I love playing golf and spending time outdoors, so what a better way to defeat this virus than being outdoors on a beautiful day.
This is my definition of “The American Way”. The freedom to do as I please without some bureaucrat, sitting on a fancy leather chair, telling me how to live my life. Here I am, playing my first round of golf of the season and enjoying every second of it. Luckily for me, my local government had enough common sense to understand golf is an outside sport that can be played individually and with minimal close contact, if any.
Thank God, I don’t have to be stuck at home watching television with its commercials trying to convince me every second of “new normals”. I also don’t need to watch news briefings telling me something I already know. Living with good old common sense goes a long way.
I know many people will not agree with me, and that’s fine, but this is my America and I’m going to live it and enjoy it as an American!
For 25 years I carried a badge and swore to uphold the law. The actions that I am seeing today by local and state law enforcement officers are causing me to question many things.
I had the honor and privilege of taking the Oath of Office three times. First when I joined the Army, second time with the Bureau of Prisons, and lastly on March 11, 2002 at 8:46 A.M. when I was sworn in as a Federal Air Marshal. At 8:46, the same time the AA Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Talk about compelling and powerful; this was probably the most emotional moment in my law enforcement career.
I was always proud to raise my right hand and repeat those words:
“I, Hector Fernandez, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will, well and faithfully, discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”
Perhaps the one sentence that has always been important to me is “I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic”.
During this national crisis, this line has never been so clear and at the same time so blurry. I have observed how state and local police departments are forced to execute the draconian edicts enacted by politicians. Things like “Stay at Home” orders under the threat of fines or imprisonment. As I have written before, to me these actions are unconstitutional and in violation of several articles of the United States Constitution.
While legislatures sign away the rights of law abiding citizens, it is up to the state, city, or county law enforcement officers, to enforce them. The more I think about it, the more I am conflicted. The government is turning law abiding citizens into criminals, but why?
All these people want to do is have some sense of normalcy in their life, a life that has been suddenly interrupted by a virus and the government response to it.
How is it arresting a father for playing T Ball with his child, away from everyone and following the “guidelines”, accomplish anything? Meanwhile state governors are releasing hardened inmates to our neighborhoods using the Coronavirus as a pretext. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
As a retired law enforcement officer I understand the position in which these officers are in, but at the same time I am faced with a moral dilemma. I am sure most of these people know these police officers and vice versa, especially in small town Sheriffs and Police Departments.
These people are not common criminals, they are your bankers, car salesman, restaurant operators, waiters and waitresses, teachers, in most cases everyday law abiding citizens. These people love their communities and their country, and to be put in a form of “involuntary” house arrest without a trial, out of work, and without any type of due process, it is a crime against the principles this country was founded upon.
Human beings are not built to be naturally separated from each other or to live in isolation. People want to be able to be free to walk, catch some fresh air, spend time with their families, earn a living, and feel like a worthy human being. American citizens have been put in this position, not by their own actions, but by those of government.
Americans are smart and resilient people, they understand what needs to be done, but government insists on treating them as little kids. Eventually people will reach a breaking point, and you see it already by the many anti “Lockdown” rallies across America.
People are going out to streets to defy these government and their unconstitutional edicts. What are you seeing in places like California, New York, and Michigan, are things you expect to see in the streets of Caracas, not in Los Angeles or Detroit. Government overreach and disregard for people’s rights were among the main reasons for the American Revolution.
Most Americans are well aware of their constitutional rights, and yes, they’ll play along with the government, but when you make a human being feel worthless, even the most law abiding citizen is going to rebel and strike back.
These citizens have protested those edicts respectfully and without violence towards law enforcement. They have exercised their God given rights and those afforded to them by the Constitution.
This brings me back to the function of law enforcement during this constitutional crisis. Like I said before, I get it, I understand why these officers have to do what they are doing, but are they morally right? I guess that’s a debate to be held between themselves and their conscious.
As a law enforcement officer you are to defend the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Is arresting someone for exercising their freedom of speech, their freedom to assemble, or their freedom of religion, defending the Constitution? I say is not.
These are the same citizens who serve you food, prepare your taxes, repair your vehicle, clean your town streets, and drive your taxis. Next time you decide to arrest that single mother in the park, who’s following the guidelines and just wants to spend time with her child, remember that may be the same mother who’s going to render you assistance when you may need it the most.
Think about all these things the next time you want to issue a citation to a person who lost their job to not fault of their own or a parent who wants to be just that, a parent.
So, I want to ask my fellow law enforcement officers to exercise common sense during these trying times. Remember citizens are already emotionally stretched, be of help, not another burden. The people in your state, city, and towns will thank you for it.
Today I’m featuring a hat from the Gannon Hat Company out of Oregon. The company is owned by Michael Gannon, in my opinion, one of the best young American hatters today.
I found Michael’s company while searching on the internet and since then I have become a loyal customer. To me, a custom hat is like finding the right barber, once you find it, it becomes part of you.
Michael work is amazing, detailed and beautiful. From the initial email to delivery, Michael ensures you are treated the way a customer should be. He involves you in the process and walks you through the whole build.
Today I’m wearing a nice 100x Beaver Navy hat with a bound brim and a Blue Steel ribbon. The hat is beautiful and it fits like a glove. The felt is very nice and the sweatband is of very nice quality with attention to detail.
I’ll be featuring some more hats from the Gannon Hat Company. For more information visit Michael’s site below. You won’t regret it.
The Constitution is worth saving and the people should defend it at all cost!
I remember 2009 and the H1N1 (Swine Flu) epidemic. How can I forget? I was working missions as a Federal Air Marshal, inside a confined space and exposing myself to thousands of people.
I never got sick, the country was never placed on lockdown, businesses were not bankrupted by the government, and the country didn’t spend over 10 trillion dollars (by the time this is over) of money we don’t have. But most importantly, Americans were not forced to abdicate their Constitutional Rights.
On April 15, 2009, the first case of H1N1 was reported in the state of California. By June 25, 2009, the Center for Disease Control announced an estimate of 1 million cases of H1N1had occurred in the United States. It wasn’t until August 11, 2010, when the World Health Organization declared the H1N1 pandemic as over.
These are the numbers from the CDC when everything was said and done.
From April 12, 2009 to April 10, 2010, CDC estimated there were 60.8 million cases (range: 43.3-89.3 million), 274,304 hospitalizations (range: 195,086-402,719), and 12,469 deaths (range: 8868-18,306) in the United States due to the (H1N1) pdm09 virus.
When one puts everything into perspective, the H1N1 was a pretty serious pandemic. President Barack Obama waited six months to declare it a National Emergency and by then over 1,000 Americans had already died of the virus. Maybe not the best response expected from the government; nevertheless, the country continued to operate at a pretty normal pace.
Many people would think that President Obama and many Democratic Party governors would have taken this opportunity to assumed central control of American’s everyday life, but it didn’t happen. Life went on!
Fast forward to 2020:
From the CDC:
“In December 2019, an outbreak of a novel Coronavirus infection (COVID-19) occurred in Wuhan, China (1). Although China launched an emergency response early in the outbreak, the infection rapidly spread to metropolitan areas in China and around the world. The growing number of cases suggests that the epidemic has continued to spread. Several research articles have reported the epidemiologic characteristics of the outbreak in Wuhan and Hubei Province (1–4); however, to our knowledge, an analysis of the epidemic in metropolis areas around Wuhan has not yet been reported. To predict the epidemic trend and guide control measures, especially in similar metropolitan areas, outbreak investigations are needed.
Shenzhen, a modern and international metropolitan city, is located in southern China (Appendix Figure 1) and has a population of 13 million persons, among which >1 million are from Hubei Province and >70,000 from Wuhan. After the first cluster of COVID-19 cases was confirmed in Shenzhen in early January 2020 (5), other cases spread within the city, involving all districts. To summarize the epidemiologic characteristics and provide updated information to aid in the development of control measures, we analyzed data for the first 365 laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Shenzhen”.
By January of 2020, the CDC and the United States government were well aware of the outbreak in Wuhan, China. On January 31, 2020, the Trump Administration immediately enacted major travel restrictions from China into the United Sates and issued a Quarantine order, the first one in over 50 years.
Some will argue it wasn’t fast enough, but I do believe these early actions by the administration were spot on. At the end they may prove to have saved lives. But at what price?
Sometimes the cure can be more deadly than the disease, and in this case I believe our Constitutional Rights have been violated in the name of safety. I am all for American’s well being, but giving the facts I have outline in the paragraphs above, this, in my opinion, has been a government manufactured crisis of unprecedented proportions.
This is my list of alleged Constitutional Rights violations and my reasoning behind them. Let me be clear, my argument is based on the lack of “Due Process” and moral grounds.
Article [I] (Amendment 1 – Freedom of expression and religion)13
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
If I am ordered by the government not to attend religious services, that’s a clear violation of my freedom to freely exercise my speech, my right to peacefully assemble and my right to exercise my religion as I wish.
Article [IV] (Amendment 4 – Search and Seizure)
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
How can I feel safe and secured in my own house when government has by defacto placed me under house arrest by ordering me to stay at home? This has been done without probable cause or a valid warrant. A “Stay at Home” order without due process is nothing more than home confinement and an unlawful seizure.
Article [V] (Amendment 5 – Rights of Persons)
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
When I’m ordered to stay at home or otherwise I will face a fine or placed under arrest, that’s a clear deprivation of my right to life and liberty.
When government orders a private business to close their doors without proper compensation is, in a sense, taking illegal ownership of such business. By doing so, the government is depriving those owners of their private property.
Article [IX] (Amendment 9 – Unenumerated Rights)
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
“The enumerated powers in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”.
“Our privacy must be respected, unless forbidden by state law. Some rights are not in the Constitution, but are still protected. Equally, certain rights are in the Constitution and they should be protected”.
This is simple; the rights of the American people should be protected at all cost. When the government violates even one Article, the government, be Federal or State, are in violation of the principles enumerated in Article IX.
Article XIV (Amendment 14 – Rights Guaranteed: Privileges and Immunities of Citizenship, Due Process, and Equal Protection)
1: All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The government can’t deprive American citizens of life, liberty, or property without due process, period.
Governments, be at the Federal or State level, imposing unconstitutional “lockdowns” and involuntarily closing businesses without proper compensation, such acts seem, to me, a violation of the Constitution. By not been afforded the right to due process and equal protection under the law, citizens rights are not been equally protected under Article XIV.
I understand during a national emergency the government has constitutional flexibility as indicated by the Supreme Court of the United States. My argument in addition to be a constitutional argument; it is a moral argument. Just because the government can do it, does it make it right?
In 2002, John W. Dean, former counsel to the President, wrote an interesting article titled; Presidential Powers in Times of Emergency: Could Terrorism Result in a Constitutional Dictatorship.
His position was based on the presidential actions after the terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the military, but I think it can be used to analyze the actions today related to the COVID-19 pandemic and the reaction by federal and state governments.
Could the actions taken by many state governments across the country be construed as Constitutional Dictatorship? You can arrive at your own conclusions.
Throughout history, it has been a historical fact when government’s takes away citizen’s rights, even for a moment, they rarely give them back to the people.
What’s going to happen once the pandemic is over?
Are we going to back to “normal”? What’s normal? What normal will look like?
Is the government going to allow private businesses to go back to business as usual? Are they going to demand a piece of the private pie?
Is the government going to nationalize the airlines and the auto industries?
Will Americans be, once again, allowed to associate freely; will they be free to exercise their religious beliefs?
Are we going to have free elections come November 3, 2020, or are we going to be sent on a constitutional crisis rollercoaster?
