Everyone has seen the man with the gun at Obama's NH Townhall. He's waving around a sign referencing Jeffersons famous quote:
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
As one Kossack pointed out, he's also wearing an earpiece with a cord running down into his shirt.
So I decided to find out just who is this guy. I did a search of the guys name and this isn't some lone wackjob with a gun and a sign (and an earpiece).
This is what I learned.
First thing I found out is from his Hardball interview he claims to have moved to NH from Arizona a year ago because they'd tightened up gun laws there. In actuality, he's a free stater that moved to New Hampshire as part of the free state movement. He was a volunteer recently for one of their events. Nothing too sinister so far.
Then I find him making this comment in response to a drug raid gone bad:
William Kostric | April 17, 2008, 11:52pm | #
It looks the cops ran into the first amendment while violating the fourth. That's the way it's supposed to work.
If people can't wake up and see why it's immoral to trespass and destroy someones property, kidnap and lock them in a cage for growing a plant in their backyard then perhaps a body count is what's required for change.
I personally feel zero sympathy for those cops. I reserve my sympathy for the victims of the nonsense they initiate.
Perhaps a body count is what's required for change? Yeah, I want him wearing a gun outside the presidents townhall meeting.
Turns out he was also very active in Arizona as a Team Member of We the People Organization. He's listed on their website, Give Me Liberty, as a Team Member of their Continental Congress '09 group. He's listed as living in Maricopa County. Obviously, this site is out of date.
What is the Continental Congress '09 about? Well, they actually have a link that says what they are about "in a Nutshell". (yeah, I could make a snarky comment, but when you read their "Nutshell" maybe you won't be laughing either). First, it goes on and on with all the right wingnut rants about tyranny, etc. that we all know all too well. Then it gets down to the meat and potatoes about their purpose:
We can also begin to understand that We the People, will need to employ extraordinary means, outside the (controlled) establishment two-party political/electoral process to remedy our Crisis.
Thankfully our Founders provided such a means in our Constitution -- and it's a means that we can employ individually and peacefully. This means is a Right first born in written law as part of Magna Carta in 1215. Section 61 of Magna Carta held the King, under threat of force, to be held accountable to the People as a matter of the RULE OF LAW.
This principle of natural accountability to the People is, and remains, a cornerstone Principle of English Law, American Law and western civilization. In fact, the very concept of the natural dominion of men over their servant governments, and the King's obligation in the Law to respond to Petitions for Redress, is the very moral framework upon which the Revolution was justified in the Declaration of Independence.
Today we know that Right as the last ten words of the First Amendment, i.e., the Right of the People to Petition the government for Redress of Grievances.
The Right to Petition is not, as our government would have us believe, a redundantly stated Right of Free Speech or a Right to send paper the government. The Right to Petition is a procedural vehicle, in the law, and available to all -- even individuals, to serve formal Notice & Demand upon the government that it must provide substantive response and Redress for the constitutional violations so alleged – or suffer the consequences.
In short, this group has twisted Democracy to mean: Do what WE want, not what the masses elected you to do - OR SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES!
Now, in all fairness, the document then goes on to list the two possible consequences: violent retribution or refusal to pay taxes and then says:
The first option is not a path any conscious American would wish to undertake at this time. The second option remains the most potent arrow in a quill of possible tools of non-violent resistance the People may need to employ soon if we are to secure the survival of the Republic and our Freedom.
However, having covered their asses with "political correctness" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge) they also state this disclaimer:
Make no mistake: The concept of holding government accountable is essential to the fundamental design for civil governance under our Founding Documents. Without direct accountability to The People, Liberty cannot exist. This is a truth our Founders were ready to take up arms and die for.
Where have we heard this crap before? Oh yeah. The Timothy McVeigh types with their anti-tax rhetoric. Home grown terrorists.
And in New Hampshire, people are getting worried:
some say the tactics have taken on a menacing hue, such as when Free Staters have gathered on the streets of downtown Keene with holstered guns on their waists, visible on their waists.
"When they first came to town, there was a welcoming spirit. A lot of people were like, 'OK,' " said Richard Van Wickler, a Keene resident and superintendent of the Cheshire County Department of Corrections. "But unfortunately what happens is that when [Free Staters] take the radical approach, that invites people to get angry."
Maybe they should be worried when free staters say things like this woman:
Short of death - no limits," said Canario, the lone woman at the gathering, who spent over a month in jail when she refused to provide identification or speak to a police officer who pulled her over for speeding.
Yeah, no limits. I can drive as fast as I want to and screw the publics safety. It's all about me. And there's no limits to what I can do to keep my right to drive as fast as I want to. No Limits.
That's the philosophy of the free staters. That's the philosophy of a man bearing a gun outside Obama's townhall.
