The Ragged Edge ‘We Are The Law’ One-Man Road Show Challenges Legitimacy Of Federal Authority
Profile: Gary DeMott
Gary DeMott’s heavy head hangs over a desk cluttered with nine obscure law books that help him educate people that the U.S. government is a sham.
Only gold or silver is real U.S. currency. The United States is a Republic not a Democracy. A federal income tax is illegal. Most U.S. courts are not legitimate.
“We are the law,” he tells his audiences. “We are the law enforcers.”
The chain-smoking Boise constitutionalist is the Idaho Sovereignty Association, a one-man road show he’s taken to about 30 Idaho towns this year.
At each stop, DeMott tells people the federal government has no right to tell Idaho how to manage its public lands. He also tells them how to set up constitutional courts at the county level and how to avoid federal income taxes, which he boasts he hasn’t paid in 30 years.
“I tell people to remember to act like an American and not like some subject,” he says.
DeMott tosses out his unconventional contentions and enjoys watching people try to swallow them.
“There are no federal public lands in the West.” He likes that one. He smiles.
“The Federal Reserve is run by private corporations.” The cigarette ash grows long as he sucks harder. “Did you know that?”
“The judiciary system: A closed union shop is what that is.”
Life is all about timing, and his time has arrived, he explains, snuffing another Alpine Light 100 in an ash tray that says “Smoker’s Rights.”
“Everybody who is an activist is someone whose ox got gored,” he adds. “Until you’ve got it gored you think everything is fine.”
DeMott, 57, didn’t need a run-in with the government to realize everything wasn’t cool.
His views sprouted from a lifelong study of “the system” that began in the U.S. Air Force and continued with his ongoing fascination and scholarly study of the Constitution and the courts.
“When Perot got up to 38-40 percent (in the polls) that’s when I knew there was enough dissatisfaction out there and I got into the fray.”
He likens Ross Perot to Paul Revere, and says he helped open minds to DeMott’s message that the Constitution has been cast aside.
“We’re the 900-pound gorilla that’s just arriving on the scene,” he says of the his constitutionalist movement.
As evidence, he points to his role in sponsoring Idaho’s 10th Amendment Resolution. The legislature passed it this year to assert that all rights not granted to the federal government in the Constitution belong to the state.
Does DeMott advocate bloody revolution?
No.
“We’ve got to have an orderly transition, a nice revolution…a restoration.”
At the end of an interview, DeMott exits with one last bold contention:
“If you quote me out of context or misquote me in any way, I’ll own your newspaper.” He smiles. “We’re getting pretty good at these corporate liens.”
, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo