General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums'Take Back the States': The Far-Right Sheriffs Ready to Disrupt the Election
https://www.wired.com/story/constitutional-sheriffs-disrupt-election/No paywall link
https://archive.li/djLqh
DAR LEAF AND Richard Mack dont seem like they would pose a threat to US democracy.
Leaf, a sheriff from Barry County, Michigan, always has at least two pens clipped neatly to his shirt pocket and speaks softly with a Midwestern accent. When we meet at an April event in Las Vegas, Nevada, Leaf is immaculately dressed in a sheriffs uniform, replete with the polished gold star.
Mack also wears a gold stareven though hes no longer a sheriff. But in the Ahern Hotel ballroom in Vegas, Mack played the part. In a ten-gallon hat, Mack was genial; shaking hands with guests, joking with vendors, and taking selfies with supporters.
This wasnt an average get-together. Leaf and Mack were at a conference for the far-right Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, or CSPOA, a group described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as an anti-government organization with links to many other extremist groups. Constitutional sheriffs are actual elected sheriffs who also believe they are the ultimate legal power in their county, and that no federal or state authority can usurp their authority. They also believe that a sheriffs power stems directly from the constitution, and that they can disregard any laws they deem unconstitutionala belief that is not grounded in reality.
Leaf is on the board of the group; Mack is the founder. And there are hundreds of members around the country.
*snip*
MineralMan
(147,271 posts)They are full of crap!
haele
(13,351 posts)I have no Idea how they came to the conclusion that the enforcement arm of government is greater than the lawmakers who make the laws and the judges who rule on the validity of legal arguments.
Tyrants are discussed in both the Declaration of Independence and the Federalist Papers, along with personal writings of "the Founders". And these "Constitutional Sheriffs" are setting themselves up as petty tribal based Tyrants; as the Legislator, Judge, Jury, and Executioner for any local laws they want make up or enforce.
That they get elected because they've convinced enough of their local buddies to vote for them as they have no remorse and are quite willing to pull the trigger on anyone that doesn't conform to the "authority" of the local status quo is a sad statement to the total disregard for the Constitution they purport to support. They're nothing more than Local Mob muscle.
Haele
Qutzupalotl
(14,997 posts)I am confident Harris will trounce the popular vote. But there are hundreds of these yahoos who typically get custody of ballots. It would only take one or two, if unchallenged, to screw up a locality and call into question the results of a state. I hope we are watching them closely, shadowing them, and can get an injunction quickly if needed.
Think. Again.
(16,891 posts)Bev54
(11,785 posts)Solly Mack
(92,252 posts)Domestic terrorists.
Initech
(101,482 posts)They can cosplay all they want, doesn't make it real.
NameAlreadyTaken
(1,396 posts)The irony and hypocrisy is astounding. If they are so anti-government, why are they accepting their government paychecks?