Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s message “couldn’t be simpler,” he offered last week: “It’s time to cancel everything.”
Gee whiz, that is simple.
The mayor’s order “prohibits public and private gatherings of people from more than one household and states that all businesses in the city that require people to work on location must stop operations. Walking, driving, travel on public transport, bikes, motorcycles and scooters are prohibited, other than for those undertaking essential activities,” Fortune reports.
Walking alone; riding a bike — really?*
Thankfully, folks are still permitted to play golf, tennis and pickleball. But . . . unless the course or the court is in your back yard, wouldn’t it remain illegal to travel there? Or to play with someone not living with you already?
Governor Gavin Newsom made similar demands, only over even more folks — and with less credibility — after flouting his own previous mandates. His regional order affected “some 33 million Californians, representing 84% of the state’s population,” to be locked down in their homes until after Christmas.
Restaurant owners are going to court to challenge the constitutionality of the governor’s lockdown. “We can’t close our businesses,” restaurant owner Angela Marsden told Fox news’ Neil Cavuto. “We need to stay open to survive this.”
And what about “following ‘the science’”?
“For the second time in five days,” explained SFGATE.com, “California Gov. Gavin Newsom did not provide evidence that businesses ordered to close during the state’s new stay-at-home order are actively contributing to the spread of the coronavirus.”
Lacking legal authority and defying science provide more than enough reason for outright defiance. “At least seven counties say they won’t enforce the mandates,” NBC Nightly News informed. “The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department will not be blackmailed, bullied or used as muscle against Riverside County residents,” announced Sheriff Chad Bianco.
Defying tyranny is simple, too.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
* As I noted months ago, the scientific data correlate Vitamin D deficiency with serious and deadly cases of COVID-19. Therefore, telling people to stay inside, thereby avoiding sunshine, a major source of the vitamin, is not good advice. As an order with threats of enforcement, it is something even worse.
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7 replies on “Cancel Freedom?”
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
U.S. Constitution Amendment I
“An unconstitutional act is not law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed.”
Norton v. Shelby County, US Supreme Court Decision 118 US 425, 442 (1886)
And for anyone foolish enough to attempt to enforce such ridiculous dictates:
18 U.S. Code § 242 – Deprivation of rights under color of law
Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, or to different punishments, pains, or penalties, on account of such person being an alien, or by reason of his color, or race, than are prescribed for the punishment of citizens, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.
Is the corona virus real?
I certainly think so. That doesn’t mean there is not a lot of hype and misinformation surrounding it.
I’m beginning to hope the politicians and bureaucrats push this past its limit such that they provoke widespread reactions shattering their own power, rather than pulling partially back to a “new normal” which gets largely accepted and leaves that power intact and expanded.
So with this fear that the “hello, I am from the government and I am here to help you” crew has been feeding us do we now fear the next strain of the flu or the next cold outbreak.
I am 74, Patti 67 and we both had the china virus and it was basically meh.
In case you hadn’t noticed. with the “increase” of covid, flu. heart disease, stroke, etc. deaths are down an equal amount. In other words, the overall death rate YOY is virtually unchanged.
That is what some people might call a clue.
As for the Vitamin D science, your body might manufacture vitamin D if you are exposed to sunlight, but is that possible for all? I’ve read that people of color have a harder time manufacturing vitamin D from sunlight, making it all the more important that they get it from foods rich in Vitamin D..