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| March 2003 Newsletter | Michael O'Hare eulogy |
Dear Constitution Party Members and Friends,
As more days go by, the elected members of Congress continue to attack the foundation of our freedoms with new legislation undermining the protection of our liberty provided in the Constitution; the Constitution they took an oath to protect and uphold.
The most recent is the Patriot Act II, legislation supported by Attorney General John Ashcroft and the President. The Patriot Act II goes far beyond the first Patriot Act in suspending the Constitutional protections of American citizens under the guise of protection from terrorism. The Constitution is simply being ignored.
Another area in which the Constitution is being ignored is the House of Representatives' failure to make a Declaration of War. Our founders did not intend that Americans be sent to fight and die in wars fought on the decision of one man. Yes, the President is Commander and Chief, but that authority is only for deployment of troops after the Congress has made the decision to go to war. Congress declares war, the President conducts the war. Congress has no Constitutional authority to pass their Constitutional duty on to the president, or even worse, the United Nations.
The "feel good" legislation of the hour is the ban on partial birth abortion. If this ban passes, not one preborn child will be saved from the abortionist. That is because there are legal alternative means to abort a child in a late term pregnancy and the abortionist will just change to those methods. This legislation is solely meant for so-called pro-life legislators to pick up brownie points with pro-life voters and provide compromising pro-life organizations a means to raise more money. Where are those Congressmen arguing that the unborn child has the Constitutional Protections that post birth children have? Voting for the Patriot Act II, I guess.
Through all this unconstitutional activity going on, the
Constitution Party must remain a voice for fidelity to
the Constitution. We must struggle forward in the face of
enormous obstacles and provide a political vehicle for
constitutionalists to carry our message and run for
office. In Wisconsin, 2003 is an off year. However,
Constitution Party members in other states are running
campaigns where elections for statewide offices and state
legislatures are being held.
The CP Mississippi has a candidate for governor, John
Cripps, who has excellent state wide name recognition.
Several years ago, Mr. Cripps led the successful
"Mississippi Flag Rebellion" which turned back the forces
of political correctness who were attempting to change
the traditional Mississippi State Flag. Forcing a state
wide referendum on the question, Cripps' forces won a
convincing victory. It is this notoriety Cripps and the
Mississippi Constitution Party hope to ride to victory in
the governor's race this year.
Here in Wisconsin, we need to keep our name in front of the people. Once again we will participate in the county fairs, but to a more scaled down extent, so as not to overly tax our volunteer base. The CPoW will work in only 20 fairs this year, but will be ready to gear up for another 50 fairs in 2004 when we have candidates on the ballot again.
Even though the fairs are in the summer, contracts for these events have been coming in since January. We need help right now paying the entry fees, since contracts are coming due now. Please help us out with some extra financial contributions as soon as possible.
Coordination of the fairs is being handled by the local units or the District Representatives where no local organization exists. Check the web site to see who your District Representative is and contact them directly to see what fairs we will be attending in your area and please offer your help by volunteering.
I've even spoken to some who are planning fund raisers at the local level to help out with the costs. Please, visit the web site at http://www.cpow.org and click the Contacts link to see who your District Representative or Local Coordinator is.
The Constitution Party National Committee will meet at the end of April in Portland, Oregon. At that time they will choose a site for the CP National Convention to be held in February 2004. At the National Convention we will rework the National Platform as is done every four years. We will begin that process here in Wisconsin with two Platform Committee Meetings. Ed Frami is chairing the Platform Committee and its first meeting will be March 29 at a site yet to be announced.
If you want to be on the Platform Committee, call Ed at 262-719-4500. Since I've been actively involved in the Constitution Party I've heard more than one voice make a comment on one thing or another regarding the Planks of our State and National Platforms. These platform committee meetings are open to any paid member and this is a perfect opportunity to voice your opinion.
Because the National Convention will be in February 2004 and we have to choose delegates to that convention at our 2003 state convention, we have moved our convention this year to Saturday, October 11. It will be in the Janesville/Beloit area so mark it on you calendars now.
In closing, you will find a blank membership form on the back of the next page. If you have misplaced or lost the one that was in the last mailing, please take a moment now to fill out the 2003 membership form and return it with the appropriate annual dues in the envelope provided.
If you're not sure just take a look at the return slip that has your address on it. To the right of your name you can see if your membership is current or not, and if not you will see when it expired.
Your membership dues make up a large percentage of our annual operating expenses and it makes it much easier to budget for the year if you send in your membership form and dues early. Please, if you haven't already done so, take time right now to renew your membership in the Constitution Party of Wisconsin.
For God and Country,
Daniel M. Hoyt - State Chairman
P.S. - I neglected to mention in my last letter to you that Michael O'Hare, a Constitution Party of Wisconsin pioneer passed away last December. Mike was the U.S. Taxpayers Party of Wisconsin's first Lt. Governor candidate, serving with Ed Frami, the candidate for governor, and Ernest Brusubardis III (Sec. of State) as the USTP-WI's first state wide ticket in 1994. Together they declared "We are not Robin Hood politicians. We will not rob from the taxpayer and give to the special interests." The Frami/O'Hare ticket received 9,188 votes on a meager $5000 budget.
O'Hare served on the USTP-WI State Committee as a First Congressional District Representative and later as Vice Chairman. He also helped organize and lead a USTP-WI Racine County Chapter. In 1996 he ran for the Wisconsin Assembly 63rd District, finishing 3rd in a four way race with 740 votes. He also served as a Wisconsin delegate to the 1999 USTP/Constitution Party National Convention in St. Louis. Mike was a man of great principle and humility. We will miss him.