(Chuck Muth) – In response to growing citizen anger – as well as the size and frequency of organic street protests and rallies against the #SisolakShutdown – Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak has scheduled a 5:00 pm press conference today purportedly to “lay out the State’s criteria to begin re-opening.”
Let’s hope, for once, he gets something right in the way he’s handled this mess.
Assuming he won’t – why should this time be any different? – our friend Rich Becker inked an absolutely FABULOUS, well-reasoned letter detailing all the ways in which the governor has botched his response to the Wuhan virus in Nevada.
And Richard’s provided the text of the letter, which you can copy-and-paste and send directly to the governor and your state and local officials, including links to their contact information.
Assembly GOP Issues Paper-Thin Framework
The Nevada Republican Assembly Caucus released what they billed as a “Framework to Reopen Nevada” on Monday. They lost me at step #1: Follow California’s lead.
Um, wouldn’t we be better served, if we’re not going to be masters of our own destiny, to at least follow the lead of, you know, like, Arizona or Utah?
It also didn’t help that they called for the appointment of an unelected “bi-partisan” task force “to advise on the strategy to re-open Nevada.”
Isn’t that what, um, the LEGISLATURE is supposed to do? Where’s the call for a Special Session so they can do what they were, you know, elected to do.
Even more strangely, since most Republicans in the Assembly represent rural communities, they made no mention of treating our rural counties differently from the urban centers of Reno and Las Vegas. Apparently, they support the governor’s one-size-fits-all shutdown.
In other words, their “framework” is made of tissue paper. Crumple and toss.
How to Boil a Frog During a Chinese Biological Attack
OK, for parents who now find themselves homeschooling, whether they want to or not, here’s a great civics lesson you can share today.
Let’s start off with “How to Boil a Frog,” as explained by Wikipedia…
“The boiling frog is a fable describing a frog being slowly boiled alive. The premise is that if a frog is put suddenly into boiling water, it will jump out, but if the frog is put in tepid water which is then brought to a boil slowly, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.”
Got it? OK, onward…
The second part of today’s lesson is to share with your children this quote from Founding Father Ben Franklin…
“They who can give up essential Liberty to obtain a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
With that in mind, here’s a video of an American trying to drive into Florida who was stopped at a coronavirus checkpoint where officers with the Florida Highway Patrol informed the driver he had to disclose if he was coming from New York, Louisiana, New Jersey or Connecticut and sign a form to that effect.
The driver asked what would happen if he chose not to answer. The police officer informed him that it would be a $500 fine. The driver again opted not to answer the question. Another police officer then came over and advised him that “you have to” and to refuse was “an arrestable offence.”
Recognizing that there’s no way for a lowly citizen to win such a battle with armed officers of the law regardless of how many constitutional rights were being violated, the citizen ultimately was forced to declare that he hadn’t been to any of the four states and was allowed to proceed.
Of course, some fair-weather citizens will immediately say: “Just comply. If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear. It’s no big deal.”
But it is. And longtime readers will recall that I suffered a similar experience with the Fruits & Nuts enforcers who banned me from entering California nine years ago.
But let’s go back even further…
Way back in the 1970’s, governments all across the country began setting up random “sobriety checkpoints.” There was no “probable cause” for the stops. They just started stopping and checking everyone.
And Americans, in the interest of “public safety,” gave up a little of their essential liberty.
Then the heat got turned up a little more with metal detectors at airports – along with “random searches” of your bags even if nothing suspicious popped up on the screen.
That was followed up in the mid-80’s with a totally non-sensical two-question interrogation when checking in…
- “Has anyone unknown to you asked you to carry an item on this flight?”
- “Have any of the items you are traveling with been out of your immediate control since the time you packed them?”
Because as we know, any terrorist carrying a bomb in his suitcase would be tripped up when confronted by these questions because, after all, a terrorist would never LIE just to get on the plane, would he?
Then came 9/11. And the heat got cranked up a little more.
Once again, in the interest of “public safety,” the government created the TSA and forced every air passenger to subject themselves to not only electronic searches and confiscation of their toothpaste, but pat-downs and strip searches.
And Americans caved in and accepted it.
Radar-gun technology brought us speed traps. Which were followed by red light cameras. Which have exploded into video surveillance of public spaces all across the country. All in the interest of “public safety.”
And Americans have accepted it with barely a peep of protest.
Now, once again, the heat is being turned up under the guise of public safety as it relates to the coronavirus.
The police department in Raleigh, NC declared that protesting against the government was a “non-essential” activity, while other governments banned church services – even church services conducted in the privacy of your own car.
Then there was the guy who got chased down by two speedboats and arrested in California for paddle-boarding alone out in the middle of the ocean. Meanwhile, in Michigan the governor has banned you from going to your own vacation home or cottage.
And the sheep among us are just sitting back and taking it. More essential liberties being stripped away, all in the name of “public safety.”
These “summer soldiers and sunshine patriots” (see: Thomas Paine) seem to be taking the advice of former Texas gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams, who said in 1990 about rape and bad weather…
“If it’s inevitable, just relax and enjoy it.”
If you, instead, object, protest or fight back – you’re labeled a “right-wing” nutcase who wants people to die.
In concluding today’s Civics lesson with your children, wrap up with this quote from former President Ronald Reagan…
“Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.”
Amen (don’t worry; you can say that in homeschools).
Class dismissed.
Drive-By Muthings
* The Centers for Disease Control reports the largest spike ever in reported cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) today after the President announced he was suspending all immigration into the United States during the COVID-19 crisis.
* (Warning: Potty Mouth Ahead) – One stricken TDS sufferer, Beto O’Rourke, responded: “Who the fuck do you think is working on the farms and feed lots, in the packing houses and processing plants at a time where we are struggling to feed ourselves?” How did this guy NOT get the Democrat presidential nomination?
* When President Trump said he had total authority to reopen the government, the left, the media (but I repeat myself) and many governors had a cow. No such authority exists, they yammered. But as “The Great One,” Mark Levin, noted recently, when it comes to INTERSTATE COMMERCE, the feds DO, in fact, hold the hammer. So in context, the president was right. Again.
* Let’s say you qualify for $300/week in unemployment. Then you add to that an additional $600/week from the federal government – for a total of $900/week. Then let’s say you’re offered a full-time job paying $12/hour. That comes to…$480/week.
Thank goodness the kids who went to public school probably can’t do the math on this!
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“I’m not really a fan of Mitt Romney. I don’t really want his advice.” – President Donald Trump
“Nancy Pelosi said ‘Congress will not return to session until May 4th unless there is an emergency.’ Let that sink in!” – Lori Hendry
“In the annals of propaganda, CNNLOL’s cynical and dishonest attempt to turn Chris Cuomo into some kind of selfless coronavirus folk hero is the fake newsiest fake news in all of Fakenewsdom.” – John Nolte
“Hospital analysis: Nearly half of COVID-19 patients are obese.” – San Francisco Chronicle, 4/21/20
“I am frustrated to see dozens of obese shopper’s don masks and gloves to ‘protect’ their health while they fill their carts with the soda, chips, frozen pizza and processed foods that are far more deadly than the virus. Why do our public health discussions not address these ‘pandemics’ which are far more widespread and take many more lives?” – Dr. Jennifer Jane Fontius
“A five dollar per bottle Pinot Noir poured at the kitchen counter tastes just as good as the $18 per glass version served at a restaurant.” – Rich Galen, Mullings.com
“Nevada can reopen if face masks are required. Six states are doing it. Let’s try ASAP.” – Former Nevada State Sen. & Las Vegas City Councilman Bob Coffin
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
RSS