So many in the freedom movement are quick to accept the idea that we cannot win against the forces of tyranny. They are dragging their chins on the ground and sit in despair. Darned if I understand why.

2007 and the Democrat-controlled Congress have been some of the greatest tests for the ideas of limited government and preserving the Republic. Forgive me for sounding like Pollyanna, but so far, we are winning. Frankly, this Congress has failed to pass a single significant piece of legislation to hurt us. Of course that can change quickly, but we can face that when it comes. For now, stop fretting and look at the bright side.

First, the defeat of the Senate Immigration bill is without question, the greatest victory for the Republic in at least a decade. While many have lamented that the American people are asleep, paying no attention to issues of the day, the fact is a full 80% of the American people opposed the guest worker scheme and saw it was truly amnesty for illegals. They saw the threat and said so.

The Senate and the White House, not used to an inflamed electorate, continually tried their usual flimflam tactics of ignoring the will of the people. Not this time. Americans hated this bill and said so. The Senate got more phone calls and more letters than on any issue in recent memory. The Senate switchboard was shut down. And it DID NOT PASS.

Of course, they will try again. Who said Freedom is easy to preserve?

The North American Union. We're told this is a done deal. Can't stop it. Wanna bet? Even with virtually no national media to expose it, the word is spreading like wildfire. As a result, currently 18 state legislatures have now passed, or are working to pass, resolutions against the idea of a North American Union.

The Teamsters Union has filed suit to stop the Bush Administration's plan to allow Mexican trucks to cross our borders and haul goods throughout the nation. The suit is shining a very bright spotlight on the scheme and could well sidetrack the program.

Keep in mind; all of the Americans who stood up to oppose the immigration bill are potential allies in the fight against the North American Union. It's the same issue in different wrapping.

In Texas, just a year ago, state legislators basically denied there even was a Trans Texas Corridor. Just a highway improvement program, they said. Yet, just one year later, in landslide margins, the Texas Legislature voted overwhelmingly to put a moratorium on the project so more discussion could take place. That was a major victory.

True, many of the legislators lost their nerve at the last minute and put in amendments to basically cut the teeth out of the bill. But first we must remember that the vote in itself was an amazing victory to expose the corridor. There can be no denial that the vote was to stop the TCC. The people of Texas said no to that Corridor. Now they must continue the fight by exposing those legislators who betrayed them. The momentum of the first vote much be used to continue the fight until we win the final victory to stop the TCC - just like we did in the immigration battle.

In 2005, Freedom's warriors were convinced the battle to stop the National ID was over after Congress passed the Real ID Act. Yet, there are now 12 states refusing to go along with implementing it. There is legislation in Congress to repeal it outright. Americans are learning it is not a tool to fight terrorism or illegal immigration, but a plan to impose a big brother style tyranny on us all. We're stopping it.

A couple of years ago, Congress passed a horrible bill which literally robbed us of our First Amendment right of free speech. The McCain-Feingold bill severely restricted the ability to even name elected representatives in campaign ads. It then was impossible to run effective campaigns against incumbents, giving them a free election ride. Last month the Supreme Court ruled that it was against the First Amendment to ban businesses and unions to fund advocacy campaigns in the closing months of an election. It was a huge victory for the right of free speech and the Republic.

Word has now come down from Congressional Democrats that they will not renew Fast Track authority for the president. Of course it's a political ploy against Bush, but the fact is, Fast Track is the one issue that actually gives the President the power to negotiate policy like NAFTA, GATT, and the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), to implement the North American Union. It is a victory for our side to take that authority away for him, no matter the reason.

There are lots of good things happening in the name of freedom around the world. There are efforts to create private property as a means to eradicate poverty. There are efforts to bring back DDT to eradicate malaria. Of course, there are bad things going on. Of course, the forces of tyranny continue to build to enforce their will.

The good news is that every victory they score creates new victims. New victims find their way to the camp of Freedom’s Heroes, and our forces swell. And that can ultimately lead to freedom - if we will just get our heads out of the sand and appreciate a victory when we win one.

Tom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, property rights and back-to-basics education. For over thirty years he has fought against government oppression.

In 1988, Mr. DeWeese established the American Policy Center (APC), an activist think tank headquartered in Warrenton, VA. In 1992 Tom DeWeese became passionately involved in the fight for the preservation of American private property rights and against intrusive environmental regulations. He is also a recognized leader in the fight to preserve American national sovereignty from intrusive United Nations policies on global governance. APC has also joined the fight to rescue American education from federal intrusion and the fight for American privacy rights against intrusive government data banks, and a national identification card.

Mr. DeWeese makes regular appearances on radio and television talk shows and has articles published in several national publications.

Tom DeWeese is the publisher/editor of The DeWeese Report. You can contact Mr. DeWeese here.

This TRA feature has been edited in accordance with TRA’s Statement of Policy.

Click here to return to TRA's Issue CXIV Index.

Learn about Mr. Stolyarov's novel, Eden against the Colossus, here..

Read Mr. Stolyarov's new comprehensive treatise, A Rational Cosmology, explicating such terms as the universe, matter, space, time, sound, light, life, consciousness, and volition, here.

Read Mr. Stolyarov's new four-act play, Implied Consent, a futuristic intellectual drama on the sanctity of human life, here.