Dear Washington....A Letter to All Elected Representatives of the United States Government

The following is the letter written by Rick Satterthwaite to accompany the poster/petition created by the East Gate. Whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independant, Libertarian or otherwise, I task everyone with finding fault in this passionate message from a disappointed American.

October 2013

To the 537 leaders of the United States of America: The President, The Vice President, The House of Representatives, and The Senate:

We are tired; We the People….we are tired. The weariness that is overtaking us feels like an invisible force wrapped around each one of us individually, and yet all of us collectively at the same time. It is the feeling that something familiar…something we trust…has begun to weigh us down, tug at us and pull us apart, to look us in the eye with assurance, while wrestling with us at every turn. Wrestling, not as two playmates might; but as an adversary. That adversary is you, 537 men and women we look to as leaders, as familiar, trustworthy leaders.
We were a small group in the wilderness, just in front of the gates of Yellowstone National Park. What brought us there was the desire to gain access to our friend, our park. However, what became obvious as We The People began to look around was much greater than Yellowstone; if one could imagine that. No, what was obvious was our weariness over you and your inability to lead on behalf of us.

From where We The People stood that day, in the wilderness, what we saw were men and women, 547 of you, fighting for yourselves, for your own agendas, your own power, your own egos…never truly thinking of We the People. We hear talk of not wanting to give the Republicans too much…not wanting to give the Democrats too much, never thinking that We The People are Republicans and Democrats, independents and libertarians. What we hear is that our democrat leaders do not want to give half of We The People too much. Our republican leaders do not want to give half of We The People too much. We are so weary of that!

John Kennedy once said, “Let us not seek the Republican answer or the Democratic answer, but the right answer. Let us not seek to fix the blame for the past. Let us accept our own responsibility for the future.” What happened to ideas like that? What happened to you as servants of We The people that it has to be a democrat or republican answer. Do you 537 not realize that those answers exclude half of We the People? Do you not realize it is making We The People weary? You lead us from one crisis to another; one cliff to another. You have become experts at pitting We The People against ourselves in order to give some portion of the 537 a victory, all the while making We The People more tired…more weary.

No, as that small portion of We The People gathered at the gates of Yellowstone, what we realized is that it is your inability to lead that has made We The People weary. Please stop! We are tired of fighting among ourselves; fighting in the way you 537 do…how you 537 lead We The People. Stop looking for the republican answer. Stop looking for the democrat answer. Look for the right answer. Look for the answer that will relieve the weariness of We The People.

Many of us, We The People, echo the prayer of Admiral Black last week when he asked you 537 men and women to come to grips with the shame you have caused in this great nation. Your behavior is selfish and shameful to We The People and we simply ask you to stop, look inward, and examine yourselves. Find a way to get beyond your party affiliation and dogmatic policy stances and look at us, We The People. Look from a position of humility, not power. Look from a position of weakness, not strength. Join us at Yellowstone’s gates and see We The People, not a voting-block, or district, or constituency. No, try to see us, weary as we are and understand that we deserve better than what you 537 are giving us. Stop tugging at us, stop pulling us apart, stop doing all the things we try to teach our children not to do and lead.

As We The People gather at the gates of Yellowstone, we were denied entrance because you 537 men and women shut down the government, our government. We stood there as you were huddled in Washington DC. Here is a thought from We The People that just might help you understand just how We The People are feeling right now. Do your jobs and fund the government. Do what you have to do to get past this latest crisis. Then shut it down again! Shut down every office, every hall, and every meeting room and come to Yellowstone. Come to the farmland of the Midwest. Come to the sprawling cities of the eastern seaboard. Come to the oil patches of the west and southwest. Come to the great forests of the Pacific North West. Come to We The People and just sit with us.

But do not go to your own districts, your own constituencies. Go where you are not familiar and sit with someone you have never sat with. Don’t take cameras and media people, just put on your jeans and come alone. How can you lead all of We The People if you have only sat with half of We The People? Imagine that! None of you 537 being lobbied, arguing your point, pitting half of us against the other half. Just take the fall and early winter off to sit with We The People and get to know us. The reconvene after the holidays and lead us together in the right way; the American way. What do you say? Meet us at the gates of Yellowstone and let us just sit together as We The People.

Sunday News!

We got some great local news coverage yesterday, including television, print and radio. Nice work everyone! Let's keep the momentum going and don't let them forget us!

From KBZK Bozeman Channel 7 News - North Entrance

From KULR Billings Channel 8 - East Entrance (with more likely to come today!) KULR-8 Television, Billings, MT

It's Game Day!

It is t-minus 3 hours to show time everyone, are we ready to go?! I know I am! It is snowing in Gardiner so we are going to be a goofy looking bunch of winter clothes bundles, but that isn't going stop our voices being heard!

We can't wait to see all of the videos and photos from East - Go Yellowstone!!

Leah

Montanans taking a stand for our parks and rights!

While out running errands this morning, I had the pleasure of speaking with a gentleman who was placing signs and an American flag that the Roosevelt Arch in Gardiner, MT. Tim Ravndal, concerned and "PO'd" Montana, drove 2+ hours to the Arch from his home in Townsend, MT to tell the US Government that Americans are ready for them to start doing their jobs. Unfortunately he will not be able to join Protest FOR Yellowstone on Sunday as he has commitments to a veteran's event at Fort Harrison, but he will be spreading the word to our fellow Montanans up north. Thank you Tim - I may not be proud of my government right now, but seeing so many willing to make a stand definitely makes me proud to call myself a Montanan and an American!

It's a Party!

Gardiner/North Entrance Sign Making Party!

WHEN: 

Saturday, October 12 - 1:00pm

WHERE: 

Leah's House - please email me at leahkautz@gmail.com or send me a FB message if don't already know where to find me

WHAT to bring:

Sign ideas!

As for actual sign construction supplies, I got some of the basics such as a handful of posterboard,  sharpies/markers, tape, glue etc but anything else anyone can contribute would be greatly appreciated!

Some ideas....

• Posterboard or foam board - as I said, I have SOME (all white) but it is only posterboard so will not be as durable as foam board
• Markers/Paints etc.
• Embellishments (stencils, pictures etc.)
• Anything else you can think of that would make for some fun and creative signs!

 If you can't make it to this shindig but still want to make some signs, please keep a few things in mind:

• This is a peaceful, civil and respectful rally, aimed at highlighting the human aspect rather than the political antics - of course those are in there somewhere as it's unavoidable, but should not be the main focus. As Rick so elequently stated, "this is not a political up-rising; it is a common sense event that is intended to speak to all our DC leaders to exercise common sense in running OUR government". In the name of these shared goals, please refrain from the following:

• Anti-[insert name here] signs and messages - we are not here to talk about how much love/hate Obama, Boehner, Reid, Pelosi, Bachmann etc or to play the "blame game"
• Name calling or other statements meant to belittle or condescend
• Partisan arguments!

IMPORTANT Note: My house is not huge - please let me know via email, text or FB message if you are planning to attend the sign making party so I can have an idea of how many people to expect at the house.

A letter to the public regarding National Park Rangers and the government shutdown

Well stated with great points to emphasize why Protest FOR Yellowstone should be peaceful, civil and respectful! Many of the people we may encounter, particularly in the North Entrance area, may be our friends and neighbors. Bring on the baked goods and the thank yous for their service, even if we don't like the job they have to do!

Post by US Park Rangers Lodge, Fraternal Order of Police.

Utah Parks to Reopen!

Just posted on CNN -

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/11/us/utah-parks-reopen/

Per the article, all 5 Utah National Parks as well as three additional federally run locations will reopen by Saturday.

Thank you Governor Herbert! And would you mind making a few calls to WY and MT for us?!