As I write this, our nation is still in the grip of the impacts of the corona virus, both the medical and the economic.
But it's also in the grip of politics.
At the outset, I do not believe the steps taken to date approach anything unconstitutional. Many on the far right disagree with that, but many on the far right know as much about the Constitution as they know about brain surgery.
Constitutionality is not left up to the beholder. Were that to be the case, for some, anything of any type would be considered "unconstitutional."
We have a system in this country. There are 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial.
But many internet experts claim THEY know what is and is not constitutional, and THEY know that regardless of what the Supreme Court determines.
For my part, I've sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
But it's also in the grip of politics.
At the outset, I do not believe the steps taken to date approach anything unconstitutional. Many on the far right disagree with that, but many on the far right know as much about the Constitution as they know about brain surgery.
Constitutionality is not left up to the beholder. Were that to be the case, for some, anything of any type would be considered "unconstitutional."
We have a system in this country. There are 3 branches: legislative, executive and judicial.
The legislative branch makes the laws, the executive branch enforces the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the laws.
But many internet experts claim THEY know what is and is not constitutional, and THEY know that regardless of what the Supreme Court determines.
For my part, I've sworn to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic.
Having taken that oath, I've done my best to study the Constitution and the Supreme Court decisions that go with it.
And while, like everyone else remotely interested in the Constitution, I have found occasion to disagree with the Court's decisions and have cringed at their determination to allow politics to decide the outcomes, I am still bound by those decisions because, like it or hate it, those decisions have the force of law.
And while, like everyone else remotely interested in the Constitution, I have found occasion to disagree with the Court's decisions and have cringed at their determination to allow politics to decide the outcomes, I am still bound by those decisions because, like it or hate it, those decisions have the force of law.
Currently, certain governmental orders are in effect in the various states. (For purposes of this post, I'll be referring to events and situations here in Washington State, which is my home and my focus.) Let me say at the outset that I believe in most things, the Governor of this state is a mental midget with the common sense of a box of rocks.
But far too many people in this state share that peculiar affliction.
THE first sunny weekend in March, people lost their minds in this state and our neighbor to the south and we saw videos of crowded beaches and miles-long convoys of bumper to bumper cars.
When I saw those videos that Saturday and Sunday, I looked at my wife and told her: the governors of this state and Oregon are going to lock us down because these idiots lacked the common sense to distance themselves.
And by the following Tuesday, it was done.
But far too many people in this state share that peculiar affliction.
THE first sunny weekend in March, people lost their minds in this state and our neighbor to the south and we saw videos of crowded beaches and miles-long convoys of bumper to bumper cars.
When I saw those videos that Saturday and Sunday, I looked at my wife and told her: the governors of this state and Oregon are going to lock us down because these idiots lacked the common sense to distance themselves.
And by the following Tuesday, it was done.
In the minds of the deniers, we lack the ability to form coherent thoughts on our own. Deniers feel they have the right to tell us what and how to think, what and how to talk, and what and how to believe.
And if you don't toe their line, you're "brainwashed," or a "leftist," or "controlled"
Again, the Governor of this state has taken steps that are passed the line of stupidity: He shut down PRIVATE construction, but allowed PUBLIC construction to continue... which makes zero sense.
He shut down recreational fishing, typically one of the MOST social distanced activities one can engage in. He released convicts from the prison system to avoid the costs of treating them, because if the Navy can continue to operate with the close quarters of ship, then prisons can continue to operate within THEIR confines.
As a result, many of these released prisoners have decided to show their gratitude by committing additional crimes. Surely, Governor Inslee will make their new victims whole, won’t he?
But for the MOST part, I have agreed with what he has done. I would remind the reader that WE, THE PEOPLE, gave the Governor these powers just this past November when Senate Joint Resolution 8200 was passed by the voters of this state by a 2:1 margin.
The PEOPLE gave him the right to take these steps, which the deniers have either forgotten… or ignored. See, for many, the voice of the people is a sacred trust… as long as those people are singing the right song.
I take a different view: for example, I voted against SJR8200. But in a Republic, we have to accept the view of the majority at the ballot box unless the Supreme Court declares the law passed to be unconstitutional... which it seems they refuse to do to date.
Those are the rules of the game. If anyone reading this doesn’t like the rules, then feel free to change them. But until they ARE changed, live with it.
Those on the far right, of course, typically claim it's all unconstitutional, pointing to the Bill of Rights and pouting. “Rebellion” is in the air. Business to many of them is far more important than lives. Private concerns such as Costco now require the wearing of masks to shop in their stores, resulting in the completely absurd, bogus claim that such a requirement violates the RIGHTS of those who would shop there.
It’s not, of course. The US Supreme Court addressed this issue 115 years ago. (Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905)):
Rights, to hear them tell it, are rights. Under all circumstances, all the time... Supreme Court decision to the contrary notwithstanding.
For example, Freedom of Speech.
One non-serving individual in a local community group once accused me a few weeks ago of not "being a defender of liberty."
This same hypocrite posted this beauty today in that group, where, apparently, the First Amendment that is such a precious part of the Bill of Rights no longer applies:
As for me, I really don’t care what you think. Relying on the latest snake oil salesman, be it for a “cure” or a political position you happen to like? Believing that we should trade lives that cannot be rebuilt for businesses that can?
Why, that’s up to you.
But no one is in a position to tell anyone else what or how to think; what or how to write or talk what or how to believe.
Because only your garden variety hypocritical jack-booted thug does that.
Meanwhile, previously respected individuals show their true colors. An absolute failure to consider anything not aligning with their biases. Name calling. Condemnation. Mindless attacks. Childish, playground-style crap. Even attorneys have attacked me with childish crap merely because I don't agree with their philosophy, though none of them have yet to attack my legal conclusions.
As for me, I'm not telling anyone what to think. I'm suggesting they SHOULD think. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. If they're wrong, people will die unnecessarily.
It's easy to claim I don't see the "big picture." But how big is the picture if you're dying from this? How big is it if you're this guy, who lost his mother and two sisters in Seattle in 2 weeks? Think he's a "big picture" guy?
Is that picture big enough for you?
And if you don't toe their line, you're "brainwashed," or a "leftist," or "controlled"
Again, the Governor of this state has taken steps that are passed the line of stupidity: He shut down PRIVATE construction, but allowed PUBLIC construction to continue... which makes zero sense.
He shut down recreational fishing, typically one of the MOST social distanced activities one can engage in. He released convicts from the prison system to avoid the costs of treating them, because if the Navy can continue to operate with the close quarters of ship, then prisons can continue to operate within THEIR confines.
As a result, many of these released prisoners have decided to show their gratitude by committing additional crimes. Surely, Governor Inslee will make their new victims whole, won’t he?
But for the MOST part, I have agreed with what he has done. I would remind the reader that WE, THE PEOPLE, gave the Governor these powers just this past November when Senate Joint Resolution 8200 was passed by the voters of this state by a 2:1 margin.
The PEOPLE gave him the right to take these steps, which the deniers have either forgotten… or ignored. See, for many, the voice of the people is a sacred trust… as long as those people are singing the right song.
I take a different view: for example, I voted against SJR8200. But in a Republic, we have to accept the view of the majority at the ballot box unless the Supreme Court declares the law passed to be unconstitutional... which it seems they refuse to do to date.
Those are the rules of the game. If anyone reading this doesn’t like the rules, then feel free to change them. But until they ARE changed, live with it.
Those on the far right, of course, typically claim it's all unconstitutional, pointing to the Bill of Rights and pouting. “Rebellion” is in the air. Business to many of them is far more important than lives. Private concerns such as Costco now require the wearing of masks to shop in their stores, resulting in the completely absurd, bogus claim that such a requirement violates the RIGHTS of those who would shop there.
It’s not, of course. The US Supreme Court addressed this issue 115 years ago. (Jacobson v. Massachusetts, 197 U.S. 11 (1905)):
“The Constitution,” Justice John Marshall Harlan wrote for a 7-2 majority, “does not import an absolute right in each person to be, at all times and in all circumstances, wholly freed from restraint.” Instead, “a community has the right to protect itself against an epidemic.” Its members “may at times, under the pressure of great dangers, be subjected to such restraint, to be enforced by reasonable regulations, as the safety of the general public may demand.”Of course, the Supreme Court’s decision here, which still stands, is meaningless to the deniers. These internet experts are now talking open rebellion. Of course, when I inquire as to the method of “rebellion,” these keyboard warriors vaporize.
Back in the bad old days, the saying in the Army was: “Everybody wants to be Infantry, until it’s time to do Infantry stuff.”
Meanwhile, both the death toll and the positive case toll are climbing. As I write this, the "official" toll is listed at 83,500 plus with 1.4 million confirmed cases. This appears to be an “epidemic.”
Many opposed to any of this, of course, attack any number that puts their meme at risk. And, perhaps, with good reason.
There’s a great deal of confusion over what is and what isn’t a death resulting from COVID 19, the Wuhan Virus. Much has been made over the Fed paying more for confirmed cases, or suspected COVID cases.
The deniers claim that because the Fed is paying more (Maybe because they COST more?) for COVID cases, the death toll numbers are completely fake.
The best explanation I’ve seen putting that to rest comes from an EMS supervisor:
Meanwhile, both the death toll and the positive case toll are climbing. As I write this, the "official" toll is listed at 83,500 plus with 1.4 million confirmed cases. This appears to be an “epidemic.”
Many opposed to any of this, of course, attack any number that puts their meme at risk. And, perhaps, with good reason.
There’s a great deal of confusion over what is and what isn’t a death resulting from COVID 19, the Wuhan Virus. Much has been made over the Fed paying more for confirmed cases, or suspected COVID cases.
The deniers claim that because the Fed is paying more (Maybe because they COST more?) for COVID cases, the death toll numbers are completely fake.
The best explanation I’ve seen putting that to rest comes from an EMS supervisor:
The numbers: this one sticks in my craw like no other. “I heard they didn’t die from COVID-19, they died from a heart attack but they were positive so they called it COVID-19 to boost the numbers and scare people.” Stop. It. You know how many people died specifically from AIDS? Zero. AIDS patients die from pneumonia or some other illness normal, healthy people fight off because the AIDS virus destroyed their immune system and they couldn’t fight off the infection. But at the heart of it, they died because of AIDS. The corona virus attacks the respiratory system. The respiratory system is, in case you didn’t know, pretty important to sustaining life. It also has a huge impact on how other organ systems, like the heart, work. Guess what, when your lungs don’t work because they’ve basically filled with brick mortar because the virus is attacking them, that puts a bit of a strain on your ticker and very well can cause it to fail. So unless you have a basic understanding of or want to understand how interconnected organ systems are and how the body fundamentally functions: stop.
Early on in this pandemic, those whining about these steps kept making absurd comparisons between past COMPLETED epidemics and THIS episode, which had barely started. The statistical relevance of such comparisons is nonexistent as the only valid comparisons between epidemics are between COMPLETED epidemics. Pointing out the absurdity of such comparisons merely served to anger them. Lately, however, I see fewer and fewer comparisons of this type, as the numbers continue to climb and the absurdity of that scam becomes more readily apparent.
The upshot of that variety of idiocy is that in the past flu epidemics, we lost billions of people (rhetorically) and took none of these steps.... why are we doing it now? Why aren’t we doing what the Swedish Utopia is doing which, they claim, is nothing at all?
So, because we handled past epidemics incorrectly, we should now handle THIS epidemic incorrectly?
How come Winco groceries, Fred Meyers, Walgreens, etc are open and other stores aren't? How come churches are closed if those stores are opened?
Well, eating is a little more than a hobby. So are medical needs. And the Lord says "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Church, then, is a WANT to have, not a MUST have during an epidemic.)
But those making such bogus claims are among those who are ignorant about the Constitution, and THAT is a byproduct of an education plant that does not want us to know what it TRULY is and how it REALLY works and what are... and aren’t... actual rights.
For these people, "rights" are what THEY say they are.
They're not, of course. Two instances immediately come to mind where rights are frequently non-existent… without complaint from any of the deniers... Not ALL rights, you understand, but many of them.
1. The military.
You have essentially zero freedom of speech in the military. You're told where to be and when to be there. You're told where and how to live. You're told when and where to move to or from. And, of course, all or most all of the restrictions we here in this state are confronted with as a result of executive orders are also in effect in the military.
2. Prison
I don't even have to get into prison life.
These restrictions are in effect EVERY day. But that's different, the far right will claim.
How is it "different?"The upshot of that variety of idiocy is that in the past flu epidemics, we lost billions of people (rhetorically) and took none of these steps.... why are we doing it now? Why aren’t we doing what the Swedish Utopia is doing which, they claim, is nothing at all?
So, because we handled past epidemics incorrectly, we should now handle THIS epidemic incorrectly?
How come Winco groceries, Fred Meyers, Walgreens, etc are open and other stores aren't? How come churches are closed if those stores are opened?
Well, eating is a little more than a hobby. So are medical needs. And the Lord says "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them." (Church, then, is a WANT to have, not a MUST have during an epidemic.)
But those making such bogus claims are among those who are ignorant about the Constitution, and THAT is a byproduct of an education plant that does not want us to know what it TRULY is and how it REALLY works and what are... and aren’t... actual rights.
For these people, "rights" are what THEY say they are.
They're not, of course. Two instances immediately come to mind where rights are frequently non-existent… without complaint from any of the deniers... Not ALL rights, you understand, but many of them.
1. The military.
You have essentially zero freedom of speech in the military. You're told where to be and when to be there. You're told where and how to live. You're told when and where to move to or from. And, of course, all or most all of the restrictions we here in this state are confronted with as a result of executive orders are also in effect in the military.
2. Prison
I don't even have to get into prison life.
These restrictions are in effect EVERY day. But that's different, the far right will claim.
Rights, to hear them tell it, are rights. Under all circumstances, all the time... Supreme Court decision to the contrary notwithstanding.
For example, Freedom of Speech.
One non-serving individual in a local community group once accused me a few weeks ago of not "being a defender of liberty."
This same hypocrite posted this beauty today in that group, where, apparently, the First Amendment that is such a precious part of the Bill of Rights no longer applies:
As for me, I really don’t care what you think. Relying on the latest snake oil salesman, be it for a “cure” or a political position you happen to like? Believing that we should trade lives that cannot be rebuilt for businesses that can?
Why, that’s up to you.
But no one is in a position to tell anyone else what or how to think; what or how to write or talk what or how to believe.
Because only your garden variety hypocritical jack-booted thug does that.
Meanwhile, previously respected individuals show their true colors. An absolute failure to consider anything not aligning with their biases. Name calling. Condemnation. Mindless attacks. Childish, playground-style crap. Even attorneys have attacked me with childish crap merely because I don't agree with their philosophy, though none of them have yet to attack my legal conclusions.
As for me, I'm not telling anyone what to think. I'm suggesting they SHOULD think. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. If they're wrong, people will die unnecessarily.
It's easy to claim I don't see the "big picture." But how big is the picture if you're dying from this? How big is it if you're this guy, who lost his mother and two sisters in Seattle in 2 weeks? Think he's a "big picture" guy?
Is that picture big enough for you?
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