As documented on the Durham County, N.C., website, the position of sheriff originated in England more than 1,000 years ago, known then as a shire-reeve, who was "the steward of the King's estates, guardian of the peace, judge and jury of the Shire County (county court) and was the local agent of the King in military affairs. The King also appointed him as the Chief Police Magistrate."
In the Colonies, the office of sheriff first was established in Virginia in 1634. On Oct. 9, 1662, the General Court of Virginia called Capt. Samuel Stephen "to be a Commander of the Southern Plantation" (which was actually in what later became North Carolina).
Of course, if you mention the term sheriff at the moment, most thoughts go racing to Arizona and Maricopa County's 20-year sheriff, Joe Arpaio, and his plight with the feds and fight against illegal immigration.
Regardless of the fact that there are a plethora of amazing sheriffs across the country doing incredible work subduing lawbreakers and keeping their counties clean of mischief, the mainstream media, or MSM, are working double time with the federal government to make sure that when you think of sheriffs, the picture painted in your mind is one of runaway renegades -- badged outlaws on the loose.
Despite how you feel about Sheriff Joe's personal conduct, government suspicions or the severity of criminal discipline, there is no doubt that the feds' entanglements into his affairs are a massive overreach of local and state laws and jurisdictions. It is pathetic that President Barack Obama, as well as the entire left-wing progressive establishment, is in a multimillion-dollar smear campaign to discredit and take down Sheriff Joe, as the sheriff's own re-election website proclaims, because he has "led the fight in Arizona against illegal immigration."
Rush Limbaugh was right in recently calling out the MSM's bias against Sheriff Joe in that not a single left-wing news source has reported that the sheriff has received repeated online death threats by an avid Obama supporter. But a year ago, when then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot by a madman, the MSM were quick to incriminate any right-wing sources, including polemical innuendoes on former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's and Limbaugh's websites, for contributing to the killing spree on that dark, tragic Arizona day.
My question is this: If there isn't any credence to the left-wing's demonizing and entrapment of Sheriff Joe Arpaio, then why would billionaire progressive George Soros spend millions of dollars on anti-Arpaio campaigns and pledge millions more to defeat the toughest U.S. sheriff's re-election?
Consider just a couple of the orchestrated efforts by the Obama administration and Soros-funded organizations:
--In January 2010, 60 influential black leaders condemned Sheriff Arpaio in an ad sponsored by the Center for Community Change (an organization supported by more than $1.7 million from Soros in 2010 alone).
--In December 2011, the U.S. Department of Justice accused Sheriff Arpaio of civil rights violations, discrimination and racial profiling against Latinos.
--In January 2012, Obama appointed another new czar as the director of his Domestic Policy Council, Cecilia Munoz, who previously served on three heavily funded Soros organizations' boards: his Open Society Institute, the Center for Community Change (mentioned above) and, most recently, the open-border lobbyist group that fights for mass immigration and amnesty for illegal aliens, the National Council of La Raza (an organization supported by at least $362,000 from Soros in 2010 alone).
--In February 2012, Janet Murguia, the National Council of La Raza's president and CEO, officially demanded that "Arpaio step down immediately" and resign as sheriff of Maricopa County.
Do you think those Obama-Soros intertwined connections and workings are coincidental?
The Obama administration and far-left progressive agents like Soros are persecuting Sheriff Arpaio because he won't turn a blind eye to tens of thousands of illegal aliens flooding into America. And their underhanded and intimidating message is being played and replayed by their MSM minions for every other U.S. sheriff and freedom-loving American: (SET ITAL) Don't you (even as law enforcement) dare to stand up against illegal immigration, the Obama administration and the rest of the left-wing establishment, or we will bully and demonize you as discriminatory and racist. (END ITAL)
In the end, with civil rights as their front, the greatest tragedy of the Obama-Soros tag-team is that they not only further extend the tentacles of the federal government and a European style of socialism but also dismantle and strip the power from America's county sheriffs. Like states' 10th Amendment rights, every aspect of local law enforcement is being usurped by the federal government.
Let me offer a reminder from one of our Founding Fathers, Samuel Adams, whose spirit still speaks to every sheriff and freedom-loving American: When it comes to any overreaching power from sea to shining sea, "let us remember that if we suffer tamely a lawless attack upon our liberty, we encourage it."
My wife, Gena, and I are big supporters of sheriffs and all other local law enforcement, as well as other federal and state officials, including highway and border officials and, of course, Texas Rangers. I wear my honorary Texas Ranger badge and title proudly! And Gena actually served as a correctional corporal and reserve deputy sheriff in California before we were married. Her list of duties and responsibilities was extensive, and she wore her badge with great honor.
We consider Sheriff Don Sowell in our own county to be among the best in the Lone Star State. He is a personal friend to us and a formidable foe to riffraff in our county, as are most sheriffs across our great country.
Ride on, American sheriffs! Ride on!
Remember that if our vote isn't fair, we aren't truly free. To ensure there are fair and legal elections, check out True the Vote's website, http://www.truethevote.org, as well as the group's seminar in Houston on April 27-28.
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