By Chris Simcox, National Founder, Minuteman Civil Defense Corps

You are reading this because you believe that you can actively participate in one of the most important, socially responsible, and peaceful movements for justice since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. You are considering joining in this activist protest because you are done talking. You have debated, you have begged, you have pleaded with your government officials -- public servants whom you trusted to stand by the oath they took when sworn into office to protect the United States from invasion by enemies foreign and domestic. The human flood breaching our Homeland Defense is not necessarily the enemy per se; drug dealers, criminals and potential terrorists are, and they should be the source of any ire you may be experiencing.

You are considering joining the MinutemanHQ not because of bias towards people from another country, but rather because you feel your government owes the citizens of the United States protection from people who wish to take advantage of a free society. We demand that President Bush, members of Congress and the Senate maintain an orderly queue of entry into our country. We are five years post September 11, 2001, and still our government is more concerned with securing the borders of foreign lands than securing the borders of the United States. Enough is enough. I apologize for applying such a bromide, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going. I come from a generation that has lost the ideal that we are a “can-do nation.” I cannot accept the weak excuse from our government that the problem is unsolvable. That mindset is un-American. We can and we will make a difference. We, as citizens, are the government, are acting within the social contract of our right to freedom, and we will apply our efforts within the limits of the laws we have created. Regardless of whether we agree with the constraints on our limited ability to stem the flow of crime across our borders, we will display the highest level of restraint, thus proving we are responsible citizens and that our character is consistent with our ability to stay within the boundaries of the law.

Are you willing to sacrifice a few days, a week, a month to help do the job that the government should be doing? If you choose to make the sacrifice and become the active majority rather than the silent majority, you will have accomplished more in one month than the sum total of all your years of complaining and demanding action from your public servants who seem more interested in working for people from other countries than they are in working for us.

Our effort will be tangibly effective in supporting the defenders of our border, the patriotic men and women of the U.S. Border Patrol. You will offer your assistance and become force-multipliers to assist their monumental task of turning back the tidal wave of people entering our country illegally.

You must be willing to accept the following plan, or you, as a segment of a larger group, are doomed to be remembered in history as representative not of the strongest character, but rather as the weakest link in our maligned and misunderstood group of truly patriotic nationalists. You must understand in the deepest ways the importance of our challenge.

You are here because you are willing to challenge our government to fulfill their constitutionally mandated responsibility, not because you want to fight them, but because you want to challenge them by fulfilling their obligation in their absence. You are willing to become force-multipliers in the absence of Congressional and Presidential will.

Composing letters, e-mails and faxes did not make an impression on our public servants. Now we will assert ourselves as citizen representatives of the government. We are citizens who set the example, of the people for the people and by the people.

We will succeed. If we are to send the message loud and clear to President Bush and Congress, it is imperative that we stay within the law. If one single individual steps over the line for their personal gratification, we are all stained with that irresponsible behavior, and labeled forever as a fringe element that embarrasses all who are counting on us to make this historic statement.

We must prevail, we will prevail. We shall overcome the effort by many to identify this movement as irresponsible; we will be victorious in proving the skeptics wrong. Our efforts will change the course of history and ignite others to stand with courage to make a change. Many are waiting for the outcome and will themselves be motivated with a new sense of activism; we will be leaders who will make a difference, role models who will influence future generations. Are you with us, Americans? If yes, then “let's roll”!