samuel Hackwell
samuelhackwell@gmail.com
The S.T.A.R. Forum 