"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

 --- Thomas Jefferson, 3rd US President

"I am a most unhappy man. I have unwittingly ruined my country. A great industrial nation is controlled by its system of credit. Our system of credit is concentrated. The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men. We have come to be one of the worst ruled, one of the most completely controlled and dominated Governments in the world - no longer a Government of free opinion, no longer a Government by conviction and vote of the majority, but a Government by the opinion and duress of small groups of dominant men."

--- Woodrow Wilson, 28th US President, regretting his decision to assist in the creation of the Federal Reserve System

Audio files of The Ties That Divide: Formal Rant Only - (24 mb, 24 min)   streaming mp3 Entire Broadcast - (14 mb, 60 min)  mp3   streaming mp3

5-13-09 - Broken   mp3 audio 5-03-09 - REJECTED   mp3 audio 4-29-09 - Flu Happens   mp3 audio 4-22-09 - Obummer   mp3 audio 4-15-09 - Idaho - You Can See New America From Here mp3 audio 4-8-09  - Christians? In America?   mp3 audio 4-1-09  - Ed Gov, Not Fed Gov   mp3 audio 3-25-09 - We're All Terrorists Now   mp3 audio 3-18-09 - Second Annual State of the Revolution   mp3 audio 3-11-09 - The Road to Hell is Paved with Bailout Money  mp3 audio

My name is Edgar J. Steele. 

Last week I flew cross country so that I might then take a 16-hour train ride from New Jersey to Georgia.  Yeah, lots of others said that, too.  The trip is the destination, though.  Hang in there.  I'll explain eventually. 

I attended Bob Schulz' "Jekyll Island Project" along with a number of other disparate and otherwise-unconnected leaders, opinion-molders, misfits and malcontents (I belong in the latter groups, of course). 

Mr. Schulz founded the "We The People Foundation," which began as a tax-protest group, but has evolved and now is "committed to educating Americans about their Fundamental Rights and the history, meaning and power of the Constitution, and the essential Principles of Liberty."  Kind of like what I have been doing all along in a much more haphazard and slapdash fashion. 

I have followed Bob Schulz' exploits and forays into court through the years with much interest and admiration.  Though he is not a lawyer, I am convinced that Bob is possessed of one of the finest legal minds in America today.  Perhaps it is because he is not encumbered with all that comes with being a lawyer.  Perhaps it is because he has truth and justice on his side.  Or, perhaps it seems that way to me simply because he and I agree on most things.  Regardless, I admire Bob Schulz and am thankful that he and a handful of others have the energy to try, try again to bring us together to reclaim our individual and collective rights.

Always, I have avoided joining other organizations so as to preserve at least the appearance of independence, both to you and on those increasingly-rare times that I venture into court to do battle with the windmills.  Many others join every group and organization under the sun.  Moderation in all things, though, so finally I have broken down and joined We The People.  You will hear more from me as time goes on about this affiliation because I see it as one of but a handful of hopes for preservation of the American republic.

It Came from Jekyll Island

Bottom line for now:  We met in Georgia to lay the groundwork for selecting delegates to a modern Continental Congress - something akin to the precursor for America's original Declaration of Independence and Constitution.  Yes, that one resulted in a call for armed revolution against the existing government (King George), but we specifically have ruled out the possibility of violence (except in self-defense, of course, as always). 

Hope springs eternal, I guess, else I would just hunker down here in North Idaho, rotate my food stocks, check the perimeter fences and oil my guns.  Sigh.  Well, we have to have something to do while waiting for them to come for us.

Continental Congress 2009 (CC2009) is scheduled to convene in November.  Go here to learn more about CC2009 and to become involved yourself.  I encourage it.  Hopefully, someone will nominate me to be one of the Idaho delegates and, more hopefully, I might then be elected by the good people of Idaho who participate, so that I might then attend CC2009 to assist in its deliberations and help to shape its recommendations and output.  No, CC2009's results will be binding upon nobody and will not carry the force of law in any way.  It could end up being highly influential, however.  Call it windmill-tilting if you like, but we have to do something, folks.  And fast.  Time is running out.  In fact, it is possible that November could be too late.

Georgia on My Mind

Why Georgia?  Well, it has to do with the Federal Reserve, touchstone of all that has become truly wrong with America today.  From the We The People (WTP) web site:

"On May 21-22, Patriots who have given so much for America and the preservation of its governing documents -- the greatest ever given to man – will meet at Jekyll Island where, in defense of the Constitution of the United States of America, as now written, they will lay the groundwork for a NEW AND RIGHTEOUS RECORD FOR AMERICA to replace and Redress much of the evil our Republic has endured since 1910.

"In 1910, a group of the world's most powerful financiers traveled incognito by train one night from New Jersey to Jekyll Island, Georgia to covertly design the strategic, political and legislative foundation needed to install the privately-owned banking cartel that we now know as the "Federal Reserve System."

"In 1913, this private banking cartel was quietly and fraudulently granted power by the U.S. Congress to conjure the currency of our nation out of limitless debt. For almost a century it has effectively bankrolled (through populist fraud, political deception, and financial alchemy) a broad array of escalating, unconstitutional acts by the federal Government. These acts, in violation of the fundamental Rights of the People, have taken our Republic - and the Liberty of the People - to the brink of ruin.

"On May 20th, 2009, many of the Jekyll Island participants will board an Amtrak train in New Jersey and travel overnight to Jekyll Island. They will retrace the very footsteps of the global financiers who succeeded, via stealth almost a century ago, in seizing the monetary machinery of our nation to finance their elitist and despotic ends. Those attending will meet, eat and sleep in the very same rooms occupied by the men who endeavored to enslave us for their benefit, profit, and power."

Go to their web site if you've an interest and read up on this.  I said it at the Jekyll Island conference last week and I'll say it again, here and now:  I whole-heartedly support CC2009 and will set aside any and all my personal agendas to work for its success.  Those who know me in any way will know what a remarkable statement that really is.

Is a Revolution Against the Revolution Really the Status Quo?

There are no accidents, I am fond of saying.  The day before I was to fly out, Bob Schulz called to say that he was experiencing a revolt in some quarters because I was to be included in the Jekyll Island attendees.  Some were power-tripping him by refusing to come if I attended, claiming, among other things, that I would be divisive. 

After all, as you know, even the Idaho Constitution Party has seen fit to reject only one person, ever, for membership:  me.  Why?  Let me count the ways.  I am outspoken about so many things, of course.  I readily grasp the forbidden third rails of race, religion, abortion, marriage, etc. in my ranting and raving about all that I see wrong in America today.  To my eye, the brewing Jekyll Island revolt was a microcosm of so much that ails America today.

After rejecting my initial offer to withdraw for the good of the event if he so desired, Bob Schulz then proceeded to check me out better than the FBI ever has, speaking with many patriot leaders throughout America who actually know me.  The reports were universally positive, even glowing, he said.  Proving himself to be a man of principle, Bob stood his ground and welcomed me with open arms. 

A few people did not attend the Jekyll Island conference last week, for whatever reasons.  I am resisting the almost-overwhelming urge to give you their names, though I think they deserve to hear what you think of their behavior.  They can check with the heads of the Idaho and National Constitutional Party committees concerning the firestorm they just barely missed (thanks to all of you) with their little effort at grandstanding.  There are no accidents.  We were better off without them.

There Are No Accidents

Oddly enough, before Bob Schulz had to put down his little revolt, I already had selected my presentation topic.  My contribution to the conference was to be an outspoken challenge for all of us to surmount our differences for the greater good of our country and a clarion call for unity.  But, then, that kind of has been at the core of my message down through the years.  How ironic, eh?  There are no accidents, don't forget.

Following is the entirety of the short speech that I gave at the Jekyll Island conference last week.  You decide for yourself just how divisive I proved to be.

The Ties That Divide

(Prepared remarks for Schulz Jekyll Island Project conference of 5/21/09) 

Thank you, Bob.  Ladies and gentlemen...

My name is Edgar Steele.  I am a trial lawyer from the great sovereign state of Idaho.  I have represented clients of every stripe in my 30 years in and out of state and federal courtrooms up and down the West Coast.

I am best known for struggling against the ever-shrinking limits of our Constitutional rights on behalf of the politically incorrect.  Remember, always, it is they whose rights are first infringed, then eliminated.

Always, I am amazed to hear what some people seem to think that I think about things racial.  In response, and for our purposes here today, let me say, simply, that I believe in equal rights for all and special rights for none.

Some say that patriotism is old fashioned. 

Some think that love of country is out of date. 

Some consider the slightest show of sentiment toward one’s homeland to be naive.

But, God help us – and God help our country – if the cynics, the one worlders, the intellectual dilettantes ever persuade us that these things have passed us by.

Because, ladies and gentlemen, patriotism, loyalty, sentiment...THESE THINGS ARE THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

In my lifetime, I have seen America grow and change.  I have seen her stand tall and I have seen her brought low. 

I have seen the best that America can be and now, in recent years, I have seen the worst that America can be.

But always, she has been my America...our America...and she will be our America, come what may...for better or for worse.

We have a habit here in America of forgetting what a grand and noble experiment she represented when our founding fathers wrote the Declaration of Independence and, then, the Constitution. 

We forget the sacrifices they made...in property...in family...and, finally, in their own blood. 

Sacrifices made so that we might freely come together like this to discuss and explore the possibility of peacefully righting our ship of state.

We forget the sacrifices by all those since that time.  Sacrifices made, again and again, so that we might have the freedom to consider change.

Revolt, they say, always begins in secret.  But, unlike those six men who came here to Jekyll Island nearly 100 years ago, we have made no secret of our meeting here today or of our intent. 

Be proud to be a part of this body of people, composed of so many who have sacrificed so much in defense of Liberty. 

I am proud to have been called to participate with so distinguished a body of true patriots and community leaders in exploring peaceful change to what has befallen our beloved America.

We speak, not of revolt, but of fundamental change to our system because that system now refuses to allow change by its own rules. 

It is broken.  Irretrievably broken.  Something must be done.

If not us, then who?  If not now, then when?  If not here, then where?

In all my court cases and encounters, repeatedly I have been struck by one thing:  how similar we all are, regardless of outward appearance or rhetoric.

Yet we cling to the minutest of differences in choosing to divide ourselves. 

The ties that bind become our very excuse for dividing.  Think about it for a moment:  abortion, marriage, family, community, race, religion.  Just a few of the reasons for our being together, yet excuses for bickering and fighting amongst ourselves.

Many of us here today lead organizations to which we truly are captive, such that we resist change in order to mollify and keep our followers in line. 

That is not real leadership. 

Real leaders take risks. 

Real leaders are winners. 

Don’t forget:  Winners are just losers who got up off the floor one more time than they fell.

We are our own worst enemies and we may expect to see the urge to divide at work during this conference. 

Recognize and resist that urge. 

Join me in pledging to set aside our differences for just two days while we explore ways to restore true freedom to our country. 

Indeed, while we explore ways to restore even our republic, as we have sailed well past even democratic rule, about which our forefathers warned us, beyond oligarchy and into the well-charted waters of fascism and tyranny. 

History shows us accurately the rocks upon which America is about to founder.  Rocks painted with the names Injustice, Unfairness, Prejudice and Tyranny.

I have had many up-close and personal experiences with injustice, unfairness and prejudice. 

Because of my legal representation of the politically incorrect, I get painted with the same brush that unfairly paints them even when they stand unjustly accused. 

It really is true, you know; there is no justice available in America today for the politically incorrect.

I endure even more controversy and condemnation because I dare to speak out about racial differences and the unfairness of the unequal treatment of Americans, solely on the basis of race. 

Hell, I quite literally wrote the book on this subject. 

Do not forget that America’s current Attorney General, Eric Holder, called all of us cowards for refusing to engage in just the sort of racial dialogue I have been trying to initiate for years.  And he was right.  We need that dialogue, but not during this conference.

Let us put aside differences of the sort that I encounter every day during the next two days and work together to advance the cause of liberty and to give life to this historic Continental Congress 2009 initiative. 

America worked once as a constitutional republic.  It can work again.

Don’t despair at how difficult the road ahead might seem. 

The most important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.

The only real failure in life is in giving up, you know.

I’m glad you are here.  I’m glad you risk so much to make a difference.  I’m glad so many are willing to give so much, simply by being here today.  I’m proud to call you friends.

We don’t all have to be the same.

We don’t have to have the same abilities.

We don’t have to share the same beliefs.

Dare to be different...even from one another.

I don’t know the key to success, but I do know that the key to failure is in trying to please everybody.

Heaven knows that I don’t manage to do that.

We all have a role to play.  Don’t despair at your own talents.

Now, listen closely to what I’m about to tell you...

Don’t try to be better than anybody else.  Just try to be better than yourself.

Just do that, and they will never break our spirit.  

They will never silence us.  

They will never take our freedom.

Together, we can touch lives. 

Together, we can make a difference. 

Together, we can awaken America.

Together, we can take back America.

My name is Edgar J. Steele.  Thank you.

-----------------------

-ed

Copyright ©2009, Edgar J. Steele

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