One thing that I can’t get out of my mind is that vaccine and mask mandates across the country are profoundly illegal. The Supreme Court decision used to justify them is the Jacobsen v. Massachusetts decision regarding a Smallpox vaccine mandate by that State during a Smallpox outbreak at the end of the 19th Century. One of the features of the decision was that the action mandated by the State had to be well-founded, and achieve the effect for which the mandate was issued. That certainly applied to the smallpox vaccine in Massachusetts at the end of the 19th century. At that time, the vaccine had been used for over a hundred years and was, indeed, established science. A person once vaccinated had almost no chance of dying from the disease, acquiring it, or transmitting it. That has proven not to be the case at all with our current vaccines, and certainly not with masks.

Of course, the decision applied to States, and not the Federal Government, which does not have the public health power to issue the vaccine mandate that Biden imposed. Biden averred that his mandate was likely not constitutional, and it is likely to be challenged in court. But, it can’t be until the rules are issued by OSHA, which is taking its time doing so. Everyone is aware that as soon as those regulations are promulgated, there will be attempts to obtain injunctions, and the mandate will be challenged, and will likely move quickly to the Supreme Court.