Massachusetts Pandemic Bill s.2028

Original Bill: http://www.mass.gov/legis/bills/senate/186/st02pdf/st02028.pdf

Now, this is possibly the most controversial bill to have come through the state legislature since the gay marriage movement. Chief among the issues is the following:

"During either type of declared emergency, a local public health authority as defined in section 1
of chapter 111 may exercise authority relative to subparagraphs (1), (2), (3), (4), (6), (7), (13),(14), and (15); and with the approval of the Commissioner may exercise authority relative to subparagraphs (5), (8), (9), (10), and (11): (1) to require the owner or occupier of premises to
permit entry into and investigation of the premises..."

By law (specifically, the fourth Amendment to the Constitution), law enforcement may not enter your private domain without your consent, or unless they have a warrant, signed by a judge. This is to guard against unlawful search and seizure, and is based off of the American colonists' protesting the Writs of Assistance. At the time, the Writs of Assistance were a way for customs officials to enter any property they wanted and "search" for smuggled items. Smuggling at the time was prevalent in colonial Boston, among other places.

Kind of ironic that the state that had the most vocal opposition to unlawful search and seizure in colonial America would be pioneering a way to violate your fourth Amendment rights, eh?

"(6) to control ingress to and egress from any stricken or threatened public area, and the movement of persons and materials within the area..."

Essentially, blockading an area. Now, I can understand for quarantine reasons doing such a thing. You want to contain the infection or cause for the pandemic. However, anyone who remembers Hurricane Katrina and how FEMA responded knows that the Superdome essentially became a giant concentration camp, and I hate to use that phrase but that's exactly what it became. People were turned back at checkpoints established along the freeways, preventing them from entering New Orleans. People were promised food, water, medicine, and shelter if they went to the Superdome.

There have been legitimate claims by people outside of FEMA that the organization purposely prevented the transfer of bottled water to the Superdome, as well as fuel from the Coast Guard. Keep in mind, this was during a non-medically-declared State of Emergency.

Assuming that the first quoted section does not convey to you the possible Constitutional issues here, let me explain. In a State of Emergency, you are theoretically required to act quickly. As such, the Commissioner (they are talking about public health, not the police) may order law enforcement personnel into any home at any time. You are not talking about this being handled on a case-by-case basis, but rather the commissioner will authorize a blanket search of any premesis the officer feels like entering. And if Hurricane Katrina's aftarmath and response is any indication, law enforcement will be ordered to confiscate any and all firearms in the area, thus violating your second Amendment rights.

This is a huge miscarriage of justice, should it pass. It also sets a very dangerous precedent. Massachusetts is a liberal state, and has been for decades. If this bill passes the state legislature, it will undoubtedly be signed off by the governor. This sets a legal precedent for any other state (or the federal government, for that matter) to draft their own piece of legislature similar to this. Is that what we want?

I will be contacting my own state representative to see where they stand on this (notice the non-gender-denominating word used...truth be told, I don't know who my rep is. I've been out of the State for far too long), and urge that they fight against this bill. I implore any and all citizens of the Commonwealth to do the same.

Semper fidelis, Always faithful.

History and Intent

Let me start off by saying that I view myself as a conservative. I, however, do not find myself sitting on one side of the aisle in terms of political party. I follow my beliefs and convictions and vote accordingly. Sadly, I tend to find myself voting more Republican then anything else, so if you want to view me as that, go right ahead. But you're wrong.

My name is Patrick Fahey. I'm not going to hide my name on this blog, because what I will write will be a no-spin zone (no, I'm not Bill O'Reilly). I will bring to you the truth and nothing else, so help me God. Know the truth, and the truth shall set you free. More-so, I'm currently attending college as a criminal justice major, and such things as what I will use this blog for will be a staple, I fear, in my career should I continue down this path.

I enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in September of 2005. I just recently got out of the Marines after four years of honourable service (I'm not saying I was an exemplary Marine, but I served with faith and dedication). I was fresh out of high school, looking for a way to get by in life. My mother and many in my family pushed for the navy and Air Force. I didn't have the temperament, they said, to be a Marine.

They were right. But I stuck through it.

I raised my right hand on 26 September, 2005 at the Boston, MA MEPS station. I swore the following:

I, Patrick M. Fahey, 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; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

At the time, I didn't fully understand the implications of such an oath. To me, it was nothing more then my way of getting the hell out of my parents house, and being a man. To be honest, I can't say I fully understand everything I swore to do, but I know what I promised:

I promised that no matter what, no matter the cost, I would do what I had to in order to protect the freedoms guaranteed to the American public as set forth in the Constitution. I'm a Marine, I'm an American.

Admiral Chester Nimitz once said, upon seeing the flag raised upon Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima about the Marines and sailors who fought on Iwo Jima, "Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." They stormed those beaches and fought hand-to-hand against a suicidal enemy, knowing full well they stood a good chance that they would die. And the reason they did such a thing was simply the love they shared in the ideals that this country embodies.

Well, that and they may have wanted some payback for Pearl Harbor. I digress.

The truth is that today, just like in the mid-1900s, our military is fighting a war. It is a war of endurance, much as World War I, World War II, and the Vietnam conflict were. This is not something that we can win in a day, a week, a month, or even a year. We've been fighting this war on terrorism almost eight years now. And what are we fighting for?

We are fighting to preserve what little liberty this country has. We are fighting to maintain a nation that adheres to the belief that "all men are created equal" and are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights". Does anyone remember where those two quotes come from? Thomas Jefferson wrote them in the Declaration of Independence, the document that explained and laid out the reasoning behind the colonists' fighting for their sovereignty. We are losing those rights.

Every president from Franklin Delano Roosevelt on to Barack Obama has, in some way, shape or form, infringed upon the rights set up in the Declaration and the Constitution. I won't go into those infringements just yet. That is for another time, and another post.

My fellow Americans, and I speak to you fellow Oath Keepers: we are at a time where we are being faced with the prospect of losing our freedoms, where the Constitution is being used and abused and not in the way it was intended. What will you do, if and when the time comes that you must defend it? I leave that to you to decide, for I can not have any say in it, only to offer some guidance. But I know what I will do.

I will keep my oath of enlistment and stay true to those words.

I urge all current-serving military, veterans, reservists, National Guardsmen, police officers, sheriffs, and politicians who may stumble across this blog to remember your own oath. Also, please happen by http://www.oathkeepers.org/. I will do my best in what limited capacity I can to bring news not commonly covered by the mainstream media, and offer my own insight.

Until I write again, fair seas and following winds.

Semper fidelis, Always faithful.