Let’s be real honest here. The people who say they want to control guns in order to save lives should all be pro-life with the same zealousness that they are anti-gun. But the anti-gun people are, by and large, pro-abortion. If these people really cared about saving lives, then they would care about all lives, even those who have not yet emerged from their mothers’ wombs. The fact that they do not support the right to life for all says one big thing: their stated motive for gun control, i.e. saving lives, is just a cover for their real motive. When they say they want to control guns, they really mean that they want to control people – that is, the ones who survive their pro-abortion policies.

Our Second Amendment resides in our federal Constitution, which was adopted in 1789. Our right to create the Constitution is provided in the Declaration of Independence, to which our founding fathers pledged their “sacred honor” in 1776. In the Declaration’s second paragraph, we find perhaps its most famous words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, 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.”

Before any of the enumerated freedoms protected by our Constitution, even before the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we have the right to LIFE. And this is not a right that is given to us by any government. It is an “unalienable right” given to us by our Creator. Yet too many people in this country either don’t believe in the Creator God or don’t care what He says. As a result, they don’t care about the value that God has placed in each human life no matter how young or old. Delegate Kathy Tran, who last year pushed a bill to allow abortions up to the moment of birth, was in the General Assembly this year pushing a bill to protect the inchworm. That a mother of four like Kathy Tran can value an inchworm more than a child is beyond credulity.

The statement in the Declaration regarding our foundational rights, is followed immediately by, “That, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.” All of our constitutional rights flow from the “unalienable right to life.” Thomas Jefferson, the chief architect of the Declaration and the target of historical revisionists who seek to besmirch his legacy, explained further that “it is the right of the people… to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness.” We exercised that right by writing, adopting, and amending our U.S. Constitution.

Yet today, we wonder why our children – who are fast approaching middle-age – don’t understand the value of those freedoms and the right those freedoms give us to form our own government. The answer is simple. No one is teaching them the truth about the foundational freedoms of America.

We as parents were taught these basic principles in school. We were taught that America is a wonderful country with a grand and honorable history. Then we went about building our lives – which is the whole point of “the pursuit of happiness” – expecting that when we sent our children to school, they would be taught the same things. They are not. The America-Is-Bad socialist philosophy has taken over our education system. Instead of teaching that the “unalienable rights” provided by our Creator allow us to create a government of our choosing, they are teaching that the government decides what rights we have. Our educational system has become a monolith of homogenous, liberal ideas where conservative opinions are not allowed. Think about this: the ratio of donations by college professors to Democrats vs donations to Republicans is 95 to 1. Jarrett Stepman, when commenting on the study that documents this statistic noted that “at all but a handful of American colleges, young Americans are being dropped straight into left-wing indoctrination centers.” No wonder 30% of Millennials have the false idea that Communism is a good thing.

Many colleges are hostile to free speech (unless the speech promotes the accepted liberal line). are open to free sex and free abortions (because they do not believe God has given humans greater value than animals), and are plainly hostile to the foundational principles of America (which explains why they believe citizens should not be armed in a manner that would allow us to protect the freedoms that God gave us). Our ability to protect ourselves and our freedoms stands in the way of them being able to control what we say, what we think, what we believe. No. Gun control isn’t about saving lives. It’s about controlling lives that have no value in the liberal mind beyond what the liberals decide they have.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

I go to various meetings around the district asking Republicans to sign up as convention delegates so they can vote for my reelection to the GOP State Central Committee. At those same meetings, I hear other candidates for Sixth District offices make their campaign speeches. The lack of understanding by some candidates of what it really takes to do the jobs they are seeking is disheartening.

The Sixth District Bylaws leave a lot of flexibility regarding the duties of the Regional Vice Chairs (RVCs). About all it says is that the three regional RVCs “shall provide organizational assistance to the Unit Committees within their jurisdictions and under the supervision of the District Vice-Chairman perform other services as requested by the District Committee or District Chairman.”

Unfortunately, with the desperate need we have in Virginia to get every possible conservative vote out of each county and city, the District’s RVCs must be more than just “organizational assistants.” Each unit needs to be as efficient, as focused, and as effective as possible. The best Regional Vice Chairs are individuals who have experience as successful unit chairs, who have turned weak or dysfunctional units into thriving and effective units, and who have generated a significant increase in voter turnout in their own units. Without that experience and insight, the RVC will be able to provide only limited help to the unit chairs within their regions as the chairs work to bring their own units to the highest levels of effectiveness. The job of an RVC is not for the inexperienced. These are jobs for people who have been in the trenches and gotten results through personal effort, through hard-earned experience, and through their ability to energize others to get the job done.

The State Party Plan outlines the duties of the State Central Committee (SCC). In a nutshell, the SCC serves as the Board of Directors of the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV). We on the SCC are the final word on Republican politics in the Commonwealth. As such, the battles are fierce, and the intrigue is intense. It is no place for the timid, the inexperienced, or the insecure. It IS a place for grassroots conservatives who can and will hold to their principles no matter what. It is a place for those who have developed relationships with people from a broad range of viewpoints and who know how to work with those people to bring desperately needed reform to the RPV.

We do not need SCC representatives who cannot or will not stand up for the constitutional, conservative values of the majority of Sixth District Republicans, especially in the face of strong-arm tactics from the other side. We need SCC representatives whom voters know and respect because they stand firm for conservative ideals.

For District Chairman, we need a leader who leads by example, by respect, and by experience. In no universe is the chair supposed to dictate to the District Committee and attack Committee members when the Committee chooses to go a different way. The District Committee is a deliberative body of individuals who represent defined constituencies. Those constituencies have a free voice in Committee deliberations, as expressed by the representatives they have elected to the Committee. To dictate to the Committee is to dictate to every Republican in the Sixth District. And as I recall from honest history books, Virginians helped fight a revolution and a bunch of wars since then because we don’t like dictators.

By now you may know that there are two slates, two teams of candidates vying for election at this year’s District Convention. One slate was built in secret and was more concerned about the age, race, and gender of the candidates. The other team was announced early on and is headed by a man of integrity, experience, and proven leadership. This team consists of solid grassroots conservatives who have proven their abilities by their accomplishments and whose collective goal is a huge margin of victory in the Sixth District for Donald Trump, Ben Cline, and our Republican candidate for U.S. Senate. This team is intent on developing a conservative majority on the State Central Committee so that the RPV is no longer captive to the control of power brokers, but instead is focused on service to the liberty-minded Virginians who have elected us to be their voices.

Do not vote for candidates just because they make a good speech or because you recognize their names or for any other non-essential reason. Cast your vote for the candidates who are best able to do the jobs to which you will elect them, jobs that are so crucial to the safety and well-being of our District and our Commonwealth.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

A Republican with whom I occasionally converse recently asked what I meant by “the political Establishment.” I define it as a group of Party officials who maintain a power structure from which senior members of the Party decide who will be the candidates for both party and public office based on who has “earned the right” to run. This “right” is determined by how well potential candidates obey the wishes of more senior members of the power structure. No allowance is made in those decisions for the will of the voters or of the grassroots of their own party.

I personally have been a victim of the Republican Establishment. (I have written proof.) But it is not merely a Republican phenomenon. Presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard has run afoul of the Democratic Party Establishment as stated in her October 18, 2019 tweet addressing Hillary Clinton: “You, the queen of warmongers, embodiment of corruption, and the personification of the rot that has sickened the Democratic Party for so long have finally come out from behind the curtain. From the day I announced my candidacy, there has been a … concerted campaign to destroy my reputation. We wondered who was behind it and why. Now we know – it was you, through your proxies and … powerful allies in the corporate media and war machine, afraid of the threat I pose.”

Speaking of which, CNN has excluded Gabbard from a New Hampshire town hall meeting even though she has higher polling numbers than two candidates who were invited. “The Political Insider” explains her exclusion: “The Democrat media grupenfuhrers will truck with no rebellion, no opposition, or no independence. This is especially true if the rebel has a national stage and makes a good impression on camera, thus guaranteeing her an audience.”

I don’t support Gabbard, but she is proof that “the Establishment” is alive and well on both sides of the aisle. In both her case and mine, we were not just ignored by the Establishment, we were attacked for not being loyal lapdogs who willingly “Sit down, shut up, and do what you are told.” That is the very attitude that nearly 250 years ago repelled the citizens of 13 small, American colonies and compelled them to band together to take on and defeat what was at that time the greatest military power in the world and win our freedom from a similar type of tyranny.

The Establishment includes more than just power brokers. It also includes those who become the Establishment’s “anointed ones” – the ones who are “chosen” to be the candidates. They perpetuate the tyranny. They vote whichever way they are told to vote by the Establishment because they know that their reelection is in the hands of Establishment powerbrokers. I also think that narcissistic politicians who are “looking out for number one” should somehow be included in the definition. I have a real problem, personally, with people who are more concerned about their own position, power, and prestige than they are about the good of the country.

The Establishment treat voters like unthinking sheep. They get away with it because too many voters don’t think about their government until election day, and then they vote for names they recognize rather than for the candidate who will best represent them. It’s like the shopper who buys “Kellogg’s” because of the familiar name rather than doing a little research to figure out which cereal actually tastes best. [And it could well be the Kellogg’s product, but you get my point.]

If ordinary voters want to reclaim their political parties, they must go to their mass meetings, caucuses, and conventions, elect grassroots Party officials, and take control of the nominating process for public office. That’s the only way they can make sure they have a decent choice of “cereals” on election day – so that they don’t have to choose between “tastes like plastic” and “gets soggy in milk.”

The Establishment controls the process until and unless the grassroots voters get energized and take back control of their parties. The only way to “drain the Swamp” is for grassroots voters to wade in and do it. The Establishment will never drain themselves.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

Every four years each Congressional district must elect three representatives to the State Central Committee (SCC). I’m running for reelection, and I ask you to become a delegate and vote for me at the District Convention on May 30 at Central High School in Woodstock, VA. I explained the convention in my newsletter two weeks ago. Ask your local Party chair about the deadline for signing up. I know of one county whose sign-up deadline is January 31, so don’t delay.

A person who has never served in an office has to run on what they promise to do. As an incumbent, I have to run on how well I kept the promises I made. I think I’ve done a pretty good job of keeping my word.

I said then that some candidates hound you for your vote, but once they’ve won, you never see them again until the next election cycle. I pledged to travel all over the district in order to stay in touch with the needs and views of the people I represent. Since 2016, I have attended barbeques in Page County and Christmas dinners in Roanoke City. I have been to Lincoln Dinners in Warren and Shenandoah Counties. I have attended multiple unit meetings in Augusta and Amherst Counties, in Bedford, Botetourt, Rockbridge, and Rockingham Counties, in Staunton and Waynesboro and Harrisonburg. I’ve been to every unit multiple times, I’ve talked to all sorts of people at all sorts of events. I’ve listened to your concerns – and I’ve hopefully made friends with most of you.

I pledged to help educate grassroots Republicans as to what is going on in your Party so you can have a better understanding of the decisions you are asked to make. To do that I started writing a weekly email newsletter. By count, this one is number 203. If you want to see any of the ones I’ve written in the past they are available at www.VoteDocTroxel.com/Doc-Says/. I also repost them on my “Vote Doc Troxel” Facebook page. In addition to the weekly newsletter, I have begun cohosting a monthly podcast called Grassroots Heartbeat, which covers subjects of interest to Republican voters particularly in Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District. Recently the Waynesboro “News Virginian” started publishing a column from me every other week. And “The Bull Elephant” has published a number of my articles. I have also spoken at a number of events at which I was asked to provide updates and other information on Republican happenings in the district and state. And I don’t make a dime on any of it.

Why do I want to go through another four years of statewide travel at my own expense and taking time away from my family? I started my first term aligned with other grassroots conservatives on the SCC. Unfortunately, we were in the minority on most votes. However, certain power players in the RPV finally ‘overplayed their hands’ and offended a number of their core supporters on the SCC. Those offended supporters are now more open to working with grassroots conservatives on a number of issues. A lot of that openness is based on relationships we have built over the past four years. We are on the cusp of a major breakthrough to a leadership team that truly follows Republican ideals in more than just what they say but in what they actually do. We are on the cusp of turning the Party around and reversing the downward slide of Virginia. I want to finish turning the RPV in the right direction. I want to use the relationships I’ve developed during my first term to get the job finished. The task has been challenging, but the potential for success is huge. I firmly believe we can still save our God-given freedoms.

But it takes more than just electing me. Two of your current Sixth District SCC representatives, Nate Boyer and Joe Sonsmith, are stepping down, and we need to replace them with the same kind of solid, grassroots conservatives whom you can trust. I believe Steve Kurtz and Dean Welty will be SCC representatives of whom the Sixth District can be proud. Steve is a former Sixth District Northern Region Vice Chair and is currently Warren County Chairman. He has turned his county around and has elected a Republican to every county office. He knows the District and its issues, and he knows what units need in order to be successful. Dean Welty is a thoughtful, influential gentleman who heads the Valley Family Forum. He has a huge supply of experience and connections that can be brought to bear in our efforts to turn the Commonwealth around. Both men will be great assets to the District and to the SCC.

District Chairs also vote on the SCC. Current Sixth District Vice Chair, John Massoud, has proven leadership skills and a work ethic that shows up on the ground in his efforts to get Republican candidates elected. As a member of the Strasburg Town Council, he wrote the Second Amendment Sanctuary ordinance that he then convinced the more liberal town councilors to adopt unanimously. His votes on the crucial issues will always reflect those of Sixth District Republicans. Therefore, I ask you to become a delegate to the District Convention and vote for John Massoud for Chair, and for Steve Kurtz, Dean Welty, and me, Doc Troxel, as your SCC representatives.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.

In Virginia, 91 counties, 14 cities, and 29 towns have declared themselves Second Amendment Sanctuary jurisdictions. However, in Harrisonburg, 50 Second Amendment supporters showed up to a city council meeting to discover their councilors would not even discuss it. In Waynesboro, after a rather lengthy public hearing, the vice-mayor withdrew the resolution, in part, because of the rowdy crowd reaction when council did not appear to share the crowd’s views. In Lynchburg, Mayor Tweedy, to her credit, accommodated applause and cheers to speakers but drew the line at jeers.

Many speakers in both Waynesboro and Lynchburg pleaded not to have their gun rights taken away. Those arguments should be made to the General Assembly not to the local governments. The more appropriate argument is to ask the local government to protect the local citizens from unconstitutional laws passed by the state. The statement I made at the public hearing in Lynchburg went something like this:

“A couple of years ago, Virginia’s Sixth Congressional District Republican Committee sued the state because of an unconstitutional law commonly called the “Incumbent Protection Act.” We won our case in Federal District Court and again in the Federal Appeals Court. It cost the state a lot of money to defend this unconstitutional law. BUT because the case was about a violation of the Constitution the state also had to pay plaintiff’s legal team nearly a quarter million dollars to cover their fees. The gun laws currently before the General Assembly are unconstitutional. They will be taken to court. They will lose. The state will have to pay both the state’s lawyers and the plaintiff’s lawyers, and that will be very expensive.

“If City Council supports these unconstitutional laws by its silence, the City could be financially liable as well. And if City police confiscate weapons, and especially if someone is assaulted or killed in the absence of their personal weapons, the City could face not only legal bills, but also compensatory and punitive damages as well. To save the City a lot of money, you need to pass this ordinance and declare that our City will not enforce unconstitutional laws.

“Can you do that? Contrary to what a few people have told you tonight, you can. Attorney General Herring, after he was first inaugurated in 2014, declined to defend in Federal Court the Marriage Amendment to the Virginia Constitution stating that “irrespective of the action of the People in amending their Constitution, that as ‘an exercise of’ his ‘independent judgement,’ he had concluded that when a provision of the Virginia Constitution or Statute ‘violates the federal constitution, he is not duty bound to defend it.” This established two precedents. One, an elected official who reaches the “independent judgement” that a state statute is in violation of the U.S. Constitution is at liberty to decline to enforce that statute. And, an elected official has the power to take affirmative steps to block enforcement of an unconstitutional statute.

“The General Assembly has established the precedent of governmental non-cooperation with the unconstitutional laws of a superior governmental authority. On February 28, 2012 – with both Attorney General Herring and Governor Northam, then legislators, voting in the affirmative – the General Assembly passed HB 1160, which prohibited Virginia from assisting the federal government in the unlawful detention of U.S. citizens under the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act. Thus, the General Assembly established the principle that: “A subordinate level of government has the authority and, indeed, the responsibility to refuse to cooperate with a higher level of government when the higher government enacts a law which violates the Constitution of the United States.” It only follows that this “non-cooperation” applies when local governments are faced with unconstitutional statues enacted by the General Assembly.

“It only follows that City Council not only has the right, but the duty to pass this ordinance to protect the City from legal action and from doing “the wrong thing” in regard to both our state and national constitutions – documents that you swore to uphold when you took office.”

Lynchburg City Council ignored my statement and those of the more than 100 (of the 120 who spoke) others who supported this ordinance and voted against the ordinance by 5-2. I hope that Second Amendment supporters will remember these council actions when election day comes. If you can’t persuade elected officials to vote the way they should, then they need to be replaced by elected officials who will.

Cordially,
Steve “Doc” Troxel, Ph.D.