Nullification Flyer
“The true character of liberty is independence, maintained by force.” Voltaire
So I woke up this morning and checked my emails and I received a message that I think was supposed to mollify those of us that saw this statement as a carefully crafted sell-out of the 2nd Amendment. And it isn’t just me (with my axe to grind) that has an issue with this statement. I have been hearing criticism of this position from across the state.
So the email I received from the Federation, which according to the author “expresses the Federation view perfectly” reiterates the role that the Virginia Citizen’s Defense League (VCDL) plays in gun lobbying in Virginia and how effective they are and how you should join them and get their legislative updates. No problem so far. But their statement still effectively outsources support of the 2nd Amendment to VCDL. No reasonable reading of that statement could lead you to any other conclusion, no matter how the Federation leadership tries to spin it.
But then there is this gem that made me do a physical double take.
“No matter what, we won’t be able to stop an Executive Order, which we know is O’s favored avenue to by-pass Congress!”
Of course we can’t stop it if we do NOTHING! This is the kind of slavish mentality to the status quo that has us in the mess we find ourselves in today, and the reason that the modern Tea Party movement began. There are certainly ways to stop an Executive Order. If the President violates the Constitution and infringes on the Bill of Rights via Executive Order, here are a list of things that can and should be done;
- Congress needs to bring impeachment proceedings against the president for violating the Constitution. While we all know the Senate won’t convict Obama, Congress needs to set the tone that this is still a Republic and send the impeachment charges to the Senate. The GOP Congress has failed repeatedly to show any spine on the numerous egregious violations of the Constitution by this Administration; but it’s never too late to start doing the right thing.
- Virginia needs to seriously embrace nullification. How about a bill like Wyoming is considering? Their “Firearms Protection Act” bill would make any federal law banning semi-automatic firearms or limiting the size of gun magazines unenforceable within the state’s boundaries. Any and all Federal gun laws are unconstitutional under the 2nd Amendment anyway, but an Executive Order just doubles down on the illegality of the action.
- Citizens need to take to the streets. It worked in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960′s. It can work in the new civil rights movement of the 21st Century.
Are we supposed to roll over and accept the completion of the gutting of the Constitution? Meekly accepting an unconstitutional Executive Order is EXACTLY the kind of answer you would expect to get from an entrenched politician, not a group like the Tea Party.
Unfortunately, Federation leadership has become exactly that, an entrenched political group trading in double-speak and the politics of surrender. I thank God everyday the leadership of the Roanoke Tea Party is not part of the Federation. If your tea party would like to work with us on a real agenda to save Virginia and the nation. Contact me at chip.tarbutton@gmail.com.
Lets build a new union of Tea Party groups that actually stands for protecting the Constitution.
Chip Tarbutton
No, you aren’t supposed to “roll over”. You should be doing exactly what they suggested: join VCDL and put your support behind the most effective gun rights organization in the state.
I agree you should join VCDL. But do you agree after that, that the tea party should not ever get involved? That is what this statement from the federation says….“The Virginia Tea Party Federation does not take a position on gun issues, including lobbying as an organization.” Shouldn’t leadership of the federation clarify this…because we will likely need all hands on deck to protect the 2nd Amendment. It is fine to let VCDL take the lead. It is quite something else to abdicate and refuse to talk about the Constitution….which is what this statement SAYS. Since Jamie has already thrown Carol Stops under the bus on the Hampton Roads TP FB page…perhaps he leadership team should put out a statement that clarifies it. Just because the federarion leadership doesn’t like me doesn’t mean I am incorrect on this point Les.
I’m part of the COLA team Carol Stopps runs, and have talked with her about this — have you called her personally and asked for explanation?
She has told me that the reason they send people to VCDL for 2nd Amendment stuff, and to the Family Foundation for social issues is because they only have a limited amount of resources. She told me the VCDL does a MUCH BETTER job on 2nd Amend. issues, which is why they refer people there to get info.
Thing is, we’ve generally got about 9-18 days to read through about 3000+ bills. Anything that makes it out of committee with unanimous support gets lumped into a “consent” pile – normally 100+ bills. Those “consent” votes will vote all 100+ bills in one vote. That’s it. So if we don’t catch stuff fast enough in committee, the next chance we get at it is usually in the crossover from House to Senate or vise-verse.
The COLA group is to look for things that deal with: taxes, Agenda 21, transportation, property rights, grow/shrink government. VATPF & their COLA group only have the resources to focus on about 150 bills of that 3000+. That means they have to pick & choose. Some stuff that people want to see dealt with is just not going to make the cut. It gives them a chance to deal with more of the taxes, transportation, etc, if they let the 2nd Amendment stuff slide to VCDL. It boils down to a lack of resources, manpower, & time to tackle everything. It makes good sense then, to delegate some matters to other organizations who are better at such things.
Carol told me as much. I understand the process and that makes sense. That being said, there is a difference between letting VCDL take the lead, which is a fine idea, and stating speciifcally that “The Virginia Tea Party Federation does not take a position on gun issues, including lobbying as an organization.” Do you really take no position on gun issues? Because what you are saying and this quote are two very different things. So if the Obama Administration pushes for an executive order to ban guns in violation your position is going to be that the federation doesn’t get involved in gun issues? If there is a particularly egregious bill in the GA, or one that was particularly helpful to support the 2nd Amendment, you wouldn’t solicit members to try and help?
All you need to do is tweek the statement if that was the intent. That would get me and other folks off your back. Something like, “we support the 2nd Amendment and we take our lead on GA legislative issues from VCDL.”
Because the official position stated says something very different.