Recently, in the lockdown dystopia of Chicago, Illinois, “Pastor Courtney Lewis of Cornerstone Baptist Church told Todd Starnes on his eponymous radio show that he was in the middle of church services when someone began to bang loudly on the front doors. Outside, he said, were three police cars, two unmarked cars, and a representative from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office. Lewis told Starnes it was ‘like the Soviet-style KGB.’”
I spent 34 years in the United States Air Force, part of that time during the Cold War to make sure the United States never had a “Soviet-style KGB.” Upon entering the Air Force, and for the six promotions I received during those 34 years, I was required to take an oath, and the most important part of that oath is “to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, against all enemies foreign and domestic.”
Those 34 years of service – and literally billions of years of military service by millions of Americans from the Revolutionary War onward – had one and only one purpose: the protection of US civil liberties and of our prosperity from our enemies.
Other than the early death of a close family member, I have experienced nothing more painful in my life than to see some of my fellow Americans destroy, in a matter of 60 days, the civil rights and prosperity that millions have served to preserve, and died to preserve.
Internal to the US, law enforcement agencies are authorized the use of force to protect citizens, when appropriate, from theft of their property (their prosperity) and violation of their civil rights. We might think that law enforcement agencies take an oath to “obey the politicians” like governors, mayors, county administrators, even sheriffs (who are elected officials in most cases).
But, not surprisingly, law enforcement agents also take an oath to support and defend the US Constitution, first and foremost. As an example, here is the oath of office for Riverside County, CA, sheriff deputies:
I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of California; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties upon which I am about to enter.
I picked the Riverside Sheriff’s office because that Sheriff is one of a handful of law enforcement officers who are actually taking their oaths seriously. Below is an excerpt from an interview with the Riverside County sheriff:
“’You just can’t arrest somebody for going out and exercising in public or not wearing a mask,’ he said in an interview with Fox News. Bianco said he thinks the government should not be permitted to close individual businesses, saying that every job is essential to somebody, according to the interview. ‘They want me to make criminals out of law-abiding citizens that are, you know, trying to support a family,’ Bianco said. ‘It doesn’t make sense anymore. At the same time, they are trying to force me to release real criminals from jail,’ he said, as the state recently released seven sex offenders in Orange County due to concerns that they might test positive for COVID-19.”
It’s just that simple. To end the lockdowns, law enforcement officers should publicly state that they refuse to enforce edicts from executive branch politicians and bureaucrats that violate people’s constitutional rights.
As Judge Napolitano wrote on May 28, 2020:
“The police have taken the same oaths to uphold the same Bill of Rights – it’s not the Bill of Safety; it’s the Bill of Rights – as have all other officeholders. The police also know that it is unlawful for them to obey an unlawful order, particularly when they use force. The lockdown orders are all unlawful because none of them – none – has been enacted by a legislature, and all of them – all – interfere with fundamental liberties, each of which is guaranteed – guaranteed – by the Constitution.”
If you encounter law enforcement officers, thank them for their service. Then, ask them to be sure that they are upholding their oath to support and defend the Constitution, first and foremost, above any edict from a politician. Finally, go support one of those constitutional heroes who opened their businesses despite edicts from benevolent dictators. They are truly great Americans.
