Chuck Baldwin: Oklahoma needs Brogdon
Pastor Chuck Baldwin, the 2008 Constitution candidate for president, says a return to constitutional values won’t originate in Washington, D.C.
“It’s important to support men like State Sen. Randy Brogdon, who is running for governor,” Baldwin told a packed audience Friday at the Freedom21 conference in Del City. “His election could change the course of the country.
“In some ways, a governor is more powerful than the president. We need to stand up against Washington, D.C. Electing Randy Brogdon would be huge. Oklahoma can be on the cutting edge of a constitutional revival.”
Brogdon also spoke during the three-day conference, which was sponsored by the American Policy Center and founder Tom DeWeese.
In 2004, Baldwin was the vice presidential candidate on the Constitution Party ticket with presidential candidate Michael Peroutka. They were not on the ballot in Oklahoma.
Last year, state delegates of the Constitution Party chose Baldwin as the presidential nominee. He got 74 percent of the vote at the national convention. Tennessee attorney Darrell Castle was the vice presidential candidate. Again, the ticket was denied a place on the Oklahoma ballot.
Baldwin traveled more than 30,000 miles and visited more than 30 states to promote his message of liberty and constitutional government. Baldwin and Castle received more than 200,000 votes, which is a record for any Constitution Party Presidential/Vice Presidential ticket.
Baldwin was a founder of Crossroad Baptist Church in Pensacola, Fla., and has served as its senior pastor for 34 years. He hosts a daily radio show, Chuck Baldwin Live, where he discusses topics with a conservative Christian view.
In an interview with the Tulsa Beacon, Baldwin talked about the Modern Militia Movement-Missouri MIAC Strategic Report. In that report, Americans who voted for Baldwin, Libertarian candidate Robert Barr and Republican candidate Ron Paul were labeled as potential “domestic terrorists.”
Baldwin said there have been other “enemy lists” by the federal government but this one went a step further “by naming names.”
The report also targeted Americans who are pro-life, those opposed to illegal immigration, returning military veterans and others as potential terrorists.
“That report was rescinded and the man responsible was reassigned,” Baldwin said. “It was a great embarrassment for the state of Missouri.”
Baldwin said this illustrates that a restoration of constitutional rights will not originate in the federal government but must start on the local level.
“The federal government is completely out of control,” Baldwin said. “The power rests with the people. We must support restoration of those rights at the state and county level.”
Baldwin praised State Rep. Sally Kern, who attended the conference, for her willingness to take a courageous stand for traditional morality. Kern was attacked by liberal groups after she said she agreed with the biblical teachings concerning the immorality of homosexuality.
Thanks to Brogdon, Kern and others, Oklahoma has been on the cutting edge of restoring constitutional rights, Baldwin said. Legislators in other states are seeing the success in Oklahoma and that is spurring action.
“People are beginning to understand the impact of what is going on in our country,” Baldwin said. “We have to come to a line in the sand and I think we are at that point. We have a great love for freedom and liberty.”
Baldwin said he would not have run for president in 2008 had Paul won the Republican nomination.
“I’m pessimistic about Washington, D.C.,” Baldwin said. “It is a landfill, a stench in the nostril of God. Liberty, freedom and constitutional government can be alive and well. The states must maintain their constitutional sovereignty.”
If Oklahoma would make a stand and refuse federal bailout money, the revenue would be easily offset by companies flocking to a state that is truly free, he said
Other topics at the Freedom21 10th Annual National Conference included discussions on international policies and treaties like the United Nation’s Agenda 21 and its policy of sustainable development - a top down control that stamps out private property; limited government; free enterprise; the assault on health freedom; the threat of an International ID system through Real ID; so-called climate change; the new state sovereignty movement; how private property can end poverty; gun rights; doing away with the Federal Reserve; the real reasons children aren’t learning in the public classrooms; how the Trans Texas Corridor is being defeated on the local level.
Brogdon’s topic was “America, we have a problem - How to Restore America to Constitutional Principles” Brogdon introduced a resolution in the Oklahoma Senate to affirm the 10th Amendment, which limits federal control and confirms states’ rights.
Brogdon was the author of Oklahoma’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights and the Taxpayer Transparency Act. In 2005, he led the charge for Oklahoma to opt out of the federal REAL ID Act. Since then, a majority of states have followed suit.
Amanda Teegarden of OK-SAFE, Inc. (Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise), one of the co-sponsors of Freedom 21, spoke on “Fusion Centers - Gathering and Sharing Intelligence”
Teegarden is co-founder of Operation Information and Oklahomans for School Accountability. She has done extensive research into the Trans Texas Corridor and was a co-founder of OK-SAFE.