Retired Lt. Colonel Darin Gaub of Restore Liberty nailed it on the head. We need to “Flex the Tenth”. The states need to retain their sovereign power designated to them in our U.S. Constitution and anything less is rogue tyranny. Gaub makes it abundantly clear, “When too much power has been placed in D.C., the states are then obligated to fight back.
Flex the Tenth
Strengthening Constitutional States is More Important Than Cleaning Up the Swamp; the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is the Tool to Use.
When Restore Liberty first began to organize in early 2020, we started advertising to people that the solutions necessary to Restore Liberty in America would not be found in Washington D.C.
We constantly skim the swamp water off the top in hopes that we made a difference while the Marxists, fascists, socialists, et al. continue to refill it from the bottom. To those pulling the strings, the World Economic Forum and those like them, the people in D.C. are only there to fulfill the agenda. When they have completed their time or their task they are retired and another bureaucratic petty tyrant moves in.
No thinking required, A+B=Communism, just do as you are told – rinse, lather, repeat.
This is why the founders did not want a powerful central government and why they also did not want a democracy. A democracy’s tyranny of the majority looks just like tyranny of any other kind. The result of the tyranny of the majority is a powerful central government out of touch with reality. Our Founders knew America needed to be a Constitutionally based representative Republic instead. This is the best way to counter a powerful central government, vest most of the power in the states, and focus on securing God-guaranteed individual rights. As has been oft repeated, the best government is that which governs least and closest to the people.
There are only eighteen powers in the U.S. Constitution delegated from the people through the states to the federal government. This means the federal government has its limited powers delegated from us through the states, not the other way around. It also means the states must stand interposed, or between, the federal government and the people of the states when they fail to abide by the same contract. The Tenth Amendment is unequivocally clear,
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
The federal government is bound by the Constitution; it is our contract. We are the ones to enforce it, and we do that through the states. The states are the dominant political power under America’s federalist system. This diffuses power across multiple states instead of placing all that power in the hands of a powerful central government. When too much power has been placed in D.C., the states are then obligated to fight back.
That day is here and arguably has been for a while.
Now, more people are waking up to the threat that Washington D.C. poses. As a nation, we have pushed back against the tide of history for as long as possible. History teaches us that absolute power corrupts absolutely, and Washington D.C. is fertile soil for corruption. When asked by people what it is that makes Restore Liberty different than many of the nationwide grassroots organizations, I show them the graphic below. We know that D.C. is not the repository of effective solutions.
The Road to Liberty does not go through Washington D.C., and to keep pretending that swapping the party in charge will fix things is the definition of insanity.
Rather, it is time for states to “Flex the Tenth” Amendment and begin to stand between the people and the federal government in more aggressive ways than purely through the corrupt legal system. This will create a unique bifurcation of the nation as those states that are blessed with Governors with courage will stand out while those that do not will look more like miniature versions of D.C. What could the application and enforcement of the Tenth Amendment in meaningful ways look like?
1. Passing “Defend the Guard” legislation where State Governors are required to prevent the activation and deployment of their state’s National Guard to overseas conflicts if Congress has not declared war, which they are required to do. The Governors can do this on their own if they are the type of person with a backbone.
2. Removing all federal agency officers who violate the U.S. and respective state constitutions and barring their re-entry.
3. Returning all federal money that comes with strings attached. Is liberty or the soon-to-be worthless dollar worth more?
4. Refuse to enforce any federal law, rule, procedure, or agency directive contrary to our U.S. Constitution. This also means preventing the federal government from enforcing the same in any state.
5. Reclaim the land, then rent it to the federal government as needed.
6. Collect taxes at the state level and remit those funds to the federal government based on the fulfillment of its constitutional obligations. Hold the funds back when they fail to do so. When one party to a signed contract fails to fulfill their duties, they should not just be paid regardless. Some will argue this is unrealistic. I say we cannot keep walking the same path for we will reach the same destination.
As Ronald Reagan said, “I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.”
The government has expanded to the point where it resembles the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the original Ghostbusters. He is oversized, moves slowly (unless pursuing patriots), seeks to scare everybody into obedience, and is not too smart.
It is time to agree with Reagan again, “Let’s close the place down and see if anybody notices.” To scale back the government to its constitutional mandates only, its masters must first know they can, and then they must act on that knowledge. The masters are the people working through the states. When the states also fail, the people must come together and enforce the contract – the state constitutions.
It is time to lead with principled courage and Flex the Tenth Amendment. We must also replace all Governors and other statewide elected representatives who refuse.
Lt Col (ret), US Army, Darin Gaub is a Co-founder of Restore Liberty, an international military strategist, foreign policy analyst, executive leadership coach, ordained Bible minister, and serves on the boards of multiple volunteer national and state level organizations. The views presented are those of the author and do not represent the views of the U.S. Government, Department of Defense, or its components. He can be contacted at daringaub@protonmail.com (@Darin_Gaub)
