More About The Patriot Post
Our Vision
"For we must consider that we shall be as a City upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us." —John Winthrop, 1630 (Pilgrim & First Governor of Massachusetts)
The Patriot Post is the Journal of Record for the modern American revolution revitalized by Ronald Reagan, as inspired by the original American Revolution led by George Washington, and waged by the current generation of American Patriots from all walks of life. We remain, as our forefathers, steadfast in our resolve to support and defend at all cost, American Liberty, and the unalienable rights of all people to "Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness."
We believe that individual Liberty, the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and the promotion of free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values, can be secured only through the proper exercise of individual rights and responsibilities enshrined by our nation's Founders in our Declaration of Independence and codified in its subordinate exposition, our Republic's Constitution.
As finite guidance for understanding the plain language of our Constitution, we rely, first and foremost, on the writings of those Founders who authored it, including the clear and comprehensive defense of that venerable document in The Federalist Papers by James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and John Jay.
In accordance with the wisdom set forth by our Founders, we know that the constitutionally-authorized role of our central government was, and remains, limited, as defined by the Tenth Amendment to our Constitution, and noted by Thomas Jefferson: "I consider the foundation of the Constitution as laid on this ground that 'all powers not delegated to the United States, by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states or to the people.' To take a single step beyond the boundaries thus specially drawn around the powers of Congress, is to take possession of a boundless field of power, not longer susceptible of any definition."
The Constitution and its 10th Amendment is very specific about the limited powers of the central government versus those reserved by the several states and the people, but constitutional federalism has suffered sever insult, most notably first by our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln, and in the 20th and 21st centuries by the administrations of Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Lyndon Baines Johnson and Barack Hussein Obama. The encroachment on those powers continues largely unabated to this day, accelerated by what Jefferson called the "despotic branch"—judicial activists that do the bidding of those in the executive and legislative branches.
Indeed, many of our Founder's concerns about the usurpation of power by the central government have been borne out. Though the Federalists provided a mechanism to alter our Constitution for redress of those issues, few leaders today have the vision and courage of our Founders. As a result, the "central government" prescribed by our Constitution as ratified in 1787, as re-affirmed by Ronald Reagan's Executive Order on Federalism in 1987 (our Constitution's Bicentennial), bears little resemblance to the "federal government" today.
Thus, we have become a nation where the Rule of Law is at great risk by the rule of men—the latter being wholly antithetical and hostile to the immeasurable sacrifice of millions of Patriots since the battles of Lexington and Concord, in support of Liberty. We know, as did John Adams, "A Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."
The dissemination of The Patriot Post's timeless message of American Liberty, limited government and free enterprise is critical to the furtherance of our Founders' vision for a free people. As Thomas Paine wrote, "Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it."
Throughout history, the burden of keeping the flame of Liberty bright has fallen on the shoulders of a few men and women. As Founding Patriot Samuel Adams once noted, "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." We welcome to our ranks, Patriots from all walks of life who are singularly devoted to the cause of Liberty. Our devotion to that cause is as steadfast as that of Patrick Henry: "Give me liberty or give me death!"
To those who do not rise that call, again, on the words of Sam Adams, "If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!"
Statement of Faith
IChThUS Imprimis — Christ First
Resolved by the Board of Directors that we, and the National Advisory Committee, Editors and Staff of The Patriot Post, willingly and of our own free will, affirm our belief in, reliance upon and commitment to the God of Christendom, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
We further Resolve, that the Board of Directors, National Advisory Committee, Editors and Staff of The Patriot Post, affirm our commitment to advocate the Credo outlined in The Patriot's statement of First Principles, including the advocacy of standards of righteousness that honor God and His precepts for living, and adherence to a standard of truth, based on God's Word.
ADOPTED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS ACTING IN THEIR OWN BEHALF, AND ON THAT OF THE NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE, EDITORS AND STAFF OF THE PATRIOT POST, UPON ITS INCEPTION, AND RENEWED EVERY YEAR THEREAFTER.
Note: Meet The Patriot Post's Chaplains
Statement of Principles
Principium Imprimis — First Principles
We believe that individual Liberty and personal responsibility, together with limited government, free enterprise and a stalwart national defense, are essential to sustain the legacy of our national heritage.
Individual liberty rapidly decays into corruption and anarchy without a meaningful commitment to personal responsibility based on our nation's Judeo-Christian heritage. Traditional beliefs and values must therefore continue to serve as our touchstone and compass.
On comprehending history, Thomas Sowell wrote: “One of the most important reasons for studying history is that virtually every stupid idea that is in vogue today has been tried before and proved disastrous before, time and again. Do we need to keep repeating the same mistakes forever?”
That is a contemporary version of this observation from 20th century philosopher George Santayana, who concluded in his treatise, The Life of Reason: “Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” English writer and dystopian philosopher Aldous Huxley put it more succinctly: “That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons of history.”
In 1764, as revered historian Edward Gibbon “sat musing amidst the ruins” of Rome, he was inspired to write about the failure of republics. It is no small irony that the original text of his seminal work, “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” was published in 1776, as our Patriot ancestors were declaring our innate right to Liberty. Gibbon outlined in detail how opulence and entitlement led to the incremental degradation of civic virtue.
The 18th/19th century Scotsman Alexander Fraser Tytler, a lawyer and professor of history at the prestigious University of Edinburgh, summarized the link between opulence and loss of virtue as follows: “[Patriotism], like all other affections and passions, operates with the greatest force where it meets with the greatest difficulties … but in a state of ease and safety, as if wanting its appropriate nourishment, it languishes and decays. … It is a law of nature to which no experience has ever furnished an exception, that the rising grandeur and opulence of a nation must be balanced by the decline of its heroic virtues.”
This contiguous rise and decline has been characterized as "The Cycle of Democracy" (often misattributed to Tytler as its source). The cycle follows this sequence:
From bondage to spiritual faith;
From spiritual faith to great courage;
From courage to Liberty (Rule of Law);
From Liberty to abundance;
From abundance to selfishness;
From selfishness to complacency;
From complacency to apathy;
From apathy to dependence;
From dependence back into bondage (rule of men).
Tytler’s assertion about the relationship between opulence and decadence reflected his astute understanding of human nature.
Put another way by contemporary post-apocalyptic novelist Michael Hopf in "Those Who Remain": "Hard times create strong men. Strong men create good times. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times."
As for the gap between dependence and bondage, philosopher and author of Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, wrote, "The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time." Are we irrevocably locked into the Cycle of Democracy where rule of men is inevitable, or will Republican Rule of Law prevail?
Our Founders established a republican form of government in order to enfeeble the Cycle of Democracy, however, the advent of a national means of shaping public opinion (mass media) has broadly undermined those republican protections. The politicians who control most of these media propagandists, promote "democracy" -- dependence on the state by expanding statist power through the redistribution of wealth, and rewarding votes from their subjugated constituencies with benefits from the public treasury. Thus, our Republic is at higher risk of following the same degenerative cycle as democracies, unless there is intervention by leaders committed to republican principles, a higher calling than their own self interests.
Our national political parties, Republicans and Democrats, take their respective names from these two distinct and antithetical forms of government. Their names alone project whether they promote the Liberty of republicanism, or tyranny of democracy.
We believe a government that is strong but limited secures Liberty best. The letter of the Constitution defines these limitations, and when our government oversteps them, it becomes tyrannical — regardless of the party in power. This notion of limited government — Lex Rex and not Rex Lex — guided our Founders as they composed the Declaration of Independence. This established a nation guided by the rule of law, not the rule of men.
We believe the fundamental duty of the federal government is to secure the rights of its citizens. This is accomplished through a fair and robust justice system, a strong national defense, and a foreign policy that always puts America's interests first.
We believe that the Constitution of the United States is supreme law of the land, and the best instrument yet instituted by man for protecting personal Liberty by establishing a limited and defined role for government. Its genius lies in its clear separation of powers at the federal level and its recognition that other non-enumerated powers reside with the states and their citizens.
We believe that the only economic philosophy congruent with these commitments to individual Liberty and limited government is free market capitalism. Individuals contribute to this system through personal industry and initiative; government contributes by confining its regulatory activity within constitutional limits and by employing a system of taxation that is fair and comprehensible for all citizens. Entitlements and welfare schemes destroy not only personal initiative and responsibility, but also Liberty and prosperity. Political freedom is inseparable from economic freedom. Thus, when the government stays within its constitutional role, America prospers.
In 1916 an outspoken advocate for Liberty, William J. H. Boetcker, published a tract entitled "The Ten Cannots." It fittingly contrasts the competing political and economic agendas of the right and left in this era:
- You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich.
- You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
- You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence.
- You cannot help small men by tearing down big men.
- You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
- You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
- You cannot establish security on borrowed money.
- You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they will not do for themselves.
Indeed.
However, now the Democrat Party is replete with western apologists for socialist political and economic agendas advocating, essentially, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist collectivism.
Nineteenth-century historian Alexis de Tocqueville once observed, "Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude."
Tocqueville was commenting on Liberty and free enterprise, American style, versus socialism as envisioned by emerging protagonists of centralized state governments. And he saw on the horizon a looming threat — a threat that would challenge the freedoms writ in the blood and toil of our nation's Founders and generations since who have honored their oaths "to support and defend" our Constitution.
Unfortunately, few in the Executive, Legislative or Judicial branches of government abide by their solemn oaths.
We envision an America where the primacy of constitutional authority, especially constraints on the legislature and judiciary, will be restored in order to ensure Liberty, opportunity, prosperity and civil society; where the primacy of traditional families and timeless values are the foundation of culture; where the primacy of religious Liberty restores religious expression in the public square; and where we can rest assured that our nation is fully capable of defending our national security and national interests.
Let there be no doubt, then, that The Patriot's allegiance to our Constitution and the authority of our Declaration of Independence far exceeds loyalty to any individual, organization or political party. Indeed, it is this selfsame allegiance that brought The Patriot Post into being.
Our Logo and Motto
Our mission and operation principles are reflected in the Latin and Greek used in our publications.
Our logo features a single star among 50, conveying that our strength and unity is in "One Nation Under God," on a foundation of the rights of each state, as our Founders intended.
Our motto is Latin, as was customary among our Founders:
Veritas vos Liberabit
(The Truth Will Make You Free — from John 8:32)
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus Et Fidelis
(Always Vigilant, Strong, Prepared And Faithful)
Other translations of elements in our publications include:
Pro Deo Et Libertate — 1776
(For God And Liberty — 1776)
Pro Deo Et Constitutione — Libertas Aut Mors
(For God And Constitution — Liberty Or Death)
Fidelis Deo Et Patriaeque
(Faithful To God And Country)
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
(To Keep Peace, Prepare For War)
De Oppresso Liber
(To Liberate The Oppressed)
Lex Et Libertas
(Law And Liberty)
Ichthus Imprimis:
Ichthus is the Greek spelling for "fish" and a noted symbol of early Christendom as Jesus called on His disciples to be "Fishers of Men." In the early Church, when believers were being persecuted, a secret method for determining if a stranger was a fellow Christian, was to draw a crescent shape on the sand. If the stranger drew the inverse of that crescent shape, thus completing the Ichthus symbol, that conveyed he or she was a fellow Christian.
Ichthus forms the Greek acronym: Iota Chi (Jesus Christ) Theta Upsilon (Son Of God) Sigma (Savior).
Imprimis means foremost.
Guiding Documentation
Primary Sources
- Holy Bible
- The Code of Hammurabi
- The Constitutions of Clarendon
- The Magna Carta
- The Declaration of Arbroath
- English Bill of Rights
- Mayflower Compact
- U.S. Declaration of Independence
Secondary Sources
- U.S. Constitution
- The Federalist Papers
- The Anti-Federalist Papers
Scripture
- "Proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof." —Leviticus 25:10, as inscribed on the Liberty Bell
- "[B]ut as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." —Joshua 24:15b
- "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." —Psalm 33:12a
- "[A]nd you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." —John 8:32
- "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." —2 Corinthians 3:17
- "See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority." —Colossians 2:8-10
Founders
- "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. ... Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God." —Thomas Jefferson
- "If you love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen." —Samuel Adams
- "A nation which can prefer disgrace to danger is prepared for a master, and deserves one!" —Alexander Hamilton
- "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." —Benjamin Franklin
- "Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God, I know not what course others may take, but give me liberty or give me death!" —Patrick Henry
- "Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports." —George Washington
- "Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people." —John Adams
