With Dave Wissel as its Chair, no surprise. And what is Tactical Civics? Glad you asked…
I’ve written a great deal about Tactical Civics. Here you go…
The so-called Head Accountable for the South Park Outsiders believes, among other things, that a “…people’s Grand Jury…” will eventually hold former Commissioner Ray Douglas and sitting Commissioner Dick Elsner accountable for the crime of violating their constitutional oaths of office. These “violations” were alleged to have occurred when Douglas and Elsner dared to accede to the state’s edict concerning public health orders in the face of the COVID pandemic. Unfortunately, the Head Accountable and others apparently misread the commissioner’s oath of office. It not only requires them to support the Constitution of the United States but also the Constitution of the state of Colorado. Indeed, political subdivisions in Colorado, even home rule jurisdictions, must provide mandatory functions, services, and facilities prescribed by state law, including providing for public health and safety.
What caught my eye, though, was the Head Accoutable’s use of the phrase “…people’s Grand Jury.” For me, it reflected a nostalgic return to the wild west. A time when a bunch of yahoos on horses became judge and jury. Or when good Christians in white robes with pointy hoods took it upon themselves to further the cause of White Supremacy.
What Ku Kluxer didn’t find righteous comfort in fashioning nooses and burning crosses?
It wasn’t long before I realized the Head Accountable, her associates, and other self-identified constitutional scholars had latched onto something called Tactical Civics. Indeed, the South Park Outsiders are offering Tactical Civics monthly learning experiences.
Commissioner Dave Wissel’s greatest fans during the 2022 election cycle were the South Park Outsiders. The SPO’s raison d’être was embodied by the Good Ol’ boy from Fairplay.
To be sure, not all right-leaning folks espouse or even consider the components of Tactical Civics. But many do. And, in doing so, they bastardize American history. Shaping it into what fits comfortably into their dangerously skewed perception of reality where God is always in his heaven; all is right with the far-right of the world.
The Tactical Civics folks plant their boots upon the idea that the people are the ultimate sovereign. Founder, David Zuniga, says their mission is “inspired by, and serves at the pleasure of the Creator of the Universe.” They cast aside the Founders’ and Framers’ intent to construct a constitutional republic. Instead, they focus on We, the People. Yes, those lofty words resonate even today. But let’s be honest. Who are We, the People? Is it fifty-one percent of us? Or will only thirty percent suffice? Or, as we’ll later see, is one-half of one percent of the People the magic number? The purest form of We, the People is unbridled democracy. But even that doesn’t guarantee a society of like-minded intent.
Naturally, the Tactical Civics folks believe themselves to be We, the People, relegating those who disagree with them to some amorphous category of rabble outside their bubble. They won’t even let public employees and Muslims into their club.
But hell, they’re doing what they do at God’s pleasure. So, what could possibly go wrong?
Here’s what David Zuniga, Tactical Civics founder, says about himself on his Amazon profile: “David is a native Texan and former engineer, missionary pilot, SCUBA instructor, Christian school founder, cattleman, and general contractor. Deeply disturbed at the 9/11 gaslighting and government corruption, David took a sabbatical from his engineering practice to study the core drivers of our collapse, praying for direction and answers.” He tells us, “American Communism exists in every school district, town, county, and state; Americans are not allowed to own private property. …We can never own private property in America because in Communism, the takers are on the top, and the makers—the productive people—are on the bottom, from the cradle to the grave. …We understand that our daily stand for Jesus Christ as LORD and King will drive some people away, just as our bedrock policy of not accepting public employees or Muslims as members will drive some people away. But our ‘red pill’ mission is dedicated to truth.”
Interestingly, the Head Accountable of the South Park Outsiders uses the phrase “red pill,” too.
Well. I guess public employees and Muslims are strangers to We, the People. And clearly, Christian Nationalism is at the heart of Zuniga’s Tactical Civics.
I greatly respect and am interested in the true history of America, which has survived spasms of revisionism and remains as close to fact as possible. World history, too, though the farther back it goes, the less anyone can expect it to be wholly factual, witness the lore-ridden Bible.
If for no other reason than my respect and interest in history, I can tell you that the teachings of Tactical Civics are baloney. Pure and simple. Unadulterated crap that stinks as you might expect it to. Disingenuous diatribes that, no doubt about it, fool some people all of the time.
They claim the rule of law lasted only for 73 years in America. From when the Constitution was ratified in 1789 to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1862. Believing Lincoln’s federal army was unconstitutional, they aver the Civil War was only a smokescreen for counterfeiting, the replacement of gold and silver with “worthless paper.” They tell us the Civil War was the sordid creation of wealthy and powerful men ingesting the poison of the European Enlightenment. Through “urban newspapers,” these elites roiled the populace to engage in civil war, only to enable them, the wealthy and powerful, to seize the federal government. “Posing as the liberator of slaves, a powerful new federal government enslaved the formerly sovereign people and states who had created it.”
Ahem…
I wonder if Tactical Civics expounds upon whether or not the rule of law ever returned to America. Was the Constitution forever lamed and defuncted in 1862, never again to serve as the country’s foundational and guiding document? Or, for one bright and shining moment, did Donald Trump return the rule of law to America?
The Constitution was imperfect, despite some believing it was produced through divine grace. Notably, for example, the compromise the Framers fashioned to ensure ratification. Though nowhere in the Constitution is the word slavery mentioned, the 3/5ths compromise, as it was called, sanctioned it.
The “self-evident truths” affirmation in the Declaration “…that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness,” certainly sounded great. But, yes, those words were exposed as winky-wink bombast when it came to the Constitution. That imperfection, condoning slavery, haunted the Constitution for those 73 years. Indeed, it had plagued the country since 1619. And in correcting that imperfection, Abraham Lincoln filled in many imperfect lapses in the Constitution. As a result, the Civil War and Lincoln’s determination to preserve the Union catalyzed fundamental corrections to the Constitution. Not the least were the Civil War Amendments, the 13th, 14th, and 15th.
Nowhere is the word secession in the Constitution. Clearly, Abraham Lincoln expanded the authority and powers of the Executive beyond those intended by the Framers. Yet, in all their wisdom, the Framers left the Constitution silent on secession. Was it, for them, unthinkable? Did they believe the words “…in Order to form a more perfect Union…” necessarily rejected the notion of secession? Was it left to Lincoln to correct their lapse? Did the clear and present danger of the collapse of the Republic require Lincoln to act in its best interest? “Was it possible,” Lincoln said, “to lose the nation and yet preserve the Constitution? By general law, life and limb must be protected, yet often a limb must be amputated to save a life; but a life is never wisely given to save a limb. I felt that measures, otherwise unconstitutional, might become lawful by becoming indispensable to the preservation of the Constitution through the preservation of the nation. Right or wrong, I assumed this ground and now avow it. I could not feel that, to the best of my ability, I had even tried to preserve the Constitution if, to save slavery or any minor matter, I should permit the wreck of government, country, and Constitution altogether.”
The supposedly divinely inspired Constitution was forever changed by the Civil War. So was the Republic itself. Yet, Tactical Civics would have you believe that Lincoln’s “illegal” war eventually “enslaved the formerly sovereign people and states who had created [the Republic].” TC explains that while Lincoln’s government “posed as the liberator of slaves,” the war was only “a smokescreen for counterfeiting.”
Among many other things, Tactical Civics believes the triumvirate of Karl Marx, Abraham Lincoln, and Charles Darwin was the ruinous lynchpin that destroyed our God-given Republic.
The first Congress of the United States considered twelve amendments to the Constitution. Ten were ratified by the states in 1791. The states ratified one of the remaining two, dealing with Congressional pay in 1992. It became the 27th Amendment.
Tactical Civics asserts that the sole remaining unratified Amendment to the Constitution dealing with the ratio of congressional representation to district inhabitants must be ratified after 200-plus years of dormancy. The Amendment limited House representation to one for every 30,000 people. It adjusted that to 40,000, then 50,000 according to the number of representatives up to 200. The proposed Amendment ended with “…that there shall not be less than two hundred Representatives, nor more than one Representative for every fifty thousand persons.”
If the proposed but not ratified 1st Amendment were in force today, there would be 6,638 members of the House of Representatives. That’s fine and dandy, say the TC proponents, because wee rural communities would have their own representation in Congress. What they forget, or possibly didn’t even think about, is that large metropolitan areas would increase their congressional representation too. Denver, for example, would get fourteen representatives, while Grand Junction would get one.
What, then, is to be gained?
Let’s return to what I started with: the People’s Grand Juries. Please note the Tactical Civics folks believe one-half of one percent of registered electors in the county is a magic number. Not even active registered electors, but all of them. I guess that’s all it takes to define who We, the People are. So, in Park County, as of March 2023, there are 16,186 registered county electors. One percent of that would be 161.86. Half of that would be 80.93.
The Tactical Civics folks allegedly have chapters throughout the county. One source says there are over fifty chapters, while another says there are over a hundred.
One thing we know for sure is Montana has a chapter. Witness their efforts to amend the Montana Constitution to include the TC take on what grand juries should look like. TC even provides a template to change state government constitutions to reflect their skewed perceptions.
Recently, before the Montana Legislature was HB0405, a proposal from the folks who’ve digested Tactical Civics as a nutrient rather than the poison it is. An apparent advocate for, if not the originator of HB0405, Bart Crabtree, touts the bill on his website. “[A grand jury] is the People’s sword and shield because it WORKS for the People to arrest evildoers and to PROTECT any individual against corrupt, vindictive and overzealous governments,” the website reads. “Citizens impaneled on Grand Jury are top of the pecking order, not judges or attorneys! WE, THE PEOPLE, have the authority and lawful power to arrest corrupt actors.”
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA: Section 1. Article II, section 20 of The Constitution of the State of Montana, is amended to read: A grand jury shall be drawn and summoned at the discretion and order of the district judge or as follows:
(a) Whenever one-half of one percent of the registered electors of a county have signed a petition to summon a grand jury and have submitted the petition signatures to the county election administrator, a grand jury shall be summoned and empanelled [sic] by the judge of the district court for the county receiving the petition. A grand jury so summoned and empanelled [sic] shall:
(i) first consider any cause advanced by those who have brought and signed the petition, but the grand jury is the sole judge of its duration and the breadth and depth of its inquiry; and
(ii) conduct selected open proceedings to allow the public to present information or ask questions, and conduct other proceedings open or closed as it chooses, consistent with Article II, Sections 8, 9, and 10 of the Constitution of the State of Montana
(b) An indictment brought by a grand jury must be prosecuted by the county attorney for the county in which an alleged offense occurred, regardless of prosecutorial discretion. A county attorney who fails to prosecute within 90 days an indictment being handed down by the grand jury may be indicted for obstruction of justice and official misconduct.
(c) If a grand jury summoned under this section is unable to obtain the prosecution of an indictment by the county attorney of the county where the alleged offense occurred, the grand jury may compel prosecutorial assistance from the attorney general or the grand jury may retain a private prosecutor whose fees shall be a lawful claim against the county where the alleged offense occurred.
(d) A grand jury summoned under this section may, in addition to indictments, seek court orders to remedy situations under its investigation and may hire counsel independent of the county attorney’s office.
The hypothetical scenario in Park County would begin with the Head Accountable for the South Park Outsiders rounding up 81 of her closest comrades. Then, they would sign a petition specifying Dick Elsner’s and Ray Douglas’ high crimes and misdemeanors. Next, the petition would be presented to Mel Kassel, the Clerk and Recorder. Kassel would presumably then advise the 11th District Court, which would impanel a grand jury. The grand jury would then consider the “cause” in the petition and have the latitude to “expand the duration and the breadth and depth of its inquiry.” The grand jury could bring in their friends and neighbors to expound on the “cause.” Suppose they bring an indictment, and the county attorney tells them they’re nuts and will not prosecute. In that case, the county attorney can be indicted for obstruction of justice. The grand jury can then go to the attorney general for help. If s/her refuses to prosecute, no problem. The grand jury can “retain a private prosecutor” to pursue the “cause.” And Voila! The county will be on the hook for whatever costs are associated with this inquisition, er, grand jury process.
I can’t wait for a people’s Grand Jury to be impaneled to investigate that house in Belize Commissioner Dick Elsner is building with absconded county tax funds. Or all those blue bags with ballots inside Monica Jones hauled into her office on general election day in 2022. Or, actually, any wild hair anybody has that one-half of one percent of the county’s electors would sign their name to.
You know, anyone can believe any damned thing they want to. They can advocate for any cause that tickles their ego or self-satisfied righteousness. At some point, though, it’s probably up to anyone to ask the pertinent question. So, since you’re not dealing with facts and your perception of American history is deplorably skewed, what credence am I to give to your cause? Why would you describe it as hateful for me to point out your logical lapses and questionable motivations?
The answer, of course, will be that truth isn’t truth. Facts aren’t facts unless they bolster our side of the polemical aisle. We, the People, have the God-given right to create our own truths with impunity. Those who don’t breathe the rarified “red pill” air inside our bubble are haters.
Yeah, we got trouble, and it’s not in River City.
Jesus Christ’s Remnants and their plans for We the People
I posted about Tactical Civics (TC) not long ago. To summarize that post, Tactical Civics is a specious recounting of American history. It teaches that our country is corrupt and communist and has been that way since the unholy triumvirate of Karl Marx, Abraham Lincoln, and Charles Darwin arrived on the scene. It declares We the People must take our government back. Return it to the perfect union God intended when He provided the Framers the wherewithal to develop the Declaration and Constitution. TC’s agenda includes the essential first steps of peppering American counties with cells of folks who will form TC chapters. The blueprint for taking our country back will be activated from those chapters. The blueprint is provided primarily by one of the founders of TC, David Zuniga, in a series of books available on Amazon from $3.99 to $15.00. Those who believe the TC hype are likely gullible enough to buy the books. So, too, they’re likely to open their own county chapters. And, yes, eventually attempt to take their country back.
TC teaches that anyone who doesn’t believe their specious portrayal of American history (the Civil War was only a smokescreen for the introduction of unconstitutional counterfeiting, the replacement of gold and silver with paper, for example) has been deluded by our “national insanity.” We suffer from Stockholm Syndrome, loving the tyrants (the federal government) who began enslaving us during the Civil War. In fact, TC tells us, “This insanity affects Hillary’s and Bernie Sander’s socialist snowflakes of the Millenial Generation (born 1980-95) but also millions in Generation X (1965-79), the Baby Boom Generation (1946-64) and the Silent Generation (1925-45).” And how do we crawl out from all this insanity? Well, a rhetorical study question TC asks gives us the answer. “Do you believe that God will not let anyone but Christians restore America and the first step and only way back to sanity and restoration of our Republic is through repentance?”
To understand the mindset of TC enthusiasts, you must first know that it is a Christian Nationalistic endeavor that believes the Bible is inviolable and infallible. Therefore, it naturally follows that since God ordained the Constitution (if not actually writing it), it, too, is sacrosanct and infallible. Indeed, in David Zuniga’s words, “Bring America back under King Jesus. We are God’s solution.”
This is Originalism, both Biblical and Constitutional. To be sure, TC promoters glide effortlessly from the Bible to the Constitution and back again. Like all good preachers, they marvel with Chapter and Verse, Article, and Clause.
TC organizers preach that only those who perceive a calling to their teachings are the ones who will respond with action. Those who respond are the “Remnant,” or that portion of the evil world who remain righteously within the Christian God’s grace. And those who remain so are We the People. Indeed, those who believe in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior can take comfort that they are the “Remnant.” TC says it will accept non-believers in their ranks, but not Muslims. However, non-believers may not question the believer’s faith. That’ll get you kicked out of the program.
Here’s Zuniga on the John B. Wells podcast.
Engaging oneself in Tactical Civics, then, is both a religious experience and a patriotic one. The kind of patriotism defined by We the People, the mob who attacked the Capitol and the Congress on January 6, 2021.
TC describes the 2020 presidential election as “The most brazen crime since 9/11. But everybody knows that the election of 2020 and our entire republic were highjacked by enemies of the Constitution, and don’t think for one second that We, the People, will sit by as communists and organized crime transmogrify America into a cheap imitation of Europe. …The Bible tells us to resist evil, and it will flee from you. It instructs us to glorify God and to do works of repentance…”
Tactical Civics is engaged in the “Great We-Set,” using the incredible power of the internet to achieve “Tactical Force Massing.” Their goal is to establish 3,000 TC chapters in counties throughout the country. Their first two initiatives are People’s Grand Juries and Militias, the former necessarily preceding the latter because grand juries will be the legal foundation for creating county militias.
Indeed—Heads Up, Tom McGraw! TC proposes that the People’s Grand Jury and Militia will “superintend” state prosecutors, judges, and county sheriffs (these people are, after all, the People’s servants) to ensure they understand their subservient role in TC’s perception of reality.
The South Park Outsiders offer Tactical Civics learning experiences in Fairplay. And others nearby are doing the same.
In Jefferson County, the Mountain Republicans, led by Rich Wyatt, sponsor events featuring Tactical Civics introductions and speakers. One of those speakers, Kevin Ennett, lives in Pine, Park County, Colorado. According to David Zuniga, Ennett is the Colorado coordinator for Tactical Civics. Zuniga also says Ennett will soon write a book (Zuniga editing) to add to the TC Amazon offerings.
Here’s David Zuniga discussing Kevin Ennett’s participation in TC with Michael Jaco, David Rodriguez, and Scott McKay.
Michael Jaco (upper right) is a former Navy Seal. He believes in reincarnation. In one of his books, Awakening of a Warrior, he recounts his lifetimes before the present. He lived as Gerar, who allied with Abraham in the creation of a new religion called Judaism; Cyrus the Great, who unified all of Persia and implemented Zoroastrianism as the state religion; and Marcus Furius Camillus, who came to be considered the second founder of Rome.
David Rodriguez (bottom) is a former heavyweight boxer. He believes, among other things, Hollywood elites and others are bottling and drinking adrenochrome, a substance oxidized from the adrenaline taken from children who are trafficked by, yes, the elites.
Scott McKay, The Patriot Streetfighter, (upper left) believes among many, many other things, that they are fighting the same people Hitler did. He believes in the Khazar Myth, basically an antisemite belief that world elites have been infested by Jews or Jewish pretenders. Even the British Royal Family are Khazars.
These three gentlemen welcomed David Zuniga to their podcast, praising the Tactical Civics plan of action, and declaring they’re all on the same page.
Ahem…
(I occasionally think about why I didn’t think of it first. Why didn’t I realize I could write entire books, a series of revisionist tomes that bastardize historical facts to suit the Christian Nationalist Constitutional Conservative mindset? I’d tell the gullible that you’ve got to buy and read the books, but you’ve also got to join the TC program at five bucks a month and get all your friends and neighbors to do the same thing. I don’t know if I’d be rich today, but I’d be getting there.)
What do we know about Wyatt and Ennett?
Rich Wyatt, you may recall, was the proprietor of Gunsmoke, a Wheatridge gun shop. In 2018 he was convicted and sentenced to 78 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for dealing in firearms without a license and tax fraud. He appealed the conviction and was resentenced to one year in prison and one year of supervised release, which ended in 2021. (It is a bizarre story, further recounted here and here.)
Wyatt was ordered to forfeit nearly 500 firearms at sentencing. And he unsuccessfully appealed to former President Donald Trump for a pardon in December 2020, which would have restored his firearms rights. He is a resident of Evergreen and operates a pizza joint in that community.
More recently, Wyatt appeared on the Chuck (Bonniwell) and Julie (Hayden) podcast, where he said, “It’s almost time to switch from ballots to bullets. Because that’s what wins the heart and minds. And there’s no arguing with a bullet. You can argue about ballots, but you can’t argue with bullets.”
(Chuck Bonniwell and Julie Hayden, “The Chuck and Julie Show,” welcomed District 3 Commissioner Dave Wissel to their show on several occasions when Wissel was campaigning for the position. I wrote about that here.)
Kevin Ennett, who recently moved to Pine, proudly displays his cause on social media. Nothing wrong with that.
While a Marine CWO 2 (Chief Warrant Officer), Ennett took to the Marine Corps official Facebook and or Twitter page in 2019 to respond to those who objected to Donald Trump’s desire to have tanks roll down Pennsylvania Avenue in a Washington, D.C. July 4th parade.
Here’s the post: “Here’s to any complaints about tanks and a [middle finger] to anyone who says anything about PTSD!” he wrote. “Happy 4th. Blow your fingers off, get black out drunk, engage in risky behavior that offends snow flakes. If you die, then you didn’t deserve to live! If you wine, hurry and become a ’22’ statistic today!”
Ennett was directing his remarks to his fellow Marines. It appears he was telling them to man up and stop relying on PTSD as an excuse for bad behavior. Engage in aggressive, anti-social behavior; if you die doing it, you deserve to die. If you whine about tanks and PTSD, hurry up and commit suicide. (The “…hurry and become a ‘22’ statistic today” refers to the inexact statistic that 22 veterans commit suicide daily.)
Ennett apologized for the post, calling it an attempt at satire intended for a small niche of people. Well, actually he apologized for how the post was perceived, not necessarily for what it said.
Anyone, Rich Wyatt, Kevin Ennett, the South Park Outsiders, Dave Wissel, anyone can believe and support anything they want to. But, does what they believe miraculously identify them as We the People? Not just in their minds, but pursuant to the intent of the Constitution? In a constitutional republic, how does a minority of the populace, those described as Remnants, assume it is they, and only they who constitute We the People?
For whatever it’s worth, a couple of Tactical Civics endgame’s 19 points include these gems:
Tactical Civics is proselytizing “…one county at a time.” The far-right understands that their minority strength lies in capturing the small stuff–school boards, county commissioners, dog catchers, county clerks, etc. And, I don’t doubt their creep into Colorado, Park County in particular will become more evident. Frankly, I’m surprised we haven’t seen the Tactical Civics boilerplate ordinances for a people’s grand jury, and militia on the BOCC agenda already.
But, hell, what do I know? In fact, I’ll bet a few folks have read this and thrown their hands in the air: “Hallelujah! Praise God! I’m gonna buy myself some books to take my country back.”
Finally, some who read this will claim oh my goodness, he’s spewing hate again. If well-researched, readily available evidence of facts constitutes hate, then I wonder what truth is. The Tactical Civis folks know what their truth is. I think it’s dangerous for our Republic, our country, and the beautiful place we call home. But, again, what the hell do I know?
