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Minuteman Statue on Lexington Green

Oath: "It means that I have to die if necessary to protect the Constitution."
by Mike Vanderboegh
GeorgeMason1776 -+at+- aol.com

Special to The Libertarian Enterprise

On Sunday, 19 April 2009, "Oath Keepers" rallied on Massachusetts' historic Lexington Green to renew their oaths to support and defend the U.S. Constitution. Held on the 234th anniversary of the revolutionary war battles of Lexington and Concord.

I have not yet sorted out my own reactions to this amazing event. Here's how Pete summed it up:

—Success.

—Hundreds of current and former military and police personnel publicly renewing their Constitutional oaths, along with hundreds of other freedom fighters who took the oath for the first time.

—The beginnings of a groundswell which, even in its early stages, is introducing strategic uncertainty into the plans of tyrants and thugs at the Federal, state, and local levels.

—Plans for another oath renewal ceremony, this time on the Mall in Washington on June 13, 2009 as part of the Gathering of Eagles Victory in Iraq ceremony.

Plan to be there.

The most vivid speaker was 29 Palms Survey author Lt. Commander Guy Cunningham, who set the crowd ON FIRE with his explanation of how and why the 1990s survey of Marines' attitudes to UN jurisdication and gun raids came about.

Stewart also had the crowd roaring. As reported in the New American:

"The only way a tyrannical government from the left or right can succeed is for active duty personnel to obey unlawful orders," former Army paratrooper and Oath Keepers' founder Rhodes told the crowd. "If you took an oath to defend the U.S. Constitution, you have a duty to disobey unlawful orders. When you took the oath, you lost the option to duck out." Rhodes is also an attorney, Yale University graduate, SWAT magazine columnist, and former staffer for Congressman Ron Paul.

Rhodes stressed that although Oath Keepers' supporters were about to renew their oaths to the Constitution, the American people did not get their rights from the Constitution. "Where do our rights come from? There was no Second Amendment in 1775," he told the crowd. "The Bill of Rights protects our rights, it doesn't grant them."—The New American

The only press account so far is, as I said, found here in the New American. Why the blackout? I don't know. Perhaps the media find this story too dangerous. I know the administration does. Here's one reason:

Stewart Rhodes, founder of Oath Keepers and Peter of Western Rifle Shooters Association were talking at the reception after the event when a twenty-something young man dressed tee shirt, jeans and a windbreaker walked up to them. He wanted to shake Stewart's hand and thank him. The conversation went something like this:

Stewart: "Are you ex-military?"

Young man: "No, sir."

Stewart: "Did you take the oath?"

Young man: "Yes, sir."

Stewart: "Do you know what it means?"

The young man paused a moment and then said: "It means that I have to die if necessary to protect the Constitution."

Stewart: "That's right."

Pete later told me, "They were the eyes of someone who has made the first serious decision of his life and intends to stick by it no matter what."

Here's what I concluded.

This Oath Keepers' movement is the greatest threat to tyranny in this country—whether it comes from left or right. It is a dagger pointed right at the heart of those who would violate the Constitution in order to achieve their own ends by using the blunt instrument of the military. The military and the law enforcement officers of Oath Keepers will not be pawns in anybody's scheme. The best thing we who wish to frustrate the tyrannical appetites already evident can do is to get behind this Oath Keeper movement and push. Donate money, organize veterans and current serving military men and women and law enforcement officers. If the means of oppression are denied them, the tyrant-wannabes will have to admit defeat, at least in the short term.

So build Oath Keepers. Come with us in June to Washington DC to the Gathering of Eagles. Can you imagine the press ignoring one hundred thousand, two hundred thousand or even a quarter million soldiers, cops and veterans taking the oath on the National Mall? This isn't a dream. It is possible. IT IS DOABLE. If we but make it so. So, make it so.

,b>PS More later. I'm off to the doctor now to get my pneumonia and bloody feet treated. I should have stayed home. I couldn't. And next time, neither should you. I know I won't. WE MUST NOT FAIL AND WE NEED EVERY MAN AND WOMAN TO SUCCEED.

First published at Sipsey Street Irregulars, The gathering place for a merry band of Three Percenters.

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