“…wherever the people are well informed the can be trusted with their own government…”
- Letter to Thomas Price, 8 January 1789

If we are to believe these words from Thomas Jefferson, then it would seem that what we have for a government depends on the degree to which its people are informed and consequently, empowered.  Is he talking about us?  Whether we are ready or not, it is up to the people of America to take the reigns of government - or be ridden by it.

In today’s update…

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Awake & Arise, America!

Our friends at Great Minds by Design (www.greatmindsbydesign.com) have put together a premier conference with a rare combination of speakers to uplift and awaken a People with Power - You, and me.

Check either of the following two links for details…

CPIdaho Meetup
(If you go here, make sure to click on the link to register for the event.)

Great Minds by Design

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Is Rex Right?

Rex Rammell disputes the justice system, and in the process strikes a nerve which has a deep and long term importance for our fellow Idahoans and the rest of America.   We examine an inherent power of the people that might be advanced by a JURY REVOLUTION!

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China in Idaho? - Point/Counterpoint

Idahoan’s are asking, “Why is China in Idaho?”

“Much of the attention stems from what he told the Statesman a year ago, just before Gov. Butch Otter led a trade mission to China. The state has been looking for foreign investment to boost the economy here, and there is one foreign country with more investment potential than all the others.” …more>

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Letter from and Agnostic

Chuck Baldwin
“I couldn’t count how many times I’ve heard a sincere Christian say to me, ‘Chuck, all we have to do is elect more Christians to public office.’ I wish it was only that easy! The fact is we have been electing “Christians” to public office for decades. In fact, when is the last time you voted for someone who did NOT proclaim to be a Christian? Most everyone in public office claims to be a Christian. In my whole life, I never remember a candidate for public office saying, ‘Vote for me; I’m an atheist.’ Do you?” …more>

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The Forgotten Depression of 1920

Thomas Woods
In order to make sure that this version of events sticks, little, if any, public mention is ever made of the depression of 1920–1921. And no wonder — that historical experience deflates the ambitions of those who promise us political solutions to the real imbalances at the heart of economic busts.

The conventional wisdom holds that in the absence of government countercyclical policy, whether fiscal or monetary (or both), we cannot expect economic recovery — at least, not without an intolerably long delay. Yet the very opposite policies were followed during the depression of 1920–1921, and recovery was in fact not long in coming. …more>

You Are Invited!

Dear Friends of Liberty,

What was at the heart of the American Revolution? Was it about taxes, the abusive power of the military, or judicial injustices? With a certainty, taxation without representation, rendering “the military independent of and superior to the civil power”(1) and “depriving the people, in many cases of the benefits of trial by jury”(2) as well as other sufferings, had become intolerable for the inhabitants of the American colonies after years of fruitless petitions for relief . Those issues may have been the catalysts, but the real revolution was a realization and vision in the hearts and minds of the Founding Fathers and later embraced among the people.

Those founders having understood the breadth and depth of the successes and failures of governments past, conceived of a revolutionary vision of a people with power, not unlike – a nation of Kings. This was such a radical concept of the times, that the war for Independence became the bridge for a transition, an era of popular sovereignty. The concept is that the common citizen could have that freedom and liberty historically enjoyed only by sovereigns.

There were, of course, a few things that the founders of the Republic presupposed.

One, that the people themselves might be self-governing. Understanding that their natural rights and their liberty was nearly unlimited up to their neighbors borders and that their neighbors rights would be similarly protected and respected.

Two, that people would be able to conceive, create, produce and enjoy the fruits of their own labor, making their own way for their own prosperity and posterity, and not just as subjects to build the wealth of an empire.

Three, that the citizens of a nation of kings might revere the King of Kings. He, who in the signers of the Declaration of Independence recognized as the Author of our natural rights.

The result is that the liberty, progress and power of the American Republic has been a feat of unprecedented proportions for over 200 years. But those who laid this foundation also saw there would be trouble ahead. They lived the understanding that freedom is priceless because it is historically purchased with the sacrifice of blood – and must be maintained by eternal vigilance. It is appropriate that we as Americans bear in mind that we have a sacred duty not to squander that sacrifice, but to remember, that notwithstanding our differences in culture, religion, income or age we are bound together by that highest of premiums.

The founders’ words now wax prophetic, from the ills of private banking and foreign entanglements, to the dangers of seeking safety over liberty to the disarming of the people.  The grievances against the British Crown written and read of The Declaration of Independence seem uncomfortably familiar in our ears today.  Among the formidable circumstances of the earlier days, a young America prevailed and as we treasure today that dear price, shall we not come together and do all that we can to re-establish a People with Power?

Will you?

Please join us for Awake & Arise, America!

1. The Declaration of Independence – 1776

2. Ibid.

* Our thanks to www.monticello.org for the availability of this audio version of the Declaration of Independence, read by Bill Barker, who interprets Thomas Jefferson for Colonial Williamsburg.  The audio may be downloaded HERE.

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It is a cliché that if we do not study the past we are condemned to repeat it. Almost equally certain, however, is that if there are lessons to be learned from an historical episode, the political class will draw all the wrong ones — and often deliberately so.

Far from viewing the past as a potential source of wisdom and insight, political regimes have a habit of employing history as an ideological weapon, to be distorted and manipulated in the service of present-day ambitions. That’s what Winston Churchill meant when he described the history of the Soviet Union as “unpredictable.”

For this reason, we should not be surprised that our political leaders have made such transparently ideological use of the past in the wake of the financial crisis that hit the United States in late 2007. According to the endlessly repeated conventional wisdom, the Great Depression of the 1930s was the result of capitalism run riot, and only the wise interventions of progressive politicians restored prosperity.

Many of those who concede that the New Deal programs alone did not succeed in lifting the country out of depression nevertheless go on to suggest that the massive government spending during World War II is what did it.[1] (Even some nominal free marketeers make the latter claim, which hands the entire theoretical argument to supporters of fiscal stimulus.)

The connection between this version of history and the events of today is obvious enough: once again, it is claimed, wildcat capitalism has created a terrific mess, and once again, only a combination of fiscal and monetary stimulus can save us.

In order to make sure that this version of events sticks, little, if any, public mention is ever made of the depression of 1920–1921. And no wonder — that historical experience deflates the ambitions of those who promise us political solutions to the real imbalances at the heart of economic busts.

The conventional wisdom holds that in the absence of government countercyclical policy, whether fiscal or monetary (or both), we cannot expect economic recovery — at least, not without an intolerably long delay. Yet the very opposite policies were followed during the depression of 1920–1921, and recovery was in fact not long in coming.

The economic situation in 1920 was grim. By that year unemployment had jumped from 4 percent to nearly 12 percent, and GNP declined 17 percent. No wonder, then, that Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover — falsely characterized as a supporter of laissez-faire economics — urged President Harding to consider an array of interventions to turn the economy around. Hoover was ignored.

Instead of “fiscal stimulus,” Harding cut the government’s budget nearly in half between 1920 and 1922. The rest of Harding’s approach was equally laissez-faire. Tax rates were slashed for all income groups. The national debt was reduced by one-third.

Read more…

Unquestionably!  The founders of our republic - and particularly Thomas Jefferson - were resolute about the right of the people to Trial by Jury and the importance of an empowered and informed citizenry as potential jurors.   Said Jefferson,

” I consider trial by jury as the only anchor every yet imagined by man, by which a government can be held to the principles of its constitution.” [emphasis added]

The Executive and Legislative branches at every level are typically more visible and scrutinized, but frankly, few wish to become entangled in the Judicial.  If it is so feared by the people, that is probably all the more reason to understand where the real power lies.  With that said, we are reprising a previous article, “It’s the Jury Stupid!” published here two years ago.

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It’s the Jury Stupid!

A message from Thomas Jefferson.

During the 1992 presidential campaign, James Carville, campaign manager for Bill Clinton, kept famously reminding his boss, “It’s the economy stupid!”, whenever he observed the verbose candidate veering “off message” and talking about anything that was not important to achieving victory.  Focusing on the economy obviously worked for Bill Clinton in that campaign.

Since that 1992 campaign the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid” or some derivative of it like “It’s the war, stupid”, “It’s the __ blank__, stupid” has become commonly used when the writer or speaker wanted to call attention to what he considered to be the key to an issue – especially the key to victory in some campaign.

However, is the economy really the most important and fundamental factor underpinning our nation?  Is there something far more fundamental that will determine whether or not the economy is healthy?

For example, can bloated and abusive government bureaucrats destroy the economic engine of the nation?  Can you sustain a good economy when you have nothing to easily and naturally stop government from growing too big, taxing, spending and “regulating” too much and generally oppressing commerce, industry and eventually destroying the economy and freedom itself?

Let’s consider the words of a man with far more wisdom than the politicians, pundits and political activists of today:

In 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to Thomas Paine:

“I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by men, by which the government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”

Jefferson saw trial by jury as the greatest power that the people have, and the only way the people had to personally and directly prevent government employees from flagrantly ignoring constitutional restraints and oppressing the people with excessive and often ridiculous laws and regulations (like we live under today).

Trial by jury, with its inherent right and power of the jurors to “veto” or “nullify” bad laws, is the common man’s “peaceful eraser” of legislated and regulated stupidity, theft and tyranny.

From the beginning of trial by jury, most judges have coveted the jury’s awesome power to veto bad laws.  In the 19th century, because of various excuses, more and more judges succumbed to temptation and usurped the jury’s power to nullify bad laws by concealment and deception.  A debate on these abuses raged in the judiciary in the mid to late 19th century.  Then in a bitter 1894 U.S. Supreme Court split decision, (Sparf and Hansen vs. U.S.), criminal trial judges were given a green light to no longer tell jurors of their inherent power to judge the law itself in any criminal trial.  The dissenting opinion stated in part:

“we often hear in conversation doctrines advanced for law, which, if true, would render juries a mere ostentation and pageantry, and the court absolute judges of law and fact”

And this is precisely what the judges have done to the jury since 1895.  If a jury can be successfully tricked by the judge; if the jury does not otherwise understand its true and historic rights, powers and duties, it is not a true jury at all.  It could be called twelve stage props or twelve puppets controlled by a lawyer in a black robe, but a true jury it definitely is not.  It is a sham, a “mere ostentation and pageantry” and will remain so until someone (like you) tells jurors about their rights, powers and duties – and about the judges’ agenda and tactics that destroy self-government itself.

Thus in America today we have temporarily forgotten true trial by jury; we have misplaced Jefferson’s “anchor” that holds government in check.

It is of greater importance to notice what Jefferson did not say was the “only anchor” holding government subservient to the constitution.

He did not say that the “only anchor” was no national bank or no fiat (paper) money, although Jefferson is probably best remembered as being strongly opposed to both of these.  He also did not say that private ownership of guns was the “only anchor”, although he was eloquent in advocating citizen ownership and regular use of firearms.  He also did not say that the “only anchor” was no deficit spending, no national debt, or prayer in schools, or separation of church and state, or freedom of religion, or freedom of speech and of the press, etc.

And if Jefferson were here today, would he say that the “only anchor” is any of the modern political issues that people argue about today?

If Thomas Jefferson were here today, and saw a nation where people complain, petition and fight (and usually lose) incessant defensive battles with a corrupt and unresponsive government; saw a nation where the government servants have often become our masters; saw a nation where the citizen’s most powerful and easily available tool to control government has been gradually concealed and almost hidden by judges; saw a nation where the people impotently complain and whine about government and feel resentful, frustrated and cynical, while the most powerful and available solution we have ever had lies dormant and almost forgotten, perhaps Thomas Jefferson would raise his voice and shout to all of America:

“IT’S  THE  JURY,  STUPID!”

Thomas Jefferson would see instantly what most people don’t yet realize: that our twentieth-century slide into big government, bad laws, over-regulation of everything and everybody; lives dominated by bureaucratic bullies and government parasites started with the loss of true trial by educated and empowered jury.  Almost all of the freedom we have lost and nearly every foolish politician’s scheme we now live under has come about since that infamous 1894 Supreme Court decision.

Jefferson knew that as voters, we are virtually powerless to personally and directly change anything about our government.  (He might say: Wake up, Pay Attention – changing politicians does not change the government!)  As voters we can only try to elect good politicians and hope they will have the courage to do the right things.

But as jurors we can personally, directly and immediately reduce the abuses and the power of government by refusing to enforce unnecessary and abusive laws and regulations.  And fairly quickly even the size and the expense of government will be reduced because of Jury Nullifications.

Government wields all usurped power, intimidates and controls people by one and only one means: by enforcing bad laws.

If bad government cannot enforce its bad laws, then bad government will die – killed off by “We the People” as jurors stomping it out – one bad law at a time.

Every single jury nullification of any bad law automatically takes an increment of stolen power away from government.  Sometimes the increments are small, but history records that sometimes the “increments” are massive and beneficially change the course of history.  (See  The History of Jury Nullification )

Even in small increments repeated nullifications tend to cascade and gain momentum and will eventually kill laws and put entire government agencies out of business.  Remember a government agency has no power and no reason to exist if all or even most of its laws and regulations have been rendered impotent - killed by jury nullifications.

All power lost by government due to jury nullifications automatically flows back into the hands of the people, where it rightfully belongs.  The people can use their ever increasing power to bring about other related or even unrelated reforms in government.  Routine and numerous jury nullifications are the first step that must happen before our bloated and power abusing government can be brought back under the control of the people.

Jury nullifications stun, rebuke, and demoralize formerly arrogant politicians, bureaucrats, police and judges.  A jury nullification is a very unpleasant emotional and psychological experience for abusive government employees to experience.  Jury nullifications cause better behavior in government employees.   Enough jury nullifications drive out of government employment the worst kinds of people.  Thus jury nullifications create the conditions where honest and humble public servants can rise to positions of influence in government.

Jury nullifications give abusive bureaucrats and judges a “public spanking”, as they bring joy and hope to long-suffering citizens.  Jury nullifications actually heal citizenship, filling people who had cynically withdrawn from public affairs and activism with a sense of hope and empowerment.  If you have been looking for a way to rein in government, you have found it.  Compared to a “jury revolution” conventional (but popular) ideas such as term limits, tax limits, replacing politicians, writing letters to congress, etc. are fatally ineffective and even impotent.

We are learning the hard way that Jefferson was right.  A dangerous error was committed when Americans passively and lazily allowed the jury’s power to be concealed by judges and essentially lost for so long.  The solution is self-evident and happily, it is easily achieved.  Restoring true trial by jury does not require any legislation.  It does not require a single new law!   For we never really lost the power to nullify bad laws; we just believed judges when they misled us.  We just trusted them when they were committing the crimes of conspiracy and jury tampering right in open court!

Restoring the practice of juries consistently nullifying all bad laws merely requires a critical mass or critical percent of the registered voters or the “jury pool” to clearly understand jury nullification and how to successfully use it.  Once a critical percent of the people understand the jury’s power and the tactics that judges use to conceal that power, it will become impossible for judges to manipulate and control jurors.  It will also become impossible for freedom stealing and unpopular “laws” to ever be enforced again at jury trials.  This will cause a revolution in government and in the balance of power between the people and the bureaucrats.  And this will lead directly to the restoration of the Citizen Controlled Grand Jury.  The Grand Jury is truly the nemesis of bad government being an “offensive weapon” that can investigate suspected politicians, bureaucrats and even judges and indict them, bringing them to trial.  The grand jury was hijacked and stolen from the people by statutes in the nineteenth century.  Therefore, laws will have to be passed (or repealed) to restore the Grand Jury back to the control of the grand jurors themselves.  Making the restoration of the true Grand Jury the “second stage” of The Jury Revolution.

The jury is truly the Achilles’ heel of bad and abusive government, because it is where the people so clearly have superior power over any government employee or agency.  But this is true only if you and enough other people understand that power and how to competently use it.

“If you don’t understand your power and how to use it, then you don’t (really) have it.”

Will you join with the Jury Education movement and help create the Jury Revolution?  Will you commit to doing this until your state has achieved the needed critical mass of educated and confident jurors?  Other political and social concerns and goals that you may have and other organizations that you may belong to will all be greatly benefited by the restoration of true trial by jury and the true citizen grand jury.  Government will be rendered weaker and the people will be made stronger and happier.  The Jury Revolution will help to heal the psychological afflictions of fear of government, cynicism, apathy, withdrawal, cowardice, etc.

“The jury which is the most energetic means of making the people rule, is also the most effective means of teaching it to rule”
Alexis de Tocqueville – Democracy in America

Please reflect on the words of de Tocqueville.  When fully understood and assimilated, the knowledge of one’s specific power and duty as a juror is eventually generalized into an understanding of one’s power and duty as a citizen.  Deeply understanding our power as a juror actually transforms us as citizens.  We will remember and understand that not just on jury duty are we superior to government; but every day we are the “boss” and we have a duty to act like it.  Remember, people only want to participate when they have power or the ability to make a difference.  People do not like to participate when they are unskilled and impotent.  This is clearly true in sports, for instance.  Everyone understands this.  But it is just as true in the arena of citizenship and activism.  The theft of real trial by jury is a major reason for citizen apathy and laziness.  When you have no power you do not want to participate.  Our power as voters is insignificant compared to our power to nullify bad laws on a trial jury or indict criminals on the grand jury.  Judges and lawyers understand this; that is why they stole our juries.  We can take our juries back anytime we stand up and do it.

When people understand how powerful the jury is; when they read about hated laws and bureaucrats being “struck down” by juries, they will feel more confident and powerful as citizens.  This transformation in the people’s confidence and attitude toward citizenship will bring a boon of volunteers to all worthy citizen organizations and movements.  And it will obviously make the work of all citizen organizations working on government reform and related issues much easier to accomplish.

Therefore, a major prerequisite to restoring America to the greatness that was, and still is, her destiny, is to re-establish true trial by educated jury, the “anchor” of Thomas Jefferson.

Copyright ©, 1994-2008, Dwight M. Callaway

Permission is given by the author to quote, copy, print or post this article, with attribution and contact information of the author. Dwight M. Callaway   dwightcallaway (at) yahoo.com   208-968-3488.  Comments and questions are welcomed.

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Idaho Governor Selling His State to the Chinese?

The New American – Thursday, 09 June 2011

…The Chinese, by wisely divesting itself of American treasury securities, can take advantage of our federal system (the co-existence of two equal sovereignties) and keep its fingers in American pies by establishing powerful outposts in the 50 states, thus by-passing the chokehold held over the national economy by the bust/boom cycle perpetuated by the Federal Reserve.

Put simply, Idaho (and reportedly other states, as well) are offering the Chinese a way to dump their useless treasury bonds without sacrificing the strength of their clamp on the economic pipeline of American industry…

Read more…

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Bloggers fear a Chinese takeover of Idaho. State officials say the investments will be a boon and pose no danger.

The Idaho Statesman – Sunday, 26 June 2011

“Given what they’re reading, they are rightfully concerned,” said Dietrich, director of the Idaho Department of Commerce. “But what they are reading is in some cases nonsense.”

Much of the attention stems from what he told the Statesman a year ago, just before Gov. Butch Otter led a trade mission to China. The state has been looking for foreign investment to boost the economy here, and there is one foreign country with more investment potential than all the others.

“The Chinese are looking for a beachhead in the United States,” Dietrich said then.

The quote got a new life on the Internet starting six months later, when the Statesman wrote about a proposal to develop a technology zone south of the Boise Airport, broached with state and city officials in December by representatives of the China National Machinery Industry Corp.

Read more…

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