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Mayors Trying to Outdo One Another
First, it was DeBlasio threatening to permanently close synagogues if New York Jews held services. Not to be outdone, the mayor of Washington DC says, “You’re not so tough on your citizens. Look at what I’m doing!”
Hopefully, the DC police will ignore this civil rights violation, but what I can see are governors and mayors running for re-election on platforms of “Look how tough I fought the virus.” Let’s hope their citizens “thank” them for their efforts by selecting someone else.
Published in Politics
First we release all the criminals, because being in jail is dangerous don’cha know. Then we put normal citizens in prison!
That’s been in much of the criticism, but then you add the fact the virus is starting to be found in jails and prisons.
It could be about money; i.e. the state probably has to pay for Weinstien’s medical bills.
But, IF it saves just ONE life….
It seems to me that it would help flatten the curve if everyone were to stay six feet away from each private citizen.
In the case of other citizens: six feet horizontally.
For despots like di Blasio and DC Mayor Muriel Bowser: six feet in a downward direction, permanently.
The Americans being a G_d-fearing people obviously do not wish the latter spatial separation on anyone, even on tyrants. More to the point, we’d still be the same voters with the same faith in government, so we would just replace the dead gangsters with live ones.
Limbaugh is right: The reason the Left loves tyrants like Castro so much? They’re jealous of their power!
I won’t be impressed unless they single out mosques, instead.
Okay, I won’t be impressed then, either, not that there is any danger of them actually doing it.
In general, people typically comply with instructions or guidelines during emergencies. But when you start dictating to people what they can and can’t do, they get angry. And when you start threatening them with stern punishments if they don’t behave, they rise up in mass civil disobedience to prove they can and don’t take kindly to threats.
This is when the newly-minted dictator has to decide whether or not to use force, and if so, how much.
Is it that too many people in close proximity encourages bad decision making? I see it in big cities here in Texas, and the counties that contain those cities make similarly bad decisions, at least if you believe in classical liberalism. Even here in my rural county, the mayor of the one incorporated city mandated stricter guidelines than the county judge did for the unincorporated portions of the county. The really disturbing part is people on social media (many from the unincorporated part) demanding that the county follow the city’s lead and crack down more.
It may well be that those willing to give up liberty (especially everyone else’s) just squawk louder than most. But it sure is disturbing.
Liberals in general have a hard time seeing people enjoy their freedoms . . .
Not exactly the same type….but another example of “city powers getting out of bounds” :
https://archinect.com/news/article/150190086/new-york-s-roofs-may-get-a-lot-greener-soon
Is there nothing they won’t attempt? I wonder how this could even be legal, except under some what’s-best-for-future-society arguments perhaps. The next upgrade in a few more years will be that you have to also grow and harvest corn on these created acres.
Here’s an article about why strict social distancing is so necessary, and why cheating on the rules is so dangerous to everyone.
People who break the rules and go to gatherings for whatever purpose put everyone, especially their own families and friends, at risk.
The epidemiologists are pounding this into mayors and governors, so it’s no mystery why our leaders are getting so adamant about it.
Also, civil rights are not absolute. Under our American system of government state and municipal governments have broad authority, plenary power, to stop activities that are a danger to the public.
Meanwhile in Denmark – We are in dangerous waters you guys.
https://www.thelocal.dk/20200313/denmark-passes-far-reaching-emergency-coronavirus-law
How brilliant . . .
True, but neither is the power of the state to remove those rights, even in an emergency.
If only these restrictions also applied to the politicians. Sigh…
<sarcasm off>
<cynicism always on >
And remember, that one life could be Harvey Weinstein.
This is completely missing the point. The role of government is to protect the public. Not to protect the citizen from himself. The legitimate role of government in an epidemic is the same as at any other time: protect the public. Our medical institutions would be overwhelmed by the sudden influx of masses of seriously ill patients. It’s the government’s responsibility to try to prevent that.
The known risks and rewards of a person’s actions to himself and his family are not the government’s concern.
Almost anything that anyone does can be construed as a danger to the public. For example, the concept of “harm” has been used as a justification for proposals to curtail the right to engage in deadnaming. I can make a case that your choice of beverages constitutes a danger to the public. In fact, I can make a case that the comment I’m replying to is a danger to the public.
The problem is government sees a person potentially spreading the virus as a threat. However, government should consider 1) the person might not know he has the virus, and 2) other people are out and about volutarily. They know they are taking a risk, so 100% of the burden should be on them if they get sick. Who is actually guilty of a crime? It should be the person who knows he’s infected or thinks he may be, then goes out and about.
Everyone who makes decisions or takes action without government approval and supervision is a threat.
Good reply. This is getting right to the heart of the matter.
We are speaking of power over individual human lives, and power is a zero sum game: every case of increased power to government is a case of exactly the same reduction in the power of individual.
Every case of an individual acting without government approval is already a display of the transfer of power away from government; it is an accomplished fact. But it is also a threat, as well as an accomplished fact, because it sets a precedent that must be reversed by government if it is not to lose its grip on the current amount of power.
Don’t forget the money from the lawsuits the ACLU would file on behalf of prisoners infected while in custody. Or taken into custody while infected. And imagine the SJWs if there were to be a racially disparate impact of COVID-19 in jail.
Might be cheaper to close the jails, which is what the hard Left wants. It worked once with the state mental hospitals, why not with prisons and jails?
So right! And I have long wondered about this. Where exactly does the desire to tyrannize over others come from? Is there a tyrant gene? Do parents raise their children to be tyrants?
The best I’ve been able to figure is that the desire to tyrannize arises when one fully gives in to the sin of anger. And I’ve noticed the Left is always angry.
You know, it’s inhumane to lock people up in cages like wild animals. Oh wait, many of them are wild animals . . .
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/03/31/coronavirus-los-angeles-eric-garcetti-snitches-get-rewards/
And not to be outdone…
Best to hire Guido to draw up your plan for you. His company knows how to do these things and get them approved. Also, he’s the mayor’s cousin and has connections.
I’m not saying that’s what’s happening in this case, but that sort of thing has been known to occur in cases where a business needs to submit a “plan” in order to be allowed to do business.
I’m not automatically against regulation, but I’m almost automatically against that form of regulation.
Spot on.
https://globalnews.ca/news/6766063/regina-police-tip-line-self-isolating/?fbclid=IwAR18Mjq9HH2u7p43X4cJpaAdzoX4cAMeMseRI98AjjvPJpEViqsZiJ04kZI
Our northern neighbors getting in on the act.
The Stasi is alive and well in LA . . .