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Patriots for Liberty is a peaceful, democratic,
grassroots solidarity movement committed to encourage and support the Commonwealth of Massachusetts' development into a separate,
sustainable nation-state.
Education is central to a prosperous,
tolerant and civilized society. The Patriots for Liberty will sufficiently
arm the public with the intelligence needed to make decisions based on what is good for our communities as
a whole.
Statement of Principles
The following moral-political
issues are guiding principles. A work in progress. This is (slightly edited) from the article:
"Secular Humanism and Politics: When Should We Speak Out?" by Paul Kurtz
First, we are committed
to free inquiry, the free mind, freedom of research, respect for civil liberties, and the open democratic society. This entails
the right to believe, or not believe, in prevailing religious or ideological doctrines. We object to any effort to censor
or prohibit dissent and restrict liberty.
Second, we defend the separation of church and state and the secular state.
Accordingly we are strong critics of efforts to impose theocratic or quasi-theocratic measures.
Third, in endorsing
freedom of the individual, we embrace the right of privacy. This encompasses freedom of conscience, the right to control one's
body, reproductive freedom, contraception, euthanasia, abortion, and sexual freedom between consenting adults.
Fourth,
we believe in equality of opportunity, equal access, and fair treatment of all individuals in society. Supporting the rights
of women, gays, handicapped people, Blacks, Hispanics, nonbelievers, and other minorities.
NOTE: I am not affiliated with any Humanism organization.
However, I do agree with their principles.
The Spirit of America
Our Founding Fathers knew of the nature of man and wrote the United States Constitution to help prevent over-indulgency,
tyranny, and governmental abuse. Our federal government was founded on the Constitution. But over the years, starting
early in our presidential history, the pendulum had been allowed to swing off center, soiling the words of Adams, Jefferson,
Hamilton, Madison, Franklin, Washington, and Paine. The Declaration of Independence had been taken in
vain, and the United States Constitution manipulated and bastardized.
Although we are far removed from the abuses and usurpations our Founding Fathers had experienced, the
current threats to our liberty are still very real. They may hide their true nature and be
more sophisticated, but its' prominence is, nevertheless, undeniable. As antiquated a time it may
seem, the same wisdom our Founding Fathers prescribed then are just as valid now. From our
Founding Fathers I offer some of their thoughts regarding the building of this great nation, in their own words:
"
I draw my idea of the form of government from a principle in nature, which no art can overturn, viz. that the more simple
any thing is, the less liable it is to be disordered, and the easier repaired when disordered..."
~ Thomas Paine,
from his pamphlet "Common Sense".
"Government
is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment
should it be left to irresponsible action."
~ George
Washington, speech of January 7, 1790 in the Boston Independent Chronicle, January 14, 1790
"If the
federal government should overpass the just bounds of its authority and make a tyrannical use of its powers, the people, whose
creature it is, must appeal to the standard they have formed, and take such measures to redress the injury done to the Constitution
as the exigency may suggest and prudence justify."
~ Alexander Hamilton, Federalist No. 33, January 3, 1788
"It is proper to take alarm at the first experiment upon our
liberties. We hold this prudent jealousy to be the first duty of citizens and one of the noblest characteristics of the late
Revolution. The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthened itself by exercise and entangled the question
in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle.
We revere this lesson too much ...to forget it." ~ James
Madison
"Liberty can not be preserved without general knowledge among people."
~ John Adams
So...What is this all about? It's about Patriotism. It's
about Liberty. This is about being safe. It's about re-examining the "Experiment". Our Founding Fathers wanted
a government to secure life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for its citizens -- all of whom would be treated equally.
Lawrence W. Reed wrote an article entitled "The True Meaning of Patriotism". In it Reed writes:
"I subscribe to a patriotism rooted in ideas that in turn gave birth to a country, but it's the ideas
that I think of when I'm feeling patriotic. I'm a patriotic American because I revere the ideas that motivated the Founders
and compelled them, in many instances, to put their lives, fortunes and sacred honor on the line."
This isn't about creating radical changes we Bay Staters aren't prepared for, nor desire. This
isn't about overthrowing the govenment. This is about stepping back and looking at the "Big Picture". It's
about engaging people in constructive conversations about what it means to be an "American."
We Americans did not declare our independence from the reign of King George III to create a government that
would enable the president to declare
federal martial law without the consent of the governor or local authorities; spy on its citizens; set up a national identification program, heading us toward an Orwellian
surveillance society; invade foreign countries without just cause; torture enemy combatants, detain suspects
without charges; censor the press, and lie to its' citizens.
If we Americans condone losing our Liberties under the guise of a "war on terror",
it is because we allow the ills of ignorance to sicken our minds, and the distractions of greed to poison
the spirit.
"Our country is too large to have all its affairs directed by a single government. Public
servants at such a distance, and from under the eye of their constituents, must, from the circumstance of distance, be unable
to administer and overlook all the details necessary for the good government of the citizens, and the same circumstance, by
rendering detection impossible to their constituents, will invite the public agents to corruption, plunder and waste. And
I do verily believe, that if the principle were to prevail, of a common law being in force in the U.S. (which principle possesses
the general government at once of all the powers of the state governments, and reduces us to a single consolidated government),
it would become the most corrupt government on the earth."
~ Thomas Jefferson, in a letter to Gideon Granger of Connecticut,
Aug. 13, 1800
What
are the benefits of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts reasserting her sovereignty? Smaller government is more
efficient. Smaller government may actually be more democratic than that which we have now. Folks would be more likely
to get more involved with their communities and local politics, and exercise informed control in the voting booth.
Washington DC is out of touch with the needs of Massachusetts, and has strayed from our ideals. By reaffirming
our sovereignty, it would be a chance for the people of this Commonwealth to control our own future.
Fellow Patriots, this country was founded on the principle of securing liberty for its
citizens. The founding documents and institutions all emphasize that liberty is a core value. As citizens we know our obligations. We will
decide our future, whether it be dictated by ignorance, or directed with
knowledge. I hope you choose knowledge. Together we can restore what our Founding Fathers bequeathed to us.
"Where liberty dwells, there is my country."
~ Benjamin Franklin, letter to Benjamin
Vaughn, March 14, 1783
Thrive!
Compiled and edited by C.A. Chicoine
Researching the aspects of state
sovereignty has been an endeavour that I found stimulating, inspiring, educational, frustrating, and overwelming at times.
My place in this world has been reaffirmed. My role becoming clearer with each passing word that consumes my mind. And
yet, I have only touched the stratosphere of this bold world.
Patriots for Liberty is a nonpartisan nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 2006 as
a vehicle for citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to sufficiently arm themselves with the intelligence needed to
secure and protect our liberty.
NOTE: This website is for informational
purposes only. There is no "group" per se. This is a resource for residents of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Getting to know your government, it's resources, and your options.
Sovereignty and federalism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In federal systems of government, such as that of the United States, sovereignty also refers to powers which
a state government possesses independently of the federal government.
The question whether the individual states, particularly the so-called 'Confederate States' of the American Union remained
sovereign became a matter of debate in the USA, especially in its first century of existence:
- According to the theory of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and John C. Calhoun, the states had entered into an agreement from which they might withdraw if other parties broke the terms of agreement, and
they remained sovereign. These individuals contributed to the theoretical basis for acts of secession, as occurred just before the American Civil War. However, they propounded this as part of a general theory of "nullification," in which a state had the right to refuse to accept any Federal law that it found to be unconstitutional. These self-same
southern states accepted that non-slave states had such nullificatory rights, but protested that the Federal government enforce
the Fugitive Slave Act over any state's attempt to nullify it-- but only by sanction, never by military force. However the premises of the Act was
explicit in the Constitution under Article IV, Section 2, which required that all prisoners or slaves who escaped into other
states, must be returned to their state of origin. Some states argued that, in addition to violating the rights of the alleged
slave, because the Constiution provided for no mechanism of enforcement by the federal government, it was reserved to the
states,
Likewise, according to the theory put forth by James Madison in the Federalist Papers "each State, in ratifying the Constitution, was to be considered as a sovereign body, independent of all others, and only
to be bound by its own voluntary act. In this relation, then, the new Constitution [was to be] a federal, and not a national
constitution." In the end, Madison likewise compromised with the Anti-federalists to modify the Constitution to protect state sovereignty: At the 1787 constitutional convention a proposal was made to allow
the federal government to suppress a seceding state. James Madison rejected it saying, "A Union of the States containing such
an ingredient seemed to provide for its own destruction. The use of force against a State would look more like a declaration
of war than an infliction of punishment and would probably be considered by the party attacked as a dissolution of all previous
compacts by which it might be bound."
During the first half-century after the Constitution was ratified, the right of secession was asserted on several occasions,
and various states considered secession (including, for example, the New England states during the War of 1812; in response, not a single state objected on the grounds that such was unlawful. It was not until later, c. 1830, that Andrew Jackson, Joseph Story, Daniel Webster and others began to publish the theory that secession was illegal, and that the United States was a supremely sovereign nation
over the various member-states. These writers inspired Lincoln's later declaration that "no state may lawfully get out of the Union by its own mere motion", based on the premise that "the
Union is older than the Constitution."
Modern legal scholars, however concur with Madison's initial claims that the states ratified the Constitution acting in
the capacity of sovereign nations.
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