Fearless Patriots Demand Accountability

Newsletter | January 4, 2024

Accountability is the catchword for 2024. It’s long been one of our mottos at America’s Future as we underscore the corruption of America’s destructive and deranged ruling class to hold them accountable for the miseries they’ve brought to our great nation, from open borders to the weaponization of the federal government. The ultimate instrument we Americans have to hold them accountable for their crimes is the vote, and by the time we choose a new President ten months from now, accountability will be the word ringing throughout the land.

And the new year is off to a strong start with Team America reeling off several victories.

First, the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion regime has lost one of its pillars. With Harvard University President Claudine Gay exposed as an intellectual fraud, she resigned from the prestigious academic post. She came under scrutiny when Congress called her to testify after massive pro-Hamas demonstrations erupted at Harvard and other college campuses in the wake of the Palestinian terror group’s October 7 massacre killing 1200 people, including 30 Americans. Gay refused to condemn the students, professors, and administrators’ call to murder Jews, and instead sought to “contextualize” their evil rallying cries.

Jewish and non-Jewish Harvard alumni withdrew their financial support from America’s oldest institution of higher learning, but Barack Obama stepped up to lobby on Gay’s behalf. His fear of course was that losing a highly placed ally might lead to further losses and eventually the unraveling of the DEI regime as a whole. And indeed, when independent journalists Christopher Rufo and Chris Brunet reported that her academic work gave evidence of plagiarism, she stepped down from the post. Remarkably, Harvard is keeping her on as a professor and will continue to pay her extravagant $900,000 salary but knocking her out of the top spot at the school is an important win.

So is a recent letter signed by 231 active U.S. servicemen and veterans demanding accountability from senior military officials responsible for pushing Covid vaccines on the military.

“While implementing the COVID-19 vaccine mandate,” the letter’s authors write, “military leaders broke the law, trampled constitutional rights, denied informed consent, permitted unwilling medical experimentation, and suppressed the free exercise of religion.”

Remember, this letter is signed by hundreds of men and women who are wearing or who have worn our country’s uniform. This is the rank and file that sweats and bleeds to keep us safe, not the 51 sleek and pampered former bureaucrats who cleared Hunter Biden with a letter claiming the laptop giving evidence of his alleged crimes was “Russian disinformation.” The 231 are protecting not political elites but fellow warriors and the Americans they defend.

“Service members and families were significantly harmed by these actions,” the letter continues. “Their suffering continues to be felt financially, emotionally, and physically. Some service members became part of our ever-growing veteran homeless population, some developed debilitating vaccine injuries, and some even lost their lives. In an apparent attempt to avoid accountability, military leaders are continuing to ignore our communications regarding these injuries and the laws that were broken.”

Among those responsible is the outgoing Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley. He and other leaders, according to the letter, failed to “take any other action to hold themselves accountable, nor have they attempted to repair the harm their policies and actions have caused. Since there has yet to be any accountability, the undersigned give our word to do everything morally permissible and legally possible to hold our own leadership accountable.”

There it is, the promise we live by this new year — accountability. We’ll start by holding ourselves accountable: Are we doing enough to make sure our families and communities have what they need to thrive? What more can we bring to the table? Who needs our help, a hand, a phone call? What can we do to make sure family members shine brilliantly at school or at work? What needs to be done to make sure our neighbors are safe, our places of worship echo with thanks and joy, and that our local businesses flourish?

What starts at the local level impacts our country as a whole. We’re gathering momentum because this year, we’re building toward something great. Don’t be afraid of the trials ahead, for we know that our corrupt elites will do anything to avoid being held accountable, as they will be come November. It’s the year of accountability.

Please participate in our Reader’s Survey. Your insights and thoughts are important as we learn what is on the minds and in the hearts of our fellow Americans. We read them all and share some of them Mondays at 9 a.m. during America’s Future live broadcasts with our Executive Director Mary O’Neill on America’s Mondays With Mary. Thank You!

In 2006, Sgt. Braxton McCoy (Ret.), while performing a security detail outside of Ramadi, Iraq, was severely wounded by a suicide bomber. Both his legs and arms were broken in multiple places, his spine was fractured, he had a number of fractured ribs, bleeding on the brain, and a severed medial nerve in his right hand. What followed was over two dozen surgeries and nearly a decade of physical therapy and rehabilitation.

His 2017 book The Glass Factory is an account of his physical and psychological recovery. Already recognized as a contemporary classic, The Glass Factory documents McCoy’s long journey and stands as a testament to the warriors he served with.

McCoy twice served as a National Advocate for the Army Wounded Warrior Program and twice as a Veterans’ Advocate for the Coalition of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans in the District of Columbia. His years as an advocate were focused on getting veterans back to work as a meaningful way to outflank Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. As a result of his service, he has been awarded several medals, including an Army Commendation Medal with V Device for exceptionally valorous achievement in combat and a Purple Heart.

He’s a rancher, horse trainer, and inspirational speaker who has engaged Fortune 500 executives, military members, rehabilitation centers, NBA, MLB, and NFL players and executives to impart the lessons he learned about what it takes to overcome the challenges that life inevitably sends our way.

We spoke with Braxton recently to get his insights on the character and strength of our great nation.

“The Glass Factory” is about a physical and psychological recovery and returning from war. What do you want to say to veterans who may be struggling with similar wounds?

Keep going. I know that sounds cliche, but it is true of physical injuries. Don’t believe the limitations surgeons and doctors are setting for you. Go further. As far as the mental side goes, we need help. Help from God, help from a loved one, or help from a therapist. My world view tends to think help should be sought in that order, but others are the opposite.

Your book has an important, transformative, scene at Arlington National Cemetery where you visit the gravesites of fallen warriors; what do you think about the recent removal of the Reconciliation Monument that stood for America’s post-Civil War peace?

I think petulant children tearing open old wounds and fiddling with the remains of greater men than they will ever be is a terrible thing but an all too American thing in 2023. Kids often enjoy the sowing more than the reaping. I suspect it will be the same in this case.

You’ve said before that the Great Plains is the spiritual core of America; why is that region so important to our history and past?

This place is responsible for our ethnogenesis. What could be more important to a nation than that? Americans became a distinct people on the frontier, from the Ohio River valley to the coast of California. Some explored and settled, others helped support and supply those who were settling, still more dreamed of one day seeking their fortune out west. To tie into your previous question about monuments, how might post-war reconciliation have gone had there not been the pressure relief valve of the American West? Obviously, it is impossible to say for certain, but we can’t ignore the role it played. I am sure to some extent this was true after the Revolution too.

I once met a bear hunting guide who, upon returning from the Vietnam war, left his life in Maine behind and headed off to live in the Idaho wilderness with nothing but a couple of mules and a couple of dogs. He eventually grew tired of wandering and found a job hunting bears for local and federal law enforcement. He was good enough at it that he was still doing the same job into his 70s which is when I met him. If America is a tapestry, as some like to claim it is, then the Frontier is the loom it was woven on.

What is your favorite American book?

My favorite American novel is tough. It’s probably Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy. But another of his books, All the Pretty Horses (the book not the movie) put McCarthy’s hooks into me as a young man. Perhaps it is best just to say that McCarthy is my favorite American author.

What is your prayer for America?

My prayer for America is simple. I pray that we turn to God and repent for our wickedness before it is too late.

Editor’s Note: To read other Speaking With American Patriots interviews, please click here.

Be Inspired By Our Fellow Americans

Try as they may to claim there was no election interference in 2020, Team America is wise to their games and getting involved this year. In response to America’s Future newsletter surveys, hundreds of patriots submitted their plans and activities to help keep elections free and fair in the 2024 election.

Below are just a few examples we received from our fellow Americans to help protect our God-given rights and preserve the Republic. We urge you to be inspired, stay informed, and get involved in your own way.

I will be helping with vetting candidates and distributing voter guides, exposing the truth through my media connections, and doing some door-knocking for my candidate.
I am sharing the message of losing our country unless we vote Trump in with my community.
Volunteer at the polls and local America First campaign.
I have put my name in to be a poll worker.
I am praying and mobilizing others to pray.
I am a PC and will be working to inform the public on issues and candidates.
I belong to and support a few America First groups.
I plan to apply to be a poll worker.
I am actively on my adult children and friends to get out and vote and stay away from MSM.
I am looking at the historical data in my county & will volunteer to be a poll worker.
In 2024, I will – stand for America. In my heart. In my mind. In my actions. On my blog.

Voting is our ultimate civic responsibility and patriotic duty. The right to vote is what gives rise to all other rights, privileges, and freedoms. As the Supreme Court expressed in 1963, “[n]o right is more precious in a free country than that of having a voice in the election of those who make the laws under which, as good citizens, we must live. Other rights, even the most basic, are illusory if the right to vote is undermined.”

Editor’s Note: To access America’s Future Election Information Library for your state’s voter and election information, click here.

America’s Future Files Briefs Supporting Second Amendment Rights

Last week, America’s Future filed Amicus briefs with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in connection with two separate Second Amendment federal court cases involving challenges to specific provisions of California gun laws. America’s Future fully supports the respective plaintiffs-appellees in their pursuit to exercise the right to bear arms.

The cases are summarized below.

Virginia Duncan, et al, v Rob Bonta, in his official capacity as the Attorney General of the State of California, No. 23-55805

On Thursday, December 28, 2023, America’s Future filed its third Amicus brief in the Duncan v Bonta court saga. This case is well-traveled having been up and down the California federal court system since late 2016 and even reaching the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) docket during its October Term 2021. As noted on page 2 of the brief, this protracted litigation “represents yet another chapter in the ongoing battle between the State of California in its efforts to restrict firearms and those seeking to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Eight other nonprofits joined the brief.

At the trial court level, the federal district court granted summary judgment in favor of Ms. Duncan. The district court’s sound and well-reasoned ruling was reversed and on more than one occasion, Ninth Circuit activist judges ruled in favor of California’s leftist regulations and policies.

Eventually, on August 1, 2022, SCOTUS expeditiously disposed of the case, ruling in favor of Ms. Duncan and, in doing so, vacated the Ninth Circuit’s judgment with instructions to reconsider applicable law in light of the SCOTUS landmark ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen 597 U.S ____(2022).

The Bruen case has altered the framework of Second Amendment judicial resolutions. The landmark decision respects our Framers and our Constitutional Republic. It stands for the notion that our God-given individual inalienable right to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed by overzealous government officials seeking to subjugate the citizens of this great nation, flexing political power over citizens they view as their subjects.

As explained in our brief,

The California government is led by officials who have demonstrated hostility not just to the ‘right to keep and bear arms,’ but also to the Bruen decision. When Bruen was before the Supreme Court on the merits, California joined other states in filing an amicus brief urging virtually unlimited latitude for states to restrict gun rights, in stark opposition to the approach eventually taken by the Bruen Court. Since the Bruen decision was issued, California Governor Gavin Newsom has roundly criticized it, the Supreme Court generally, and those circuit courts that have followed it.”

America’s Future takes the position that “the district court correctly concluded that Appellant ‘did not succeed in justifying its sweeping ban and dispossession mandate with a relevantly similar historical analogue.’”

We urge the Ninth Circuit to quit lallygagging and promptly issue a final judgment in this case – one that is compatible with Bruen and the U.S. Constitution. It is clear the district court’s order of summary judgment in favor of Ms. Duncan should be affirmed and the California statute, at issue, should be stricken as unconstitutional.

James Miller, et al. v. Rob Bonta, in his official capacity as the Attorney General of the State of California, No. 23-2979

On Friday, December 29, 2023, America’s Future filed an Amicus brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in Miller v Bonta, a Second Amendment case challenging California’s list of banned firearms that fall within the state’s expansive definition of “assault weapons”. The list includes certain semiautomatic firearms customarily owned by individuals in accord with the Second Amendment.

The brief provides the Ninth Circuit with insight from a historical perspective in the hopes of opening eyes to the import of our Founder’s intent.

As explained in our brief,

In the Declaration of Independence, America’s founders viewed armed resistance to tyranny as not only a ‘right,’ but also a ‘duty.’ Having experienced the loss of their rights as Englishmen, the American people were not so sanguine to think that the new governments they were creating could not, themselves, devolve into despotism.

Here, the California “assault weapons” ban is incompatible with Bruen and violates the Second Amendment right to bear arms. California’s gun regulations display an unreasonable hostility towards the Second Amendment. Enacting laws that criminalize possession of widely owned weapons such as semiautomatic rifles, handguns, and shotguns is exactly what Bruen warns against. California’s ban is arbitrary, overly broad, and cannot stand. As our brief explains, “if California wants to defend its law and rebut the presumption that the Second Amendment protects so-called ‘assault weapons,’ it has the burden to demonstrate relevant historical analogues. California cannot evade that burden.”

America’s Future urges the Ninth Circuit to affirm the judgement of the lower court, finding in favor of the plaintiff and invalidating California’s state statute respecting “assault weapons.”

Editor’s Note: Earlier articles regarding Duncan v Bonta, along with the Amicus briefs, can be accessed on our Law & Policy page.

Tyrants Need a Surveillance Society

This is the third entry in our In Focus series identifying and exposing the tools that modern-day tyrants are using to thwart the will of We The People for power and control. To access previous articles, please click here.

The Bible specifies that the purpose of civil government is “for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do well.” I Peter 2:14 (emphasis added). A ruler is described as a “revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” Romans 13:4 (emphasis added). In both verses, government’s role is described as responding to evildoing after it occurs — not anticipating and preventing it from occurring. The many Old Testament passages on punishment for wrongdoing are no different.

Today, many Americans want government to take on a function beyond its Biblical role to protect us — to make us safe by preventing wrongdoing — and government encourages that view. Once a government convinces the public that society would be better off — be safer — if it has the information to take action to prevent wrongdoing, it gains power and we lose liberty. From the government’s perspective: It’s not about safety; it’s about control. Our desire for safety provides government the rationale for conducting surveillance. Indeed, the more we seek safety, the greater surveillance powers that the government will claim it needs.

A 2002 movie, Minority Report, starring Tom Cruise, envisioned a world where the government relied on three clairvoyant persons to identify crimes which would occur in the future, allowing the government to dispatch law enforcement teams to prevent the crimes from occurring. As usually occurs, government promises of utopia actually result in a world better described as a dystopia.

When most citizens become concerned about the loss of liberty from surveillance, the standard justification is: “If you’re not doing anything wrong, you have nothing to fear.” And the standard response of most citizens is “I’ve got nothing to hide.” But that is the wrong answer. No American should expect or ask government to make us safe, and no one should be complacent about being constantly monitored like a small child. As Benjamin Franklin warned:

[t]hose who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.

George Orwell’s 1984 reveals the cost paid by persons living under constant surveillance. It chills and crushes freedom of thought and action. Orwell’s fictional land of Oceania features ubiquitous posters which show the words “Big Brother is watching you.” The posters have eyes that seem to follow the viewer wherever he or she may move. See H. Bloom, ed., George Orwell’s 1984 (Chelsea House: 2004). This description more and more resembles Western cities, laden with cameras on every light pole, combined with facial recognition, cell phone tracking and other means which chronicle in real time innumerable details of our every interaction.

Our nation’s obsession with safety spiked after the events of 9/11. Those in government who knew of and had actually anticipated the specific risk of terrorists flying planes into important buildings, but ignored all the warnings, were never held to account. The Administration of George W. Bush preferred to look ahead. The Bush Administration used 9/11 to demand new powers — to keep us safe, of course. Forty-five days after 9/11, Congress passed an ill-named bill, “the Patriot Act,” to vastly expand the authority of government to surveil Americans, and the Fourth Amendment was rarely mentioned.

The Patriot Act was not written to respond to 9/11 — it had been written well before 9/11, just awaiting the opportunity for an event that would enable it to get enacted. One analysis by the ACLU accurately observed: “[w]hile most Americans think it was created to catch terrorists, the Patriot Act actually turns regular citizens into suspects.” Bush’s entire Presidency was based on the assertion that “President Bush Has Kept America Safe.”

Even during the Trump Administration, the push for more and more surveillance has continued. Attorney General William Barr gave an address at the 2019 International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS), in which he “focused on the need for consumer electronic products and applications that use encryption to offer a ‘backdoor’ for the government” to be able to read encrypted communications. What’s the reason? It’s the usual — “public safety.” Barr asserted “‘warrant-proof encryption is … seriously impairing our ability to monitor and combat domestic and foreign terrorists.’” Translated, the government needs to be able to surveil all persons all the time so it can prevent wrongdoing and keep us safe. Individual liberty had no place in his analysis.

In October 2019, Barr announced the new “national disruption and early engagement program” ostensibly designed to “identify, assess and engage potential mass shooters before they strike.” Barr’s initiative “suggest[s] that the way this will be accomplished is through increased mass surveillance of everyday Americans and the use of algorithms to analyze that bulk data for vaguely defined symptoms of ‘mental illness.’”

The government has also found ways to spy on Americans without doing the surveillance work themselves. In the spring of 2023, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence revealed that the government has been buying vast amounts of data on U.S. citizens (obviously with taxpayer money), greatly compromising any conception of privacy — and all without a warrant. “[T]he report states that the government believes it can ‘persistently’ track the phones of ‘millions of Americans’ without a warrant, so long as it pays for the information.” The report admits that government can use the information to track Americans’ political activities, including “‘identify[ing] every person who attended a protest or rally based on their smartphone location or ad-tracking records.’”

How government uses that information is equally disturbing, and it is not a “conspiracy theory.” The same story in Wired.com explains that “the same mountain of data the government is quietly accumulating could be turned against Americans to ‘facilitate blackmail, stalking, harassment, and public shaming.’ Notably, these are all offenses that have been committed by intelligence agencies and White House administrations in the past.” (Emphasis added.) In other words, by surveilling us, the government obtains the means to control us.

In a total surveillance state, it is not just the People being watched — but also mayors, state legislators, governors, Congressmen, federal judges, and even Presidents (at least those named Trump). It certainly could explain why our “heroes” in Congress who sound so good on the campaign trail promising to defend individual rights, ultimately vote to give the FBI, CIA, NSA, and others more power. As Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer told Rachel Maddow, President-Elect Trump was “really dumb” for picking a fight with intelligence officials: “Let me tell you: You take on the intelligence community — they have six ways from Sunday at getting back at you.” This is one time Schumer told the truth! The intelligence community can collect information about us and then engage in “blackmail, stalking, harassment, and public shaming,” and more!

Judge Andrew Napolitano provides a nice summary of the problem:

Surveillance is totalitarian. It is the manifestation of the tyrant’s wish to know all about a potential opponent…. Who can be happy while being observed by the government? A watched person changes behavior and loses liberty on account of being watched. The liberty to make unfettered choices, the right to shake a metaphorical fist in the tyrant’s face, the personal power to ignore what the government expects are all dissipated. A watched person hesitates to exercise freedom. [Emphasis added.]

What are the lessons to be learned here? Here are some “don’ts” to consider:

Don’t ever allow the government (or their agents in the mainstream media) to stir up fear in your heart.
Don’t obsess about your own safety.
Don’t tolerate politicians who allow government to invade your privacy, because they want to control you.

Rather, rest in the notion that no matter what lies ahead, that God is sovereign, having complete control over all future events involving both individuals and nations, as even Ben Franklin believed:

[T]he longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth — that God governs in the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without [H]is notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without [H]is aid?

Editor’s Note: To read the articles in this series, please click here.

Get In The Fight Illinois campaign is around the corner. Register today to attend the Illinois Summit and Training Programs on January 26 and 27. Get the facts and learn what you can do in your community to help end child exploitation and trafficking. Other state campaigns are scheduled as well. Click here to view our multi-state campaign page and learn more about this initiative to help end child exploitation and trafficking in America.

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