The Patriot Caucus

Fellow Patriots,

In our last update, we mentioned a second part to our announcement about the next march on Washington being planned for April 15th (Tax Day Tea Party). Many of you sent enthusiastic emails and we’re excited to see so many folks already getting involved.

The second part of our announcement, however, is going to be much bigger, and much more important for the movement. But before I let the cat out of the bag, let me explain why we’re doing what we’re doing.

To borrow a line from Barrack Obama… “let me be clear.”

This government is now rogue. And I’m strongly inclined to believe the government has deliberately chosen to go this direction. Which, in my mind, presents a malicious act towards the people they were elected to represent? In effect, this move represents a clear violation of their oath to the United States of America.

The dangerous vote for anti-constitutional legislation disguised as “healthcare reform” in Congress presents us with a perfect example. Our calls, our faxes, our rallies and every poll in the country made it clear that we the people opposed the bill.

Yet, Congress ignored us and refused to represent the majority. They cast their votes in favor of the bill, and they laughed, smiled, and applauded themselves for doing so.

Again… this government is operating outside of the restraints of the constitution and is now completely rogue.

We as a movement have had a tremendous year. We’ve accomplished great success in many areas, but we’ve also had our shortfalls.

One of the areas that we seem to be lacking in is the ability for organizations to cross promote and collaborate. I think we’re all guilty of this, and it’s not something we should be ashamed of.

The reality is, once an activist puts time and energy into a group or organization, it is in the person’s best interest to see that particular group or organization succeed over others. This is not a malicious scenario, but one that prohibits true unity within the movement.

The second area we’re behind in, but catching up on some fronts, is the ability to shift our activism into campaign mode.

I don’t think anyone can deny that if we do not defeat a BUNCH of corrupt thugs in our government in 2010 and 2012, they will rip our constitution to pieces. And our liberty will be the greatest victim.

So over the past few weeks, a deep conversation has taken place within a quiet group of tea party organizers and activists. The general agreement is that we need to fix a leadership vacuum, mend the unity gap between groups and organizations, and work as a collaborative effort to shift the movement into campaign mode.

The following is a part of what we’ve come up with as a solution.

The Patriot Caucus

The purpose of the Patriot Caucus is to directly address each of the shortfalls mentioned above.

-Leadership
-Unity
-Electoral Victory

Before we get in to what the Patriot Caucus is, let’s make sure we know what it isn’t.

The Patriot Caucus is NOT an effort to replace any organization. It is not an effort to duplicate any plans and it is not in place to try to be the “mega group” of the movement.

The Patriot Caucus is NOT a political party, nor does it support or endorse a political party. And the effort is certainly not an effort to back third party movements. In fact, the Patriot Caucus will strive to be as “party blind” as possible with its political activism.

So what is it?

The Patriot Caucus is a peer powered entity being put in place to facilitate an environment of mass collaboration and communication within the liberty movement.

Every leadership position within the national structure will be an elected position. Each of these leadership positions will function as a “delegate” for a district, state or region.

Unlike a political party or existing organization, delegates within the Patriot Caucus exist to build bridges of communication between liberty minded groups and activist hubs. This is to be done with the following action items in play:

-Create a coherent, organized, state based directory of liberty minded coalitions, groups, orgs, think tanks, candidates and more
-Host conference calls and meetings with group leaders and movement organizers across districts and states
-Set up training events in districts and states (with involvement of groups and orgs)
-Collaborate with state and national communications teams to help market and promote events/efforts of existing groups, coalitions and orgs
-Work to ensure less duplication of efforts occurs
-Collaborate with delegates of other states for potential of unified efforts across state borders

And much, MUCH more!

As you can see, Patriot Caucus delegates are not in place to lead organizations. They are, instead, in place to help create unity and collaboration amongst existing groups and orgs. And to take it a step further… help promote and market efforts/events of existing groups and orgs.

The electoral system of the Patriot Caucus is in place to ensure that the structure is not self appointed or partisan in any way. Instead of having individuals self appoint or be appointed, the patriot Caucus creates an environment where states elect their own delegates. And those delegates elect national leadership teams.

This all sounds very ambitious… is it really possible to pull off?

When we first starting debating this idea, we were reminded of the challenges presented to General George Washington back in the late 1700’s. His army was broken into segments, was untrained, wasn’t properly communicating, wasn’t operating with proper resources, and major parts of the army were not supporting each other.

During the winter of 1777-78, Washington set up camp in Valley Forge and began doing what was believed by many to be impossible.

He regrouped, rebuilt, and eventually… reclaimed.

Is the Patriot Caucus possible? Absolutely.

Valley Forge, PA

To take this effort even further, we’ve booked a large venue in Valley Forge for the weekend of April 16-18 of 2010.

On April 16-18, 2010, we will convene for the first annual meeting of the Patriot Caucus in Valley Forge, PA.

There will be no charge for attending the three day event, but there will be a credentialing process. Each state will have a specific number of reserved seats to ensure a voting block for every state in the union.

On April 15th, we will make a move on Washington D.C. for one final warning. One final statement to Congress. One final plea for a reversal.

After the nationwide Tax Day Tea Party, the Patriot Caucus convenes for three days of meetings, panels, training sessions and more.

When we leave Valley Forge on April 19th, we leave prepared to do what is necessary to remove power hungry thugs from Congress and Senate.

This is our government. This is our country. This is our time.

Stay tuned for the public launch of the Patriot Caucus. A website is in the works. Free registration and a nominating process will roll out before the end of 2009.

There is a temporary “planning committee” in place that consists of nine tea party organizers. This committee will serve as the foundational leadership until April 18th, the day the full national infrastructure is voted for and approved to take over the Patriot Caucus.

Please join the Facebook Page and keep an eye out for the next announcement.

For Liberty,
-The Patriot Caucus planning committee