Potomac Fever In Ohio! Coming to a town near you!

Ah, yes, Potomac Fever, that affliction of the officials described generations ago by presidents, authors, insiders and now yours truly.

Distinguished from Potomac Horse Fever, or Erlichiosis, Potomac Fever is all around us in the form of official largesse, confiscation (sometimes of private property) distinct signs of personal isolation, general indifference, and intrusive, because-we-say-so politics. It is the official disease of Washington, but it makes its way around the nation. The chief feature of the disease is the individual official’s being out of touch with our realities. Though some insiders joke about it, to us it’s no joke.

One aspect of Potomac Fever is that, in the official quest for social justice, officials exempt themselves from the very laws they write; this is because they do not feel responsible for such-and-such injustice, and thus, they do not place themselves on the list of the named accused. This is a psychological condition that goes a long way in explaining why they write such silly, ineffectual rules even to begin with. Someone else always has to pick up the check, and someone else has to live with the consequences of their silliness. They exempt themselves from it because, in their warped sense of injustice collecting, they believe they didn’t cause it.

Maybe they didn’t, but neither is it really there. And whether they caused it or not, they believe they are above the law. This being out of touch with our realities again.

For instance, in the recent Supreme Court ruling against the Fifth Amendment favoring confiscation of private property for public use, the Supremes somehow felt they were exempt from the ruling.

Oh, really?

Talk Show Host Dr. Laura Schlessinger agreed on the air the day following the ruling to invest in projects that would include plans to confiscate the Justices’ home to begin with, applying the new ruling to them next and without delay. Officials don’t always deal with reality, but nonsense. [I’ll bet they know a good lawyer, but they’ll have to pay for it themselves.] They cannot claim that it's malicious without tarring all filings with the same brush, can they?

An actual filing to begin the process against the ownership of the Justices is already on record, I understand.

Excellent.

Good for them.

I urge them to put up signage outside the Justice’s homes (all of the properties the ruling Justices own and none of those owned by Justices dissenting) announcing what will be built on the new site, an artist’s conception of the proposed building, revenue goals anticipated from the new building, a date certain for completion and where hearings can be conducted. I’d also post the name of the Justice whose home is confiscated. Potomac Fever gets into everything, including the Supreme Court. I’m really going to follow that one.

Another one to follow is where Potomac Fever’s made it’s way to Toledo, Ohio now. It’s actually been there a while, but this episode sees paroxysms of the fever.

Reported to me by the individual involved, Sgt. Bruce Beatty was not looking for trouble, but exercising his right as already authorized by Ohio state law. Others with him did not receive the same treatment he got, namely a ticket for allegedly breaking the law that says that his gun cannot be worn in the park. Viewing constituents as troublemakers is also a sign of the fever.

Ohio is a right-to-carry state, which means that you may carry a gun with fewer restrictions than places such as California, where crime is much higher, by the way.

The facts are these: USAF (retired) Sgt. Bruce Beatty had taken the due process route for a year to discuss the Toledo, Ohio city ordinance that said you can’t carry your piece in the park. (I believe that wherever police can be summoned, individuals should carry, since the would-be victim is actually the first line of defense in time of violent crime.)

He was ignored.

Ignored.

On April 9th, 2005, Sgt. Beatty held a picnic with other guests who were carrying. Remember that Ohio is a right to carry state. Sgt. Beatty had announced his picnic plans, and was the only one ticketed on scene. Furthermore, according to Sgt. Beatty, his weapon was confiscated, then returned to him minutes later. Sgt. Beatty filed a criminal complaint, which was ignored the City Prosecutor's office. Trial for the citation issued is scheduled to be heard August 5th, Toledo Muni Court. Maybe they won’t ignore this due process.

Other similar instances in Ohio held in favor of the gun owners, such as an interesting market force bearing out the truth: some Ohio businesses posted a No-Guns sign in their window, which, as you might expect, did nothing but ring the dinner bell for armed robbers. But many restaurants soon learned -- others have not -- and now, gun owners are more welcome.

But some individual officials never learn. Potomac Fever.

This isn’t even a gun issue; it’s a governance issue, where interference with the Ohio state law emanates from the city council in violation of Ohio’s Constitution as well as some specific laws in agreement with it that make Ohio the right-to-carry state that it is. In this, the city council is not only defying the Ohio state constitution, but is also exhibiting a profound disrespect for Ohioans. How do they proceed on the authority of the People [a ticket is The People v. Beatty] when it's blatently against the will of the people [Ohio state law]? But what do they care? It’s only the Fever talking.

Right to carry states respect the constituents they are sworn to respect in the discharge of their duties. You just can’t start writing laws in the hope that they won’t be protested as an underhanded but effective means of cementing social change. (Change for what, though?)

This one’s neurotically sinister on the face of it, and reflects a profoundly defiant and dangerous agenda that is sweeping the nation: a bid for unathorized powers by way of ignoring public objection to more and more intrusion.

Whether it’s Ohio or Washington’s Supremes disrespecting the individual liberty or private property rights, it’s gaining deadly proportions and reach.

This happens when Americans do not know their U.S. History or are talked out of their resistance to stupid and dangerous ideas. In each, the individual is riddled with enough doubt to discourage the very idea of resistance. As I've written before, erasing or re-writing U.S. History severs the connection to even recognize threats to our society.

When that doesn't work, plain old blunt ignoring constituents is tried. Uncertainty and ennui prevail and the affront has worked its magic.

Remember that Potomac Fever is not a disease of Government, but of individual officials. Some people never catch it. And sometimes people you thought you could trust, such as Utah’s Orrin Hatch, suddenly do come down with it to betray the trust of those who elected them.

Demonize any group of fellow Americans and people forget that we all are being attacked nevertheless, though obliquely. This divisive tactic works better as it gains ground, until one day – and that day has come for more of us now – some fundamental rights are undermined.

The only way to guarantee a better tomorrow is to overcome the uncertainty and to restate what we want. This is done by, of course, filing the paperwork to take the Justice’s homes as they would permit others’ to be taken, and to refuse to back down until they do. Apply the law they, themselves, held and make it stick. And to have positively no doubt about the righteousness of it.

And when it comes to Ohioans, more of us need to be behind them. One way is to watch the coverage on the issue. It will be interesting and useful to discover how the city of Toledo handles a criminal violation charge as Defendant as heard August 5th. It looks like Sgt. Beatty won’t back down, and I don’t want him to.

After all, the city is the aggressor here, not Beatty. Both cases will be interesting examples of how one resists aggression and refuses to be a victim.

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John Longenecker is author of The Battle We Fight, and his website is www.nationwideconcealedcarry.com