Originally published in the Jacksonville Observer

On April 15th, more than 4,000 patriots gathered at the Jacksonville Landing as part of a national network of Tax Day Tea Parties that are said to have attracted more than a million participants. The overwhelming response of the citizens at the landing and across the nation prove that there is a large part of electorate that does not like what the Democrats and the Republicans are doing. The question is, “What will it take to get the politicos on both sides of the aisle to listen?”

They never listen until they are forced to, stupidly believing that they know better than the citizenry, and intent on preserving their power no matter what the cost, especially if that cost can be paid by the people. This is always the case. Since ancient Rome; since King George the Third they have oppressed us. The human race was able to enjoy a brief respite afforded by the American Experiment, that constitutional republic that now lies in pieces all around us. Now we are left with the likes of Bush-Quayle, Clinton-Gore, Bush-Cheney, and Obama-Biden. They keep their foot upon our necks, for they cannot imagine it otherwise. Every law the Congress passes has been and continues to be an onerous burden on our pocket books and on our liberty. Local government is no better, an unstoppable machine designed to make a few individuals powerful and rich at the expense of the citizen. Again, what will it take to make these villains go away?

What it will take is a crisis and hopefully that crisis will come soon. It may take the form of total economic collapse. It may take the form of totalitarianism, tyranny, and slavery. Both of these seem near at hand, and those who deny it do not understand, or are not paying attention. The criminals who will perpetrate these offenses will fail for the same reasons that the French Sun King, the Japanese Emperor, and the Soviet Union fell. They will fail because they think that they know better and are better than the people they are privileged to lead.

What do all those people who came down to the Landing want anyway?

1. They want the county, state, and federal government to be as small as possible, doing as little as possible. This is the only way that taxes can be as low as possible.

2. They want the local government to be the focus of political life, where decisions are made, and where the agenda is developed from the ground up.

3. They want police power to be delegated to the county sheriff, not the FBI, the CIA or the damnable Department of Homeland Security.

4. They want prosecutorial power to be vested in the county grand jury.

5. They want an elected state and county judges to rule over them and an inviolate right of habeas corpus to ensure that they will appear before them if arrested.

6. They want an elected county school board that is free from federal regulation.

7. If there are armed troops in their state, they want them to be part of a state constituted militia solely under the command of the governor.

8. They want the authority of government to be restricted by state and federal constitutions, contractual documents made with the people, and ratified by them, from which the government may not depart.

9. They want to be left alone to live their lives, to arrange their societies, to use their property, and the fruit of their labor as they see fit.

In short what all of us demand is our liberty, the freedom to do what we want, when we want, in order that good may be accomplished. And with God’s help, we will not rest until we have it.