Let It Come by Chuck Baldwin

[Stephane Budge]

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!"

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" 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!"