Thanks to his second mRNA booster shot not stopping him from coming up virus-positive -- for the SECOND time -- Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf (D) appears to have had some spare hours on his hands.
Of course, when, in April of 2020, he locked-down state residents with Constitution-defying edicts that closed shops and destroyed jobs, he was kind enough to suggest that his victims enjoy their home-style imprisonments, and “read a book.” But Wolf’s own voluntary sequestration has resulted, not in Wolf reading anything like the U.S. Constitution, but in him creating something special for his Pennsylvania vassals to read.
On June 16, Wolf saw fit to spread a different kind of pathogen: a childish meme promoting an inexcusable Red Flag bill being pushed by collectivists in the state legislature. Wolf took to Twitter to offer cartoon images and a “Dick and Jane” level flow-chart of just how this fatuous proposal would “work.”
Red flag laws allow us to take action when someone who has a gun begins to act erratically.
— Governor Tom Wolf (@GovernorTomWolf) June 16, 2022
Red flag laws still require due process, and any removal of weapons is temporary. pic.twitter.com/IVPHgbrvhD
It’s simple. First, we “See Jane.” Then, “Jane’s social media contact, Randy, posts photos of guns & cryptic messages.”
Because, as we all know, photos of firearms – ranging from new designs, to antiques, to pics or videos from D-Day, etc. – bring direct harm to other people and have nothing to do with the freedom to be able to say what one wishes.
And have fun understanding what Wolf means by “cryptic,” since that’s subjective. In fact, the U.S. Constitution itself appears to have been far too “cryptic” for Wolf’s untrained eyes.
Then the meme jumps, arrow-style, to the Karen-tinged, Stasi-like, “rat your neighbor” box, telling us, “Jane calls the police to report the posts.”
Because, of course, posting “cryptic” messages and pictures of inanimate objects is an overt, directed, and specific, act of criminal threatening. Sure.
Then, in the next box, we have the nice little semantic shift – an attempt to work around the Constitution in a manner akin to what Kenneth W. Royce described in his book “Hologram of Liberty” as “Houdini-style” wriggling out of what’s supposed to be a constitutional straightjacket. Wolf’s meme says:
“The police petition in court to temporarily remove Randy’s guns.”
This is a clear violation of the Second Amendment, a violation of the Fourth Amendment’s requirement of a real, PUBLICALLY ANNOUNCED, warrant issued by a judge, a violation of the Fifth Amendment prohibition against deprivation of “live, liberty, or property” without due process of law, and a violation of the Sixth Amendment’s assurance of a “fair and speedy public trial” (there has been no crime, no trial, not even an arrest) before a jury of peers in the local district, at which the accused may call on witnesses for his or her defense, with assistance of legal counsel. It also violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment (no accusation of a crime, no trial – how can one be punished?), and violates the Fourteenth Amendment’s reiterative requirement of due process.
The next box assumes a lot, changing jurisprudential standards about “evidence” during this “petition” process, and, again, overlooking the fact that this “petition” process stands in utter contravention to most of the Bill of Rights. It pretends to make different segments from this single, kangaroo court style, move by the government to grab private property without due process, saying, get this:
“Police provide evidence that Randy is a danger to himself/others.”
Really? How does this fall into any standard of “evidence” in any way? Is this a trial? Have criminal standards of evidence been met? Has anyone been accused of any crime? Is there a victim? Is any of this public? This is just an artificially created “bump” in the narrative, pretending that it’s a valid process.
Then, attached to a cartoon depiction of a gavel, to add that fancy touch of authentic court antics when no court standard has been attempted in this foul process, Wolf’s meme claims:
“The court agrees to a temporary removal of Randy’s weapons.”
In other words, the government, which already has stolen Randy’s tax money to pay these uniformed and robed antagonists, gives itself permission to steal his firearms and his right to self-defense.
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Imagine if there were another meme, this showing Randy and a gang of thugs selecting Wolf to be the recipient of their own kangaroo court process that did precisely the same thing, and which, in the end, allowed them to break into Wolf’s home and rob from him…
This is what the proponents of this bill are attempting to allow, under the guise of legality.
None of it is legal. And it is very sinister.
As I have noted for MRCTV, Maryland’s “Red Flag” statute already saw the police kill in innocent man in 2018.
And, in the first two weeks under its 2019 state “Red Flag” statute, New Jersey targeted a person a DAY for this extrajudicial tyranny.
Utterly immoral.
Then there are the practical dangers of this kind of gun-grab. Obviously, many people intending to engage in violent behavior will attempt to skirt the statutes by, duh, not making others – including the state – aware that they own weapons.
There simply is no way to get around the fact that prohibition leads to a black market.
And, as Hanna Cox notes for Based-Politics:
“Democrats are the first to complain about our criminal justice system, and often for good reason. Yet pointing out that police frequently lie both under oath and to obtain warrants, that wrongful convictions regularly occur, and that most people don’t get their day in court anymore because 99% of cases are pleaded out, is all useless if you then go on to make everything worse with your other policies.”
And she adds:
“Furthermore, why would anyone think these protocols are not prime for abuse from other citizens as well. Society has been grappling with the Karen effect for some time. The honest truth is there are a certain number of very bored, empty individuals running around out in society with nothing better to do than rat on their neighbor for the slightest imagined infraction.”
But this might just be part of Wolf’s devious calculus. By threatening those who post social media support for guns, who post about activities tied to firearm training, collecting, or simple curiosity, by threatening those who might post anti-authoritarian statements -- statements that the government can label “dangerous” -- the government can stifle dissent and stifle the popular support for the right to keep and bear arms.
There might be a vast majority out there who support that natural right, but if they can become targets, they will be less vocal, thus changing the balance in the ongoing rhetorical battle to keep people informed about their rights and the tyrants’ attempt to crush them.
This kind of “cartoon” meme expresses many dark portents, for those willing to see them.
People might want to ask Governor Wolf to stop spending time on memes and bills like this, and, instead, offer some respect for them and for his oath to uphold the U.S. Constitution.
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