Date: Tue, 30 Aug 1994 10:10:46 EDT5 From: "\"M. G. Devour\"." Subject: Jon Coon at Freedom Hill To: libernet-d@Dartmouth.EDU, libernet@Dartmouth.EDU, fap@world.std.com, I've been looking forward to posting this for many weeks. I finally got the tapes of the rally so I could transcribe them. It seems fitting in light of the Crime Bill travesty, and is one of the most moving speeches I've ever witnessed. JON COON at Freedom Hill Sunday, May 14, 1994, Gun Owners of Macomb County held a rally at Freedom Hill Park in Sterling Heights, Michigan, a suburb north of Detroit. An estimated twenty thousand people attended the event. The few newspapers that noted the event grossly understated attendance. One radio station, during a traffic report, attributed the two- mile long backups on roads leading to Freedom Hill to "road striping crews." The day was sunny and warm. The crowd was enthusiastic as they heard a series of speakers including local pro-gun candidates, officials, gun-group leaders, and local talk-radio personality Mark Scott (WXYT-AM). A giant American flag draped the stage behind the speakers' platform. Master of Ceremonies, Mike Sessa Jr., introduced Jon Coon, Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate: Freedom! [Scattered applause] It's still okay to applaud the word Freedom in the United States of America. Go ahead! Freedom! [Long applause] This is the only Nation on the face of the earth that has ever made freedom it's fundamental value. And as I look out across this crowd today--and it is a *big* crowd--I can see faces that I've seen for the last year of this campaign. And I want to tell you, as far as I'm concerned, you folks, you that are here today, are the *true* sons and daughters of this nation and I am deeply honored to be in your presence. Thank you. [Applause] This is the only nation on the face of the earth that has ever made freedom it's fundamental value. But, we're losing it. We're losing the battle. And one of the reasons we are losing it, is because we continue to elect people to public office who either don't understand, don't care about, or are downright opposed to freedom. Do I need to speak up louder? Raise your hands in the back if you can't hear me! [Laughter] [Louder] Alright, can you hear me now! [Yeah] [Audience member: Let'em hear you in Washington!] In Washington? I'm gonna need your help to let'em hear me in Washington. We have leaders--so called leaders--in Washington who do not understand that the concept of freedom and the concept of responsibility must go together. [Applause] You see it in every piece of legislation, in every new rule that gets passed. Anytime there's a social problem the easiest, simplest way to fix it is to ban the freedom rather than concentrate and hold accountable those who are not living up to their responsibilities. That's the problem and we've got to convince them of that in Washington. [Cheers and applause] Responsibility is the price of freedom. We've forgotten that. And we've elected people who don't care about that. And that is the reason why something like Waco, Texas can occur and the nation turns its back! As we kill and burn, and *bulldose*the*ashes*in*! That is the reason, at Ruby Ridge, that we can shoot a mother in the face as she holds her baby and see our nation turn its back! And when I'm elected, I want to tell you, that the first two items on my priority list are Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho. [Long applause] They can't *make* that trail cold enough! We *will* find out! I don't suppose that we can be surprised, that a Congress that hasn't managed to pass a balanced budget in twenty years has trouble with the concept of responsibility. [Laughter] Some of it's our fault. We elected them. And when I say we, I mean me too, alright? Every one of us has been a little bit lax about the people we put there. That's changing! That *is* changing, and I can feel it. There *is* a patriotic movement in this country. It's here in Michigan, I know it's here, I feel it every day! You're part of it! [cheers and applause] [At this point there is a break in the recording while the camcorder battery was changed. I asked Jon to reconstruct the missing segment as well as he could.] [That growing patriotic movement is timely and fortunate, for today there is a group of people in Washington who are engaged in a serious effort to destroy the freedoms...] ...guaranteed us by the Constitution of the United States. They have insulted the ten thousand who spent the winter at Valley Forge. They have insulted the founding fathers who wrote the Second Amendment, *not* to protect hunting, even though I'm a hunter and know it's important. They wrote the Second Amendment *not* for crime control, even though I know it works. They wrote the Second Amendment because they had just fought a war against an oppressive government who's first targets were the ammunition stores at Lexington and Concord and *they*knew*the* *people*had*to*have*it*! *That's* the reason for it. [Applause] And we have a group in Washington that has insulted the memory of the founding fathers. That have insulted the memory of every soldier, every sailor, and every airman who ever fought to protect freedom anywhere on earth under this flag. Pearl Harbor, Iwo Gima... [Applause] And every one who signed that assault rifle ban should be on their hands and knees, crawling to the Vietnam War Memorial, begging the forgiveness of every *seventeen*and*eighteen*year* *old*name*on*that*wall*! [Long applause] It is a *shame*! It's time for us to tell them so. To do it we need to do a couple of things. Number one, we have got to get rid of the notion that the Second Amendment needs to be defended. No! No. We need to attack. We have been defending for twenty years, and we have defended ourselves into a hole. Our so-called leaders that we have sent to Washington have been content to mollify us by telling us "don't worry, we'll vote no against it" and in the meantime our opposition is out there filling the public's mind with garbage and winning the battle there. We can't allow that any more. *We* have to take the offensive! What we're doing here today is part of that. [Cheers and applause] On September 25th--remember the date--on September 25th this year, on the east steps of the Capitol in Lansing, we will be holding a Second Amendment rally that has been promoted nationally. Now, I want to tell you, this rally is not about defense, it's not about protest, it's about taking the battle to them! [Cheers] If you own a uniform, that you once wore proudly, I want you to dig it out. And I know the damn thing don't fit anymore. Mine don't. [Laughter] I want you to dig it out. I want you to let it out if you have to. I want you to find the badges, I want you to find the ribbons. I want you to put it on, I want you to wear it properly, and I want you to come on September 25th and wear it proudly and let's make them wear the shame they *deserve*! [Cheers and applause] That's your part. That's what you have to do. You have to give us the public support we need. My job is easier. On day one, right after I take that oath of office, I and my staff go to work writing legislation to reverse these bans. [Cheers] Not defend against further loss, REVERSE THESE BANS! [Cheers] Now, can we get it done? You better believe we can get it done, if we take the offense. If we take the offense we can get it done. Because we all know what's going to happen. It's going to go to committee and they're going to try to kill it, right? And we're going to march a hundred thousand on Washington DC, and I want that committee to explain to ten thousand combat veterans who held their dying buddies in their arms, why it's okay to hold it up. It's time for *us* to take the offense, and we will! [Long Applause] They have insulted my son, and my daughters. They have insulted the sons and daughters of this nation and they have spit on the graves of American dead. Today is our day and we do not stop until we have burnt the stars and stripes forever into their shameful faces, and gotten back the right to keep and bear arms! That's what we need to do, and we're going to do it. I'll see you on September 25th, in uniform! [Cheers, standing ovation] ------------------------- A *lot* of people around here know about Jon from Freedom Hill. A day hardly goes by without a new volunteer or contributor who remembers that day. Jon, it's an honor to serve in your campaign. For more information about JON COON, Libertarian Party candidate for U.S. Senate from Michigan, E-mail mdevour@msen.com or call 1-800-JON-COON (in Michigan), or (810) 399-9177. [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [mdevour@msen.com ] [Speaking only for myself... ]