Address to the Freedom Drive Rally

(also published in the January, 2003 issue of the American Family Voice, P. O. Box 127, Russellville, AR 72811; telephone (479) 880-2026)

Washington, D.C., Thursday, November 14, 2002

Dan Charles
America First Party Chairman

It is great to be here among fellow patriots!

My name is Dan Charles and I am Chairman of the America First Party. But that is not important right now.

This is the climax of a series of rallies that began on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, that most sacred moment of remembrance for the courageous veterans of our nation. These rallies serve as a reminder of the sacrifices made by those who fought and died for our Constitution.

These rallies are necessary because we, as a nation, are betraying our veterans in two ways. First, we are reneging on our obligations to them. We are failing to keep our promises to our veterans.

That is shameful!

Second, we are forgetting the Constitution, what it means and what it promises, and why those who served, served with honor. To all those we say, We thank you for your service on behalf of freedom.

There are many problems facing our nation:

We have unchecked borders, which have allowed twelve million people in our nation who broke our laws to enter and continue to break our laws every morning-driving down our wages and giving a bad name to those who followed our laws and immigrated legally.

We have record trade deficits, caused by our forgetting Thomas Jefferson's advice to his nation - "trade with all, alliances with none."

We have an out-of-control judiciary that cares little about justice anymore.

And every day, our nation suffers a loss of innocent life greater than 9/11, as four thousand babies are slaughtered in our nation's abortion mills.

And the list goes on...

But we are here today to request a redress of four specific grievances.

First, we have a tax code that is unwieldy, unfair, and unconstitutional.

The America First Party holds that the evidence is clear, the 16th Amendment was never ratified.

The income tax enslaves us all. It invades our privacy and punishes families and those who save and invest. It creates a new class of overseers-the IRS. We pay their salaries, and they use fear against us as a tool.

It is time we return to a system of taxation that is simple, constitutional, and doesn't care about who you are.

We also seek to restore control over our economy.

Article I Section 8 of our Constitution gives one body and only one body the right to create money-Congress. Monetary policy is a powerful tool to manipulate our economy and our expectations. Congress has abdicated this duty, giving it to privately owned banks, some of whom are foreign owned.

Congress must take that duty back. We must follow the Constitution. We must put America First.

The last two issues on which we seek redress directly relate to the greatest and worst power a nation has -- the power to make war.

Even if the Constitution is forgotten and trampled upon in every other aspect, it should be clearly followed here.

But it is not!

Because of this, we have put our sons and daughters at perpetual risk; we have put our liberties at perpetual risk; we have put our Republic at perpetual risk.

On September 11, 2001, our nation was attacked. At that time, we lost our innocence, our sense of invulnerability, and the lives of thousands of innocent citizens.

It is our right to go after those who attacked us, in order to seek justice, even to seek vengeance, and to prevent them from ever attacking us again.

But in some ways, we have forgotten who the enemy is, and therefore, we may be facing our greatest loss ever.

The Patriot Act is a tremendous assault and attack on our Constitution and must be overturned.

These days, Congress talks about various bills of rights. Congress talks about a taxpayers bill of rights, a health care bill of rights, an airline passenger bill of rights. Congress even talks about the right of illegal aliens to stay in this country if they are "law abiding".

But what about THE Bill of Rights?

And now we hear that the Pentagon wants to create a database to spy on everyday, God-fearing Americans.

The Patriot Act is a tremendous assault and attack on our Constitution and must be overturned.

We have forgotten why a nation goes to war. We should have declared war against Al-Quada, just like our founding fathers declared war against the Barbary Pirates. We didn't, but because they attacked us, at least our response was justified.

Now we are stumbling forward towards war against Iraq, and this will be a war without precedent. It will be a PREEMPTIVE war, something America never has undertaken before. It will be a war to defend, not our country, but to defend the honor of the United Nations.

This is wrong. It is time to put America First.

We have forgotten how a nation properly goes to war. The War Powers Act has put this country in a perpetual state of war. Once again, Congress has abdicated its sole and sacred constitutional responsibility, in this case, to declare war.

This is becoming a pattern with Congress, abdicating its responsibilities.

Only Congress can declare war. If President Bush takes us to war, puts our sons and daughters at risk to defend the United Nation's honor, to prevent an imagined threat, without a declaration of war by Congress, then he has violated the Constitution, and he should be impeached.

Our beloved nation and our Constitution suffer real threats. We must face them head on.

International Terrorism is a real threat, but it is threat that is best solved by defending this nation, not by destroying others countries and entering into entangling alliances.

Mr. President, our enemies will attack us from within.

Don't destroy our freedoms, defend the borders!

Don't destroy other nations, defend the borders!

Don't destroy our sovereignty, defend the borders!

Don't destroy our Constitution, defend the borders!

I live in Colorado, and every morning, like many Coloradoans, I go for a short hike to remind me why I am doing this and Who is helping me.

Among the purple mountains majesty, looking across the fruited plain, as the sun rises, I am reminded that God walks beside us in this life.

May God bless us, our families and our freedom. And may God bless the United States of America.