Minutes 12-18-2018 special meeting regular

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2 My name is Riley Ruske, I am a United States Citizen and a Veteran. Almost 50 years ago I took an oath of office to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic: that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same". My sense of duty and patriotism is renewed every time I hear newly elected county commissioners take the oath of office to "support and maintain the Constitution and laws of the United States, and the Constitution and laws of North Carolina not inconsistent therewith". Inherent in both oaths is the duty to protect and preserve the sovereignty of the United States of America. It is also my strong hope that these officials make this oath with a true commitment of their hearts and minds and not just as a minor formality to enter office. There has been a lot of talk in recent years about foreign influence in our elections and governance. Most of this talk expresses outrage about foreign nation-states such as Russia, China, North Korea, and others. Our Congress and special counsels conduct politicized hearings and investigations into these activities but it is really just pathetic and dangerous political posturing. The United States government has interfered in foreign elections and governance for decades; from Radio Free Europe to funding of resistance/dissident groups to imposing sanctions to putting in place leaders like Noriega, Castro, Hussein and others. It is only to be expected that other nation-states would try the same things against the United States. Many of the same members of our government who rage against interference in our country are the same ones who sit on Congressional committees or in bureaucracies like the State Department and spy agencies which authorize U.S. interference in foreign governments. Their outrage is hypocritical at best and even dishonest in the presentation to the American citizens. Thankfully, because we still have a fairly open society, the efforts of these foreign nation-states don't have much if any effect. However, there is a real existential danger of foreign influence in our country. A recent Yale and MIT University study shows that there are more than 20 million foreign nationals of illegal presence in our country. Not only do these illegal aliens cost United States Citizens taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars each year, they exert incredible influence in our elections and governance at all levels. They actually distort the allocation of members of the House of Representatives thereby depriving our own citizens of their rightful representation in government. We have seen political candidates pledge everything from amnesty to citizenship to these illegal aliens as part of their campaigns to win office. A recent past president even basically gave 2 million of them amnesty after stating multiple times that he could not legally do so. Some government office holders are even working to give these foreign nationals the right to vote in local elections and to hold office in local government. Our very own Senators Burr and Tillis and Congressman Price all support the illegal alien movement. Recently the Orange County 9--County Manager Hammersley, County Sheriff Blackwood, and all seven Commissioners--Dorosin, Rich, Burroughs, Jacobs, Marcopolos, Mckee and Price--acted to provide U.S. Citizen taxpayer funds to aid and abet, shield and shelter illegal aliens in Orange County. Even more recently, Sheriff Blackwood put our families and children at risk by releasing convicted illegal alien child molesters into our county instead of turning them over to ICE for deportation. No doubt some people will call these comments racist or hateful. Such comments would come out of ignorance or dishonesty. National citizenship is the legal identification of affiliation or allegiance to a nation-state. It has nothing to do with race. Requiring that individuals and especially government officials obey the laws of the country is not hate--it is one of the civic responsibilities of citizens in a democratic republic such as ours.