From the December 2002 Idaho Observer:
Photo by Arthur Norris www.americanslide.com
Tyranny Response Team marches on Capitol, Senate
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- At approximately 2:30 p.m., after We The People Congress Chairman Bob Schulz had delivered his statement in the U.S. government's absence, nearly 500 duly deputized members of the Tyranny Response Team marched en masse toward the Capitol.
Nearly all 500 marchers were wearing dark blue windbreakers that said:
TYRANNY
RESPONSE
TEAM
in gold letters on the back.
“This is really cool,” Pete Martin of Los Angeles said over and over again.
The marchers, who ranged in age from 8 to 80, marched to the Capitol and stopped on the part of the sidewalk that's still public and not fenced off at the bottom of the stairs to chant, “Obey the Constitution” and, “No answers, no taxes.”
The marchers “loitered” there for a few minutes while armed Capitol police, who were positioned in vantage points all over the building, impassively stood their ground. They then moved on to the Senate building while the Senate was in session. They stopped on the public part of the sidewalk there for seven or eight minutes and chanted some more. A lot of police came out and nervously kept the fundamentally non-violent mob on the sidewalk. Their nervousness increased when a few marchers insisted that they be allowed to stand on a step above the sidewalk.
The decibel level reached impressive proportions with the chanting -- apparently in violation of our permit which allowed us to make all the noise we wanted downtown but would not allow us to disturb our representatives in government who were busy doing the peoples' business.
After awhile, the marchers continued past the Senate building and returned to the Mall. At that point, the day's activities came to an end and Freedom Drivers went their separate ways.
***
Fort Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Once upon a time (a few years ago) you could walk into the huge, magnificent buildings that house the agencies of national government. Now one must first locate the pedestrians' portal through two rows of concrete Jersey barriers, and pass through a metal detector and be subjected to a bag search.
And that is for the buildings that still allow public access. You can no longer go up the stairs and enter the Capitol building. The two everpresent Jersey barriers and gates with guards keep you on the sidewalk (unless you have a security clearance) while cops crawl all over the place scanning the unwashed masses in the event that one of them may be a terrorist.
One gets the feeling that you are not in the capital of the free world. One gets the feeling that you are on the outside of a fortress that has barricaded itself against an enemy.
Since Americans are no longer allowed into some buildings and are viewed with suspicion by those who monitor public access to other buildings, we must conclude that the enemy for which the barricades have been erected is us. Evidence this is true can be found in the example set by county courthouses throughout the several states that began to erect barricades, subject the public to bag searches and metal detectors in the mid 90s. The courts were not using taxpayers' money to protect themselves from terrorists, they were using taxpayers money to protect themselves from taxpayers who were not finding justice in their courts.
***
“The Bus”
“The Bus” was extremely important to the Freedom Drivers. There was something about a TYRANNY RESPONSE TEAM school bus cruising cross country like a banner-carrying beacon of determination that bound itself so intently to our hearts.
When The Bus was late arriving in Denver from Salt Lake, we were concerned; when it arrived intact a few hours later with its 15 occupants smiling, we were relieved.
When The Bus didn't show up in Kansas City, we were all asking, “Where's The Bus?” It broke down at a truck stop 50 miles east. The report was that the carburetor had failed. The Bus was on our minds and in our conversations all evening.
We raised money at the rally to fix it or rent a van to bring our people to us so we could continue on -- together. We were ecstatic the next morning when, as we were gathering to organize the caravan and head east toward Indianapolis, The Bus was there. The carburetor was out and it was being worked on right there in the Comfort Inn parking lot. Apparently two paper clips were rigged to limp the bus from the truck stop to the hotel. We were relieved. It appeared that repairs would be completed and The Bus would be able to join us that evening in Indianapolis.
But we never saw The Bus again. Already a little apprehensive of what would greet us in D.C., we tried not to view the tragedy of The Bus as a bad omen. We raised money to rent a bus that carried some of the 15 all the way to Howard County Fairgrounds 20 miles north of Washington, D.C. -- the location of our last rally before Freedom Drive 2002's final assault on the nation's capital.
The Bus' fate is perhaps an omen. Of those who intend to fight the dark forces that grip our nation, some will not survive the battle; some will be wounded, heal and live to fight another day. (DWH)
***
A note to Freedom Drivers:
We came a long way together. We did good things in D.C. and we did good things at our stops along the way. It is with great regret that I see in hindsight we did not have the foresight to plan a rendevous after our demonstration on the Mall. We really did ourselves a disservice by failing to get together one more time and compare notes on what we learned and experienced.
If you get this note, please forward your thoughts to The Idaho Observer.
***
A look in the mirror, a higher purpose
While returning home from the 6,824-mile round trip odyssey through the heartland of America that was Freedom Drive, 2002, we had ample time to reflect upon the experience of driving across a continent with a herd of patriots and rallying with them on the Mall between Constitution and Independence Avenues in Washington, D.C., November 14, 2002.
Though, as Pete Martin from Los Angeles observed, trying to keep a bunch of patriots in a caravan, even on the freeway, is like trying to drive a herd of cats across the country, we became a family. I will never forget the camaraderie, the shared vision for our embattled nation, the absolute decency and honor represented in our entourage, which got bigger with each stop along the way. It was an honor to be a part of this Freedom Drive and an honor to be among such principled Americans.
It was with some disappointment that only 600 people were with us on the Mall November 14, 2002. It was also with some disappointment that “our” government did not even have the decency to gas us or shoot us for taking the time to petition it in person. It did the most disrespectful thing that can be done to dedicated people who drove thousands of miles to respectfully demand that our government observe its First Amendment obligation to answer our petitions for redress of grievances: It completely ignored us.
The 2 p.m. deadline for Congress or the president to publicly answer our petitions came and went. Not even Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) had the decency to acknowledge our lawful and well-intended protests. We traveled all the way to the capital under the power of a flame of hope in our hearts that our actions would prompt a peaceful return to lawful government. By the time Bob Schulz began to read the statement he prepared in advance of the likelihood the feds wouldn't answer our petitions, that flame had been extinguished. I think forever.
Some 600 Americans came to the capital from every state in the union to realize that it was up to us mostly ordinary citizens to turn this country around because there is no one else to do it for us.
You want to know what else became apparent that day? We do not have a corrupt and evil government: We have a mirror image of ourselves as a country. Our government is merely a reflection of us. It is, therefore, not our job to overthrow the government. We The People Congress has a much higher purpose. We have to change the hearts and minds of the American people. Once that monumental task has been accomplished the existing government will crumble and the new one will become a reflection of our better selves. Until then... (DWH)
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Why Americans must save themselves
We are on our own. “Our” government's silence to our impassioned pleas for redress proves it has nothing but contempt for the American people and their rights. But it's even worse than that: While we trusted the business of government to politicians so we could pursue the American dream, the rest of the world has learned to hate, fear and distrust the U.S.
By the end of WWII the world's huddled masses envied the American people for our freedom. Now the world is disgusted by Americans who are so full of the illusion of freedom they don't see the police state building itself around them.
Their disappointment in the American people is compounded by the fact that our blindness has empowered the U.S. government to conduct several decades of destructive, exploitive, back stabbing, warmongering and double-dealing foreign policy that has spread misery and death -- not freedom -- to the world. With the tacit consent of oblivious Americans, the U.S. government has thrust the world into an age of boiling social, political, economic and religious turmoil.
When one walks the Mall in D.C., it is impossible to ignore the magnificence of the monuments and the buildings. It is also difficult to ignore that those buildings are occupied by traitorous, self-serving bureau-rats who devour human rights and dignity as a way of life.
Those are our buildings. Like it or not, we put those people there. We only have ourselves to blame if they are not removed, and no one but us has the responsibility of removing them.