During the presidential elections of 2008 we viewed news clips of groups like The Black Panthers hanging around
at the voting polls as a source of intimidation to persuade the vote. For this reason we have formed The Athen's Brigade
to be a visible source of silent protection for the purpose of empowering voters to vote for the candidate of their choice
without fear. Our motivation comes from a historic event performed by the men you see above along with a community of
citizens who believe in a fair voting process, the protection of liberty, and the freedom that this amazing country was established
for. Read the following clips for this historical event and see how a group of citizens standing together can make a difference.
Today we see this same fight for freedom uncovering each day as the politicians in Washington run our country down a fast slope to
socialism. I hope these articles motivate you to take part in protecting our right to have a free and safe election process as
they did for myself. Enjoy.
Infomation provided by: Don Hamrick
THE BATTLE OF ATHENS, TENNESSEE
I have done my own research into the Battle of Athens, Tennessee, 1946, and even traveled to Athens, Tennessee, for that research.
The following are the pristine examples of a fight for freedom that I uncovered from my research:
SOURCE: The Daily Post-Athenian, Athens, Tenn., August 7, 1946; pages 1, 6.
Editor's Note — Our attention has been called to Mrs. Roosevelt's column upon McMinn. She seems to have grasped the facts and
significance better than any other outside writer:
McMinn A Warning — By Eleanor Roosevelt
New York, Monday — After any war, the use of force throughout the world is almost taken for granted. Men involved in the war
have been trained to use force, and they have discovered that, when you want something, you can take it. The return to peacetime
methods governed by law and persuasion is usually difficult.
We in the U.S.A., who have long boasted that, in our political life, freedom in the use of the secret ballot made it possible
for us to register the will of the people without the use of force, have had a rude awakening as we read of conditions in McMinn
County, Tennessee, which brought about the use of force in the recent primary. If a political machine does not allow the people
free expression, then freedom-loving people lose their faith in the machinery under which their government functions.
In this particular case, a group of young veterans organized to oust the local machine and elect their own slate in the primary.
We may deplore the use of force but we must also recognize the lesson which this incident points for us all. When the majority of
the people know what they want, they will obtain it.
Any local, state or national government, or any political machine, in order to live, must give the people assurance that they
can express their will freely and that their votes will be counted. The most powerful machine cannot exist without the support of
the people. Political bosses and political machinery can be good, but the minute they cease to express the will of the people,
their days are numbered.
This is a lesson which wise political leaders learn young, and you can be pretty sure that, when a boss stays in power, he gives
the majority of the people what they think they want. If he is bad and indulges in practices which are dishonest, or if he acts for
his own interests alone, the people are unwilling to condone these practices.
When the people decide that conditions in their town, county, state or country must change, they will change them. If the
leadership has been wise, they will be able to do it peacefully through a secret ballot which is honestly counted, but if the leader
has become inflated and too sure of his own importance, he may bring about the kind of action which was taken in Tennessee.
If we want to continue to be a mature people who, at home and abroad, settle our difficulties peacefully and not through the use
of force, then we will take to heart this lesson and we will jealously guard our rights. What goes on before an election, the threats
or persuasion by political leaders, may be bad but it cannot prevent the people from really registering their will if they wish to.
The decisive action which has just occurred in our midst is a warning, and one which we cannot afford to overlook.
SOURCE: The Daily Post-Athenian, Athens, Tenn., August 21, 1946; pages 1, 6.
Lincoln Said It And It Applies Now As Then
BY JOHN PECK
"The government, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing
government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it."
Abraham Lincoln
We have seen the latter part of the above quotation exercised here in McMinn County. We now have the opportunity to see the first
part of it carried out.
What Lincoln meant was just this: The government of any group of people is in the hands of the people and they must carry on an
active part in maintaining their government unless they want to abide by the rule of a few unscrupulous persons who find ways and
means of getting the reins of power in governmental offices. If the people as a whole do not maintain a vigilant watch over matters
of government a few people, grasping for power and domination find it easy to undermine all the principles of democracy.
It has been said that the situation now prevailing in McMinn County puts its citizens in the best position of any county in the
state and possibly in the nation as to the control and manipulation of its government.
We are in just that position if the people as a whole will attend the county-wide mass meetings tomorrow night and participate
in the election of the representatives of their respective communities who will serve on the Board of Directors of the Good government
League of McMinn County.
The people who are elected must have the knowledge that they have the backing of all the people in their community when they go to
the various meetings of the Board of Directors and vote on the matters of government that come before that body.
The choice is in your hands; 1. Take an active part in your government, as is your duty and privilege as a citizen, or 2. The next
time you find that your government has fallen into the hands of unscrupulous politicians just say, "It's my own fault, I had a chance
to do something about it but slept through it."
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