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George Templer, one of four "Congressmen" from Iowa in the Republic of the United States, was also a guest on the program. Templer said an assembly of about 50 people in July 2010 elected the four members of Congress in the "de jure" republic. He did not explain how these four men can represent the whole state of Iowa, given that three of them live in Scott County, and the other lives in neighboring Muscatine County. But in an odd way, it does make sense that the state's would-be Congressional delegation selected Shannon as senator. Citizens of this "republic" reject everything the federal government has done since 1871 as illegitimate. The constitutional amendment providing for direct popular election of U.S. senators took effect decades after that point.
UPDATE: During the radio program, Templer lectured Fallon about studying U.S. history. I would advise Templer to read up on the 1842 Apportionment Act. Since President John Tyler signed that act into law, states with multiple representatives in the U.S. House have been required to elect those representatives from single-member districts (as opposed to choosing several people in one statewide at-large election). Accordingly, even in the pre-1871 republic, the state of Iowa could not have legally elected three U.S. House members from Scott County and one from Muscatine County.
SECOND UPDATE: Here's another legitimacy problem for the "Republic of the United States of America." As of 1871, there were only 37 states in the union (not including Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, or Hawaii). But the website of the self-styled Republic appears to recognize all 50 states as part of of the U.S. The "Republic President" James Timothy Turner visited New Mexico and Arizona last month as part of his "State of the Union Tour 2012."
Note: These will be closed private meetings. Only confirmed members of the Republic are invited to attend. Please make sure to bring a copy of your signed paperwork to verify that you are a Republic member. No electronics of any kind will be allowed in the meeting room.
No electronics? Very pre-1871. The "show your papers" idea sounds more like a recent innovation, though.
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