Sheriff candidate voices opinion
To the editor:
The Lee County Sheriff is not a lawmaker – he is a law enforcer. I believe what the Sheriff has forgotten is that the Constitution of the United States and its Amendments provide certain rights to all people, regardless of who they are, of what religion or political affiliation he or she belongs to. We teach our children of the Bill of Rights in grade school – something Sheriff Scott is perhaps unfamiliar with. Perhaps he simply chooses to ignore our rights.
This is what happens when a Sheriff becomes too political. Whether it is invoking media sensationalism by using the President’s middle name at a rally (and being the subject of a Hatch Act violation for wearing his uniform), calling the Assistant County Manager a liar, or toying with our Constitutional Rights, this Sheriff has overstepped his place in politics.
Regardless of where we stand on an issue, the Constitution and its Amendments provide the foundation for the American way of life – regardless of party affiliation, race, gender and so forth.
The First Amendment of the United States Constitution provides for the commonly known “Free Speech” Amendment. Under it, all persons are afforded the right to peaceful assembly. All persons are afforded the right of free speech and free press. These provisions of the Constitution are not to be taken lightly.
Unlike the current Sheriff, I served in the U.S. Military. I am a United States Marine. I, like so many others in our great nation, was willing to risk life and limb to protect the United States. In fact, when I entered service as a Marine, and later served as a Lee County Deputy Sheriff (up to the rank of lieutenant). I remember taking an oath to protect the Constitution from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
So, when we have a government leader like the current Sheriff threatening our Constitutional Rights, I take exception. Whether any of us agree with the Occupy Fort Myers movement or not, the simple fact is their activities are Constitutionally guaranteed. The Occupy movement is a Constitutional expression of the freedoms that we Americans have. This freedom of expression is the very reason for the Mall in Washington, D.C. – so people could gather and be heard. The Courts are upholding the Occupy movements, just as the Sheriff pointed out. But to have the current Lee County Sheriff, Mike Scott, make a mockery of the Constitution and its Amendments by threatening to impinge on the rights of these protesters, and to make fun of federal judges defending and preserving the rights of the Constitution is offensive and repulsive. In fact, to threaten the very document that so many Americans have died to protect is a slap in the face of every veteran who ever served. We as Americans should be outraged.
I am not condoning any illegal activity. I am not suggesting that gatherings, which are riotous or disruptive of daily operations, should be tolerated. But I am advocating the right to assemble and express beliefs – much as we have seen with recent Tea Party movements across the country, Dr. Martin Luther King’s 1963 “Occupy” of Washington D.C., and the 2006 Hispanic March in Fort Myers.
The rights of peaceful assembly, free speech and press are the First Amendment. We should guard the Constitution and its Amendments jealously. I know I do. To do any less is shameful and disrespects the very ideology of any American citizen.
God bless America.
Lee Bushong
Republican for Lee County Sheriff
Lehigh Acres