By Anna Von Reitz
This morning I attended a meeting of The Michigan Assembly as led by former Coordinator Paul Peterson.
It was abundantly apparent by the way the meeting itself was conducted that Paul has had fundamental misunderstandings about both his position as Coordinator and the overall goal, which is to build a civilian State Assembly for Michigan.
The meeting began with a very long screed telling the participants what they could and couldn't do and could and couldn't say and how they had to say it and for how long they could speak.
This is not the American Way. Our way is free speech and freedom of expression.
The same screed warned people that they couldn't be emotional.
And when does Paul Peterson or anyone else, get to dictate another's emotions? Or how they express themselves?
Paul then launched into a diatribe accusing Amy Hunt, his replacement, of scheming to undermine him and The Michigan Assembly and pushing for her removal as a Recording Secretary, simply because she was named as his replacement --- even though she in no way sought that outcome and I told him so.
He continued to see me and Amy as "infiltrators" as he has continued in his paranoia to view numerous members of The Michigan Assembly. A man named Aaron Fox was just removed from the Assembly for the sin of seeking training as a Marshal-at-Arms.
And it is Aaron's right to seek such training.
Paul does not appear to understand that he does not have dictatorial powers, works as a Volunteer for the Federation during the assembling process, and that he has been removed for Cause --- that Cause being abuse of the equal rights of other Michiganers who have the same right as he has to participate in their own State Assembly.
During his own long presentation of "my" offenses, he made no effort to stay within the three minute time limit he set for other people to express themselves, but when I replied, he was careful to note that I spoke for eleven minutes.
This is more evidence of a dictatorial and manipulative mindset --- not as I do, but as I say.
It is a mindset at odds with the American Way, which upholds equal footing as a fundamental doctrine.
Approximately three dozen people living in Michigan have been punished with long "time outs" and even told that they can "never" be members of The Michigan Assembly for no reason beyond Paul Peterson's suspicions.
These are unconditional abuses that Paul Peterson has visited on people who have rights equal to his own. He was acting as a leader and teaching other members of the Assembly to accept this behavior and support him in it.
I do appreciate the effort and time Paul put in as a volunteer; however, the Assembly he was creating, complete with contracts, positional authorities, and even creating something he called "coordinator jurisdiction" to try to justify his abuses of power, is not anything that we can condone or have represented as a civilian public government for Michigan.
Ironically, while grossly overstepping any authority he ever had as a Coordinator, Paul has accused me of interfering in a sovereign state and tried to make a case against the Federation for looking over his shoulder.
That is precisely the Federation's job as the Summoning Authority -- to keep watch during the Assembling Process and make sure that each State Assembly is developing as it should, staying on track, doing the work, and embracing American values and traditions.
That was not happening in Michigan.
Instead, people were being subjected to suspicion and "time outs" and being removed from Committees and even removed from the Assembly for the sin of expressing contrary opinions, for coffee klatsching with friends, for associating with the "wrong people"-- as if we were enemies at war.
The end result was an atmosphere of fear, not freedom.
All members of The Michigan Assembly are invited to migrate to the reorganized Michigan Assembly and the new Coordinator, Amy Hunt, who clearly understands the role and the limitations of the Coordinator position --- and more importantly, the spirit of the American Government.
Although the Federation of States does not choose Coordinators and must rely on each State to produce its own volunteers, we do retain the right not to work with volunteers who go off track, and we will not approve any State Assembly that is abusing the rights of its members.
It is worth noting that everyone living inside the borders of a State, who reclaims their birthright status or who is naturalized within a State, is eligible to participate in the State Assembly.
All State Assemblies are public institutions. They are not Private Membership Associations or clubs of any kind and cannot be run like clubs, with some members blackballing and riding roughshod over others.
I have no doubt that Paul Peterson will make the rounds and seek to stir up trouble and "Federation Fear" among the other Coordinators, seeking to present himself as a victim and me as an unreasonable and unqualified person of no authority.
Let no one be confused.
During the assembling process, it is the Federation's duty to keep things on track. If a Coordinator isn't doing the work or is misleading people or is abusing people, it's our job to correct the situation.
Among other things that Paul said was that I didn't talk to him about these issues, but I did -- via email mostly, but most importantly, via videos and articles that have explained the nature and structure and spirit of the American Government.
There should be no doubt in anyone's mind that Americans have the right of free speech and the sanctity of their own opinions, that they should not be punished for reasonably expressing their feelings, and that they are all equal in their right to participate in their own government.
That is, in fact, what self-governance requires.
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