Long Live The Constitutionalist Sheriff!
By Chuck Baldwin
August 10, 2010
This column is archived at
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?p=2022One of the tragedies of the current misled, uninformed, and otherwise
preoccupied American citizenry is the seeming apathy regarding the
importance and necessity of electing constitutionalist sheriffs. In many
ways, State governors and county sheriffs just might be the most important
elected offices in America. It is no hyperbole to say that State governors
and county sheriffs form the last line of defense against tyranny and
oppression. If our governors and sheriffs do not understand the principles
of freedom and federalism, there is virtually zero protection against the
abuses of liberty--save the right of the people to personally and
individually defend liberty via the principles of God-given Natural Law.
Hence, a freedom-minded sheriff is invaluable to liberty's defense. And
perhaps at no time in America's history has it been more necessary that we
elect freedom-loving sheriffs than it is today, what with the ever-growing
propensity of the federal government to trample and usurp State and
constitutional protections of freedom.
For example, in an almost totally non-reported incident, an armed conflict
between federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) agents and a Nevada
Sheriff's SWAT team was averted only by virtue of the fact that, at the last
minute, BLM backed down from the impending confrontation.
For the record: federal police agencies have a long history of committing
illegal searches and seizures (even assault and murder--can anyone say,
"Ruby Ridge" or "Waco"?) against the US citizenry. But BLM might be the most
notorious federal police agency of all. The tactics BLM employs against
western landowners sometimes border on Nazi-like. When the late, great Helen
Chenoweth was an Idaho congresswoman, she tried to raise awareness of (and
opposition to) this out-of-control federal agency. I urge readers to read
Rep. Chenoweth's interview with Michael Reagan about this subject. See it
at:
http://www.chuckbaldwinlive.com/blm.htmlAccording to Rep. Chenoweth, "BLM is taking onto themselves law enforcement
that is normally saved for the State, law enforcement over motor vehicles.
They've written into the regulation without authority from Congress, the
ability to stop vehicles or to search people, to search a place or a vehicle
without warrant or process; to be able to seize without warrant or process
any piece of evidence and to test people for potential DUI (driving under
the influence)."
Chenoweth continued: "Our founders, when establishing our system of
government wanted to make sure that law enforcement was closest to the
people. You and I have talked before about how important it is to make sure
that you elect the very best local county sheriff because he should be
regarded as the highest law enforcement officer in the area because he is
accountable to the voters. They really worried about a national, a federal,
law enforcement. To federalize our law enforcement is to create a situation
that the pilgrims were trying to escape.
"We are moving quickly to that. The Bureau of Land Management is taking onto
themselves law enforcement authority that Congress never gave them. In the
Federal Land Policy and Management Act that was passed in the early 1970s it
made it clear that Congress said that, first, you must go to your local
county sheriff for law enforcement activities."
Chenoweth added, "In the BLM proposed rules and regulations, you can't
remove any plants or soil or pick up any rocks or minerals. You can't drive
on any vegetation or soil. You can't disturb soil at all. Now you can't set
a foot on soil without disturbing it. You can't set a foot on a ground plant
without disturbing it."
For the sheriff in Nye County, Nevada, BLM abridgments of liberty had gone
too far. When BLM threatened to arrest the sheriff if he refused to go along
with BLM's illegal searches and seizures against Nye County citizens,
Sheriff Tony DeMeo countered by telling BLM in no uncertain terms that
should any agent attempt to enforce BLM's unconstitutional policies, he
would have his deputies arrest them. DeMeo even had his SWAT teams standing
by to enforce the law AGAINST THE OUT-OF-CONTROL FEDERAL AGENCY. To put it
in Sheriff DeMeo's words, "We'd be standing between them [BLM] and my
constituents [county residents]." At the last minute, BLM backed off and the
confrontation between the Nye County sheriff's office and the federal agency
was averted.
See Sheriff DeMeo's testimony on the incident at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoYtnoFn09YNow, Sheriff Tony DeMeo is exactly the kind of sheriff the Constitution
requires! Unfortunately, it seems that the vast majority of sheriffs across
the country have no idea as to what their constitutional authority entails,
and seem to have no discernment and understanding of just what the federal
government is doing to usurp State and local jurisdiction. Or if they do,
they seem to lack the courage to act upon their power and authority. Or
maybe they simply lust after federal monies (better known as bribes).
Of course, there are a few sheriffs across America who seem to be aware of
what's going on and have the guts to do something about it. A precious few.
Along with Sheriff Tony DeMeo, there is Sheriff Joe Arpaio in Maricopa
County, Arizona, Sheriff Shane Harrington of Wibaux County, Montana, Sheriff
Paul Babeu of Pinal County, Arizona, and, of course, there are former
Sheriffs Ray Nash of Dorchester County, South Carolina, Richard Mack of
Graham County, Arizona, and Jay Printz of Ravalli County, Montana. Plus, if
the good people of Larimer County, Colorado, will elect Carl Bruning as
their sheriff, there will be another principled constitutionalist sheriff to
add to the list of patriot sheriffs. To visit Carl's campaign web site, go
here:
http://carlbruning.com/Readers should know, too, that Sheriff Mack has a plethora of outstanding
books and videos relating to the role and duty of a constitutional sheriff
on his web site. I highly recommend that you avail yourself to as much of
Mack's materials as you can. Here is his web site:
http://sheriffmack.com/If liberty has any chance of surviving in the United States, it will be
because the American people wake up to the importance and necessity of
electing constitutionalist governors and sheriffs. Sheriffs, especially, are
critical to the maintenance of liberty. It is a truism that, next to the
people themselves, the sheriff's office helps form the last line of defense
against federal abuse of power. Long live the constitutionalist Sheriff!
P.S. We are trying to keep up with those requesting to be added to our new
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requests. Please be patient. We are adding them as fast as we can. My small
staff is quite overloaded, but hopes to be caught up by the end of the week.
To see the new PATRIOT BUSINESSES web page, go to:
http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?page_id=1921*If you appreciate this column and want to help me distribute these
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http://chuckbaldwinlive.com/home/?page_id=19(c) Chuck Baldwin
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Chuck Baldwin is a syndicated columnist, radio broadcaster, author, and
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was founded. He was the 2008 Presidential candidate for the Constitution
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