An Open Letter to Members and Leaders of the Tea Party Organizations       

Charles W. Kraut, former Candidate for President of the United States

Lexington, Virginia

13 January 2020

Years ago I joined an organization that called itself the Tea Party.  At its gatherings, members would wear straw hats with tea bags strung from them.  They seemed angry with Washington, especially about taxation, or so the story went.

During the next several years I addressed numerous Tea Party gatherings across the United States, including a standing-room-only presentation at the Tea Party Convention in Phoenix.  I met and talked with hundreds of Tea Party members.  I learned these things:

1.      Tea Party members by and large know little or nothing about our Constitution, and freely admit their ignorance.

2.      Tea Party members usually didn’t know why they had joined the Tea Party except to express their anger and concern about what was going on in Washington, DC.

3.      Tea Party members did not demand an agenda, statement of principles, or even a mission statement from the organization they were supporting with their hard-earned money.  In short, very few people knew the real purpose of the Tea Party, nor whether it was set up to accomplish anything worthwhile besides being a platform for disgruntled voters.

There were exceptions. In Virginia, for example, the Virginia Tea Party Patriots Federation (VATPPF) was formed, and that group has put together several top-notch conventions with speakers among local, state, and national officials.  I applaud their work – but I also look at the results.

At a VATPPF conference at which I was an invited speaker several years ago I had the opportunity to meet the then-national chairperson of the original Tea Party, who was also on the program.  I spoke to her about my work, gave her a copy of both the books I had written to help the Tea Party, among other organizations, and offered my assistance as an unpaid speaker/lecturer at Tea Party gatherings across the U.S.   I never heard back from her.

Recently, when I announced my candidacy for President of the United States, I contacted a good friend who was the leader of a local Tea Party group in Virginia.  I asked for his support in the 2020 election.  He put me off and told me he wanted to discuss the matter with the National Tea Party leaders.

He got back to me a few minutes later with an entirely predictable response; the Tea Party would offer me absolutely no support at all. They no longer wanted me to address their meetings and had no further interest in my activities to defend the Constitution. 

Why was their answer so predictable?  It has become a familiar refrain.  “We have to re-elect Trump.” 

They were kind enough to embellish their rejection of me with statements like “This is a very critical time for America,”  “We must prevent a Socialist from getting into the White House,” and so on.

The sharpest barb was the last; “Perhaps in 2024 we can support a Constitutionist candidate.”

I must admit, I was wrong.  I mistakenly assumed that the Tea Party had been formed to help save our country by people who were at least marginally aware of the real issues we face.  I believed that these “conservatives on steroids” (my description) would work together from the grass roots, build a base, create an agenda, and doing something worthwhile – such as making inroads on fixing a few of the many, many things that are wrong with the Republican Party.

At the very least I had hoped that those who heard me speak and who were paying their dues to the Tea Party organization would at least follow my advice and become educated on the Constitution and America’s founding.  Wrong again.

What should be happening today.

For several years I have encouraged the Tea Party and the Constitution Party to affiliate, thereby strengthening both organizations and giving the Tea Party the one thing it lacks: ballot access.  Now I see why this will never happen.

First, Americans who vote are almost always forced to choose what they believe is the “lesser of two evils.”  This was never truer than in the 2016 election, as I wrote in my Wealth Creation and Preservation newsletter entitled Two Dreadful Choices.  What we seem to fail to realize is that the lesser of two evils is still evil.

Second, political discussions regarding the Constitution are, literally, a dead issue.  The U.S. Supreme Court has reversed itself more than 236 times on Constitutional issues, which is to say that they don’t really know or care about the Constitution – not ours, anyway.  Just witness John Roberts’ surrender to the Democrats when he had it in his power to declare the entire, dreadful Obamacare law unconstitutional (which, of course, it is) – and proclaimed the opposite.

In another, more recent article in Wealth Creation and Preservation  I discussed briefly how each of the ten amendments comprising the Bill of Rights had been negated by Congress and/or the courts – except perhaps the 3rd Amendment.  I don’t think too many Americans are quartering American or foreign troops in their homes. 

Can you name even one piece of legislation that has negated a portion of our Bill of Rights?  You should be able to; there are many.

Third, just about all the problems America faces today have been created by our government, often by meddling in places where it has no business.  Today, the Democrats don’t merely propose (and pass) unconstitutional legislation; they propose and pass anti-constitutional legislation.  Government is not the solution; government is the problem.

Fourth, most Americans are unfamiliar with the philosophy that has been worming its way into our nation through devious and underhanded means for more than a century.  I am referring to Progressivism, a political philosophy akin to both Socialism and Communism.  I have written at length about Progressivism, but most Americans know nothing more than the term itself. The Democratic Party has become the proud champion of this deadly cancer we call Progressivism.

Progressivism has two basic tenets:

1.      There is no truth.

2.      Everything in life must be placed in its historical context.

What does that mean?  It’s frighteningly simple. If there is no truth, there is no God.  There is no basis for society or civilization. That leaves us with the simple philosophy I heard so often in college: “If it feels good, do it!’

Then, setting everything in its historical context means that white men who owned slaves and wore funny wigs 200+ years ago cannot possibly teach us anything about how to live our lives today.  In other words, throw out all of human history, philosophy, religion, and morals.  We are on our own, free to live our lives as we see fit, accountable to no one but ourselves.  If we do stupid things, we have our government to take care of us.  No worries!

We must educate ourselves about Progressivism.  Progressivism has replaced natural rights, which are given by God and enshrined in our Declaration of Independence, with human rights, which come from government and can be withdrawn at will at the whim of the party in power.

I wish every American would read my book Will You Help Save Your Country?, which is a brief overview of Progressivism.  This book explains how and why Progressivism managed to take over and relegate our Constitution to the dustbin.

Here’s the point

The conservative movement has failed in every instance to stop or even slow the tidal wave of Progressivism.  The Tea Party, nominally a part of the conservative movement, has likewise failed to make a dent.

If Americans continue to fail to accept and fulfill their obligations as responsible citizens of our constitutional republic, this great nation will fail.  We will become the laughingstock of all nations, because we failed to create and maintain what could have been the greatest nation under the greatest government in the history of mankind.

How will we fail? By trusting those unworthy of our trust to run this country. We have abdicated our responsibility as American citizens to hold our government accountable.  Our government did not create itself; it was created by “We, the People” through our elected representatives.

We need to decide what our children are taught in public schools.  Our children need to be well enough grounded in the principles of liberty and freedom that when they go to college they will eliminate the Lefsitst indoctrination provided by so many of our once-honorable universities.

We need to stop doing all the things we do that are not authorized by our Constitution.  This includes the federal government’s involvement in public education (K-12 and universities, as well as student loans), “regime change,” “nation building,” money printing by the Federal Reserve, asset forfeiture, and much, much more.

We need to hold our elected officials accountable for their actions.  When they fail to uphold their oath of office, they must be removed swiftly, through recall if necessary. We dare not wait for their re-election, for then we may discover that their bad actions have bought them many votes.

What does it mean to fail to uphold one’s office?  It’s very simple.  At every level of government in the United States, elected officials and judges take a solemn oath to uphold and sustain the Constitution of the United States.  For anyone to declare, for instance, that Socialism or Communism or Progressivism should replace our Constitution instantly disqualifies that person to hold any public office in the United States and any judgeship.  You cannot promote a cancerous, destructive system like Progressivism and uphold the Constitution at the same time.

Where did we go wrong?  We fought a devastating Civil War which resulted in the end of slavery.  We had, over the objections of most Democrats, the Civil Rights Movement, which brought participation in the American dream full circle to all citizens. We saved the world twice during great World Wars; we bankrupted Communism in the Soviet Union.  Shall we then fall victim to the same failed philosophy we so successfully fought to defeat?

Progressivism succeeds through propaganda, emotional appeals, misdirection, indoctrination, fraud, and deception.  Think of Obamacare, where we were told “We have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it!”  That was a massive abdication of responsibility on the part of our elected leaders.  All those involved in that fraud should have been removed from office.

Think of the PATRIOT Act, which had been written years before 9/11 and was just waiting for the moment it could be passed through emotional appeals from our leaders.  (“You are either with us or against us.” – George Bush) You know, of course, that that infamous act enabled indefinite detention of immigrants (remember Japanese-Americans in World War II?), unprecedented spying on the American people, and a horrific violation of the 4th Amendment regarding illegal search and seizure.

Think also of a recent National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), passed by Congress and signed into law, that enabled us to attack and kill American citizens “suspected of being terrorists.”  That violates everything in the Constitution regarding due process of law, not to mention what the Declaration says about “life, liberty, and happiness.”.

Government is not the solution; government is the problem.  If we continue to vote for the lesser of two evils we will be choosing to destroy this great country slowly or quickly.  It’s time to do something different.

We cannot wait until 2024.  We must educate ourselves, our families, our friends, and everyone we know about our constitutional republic, why it is the foundation for the best and freest country in human history, and about the terrible threat posed by Progressivism, which by now has won an almost complete victory over freedom and truth.

I urge Tea Party members everywhere, along with all conservatives, Republicans, Independents, and Democrats to wake up to what is happening.  Learn about the real issues so that you may make an intelligent, informed decision as to whether you want to live in chains under Progressivism or are willing to work to restore freedom in America.  After all, you are responsible and will be held accountable for the choices you make, even if you just  pay no attention and let things continue the way they have been going since Teddy Roosevelt was President.

Keep this in mind: choosing freedom means getting your act together.  A constitutional republic requires citizens who are men and women of character, honest, decent, moral, and engaged in their communities.  You and I can do that.  The only question is, will you?