Where Are the Real Cowboys?
by Stewart Dale Spencer on Jun.14, 2011, under Commentary, Essay, & Prose, Non-fiction
Click here for a copy of the original letter: where-are-the-real-cowboys
WHERE ARE THE REAL COWBOYS? — AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BANDERA COUNTY TEXAS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
June 11, 2011
Bandera County Texas
Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 2445
Bandera, Texas 78003
Ref: “Bandera County Sheriff’s Office Issues Domestic Terrorism Warning,” KSAT.com, June 9, 2011
To Whom it May Concern,
I cannot adequately express how appalled I was after reading the story from KSAT.com, which I referenced above. I only recently learned about the so-called Sovereign Citizens Movement but it is obvious that there is a great deal of misinformation about people who correctly believe that citizens are sovereign in this nation. The Constitution begins with “We the People . . . ” The people, through the elected representatives of their country (otherwise known as a State) established the federal government for limited and specific purposes. Unfortunately, even the good people of Texas have been hoodwinked into giving up more and more freedoms to an out-of-control federal government.
The reason I am writing to you is to inform you that I don’t feel that I can safely travel though your beautiful county because I am someone who believes in the Constitution. I carry pocket constitutions with me and have been quite outspoken in my own community about what is happening to our nation. I am not a member of any movement but I am a believer in freedom, as we should all be. Unless your Sheriff retracts the ridiculous claims that people who believe in individual sovereignty, which is what this country was founded upon, are or may be “domestic terrorists,” I will not be spending any of my hard-earned money in your county and I will encourage my friends to to the same.
All movements and organizations have their fringe elements but the random actions of a few people (the story makes reference to a shootout in Arkansas — which isn’t part of Texas the last time I looked) does not mean that people who believe that the federal government has undermined our liberties are domestic terrorists nor does it mean that, as Captain Hicks said, “They’ll kill you in a New York minute.”
The alarmism espoused by Captain Hicks is part of a federal campaign, through the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Fusion Centers, to spread fear in the population. When free people live in fear, they are more likely to give up their freedoms for the sake of security. Look at what is happening in our airports if you need proof.
As the Cowboy Capital of the World, I hope that you have enough cowboys of good conscience who will speak out and tell the Sheriff that fear-mongering and disinformation have no place in Texas.
Sincerely,
Stewart Dale Spencer
San Marcos, Texas
