Urgency

Citizens across the United States are beginning to protest the continuing shutdown of our economy and the disastrous loss of jobs that has already occurred. Good!

The catastrophist brigades—increasingly manned by Democratic Party operatives and led by predominently Democrat Governors who are rapidly becoming petty tyrants and their trained hamsters in the media who selectively report the news with the intent of engendering fear—have begun their standard name-calling attacks. The protesters are "far right." The protesters don't care "about life" or about "science" or about their own children (even though children tend not to get the virus and suffer only mild symptoms when they do).

After all, closing beaches and parks, filling skate board areas with sand, defining what goods, services ands businesses are "essential," harrassing, fining, or arresting individual citizens for fishing, or running, or canoeing are part of the catastrophists' virtue signaling. And when they're not criticizing the protesters, they're busy whining like helpless children telling anyone who'll listen that Donald Trump isn't helping them "enough."

William McGurn comments:

There they go again, ordinary Americans denying science and refusing to defer to their betters.

In state capitals across the country, citizens are protesting the continued coronavirus lockdowns. A CNN critic calls them “Covid-19 deniers,” notwithstanding that the science they allegedly deny still lacks conclusive answers to some of the most fundamental questions about the coronavirus.

In the past week, demonstrations have broken out in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, North Carolina, Utah, Virginia and Washington. In Pennsylvania the state legislature got into the act, sending Gov. Tom Wolf a bill that would order much of the state re-opened more quickly than he would like. More protests are planned for this week ...

The do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do behavior of those imposing these rules isn’t boosting trust in authorities, either, whether it be Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot going out to get her hair done or New York Mayor Bill de Blasio being driven to his gym even as they were imploring everyone else to stay home. On Monday Mark Zuckerberg told George Stephanopoulos on ABC News that Facebook now classifies “a lot of the stuff” protesters are saying as “harmful misinformation”—and that Facebook will “take that down.”

Maybe the governors and those Democrat politicians who actively support the continuation of the shutdown should put their money and livelihood where their virtue signaling is. How about this:

Every local and state politician who is not presiding over a hot zone while at the same time telling us that he/she supports and empathizes with those workers and small business owners who are now unemployed or out-of-business, but further tells us that the shut down must continue until "more testing" is available should: (1) stop getting a paycheck; (2) stop paying ALL of their staff, and (3) consider furloughing all "non-essential" local and state employees -- immediately and until their state re-opens. All U.S representatives and senators who demand that state shutdowns continue indefinitely or who suggest that "more testing" (amount TBD) and comprehensive contact-tracing (details TBD) be implemented should: (1) stop getting a paycheck, and (2) stop paying ALL of their staff -- immediately and until the entire country with the exception of existing hot zones) reopens. That'll put a little bit of their skin in the game and maybe, just maybe, a little urgency in their re-opening plans.