As one of two candidates for Ada County sheriff, I met with the Idaho Statesman editorial board. Confident they would endorse the incumbent Republican, I had nothing to lose, so I determined that regardless of their questions, I would introduce the topics and reasons I am running for sheriff.
They seemed surprised and unaware of the recent flood of executive orders and bills signed by the president that remove our rights to trials, to have a sworn affidavit accusing us of a crime, to a lawyer, to our lives, and to our properties. It’s not just the Obama administration, as Mitt Romney has publicly supported these unconstitutional acts, too. Both presidential candidates claim that without notice or recourse, Americans can be taken away to prison anywhere in the world, killed and/or have their property taken without trial, without notice and without even having to tell someone the government has “disappeared” you.
The editorial board was also quite interested, but apparently unimpressed that the county sheriff is the top law enforcement officer directly elected by the people, swearing an oath to the Constitution and reporting directly to the people. No elected or appointed official can tell the sheriff what to do. The Statesman editors were surprised to find that there are 200 Constitutional Sheriffs in the U.S. today, making the Constitution the highest law in the land in 200 counties, including a few in Idaho (supporting information at TedDunlap.net).
This is the most significant race for liberty in Ada County on the ballot Nov. 6. But they voted to endorse our current trajectory. They are impressed with the incumbent’s acquiescence and merging of what should be an independent sheriff's office into a federal police superagency under the Department of Homeland Security, instead of defending us against it.
In 200 U.S. counties, sheriffs, deputies and posses are, with the force of law on their side, telling federal agencies, “No, you cannot overstep the Constitution to violate people’s rights in this county.” But not in Ada County, not now. But the Statesman editors are satisfied with the direction and leadership of the incumbent.
It does not matter how good the bus driver is if the bus is going the wrong way down the wrong road. It is time to replace him with an experienced business manager who knows what the role of the sheriff must be, and has the courage and conviction to take us there.
Ted Dunlap for Ada County sheriff.
Ted Dunlap, a Kuna Libertarian, is a candidate for Ada County sheriff.
