It it Time to Retake our Rights

This is an address to the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union.

My name is Jeffrey Porterfield. I am a citizen of the City of Hanford, in the County of Kings, in the State of California, and a citizen of the United States of America.

A crime is being committed in this State, indeed across this entire Nation. A violation of the highest order. Our Rights are being violated. Rights that have been Guaranteed by the Supreme Law Of The Land, The Constitution of the United States of America.

What are these rights? The first ten amendments to our Constitution, which are known as the Bill Of Rights, enumerate many of them, but lets start with the first one as it is the most important one. It states:

“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.”

Our churches have been locked down, or heavily restricted. Our speech has been censored on social media and by gangs of thugs. We are unable to speak our minds freely out of fear of being fired from our jobs. Our news agencies and newspapers have been compromised, permitted only to propagate misinformation, and lies. Our right to assemble peaceably has been taken away from us, forcing us to have to use this Zoom interface. We dare not meet openly, for fear of being arrested for crimes that are not actually crimes.

Our small businesses have been shut down, and are dying. Our restaurants are restricted to carry out or outdoor seating. Employees are forced into unemployment, accepting the meager hand outs from the government which are neither timely nor sufficient to live on, forcing them to stand in food lines like common beggars.

And WE THE PEOPLE have allowed this. Why? Because we have been told by the propagandists that we must allow these things in order to stop the Covid virus. But let me ask you. We are told to wear a mask, to maintain social distancing, to limit size of family gatherings, to close our businesses and restaurants, to close our churches and schools? Have any of these measures been effective in stopping the spread; NO! NONE of them have been effective. Has the cost in lost businesses or in needless unemployment been worth it?

Who is it that has committed this transgression against us? Our own elected officials, beginning with the Governor of the State of California. By what Authority does he issue these edicts, these mandates, which are clearly unconstitutional? He has none. Our State Assembly, as well as the federal Congress, have the sole authority to enact legislation. They could have stopped this violation of our rights, yet they did nothing, complicit in their inaction. Our county superintendents and our city councils have been equally complicit in enforcing these unconstitutional mandates.

The Preamble to the Constitution states:

“WE THE PEOPLE of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

WE The People are the source of all authority in this land. Those who are elected to serve in public office do so at the pleasure of We The People. When they are inaugurated into their respective offices, they are all sworn to “Preserve, Protect, and Defend the Constitution of the United States.”

They have All violated their oath. And WE THE PEOPLE have allowed this to go on for far too long.

It is time we took Our Country back.