NASHVILLE - WND founder Joseph Farah shared his long-term strategy for reclaiming the nation with tea partiers last night – explaining election wins are only half the battle and a true, lasting revolution would mean taking over cultural institutions such as the press, entertainment business, schools, universities and churches.
"We're in trouble in America," he told a packed room at the first national tea party convention in Nashville. "We're losing our moral bearings. We're losing our respect for the rule of law. You look around America today, and things are bad – and they're getting worse. We're broke. We're dispirited. We're scared."
Farah said Americans have lived through years of reckless government spending under the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush – each promoting big government, less freedom and declining morality.
Why the sudden wake-up call in 2009 and 2010?
He compared stirring of Americans to the proverbial frog in a pot of water that is slowly getting hotter. It enjoys the balmy temperature and doesn't realize it's being slowly boiled to death.
"It is my theory that Americans have been that frog in the pot for at least the last 20 years," Farah said. "We've been moving closer and closer to socialism, further away from G-d, the Constitution and doing what's right – all the while not noticing that it's killing our nation."
Didn't make it to Nashville? Don't worry. Visit the one and only "tea-party store" now
He said slowly but surely Americans have been turning their backs on the sacrifices their forefathers made in the name of liberty.
"It's our duty that those of us who believe in G-d, liberty, security and responsibility that He represents – and only He represents – to ... begin another long march through the cultural institutions," Farah said. "It's not enough to criticize these institutions. They need to be taken over, redeemed, reborn."
The crowd cheered energetically.
"Once upon a time, the U.S. government was the envy of the whole world," he said. "It presided over the greatest freedom the world had ever known. But as Washington's power and reach grew well beyond its constitutional restrictions, something happened. It started to supplant G-d."
Government became man's source of worship – its idol, Farah said.
"Government wants to be your one and only G-d."
He decried the false assumption the Constitution is a "living document," with its meanings always open to interpretation.
"Can Congress constitutionally require Americans to buy medical insurance?" he asked.
"No!" the crowd enthusiastically boomed.
"Does Obama have the constitutional power to appoint unaccountable czars to rule over virtually every aspect of our lives?"
"No!" the people shouted again.
"Does Congress have the power to kill or inhibit freedom of speech of talk-radio hosts like Rush Limbaugh?"
"No!" they yelled.
"Do we have the right to bear arms or not?"
"Yes!" they responded.
Farah said he admits to being "obsessed with the Constitution." He said every journalist who practices the profession under its protections and every officeholder who takes an oath to uphold it should have a similar admiration and respect for the founding document – especially President Obama.
"I think seriously of its eligibility requirements for president," he said. "I admit it."
Farah discussed the eligibility issue, explaining to the crowd that the president refuses to produce documents proving he meets the Constitution's natural-born citizen requirement.
Each time he brought the issue up, the crowd cheered wildly, whistled and applauded.
"Some people say it's not important where Barack Obama was born," he said. "Some think the Constitution is just an archaic old document. ... It's the glue that holds us together, that binds us to the people as a nation-state, and we abrogate and abuse it at our great peril."
He emphasized the role of America's cultural institutions in paving the way to destruction of "true freedom" and noted that patriots must be ready and willing to take back those institutions because electing politicians will never be enough.
"Our leaders are a judgment on us," he said. "We've got to get our spiritual priorities straight. We've got to recognize our government is either a blessing or a curse on us."
Farah said tea partiers may win some short-term victories, but they will lose the war if they don't address the constant tug of America's cultural institutions pulling the nation in another direction. He explained that America was blessed with many worthy leaders in the past because its citizens understood the limitations of government.
"The day is coming when not only individuals will be judged by G-d, but nations as well," he explained. "That's not going to be a pretty sight, and if America were judged by those standards, it wouldn't fare well – unless, of course, we as a people change our ways."
"Do you think we can find our way home before it's too late?" he asked.
"Yeah!" thundered the enthusiastic crowd as tea partiers erupted in cheers.
After the speech, Birmingham, Ala., resident Lee Puckett chimed in on the eligibility issue.
"You don't act like there's something to hide if there's nothing to hide," he said. "It's a very simple fix to show it. Why would you spend more than a million dollars to hide something? Why wouldn't you just show it?"
Husband and wife Ruby and Denny Spann, tea partiers who live just west of Nashville, said they learned quite a bit from Farah's speech.
"I learned that we're going backward in this country every day," Denny told WND. "We've created such a debt that it's almost impossible to get out of. With the people who are here and the things that are happening, I think there's going to be a turnaround."
Ruby added, "We've traveled to many countries, and we live in the most wonderful country there is. We've had a lot of people over the years who are just ruining it. I think a lot of us didn't realize it could happen."
"Enough is enough," she said gently as tears welled in her eyes. "It's got to turn around."
Topic: 'Government wants to be your one and only god' (Read 1097 times)