In less than a week since this nation re-elected Barack Obama, there are calls from numerous States to secede from The United States of America. We are no longer a United Nation. We are very much a Divided Nation. Many are standing together, calling for a peaceful divide.

The famous declaration for unity that you are familiar with has been attributed to Aesop’s fables, as well as John Dickinson’s Revolutionary War song, “The Liberty Song”, which was was published first in the Boston Gazette in 1768.

However, it was Patrick Henry that made the historic exclamation in what was to be his last public speech:

“Let us trust God, and our better judgment to set us right hereafter. United we stand, divided we fall. Let us not split into factions which must destroy that union upon which our existence hangs.”

Patrick Henry’s declaration came at a very pivotal point in America’s history. It was March 1799, and Mr. Henry was “denouncing The Kentucky and Virginia Resolutions”, which argued that the two states “had the right and the duty to declare unconstitutional any acts of Congress not authorized by The Constitution”.

This speech took such a toll on Patrick Henry that after the speech his “near lifeless body” was carried offstage and into the nearest tavern. He died just two months later.

We have now reached another pivotal point in this nation’s history.

In the November 6 election, the divide between the candidates was a little more than 3 million votes. Barack Obama received 61,910,594 votes, and Mitt Romney received 58,654,765 votes. When you look at the total number of votes cast, it is almost a clear cut down the middle. We are most definitely a divided nation. We can no longer stand together, when we are so obviously divided over so many issues. We have reached a breaking point that threatens to be anything but peaceful if things are not handled in a way in which every voice is heard and considered.

Citizens in Louisiana are now petitioning the White House to “Peacefully grant the State of Louisiana to withdraw from the United States of America”. The petition was created the day after the election, and has nearly 8,000 signatures in just 5 days.

It appears that this petition from Louisiana was the first of many to have been submitted to the “We The People” site on the official White House website. The site claims to be “Your Voice In OUR Government”. The question remains whether or not the Government will hear the many voices being raised. It is highly doubtful, as they have turned their noses up in arrogance towards We The People numerous times before.

It’s not just the state of Louisiana, the list of State Petitions calling to peacefully “withdraw from the United States of America” is growing by the day.

Country singer Charlie Daniel’s is suggesting that “the South” secede from The Union; however, there are Northern States that are not so happy with the government, and are also calling to leave the Union. At the time of this article’s posting, the states with open petitions are the following:

Alabama
Colorado
Florida
Georgia
Indiana
Kentucky
Mississippi
Montana
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
North Dakota
Oregon
Texas 

“Why should Vermont and Texas live under the same government?”

The winds of change are coming. The echoing calls to seperate are growing louder and stronger.

Barack Obama claimed in both victory speeches that we are not “a collection of Red States and Blue States, but we are The United States”. These words are empty and mean nothing coming from a man who has done so much to divide this nation. The people are not happy. We are no longer united. We The People are standing, asking to peacefully divide from the albatross that is Barack Obama. If the request is not considered, it very well may come as a demand, which will not be so peaceful.

Image via mikechurch.com

Indianapolis,IN:  The Purdue Board of Trustees unanimously elected Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels Thursday to be the university’s next president.

The trustees met at 10 a.m. in the Stewart Center’s Loeb Playhouse to vote on Gov. Daniels.

Michael Berghoff, the head of the search committee, said the governor was the most frequently nominated candidate. He said Gov. Daniels went through a similar selection process that all other considered candidates went through, meeting with the trustees three times.

Miranda McCormack, who was elected to the Board of Trustees by the governor last year, spoke on behalf of the Purdue student body. She expressed the board and student body were excited, stating “I couldn’t be more happy with our pick.”

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“We want a president that is approachable,” said McCormack. “And I think we found that in Gov. Daniels.”

Gov. Daniels will succeed current president France A. Córdova.

Last July, Córdova announced she would leave the office on July 15 after five years in office. She is credited with raising the standards, reputation and research profile of Purdue University. She also led the effort to cut costs at the university and ensure a Purdue degree was affordable.

Gov. Daniels is expected to finish out his second term as Indiana governor before assuming the position early next year.

Wednesday, Gov. Daniels spoke about higher education at a press conference.

“Maybe someone who reveres higher education and wants very desperately to see it succeed as well as possible, but comes at things from a slightly different maybe complimentary set of experiences, can contribute something,” said Daniels.

He appointed eight of the university’s 10 trustees, three of whom he re-appointed recently.

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In March of this year, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a bill that returned to Hoosiers the legal ability to defend themselves against unlawful police entry into their homes.   Some are saying that Indiana is now the first state to allow the use of force against police, however others argue that the 4th and 2nd Amendments to the US Constitution already permitted this.

The new law’s introduction states:

“it is the policy of this state to recognize the unique character of a citizen’s home and to ensure that a citizen feels secure in his or her own home against unlawful intrusion by another individual or a public servant. By reaffirming the long standing right of a citizen to protect his or her home against unlawful intrusion, however, the general assembly does not intend to diminish in any way the other robust self defense rights that citizens of this state have always enjoyed. Accordingly, the general assembly also finds and declares that it is the policy of this state that people have a right to defend themselves and third parties from physical harm and crime.”

The new law stemmed from the Barnes V. Indiana State Supreme Court decision, which stated that  ”allowing resistance unnecessarily escalates the level of violence and therefore the risk of injuries to all parties involved without preventing the arrest”.

The Barnes case was one where a police officer entered an apartment, without a warrant and without invitation from the residents, to respond to a domestic violence complaint.  Mr. Barnes blocked the doorway and resisted the use of force by an officer to enter the apartment.  Police choked and tasered Mr. Barnes and arrested him for Battery on a Police Officer.

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Tuesday night’s GOP Senate primary ended with Tea Party-backed Richard Mourdock beating Dick Lugar, Indiana’s veteran senator of thirty-five years, by more than 20 percentage points.

The race can be boiled down to the electorate’s frustration with career politicians with deep ties to Washington. Lugar is 80, and has held his seat since 1977. For many Indiana voters, the Indiana primary was a referendum on Lugar’s unaccountability to his voters. He came under heavy fire when it became known that he did not own a residence in Indiana. Rather, Lugar was staying in an Indianapolis hotel, and reportedly paying for it with taxpayer funds. Lugar’s cooperation with Senate Democrats also angered his constituents. In 1991, he co-sponsored the Nunn-Lugar Act with Senator Sam Nunn (D-GA). The bill worked towards nuclear nonproliferation, which Lugar has been a proponent of.

Richard Mourdock was elected the Indiana State Treasurer in 2006. Since then, he has worked hard towards fiscal responsibility. Mourdock was able to return about 10% of the state budget to the treasury each year. He led a fight to challenge the legality of the Obama administration’s bailout and takeover of Chrysler, taking the fight all the way to the Supreme Court. He also is an outspoken proponent of constitutionally limited government.

Democrats are already attacking Mourdock, saying that the GOP has taken an ‘extremist turn’ by  nominating Mourdock. Democratic National Committee Chairman, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, said in a statement “It’s official: The Republican Party is now indistinguishable from the Tea Party.” The attention the Democrats are already focusing on the race promises to result in a long and heated Indiana Senate race. Mourdock, who credits the Tea Party with his victory, will face Democrat Representative Joe Donnelly in a November general election. The Indiana election will be a key race in November. Republicans need to take four seats to win the Senate majority.

Still Image From Luke Messer's Latest TV Ad

In Indiana’s 6th Congressional District, the GOP Establishment has their man:  Luke Messer.

Messer has been named one of the NRCC’s “Young Guns”.

Messer has raised well over a Half-Million dollars thus far in the 2012 campaign.

Messer has received endorsements from leaders around the state.

It certainly appears that the race is set in stone, and the rest is just a formality…… or is it?

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There is a man gaining huge momentum in the campaign and invading the hometown of both myself, and Luke Messer.

That man is Don Bates Jr.

He is not on the NRCC’s radar.

He has raised only $152,000.

Few outside of the GOP Establishment have predicted his victory

Rolling off the heels of his 2010 Senate Primary loss to former lobbyist Dan Coats, Don Bates is not giving up his fight.  In fact, he looks more motivated now in 2012 than he did in 2010.  The financial adviser from Richmond, Indiana is making bold moves in his bid to represent Indiana in Washington.

The Don Bates Campaign has invaded enemy territory.

Hundreds of signs have been planted all over the fast-growing Indianapolis suburb of Shelbyville – the previously mentioned hometown of opponent Luke Messer.  Not only do the “Bates For Congress” signs outnumber the “Messer For Congress” signs along the major thoroughfares – Don Bates’ signs are larger and more visible than Messer’s.

“The Bates Insurrection” has been launched.

This coup by Bates is not limited to just campaign signs along the side of the road.  Bates looks to be winning the Social Media war, as well.

At the time of this article’s writing, Luke Messer’s Twitter account has only 3 updates in 2012: two in February, and one in early April.  Meanwhile, Don Bates has a steady flow of updates on his Twitter timeline.  The disparity is not quite the same on their Facebook pages, however, as Messer is winning the “Like” battle and updating nearly as frequently as Bates, but not quite.

Candidates at the BSU Debate

Marketing tactics aside, the biggest evidence of “The Bates Insurrection” was during the Ball State University debate on April 17th, 2012.  Don Bates seemed more confident, matter of fact, and more poised than any other candidate on stage, including Messer.

Furthermore, the mere fact that Luke Messer even attended the debate came as a surprise to me, as I was informed in February by a campaign insider that Mr. Messer would not even be attending the BSU debate.

The change in heart by the Messer campaign makes me believe that “The Bates Insurrection” is proving effective, and putting pressure on the one-time “front runner” in the race to replace 6-term congressman Mike Pence – who is now running for Governor.

What will happen when Hoosiers go to the polls on May 8th?  Will “The Bates Insurrection” prevail, or will the NRCC Young Gun meet expectations?

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Last night, the Indiana General Assembly passed Senate Bill 1, which, once signed into law, will resolve a nearly year-long deprivation of the civil rights of residents of the State of Indiana. Readers who have followed me for the last year will be aware of my previous “Outrage In Indiana” posts on this very subject. For those who haven’t, let me recap.

In Part One, on May 13th of last year, I described the appalling decision by Indiana’s State Supreme Court in the case of Barnes v. State of Indiana. The court determined that a private person had no right to resist unlawful police burglary of their home. I detailed the 800-year-old legal precedents which allow for such use of force, and the farce of the court’s decision. In Part Two, I published an open letter to Governor Mitch Daniels, imploring him to take whatever action he possibly could to provide relief to Hoosiers subjected to police lawlessness. In Part Three, I published the very thoughtful response I received from his office.

To review the matter at hand: Richard Barnes had an argument with his wife, and neighbors called the police. Upon their arrival, the Barneses had reentered their home, and no further argument was occurring. Officers Lenny Reed and Jason Henry (more on them in a moment) insisted on entering the home, and Mr. Barnes refused them entry. The police, unlawfully, entered the home anyway. Mr. Barnes attempted to use non-deadly force to expel them, and he was tased and arrested.

Eight centuries of legal precedent, from the Magna Carta to two 20th century SCOTUS decisions, explicitly authorize the use of reasonable force to prevent unlawful acts of the police. The laws of the state of Indiana do not privilege police officers from justified force if they are acting outside the bounds of the law. The Fourth Amendment, and a substantially similar provision in Indiana’s Constitution prohibit precisely this conduct- the unwarranted and unlawful entry into a private home by government agents.

Nonetheless, Indiana’s Supreme Court ignored the eight centuries of legal tradition, multiple decisions of the United States Supreme Court, the United States Constitution, and the Constitution and laws of Indiana, and determined that a Hoosier’s only lawful recourse was to sue the police agency for damages after being the victim of a violent crime (in this case, burglary and assault) committed by a police officer.

Our Second, Third, and Fourth Amendment rights were established by our Founding Fathers for expressly this reason: Prior to, and during, the American Revolution, armed agents of the British government- soldiers- would routinely enter private homes without cause, assault homeowners and arrest them without charges, and quarter themselves in private homes in order to intimidate homeowners into submission. Expressly for this reason, we have a right to keep and bear arms, a freedom from quartering in private homes, and a freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures.

We also have a natural, or God-given (depending on your outlook), right of self-defense, a topic which I have written about extensively. The instinct to protect ourselves, our families, and our property from violent attack is as natural to us as the need to eat. A government decree that a certain class of persons- namely, police officers- are “untouchable”, and may commit violent crimes at will, and the prosecution of private persons who exercise this right against them, is wholly offensive to the basic principles enshrined in our founding document.

Thankfully, Indiana’s legislature has taken up the cause of preserving individual liberties in this matter. Senate Bill 1, introduced by State Senator Mike Young and sponsored by numerous other state legislators, seeks to amend the Indiana Code to explicitly authorize the use of reasonable force against law enforcement officers who commit crimes against private persons.

In short, SB1 changes the language of the state’s use-of-force laws to state that “any person” may be the recipient of defensive force, and adds a section specifically addressing the use of force against police officers. This section authorizes the use of non-deadly force against “any law enforcement officer” to prevent the police officer’s criminal attack upon the person or property, and authorizes deadly force to prevent a law enforcement officer’s criminal attack which may inflict death or serious bodily injury.

Once signed into law, Indiana will become only the second state in the nation to specifically authorize the use of force against police officers acting unlawfully. North Dakota authorizes the use of force to terminate a police officer’s unlawful use of deadly force. Indiana’s statute would dramatically exceed this limited level of protection.

I applaud the state legislature for taking this necessary step to improve the right of self-defense. I also understand Sen. Young is facing a primary challenge this year. I hope Hoosiers will go to the polls in droves and show their support for this fine representative of the people.

And on a final, and ignominious note: Officer Lenny Reed, one of the two goons who burglarized Mr. Barnes’ home, and (ironically) the medic for Evansville PD’s SWAT team, was also involved in an incident involving racial profiling and substantial damage to an innocent man’s RV- which the man was delivering to a buyer- when Reed initiated a wrongful drug search. This incident occurred less than four months before the Indiana Supreme Court’s Barnes decision. Inexplicably, Reed was promoted to Sergeant during roughly the same time frame.

The other goon involved, Officer Jason Henry, resigned from Evansville Police Department after beating up a former sheriff’s deputy, only three months before the Barnes decision. The beating occurred at a meeting of the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police, no less.

Residents of Vanderburgh County have ample reason to question Evansville Police Chief Brad Hill’s professional judgment. Apparently Hoosiers can’t even rely upon the common sense of local officials and police administrators for relief from police lawlessness, which makes the passage of SB1 all the more vital. Mary Beth Schneider of the Indianapolis Star tweeted last night that SB1 passed the Indiana Senate 38-12 and passed the Indiana House 67-26, and is now on its way to Governor Daniels’ desk.

Many thanks to my dear friend April Gregory for her invaluable assistance in researching this post.

Two towns, Marysville and Henryville, Indiana were hit hardest. Marysville’s Sheriff Adams said that “Marysville is completely gone”. Aerial footage from the Red Cross confirms the scope of the damage in Henryville.

Luke Messer (R)

The 2012 Congressional races kicked off only hours after the filing period began.  Republican Luke Messer waited mere hours to file his papers to run in Indiana’s 6th District – which is being vacated as 6-time incumbent Mike Pence is vying for Governor.

Messer is no stranger to Indiana politics.  After serving as a state representative, Messer challenged career politician Dan Burton in the GOP Primaries in 2010.  Due to an overcrowded field of 7 candidates, Messer fell just 2.05% short of ousting Burton.  With the redistricting following the 2010 Census, Messer now falls into the 6th District.  2012 is looking to be, yet another, crowded field of candidates.

Former congressman David MCIntosh (R)

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Speaking of Congressman Dan Burton (IN-5), a face from Indiana’s congressional past has filed to run in the GOP Primary election.  Former congressman, David McIntosh – who has since worked as an adviser to Conservative Lobby groups, in a move reminiscent of Senator Dan Coates’ 2010 campaign, is planning a return to the public side of politics.

McIntosh was elected in the 1994 “Republican Revolution”, and served 3 terms before seeking the Governor’s office in 2000, losing to Democrat Frank O’Bannon.

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Gary Franchi
National Director
http://RTR.org/Gary