The lunatic fringe pokes its head up in Alexandria on Monday. An ad in Thursday's Alexandria Herald summons the community to a discussion of "The Birth of the United States and Why a Constitutional Republican Form of Government" conducted by James Odle. The ad says more information is available from Marjorie Nebelsick and Marie Bettmeng.
Now I don't want to overwhelm Marjorie and Marie with phone calls this chilly weekend. They seem to be nice and mostly harmless local gals. Marie is a bit hyped up on abortion and Romney baloney, but she's also a master gardener and likes to do things organically.
But let's hope these nice little old ladies aren't being taken advantage of by James Allan Odle and his strange, unpatriotic connections. Odle calls himself a "Senator for the South Dakota free state." As far as I know, Odle has never stood for public election. He has certainly never been elected to either the South Dakota Legislature or to the U.S. Senate to make his self-asserted title legitimate.
Odle claims to be part of a shadow government with (in 2011) "South Dakota free state Speaker of the House" and erstwhile Libertarian candidate Larry Leroy Rudebusch and "South Dakota free state Governor" Donald Victor Anderson. More recently, this shadow government has claimed Tom Eimers to be its "Governor" and Charles Paul Corkins to be its "Secretary of State." A full roster of this fantasy government is available here, which includes mention of a Jane Odle as "Secretary of Education" and Ian Odle as "Chief Justice."
Odle justifies his claim to Senatorship and his pals' fantasy offices by contending that the legitimate federal and state governments of the United States were shut down in 1871 by European bankers:
In 1871 the offices of the republican government of the united States were abandoned and the Constitutional government was suspended. The government was incorporated, and through the years, has become a corporation that is owned and controlled by foreign entities. This corporation called “UNITED STATES” has many sub-corporations under its control. This form of government is called a democratic form of government and is a de facto government rather than a de jure (lawful) government by the people. This means that the Federal government is really not a government at all, but a corporation in control of the people and imposing its control under the veil of government. The other sub-corporations include all the STATE and local governments. The sub-corporations also include all court systems and other government agencies. The corporate sub-corporations also include all registered private corporations, co-ops, associations, and non-profit organizations. The corporation structure has even made all people corporate
entities know as the “All Capital Letter Name” fictitious person to represent all live people [James Allan Odle, "Republic for the united States of America Constitutional Governance," 2011.05.11].
I suppose you could go to the Monday meeting and ask James Odle to explain and substantiate that claim. You could also ask him under what legitimate Constitutional authority he claims to be a Senator.
Or you could save yourself the trip be recognizing that Odle is part of a national organization headed by another fantasist, James Timothy Turner, the self-proclaimed "President" of the "Republic for the united States of America" (the key to waging revolution is not capitalizing that U). RuSA members have been involved in all sorts of criminal behavior. A federal jury in Alabama took one hour Friday to decide "President" Turner was guilty on 10 counts of tax fraud related to his bogus "seminars" where he charged willing dupes hundreds of dollars to teach them his methods of tax evasion. Turner would sell bank bonds as counterfeit as his political titles and urge his clients to trick banks and courts with them.
With "President" Turner off to prison, "Senator" Odle's sovereigns' club may fall apart. Hanson County neighbors, don't let Odle trick you into thinking he represents anything more than a loose assortment of reactionaries with their heads stuck in fear and fantasy.
And for Pete's sake, don't trust him or the RuSA with your money.
I should be a better person, but I’m going to be that guy.
The Secretary of Education of the “South Dakota free state” needs to proof the ad.
It should read "our country's independence" not "our countries independence." Even if the good members of the freed South Dakota consider each of the fifty states a separate country, they still need to use the apostrophe “our countries’ independence.” The plural does have an awkward ring to it.
One would think those enamored of the Constitution and the nation’s founding would read The Federalist Papers often. Madison, Hamilton, and Jay were wordsmiths of the first order. Further, one would hope that frequent immersion in such texts would produce works that imitate those writers. Education appears to be failing everywhere.
These guys prey on the gullible.
P.T. Barnum was right...