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-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Are You Ready To Have Your Civil Liberties Severely Restricted? Because That Is Where This Thing Is Headed…
2020-03-20
Or not. Isn’t the biggest army in the world American unorganized militia?
[End of the American Dream] One of the things that sets the United States apart from the rest of the world is that we are supposed to have certain civil liberties guaranteed to us by the U.S. Constitution. Of course the U.S. Constitution has been absolutely trampled on by many of our leaders for decades, but most Americans still deeply cherish the basic rights which are enshrined in our founding document.

Unfortunately, many of our politicians are convinced that all of those rights can be taken away during a "national emergency", and these days the bar for declaring a "national emergency" has been set very low. Yes, this coronavirus pandemic is a major threat, and experts are warning that millions of Americans could die. But in the process of fighting this virus, we don’t want to relinquish the freedoms that previous generations of Americans fought so hard to secure for us. As history has demonstrated, once certain freedoms are gone they can be exceedingly difficult to get back. We are now being warned that this pandemic could last 18 months or longer, and losing any of our freedoms for that long is absolutely unthinkable.

Posted by:Besoeker

#17  Yeah?
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-03-20 23:42  

#16  1942:



2020:


Posted by: Anomalous Sources   2020-03-20 20:03  

#15  Huh.
Borders,
End to uncontrolled immigration,
Healthcare for all,
Tax review,
Transport industry crash,
Hospitality industry crash,
Prima donna boutiques of food and service shutdown,
public gatherings, parties, mobs, gangs restricted,
expanded work-from-home policies,
smog, pollution, ungreening reduced...

What's the downside?
Posted by: Skidmark   2020-03-20 18:03  

#14  Yeah, so if Xi did, it G*d will get him for it.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-03-20 15:15  

#13  ^No sparrow falls?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-20 13:42  

#12  And plague is an act of G*d.

G*d or Xi Jinping. I think that's a subject for debate.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2020-03-20 13:29  

#11  According to the Quarantine article, Italian city-states Genoa and Venice had some success blocking the Black Death in the middle ages by quarantining all ships in the harbor for 40 days. Later discovered the incubation period for B.D. is 37 days.

Probably seemed a little over-the-top for the shippers, 40 days sitting on your boat in the harbor, but medicine is somewhat more advanced now.
Posted by: Bobby   2020-03-20 12:10  

#10  ^I posted A brief history of quarantine for a reason. The reason being that it shows that (US) constitutional rights DO NOT apply during plague. Which, if you think about it, makes sense.
Briefly. Your Constitution (see I even used upper case - because respect) speaks of "Inalienable rights given by G*d". Inalienable by whom? Inalienable by the government, because government is not G*d. But not inalienable by G*d who gave them in the first place. And plague is an act of G*d.
I'm only half-joking
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-20 11:56  

#9  I have also noticed the whittling away at our rights and freedoms. One view of this is John Perry's Bill of Rights Lite.
Posted by: magpie   2020-03-20 11:36  

#8  Amen. I've said my piece on this and will let events take their course.
Posted by: Lex   2020-03-20 10:54  

#7  Lex has been a prolific and interesting commentator; G(r)omgoru a long-time, prolific contributor. Leave us not turn on one another because of a difference of opinion about the present condition.
Posted by: Bobby   2020-03-20 10:22  

#6  Put me down in the "we're WAY over-reacting" camp. Its one thing to discourage large sporting events and concerts and that sort of thing, but to close restaurants and bars is basically a totalitarian's dream scenario and a nightmare to those who love liberty. We no longer have the right to peacefully assemble and associate?
Posted by: Crusader   2020-03-20 10:10  

#5  “Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves”.

- William Pitt, 1783
Posted by: Menhadden Shomotle5673   2020-03-20 09:30  

#4  @#2: Becoming?
Posted by: Albemarle Bourbon4037   2020-03-20 05:04  

#3  A Brief History of Quarantine
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-20 03:12  

#2  Lex becoming the new Herb?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru   2020-03-20 02:52  

#1  First time as tragedy.
Second (this) time as farce.
Posted by: Lex   2020-03-20 00:38  

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