What every state needs to do: Montanans launch recalls of Senators who voted for NDAA

Campaign to recall Congressmen who voted for NDAA – Facebook image

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

In response to the traitorous actions of 86 senators who voted to pass the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, commonly referred to as the NDAA, Montanans have announced a recall campaign against Senators Max Baucus and Jonathan Tester.

As I have previously outlined, the fact that the NDAA allows for the indefinite detention without charge or trial of American citizens is simply irrefutable.

Therefore, every single one of our so-called representatives who voted for this atrocious legislation is in direct violation of their oath to uphold the Constitution and thus are actively working against us – the American people.

Thankfully, some people are already taking action, as we see in the cases of the Montana recall effort and Representative Jeff Landry who introduced an amendment (after voting for the NDAA with detention provisions intact) which would protect Americans’ right to due process.

As one commenter pointed out, this very well might be an attempt to protect himself from the inevitable backlash that will ensue once more Americans wake up to the fact that our so-called government is actively working against us and turning us into the enemy.

Montana is one of just nine states that have a provision which protects the right to recall members of their federal congressional delegations on the grounds of physical or mental lack of fitness, incompetence, violation of oath of office, official misconduct, or conviction of certain felony offenses.

This campaign is being led by Stewart Rhodes, a Yale-educated attorney, president of the Oath Keepers, and veteran along with William Crain, both Montana residents.

For those not familiar, the Oath Keepers are a commendable organization retired and active duty military and law enforcement personnel who pledge to uphold their Oath to the Constitution and thus refuse to follow any unlawful orders, which every order issued under Section 1021 of the NDAA would be.

Unsurprisingly, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has targeted the patriots within the Oath Keepers as “anti-government,” even though they are vowing to do exactly what our government was founded to do: protect the American people and uphold the rights self-evident rights protected by the Constitution.

The ADL claims that Oath Keepers have an “extreme conspiratorial mindset,” which is patently absurd given that the issues they have been bringing into the sphere of public debate have now been codified under the NDAA.

Montana’s law is Montana Code 2-16-603, Section 2 of which reads, “A public officer holding an elective office may be recalled by the qualified electors entitled to vote for the elective officer’s successor.”

The other eight states which have such provisions in place are: Arizona, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, and Wisconsin.

I find it a bit disconcerting that every state does not have such a law in place, especially after seeing the overwhelming support the NDAA received in both the House and Senate, despite having the wholly un-American detention provisions in place.

Oddly enough, a New Jersey state judge struck down the state’s federal recall law on the grounds that “the federal Constitution does not allow states the power to recall U.S. senators.”

This is yet another direct affront to the Tenth Amendment which states, “The powers not … prohibited … are reserved to the States … or to the people,” and given that recalling federal delegations is not prohibited in the Constitution, it is only logical that the Tenth Amendment would protect this.

Then again, it is not all that surprising given that our judicial system and federal government have been making a concerted effort to undermine states’ rights in order to centralize power and make it even harder for “We the People” to affect change.

As of yet, the issue of recalling federal officials has not reached the federal court system, although I would not be too surprised if that happened if the recall campaign turned out to be a success.

Stewart Rhodes quite aptly summarizes the ludicrously un-American actions of our so-called representatives in passing the NDAA by saying, “These politicians from both parties betrayed our trust, and violated the oath they took to defend the Constitution. It’s not about the left or right, it’s about our Bill of Rights. Without the Bill of Rights, there is no America. It is the Crown Jewel of our Constitution, and the high-water mark of Western Civilization.”

Representative Tom McClintock, a Republican representing California’s 4th District, also made a strong statement on the floor before voting against the NDAA in saying, “today, we who have sworn fealty to that Constitution sit to consider a bill that affirms a power contained in no law and that has the full potential to crack the very foundation of American liberty.”

Indeed the NDAA has the full and grave potential to crack – if not outright destroy – the foundation of American liberty which we hold so dear to our hearts.

Currently, 18 states across the United States have recall laws, but unfortunately most do not apply to officials at the federal level.

For these states, and the 32 others without such laws, to recall federal officials for their treasonous actions, they would first be required to either amend the previously passed laws in the case of the 18 states with laws in place or in the case of the others, pass new laws.

Hopefully state legislatures will realize the immense danger posed by the NDAA and quickly act to recall the traitors who voted for it, although I’m not all too sure that will happen, to be brutally honest.

I truly hope that I am wrong and that this Montana campaign will prove a success, spurring similar efforts across America and bring the rule of law back to its rightful place in our nation; otherwise, we will see our once-free United States descend into tyranny the likes of which most could never imagine. 

This article first appeared at End the Lie 

Madison Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. He is available for podcast and radio interviews. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at [email protected]