By: David Deschesne
Editor/Publisher, Fort Fairfield Journal
November 18, 2020
Amidst the fear and hysteria promulgated by the left-wing establishment media and governors in the new state-run religion of Covidanity, most Americans have not only lost their collective minds, but their ability to think critically as well.
In the fog and haze of this COVID-19 psychological war zone within the American psyche, a dazed and confused citizenry has been coddled and cajoled into thinking executive orders issued by the governor are actually laws that apply to them. That, however, is nowhere near the truth of the matter.
According to Black’s Law Dictionary, 7th ed., an executive order is an order issued by the president (or governor, if it’s a state order) that is
“intended to direct or instruct the actions of executive agencies or government officials, or to set policies for the executive branch to follow.”
What that means is when a governor issues an executive order, it only really applies to the Executive Branch of government, which the governor is the head of.
Governments in the U.S. are divided into three separate, but equal branches; Legislative, Judicial and Executive. The Legislative branch makes laws, the Judicial branch makes rulings based on those laws and the Executive branch is there to simply see to it those laws are enforced. The Executive branch has no law-making power on its own, that job is left to the legislature.
But, this year that seems to have changed as Maine’s authoritarian Democrat governor, Janet “Big Sister” Mills has arbitrarily ruled one executive order after another for not only her executive department - but for the entire population of Maine as well. This move makes her orders de facto “laws” that have never been approved or authorized by the Maine Legislature. The Maine legislature, by the way, sat in recess throughout the entire COVID-19 outbreak in Maine because the Speaker of the House, Sarah Gideon was too busy campaigning for U.S. Senate (which she lost, anyway) to be bothered with convening the legislature to reign in Big Sister’s new-found powers.
Now, to help you understand what agencies and departments exist within the executive branch of a state government in general, think of the State Police, local police (their existence is authorized by State law) Department of Motor Vehicles, Department of Health and Human Services, Warden’s Service, Office of State Medical Examiner, State Fire Marshal, etc. These agencies and their employees are the only people a governor’s executive order can apply to.
Now, it could be argued that if a business or person has received a license issued to them by the State - such as a hair salon, automobile dealer, etc., that they could also fall under the purview of a governor’s executive order, but that would be a stretch.
The power a governor has is merely to enforce laws that have already been passed - not make up new ones all by themselves. Black’s Law Dictionary, 7th ed. explains the executive power as “the power to see that the laws are duly executed and enforced.”
If we allowed governors to make up laws that apply to all people then we would be a monarchy style of government - or a dictatorship - and there would be no need to elect representatives to the House and Senators to the Senate because the governor would make all the rules and laws like a King or Queen.
This is not the system of government we have in any of the States in the U.S., or the U.S. itself, for that matter.
But, having their senses knocked off kilter with fear and uncertainty from an aggressive psychological warfare campaign by the establishment media, most Americans have forgotten that civics lesson - if they even received it at all in government-run schools.
Now, this leads me to my opening statement, above; “Governor Mills’ Executive Orders Do Not Apply to Me.”
That is factually and legally correct. I am a private inhabitant in Maine. I do not work in the executive department of the State of Maine, I am not employed by any of those agencies and I have no contracts with them. I am not in law enforcement in any capacity, working on behalf of the government of Maine.
I am a newspaper writer/publisher. That is not a profession or business that can even be licensed in this country or state. Most people don’t realize that a license is “a revocable permission to commit some act that would otherwise be unlawful” (Black’s Law 7th ed.). It is not unlawful to write a newspaper in the U.S. because the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution enumerates that as a right which pre-existed before government came to power and the government has no authority to alter or regulate it. That same right is also enumerated in the Maine Constitution at Article 1, Section 4. Now, Maine Public Broadcasting is a state-run media company, so they would fall under the governor’s Executive Order scheme.
Churches and synagogues are not part of the Executive Branch, either. Their Lord is God/Yahweh. So, I don’t know why they’re making pretend Governor Mills has more power than God in dictating their activities.
Most of you all (y’all, if you’re from the South) don’t work in or for the Executive Branch, either.
With Big Sister’s incessant mandating of face masks and business closures during her self-appointed, perpetually existing “emergency declaration” the people here in Maine - and many other states whose inhabitants don’t understand civics or their rights - have been cowed into believing the governor is a monarch, a dictator and that all their executive orders and edicts have the force of law. They don’t.
Now, since we’re talking about face masks, some might ask, “Dave, don’t you want people to be wearing face masks to stop the spread of COVID-19?”
I’m glad you asked. The U.S. CDC has already reported that surgical and/or cloth face masks do nothing to stop the spread of respiratory viruses1 and in many cases, the cloth masks actually increase the risk of respiratory infection.2 So, if a person wants to wear a mask because it makes them feel safe (but it doesn’t actually make them safe), I don’t have a problem with that. But, I think it is reckless and irresponsible to mandate and force people to wear a face mask when the scientific data shows it can increase the chances of acquiring a respiratory illness; that’s just bad public health policy.
I suggest we start ignoring Governor Mills and her senseless - and potentially harmful - executive order mandates now - lest she begins believing she has power and control over us that she has never been lawfully granted.
Again, the only people executive orders apply to are those within the executive branch. But, fear has a funny way of screwing with people’s minds - especially the jacked-up fear ginned up by the mainstream media over a cold virus that - while it did kill some people directly - is nowhere near as deadly as it was originally purported to be. That’s not just me blowing smoke, that’s numbers from the Holy of Holies within the U.S. CDC3 - where the governor claims she is getting her information from.
It’s unlikely, though, that Big Sister Mills is interested in learning what the U.S. CDC has to say about COVID-19 if there’s a chance that it would alter the mindset of the people in Maine in a way that would reduce her power and control over not only their actions, but their minds as well.
Submission to totalitarian control is how the communists gained power in the former Soviet Union; it’s also how the NAZI party took control of Germany in the 1930’s. Neither of those two chapters in world history turned out too well for the public who blindly accepted and allowed those horrible leaders to have their way.
Whichever State you live in (FFJ is read throughout the United States via mail subscriptions that are growing every week, but I digress); if you work within the agencies described for the Executive Department, then your governor’s executive orders do apply to you - in much the same way that a General Manager of a business makes directives that apply to his/her employees.
However, those orders can not be lawfully enforced on the inhabitants of the State (or by the former analogy, the people who happen to live on the same street as the business) because that is power that has not been granted.
If you are not working or functioning inside the executive department of Maine, then Governor Mills’ executive orders do not apply to you, either.
None of this is news to Big Sister Mills. She is a lawyer by trade and the former Attorney General for Maine. She knows she doesn’t really have the power to boss you around like a tin-horn dictator. She’s just hoping that you never figure that out.
1. https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/5/19-0994_article
2. https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/5/4/e006577
3. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/planning-scenarios.html
