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by Tom Rose

This is the first in a series of articles that will deal with various issues and trends which Christian patriots throughout the world might well consider when they contemplate rebuilding the weakened basis of Christianity in their own culture. While most of the issues and trends addressed will focus on what is taking place in these United States of America (please note my use of the plural!), the conclusions and suggestions for correction should be generally applicable to many other countries; for today the people of every country suffer from the same malady, that is, the declension of Christian influence in the midst of a growing secularization of thought and practice. My analysis will deal with spiritual, economic, political, historical, constitutional, and social issues--all viewed from what I hope is a truly biblical perspective.

The Debates

The presidential debates were a grave disappointment to any listener who is interested in preserving and re-establishing the principles of individual freedom and limited government which motivated our founding fathers, who abhorred the idea of democracy. Both Bush and Gore, in their display of ignorance, repeatedly referred to our country as a democracy. One would think that life-long politicians would have a good-enough grasp of history and political science to at least be accurate in their use of terms. But then we must remember that the overriding interest of politicians is not to be accurate, but rather to sway the public. In any event, we are still a constitutional republic which limits the power that can be wielded by civil rulers; we are not a democracy in which the voice of the majority can overwhelm the God-given rights of a minority, regardless of how small it might be.

In presenting their platforms, the two major presidential candidates showed their true colors as potential underminers of the Constitution of the United States in that they both argued for increased government power at both the national and international levels. Both stood for spending more money for that godless institution known as tax-supported education, which, other than politicians themselves, has been the most ubiquitous sabotager of the Constitution during the last century. Let me state clearly that the federal government has no lawful constitutional authority to provide funds for the education of children, which is a power reserved to the States and to the people. Both stood for expanding welfare programs to buy votes of the masses; and both showed their philosophical bent to further expand the power and reach of internationalism into the lives of American citizens through their support of such dictatorial international organizations like the United Nations, NAFTA, and the WTO.

To find any worthwhile discussion of freedom-oriented and truly constitutional issues, a person would have had to listen to the presidential candidates sponsored by minor parties (Pat Buchanan of the Reform Party, Harry Browne of the Libertarian Party, or Howard Phillips of the Constitution Party), but all of these were effectively screened from voters' attention through a consistent blackout by the mainline news media. It was only the minor candidates that focused on the need to restore freedom and economic power back to the hands of the American people. Only from these minor candidates would listeners have had any opportunity at all to have their hearts and minds stirred by the crucial need to limit the power of our central government and to end the growing international despotism of the U.N. and its various freedom-robbing international agencies that threaten our very existence as a free people.

Only among these minor political parties would a person have found a candidate who favored:

1. terminating the tyranny of the IRS which is universally feared by honest taxpayers;
2. the return to a sound monetary system (the gold standard);
3. getting out of the United Nations and removing its pernicious presence from our country;
4. eliminating the Federal Reserve Bank and its fascistic control over our financial system;
5. terminating the massive outflow of taxpayers' dollars for foreign aid which supports and encourages the spread of socialist regimes all over the world;
6. ending the suicidal policy of exporting America's productive manufacturing capacity to low-wage foreign countries; and, finally,
7. getting rid of the pervasive Zionist influence that infects our foreign policy to our own detriment (for instance, the alienation of the Arab oil-producing nations which our support of Israel has engendered and the resulting rise in the cost of imported oil, as well as the misguided and costly "military aid" to the state of Israel, which has served as a hidden funnel to supply massive amounts of America's secret defense technology to the Red Chinese regime, who has declared our country to be their main enemy!).

In summary, the recent presidential debates were handled by both the Democratic and Republican parties, with the cooperation of the major news media, in such a way as to insulate the American public from the really crucial issues of our time and to "dumb down" the voting populace to accept either one of the major candidates so as to maintain the deadly status quo. Question: Is there a hidden plan behind all of this?

The Balloting Process

As I write this essay, the legal battle as to who really won the presidential election is still in high gear. One result of this ongoing "battle for ballots" has been to shake the American people's confidence in the election process. Readers should be aware of the fact that, as the battle has continued, it has taken on a semblance of the carefully planned revolutionary strategy used in other countries to overthrow the stability of existing civil rule. Revolutionaries know that, once a people's confidence in their civil government has been shaken, then the unthinking masses can be easily swayed to make drastic changes in governmental structure, even to the extent of doing away with a constitution that protects their rights for one that doesn't. I'm not saying that this is what is happening in America, but we should certainly keep this possibility in mind for our own safety. This strategy has been successfully used by revolutionaries in recent history (Lenin in Czarist Russia and Hitler in Pre-Nazi Germany come to mind) to overthrow existing governments. (More about this possibility in a following section.)

The topic I want to deal with at this point is that there has been very little in the mainline news media about another very important issue, that of pervasive vote fraud which has been characteristic of American politics for many, many years.

Vote fraud has two aspects. One is the enrollment of unregistered immigrants to artificially pad voter rolls with people who are likely to vote for candidates of one party or the other. Usually incumbent politicians have the greater advantage in this aspect because it is the incumbent political administration which has effective control of the reins of the government bureaucracy. T.W. Hughes, in a publication published in 1944, entitled Forty Years of Roosevelt, explains how President Theodore Roosevelt, a Republican, added unregistered immigrants to the voting rolls during the 1904 election and how Franklin D. Roosevelt, a Democrat, followed in his footsteps in a later presidential administration:

No appeal to the Masses can succeed until the Masses have reached the "proper figure" in both QUANTITY AND QUALITY: Which is to say "The Masses" must (a) contain enough votes; (b) must have the right Mental Attitude--a Radical or Revolutionary Attitude.

When Theodore came to power there were more than a million unemployed persons in the country, but they were not "Masses" in the "proper" sense: So before Theodore could issue his "Class hatred" appeals, he must first produce in QUANTITY and QUALITY, THE Necessary MASSES: And this is exactly what Theodore did for he brought to this country during his two administrations, nearly eight million Immigrants: Of which 90% came from the cellars and tenements of Southern Europe, Poland and South Russia.... Thereafter America had its "Masses": In Quantity, eight millions of them: In Quality, Socialist and Revolutionary as they had been in Europe.... And almost immediately these new "Masses", thrilled by the attacks on the "Malefactors of Great Wealth", and by the promises of "Square Deal", began that endless stories of Strikes, Riots and Labor Disorders from which we still suffer.

FRANKLIN, having come to power, followed the example of his distinguished cousin and despite the Immigration Laws, has imported almost another eight million Immigrants; and from much the same countries and with the same Socialistic and Revolutionary inclinations.... As these newer immigrants arrived they were employed at high wages in the C.W.A., the W.P.A., the P.W.A., the S.O.B., and all the other alphabetical catch-alls of the New Deal.... And while so employed they were taught by their cousins, who had arrived earlier under Teddy, how to pass examin- ations for Naturalization (by the short-cut route) and how to vote most effectively (often) at all succeeding elections.... With this second flood of immigrants we have a second and more violent series of Strikes, Riots and Labor disorders; as these newer MASSES thrilled to the attacks upon the "Economic Royalists" and the New Deal promises of More and more Money, for Less and less work....¹

It should not surprise us, then, to hear of the voter-fraud allegations concerning the current presidential administration during the election year of 2000. Joseph Farah, in a recent WorldNetDaily Exclusive Commentary, November, 6, 2000, entitled "Voter Fraud, again!" tells about an 18-year-old Guatemala immigrant who received a letter from President Clinton which was paid for by the California Democratic Party. Clinton's letter stated,

...The stakes are high for America's Latino families. And California is the critical background. That's why I'm writing. We need your help to elect a Democratic Congress.... Now that you are registered.... Can I count on you to vote Democratic on November 7th?

A post-script to Clinton's letter to the immigrant girl, who is not a citizen, explained:

Here is your personal Voter Identification Card. Sign your name, then detach your card. Bring your card with you to your polling place on Election Day. It will help your voting to go more smoothly.

Shades of Teddy Roosevelt and FDR revisited! This is almost an exact replay of the vote fraud pulled off by incumbent presidents back in 1904 and the 1930s. The only difference is the modern twist of new technology to tap into and use U.S. Government databases! It is important for us to recognize that the only agency that is aware of the pending voter-status of immigrants and their ethnic background is the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). Now the question arises about the obvious political collusion that must exist between incumbent civil rulers, their particular political party, and taxpayer-financed government agencies. In an article entitled "Your Vote?" I wrote that Vice-President Gore spearheaded a program in 1996 called "Citizenship USA." It was part of the Immigration and Naturalization program of the INS to enroll millions of non-citizens to vote in upcoming elections. During the last three years the INS has naturalized 2.2 million resident aliens who were added to voter rolls, mainly in larger cities that are Democratic strongholds², many with criminal records, which were ignored.

What impact these votes had on the 2000 election is not known, but the logical assumption is that the large majority were cast in favor of the incumbent Democratic administration, since that is the administration that devised and implemented the strategy. Edward Nelson, President of U.S. Border Control stated on November 9:

Thanks to the National Voter Registration Act, commonly known as the Motor-Voter law, millions of non-citizens and illegal aliens are being invited to register to vote as they apply for their driver's licenses or welfare benefits.

In Florida, as in most other states, the Motor Vehicle Department has been advised not to ask if applicants are citizens.... As a consequence, this "don't ask--don't tell" policy is wittingly or unwittingly handing out voter registration cards to tens of thousands of ineligible voters, more than enough to effect (sic) the results of a close election.

Whichever candidate wins the electoral vote in Florida and goes on to become President of the United States will have won his margin of victory by the votes of non-citizens and illegal aliens, voting in mass numbers in South Florida.³

The "Hanging Chad" Strategy

Many observers of the post-election fracas have been amazed, confused, or shocked about all the legal wrangling about recounting ballots. There are serious legal questions about recounting ballots that I will not delve into here. But is there a valid reason why already-cast ballots should not be recounted? The answer is "Yes!" The reason is to be found in man's fallen nature, which cannot be trusted.

There is a strategy about overthrowing close elections that every voter should keep in mind. Pat Nolan, who served in the California Legislature from 1978 until 1994 recently related to WorldNetDaily how manual recounting of ballots in a 1980 California election turned a 54-vote victory into a 17-vote loss. Nolan had this to say about the current presidential election:

What's happening in Florida is exactly the game plan laid out to me by an attorney who represented Democrats in a recount in California where they stole a seat from us.... I vowed I'd never let that happen again. So I asked my staff to track down the lawyer that headed up the team for the Democrats.⁴

The attorney was Tim Downs, and he readily admitted the strategy and even described the tactics he used to Nolan. "I wondered when you guys would get around to calling me. I've taken several seats from you across the United States," said Downs.

The strategy Downs followed was to handle each punched vote card as often as possible--perhaps bending, crinkling, or otherwise altering it--so that additional chads (the pieces of cardboard which are still hanging to some of the punched holes), become displaced. This would thereby disqualify the card so handled. Downs boasted, "You get me within 100 votes, and I can steal any election." As a result of this interview, Nolan hired attorney Downs to train his own staff in techniques to protect against election fraud in the future. Downs explained three basic tactics:

1. The first rule is to keep counting until you are ahead. You keep calling for recounts until you are ahead. If you are behind, you don't have anything to lose.
2. Second, the more times ballots are physically handled, the more chance there is that additional chads will break loose.
3. Third, the minute you are ahead, you stop and declare yourself the winner! After you win, you don't want ballots to be handled any more, because some of the chads for your candidate might break loose and thereby cause your candidate to lose.

A favorite tactic explained by Downs is to ask election officials for ballots, allegedly to look at them more closely, but really so that certain ballots can be covertly crinkled or bent in an effort to break another chad loose and thereby have it invalidated.⁵ These tactics go a long way in helping us to understand the eagerness of one political party to push for recounting votes and the opposing political party's reluctance to allow recounting.

A Hidden Agenda?

As I observed the very superficial handling of the socio-economic debate issues by both major party presidential candidates, and how the major news media emphasized the shallow issues to the complete exclusion of more basic constitutional issues, I began looking at the larger picture. Is it possible, I wondered, that the populace is being intentionally "dumbed down" to accept a "caretaker" government which will take care of citizens from the cradle to the grave? God warned the Old Testament Israelites about the danger of powerful civil rulers in 1 Samuel 8.

Then, as I observed the monolithic and pervasive news coverage relating to the hanging "chads" on ballot cards, as well as the "unfairness" of the Electoral College versus the Popular Vote in electing presidents, I wondered even more. Could it be that we are being conditioned to accept the idea of acquiescing to a call for a constitutional convention? The general sense of unrest that has been created among the general public might induce Americans to agree to make changes in our Constitution. I'm not certain that this is so, but I am on my guard, and I suggest that it is prudent for all lovers of liberty to be concerned too.

There are two problems to acquiescing to a constitutional convention:

1. First, once a convention is called, there is an open field for making unlimited changes. President Clinton is on record as having complained to Great Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair about not being able to disarm Americans as long as the Second Amendment stands in the way. And there are others who would like to do away with additional protections provided by the First, Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Tenth Amendments--in short, to do away with the major protections to the freedom of citizens bequeathed by our founding fathers through the Bill of Rights.
2. Second, our current generation is so grossly ignorant of constitutional principles and the concept of republican civil government, and how these relate to the biblical concepts of man's fallen nature and the danger of placing undue trust in civil rulers, that American citizens of today cannot be safely trusted to make wise decisions about changes in our Constitution. This is a sad fact, but it is true.

Conclusion

What, then, can be done about all of the above-mentioned problems?

The shallowness of the presidential debates indicates a grave need for reversing the "dumbing down" of the American public which has occurred over the last three or four generations, and this cannot be accomplished through our present tax-supported system of education, which is largely an underlying cause of the problem. Americans must once again learn that civil government is not a cow to be milked, but rather a watch-dog to be fed. If we are to preserve our constitutional republic, tax-supported education must be replaced by private, Christian-based education, either by home schooling or by private Christian schools that are completely free from government controls. Government-controlled schools inevitably end up by conditioning the public to be enslaved by their rulers.

Also, the American public must wean itself from the perverse influence of the major news media, which is always in cahoots with powerful political forces and big advertisers. The internet now provides good sources of alternative news and information, and also short-wave radio stations that broadcast "politically incorrect" information oriented towards freedom.

And let us not forget the historical importance of the Bible in changing hearts and minds of Americans leading up to the Revolutionary War. Members of the American clergy (Presbyterian ministers) were called the "Black Brigade" by the British elite during the Colonial era because of their influence in preaching freedom to their congregations in America. Do America's tax-deductible 501(C3) churches today have the freedom and necessary temerity to preach freedom to their congregations? Not as long as their preachers and elders are concerned about whether the IRS will take away their tax-deductibility!

The sad issue of our easily-tampered with ballot procedures indicates our need to be reminded about man's sinful nature and the tendency of incumbent politicians and powerful forces behind the scenes to join together in collusion for one purpose or another. God's Word repeatedly warns us not to put our trust in men, and especially not to put our trust in civil rulers. We need to take these warnings to heart and devise a system of balloting that will keep everybody at least honest in their outward actions, if not in their hearts. This calls for a system of balloting that uses paper ballots which are under the constant supervision of all interested political parties to assure honesty and the integrity of cast ballots.⁶ Canada has a very workable system that has been in operation for 80 years which safeguards against man's proclivity to cheat. Computer voting is subject to secret tampering and prior programming that can cheat the people of their vote. Stalin is reputed to have said, "Those who cast the votes decide nothing. Those who count the votes decide everything." How true! Only open public scrutiny of the whole voting process will guarantee integrity of the balloting process; our present system invites fraud.

Finally, is there an agenda at work to manipulate public opinion with the intent of enslaving American citizens? I challenge each reader to ponder this question. The Bible warns about hidden powers in high places (Eph. 6:12), and history is replete with many examples of how people have been enslaved by their own civil rulers. For many years I warned my students that I do not fear foreign governments, but that I do fear my own government. And not a day goes by that I fail to pray, "Dear Lord, protect us from our civil rulers and replace the ungodly with your own godly people." I invite other Christians to join me in this daily prayer!

[© Tom Rose, 2000]

Tom Rose is retired professor of economics, Grove City College, Pennsylvania. He is author of seven books and hundreds of articles dealing with economic and political issues. His articles have regularly appeared in The Christian Statesman, published by the National Reform Association, Pittsburgh, PA; the Chalcedon Report, published by the Chalcedon Foundation, Vallecito, CA; and in many other publications. For ten years he wrote a weekly syndicated column published by newspapers such as: The Santa Ana Register (CA), The Indianapolis Morning News (IN), The Manchester Union Leader (NH), The Gazette-Telegraph (CO), The Odessa American (TX), and others. He and his wife, Ruth, raise registered Barzona cattle on a farm near Mercer, PA, where they also write and publish economic textbooks for use by Christian colleges, high schools and home educators. Rose's latest book is Reclaiming the American Dream by Reconstructing the American Republic. published by American Enterprise Publications, 177 N. Spring Road, Mercer, PA, 16137. Phone: +1 724 748 3726; Fax: +1 724 748 5373; Orders: +1 888 474 7534.

Endnotes

1. T. W. Hughes, Forty Years of Roosevelt, (n.p., 1944), 23-24. (Note: the capitalization and punctuation have been carefully reproduced from the original.)

2. The cities are: New York, Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newark, and Houston. PR Newswire http://www.prnews-wire.com/, "Non-citizens to Choose Next President Says U.S. Border Control," 13 November 2000.

3. Ibid.

4. Private e-mail forwarded: 13 November 2000.

5. Ibid.

6. A few of many sources of information about vote fraud are: Jim and Ken Collier's, Votescam: The Stealing of America; David P. Schipper's, Sellout: The Inside Story of President Clinton's Impeachment; and, Citizens For A Fair Vote Count (Jim Condit, Jr.): www.network-america.org

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