Do we understand the purpose of government? If we do not, then we cannot actually get the government that we need to preserve. Instead we get the government that rules over us.
Alternatively you can listen to the “The Blessings of Liberty” by KrisAnne Hall on YouTube
If we want to understand the operation of Congress, we need to understand the press for power. This is the danger to America. The Danger of bipartisan power.
Alternatively listen to “The Bipartisan Nature of Power” by KrisAnne Hall on YouTube
Are we too pacified in prosperity, lazy in luxury, or complacent in compliance to hear this message? One worth repeating.
Alternately, you can listen to Righteous Resistance or Passive Submission by KrisAnne Hall on YouTube
Truth is stranger than fiction…and the federal government is living beyond those expectations. I can’t make this stuff up, and sadly, I wish I was.
Alternatively you can listen to this edition of The KrisAnne Hall Show on YouTube
I would like to introduce Taegan, our newest Liberty First intern. She describes herself as:
Not Just Entertainment, But Self-Preservation
by Taegan James
For my last day at Liberty First, the Hall family took me to a sushi and hibachi restaurant so I could get the “hibachi experience” for the first time. The menu was so foreign to me, and I had no idea what anything even meant. I ended up ordering Chicken Teriyaki Hibachi for myself, and we all got some sushi to share. Now, my sushi experiences had previously been limited to a small town Michigan restaurant, and a mall food court. The only rolls I had ever tried were just wrapped in some plant-like film, so you can imagine my surprise 
when the sushi arrived and some were wrapped in raw fish. I have decided that I’m only grossed out if I think about the fact that I’m eating raw fish because once I got over the initial texture, I loved all the different types of sushi rolls. I even got in a lot of practice with chopsticks, and might be close to an intermediate level!
When we had finished, the hibachi chef showed up and began his presentation and food preparation. The flames were leaping, he was flipping around his utensils, and did some pretty cool food tricks. My favorite thing he did was make a volcano out of onion ringlets and a little oil. Indeed the presentation was entertaining, and we all gleefully applauded his work. But he wasn’t just there for the purpose of entertaining; the food he prepared was absolutely delicious. The purpose of going to the restaurant was to eat, and the entertainment was simply an added bonus to the food.
Likewise, the purpose of gun ownership is not for entertainment. We don’t own guns because we enjoy hunting, skeet shooting, or gun collecting. I enjoy shooting guns as much as the next person because it IS quite fun.
But the reason we have a right to keep in bear arms is so we may preserve our lives, liberties, and properties, not from criminals, but from the government itself. The media tries so hard to cater to the liberal agenda and blame guns for all the recent violence, but murder, mass killings, and acts of terror happen regardless of whether guns are involved or not. Just the other day, a man went on a stabbing spree at a center for the disabled in Japan, killing 19 and injuring 25. No gun was involved. Two men invaded a Catholic Church in France during morning mass, beheaded a priest, and took four others hostage. Again, no gun. Both Japan and France have extremely strict gun laws, yet that did not stop these killings. Evil dwells in the human, not in the instrument, and laws prohibiting weapons do not make the public safer.
There is a reason the second amendment was included in the Bill of Rights. Our Founders were not concerned with hunting, sport, collecting, or criminals. Now, it is not the Constitution that grants you the right to keep and bear arms; it is a natural right. Samuel Adams wrote, “Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right life; Secondly, to liberty; Thirdly, to property; together with the right to support and defend them in the best manner they can” (Sovereign Duty 136). 
The best manner to defend against tyrannical encroachments on life, liberty, and property is the use of guns! The Founding Fathers understood the necessity for the people to be able to punish tyranny if the need arose.
The only argument I’ve ever heard against the second amendment pertains to the phrase “a well-regulated militia,” and I never knew how to defend our right to bear arms against that contention, until now. KrisAnne walks everyone through the meaning of that clause in the Disarming of America class (photos from that class are featured here). She shows, through primary sources, the meanings of “militia” and well-regulated” from the men actually who created the Constitution. George Mason tells us that the militia is the WHOLE body of the people, with the exception of the regular troops and public officers. That means that every single person, withstanding those public officers, IS the militia, and has the rights to keep and bear arms. The phrase “well-regulated” simply means the whole body is taught how to bears arms at a young age in order to exercise that right in the same way every time, without deviation or error. That is the proper and accurate meaning of “a well-regulated militia”; not a selected group under the control and regulation of the government. The whole body of the people should be able to outnumber the government in arms in order to repel a standing army and defend themselves.
Perhaps the time has not, and may never, come when we need to take up arms against internal tyranny, but what if we do? We know there is corruption within government. We know our rights and liberties have been altered, infringed upon, and are on the brink of being revoked altogether. How are we supposed to rein in tyrants? Perhaps we assemble and hold hearings to punish and remove them from office. Patrick Henry mocked this idea and the man who suggested it by saying, “O sir, we should have fine times, indeed, if, to punish tyrants, it were only sufficient to assemble the people! … Did you ever read of any revolution in a nation, brought about by the punishment of those in power, inflicted by those who had no power at all?” (Debate in Virginia Ratifying Convention). The federal government knows We the People hold this power, and this is why they are slowly disarming the public.
They are turning the RIGHT to keep and bear arms into a PRIVILEGE by requiring their permission to own and use a gun. Before you know it, they will stop granting us their permission; effectively disarming the people. If you can disarm the people, you can enslave them. We are not subjects in a kingdom; we are citizens in a republic, and the employers of the government. Let’s keep it that way.
Pursuing truth and defending liberty, always.
-A Devoted Patriot
“…governments are instituted among men, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed.” Who has control? We have all the information we need to answer that question…yet “we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not.” Please hear the truth and then be doers of the word not just hearers.
Alternatively you can listen to “Is America Ruled, or Governed” by KrisAnne Hall on YouTube
Here is the comic strip we talked about on air: https://www.facebook.com/PearlsComic/?fref=nf&pnref=story
I would like to introduce Taegan, our newest Liberty First intern. She describes herself as:
The Most Magical Place on Earth
by Taegan James
You know where I’m talking about: Walt Disney World. As a kid, I never had the opportunity to go there. It seems like everyone I meet, who is my age, went to Disney as a child. Whenever I tell someone that I’ve never been there, I get one of two responses: a look of disbelief and horror, or one of sympathy. After spending a week in Idaho, Liberty First is now in Florida for a few days; more specifically, Orlando. Well today I got to go to Disney World!!! Just kidding, but we did go to Disney Springs, which is the next best thing. It may not have been Magic Kingdom, but this place was pretty magical. There are cute little shops, exotic restaurants, and some pretty amazing sights to see. During my time at Disney Springs, we went to Sosa Family Cigars, ate lunch at the Rainforest Cafe (which is inside a volcano), stopped at the Lego store, found some souvenirs at World of Disney, and 
savored a Mickey Mouse cake pop from the Candy Cauldron. I may have never been to the real Walt Disney World, but this counts, right? Some people I know, have been to Disney World so many times that it no longer seems like a magical place, and they take its beauty and charm for granted. Maybe they just need to remember how blessed they are to be there, and rediscover all the things that make Walt Disney World worth their time and energy.
There is another place that is pretty magical as well: America. Now it may not seem that way with the current state of our union, but we do live in a pretty unique, and blessed country. We have the freedom to practice, or not to practice, whichever religion we can best reconcile with our conscience. That is fairly unique quality to America. As a nation, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights” (Declaration of Independence). We believe in these principles because the United States of America was founded on the Judeo-Christian worldview; the ONLY worldview that maintains the equality and liberty of all men. Many may say that we are a “Christian” nation, but that is simply not true. We are not now, and were not intended to be. That would make our government a theocracy, and theocracy in the hands of men always degenerates into tyranny. Americans have the complete freedom to serve, or not to serve, God in whatever way they please; so long as they do not take away or infringe upon the lives and liberties of others. That means, EVERY religion is allowed in this country as long as its followers are upholding the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance of it.
There are so many people in this nation who take our liberties and freedoms for granted. Whether they abuse, ignore, or are simply unaware of their liberties, that is failing to use our God-given rights to their fullest potential. I heard from KrisAnne that a Supreme Court Justice here in Florida conducted a poll on the First Amendment. He found that only 2% of the people polled could name all five liberties protected in the First Amendment. That is a shocking statistic. KrisAnne conducts this poll in many of her classes as well. When many of the people find they do not know all five either, she asks, “If you do not even know what your liberties are, how do you know that they are not already gone?” If you don’t know your rights, then you most likely are not exercising them. If you are not exercising them, they are being taken for granted and are the rights that will not exist for the future generations of America. We have become so “pacified in prosperity, lazy in luxury, and complacent and compliant in comfort,” that we no longer care if we are giving up our liberties in the name of security (KrisAnne Hall, lecture). This is like someone who has gone to Disney World so many times that they don’t care if they ever step a foot in there again. But how many people would jump at the opportunity to go to Epcot, Universal Studies, or Magic Kingdom? I know I would. How many MORE people world-wide would do anything just to live in a country where they have the freedom of conscience? The freedom of speech? The freedom to worship whoever and however the want? The right to a trial by jury? Or how about this, even the simple freedom of voting. You see, there are billions of people who do not have these freedoms in their countries. As Americans, we take all of these liberties for granted at some point, or even every day. Sure, every four years (or two if you’re a stellar citizen) we cast a ballot and think that’s enough to fulfill our civic duty. But the fight to preserve and defend liberty is not something you do once every two or four years, it is something you must do every day. We do live in a very special nation, but it may not be the magical land of free for long. It’s about time we wake up, give ourselves an attitude adjustment, be thankful for the blessings we have, and start taking advantage of them.
Pursuing truth and defending liberty, always.
-A Devoted Patriot
I would like to introduce Taegan, our newest Liberty First intern. She describes herself as:
Moments of Clarity and Confusion
by Taegan James
My apologies for not writing this last night. Saturday was an extremely busy, but enjoyable, day in Bonners Ferry, Idaho, and I was simply too tired to bring myself to write (and I wasn’t even the one who taught for eight hours).
What a great little town Bonners Ferry is. I do, however, have one complaint: ALL of the places that sell ice cream close at 2:00 pm on Saturday afternoons. That seems so absurd to me. Saturday afternoons are the perfect time to get a nice ice cream cone or sundae, but that is almost impossible in this little Idaho town. I was bound and determined to follow through with my obligation to buy Colton ice cream after I lost the pizza bet. Someone had recommended a place called Sharon’s Country Store because they, supposedly, had the best ice cream in northern Idaho. Closed. Then we saw what looked like an Amish grocery market with a sign that advertised wonderful homemade ice cream. Closed. Unwilling to give up the quest, I searched for ice cream places on Google and found Love Light Creamery and Grille. After finally locating the place, what do think we discovered? Closed. At this point I am a little frustrated and we are all so confused as to why nothing is open on this lovely Saturday afternoon. As our last resort, Colton and I went into a Safeway grocery store and bought us a pint of Ben & Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream. 
While KrisAnne grabbed a quick cat-nap, Colton and I devoured the entire pint in the car. Now that I have paid up from my losing wager, Colton keeps trying to make bets with me… sorry, I’m not falling for that again! We concluded that the people of Bonners Ferry are very family oriented and probably close up shops in order to spend their weekends spending some quality time together. I suppose that is an honorable (and permissible) reason why it’s so difficult to find any ice cream.
Something else confused me the other day. I was called a Democrat for the first time in my entire life. Well, a “libtard Democrap” to be more specific. If you ask my friends from Grinnell, IA, they can attest to the fact that there is nothing liberal about me. Let me tell you, I laughed out loud when I read this. Someone saw the article I shared about Dick Posner on Twitter and attacked me for pointing out the fact that he is a Reagan-appointee. That is the only reason. It absolutely astounds me that many people cast stones at the opposite party for their wrongdoings, but they can’t even condemn those in their own party for the same actions. This is black and white, people! Evil is evil no matter what! If this republic is to be restored, ALL must practice “principal over party” and “truth over your favorite personality” (KrisAnne Hall). I realize that I am exposing myself to backlash by writing this blog, but bring it on, “I am determined to proceed” (James Otis Jr.).
I apologize, I’m kind of doing a lot of ranting today, but the following topics raise my blood pressure every time I hear them. First of all, I absolutely cannot tolerate inaccurate history. I have a HUGE love for history. My high school history teacher, Mr. Dan Covino, instilled in me an unquenchable thirst and enthusiasm for historical truth. I took every single history course offered at Grinnell High School, and I am pursuing at least a minor in History at Hillsdale College. So, there are few things that ruffle my feathers more than historical fallacies and incorrect revisions. As the people of Idaho have learned all week, our history is being rewritten constantly. The original Declaration of Independence reads “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America” (Pocket Constitution). Now, there are versions in print that read “The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America.” Do you see the difference? The “u” in “united” originally was, and still should be, a lowercase letter. The reason for is that it describes the condition of the States and NOT a whole nation or central government because it hadn’t even been created yet. Another thing that chaps my khakis is the way Robin Hood is inaccurately portrayed as a Bernie-loving socialist who redistributes wealth so that the kingdom can be on equal footing. NO! Through accurate presentation of historical FACT, KrisAnne points out that Robin Hood didn’t “rob from the rich to give to the poor,” but was simply taking back the money King John ROBBED from the people. Or how about this one: July 4, 1776 is NOT the day we declared independence from Great Britain. It was actually on July 2, 1776 with the ratification of Richard Henry Lee’s “Lee Resolution” that we became free and independent. Independence Day actually used to be celebrated, accurately, on July 2nd, until the 1800s. Until my time with Liberty First, I had never been taught this. It causes me great confusion and distress that these historical truths are not common knowledge, and are not taught in schools.
I have one last thing I’d like to rave about. Now this one just blows my mind. I’m sure most readers are aware that KrisAnne Hall was placed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-government extremist groups. If I recall, she said there are 995 groups on that list, and her. She is the ONLY singular person on the list of anti-government extremist “groups.” That in and of itself is absurd because it is impossible for one person to be a group. That, however, is not the most confusing aspect of her presence on this infamous list. KrisAnne teaches the Constitution, which is the compact that CREATED the federal government. As she says, how is it plausible, reasonable, or even logical, that someone who teaches the Constitution can be anti-government? Preposterous. Absolutely ludicrous. Go check out the Southern Poverty Law Center. This site is pure comedic gold.
Alright, enough of my exasperated sentiments. Throughout the day, a few ideas (some of which are quite whimsical) popped into my head. Firstly, I think I would like to be added to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s list of anti-government extremists, if I’m not already. I’d even put that on my resume. Secondly, from this day forward I will celebrate Independence Day on the rightful, accurate date of July 2nd. Sure, I’ll participate in the festivities of the 4th, but the 2nd is the real day that should be celebrated and revered. Additionally, I think I want to name my firstborn son (if I should ever have one) “Henry Lee” after both Patrick Henry and Richard Henry Lee. I would like to preserve their legacies and raise my child to fight for liberty, as they did. Finally, I may have found a new idea for my second tattoo (I know, sorry Mom… but I plead freedom of speech). James Otis Jr.’s words, “let the consequences be what they will, I am determined to proceed” have such an impact on me every time I hear them. (To learn more about him, there’s more information in a previous blog or buy this book) I identify with him SO much that I am brought to tears by these words, and he is now one of my biggest inspirations and favorite American heroes. No matter what is to come, I know that the Lord is on my side, and “I am determined to proceed” in the fight for liberty and freedom.
Pursuing truth and defending liberty, always.
-A Devoted Patriot
I had a “discussion” with Cong. Tim Walberg from Michigan last night. It was eye opening (infuriating) to say the least. Listen is as Walberg exposes Congress and Congressmen like him in their destruction of our Liberties.
Contact Congressman Walberg:
Washington, D.C. Office
2436 Rayburn HOB
Washington, D.C. 20515
Phone: (202) 225-6276
Fax: (202) 225-6281
Jackson Office
110 1st Street, Suite 2
Jackson, MI 49201
Phone: (517) 780-9075
Fax: (517) 780-9081
Alternatively you can listen to Congressman Tim Walberg Exposes Congress by KrisAnne Hall on YouTube,
Also the original video with Walberg being schooled on the Constitution can be found here.
I would like to introduce Taegan, our newest Liberty First intern. She describes herself as:
Being a Liberty First intern means that you get to try lots of different foods and go to new restaurants while on the road. Today, Colton got to pick what was for lunch and he picked a place called Blaze Pizza. This might have been the coolest pizza joint I have ever been to; it was like the Subway of pizza! Each person gets to create their own personal sized pizza and then watch while it cooks in an oven of fire. Let me tell you, this pizza tasted just as good as it looked. I wasn’t able to finish mine, and Colton said that was weak. I retorted that he couldn’t eat his entire pizza, and there a wager was formed. Tip: never make a bet with Colton Hall when it comes to food, especially pizza. Sure enough, he licked the platter clean, and now I owe him ice cream. But my favorite part of the experience at Blaze Pizza in Spokane, WA, was talking to the owner. He was mingling with everyone in the restaurant, and he presently made his way over to our table. Colton and I had already spoken with him once while KrisAnne was on the phone with Southwest, but the second conversation is what I want to tell you about. He inquired what we were doing in town, and KrisAnne told him all about the Liberty First mission and how it aims to properly teach the Constitution and train people to defend their liberties. He was so astonished to hear about what KrisAnne does and expressed much appreciation for her dedication. Then, he asked if we had heard of Hillsdale College. You can imagine the look on his face when I told him that I am a student there. I even gave a recruitment speech for him to relay to his daughter about why she needs to attend.
I offered to give them a tour when they decided to come and visit campus. He is shown here in the photo. These are the kinds of interactions that makes Liberty First what it is. Quiet, almost unnoticed moments that sow the seeds of liberty in the everyday people of America.
There is a historical act of liberty that, despite common misconception, was completed quietly and solemnly. This event I am referring to is the Boston Tea Party on March 31, 1774. Many portrayals of the famous tea-dumping depict patriots dressed as Mohicans angrily throwing the crates over and behaving in a manner that suggests riot ensued. This, however, was not the case. As KrisAnne explained in her Disarming of America class, the Boston Tea Party was actually a very silent, reserved protest. The men did not riotously storm and loot the ship, but very calmly obtained the key from the ship-master, took care of their business, and left quietly. They even repaid the East India Trading Company for the money lost in damages. We don’t see these peaceful protests in America today. Instead, we see mobs and riots that destroy, loot, and set afire private property. And to do what, exactly? They are not fighting for liberty because by damaging others’ property, they violate the liberty of others. Protests, on the other hand, properly exercise the freedom to assemble in order to stand against injustice.
I learned about countless other quiet acts in the name of liberty; some of which I had never before heard. Mercy Otis Warren wrote plays about the principles of liberty throughout the colonies. Wives and daughters of wealthy merchants and notable businessmen courageously signed their names on a document; refusing to purchase the taxed goods the British crowned mandated. An elderly woman convinced British regular troops that a patriot army was on its way so that Paul Revere could escape and warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock. All of these actions were done in the name of liberty, and are generally unheard of or go unnoticed today. What if these people of the past hadn’t done their part? You see, every single person has their own role to play in securing and defending liberty. Whether it’s teaching the Constitution and education the public like KrisAnne Hall, or simply exercising your five 1st Amendment rights on a regular basis, you are living a liberty lifestyle. If every American plays their part, we will be well on our way to restoring the republic.
Pursuing truth and defending liberty, always.
-A Devoted Patriot