[Editors Note: The following is the Kern River Valley Tea Party Address, October 2, 2010, Keynote Speaker Dr. Harold W. Pease.]
The 2nd American Revolution is upon us. This is one of hundreds of like-minded tea party gatherings this month held throughout the country urging all patriots to the front. You have answered this call. Those who sit this one out will condemn themselves to like leadership and enslaving taxation for years to come. You are doing this for your children and those not yet born. You must not fail them now. This is as serious as it was in 1776. The big difference is that we can do it in the ballot box. Please bring your friends and encourage everyone to vote for returning to the Constitution, which, if followed, limits government, ensures fiscal responsibility, and stimulates the free market.
In 2009 we gained the confidence of the people with over 2600 similar Tea Party gatherings–probably more demonstrations against excessive government in our lives than collectively in U. S. History. The establishment media sought to destroy us by first calling us “astro-turf,” then “mobs,” then finally “racist”—all intentional lies. It did not work. Instead, the public saw their dads and moms of all back grounds and color, rich and poor alike, demonstrating in the streets uttering words similar to those uttered by the Founders 234 years ago. The media, looking for conflict to discredit the movement, never found it. We beat the media. The public has confidence in us because we are they and they are we and the lies of the media lay exposed as did their roll as accomplices in the deterioration of our liberty. Only Fox news supported us.
We–YOU AND I– have become a source to be reckoned with as we return to our basics. The sleeping giant has awakened. We have the right message. We have the right leadership—each other. America desperately needs what we have to say before it is too late. This war is about liberty as it was in the past. Together, arm-in-arm, Tea Party Patriots and 9-12 Project members will return this nation to our core values. If we stay the course, political parties will mold their views around Founding views or self-destruct. Then we will have two good choices rather than, too often, no good choices.
We are tired of loosing our liberty. We will be the last generation to say we have liberty unless we return to the Constitution. Getting back to the basics, while there is still time is as vital to us as it was to the Founding Fathers. Because we have waited so long this election and every election in the immediate future is about your liberty. It’s no longer about liberal or conservative or even about party. It’s about how much more government can you have in your life or in your business and still honestly say you are free. When we return to the time tested principles of the Constitution, we will see great changes. Make your vote one for freedom, and prosperity will follow! Prosperity and jobs will return by: cutting taxes, cutting intrusive and stifling government regulations, cutting government spending and cutting the size of government. No other plan will work. The secret of liberty is housed in the Constitution, now read with renewed interest and respect.
Our vote November 2nd is but a battle in a long war. But getting new leadership that is respectful of our sacred documents and proven past is critical. Sometimes such cannot be found in either party. In our search for better leadership let us not overlook the local officers and propositions. It is not a silly question to inquire when they last read the Constitution. After all it is important enough that each must swear allegiance to it before taking office. If you are in doubt on an issue always vote for government closer to home. Never elevate to a higher level that which can be resolved at a lesser level. But at every level we need fighters armed with the principles of limited government and willing to confront higher levels of government–not self-serving career politicians as we now have.
California’s biggest problem is federal government intrusion! They have turned off our water starving our crops, tied our hands in facing illegal immigration head-on, imposed crippling environmental regulations on small business and confiscated 47% of the land mass of our state, making it unavailable for sale or productive income generating use, which could alleviate our enormous debt.
These problems can be solved by returning to the 10th Amendment of the Constitution, which authorizes us to reclaim our power from the federal government and return it to the state. But we need Assemblymen and State Senators informed enough and strong enough to make this case. Have you asked your candidates how they stand on the 10th Amendment? Returning all functions not listed in the Constitution to state jurisdiction is our only hope. The Federal Monster is too big otherwise. Candidates who are too ignorant or timid to speak out on these issues should not get the vote of those who understand liberty.
In the First American Revolution there were three groups, each approximately the same size: loyalists, patriots, and the apathetic third. You have shown yourself to be patriots. Despite the efforts by the media and socialists and even the President of the United States to villainize our movement, we are more popular than either party by itself. We are now the majority and thus will return this country to the Constitution and liberty.
As a small boy I always believed, as does every young child, that I would have stood with George Washington and the other patriots. As a young man I realized that two thirds of the population did not and that a third actively opposed him. I then wondered if I would have been standing with him when most did not. I now am certain that I would have stood near him because today I stand for the same message. More importantly, I know that you would have done the same thing because you are here today. It is good to be among patriots.
The Battle of Lexington and Concord is about to be waged again and we need Paul Reveres riding through the cities of America to bring the voters in. There is hope. It is you. Your musket is your vote. Aim well. Liberty depends upon you.
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