Folks,
I met then LTCDR David Gillie at the original Oath Keepers ceremony on Lexington Green, 19 April 2009. He is one impressive American, though he is the first of his family to be one. The speech in four parts below, given at the National Convention of Oath Keepers late last year, is outstanding, both as an example of a stand up officer, but also as instruction of how our Constitution is designed to prevent both Caesarism and Juntoism, which have both been the bane and cause of the eventual death of almost all republics throughout history.
To some, this speech will seem incomplete in some of its particulars. I remind you that this is a current serving Naval officer and you should not expect him to go beyond discussion of standing down and refusing an unlawful order.
The mission of Oath Keepers is to make sure that all soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines instruction is up to par, both on their duties, on the history, and on the Constitution itself, not just the laws of war, so they know when to "just say no."
Mike
III
PART ONE:
PART TWO:
PART THREE:
PART FOUR:
14 comments:
After hearing Commander Gillie's lucid exposition, I am more baffled than ever as to why Michael Gaddy finds the oath to be objectionable. I can only attribute it to his civic ignorance.
MALTHUS
Speaking of the courage of Oath Keepers on active duty, I recently returned from a trip to Fort Polk, Louisiana where I learned that soldiers have been ordered to remove Oath Keepers stickers from their private vehicles on post.
This may be a blessing in disguise though since the stickers could have served to identify "troublemakers" and thereby make it easier to cut them out when the time comes.
I am a card carrying OathKeeper member and believer. It's time to step up and make a stand. If you love what America once stood for and hopefully can be, the time is now. I fear that our path is already laid, however.
Do you understand? Are you ready?
I wish I could say that I am but it's a tough assignment. I can only hope that in the end my maker will give me a passing grade. I will be proud to fight with you. May God Bless us all!
An outstanding presentation. Oh, that I wish as a citizen we could have all members of the three branches of government listen to this exposition. It may give pause to those that feel they are entitled to be above the law.
EXCELLENT address by CDR Gillie!
The 12,000 lb. elephant in the room STILL went ignored and wisely so by CDR Gillie. He specifically exempted his address and remarks, clearly stating they do not apply to the law enforcement but ONLY to the military and those of the executive branch within that perview.
Just WHO in Oath Keepers will give a similar address that encompasses the Consititutionality of law enforcement officers???
There are over 1 million law enforcement officers in the United States. The majority of them in MY OPINION behave like STATE SPONSORED DOMESTIC TERRORISTS. What oath, chain of command, or conduit of order and control applies to them???? Who polices the police? Where are the controls, accountability, and consistent EQUAL application of the law with respect to law enforcement???
What recourse do "WE" the sovereign people have against law enforcement officers who commit unspeakabe attrocities, abuse civil forfeitures, violate constitutional law, engage in tax revenue grazing & parasitism, commit murder, rape, robber, and engage in state sponsored domestic terrorism?
When will Oath Keepers stand up and demand an end to police terrorism, corruption, and natural/human/constitutional rights abuses???
http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=11786581
http://www.buffalonews.com/cityregion/story/914861.html
http://www.startribune.com/local/80897097.html?elr=KArks:DCiU1OiP:DiiUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU
http://www.shelbystar.com/news/shelby-43981-chief-former.html
http://www.amarillo.com/stories/010610/web_herefordofficer.shtml
http://www.mycountypaper.com/henrynews/headlines/80763777.html
http://spartaexpositor.com/articles/2010/01/06/news/doc4b44f70175d03003705137.txt
http://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/global/story.asp?s=11774812
Police domestic terrorism, corruption, and abuse is out of control and it is nationwide.
Oath Keepers cannot and must NOT allow these traitors among their ranks, not mention the ranks of the rare few good law enforcement officers.
The time has come for Oath Keepers to either stand for or against such abuse PUBLICLY and SINCERELY.
Hats off and MUCH appreciation to and for CDR Gillie, it take great courage and integrity to speak about these issues while an active duty officer.
I await eager and positively to hear what exactly the law enforcement side of the Oath Keepers house has to say on this issue. You have to "walk the walk" as well as "talk the talk".
Perhaps THEN I may reconsider re-joining Oath Keepers.
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." - Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Defiant: If there are a million cops in the country and they are constantly committing "unspeakable atrocities" there would be far more death and mayhem in this country. And the people would not stand for it. Have you noticed that most people do not agree with you? Have you noticed that people are by and large free to go about their daily activities without even seeing a cop, let alone being the victim of these alleged "unspeakable atrocities"?
I don't know what happened to you in your life to have this sort of view of the world, but I challenge you to go to your local law enforcement agency and ask to go on a ride along. Perhaps you will see things through a different lens. Yours is showing you a distorted picture.
Can you vote? Can you shop? Can you go to work? Can you go to the library? Do the police in your community come to houses in the dark of night and "disappear" people? I think you far overstate the level of oppression imposed by the cops.
Are the cops perfect people? No. Do they make mistakes? Yes. Do they have guns? Of course. How many people in your community have been shot, beaten to death, taken to torture chambers and given an acid bath? You know you're way off base in your statements. I suggest you get some help.
Walter, first of all, there are not a million cops in this country. Second of all, you should take a hike over to David Codrea's blog, or to William Grigg's blog...
http://waronguns.blogspot.com/
http://www.freedominourtime.blogspot.com/
If that alone does not open your eyes ... then you are blind.
It is especially the cops that I spoke of when I said elsewhere:
"The last thing we need on our side are cops or military who won't violate the TEN, but see no problem in violating the rest. Because when it comes down to it, if they have no problem violating the rest ... they will eventually feel the need to violate the TEN if you hold them accountable to the rest in a ... inopportune ... time."
When you contemplate a fellow such as CDR Gillie, the utter absurdity of having our highest executive office occupied by the likes of the Zero is made all the more apparent.
-S
III
and how many of them removed the OathKeepers stickers? All of them?
Well, so much for standing up.
Wow. Truly inspirational!
Brutus: Sir, I have checked out the sites you mentioned in your riposte. First, I was merely using the "million" cited in Defiant's reply to me.
Next: My contention is as follows: I agree that there is abuse of power all over the place -including abuse by "the police". I respect the constitution as much as anyone. I've read it in its entirety and keep a copy in my office for reference. I agree that the rest of the constitution should be honored and followed -up to a point. Up to a point? Yes.
Suppose there was a constitutional amendment that utterly changed our way of life. Suppose the mobs demanded that the 22nd was repealed and Obamao was declared president for life, would you then respect the constitution in its entirety? What about the 18th? Had you been alive in 1919, would you have respected and followed that one?
Then you have the laws that proceed from the constitution; like the one that says (according to the left) that under the premise of "full faith and credit" (Article 4) that the state where I live must recognize the "marriage" of two persons of the same sex if the State of Massachusetts "marries" them under its laws.
Most of the provisions of the Constitution have little direct impact on us on a daily basis but they could. And it is the laws that proceed from the original document and the interpretation -as pronounced by the US Supreme Court where it gets sticky. Suppose the Supreme Court upheld AG Holder and said that under the US Constitution all enemy combatants are entitled to a full trial and jury of their peers within the United States? Their peers, it could be argued, are al qaida terrorists, so we'll have to fly a bunch to the US and put them up in a hotel. Would that be OK? I think there is a line for every man. The question is: Where is that line?
So, I guess that I am not an absolutist in terms of the constitution. I believe in the original document. But I do not believe that I must blindly follow it; for I answer to a Higher Power.
I'm not saying that there isn't a problem. What I'm saying is that the problem is remarkable because of its relative rarity.
I spent some time in eastern Europe a few years back observing the police there. They have a huge problem with police abuse of power. I watched the corruption of the UN police sent into the Balkans in the 1990's and saw the abuse of power and corruption of the UN cops. I know the extent of police abuse throughout the world. We have a very, very small problem by comparison.
Does that mean we should tolerate the abuse of our rights and privileges by the police/government? HELL NO! but keep some perspective. We can and should demand the highest level of professionalism by those appointed to serve us as police officers, but it's not as bad as you seem to allude.
Does it happen: Yes
Should it happen: No
Is it as frequent as people are led to believe: No
Should we be vigilant: Yes
The time will come, maybe soon, when we will need the police to stop the government from abusing us. Not that we can't do it if it comes down to brass tacks and penny nails, but a county sheriff has more authority than a whole busload of ATF thugs. Wouldn't it be better to have the sheriff on our side?
Walter & Brutus,
There ARE in FACT well in excess of a 1 million tax grazing law enforcement officers.
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos160.htm
This data apparently does not included other tax parasite agencies that I can tell such as:
Secret Service
TSA
ICE
Border Patrol
BATFE
Internal Revenue Service
DEA
NSA
DIA
Military Police
EPA
US Park Service
I am sure I missed more than a few.
note 1: some of the above agencies although they do not have a specific law enforcement mission, they do have and exercise police powers.
note 2 : Bare in mind that this data is 2 years old and law enforcement numbers have continued to bloat out of control in the interim.
Walter, in reply to your suggestion to "ride along".......been there, done that, got the Tee shirt, sweat pants, tennis shoes, warm up jacket and baseball cap.
Up until a few years ago, I was among the most ardent and supportive people out there in support of the law enforcement.
Being around them and observing the local police up close and personal has given me an insight and experience that totally changed that false perception.
I was shocked at the degree of entrenched corruption, graft, criminal behavior, and outright blood lust arrogance & loathing for the public most if not nearly all law enforcement officers have.
One comment in particular sticks in my mind that a law enforcement officer made to me that summed up and codified the level and degree of superiority and elitism most LEO's have toward the public.
"The Sheep hate the sheep dog".
As a retired military officer and disabled veteran, it makes my stomach turn to hear such talk from public servants who have sworn and oath to protect our rights and property, not to mention our constitution.
As one of our county's largest land owners and tax payers, it just grates me to see my hard earned tax dollars being pissed away on tax grazing parasites and traitors such as this.
continued below
Continued from above:
I agree that all cops are not bad but far to few are good or even qualified.
"How many people in your community have been shot, beaten to death, taken to torture chambers and given an acid bath?"
Well, Walter, in answer to your question, I cannot atest to the acid bath but do chemical weapon attacks count? 1,000s of people, MANY of them innocent have been shot, beaten to death, and tortured by law enforcement officers. Taser weapons are lethal weapons that have NO other purpose other than to torture the victim into submission.
Do you know what an LRAD is???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSMyY3_dmrM
Remember Oscar Grant??? The black kid who was executed by racial domestic terrorist BART cop Johannes Mehserle.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/01/07/23421.htm
http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-bart-shooting-hearing,0,5297322.story
Oscar Grant was not exactly on the list with the "Messiah" for the Nobel Prize but he did NOT deserve to be shot in the back and executed like some rabid animal.
Walter, I can literally fill up pages with links to literally 1,000's of police terrorism & abuse verified news stories.
The United States Constitution IS the SUPREME law of the land.......NOBODY is above it, at least not in this world.
My opinion and this post is NOT about cop hating......it IS a wake up call. Our system is bad broke and dying. Wake up and smell the coffee.
I don't call our police for ANYTHING except to come and clean up the mess when I am done.
I love my country and served it for nearly a quarter century in military uniform and went to war for it. It pains me to no end to see it being systematically poisoned and slowly killed off.
What our government and law enforcement is doing to "US"....."WE" the people is NO DIFFERENT than what the King's British soldiers and appointed rulers did to the very first Americans. The ONLY thing they haven't done YET is to quarter soldiers in our homes.
As Mark Twain once said: "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please."
defiant: Sir: First, thank you for your service to our country.
Next: I too am a disabled veteran of that nasty little war in SE Asia a while back. I spent 5 years AD and four more in the Guard/Reserve. I also spent more than 30 years as a LEO, 21 of which in a very large agency in California, the remainder in a variety of federal, state and county agencies. I taught law enforcement ethics, studied the issue from both the inside and the outside. I guess you could say been there, etc. about me too.
Next: Specific examples of abuses by cops are easy to find. Unfortunately, most of us rely on "news" reports, whether the "mainstream" or the internet/blogosphere. Then there are rumors and word of mouth; everyone has a "I heard from my sister's husband's cousin" story. I'd say, check your information before believing it. We tend to believe that which supports our own point of view and to disregard that which doesn't. Take for example the killing of Oscar Grant: The BART cop who shot him was guilty of a number of things, but premeditated murder was not among them. What? You say. Well, as Paul Harvey used to say, "Here's the rest of the story": The cop who shot poor Oscar did not execute him, he discharged his pistol into his body in the act of attempting to physically subduing him. The cop stupidly tried to push him/hold him down while holding his pistol in his hand and his finger on the trigger. How stupid is that? Pretty damned stupid, but not murder. Do I in any way condone this? Not for a second. But facts are facts and that's the "rest of the story".
Next: Do the math: let's take your figure of 1 million "cops" of various flavors. That would make a theoretical 261 million man-days per year of opportunity for the cops to abuse citizens. Any cop worth his paycheck could easily abuse one person per day.
Assuming there are 306 million people in the US, that would mean you and I had a slightly better than 85% chance of being abused by a cop each and every year of our lives. Well, I don't know where you live, but I'd say you have a few options: 1. Move to an area where the cops are not so abusive, 2. Start challenging the politicians to do a better job controlling the cops, 3. Start killing them.
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