The Appeal to Heaven Flag and the Second American Revolution
Recently, Councilmember Allen Skillicorn changed his on-line profile image to a painting depicting George Washington holding the “Appeal to Heaven Flag”. The Appeal to Heaven Flag, also known as the Pine Tree Flag, dates back to the Revolutionary War, but in 2020, became a symbol of the “Second American Revolution” proposed by the Heritage Foundation in Project 2025. The Second American Revolution will end with the “reform” of our government and institutions to “transform” the United States into a Christian nation where all aspects of society are controlled by Biblical Principles. https://www.baptiststandard.com/news/nation/appeal-to-heaven-flag-tied-to-christian-nationalism/
Kevin Roberts, President of the Heritage Foundation and one of the principal authors of “Project 2025 the Mandate for Leadership” recently warned: “We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless, if the left allows it to be.” https://www.newsweek.com/project -2025-promises-second revolution-1920506
The Pine Tree Flag was carried by rioters during the January 6th attack on the Capitol. The Pine Tree flag was displayed outside of Justice Alito’s vacation home resulting in considerable controversy. Mike Johnson, the Speaker of the House flies the flag outside of his office. https://www.au.org/the-latest/articles/appeal-heaven-flag24/. State Senator John Kavanaugh sponsored a a bill that would have required HOA’s to allow residents to fly the Pine Tree flag.
And now, Allen Skillicorn, following the election of his ally, Gayle Earle, to the Town Council, has openly announced his allegiance to the principles of the Second American Revolution and, with the anticipated support of a “conservative majority” on the Town Council, his intent to follow the Project 2025 playbook.
The Project. 2025 Playbook
The Introduction to Project 2025’s “Mandate for Leadership, the Conservative Promise” describes the book as an “agenda prepared by and for conservatives who will be ready on Day One of the next Administration to save our country from the brink of disaster”. (Mandate for Leadership p.3) To avoid this “disaster” conservative leaders must focus on fulfilling the following “promises”:
- Restore the Family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children.
- Dismantle the “administrative state” and return self-governance to the American people.
- Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats.
- Secure our God-given individual rights to live freely-what our Constitutions calls “the Blessings of Liberty”.
(Id.)
Some of the radical changes proposed in the Mandate for Leadership primarily involve the federal government. However, the Second American Revolution, envisioned by Project 2025, goes beyond dismantling and transforming the federal government to create an autocracy. The goal is to create a Christian autocracy.
https://baptistnews.com/article/are-our-churches-prepared-for-christian-autocracy/. That goal can be met only by winning the culture war on the federal, state and local level. According to the Mandate for Leadership the Second American Revolution won’t be complete unless and until the culture war against “wokeness” has been won. (Id. p. 4)
According to the Mandate for Leadership terms such as “sexual orientation and gender identity (“SOGI”), diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”), gender equality, gender awareness, gender sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights” must be deleted from legislation, rules, regulations, grants and contracts. (Id. p. 5)
The Mandate for Leadership also calls for the “noxious tenets” of “critical race theory” and “gender ideology” to be excised from the curricula in every public school because: “(T)hese theories poison our children, who are being taught on the one hand to affirm that the color of their skin fundamentally determines their identify and even their moral status while on the other they are taught to deny the very creatureliness that inheres to being human and consists of accepting the giveness of our natures as men or women”. (Id.)
Project 2025 and Fountain Hills
The culture war against “wokeness” cannot be won solely through action taken at the federal level. To win the culture war action must be taken by state and local governments. To create an autocratic theocracy state and local laws will need to be revised to adopt” biblically based” definitions and principles. These revisions to the law cannot be made unless supporters of the Project 2025 conservative agenda are elected. In Fountain Hills we have now elected two committed Project 2025 culture warriors and may well have elected a third.
During the past two years many have been so distracted by the orchestrated conflict between “conservatives” and “leftists”, manufactured and fueled by Reclaim Our Town (ROT) that we failed to take notice the of the efforts undertaken by religious and political extremists to pursue the Project 2025 agenda in Fountain Hills.
In 2022, Fountain Hills elected Hannah Toth and Allen Skillicorn to our Town Council. Both Toth and Skillicorn are unabashed supporters of the primary goal of Project 2025: the establishment of an autocratic Christian Theocracy. (see: http://www.appealtoheaven.org). Skillicorn views the Bible as having supremacy over the Declaration of Independence.
Although both Skillicorn and Toth appear to have higher political aspirations, for now, they are intent on orchestrating a takeover of the Town Council. With the election of Skillicorn’s avowed ally, Gayle Earle, they are only one vote away from achieving this goal.
Enter Allen Skillicorn
Before Skillicorn entered the political arena in Fountain Hills he served as a Trustee for the Village of East Dundee and went on to serve three years and 11 months in the Illinois House of Representatives.
In November of 2021 Skillicorn was defeated by his Democratic opponent, who during the campaign noted his association with right wing organizations (like “Illinois Gun Owners Together”) and described him as “Too Extreme for Illinois”, a description he eagerly embraced:
On January 5, 2021, before the end of his second term, Skillicorn, who had been the subject of an ethics investigation, abandoned his position in the Illinois House, leaving his constituents unrepresented.
Why Skillicorn selected Fountain Hills as the launching pad for his failed political career remains a mystery. It appears that he may have been invited or at least encouraged to come here to pursue his far-right political agenda. Skillicorn very quickly, and probably not coincidentally, attached himself to State Senator John Kavanagh.
Skillicorn also formed an alliance with Hannah Toth. Toth and Skillicorn appear to have recognized early on that they had more than their purported fiscal conservatism in common.
The Attack on “Cultural Marxism”
In 2022 Skillicorn announced that he would run for the Fountain Hills Town Council. In relaunching his political career Skillicorn invoked one of the central themes of Project 2025: “cultural Marxism”. See, https://www.heritage.org/progressivism/report/how-cultural-marxism-threatens-the-united-states-and-how-americans-can-fight/
Throughout his campaign Skillicorn described his opponents as “Marxists”, “Socialists” and “Leftists”. During a meeting of the Fountain Hills Republican Club Skillicorn pledged to rid Fountain Hills of the “Communists” and “Socialists” that were intent on destroying the Town.
The Attack on “Wokeness”
A core belief shared by Skillicorn and the authors of Project 2025 is that the Second American Revolution must, through political action, defeat the “woke cult” that has legitimized “affronts” to morality like gay marriage and abortion. Skillicorn believes that the Gospel of Christ has been subordinated to a false gospel of secular liberalism.
During his two years on the Town Council Skillicorn has characterized those who support reproductive freedom, gay rights, asylum seekers or the homeless as “woke” a mindset he considers to be both “evil” and “satanic”:
Skillicorn has repeatedly attacked Mayor Dickey as “woke”, and falsely claimed that, like other “woke mayors”, she has brought crime and homelessness to Fountain Hills and suggested she be “fired”.
The proponents of Project 2025, like Skillicorn, believe that the “woke cult” is intent on subverting the family, to “replace people’s natural loves and loyalties with unnatural ones.” (Mandate for Leadership, p. 4) They believe that marriage can only be between one man and one woman and homosexuality is unnatural. Skillicorn has personally endorsed the proposition that you cannot be a gay Christian:
Skillicorn has targeted “woke” schools, teachers and our library for condemnation:
The authors of the Mandate for Leadership refer to “transgender ideology” as “pornography” and labeled members of the transgender “child predators” (Mandate for Leadership, p. 5) Both Skillicorn and Toth have repeatedly attacked and demeaned members of the transgender community:
Toth demonstrated her disdain for members of the transgender community by sitting in the front row of the Candidate Forum wearing a shirt embossed with the caption “Real Men Aren’t Women”.
As noted above, the Mandate for Leadership supports outlawing abortion and curtailment of a woman’s right to reproductive freedom as do Skillicorn and Toth. Both view abortion as murder:
Project 2025 is intent on ending all policies directed toward the goal of creating diversity, equity and inclusion (“DEI”). Skillicorn has stated his belief that “DEI” must die:
Skillicorn attempted to introduce a Resolution that would have banned what he described as “DEI discrimination”. The measure failed for lack of a second when it was determined that only Toth, Gerry Friedel and Skillicorn would vote in favor of the measure.
To date, Skillicorn and Toth’s efforts to enact ordinances or pass resolutions to support the culture war have been sporadic because they lacked a majority. They were successful in restoring an Invocation prior to Town Council meetings but disappointed to discover that they could not Constitutionally limit the speakers to those who supported their religious views . They were also successful in passing a Resolution that would prohibit the issuance of future mask or vaccine mandates which the Mandate for Leadership would also outlaw. (Mandate p. 19 and 475)
It is apparent, however, that if Skillicorn and Toth obtain a reliable majority there is no limit to the cultural issues they could attempt to regulate. Unfortunately, they now need only one more vote.
Enter Gayle Earle
Last year, Skillicorn identified Gayle Earle as the most likely candidate to provide him with the unwavering support he and Toth require to support them in their culture war. Earle has made no secret of her devotion to Skillicorn. During a presentation to the Rio Verde Republican Women’s Club, Earle described Skillicorn as Fountain Hills’ “boldest councilmember” and referred to the hearing, that led to the imposition of sanctions against him as a “public lynching.” Clearly, Gayle Earle was a critical component of Skillicorn’s plan to assume control over the Town Council.
We do not have concrete evidence that Gayle Earle shares Skillicorn’s and Toth’s commitment to the establishment of a Christian autocracy. However, given the fact that Wendy Rogers “loves” Earle and based on her relationship to Ashley Earle, it is a safe bet that Gayle Earle will support any far-right social agenda item advanced by Toth and Skillicorn.
Gayle Earle shares a close bond with her daughter-in-law, Ashely Earle. Ashley is a proponent of Project 2025 and holds a leadership position with Moms for Liberty, identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center in its 2022 annual Year in Hate and Extremism report. https:www.npr.org/2023/06/07/1180486760/splc-moms-for-liberty-extremist-group/ Ashley Earle is also an unabashed fan of Jacob Chansley, the January 6th “Q’Anon Shaman”.
In this photo, where she is pictured standing next to Chansley, Ashley proudly displays her “We the People” tattoo, a phrase found in the preamble to the Constitution that has been co-opted by alt-right antigovernment organizations and the January 6 rioters.
Enter Turning Point USA
TPUSA, founded and led by Charlie Kirk, began in 2012 as a campus-based campaign to recruit students to support conservative candidates and causes. Today, TPUSA is a multifaceted, multi-billion-dollar behemoth that supports far-right and alt-right causes and candidates. Its related entities include Hannah Toth’s employer, Turning Point Action, as well as Turning Point Faith. The announced mission of Turning Point Faith is to restore America’s biblical values and empower Christians to assume control over local, state and federal government. http://tpusafaith.com.
Some may recall the unhinged presentation made by Ben Larrabee during a Town Council meeting. Larrabee, who does not live in Fountain Hills, but is one of Toth’s senior coworkers at Turning Point Action, provided a three-minute rant on the topics of “grooming,” “sex trafficking,” and bathroom assaults allegedly committed by transgender school children. Larrabee falsely claimed that he was “cut-off” by the Mayor:
Larrabee has injected himself into town governance, serving as a “consultant” to Skillicorn, Toth and Gerry Friedel regarding the “Ban DEI Resolution”.
TPUSA is poised to continue to meddle in Town governance and use its considerable resources to support the take over of our Town Council.
The Skillicorn/Toth/Earle/Friedel Alliance
Although Friedel is on record as saying he considers Skillicorn to be a “bully” and does not “agree with his character,” it is clear that he will continue to back the bully as long as the bully has ROT’s support.
As to this point it is important to recall that Friedel voted:
- against imposing sanctions on Skillicorn for his clear ethical violations, including the unlawful pursuit of the Town Code Enforcement Officer;
- in favor of Skillicorn’s resolution to instruct the Town Attorney not to defend the litigation arising out of the failed Four Peaks Referendum, which would have resulted in an admission by the Town and the Town Clerk of illegal conduct;
- against the zoning change that would allow the Four Peaks Development to proceed;
- in favor of Skillicorn’s grandstanding motion to reduce the Town’s budget cap by $1; and
- against accepting the $100,000 grant from Maricopa County to develop an EV Charging Station site plan.
Skillicorn, Toth and Earle can be confident that Friedel will do nothing to thwart their ambition to take control of the Town government and continue the culture war.
The Skillicorn/Watts/Corrigan Alliance
Recently, on his X Account, Skillicorn posted a photo of him standing beside a Watts/Corrigan sign that had been paid for by the NICOPAC. Nico Delgadao, the founder of the Political /action Committee, is the posterchild of the far-right in Arizona politics and a Skillicorn ally.
In the post Skillicorn endorsed both Corrigan and Watts touting the signs the NICPAC purchased to support their candidacy. Although Skillicorn deleted his post endorsing Watts and Corrigan, Delgado’s posts were preserved. In one of these posts Degado warned that the election of Watts and Corrigan was necessary to “Save Fountain Hills”.
We now know that both Watts and Corrigan are supported by ROT, Skillicorn and the far-right activist, Nico Delgado. Both fit into Skillicorn’s plan to take control of the Town Council.
HOW CAN WE STOP THE TAKEOVER?
The self-styled Christian warrior, Allen Skillicorn has his sights set on taking over the Fountain Hills Town Council to pursue the extremist war on “wokeness” described in the Mandate for Leadership.
If Skillicorn, Toth and Earle attain a majority on the Town Council we can expect the Project 2025 culture wars to be waged during every meeting of the Town Council. We can expect the presentation and passage of ordinances and resolutions that would: stop any development that would diversify our community; place restrictions on access to public restrooms; ban DEI; disavow any provision of the Strategic Plan aimed at protecting our environment; and allow religious symbols and even the Pine Tree flag to be displayed on Town property. Attention would be diverted from the business of government: budget management, strategic planning, economic development and allocation of resources.
Fountain Hills is not unique. What is happening in Fountain Hills is being replicated in small towns and cities across the country. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/02/21/michigan-christian-nationalists-0008321
We are 60 days out from an election that threatens to take Fountain Hills down a treacherous path. Those of us who believe that: local governments should be nonpartisan; that the culture wars should not be waged during Town Council meetings; and that the separation between church and state should be maintained have work to do.
We need to support Ginny Dickey, Peggy McMahon and Clayton Corey candidates who can be relied on to actively oppose the planned takeover. We need to be vocal and vigilant in voicing our opposition to Friedel, Watts and Corrigan.
Consider supporting the Political Action Committee, Flourish Fountain Hills by joining and liking our Facebook and donating to our effort to stop the takeover. https://www.flourishfh.com
Fountain Hills forward! We can do this!
