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By Jesse Monteagudo
Recently McDougall combined ancient prejudices with modern technology in his official Web site (www.sheriffleefl.org). In a screed titled "WAKE UP AMERICA! BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!, McDougall expounds what can only be called an extreme right-wing philosophy. After paying homage to the United States Constitution and its "God-fearing framers" (who were mostly Deists), McDougall condemns Supreme Court decisions that "banned bible reading and prayer in our public classrooms":
The rant on McDougall's Web site
"Since the first of those Supreme Court decisions, Juvenile crime has sky-rocketed, teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases have increased dramatically, over 400% violent crime (including Domestic violence) has risen 600% over the last 30 years, teen suicide is up 300%, and depression among children is up 1000%. Every day television and newspapers inundate us with horrific accounts of crime in our communities. "Daily we learn of the mass killing of students in our schools, shootings taken place in day-care centers, and places of worship [here McDougall conveniently ignores abortion clinics, which he has done practically nothing to protect]. Is there any wonder why so many young people are committing such horrible crimes against innocent victims, when we protect the rights of atheists, and abolish the recognition of Almighty God in our classrooms?" "The vast majority of Americans," notes McDougall, "are hard working, God fearing people". Trusting public officials "to run the daily business of their government, in the best interest of the people", they fail to see "the diabolical forces of moral corruption working feverishly, behind closed doors. They are out there every day walking through the halls of Congress, State Legislatures, and the courts. The Gay and Lesbian coalitions, rabid feminist groups, United Nations one-world government radicals, and the American Civil Liberties Union all competing for power, and many using their political action committee funds to influence elected officials to represent these parasitic groups who proselytize and force us under the protection of law to tolerate and accept their despicable conduct and agenda.
McDougall rants about "gutless liberal judges who wage tyrannical power against the citizens of this country, and power hungry politicians who are more concerned about being politically correct, than morally wrong". "As concerned citizens and Christians, we need to display and read in our classrooms once again, and with pride, the Ten Commandments - the Judeo-Christian foundation of our entire Constitutional system of law." (This is the only time that McDougall includes Judaism in his otherwise "Christian" manifesto.) McDougall is particularly peeved about the 1973 legalization of abortion; an event which, he adds, "caused the deaths of 40 million children": "Stop and think what we, the United States of America as a nation, have condoned and sanctioned - the wholesale killing of all those innocent children as a direct result of the action of unchecked special interest groups, and the arrogant United States Supreme Courts unjust 1973 (Roe v Wade) decision, (which now includes the full term barbaric partial birth abortions). Consider for a moment the magnitude of this crime, (a holocaust in the eyes of God), and how it will effect us as a nation. God hears the cry of the poor, especially the silent screams of the unborn. "These deaths will not go un-avenged. God will judge those people in the abortion industry, and those individuals who continue to promote it, and cause it to happen. God will condemn them for bringing about the catastrophic loss these children and their offspring represent to suffering humanity. Generations of children, whose promise and contributions known only to God, will not be forgotten." McDougall seems to hold a grudge against Planned Parenthood, "a worldwide organization dedicated to using abortions as a means of population control". The folks at PP "are without the authority and consent of parents distributing free condoms to our children, thereby encouraging dangerous pre-marital adolescent sexuality under the pretend of 'Safe Sex for minors.' Those of us in law enforcement, call this behavior 'pedophilia'."[?!] Planned Parenthood also "successfully blocked the State of Florida and other states from enforcing laws that make it mandatory for abortion providers and other health care facilities to notify you as a parent if your underage daughter seeks an abortion or if any of your underage children is under the care and treatment of a psychiatrist, or being treated for a sexually transmitted disease, including AIDS, that could be introduced to the rest of your family without your knowledge."[!!] Apparently McDougall knows more about intra-family relations than he cares to expound. Unless we change our evil ways, warns the Sheriff, we will "be left to our own sick demise; consumed by our chosen sexual perversion, and drug-infested, hedonistic lifestyles, just like the Romans and all the other atheistic civilizations that followed their gods of lust to the doomed altars of Sodom and Gomorrah. (The fact that the "atheistic" Romans, et al. had their own gods is another contradiction that McDougall seems to ignore.) "Our country is in great peril, not from an approaching army, but from a satanic pestilence that has already infected South America, and our own nation with a drug-infested culture littering our country and neighborhoods with untold corpses, and its collateral family damage." McDougall ends by humbly asking "Lord Jesus" for forgiveness. Those of you who have preconceived notions about Southern sheriffs should note that John J. McDougall is an Irish Catholic who was born and raised in South Boston, Massachusetts; and who was a member of the Franciscan Order for 7 years. McDougall's Catholic background might explain his fanatical opposition to abortion. When a local abortion provider, Dr. Ali Azima, asked for protection against "pro-life" protesters, the Sheriff of Lee County replied (on official stationary) that the only reason Azima wasn't behind bars was because the Supreme Court had "legalized baby killing". "Tell me, doctor, did those tiny defenseless babies feel threatened when you ripped them out of their mother's womb?", wrote McDougall, adding that his Office would "do everything within our power to assist the protesters who wish to protect the misguided mothers who come to your clinic of death." I should point out that McDougall's "pro-life" position is consistent, and unlike other religious conservatives he also opposes the death penalty. Sheriff McDougall has every right to his opinions, of course. But he does not have the right to expound them on a Web site paid for by the taxpayers of Lee County. This does not faze McDougall's deputies, many of who agree with their boss. This worries Howard Simon, head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida: "I can only imagine those people who are citizens of Lee County who have different views, or a different religious heritage, or who may happen to be gay, who have a bumper sticker indicating pro-choice or Planned Parenthood, looking in their rearview mirror to see they are about to be stopped by someone from the Lee County Sheriff's Office", Simon says.
Perhaps worried by the effect the Sheriff's shenanigans might have on the tourist industry, Vice Mayor Andrew Redding of Sanibel wrote an opinion piece for the Fort Myers News, coming out as a gay man and condemning McDougall's use of Christianity "in support of prejudice and intolerance". Equality Florida, calling for McDougall's resignation or removal, asked Governor Jeb Bush and Attorney General Bob Butterworth to launch an official inquiry into the Sheriff's conduct. McDougall's "attacks are mean-spirited coming from anyone, but particularly irresponsible and troubling coming from a law enforcement official," said Equality Florida's Executive Director, Nadine Smith. "An individual elected to uphold the law who shows such disregard for the Constitution should not be in office." In spite of such opposition, the unrepentant Sheriff promises to continue "placing new messages on the web pertaining to other law enforcement and crime prevention matters concerning our public safety." In spite of reports to the contrary, McDougall's "WAKE UP AMERICA!" essay is still on the Web. Meanwhile, Equality Florida and other opponents continue to monitor the situation; and plans are afoot to oppose McDougall when he comes up for reelection next year. Let's see what happens. |
Sheriff John W. McDougall's tactics are no stranger to activists in Florida, but his latest Internet campaign is too strange to believe 
Commissioner John Albion 
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