“Let It Come!”

Chuck Baldwin
July 22, 2009, 9:00 am

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During Patrick Henry`s famous

"Give me liberty or give me death"
speech, he said the following:

"Mr.
President, it is natural to man to indulge in the
illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a
painful truth and listen to the song of that siren, till
she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise
men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for
liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those
who, having eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not,
the things which so nearly concern their temporal
salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it
may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth, to know
the worst and to provide for it."

Later in his historic speech Henry said,

"Three millions
of people, armed in the holy cause of liberty, and in
such a country as that which we possess, are invincible
by any force which our enemy can send against us.
Besides, Sir, we shall not fight our battles alone.
There is a just God who presides over the destinies of
nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our
battles for us. The battle, Sir, is not to the strong
alone. It is to the vigilant, the active, the brave.
Besides, Sir, we have no election. If we were base
enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from
the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and
slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be
heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable.
And let it come! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!"

Of course, Henry ended his stirring speech with the
immortal words,

"Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased
at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty
God! I know not what course others may take, but as for
me, give me liberty or give me death!"

(The
complete text of Patrick Henry`s immortal address on
March 23, 1775, is found in my giant compilation of
great, historic documents called

THE
FREEDOM DOCUMENTS,
which may be ordered exclusively

here.
)

Many
people today (including the vast majority of my
Christian brethren) are doing exactly what Patrick Henry
said many were doing 234 years ago: they prefer to
"shut [their]
eyes against a painful truth." Just as in 1775, many
today, "having
eyes, see not, and having ears, hear not."

Serious students of history, however, cannot mistake the
similarities between the British Crown in 1775 and the
federal government in Washington, D.C., today. In fact,
I would argue that federal usurpations of State
sovereignty, personal liberty, and constitutional
government are far more egregious today than at any time
during the reign of old King George III. Were America`s
Founding Fathers alive today, they would have waged
another war for independence years ago. Compared to the
violations of liberty by the federal government in 2009,
the abridgements of liberty committed by the Crown in
1775 were miniscule. We should all hang our heads in
shame that we have not already exerted our right and
responsibility as free people to
"throw off such
Government, and to provide new Guards for [our] future
security" (Declaration of Independence, Paragraph
2). Were we as righteous as our forebears, we would have
already done so.

If
we were writing a Declaration of Independence today, in
which we would
"let Facts be submitted to a candid world," the
examples of federal abuse of power would be so
multitudinous it would be difficult to contain them to a
single document. The question is not,
"Has the current
federal government become tyrannical?" The question
is, "How long
will the States continue to tolerate it?"

For
example, within the last couple of months, the States of
Montana and Tennessee have each passed their own
"Firearms
Freedom Act." Briefly stated, the bills provide that
any firearms or ammunition that are manufactured, sold,
and kept within the State are not subject to federal law
or federal regulation. Clearly, Montana and Tennessee
have the Second, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments to the U.S.
Constitution on their side.

Of
course, the Constitution doesn`t matter to the federal
government. On July 16 of this year, BATFE Assistant
Director Carson Carroll sent an
"Open Letter"
[PDF]
to all firearms dealers within the States of Tennessee
and Montana, telling them in

no
uncertain terms,
"Federal law
supersedes the [Tennessee or Montana]
Act, and all
provisions of the Gun Control Act and the National
Firearms Act, and their corresponding regulations,
continue to apply."

You
see folks, in the minds of the politicians and
bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., there is no such thing
as constitutional government. There is no such thing as
State autonomy. There is no such thing as balance of
power. To the miscreants in Washington, D.C., there is
only federal authority. To them, these States United are
merely colony-subjects, who must bow to an omnipotent,
ubiquitous federal power that knows no limits and no
boundaries.

I
hope and pray that the Tennessee and Montana governors,
State legislatures, and State supreme courts will tell
Mr. Carroll
"where to go," and will defend their State
sovereignties
"to the end." And by the same token, I hope and pray
that dozens more states will put teeth to their State
Sovereignty resolutions and follow the examples of
Montana and Tennessee.

Add
to the continual usurpations of State sovereignty the
fact that both the Republican and Democratic parties in
Washington, D.C., have allowed our once-great free
enterprise system to become a giant socialist economy,
and the outlook only gets bleaker. This is why
Republicans in D.C. have

no
moral credibility

in
opposing President Barack Obama`s

Marxist-style universal health care proposals.
Under George W. Bush, the Republican Party expanded
socialism in America like no administration in recent
history. Now they are going to oppose the Democrat
version of socialism? What a joke!

The
only difference between the economic policies of the
Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C., is
Democrats want to tax-and-spend America into socialism
for the benefit of the Welfare State, while Republicans
want to borrow-and-spend America into socialism for the
benefit of the Warfare State. Neither party wants to
confine Washington, D.C., to the prescribed limits of
the U.S. Constitution. And neither party in Washington,
D.C., is willing to recognize the constitutional
authority and autonomy of the States United.

Given the fact that both parties are hell-bent on
destroying constitutional government, dismantling State
sovereignty, and trampling individual liberties, it
seems painfully obvious to me that a war for State
independence is inevitable. Just exactly what that means
is unknown at this point, but all of the elements and
ingredients that existed in 1775 exist today. In fact,
in view of the battle currently taking place between
Nashville/Helena and Washington, D.C., the war has–for
all intents and purposes–already begun. And unlike many
of my Christian brethren who want to
"shut [their]
eyes against a painful truth," I say with Patrick
Henry, "Let it
come! I repeat it, Sir, let it come!"