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VOTERESCUE LEADERS RIDE TRAIN TO JEKYLL ISLAND GATHERING
Part of Freedom Movement’s Planning of
Continental Congress 2009!
Meeting affords amazing opportunity for
Nationwide Hand-Counted Paper Ballot Election!
by Vickie Karp & Karen Renick, Co-Directors, VoteRescue
Please see link to Continental Congress 2009 at: http://www.wethepeoplecongress.org
Vickie and Karen with G. Edward Griffin at Jekyll Island,
May 22, 2009: Founder, Coalition for
Visible Ballots and author,
"Creature From Jekyll Island"
On May 20th, we (Karen Renick and Vickie Karp, Co-Directors of VoteRescue) flew from Austin, TX to Newark, New Jersey, to meet an amazing group of patriots assembled by Bob Schulz of “We the People Congress for Constitutional Education” for an historic train ride to Jekyll Island, Georgia.
The goal of the trip was a planning session for the upcoming Continental Congress 2009 this November -- a great gathering of 153 delegates (three from each state and the District of Columbia) whose goal it will be to debate ways to make our government accountable to the people for the many Constitutional violations it has perpetrated over decades, such as: The illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; violations of Americans’ rights with the U.S. Patriot Act; violation of the 2nd Amendment through gun control laws; creation of fiat currency through the Federal Reserve; allowing illegal immigration through failure to secure our borders; illegal taxation of Americans through the federal income tax; the illegal planning of a North American Union; and other violations.
The CC2009 planning session setting was the Jekyll Island Hotel and Conference Center Thursday and Friday, May 21st and 22nd. This elegant island resort off the coast of Georgia was once private to the wealthiest of Americans during the late 1800’s and early 1900’s. The train ride to Jekyll Island replicated the journey of some of America’s wealthiest bankers and corporate leaders who similarly travelled by train in 1910 and assembled privately at Jekyll Island, where they created the Federal Reserve.
This private banking system which has become such a regular part of the everyday news in America is actually not federal, nor do they have any reserves; in fact the details of how “The Fed” operates are so insidious in their control of the American people through its arrangement of lending and fractional reserve banking, that the topic led to G. Edward Griffin’s authoritative book, “The Creature From Jekyll Island”. In honor of his authorship of this book, as well as his well-known support for the Constitution through his life’s work and his international organization, “Freedom Force International”, G. Edward Griffin was one of the special guests with whom we rode the train on this historical trip.
Others who rode the train for the May conference were, of course, Bob and Judy Schulz, organizers of the journey and founder of “We the People Congress” and “We the People Foundation for Constitutional Education”; Katherine Albrecht, author of “Spychips” and radio show host; Michael Badnarik, Libertarian Presidential candidate, 2004, Congressional candidate, 2006, and National Coordinator for the 2009 Continental Congress; Adam Kokesh, patriot, Iraqi veteran and 2010 Congressional candidate; Catherine Bleish of the Liberty Restoration Project; Kansas City, Missouri; Jon Stadtmiller, founder and owner, Republic Broadcasting Network, Austin, Texas; Edgar Steele, Idaho civil rights attorney, “Nickelrant.com”; Gary Franchi, Restore the Republic(.com) and Republic Magazine; George Shepherd, Republic Magazine; Ernest Hancock, Freedom’s Phoenix; Tom DeWeese, American Policy Center; Deborah Stevenson, National Home Education Legal Defense; and Ray Powell of Revolution Broadcast Radio.
Karen and I had fun miraculously squeezing all of our luggage – and ourselves - into our tiny 4-foot by 7-foot sleeping “compartment” that also contained a sink and a toilet! We had the most fun, though, in the train’s lounge sipping on glasses of wine while getting acquainted with our fellow travelers and visiting with the old friends we hadn’t seen in awhile. In an interview by Katherine Albrecht, we enjoyed telling her about VoteRescue’s history and sharing our vision for hand-counted paper ballot elections.
After a spotty nights’ sleep, we arrived at the Jesup, Georgia train station early the next morning. Our sleep(?) (Did you mean sleepy?) group transferred to a chartered bus that took us to the lush, landscaped grounds of the Jekyll Island Hotel and Conference Center. As we drove in, we stopped to take pictures of the entrance and of the many “cottages” (aka: mansions) that had been built by families such as the DuPonts, the Goodyears, and others who made Jekyll Island their private playground during the last century. On one side of the island is the Atlantic Ocean; on the side closest to the resort, a peaceful bay. The entire island is now a national park and open to the public. The main building of the hotel and conference center is a stately brick structure with wide covered porches where guests can enjoy the beautifully landscaped views while rocking in a wicker rocking chair.
Once we all had registered, we quickly convened in the large meeting room where we were joined by the other leaders who were unable to make the train trip with us: Judith Whitmore, We the People; Paul Venable, Libertarian Party Chair, Idaho; Tom Cryer, Truth Attack; Daneen Peterson, Stop the NAU; Steven Vincent, End the Fed; George Shepard, Republic Magazine; Jon Roland, Constitution.org; Mark Lerner, Constitutional Alliance; Amanda Moore, Liberty Belle Consulting; Ernest Guy Cunningham, Oathkeepers; Robert Crooks, Minuteman; Robert Gray, The American Open Currency Standard; and Clyde Cleveland, Common Sense Revisited.
Thursday and Friday were an inspiring mix of powerful statements by Bob Schulz, welcoming us to the event and outlining his vision for the 2009 Continental Congress; G. Edward Griffin, (“Freedom Force International”) who gave historical commentary about the original train ride to Jekyll Island and described the mission of Freedom Force as a means to restoring government accountability to the people; followed by each of the other organizational leaders who spoke on how they have been working to right the wrongs of specific governmental violations of the Constitution. Karen and I, of course, spoke about the violation of our basic right to vote by the use of machines that secretly count our votes and how VoteRescue and the Coalition for Visible Ballots have been fighting for years to re-instate hand-counted paper ballots (with enhanced security measures) instead. We also publicly offered our expertise to plan the elections of the delegates to the Continental Congress 2009.
Lunch on our first day was served in the “Federal Reserve” room at the Hotel, the actual room where the founders of the rogue central banking system gathered to “hatch their plan” in 1910. We found it ironic that their photographs were on the wall there, displayed in a manner that lent a heroic air to these individuals who plotted the financial servitude of the American people for generations.
After the wonderful meal, Bob gave a statement about the historical significance of this gathering, and presented a scroll to the group which stated a reaffirmation of support to the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. In a ceremonious manner, each of the organizational leaders was invited to the front of the room to attest our commitment to those principles by signing our names to the scroll. We were then each given a miniature copy.
Both meeting days were interspersed with historical reenactments of founding fathers’ (and mothers’) dialogues comprising key moments in our country’s history. Judith Whitmore graced the gathering with her beautiful voice. Actors dressed in 1770’s costumes portrayed at various times John Adams, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and others. We even got to hear Patrick Henry deliver his awe-inspiring speech that ended with those famous words: “Give me liberty…or give me death!”
The final business of the meeting was to plan the 2009 Continental Congress, and committees were formed to finalize the venue, plan the PR and media, fundraise the expenses for the delegates to the Congress, and to create a synergistic wave of support and commitment to the upcoming event.
The two-day meeting seemed to only last moments, and before we knew it, Friday afternoon had arrived and we were sadly saying goodbye to our new and old friends as they boarded the bus to the Amtrak station; most were returning to New Jersey by train. (Karen and I had chosen to fly home out of Jacksonville, which was a 90 minute drive from the resort.) Though we didn’t miss the tiny sleeping compartment, we missed the camaraderie of this wonderful, inspiring group of people.
On the plane home the next morning, after a restful night’s sleep, we excitedly brainstormed the outline of the nationwide hand-counted paper ballot election of the delegates to the Continental Congress 2009! Soon we will be announcing the details of this historic, citizen-controlled and citizen-observed election that will occur at a voting center near you on October 10, 2009!
SO STAY TUNED!
Vickie and Karen