There Will Be No Draft

Written by: Scott Cooper
                           

The difference between our grandparents generation – The Greatest Generation who fought off tyranny abroad and OUR generation which must fight off tyranny ON OUR SHORES is our grandparents had the draft and our country was led by individuals, who while progressive, were unwilling to see evil triumph.

Our generation will not face a draft.  We will not be REQUIRED to serve.  We must individually recognize that evil is triumphing within our borders, and WE MUST INDIVIDUALLY decide, will we stand up and do something, or will we remain silent? 

Is our heritage, our values and our way of life so important that we will decide OURSELVES to do everything we can to prevent its demise.  Or are we so complacent, so in love with our things, our personal time, our vacations, our sports “brackets”, and watching “Desperate Housewives” and reality T.V. that we will not invest the time required to turn the evil tide in our society.

“Silence in the face of evil is evil.  God will not hold us blameless.  Not to speak is to speak.  Not to act is to act.”  Dietrich Bonhoeffer  

The good news is: history shows it only takes 20 % of society to chart a new course.  The radicals which control our academia, our media and our government at all levels are a far smaller minority.  It only takes 20 % - “an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men” who will turn the tide of history. 

Where will we as individuals sit, with the 5 – 10 % of the population who are radical leftists, will we help grow the freedom lovers who will invest their time and resources for the cause of liberty to 20 %, or will we stay with the 70 – 75 % who remain silent?

There will be no draft.  The choice is yours.  Kind of like God’s Grace – he provides us a choice – and does not mandate the Liberty of His Grace.  Also, kind of like God’s Grace – there will be consequences for our action or inaction.

Something I wrote about the NEXT greatest generation in August of 2011.

 

A Time For Compromise

A Time For Compromise

Written by: Scott Cooper

Last week after the election, I was engaged in a discussion on a blog with a good friend and mentor who has lived in Europe for the last 25 years.  He cautioned me and my friends within the Tea Party, stating now is the time for compromise, that the election was over.  Quoting Ecclesiastes 3:8 “There is a time for war, and a time for peace” Now is the time for The Tea Party to compromise and make peace, he cautioned.

To follow was my response:

First, since you quoted Ecclesiastes, allow me to share 1:9-11 “So, there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, “see this, it is new?” Already it has existed for ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; and also of the later things which will occur. There will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.”

Let me share my perspective. I am angry. I believe it is ok to be angry. Ephesians 4:6 says “Be angry and sin not.” I believe there is such a thing as righteous anger. Now is a time for righteous anger. Allow me to share someone else’s review of a book on this subject, which I find helpful.  Click here to read that review!

Two Thoughts on moving forward in a compromising way, following the election:

First, while President Obama did win re-election, he barely won the popular vote. He clearly does not have a mandate. His election was more about style and likability, and I dare say that since 93 % of blacks voted for him, race. He was also helped by the GOP, whose efforts to shut out Liberty and Tea Party Grassroots activists at State and National Conventions this year caused many conservative individuals to either not vote, or actually oppose Mitt Romney with their vote. The point is, Barack Obama’s ideology did not win – his personality and his political machine did. This was aided by GOP incompetence. The compromises you are asking us to make are based in ideology and worldview, and our republic is clearly divided on these ideologies and worldviews.

Second, our extremely wise founding founders established a divided government because they wanted to limit extreme changes from taking place. They understood the tyranny of a centralized government, and they knew that someday we would be fighting the battles we are fighting. We must utilize the systems in place, which they wisely set up for us, to do everything we can to limit the further expansion of Government, which inevitably reduces individual liberty and personal responsibility. Remember, our republic was founded on the principles of individual liberty, not centralized government or collective results.

I am not willing to compromise on giving our Federal Government one more cent of revenue, whether the measurement is a percentage of GDP or as a dollar per citizen – you choose the matrix. I have yet to see them be wise stewards of my financial contributions, and I am angered by their waste. We have seen the GOP consistently compromise on our principles of fiscal responsibility, individual liberty, constitutional limited government and personal charity for the last 100 years, and it has led us to the brink of our republic’s impending financial demise.

We could confiscate 100 % of all the millionaires and billionaires wealth and we would still be in an unmanageable financial hole due to previous compromises.  Therefore, taxing the rich is not a solution. We must learn to live within our means. The riots and demonstrations which are taking place throughout Europe this week due to their required austerity measures should be all we need to see we must wake up and grow up.

While the current administration, which was just re-elected, is what helped to wake up the individuals that comprise The Tea Party, the one’s you say that must compromise now, our anger is not directed at this Administration, but at the GOP, which has peacefully compromised our liberties for decades.  It was George W. Bush who “Abandoned the free market in order to save the free market.”  We will retreat on our liberties no further – in order to attain immediate security. I am reminded of Benjamin Franklin who stated: “they who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”

While we diligently work to restrain the growth of government, our struggle going forward is to educate our citizenry on the worldviews at stake. This election shows that the majority of youth 18 – 29 are ok with Socialism, which is in opposition to our form of government. The Pollsters are consistently speaking out about different races and classes. We need to educate that our ideas of limited government, individual liberty, personal responsibility and private charity are not respecters of persons – they work for all races and creeds. I am so sick of our leaders dividing us up to win elections – our ideas win across all the lines, if we can articulate them well enough – which obviously, we need to improve on.

Some specific worldview items I will not compromise on, which we must do a better job in educating on are:

1.  Fiscal Responsibility. We need to have a budget. It needs to be tied to something measurable, like GDP. It needs to be balanced. This democratically controlled Administration and Senate has not passed a budget in 3 years. Why should we compromise on anything before this is accomplished – seriously – why?

2. Our President breeds Covetousness – and I am sick of it.  Please click here to read my writting on this subject.

3. Our President stands against life – As a State Senator he supported 3rd trimester abortions, right down to the last minute – and now wants enforce mandated healthcare that requires birth control, up to and including abortions. This is against our First Amendment Religious rights.

4. Our President stands against free speech – We are in a clash of worldviews with Radical Islam, and when our Ambassador is assassinated, President Obama attacked the First Amendment free speech rights of a film maker instead of addressing those who attacked our consulate – or better yet – did his job and ensured that attack didn’t take place!

I could write more, but I am done for now. I am going to go back to the question I started with: Where specifically do you want to see compromise, and what principles dictate that compromise or retreat?

 Here are some additional thoughts I have had since writing those words on November 15^th:

Those who seek Fiscal Responsibility, Constitutionally Limited Government and Free Markets – as laid out in our Constitution are hated not only by the Democrats, but by the establishment GOP as well.  Indeed if you listen carefully to many GOP leaders, they are posturing themselves so as to blame the Tea Party for any inability to reach a compromise. 

The reality is the party, which in writing states they hold to the values of the Tea Party, has compromised repeatedly on their written values for decades, and that is why the United States is facing the fiscal demise we face.  Now that there is growing momentum to hold the GOP party accountable, they are doing what every party with power does – clinging to their dwindling power, making every attempt distance themselves from those who are holding them accountable, which are actually the silent majority.  Rather than seeing the Tea Party as the reinforcements they need to hold to their principles, they will make every effort to blame the Tea Party, a movement which began only four years ago, for their long history of principled failings.  Just like they did in state wide and the national convention this summer, they will continue striving to shut and marginalize the Tea Party.

For many idealistic Tea Party members, it has been painful learning to be hated by those we want to help reinforce their principles.  The Tea Party movement however has learned, it is not here to be loved by the GOP.  We The People are here to restore our republic to the principles we hold so dear.  At a recent national conference of Tea Party leaders, we reflected multiple times on Winston Churchill, who left London in defeat in the early 1930’s; only to be called back to lead his country through the chaos of WWII. 

Financial Chaos is coming.  Its seeds were sowed a long time ago, prior to the inception of the Tea Party in 2008.  The Tea Party is not going away.  It is girding its loins, getting thick skinned and focusing locally where it has a greater impact. It will be ready when wisdom and common sense prevails at the Federal Level – which clearly is not yet!

Voices Without A Vote

Written By:  Scott Cooper

                   

The video below personifies why this election is so important.  I really cannot anything more to it.

I will say I first saw it tonight at The Commissioning Service of The Black Robe Regiment of Virginia.  At the event tonight, Lt. General Jerry Boykin was the key note speaker.  He said that “the failure of America will lie at the feet of the American Church.”  In essence, he stated that the Mega-Churches of the American Church have lost their saltiness and light in the culture.  The results can be seen in the loss of liberty and growth of government.  He stated that revival, or a Spiritual Awakening is coming to America; however we will experience more pain before the revival.  He also stated that he believed the next American Great Awakening will come from the small churches, not from the mega-churches.

My friend Jonathan Wakefield, founder of Tea Party for Christians videotaped tonight’s key note address by General Jerry Boykin.  Once he has it posted, I will add it here.

In the meantime, you must watch the video, and share it with your friends.  The generation portrayed in this video, and those yet to come are the reason we must fight to restore our founding principles: Individual Liberty, Individual Responsibility, Personal Charity, the Rule of Law and Constitutionally Limited Government.

Enjoy!

A Very Timely Petition for Conservative Republicans in Virginia

Written by:  Scott Cooper

This is a letter I sent out today to my friends in Virginia:

Good Afternoon:

I am sending this to friends of mine in Virginia.  You may be a personal friend or someone I have met through grassroots activities during the course of the last three years. 

If you are a voter, but have not seriously engaged in party politics, you may not understand the process through which the Republican Party of Virginia selects its’ candidates.  There are two methods used: Conventions and Primaries. 

I encourage you to do your own research. 

In a nutshell it is easier for a conservative to receive the Republican Nomination through Conventions rather than Primaries because whoever has large grassroots support can enlist their supporters to invest a day at a convention.  Furthermore, if there are multiple candidates, a convention forces consolidation and run-off’s. 

In a primary, mostly what is required is money and name recognition.  Money purchases airtime, signs and loyalty, which will turn out votes in a Primary, and the candidate with the most votes wins, regardless of the percentage of the vote – i.e. in a four way race a candidate can win with 25.26 % of the vote, and there would be no run-off.

The sad reality is Primaries often turn out a vote that is uneducated in all the issues or of all the candidates – folks simply know the name of the individual who could purchase the most airtime.  It also turns out our opposition, the Democrats, to vote in OUR selection process.

What you may not know is that for the last two election cycles, The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) has voted to select their candidates through a Primary system, not a Convention.  In fact, before the 2011 election, RPV voted to hold primaries for the 2013 selection process.  Never before in the history of our Commonwealth has that decision been made that early.  Many believe that effort was strategically done to shut out the newly engaged grassroots activists, who were still focused on the 2011 elections and not forward thinking enough to be watching the strategies for 2013 that were being played out.

Grassroots activists who want to save America are doing so on shoe string budgets.  While many candidates say they are conservative, they are fearful of their ability to garner the volunteers to win in a convention, so they are pushing for Primaries.  Again, I encourage you to do your own research.

On June 15^th, The Central Committee of Virginia will reconsider the vote they took in October about whether our 2013 nomination process should be a Convention or a Primary.  I am asking you to sign a petition which will go to The Central Committee of The Republican Party of Virginia, asking them to vote for Conventions.

Send a message that you want Conventions as the method to select your candidates in Virginia.

Here is the link for that Petition – for the entire state of Virginia.  Please sign today.

If you live in the 7^th Congressional District, and are Represented by Eric Cantor I ask you to also sign this petition.

Thank you for your time and serious consideration in this very important matter.  If you agree – Please forward this message to your sphere of influence and ask them to sign the petition as well.

Scott Cooper

P.S.  Here is a very important video discussing the upcoming June 12^th Primary here in Virginia and two blogs I wrote on this subject last Fall:

                Important Video about June 12^th Primary

                Primaries/Conventions – A Significant Segment of the War at Hand

                Challenging The Establishment

Supporting Those Who Can Win

Supporting Those Who Can Win - Some Thoughts
Written by Scott Cooper

There are individuals out there who are focused on “Who Can Win,” and that is how they choose their candidates.  Do they mean winning like John McCain?  Do they mean winning like Bob Dole?  You can take this analogy to every level of race, from President to U.S. Senate to Congress on down.  I am tired of hearing establishment people saying we need to get behind the candidate who can win. 

For example, we have Virginians who say that all the time about a candidate for U.S. Senate, who actually lost in 2006.  They are getting behind the candidate who lost in 2006, because he is the only candidate who can win.

Hmmmmmm.

I want to get behind the candidate who is right for America – who is consistent, honest, ethical, and doesn’t have a history of being on the wrong side of the issues.  I would rather get behind the right candidate and lose – than put all my chips in the best funded, best dressed individual and longest elected office resume. 

Our founders intended citizen legislators – folks who served for a time, then returned to the industries they worked so hard to legislate.   We need to steer our country back from the brink – and electing people who helped get us there is not the right course.  The time to restore the concept of Citizen led government is now.

After reading this, if you want to help, we need re-enforcements.  In the words of Samuel Adams, "It does not take a majority to prevail... but rather an irate, tireless minority, keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men."  If you are ready to join the minority that is fighting for your freedoms, please check out:

http://virginiateapartypatriots.com/ – In Virginia

http://www.teapartypatriots.org/ – Nationwide

This tireless minority is making a huge impact.  The slander you hear from the main stream media about The Tea Party is all you need as proof.

This Photo belongs to the book, written by Richard A. Viguerie.  The Credit for this photo belongs to him and his publisher.  I strongly recommend reading this book.  If you are not yet engaged in the process, after reading this book, you will want to be engaged.  

Challenging The Establishment

Challenging the Establishment

Written by Scott Cooper

December 3, 2011

The sad reality is, by the time the grassroots leaders that are studying and are rising up to bring our country back from the brink have turned this country around, most of the political leaders who led our country to the fiscal ruin we currently are in will have passed away from old age, likely having enjoyed luxurious retirements at the expense of taxpayers. 

The political leaders of the last two decades have allowed pork-barrel, earmark laden bills to go through congress, knowing full well they were purchasing re-elections on borrowed money.  While they would personally benefit greatly, others would be left to clean up the mess – likely after they retired or were gone from the earth.

Today, those who have been called to clean up the mess are getting educated.  The grassroots leaders that are rising up now are like our founders, are sacrificing and risking everything to fight a system that is completely out of control. 

In order to reclaim our system we will face fierce opposition from those who have been purchased through government largesse.  That is a battle worth fighting, because ultimately I believe the American people will understand the gravity of the situation and will buy into doing whatever it takes to keep America strong.  That is what makes America great – the American public always rises to the occasion to do the hard thing. 

What distresses me, is not the battle ahead to convince normal American’s of our perilous situation.  No, what creates great trepidation is the battle ahead that these newly rising grassroots leaders will face with establishment politicians who have for decades claimed to be conservative, yet bought into the earmark and pork laden legislation and fiscal irresponsibility that they should have fought against.  Rather than leading on the fiscal issues that are causing this crisis, the played along to get along.  Now they have been caught – and a storm is brewing against them.  Like King George, they will fight to stay in power.

The war ahead to bring true conservatives to power will be long and hard.  We certainly will not win every battle (election).  However when we put up a great fight in the first skirmish (primary/convention), it will yield results none the less, for it will create an elected official who will be more cautious as he/she votes, for they now know we are watching.  Yes – we are watching like hawks, and we will be back to fight the next skirmish (primary/convention) should you give us good cause.

Today, our battle is fought at the ballot box – and the skirmish must begin at the primary (or in Virginia, Convention).  The key is to ensure we engage in the primary when the establishment politician does not rank at least a 90 % favorability rating on our conservative issues.  For far too long our elected officials and career politicians have gone unchecked and unchallenged.  Those days must cease, if we are to return to fiscal sanity. 

We each must find those who have stepped up to challenge the career politician in a primary and lend them our support.  This task of challenging someone in a primary is daunting, and those who are engaged in this process need the support of countless citizens – they cannot fight the battle alone. 

If you are not yet engaged in this process yet – new recruits are needed.  Enlist today!

www.VirginiaTeaPartyPatriots.com

www.TeaPartyPatriots.org

In the end, like the American Patriots of the late 18^th century eventually took power from the out of control government of their day, the Patriots of the early 21^st century will also win back control from our out of control government, and the Republicans who abandoned conservative fiscal responsibility.  There may be trepidation, and distress among those who are fighting this battle, but in the end we know we are on the right side of history, and with Providential help, we will prevail!

It's Time to Stop Yelling At The TV!

It's Time to Stop Yelling At The TV!
Written by Scott Cooper
December 2, 2011

To my friends sitting at home screaming at the T.V. set, while they watch the news each night, I feel your pain.  To those who have pulled the plug and are no longer watching, I feel your pain.  When you are ready to stop screaming or put the plug back in and actually get engaged in the battle – please give me a call.  I can put you in contact with people that are working to restore our country. 

Watching the TV is great to educate – but it does not win the battle.  Help us, and get engaged!

www.VirginiaTeaPartyPatriots.com

www.TeaPartyPatriots.org

Primaries (Conventions in Virginia) - A Significant Segment of the War At Hand

Primaries (Conventions in Virginia) – A Significant Segment of the War At Hand!

Written by Scott Cooper

November 22, 2011

Establishment Republicans across our republic are beginning to learn the word Primary.  They will be facing a lot of them in the future.

I just spent some time reviewing the number of primary challenges that establishment Republicans have faced in the last 20 - 30 years, and the number is remarkably – no extremely – no pathetically low. 

We the people have allowed our Republican leaders to go with the status quo.  We have allowed them to go along to get along.  We have allowed them to “Manage” vs. “Lead.”  We the people are to blame that we have not paid attention or cared that they did not hold true to the stated core values of the Republican Party.  That being said, we hold Republicans who have held elected office during these last two decades responsible for the mess we are in – because they could have prevented this financial mess, and did not – especially those who held power when the Senate, House and Executive branches were all held by Republicans and nothing was done to even slow the pace of our fiscal crisis.

The radical left is what aroused the sleeping giant known as The Tea Party, but it is NOT the radical left that has our attention right now.  During the course of the last two years we have studied how we got in the financial predicament we are in and we have discovered that the core elements of the party most closely aligned with our philosophical view has allowed their own stated core values to be betrayed.  We have been betrayed by those who have claimed to be conservative, but do not vote or lead in the conservative fashion.  Our initial focus may have been at the left – but that has changed.

Primary(Convention in Virginia) is not a word that incumbents of either party have really been worried about in recent years – but it is a word that will become very well used in the coming decades, especially in the Republican Party.

People often ask, when will the next Ronald Reagan emerge?  Based on the 1976 Primary between Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan, my guess is that the next Ronald Reagan is currently preparing for or is currently engaged in a primary battle against either an incumbent or establishment Republican!

A Major Benefit of This Grassroots Effort

A Major Benefit of This Grassroots Effort

Almost two years ago I met a family at the 2009 AFP Defending the American Dream Summit in Washington, DC.  They were newly engaged conservatives in the battle to defeat Obamacare.  I made a point to introduce myself to the woman after her speech because she mentioned they resided in the hometown both my parents grew up in, in SC, a place I still visit 2 – 4 times a year.  She spoke eloquently, but said that type of situation was foreign to her.  She said she was a brand new “activist.”  Because of similar interests, and the hometown connection – we have remained in contact via Facebook these past two years.

This week their entire family (of 7) was in Washington DC protesting FDA regulations.  On their way home, they stopped to have dinner with Suzy, David and I in Fredericksburg tonight.  We are planning to get together again in the future when we will be in South Carolina.

Three Saturday’s ago I had the privilege of sharing a meal at Stone Mountain outside of Atlanta with individuals from at least 10 States, who were in Atlanta for the weekend to strategize ways to reclaim our republic for the conservative principles we hold so dear.

In February, at another strategy session in Phoenix I shared several meals with some of those same folks and many others.  One of the couples in Phoenix (their families) had fled Eastern Europe in the 1940’s and then lived through the riots and revolutionary times in France in the 1960’s.  Those folks cautioned about the mentality that was so pervasive in France at that time and shared why they fled Europe to come to America.  They continued to share how, based on their experience they now see how that mentality has infected American Culture and are engaged in the conservative grassroots movement in the US because there is nowhere else to escape to.

While ABSOTULETLY NONE OF US wants to be in this battle to save our republic - we would rather be building our businesses, raising families and pursuing our own happiness; one of the greatest benefits of being a part of this huge grassroots effort is to be building relationships that cross state lines – and literally span our great nation from sea to shining sea.  It truly is an honor and privilege to get to know so many folks from across our republic that possesses a commitment and passion to do good for our country. 

I could write more about this passionate volunteer army of patriots that are sacrificing time, money, and other resources, but I don’t want to write a book. I simply want to reflect on the relationships that are being built.  Many of us, when we sit alone at our desks or computers studying the issues, we become overwhelmed and discouraged – but it is the relationships that are being formed that should help inspire us to press on.  Alone, the task may seem impossible – but as someone said – we outnumber them.  “We surround them.” 

We have some tough roads ahead, but these relationships give me encouragement, and I hope and pray they give you encouragement too.  We will prevail.  And when all is said and done, we will have gotten through the hard times together, and will have built some amazing relationships and friendships along the way – friendships that will last a life time.

Having been on numerous conference calls and in strategy sessions at the local, state and national level clearly we will have disagreements and struggles in coming to consensus on certain items – but in the end after we have prevailed.  We will look back on these trials and be grateful for the skills, talents, leaders and relationships that Providence established through these trials.

I close reflecting on the relationship of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams.  Both were on the committee of five to author the Declaration of Independence.  They worked very closely together on that project – then spent time together in Europe representing our new experiment, then both served in The Executive Branch during Adam’s presidency (Jefferson as Vice-President), then, as the political party process started they became bitter rivals for a very long time.  Before their death, 50 years to the day after the signing of The Declaration of Independence, they had reconciled and were Facebook Friends – well, they wrote hand written letters to each other on a pretty regular basis about everything under the sun.  

It is my prayer, that 50 years from now, we will look back on this turbulent time: we will have restored the concept of Federalism, Limited Representative Government, personal responsibility, ended the welfare state, promoted individual charity, individual rights, property rights, the rule of law, restored a strong American work ethic, and most important the importance of virtue and all that entails.  We will also being corresponding with large number of friends, in whatever mode of communication exists at that time, from all across the republic, who never would have even known each other had we not lived in such a time as this.