The Tonasket (WA) Resolution: the Patriot Act is Wrong

[DaveB]

At least some people believe that Ashcroft is a wanker (other than me, that is).

The Tonasket (WA) Resolution

Section 1. The City of Tonasket supports all lawful and Constitutional efforts to prevent and investigate terrorist or other criminal acts and prosecute their perpetrators.

Section 2. The City of Tonasket believes that sufficient Constitutionally acceptable tools existed, prior to the passage of the "USA Patriot Act" or other such restrictive acts, for Law enforcement to accomplish their intended lawful purpose.

Section 3. The City of Tonasket believes that any act, enactment, law, or legislation, etc., which dilutes, weakens, or denies the State and / or Federal Constitutionally guaranteed Rights of the Citizen is void from its inception, is unenforceable in our jurisdiction, and should be quashed, repealed or found by a court of jurisdiction to be unconstitutional in part or in full, as appropriate, to protect the Rights and Freedom of the Citizenry.

Section 4. The Tonasket City Council strongly encourages all citizens, organizations, and governmental legislative bodies to study, for understanding, the State and Federal Constitutions and their history, and the Bill of Rights and its history so that they can recognize and resist attempts to undermine our Constitutional Republics and the system of government that has brought our civilization so much success.

Section 5. The Tonasket City Council believes it is the duty of every citizen to protect and defend the State and Federal Constitutions from all enemies — foreign and domestic — and to demonstrate outspoken respect for the Rights that have been paid for with the blood and sweat of the American People throughout our history.

Does anybody know what the average home price is in Tonasket? It would be nice to live around some people who remember what makes America America.

db

 

[Duncan Idaho]

At least some people believe that Ashcroft is a wanker (other than me, that is).

Yeah, those "alternative lifestyle" types up in Tonasket only like unconstitutional laws that are proposed by Demorats. The PA had both parties struggling to enact it, so hey, why not go after Ashcroft?


It's just a shame that they never want to take the issue up in the proper venue. Courts decide whether or not a law is unconstitutional (and therefore unenforceable), but all the stupid hippies in Tonasket want, is attention for their lame attempts at agitprop. Ho hum.

Where is the yawn smiley?

 

[DaveB]

Yes, Duncan, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are terrible boring.

It's interesting that you believe that Hippies are the only ones who aren't bored.

db

 

[HBK]

Duncan, this one works about as well as the yawn, and may be more appropriate.

 

[Iain]

Section 4. The Tonasket City Council strongly encourages all citizens, organizations, and governmental legislative bodies to study, for understanding, the State and Federal Constitutions and their history, and the Bill of Rights and its history so that they can recognize and resist attempts to undermine our Constitutional Republics and the system of government that has brought our civilization so much success.

Isn't this what you guys are all about?

 

[DaveB]

It's simple, really.

If hippies are for it, we're a'gin it.

Which begs the question: how many hippies live in Tonasket?

Also,

What if hippies believe that you shouldn't eat dog poop?

db

 

[Ian]

Here's the Seattle Times story on the subject: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2001461096_patriot10m.html

Tonasket's cheeky response was penned by self-described "constitutionalist" Mark Alan and edited by Tonasket's police chief, Don Schneider. It has since been adopted by the city councils of nearby Oroville and Riverside and is being considered by the Okanogan County Commission.

In February 2001 — before the Patriot Act was ever imagined — Alan was approached in downtown Oroville by two men who knocked on the window of his truck, asking him to roll it down. Fearing the men were carjackers, Alan hit the gas. Big mistake: The men were federal agents, in town to serve Alan with contempt-of-court papers.

His crime: Running a nonlicensed radio station from an apple-picking shack on a hillside above Oroville, pop. 1,600. With a sister transmitter down the valley in Tonasket, Alan's faint, 5-watt FM signal reached only around the two towns, carrying news, high-school sports, advertising — and provocative, right-leaning political commentary pulled by satellite dish from "patriotic" national broadcasting networks.

Alan insisted his North Valley Broadcasting "microcast" station didn't need a federal license because it didn't interfere with other station signals and didn't broadcast over state lines. The Federal Communications Commission — pressured, Alan says, by a radio competitor in Omak — disagreed.

Moments after fleeing the undercover feds that day in Oroville, Alan, a former reserve police officer with nary a parking ticket on his record, was chased down and arrested at gunpoint. The father of six was tossed into the Spokane County Jail, where he sat for nearly two months, becoming something of a cause célèbre in his community.

After a series of legal maneuvers, and a dispute over the legal name under which he could be charged (he goes by Mark Alan, his "baptized" name, but the feds insist he is Mark Alan Rabenold, his "family" name), he pleaded to a minor offense and agreed to unplug Radio Free Oroville.

He took the deal, he says, only after prosecutors threatened to arrest his wife, Jeri, as an accomplice, and put his six children in foster care.

Doesn't sound like a hippy to me.

 

[jimpeel]

Went to the Tonasket area guide at: http://www.tonasketcity.org/ and this is how the city describes itself on: http://www.tonasketcity.org/history.htm

A BRIEF HISTORY OF TONASKET

Tonasket is a small community located along the eastern bank of the Okanogan River in north central Okanogan County, Washington. The City was named in honor of Chief Tonasket of the Okanogan Indians who historically used the present city site for an encampment. State Highway 97, the main north-south highway through central Washington, bisects the city on its way north to the Canadian border approximately twenty miles north. The City, with an elevation of approximately 900 feet above sea level, is bordered on the north by Siwash Creek, and the south by Bonaparte Creek. The present population is estimated to be approximately 995.

The City, which has been the site of a U.S. Post Office since 1901, was platted in 1910 and incorporated in 1927. Tonasket serves as a hub for agricultural and forestry industries in north central Okanogan County. It is the location of three major fruit storage and processing facilities and the offices of the Tonasket Ranger District of the Okanogan National Forest. The city is also increasingly becoming a convenient jumping off point for visitors coming to the area to enjoy the myriad of opportunities for outdoor recreation in the surrounding areas.

Many descendants of pioneer families still reside in Tonasket and the surrounding areas and are interested in preserving and sharing the history of their heritage. As the hub of an area for all seasons, Tonasket would also like to take advantage of its resources by using them wisely and judiciously to the benefit of residents and visitors alike.

Doesn't sound all that hippified to me.

Here's a picture:

photo by Terry Mills


Looks kinda pleasant.

The above reproduced within the guidelines of the Fair Use Doctrine.

 

[Snake Eyes]

The Okanogan is GODS COUNTRY

The Okanogan, and Eastern Washinton in general, is a beautiful place with lots of open space and fairly conservative people (mostly farmers) with typical country values. Cost of living is low because making a living is difficult.

I went to school in Pullman and I fully intend to retire in The Okanogan or The Palouse.

The rest of you stay the hell out!

 

[Duncan Idaho]

It's simple, really.

Yes. It is simple, which is why it is so astonishing that you are unable to follow along.

Let me outline it for you. Citizens of each state elect federal Representatives and Senators, and a President.

The President(s) appoint judges which are subsequently ratified (or not) by the Senate.

The House of Representatives, and the Senate - A.K.A. the Congress - make and approve legislation (the law). If he is so inclined, the President may sign the legislation, making it the law of the land. If he is not so inclined to support the legislation, the President may veto the legislation, at which point, if they are so inclined, the Congress may attempt to override the veto; again making the legislation the law of the land.

Should the Congress and the President err, and create a law that is unconstitutional, then anyone that is effected by that law may seek redress in the courts. The courts then decide upon whether or not the law is in fact unconstitutional. The courts. Not a bunch of folks sitting around the cracker barrel. Or, as is so often the case in that part of Okanogan county, the bong filled with recently smuggled B.C. bud.

And gee, do I think that it is a coincidence that the Tonasket resolution contains the same words and phrases that are contained in the same resolution that was brought forward (and passed in April by the way) at my own local community council here on the island of Vashon WA, by our local Watermelon* Party? Co-inky-dink? Nah! I don't think so. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if that resolution had been dropped off in Tonasket by a Vashon islander that went over Steven's pass to get his supply of B.C. bud. Especially since the supply routes through the Blaine have been locked up tighter than a drum since 9/11. Poor little hippies. What will they do for a personality without their canuck dope?

Doesn't sound all that hippified to me.

Looks kinda pleasant.

It is pleasant. Okanogan country is among the most beautiful on Earth. And the majority salt-of-the-earth folks that live there aren't the one's that passed this thing. Just as the good hard working folks that live in my community weren't the ones that passed ours. Those folks follow the law. And if and when the law is wrong, they fight it with the rule of law. Not with histrionics, giant puppets and other assorted agitprop. Not with protest marches. Not with efforts at mob rule. And certainly not with meaningless resolutions (which if carried out would amount to criminal conspiracy to obstruct justice), they fight it in the courts.

A classic example can be found here: http://www.saf.org/pub/rkba/news/brady/95-1478.ZD.html

I am sure that many of the folks at THR are familiar with Sheriff Printz v. U.S. correct?

* Watermelon Party A.K.A. the Green Party: green on the outside, red in the middle.

 

[Snake Eyes]

my own local community council here on the island of Vashon

DI--

You live on Vashon and you're talking about hippies in the Okanogan???? That, my friend, is the bong calling the hookah stoned.

Say, you're not that republican big-whig under house arrest for illegal campaign contributions are you??

Inquiring minds.....

 

[LawDog]

Enough.

Lights out.

LawDog