By Michael Greer
As President Reagan warned, “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction”. Are we that generation?
I have been stunned at how quickly many of us have been so willing to give up our God given, Constitutionally guaranteed Rights. Correct me if I’m wrong, but there is no asterisk after “inalienable Rights” or “shall not be infringed”.
I always believed Americans had freedom in their DNA. We were the pioneers, the trailblazers, the innovators, the free thinkers. The Left learned long ago fear was a great way to control people. They have been very successful at scaring us since then. I remember in grade school training to “duck and cover”, the fear of nuclear war had people building bomb shelters in their back yards. We’ve had “acid rain” fear, hole in the ozone fear, fluoride fear, mad cow disease fear, numerous pandemics, the fear of terrorism and, of course, climate change. Each one of these have eroded our freedom. And each one is touted and encouraged by the Liberal media with little skepticism.
But what is happening right now is far beyond anything I ever imagined. We Americans are responsible people, when told if we all stayed home for 15 days it would flatten the curve and prevent our hospitals from being overwhelmed, we were happy to help. But if we had known it would turn into house arrest indefinitely, we NEVER would have agreed. They managed to herd us into the corral and they’ve locked the gate behind us. They will keep us in prison as long as possible. Governor Murphy of New Jersey said last week the lock down wouldn’t end until there was a viable vaccine. That could be never. There is no viable vaccine for the regular flu. People’s lives are being destroyed, the economy is being destroyed, our way of life is being destroyed, while being told every second, “Stay Home, Stay Safe” and “We’re in this together”. No, we aren’t!! We’re being told this by people who have jobs and are being paid. They cheerfully tell us this is the “new normal”. I don’t accept their “new normal”.
The Left isn’t letting this crisis go to waste. They aren’t even secretive about it. They come right out and say this is the opportunity to implement their socialist, globalist, climate change policies. The Democrat majority House stimulus bills have little to do with COVID-19. It’s a win, win for the Left. They can hurt Trump AND Cloward/Piven us into Socialism. They are demanding a minimum income for everyone, the New Green Deal (that gives Government control of the means of production), no voter ID ever, only mail in ballots, open borders, stimulus for illegal aliens, amnesty, basically, everything in their play book.
As the days pass the Democrat Governors become more and more dictatorial. They decide what is essential and what is not. Pot stores, liquor stores, abortion clinics are essential…but AA, fellowship, weddings, funerals….and churches, where people could get the spiritual sustenance they desperately need in times like this…are NOT! We can walk on the wet sand at the beach but not the dry. We can’t sit on the beach or play or swim, even though any doctor will tell you sun, exercise, and companionship boost our immune systems. Criminals are being let out of prison where many of them commit more crimes and are being replaced by hairdressers, barbers, restaurant owners, and Mom’s taking their children to the park.
Michigan Governor, Gretchen Wilmer, says citizens can’t visit relatives or go to their vacation homes, while she goes to hers. Her legislature has voted to restrict her power and she ignores them. As the numbers of COVID-19 cases go down she becomes more restrictive. Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker tells his citizens they can only have two people in a boat at a time, while his family flew to Florida (that is open) to vacation. Mayor Lori Lightfoot of Detroit said people would be arrested if they had a party. While getting her hair cut she won’t allow the citizens to get theirs cut. She justified it by saying she was a public figure and needed to be well groomed. I guess we naughty children don’t need to be. Los Angeles Mayor Garcetti said if any businesses tried to open he would cut off their water and electricity. He has mandated that everyone wear a mask when out of their homes. I have to ask, if masks work, why do we need to social distance? Do doctors social distancing in operating rooms?
We have no Rights at the moment. Can we recover them? Are you sure? Do we have the Right of free speech? What happened to Dr. Erickson’s video? Prager U videos? What happens to any post on Facebook that questions COVID-19 policy? I posted a Prager U video the other day and a window opened saying it was partially false and that Facebook had officially listed Prager U as “fake news”. They didn’t say what exactly was false nor give any evidence that proved it false, it’s simply an opinion they don’t like. Twitter kicks Conservatives off everyday for “violating their community standards”…..whatever they are.
Do we have the right to petition our representatives, redress our grievances? Protests aren’t being given permits. Some Governors have said there can be no rallies or protests. Governor Newsom fenced off the Capital so no one could enter the building or protest on the grounds and had parking lots roped off. Police that were ordered to stand down when ANTIFA or BLM rioted, looted, and burned things, now show up in riot gear to arrest people waving American flags.
Do we have the Right to worship? Ministers have done everything to hold services following the social distancing, mask wearing, or in cars, but every attempt has been shut down. Do we have the Right to meet and gather? No.
How about the Right to bear arms? In many states we might to be able to own a gun but we can’t “bear” or use it. If the Left is in control they WILL take those Rights away.
Do we even have the Right to pursue happiness? There are going to be serious mental health problems caused by this isolation. People not able to be with their loved ones in hospitals or nursing homes to give them comfort, hold their hand, hold them in their arms. People not able to mourn loved ones lost to the virus, people not able to get diagnosed for medical conditions, people not able to get needed surgeries or dental work. Humans need human contact as much as they need oxygen and food.
The Liberal media does nothing to put things in perspective. They support the lockdown completely, they spread the gloom and doom passionately. They give us the death count daily and never question it’s accuracy even as dozens of doctors report being forced to list COVID as the cause of death when the patient hasn’t been tested for it.
They continue to tell us to stay home when 66% of COVID-19 patients WERE staying home. These aren’t stupid people, they know isolation, loss of employment, loss of income, watching a business you sacrificed for closed, loss of companionship, is devastating, but they don’t ask about it, they don’t mention it, they don’t care if they think it will cause Trump to lose the election. They want to keep us scared.
Did any reporter ask Fauci why he said masks didn’t help and now says we may have to wear masks indefinitely? Has any reporter asked Cuomo why he said March 9th that New York had the best hospitals and were prepared for the virus but more recently tried to blame Trump for not having enough ventilators? When Cuomo said the deaths at nursing homes were caused by “Trump’s CDC recommendations” did a reporter point out that it isn’t “Trump’s CDC” and that HE signed an EO requiring nursing homes to take COVID-19 patients AFTER it was known that the elderly were the most vulnerable. If I recall correctly the first COVID-19 deaths were all in a nursing home in Washington state. Did they ask why he didn’t send them to the hospital ship Trump sent him or the Javits Center Trump had turned into a hospital in days? It is due to the media coverage of Cuomo and their praise of his handling of the virus that has caused his high approval ratings. At the same time the media takes every opportunity to criticize Florida Governor De Santis. Florida had 2000 deaths (not one at The Villages) compared to New York’s 28,000 deaths. De Santis took immediate action to protect the elderly but receives nothing but criticism.
New York has the highest number of deaths, New Jersey next, Connecticut next and Massachusetts fourth. All Democrat states with the most severe lock down policies. Does the media point this out? Do they point out there are more deaths of people over 90 than under 65? Or that more children were hospitalized with regular flu than COVID? That unless you have two or more underlying health issues your chance of surviving COVID-19, without social distancing or mask wearing, are 99.9%? Do they make any mention of how wrong all the models were in predicting how many would die? Or that THAT was the reason we agreed to the 15 day lock down in the first place? They tell us to believe the scientists. WHICH ONES? Fauci who said masks don’t work, then said we may need to wear them & social distance indefinitely and NOW says isolation will cause irreparable damage to people? Or the WHO that said it couldn’t be passed human to human, that praised China’s handling of the virus when China lied about it, when it started, where it started and allowed people from Wuhan to travel to other countries?
Should we dismiss out of hand the doctors who say there was never a reason to shut down the country for more than 15 days, that we quarantine the sick and vulnerable, not the healthy, or that they are being pressured to list COVID-9 as cause of death when they don’t believe it was, or that the lock down will kill more people than the virus? Aren’t they scientists?
The media has made it impossible to believe anyone or anything. They haven’t just been mistaken, they have lied to us. Just last week they were caught, once AGAIN, editing a video to do damage to someone they disagree with. Chuck Todd gave a pathetic half apology but the damage is done. More people saw his show than his apology.
They have succeeded in making us scared of each other, of human contact. For many that fear may never go away. They have caused people to believe those who disagree with them are evil. They are not impartial, they are not giving objective, unbiased information. They don’t care about you not having a job, they have one and they’re getting paid. They don’t care that last month Tennessee had 118 opioid deaths but only 88 COVID deaths. They don’t care what damage is done to you or your family. I despise them.
Michael Greer
Michael Greer retired from the film/television industry and is the co-organizer of the Santa Monica Tea Party and the Los Angeles Tea Party, on the board of directors of the Citizens’ Alliance for Property Rights and was a member of the Republican Central Committee for the 41st Assembly District. Her website is: http://madderthanhell.wordpress.com/
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official position of Citizens Journal.
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