Our Republic stands upon a precipice.  Within a very short time we will either restore Constitutional Order or our nation - at least as we know it - will cease to exist. 

One needs only scan the daily headlines to grasp that our elected officials have failed to honor their oath to uphold the Constitution: The collapsing U.S. currency; the expanding mortgage-debt crisis; rising food and oil prices, intractable (and ultimately unaffordable and unsustainable) wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, domestic spying of our emails, phone calls and Internet use; and the societal decay and crime flowing as a result of uncontrolled (illegal) immigration.  

Add to this the immeasurable pain of broken families and households devastated by unbearable levels of direct taxes upon their labor that not only eviscerate the ability to save or care for their own families, they effectively enslave the population for political ends. And this is just a short list. 

In our hearts, we know something is very, very wrong with America. Most people are too involved with the burdens of work and everyday life.  Beyond this, we are afraid for our country, our future, our families, and our values as a People. One could almost believe that the agonies the nation now suffers are the outcomes of deliberate plans crafted by those who wish to destroy our Republic and founding Principles. 

Until now, most Americans have believed that they need only elect the "right" person to implement the "right" policy and our crisis will end.  Most have believed that if we surrender just a "little more" of our Freedom to our public officials, they will save us from "the terrorists" or the criminals and end the crisis.  And most have believed that if we just appoint the "right" man to the helm of the (privately owned) Federal Reserve and allow him to print enough currency, our economic crisis will vanish. 

The truth, however is that these problems cannot be fixed through the representative electoral process because these problems are NOT problems resulting from defective political policy -- but rather, these problems are the natural result of decades of many violations of the Constitution, all of which have had devastating impacts on The People.

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars continue without end because Congress abdicated its Constitutional duty to Declare War and failed to subject the "Iraq Resolution" to a vigorous public debate prior to committing the blood and treasure of the People to this growing global conflict.

Spiraling oil and food prices, the bursting housing "bubble", and our limitless national debt are all the result of our Government (unconstitutionally) allowing a privately-owned cartel of banks known as the "Federal Reserve System" to convert our precious metals based system of constitutional money into a system of currency based on limitless, paper debt that it can create out of thin air.  While this system is the only one most of us have known for years, it is clear we have much to learn about the people and energies --over many decades -- who have acted far outside our fundamental Law to derail our governing Documents and The Principles which would have assured prosperity, peace and financial stability to our nation and our People. 

The endless influx of illegal aliens into our local communities is robbing Americans of their standard of living, if not their jobs, while at the same time burdening our cities with untold side effects of closed hospitals, overflowing jails, blighted neighborhoods and degraded school systems.  By refusing to enforce our immigration laws -- i.e., those currently on the books -- elected officials in all branches of government have violated their Oath of Office and their explicit duty to enforce the laws under the Constitution.  

The IRS purports to possess an alleged authority to impose and enforce direct, unapportioned taxes on the labor of ordinary Americans. These taxes, (including so-called "employment" taxes) are by common definition, slave taxes. Beyond the fact that slavery is facially unconstitutional no matter its form, the Constitution explicitly prohibits any direct, non-apportioned tax.  It is no coincidence that our Founders drew a bright line in the Law, by establishing the requirement for apportionment of all direct taxes as the only clause in the Constitution repeated twice. 

Once we recognize the fact that the cancers that infect our Republic have been caused, not by poor political policy, but by systemic, institutionalized, and unconstitutional tyranny, we can understand why the People have been virtually helpless in halting the intractable march of darkness, decay and despotism that has plagued our nation for decades. 

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.  This is the essence of the exercise of the Right of Popular Sovereignty.

The Founding Fathers expressly told us that should any government fail to provide such Redress the People are left with only two practicable options to secure Redress: violent Revolution or the withholding of taxes. 

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.

In short, if we are to peacefully reverse the tide of tyranny before our Liberty is irretrievably lost, we must look well beyond the limited paradigm of electoral party politics and begin to organize to discover -- and EXERCISE -- the profound, but little known unalienable Rights protected by the Petition clause (and Ninth Amendment) as bequeathed to us by our Founders through the divinely inspired Constitution.

These little known Rights – the Right of Petition and the Right to Secure Redress are, in fact, the practical exercise of Popular Sovereignty and the natural means of insuring that government forever remains the servant of The People. 

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. Thankfully, they left us the means so that we may never have to face that choice.  This is the true power of the Right to Petition for Redress of Grievances.

There is much that our nation needs to learn about.
There is much that our nation needs to debate.
There is much that our nation needs to do.

The Constitutional Crisis is upon us. By now it should be clear what fate awaits us should we fail to rise in numbers and spirit and begin to peacefully resist. Wanted or not, it is our duty, in this day, to act in defense of the divine gift of Liberty. 

This is the sole purpose of Continental Congress 2009. It’s not a public protest.  It’s not a freedom rally.  It’s not a “constitutional convention.” It is however, the only SOLUTION being proposed to remove the cancer of despotism that plagues our Republic.

The historic CC2009 event will gather representatives of the People to document the Violations of our Law, debate the options the People possess to peacefully resist the tyrants, and emerge with a plan for The People to restore Constitutional Order and the Light of Liberty.

Please join us and support Continental Congress 2009. 

Click here for the Founder's key quotes regarding
the Rights of Petition and Redress.