Monday, April 27, 2009

PROPOSED RESOLUTION ADDRESS ABOUT APRIL 19 OATH CEREMONY TO SUBMIT TO OFFICIALS. PLEASE READ AND COMMENT

Folks, below is a draft resolution address about the April 19 oath ceremony at Lexington to be sent to Congress, the Senate, and the secretaries of the armed forces branches (and perhaps also to all of the State legislatures and governors). Note that this resolution contains the summary version of our Declaration of Orders We Will Not Obey.

We are also working on having this read into the Congressional Record.

Please read it over and give your thoughts and constructive criticism ASAP in the comments section. Time is of the essence, so please give your thoughts on edits so we can get it done and sent in. Don't pay attention to spacing or other formatting issues, just the contents.

One edit I would like to see is that it begin with noting that we are "a collection of your fellow Americans, including active duty military service members, current serving police, veterans, and other public servants and private citizens—" or something like that, to show we are far more than just your average group of citizens. I took the liberty of adding that in, inside brackets to note my addition. I have made a couple of other edits in brackets, one to include police and another to add the rest of the oath we swore that day. Otherwise, it is as first proposed.

I think the author (not me) has done a fine job, after much labor to make this address in the style and spirit of the prior addresses made by militia companies who renewed their oaths on Lexington Green. However, we are most open to your suggestions for improvement.

I do think it would be fitting to also send it to the legislatures and governors of all 50 states, and to seek to have it read into the record of those state legislatures, if possible.

Let us know what you think, but again, ASAP!

- Stewart Rhodes



[DRAFT] RESOLUTION ADDRESS OF OATH KEEPERS, APRIL 19, 2009, LEXINGTON GREEN

19 April 2009

To the honorable members of the Senate and House of Representatives,
and to the honorable Secretaries of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, of the United States of America, in their separate capacities of our brothers and sisters in the public trust, of our own public servants, and of our fellow citizens, respectively, Greetings.

We, a collection of your fellow Americans — [including active duty military service members, current serving police, veterans, and other] public servants and private citizens—, united by sworn oaths to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, having voluntarily associated under the style of Oath Keepers, are met on Lexington Green on the 234th anniversary of that fateful day when better and truer men than ourselves, by their martial exertions and by their fidelity to Law and Liberty, forever consecrated this ground.

We note with soberness that now, as then, our beloved Country confronts a profound and deepening crisis. Now, as then, that crisis is brought on chiefly by a long train of abuses and usurpations on the part of our public officers, who have come to habitually violate the oaths, on condition of which they hold their offices.

We note, however, that this long-continued and gross infidelity on the part of others is only the proximate cause of our present, common American distress. We confess that now, unlike then, we ourselves may be complicit in the official lawlessness that is becoming general in all three branches, and at both levels, of our governments. We ourselves, in the orders that we have issued or carried out—either as officers or men of the standing National Armed Forces of our Republic, or as executive officers of our several States—; or in the statutes whose passage we have furthered—as members of our respective State Legislatures—, may have too little marked the bounds set by the Constitution that we swore to uphold. Moreover, we ourselves—in our original capacity of citizens—may, with our fellow citizens, have been too little vigilant in superintending the actions of our increasingly errant public servants. If so, we acknowledge our general and particular faults before God, before our sovereign masters and fellow citizens, and before our families and posterity. Yet, bold to hope that Nature’s God is still a God of Mercy, we humbly pray for His pardon, and for time to make amends and avert the consequences of our dereliction.

We note that, at earlier times of similarly grave crisis, previous generations of Americans have mustered on Lexington Green, have pledged anew their official and private fidelity to the Constitution of the United States, and, in so doing, have rediscovered the path of escape from foreign intrigue, from domestic tyranny, and from disunion and lawlessness.

We note that, in 1798, foreign intrigue had gone far to sow mutual suspicion and discord among fellow Americans, and aimed at the dissolution of our Union, while an imperious foreign power threatened to invade our shores. In that hour of crisis, the several Brigades of the Third Division of the Militia of Massachusetts mustered in their turns on the Green where their fathers had fought before. Their officers publicly renewed their oaths to the Constitution of the United States. They thereupon directed unanimous patriotic addresses to the President of the United States, announcing the public renewal of their oaths, and assuring him of their fidelity to their sworn duty. In his reply to the officers of the First Brigade, Third Division, Militia of Massachusetts, then President John Adams noted with grateful and confident satisfaction that:

"Oaths in this country are as yet universally considered as sacred obligations. That which you have taken and so solemnly repeated on that venerable spot, is an ample pledge of your sincerity and devotion to your country and its government."

Unlike those ancient oath keepers, we are mustered this day in voluntary association, rather than in an official public capacity. Indeed, we confess with shame that, having with our fellow citizens utterly neglected for a century to attend to those militia institutions, for the perpetuation of which our Constitution so ably provides, and which, alone among all our constitutional institutions, it characterizes as necessary to the security of a free state, we are quite unprepared on this day to muster in our several regiments, brigades, and divisions in the particular official capacities most appropriate to the crisis at hand.

Nevertheless, we note that many of our number do now serve, on condition of oaths to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, in our several offices or stations in the Armed Forces of the United States, [as police officers], or in the executive branches or Legislatures of our respective States. Most of those among us who do not now so stand in the public trust have so served in the past, on condition of similar oaths, which, if no longer enforceable against them by explicit law, yet make their moral force felt upon their American hearts today.

We are pleased to announce to you that we have this day, on this hallowed ground and on this sacred anniversary, publicly and solemnly renewed the oaths required of us by the command of Article VI, Clause 3, of the Constitution of the United States. We have done so in the several forms which, according to our particular offices, the relevant Federal and State statutes prescribe, or, in the case of those no longer standing in the public trust, in the form of the following general oath:

I, ___________________, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America, against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion, [pledging my life, my fortune, and my sacred honor]. So help me, God.

As a testament of the earnestness of our oaths, as evidence that, in our own hearts, at least, oaths are as yet universally considered as sacred obligations, those among us who hold executive offices or stations at the Federal or State level have in counsel together identified ten unlawful orders which either ignorant, careless, or corrupted superior officers may conceivably issue to us in the future, which we cannot, consistent with the required oath to defend the Constitution of the United States, lawfully fulfill, and which—we have mutually and publicly pledged to each other this day—while we yet hold the public trust on condition of that oath, we will not attempt or pretend to fulfill, namely:

1. We will NOT obey orders to disarm the American people.
2. We will NOT obey orders to conduct warrantless searches of the American people.
3. We will NOT obey orders to detain American citizens as “unlawful enemy combatants” or to subject them to military tribunal.
4. We will NOT obey orders to impose martial law or a “state of emergency” on a State.
5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any State that asserts its sovereignty.
6. We will NOT obey any order to blockade American cities, thus turning them into giant concentration camps.
7. We will NOT obey any order to force American citizens into any form of detention camps under any pretext.
8. We will NOT obey orders to assist or support the use of any foreign troops on U.S. soil against the American people to “keep the peace” or to “maintain control.”
9. We will NOT obey any orders to confiscate the property of the American people, including food and other essential supplies.
10.We will NOT obey any orders which infringe on the right of the people to free speech, to peaceably assemble, and to petition their government for a redress of grievances.

As a similar testament to the earnestness of our oaths, those among us who serve as State Legislators, on condition of an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitutions of our several States, have publicly and mutually pledged to each other this day that we will introduce and promote the passage of such legislation in our own States as shall be consistent with our national and our State Constitutions and as we shall find best calculated to discountenance, to thwart the force of, and to protect the lives, liberties, and properties of our fellow State citizens against, all manner of unlawful Federal executive, legislative, and judicial usurpation and lawlessness, that we will, by our sacred votes, attempt to prevent the further passage in our own States of such unlawful statutes as encourage or facilitate such Federal usurpation and lawlessness, and that we will, by our votes, seek to repeal in our own States such existing unlawful statutes as do now encourage or facilitate such Federal usurpation and lawlessness.

Finally, as a similar testament to the earnestness of our oaths, those among us who have resumed the stations of private citizens, have publicly and mutually pledged to each other this day that we will do all that pertains to our rightful station to more vigilantly superintend our public servants in all three branches and at both levels of our governments, to require of them that fidelity to their lawfully required oaths that is the condition of their offices, and that we will encourage our fellow citizens to likewise exercise a more vigilant and firm surperintendence of the public servants for whose lawful or lawless acts we bear, by the mutual covenant of our Constitutions, an ultimate responsibility before God, before each other, and before our posterity.

Having now publicly renewed our lawfully required oaths, and in directing to you this our unanimous patriotic address, we urge you, the honorable members of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the United States of America, to return to a conscientious faithfulness to your own oaths, to desist from passing statutes that presume to usurp powers not granted to the Congress, or the exercise of which is specifically proscribed to them, by the People of the United States in their Constitution, and to begin the task of repealing, with all deliberate care, those decades of lawless statutes that now profane our statute books.

We urge you, the honorable Secretaries of the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps to examine your own official acts and to pledge anew your own fidelity to the oaths, on condition of which you hold your offices. While we cannot presume to direct, we urge you, in your official capacities, in pursuance of your lawful duty to see to the lawful execution of duty by those under your authority, to challenge the uniformed members of your respective Services to publicly renew their own oaths on the anniversaries of the inception of your respective Services, on the anniversaries of signal battles, or on other appropriate occasions, and to earnestly encourage such members to acquaint themselves with the peerless genius manifest by their sovereign masters, the American People, in their Constitutional distribution of the powers of war and peace between the Executive and Legislature of their National government and between the National and State levels of their compound Republic; to study the weighty principles of justice, statecraft, and history’s wisdom that undergird this singular Constitutional architecture; to reflect on the incalculable blessings of unexampled liberty and independence that have accrued to their fathers from the lawful observance of these strictures, as well as on the incalculable losses of liberty and the dangers to their Union and Independence that, by every ambitious or careless violation of the same strictures now threaten their country and fellow citizens; to examine the fidelity which they have hitherto borne to their oaths and; to resolve on greater faithfulness to the Constitution’s commands in the future.

Brothers and Sisters in the Public Trust, Our own Public Servants, Fellow Citizens: We remind you, as we remind ourselves, of the truth that Father Jefferson spoke to similarly errant public servants in a previous day, namely, in his Summary View of the Rights of British America:

"The great principles of right and wrong are legible to every reader; to pursue them requires not the aid of many counsellors. The whole art of government consists in the art of being honest."

To be faithful to a sworn oath is but to be honest. To be less than faithful to that oath is to perjure oneself, and to invite the punishment of that God whose name one has invoked in first swearing it. We resolve to be faithful. We urge you to a like fidelity.

Adopted by unanimous consent by the OATH KEEPERS assembled on Lexington Green, Massachusetts, on the 19th of April in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand and Nine and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third.

24 comments:

Michigan Oath Keeper said...

Very well done! The edits are fine as they are.

Concerned American said...

Make sure to send to President Obama and his cabinet secretaries, as well (especially DoJ, DHS, etc.).

Anonymous said...

That is great just like it is.

Bruce said...

I would include retired military and police in the rolls. An oath once taken is an oath never abandoned. We don't forget our sacred oaths upon retirement - or at least we shouldn't.

Anonymous said...

About invading sovereign nations - are you saying that soldiers should refuse to serve in Iraq? Because that's a sovereign nation we pretty much invaded.

Anonymous said...

bravo

CorbinKale said...

Looks good. Send it.

10spot said...

The only change I would make is [as police officers] to [as law enforcement officers]. I feel this will cover our Federal Officers and County Deputies.

Sam said...

This is a brilliant document!
My contributions are:
-------------------------------
Shorten the first bracketed edit as follows: [including active duty and reserve military, law enforcement, public servants, plus private citizens]
-------------------------------
I do not understand one part of the last sentence:

"...and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-third."

What is this "two hundred and thirty-third"?

Should we be more clear as to it being our 233rd year?
--------------------------------

Lastly from me, this "RESOLUTION ADDRESS OF OATH KEEPERS" is 2 1/2 pages, at least in my word processor. Because it is going to congress critters in hopes that they actually read it, might we have a very short introductory paragraph with as many single syllable words as possible?

CaptGooch said...

On 27 April at 3:30 PM
Sam said ....
"Lastly from me, this "RESOLUTION ADDRESS OF OATH KEEPERS" is 2 1/2 pages, at least in my word processor. Because it is going to congress critters in hopes that they actually read it, might we have a very short introductory paragraph with as many single syllable words as possible?"

ROFLOL
Sam ... everybody knows that the staffers are the ones reading anything being passed around over in Washington. Most of them are educated except for their choice of employment as professional political parasite.
I doubt seriously if a single Elected official has read a single actual bill that S/He voted on in .... sheesh probably 20 years. (?)

Stewart
On the Resolution ...
I think it looks good and I will sign it as is .... Where do I sign ?

CaptGooch

CaptGooch said...

Anonymous said...
About invading sovereign nations - are you saying that soldiers should refuse to serve in Iraq? Because that's a sovereign nation we pretty much invaded.
April 27, 2009 10:37 AM

Anonymous,
The Order #5 Which is, I think, the place where you are getting this thought says " 5. We will NOT obey orders to invade and subjugate any State that asserts its sovereignty."

In the context it is being used it is referring to any State of our union which asserts its sovereignty.

That said I, personally, agree with the inference you make that we should adhere to the advice of our founding fathers and "avoid entangling alliances" and "the pursuit of empire".

I agree that we should "Bring our Boys Home." All of them from everywhere.

That particular issue is not the one before us at present. Let us concentrate on the preservation of our Constitutional Republic and then we "Bring the Boys Home".

Mike S. said...

Clarify "soveriegn masters", I think in Congress that would be read in a very wrong way.

[as police officers] to peace officers or something similar to catch all levels of law enforcement

"we are quite unprepared on this day" Maybe change to "we are quite reluctant on this day"

"exercise of which is specifically proscribed to them," perhaps proscribed to prohibited. not sure of how this is meant.

My humble assessment. I was unable to muster with you in Lexington, but will gladly stand by your side if called to defend the Constitution we swore to protect.

TheMouse said...

I appreciate the frequency with which "God" is mentioned. Remove God from this resolution and it becomes abruptly a useless document, for without the Hand of God in this matter, it is doomed to failure. All who read this document should come away with a greater awe and reverence for Our Creator, our Buckler, our Sword, our Shield, our Very Present Help In Time Of Trouble, our Hope, our Strength ... and a resulting sense of humility in the knowledge that we are first and foremost HIS servants and thus honor-bound to stand to the defense of this Nation which HE formed, by His mercy and His grace for "We The People".

Dave Freeman said...

Mike S. is correct; I don't appreciate the term: Sovereign Masters either! Secondly: in recommending substituting Peace Officers in place of Police Officers and here's a very good reason why it's in our American lexicon:

Webster's Dictionary

Main Entry: peace officer
Function:noun
Date:1714

: a civil officer (as a police officer) whose duty it is to preserve the public peace

Let this definition encompass EVERY TYPE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER throughout our nation as they need to be the first ones to understand that the power and authority they exercise has been delegated to them by the American citizens residing in the fifty states [conversely, our citizens equally need to understand that while they can collectively delegate authority, they can NEVER delegate RESPONSIBILITY! And the contents of this letter to congress serves to reaffirms this]

Anonymous said...

The government has already violated the 4th Amendment of the Constitution, by surveiling people's phone calls and emails. Many provisions of the "Patriot" Act violate the Constitution. This government has become increasingly repressive. They exploited the 911 tragedy to create repression. Some people wonder if the government caused the 911 events(www.911truth.org). Habeas corpus was instituted to protect people from unjust imprisonment. Our government has been violating habeas corpus.

RC said...

Let me just say this draft resolution is inspiring and there is little more I can add but may I suggest we remove any ambiguities. If we want our representatives and leaders to take ownership we ourselves should leave no doubt as to our ownership.

Para 4 line 2
Change
We confess that now, unlike then, we ourselves may be complicit in
To
We confess that now, unlike then, we ourselves are complicit in

Para 5 line 6
Change
State Legislatures—, may have too little marked the bounds
To
State Legislatures—,have too little marked the bounds
line 7
Change
our original capacity of citizens—may, with our fellow citizens,
To
our original capacity of citizens— with our fellow citizens,
line 9
Change
If so, we acknowledge our general and particular faults before God
To
We acknowledge our general and particular faults before God
Let me just say this draft resolution is inspiring and there is little more I can add but may I suggest we remove any ambiguities. If we want our representatives and leaders to take ownership we ourselves should leave no doubt as to our ownership.

Para 4 line 2
Change
We confess that now, unlike then, we ourselves may be complicit in
To
We confess that now, unlike then, we ourselves are complicit in

Para 5 line 6
Change
State Legislatures—, may have too little marked the bounds
To
State Legislatures—,have too little marked the bounds
line 7
Change
our original capacity of citizens—may, with our fellow citizens,
To
our original capacity of citizens— with our fellow citizens,
line 9
Change
If so, we acknowledge our general and particular faults before God
To
We acknowledge our general and particular faults before God


Sincerely,

Robert Campbell, veteran Unites States Army

Anonymous said...

There actions have not been honorable,I would not address them as such. I think it is a waste of your time These are the people causing the problems.

Mike S said...

Anonymous said...
There actions have not been honorable,I would not address them as such. I think it is a waste of your time These are the people causing the problems.
We must do things this way or else be traitors to our Oaths. We must never initiate aggression, but defend to death. If we fail to do things appropriately, then we will have broken our Oaths and will be no better than those we oppose. Following the correct path is not the easy way, but to follow any other would make orders against us lawful for those currently serving.

Mayberry said...

What about those of us who gathered in Gonzales, TX, or elsewhere? The more the merrier, right? Every little bit counts...

Machaira said...

Great declaration!! Consider two addendums. 1.In the opening salutation to the "honorable members of the senate and house of representatives"...[I would add]"if there still be any," And 2.
In paragraph 4,after "increasingly errant public servants," add "this being the inherent duty of citizen/patriots as members of the fourth equal branch of government, namely, we the people." I also agree that all ambiguity should be removed,(remember Daniel's prayer in chapter 9!) Keep standing STRONG! Remember, in the end we win!!

CaptGooch said...

Mayberry said...
What about those of us who gathered in Gonzales, TX, or elsewhere? The more the merrier, right? Every little bit counts...
April 29, 2009 4:38 PM

In Gonzales, Texas Especially Mayberry.
Gonzales, Texas is the Lexington of the Republic of Texas in its struggle for and eventually successful bid for Independence from the government of Mexico in 1836.

I myself was unable to attend the Muster on the Green in Lexington, Mass BUT I was able to reaffirm my Oath as well as another veteran and to help four civilians swear their solemn Oath to support and defend the Constitution against all enemies both foreign and domestic.

I was assisting at an Appleseed Shoot and after it was over we had our Oath Keepers ceremony.
On the 19th of April 2009 in Corpus Christi, Texas under a slightly cloudy blue sky after a day of marksmanship designed to rekindle the very skills which our forebears used to such great advantage on April 19th, 1775.

It doesn't get much better than that .... wouldn't you agree ?

Mayberry said...

And I drove all the way to Gonzales... Ha! I live in Corpus!! We should get together some time Cap'n!

CaptGooch said...

How's that for crossed paths Mayberry. The way the cookie crumbles is often amazing isn't it ?

Swing by the Oath Keepers temporary forum and leave me a Personal Message.
I can steer you to some Appleseed / Oath Keeper folks right in Corpus Christi.

Stay Safe,

CaptGooch

http://thementalmilitia.com/forums/index.php?board=60.0

Anonymous said...

There is no Secretary of the Marine Corps. USMC falls under the department of the Navy and the secretary of the Navy leads both branches.