Dear Editor,
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect everyone who approaches that jewel.”—Patrick Henry
I was very pleased to see the letter from Tom McGillvray showing how Governor Bullock has blatantly violated his oath of office to uphold the US and Montana Constitutions, particularly with regard to our God-given rights. Our rights do not have an emergency clause. The Founders of our nation dealt with pandemics, too, without locking down the states or cities.
The idea that rights are cancelled and that government can do whatever it wants in an emergency goes against what our nation was founded upon. But what do we do about the Governor’s betrayal of our liberty? Unfortunately, past legislatures are partially to blame since they passed laws which the Governor now cites to justify his dictatorial actions in response to the much-hyped coronavirus “crisis.”
One very appropriate thing to do is to hold a special session of the Legislature to consider two key items: 1.) Revision of statutes regarding emergencies to rein in the power of the Governor and the departments under him to extinguish any claim of unaccountable, tyrannical authority, and 2.) impeachment and trial of Governor Bullock for malfeasance in office.
As of now, the state legislature is effectively AWOL on this issue. Some even argue that a special session would cost too much money but agree that there would surely be a special session if there were a budget shortfall. You see, 75,000 unemployed Montanans losing $7 to $8 billion in income for their families isn’t too much money, but a shortfall in tax revenues is a crisis worth a special session in their minds, unless you and I take action. Would the price of a special session even be a drop in the bucket compared to the recent economic calamity we’re facing?
It seems that state legislators will only have the courage to stand up for our basic rights if voters demand it. So, I drafted a petition which you can sign, either online, as a hard copy, or both, to ask your own Montana State Senator and State Representative to call the special session. In the case of your state representative, he or she should also consider drafting articles of impeachment for Governor Bullock. Yes, he’ll be out of office in January, but do you want future governors to do the same or worse? You know they will if we don’t show we care.
Eldon Stahl
Columbus, MT
