America is now in the 8th month of its trial period for Socialism. Our state governments have done something that has most assuredly never been done in the history of mankind. Governors have essentially quarantined an entire population of healthy people! Historically quarantines have been put in place to separate sick people, who may be contagious, from healthy people. Because we don’t have the courage, or won’t take the initiative, to make our own decisions we allow government to tell us what to do and when to do it. Have you enjoyed being told when and at which stores you could shop? Were you angry that you couldn’t play golf until May, or work out at your favorite gym? Are you sad that children, especially poor children, are not getting a proper education? We have been told we can’t visit loved ones in nursing homes. Have you taken a minute to cry for those early dementia patients who can’t understand why their loved ones aren’t visiting? How sad for those who are dying alone in nursing homes and hospitals. Have any of us thought about the anguish this has caused for their families? Are you furious that you couldn’t visit your place of worship, even though the First Amendment to our Constitution insures that government can’t keep you from doing so? Have you thought about the millions of hard working Americans who own(ed) small businesses? Many of these people cashed in their retirement plans, maxed out their credit cards, took out second mortgages on their homes, and borrowed money from friends and relatives, in an attempt to achieve their version of the American dream. Many American Governors waived their royal scepters and decided which of those establishments would live or die. Our Constitution specifically establishes that branches of government are equal but separate. Too many Governors took the opportunity to increase their power at the expense of their legislatures, and more importantly their citizens. Baron Acton’s quote: “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely” proves to be as true today as when he said it in the 19th century.
It is my experience that Americans are, for the most part, very compliant people. That is, when we are asked to do something that makes sense. Let’s take a look at a small sampling of the insane demands made by multiple elected officials. In May the Los Angeles Mayor opened beaches with one incredible restriction. People could walk and exercise on the wet sand but were prohibited from touching the dry sand. Anyone who has ever gone to a beach recognizes the challenge of getting to the wet sand without going through the dry sand! In Nevada, casinos were allowed to open with a maximum of 50% capacity. At the same time churches were allowed to open but were limited to 50 parishioners. Is the virus partial to people of faith? Do Christians transmit the virus more readily than slot machine players? In Michigan we were not allowed to go to barbershops or beauty salons yet marijuana shops, lottery outlets, and liquor stores, were deemed essential and allowed to remain open. Non-essential medical procedures were cancelled. Need a knee or hip replacement? I’ll let you know when you can get that done said Dr. Whitmer. Need an abortion? Step right up to your nearest Planned Parenthood clinic and they’ll remove your burden. Our Governor made so many idiotic, inconsistent, decisions as to make her the butt of jokes. The list of these ridiculous edicts is endless, and ongoing. I won’t bore you by listing any others.
We did confirm something we kind of knew before. We learned that the rules are for the little people, not the rule makers. Americans were forced to endure many in your face privileges exhibited by elites. In San Francisco, little people are not allowed to go to beauty salons. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, found that ruling annoying when she needed some beauty work. So she called her salon and asked them to open for her. So without a mask she got her hair done. When she was questioned about her actions she said the salon owner set her up, and thus demanded an apology! If republican legislators had Pelosi’s balls America would be much better off. I could list further examples of this elitism from New York to California. Again there are too many to list.
We are also getting a sneak peek at government run, Socialist, healthcare. Do we want to give our government the power to decide which citizens live and which will die? It is clear that those on the Left want that power. We aren’t far enough into the pandemic to calculate the consequences of the government’s decision to lock us down. We do know the government, as mentioned above, shut down nonessential procedures in hospitals. The fear about the COVID virus spewed by government officials and the Press was enough to keep people from going to hospitals and clinics for potentially life-saving tests. At first glance there seems to be a silver lining in the COVID pandemic. There have been far fewer cases of cancer diagnosed across the U.S. Of course that is not a silver lining. It is certainly because screening for the disease fell dramatically between March and June of this year. Epic, a vendor of electronic medical records, reported that screenings for breast, cervical, and colon cancers, dropped by 90% after the declaration of the national emergency. Dr. Norman Sharpless the Director of the National Cancer Institute quantified this consequence. He said, in Science magazine, the 6 months of reduced screenings and the resulting delays in diagnosis and treatment, could lead to as many as 10,000 extra deaths just from breast and colorectal cancer over the next 10 years. That’s just two types of cancer! What might the number be for all disease that could be cured if detected early?
K-12 schools and many colleges and universities have been closed since early this year. Perhaps a reason the incidence of reported child abuse is down is because a large percentage of child abuse is identified by teachers and school administrators. So it may not be true that child abuse is on the decline. It is likely that our children are still being abused but we won’t know about it until they get back to school. I hope they live that long. Reports of people under the age of 25 seriously considering suicide are up many fold. We won’t know for months how many people suffered depression leading to suicide, drug and alcohol abuse, or spousal abuse. Until things get back to some semblance of normalcy we won’t know how many people lost their jobs forever. President Trump said: “We must be careful not to allow the cure to be worse than the disease.” One could argue that we have already violated that premise.
They say, follow the science? But the science, understandably, changes as we learn more about the disease. First we were told that masks were of little, or no, value. Indeed, we were told they could be dangerous! A month later we were told that we were likely to kill grandma if we didn’t stay in the house and wear a mask when we went out. We didn’t know much about the virus when it first hit our shores. One thing we knew very early on was that the elderly were most at risk of getting, and dying, from the disease. Still the Governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and my home state of Michigan, forced nursing homes to accept COVID patients. Thousands of elderly citizens in each of these states died needlessly because of Governor’s churlish decisions. Trump has been blamed by democrats for all of the COVID deaths in the nation. Every sane person understands he had nothing to do with these imbecilic decisions. All of the states mentioned above, after too many months, finally rescinded those edicts. Our Governor Whitmer recently did so, kicking and screaming, after our legislature sued her. We have made huge strides in dealing with the disease. Upwards of 96% of those who get the disease survive. For those under the age of 55 the survival rate is over 99%! You wouldn’t know that if you get your news from newspapers, network news, CNN, MSNBC, or NPR. These news outlets are in collusion with democrats to keep Americans frightened. Socialists have learned it is easier to keep people in line when they are terrified. Therefore democrats, and their affiliated news outlets do everything they can to keep us frightened. For those who would argue we have made no gains against the virus I ask just one question. If you had the choice as to when you tested positive for COVID would you prefer to get it today, or back in March?
I rest my case. We have been moving ever so slowly toward Socialism for quite a long time. If the democrats maintain control of the House, gain control of the Senate, and win the White House, things will change quickly. We will go from Capitalism to Socialism in 2 to 4 years. Our government will move to put an end to the 1st and 2nd Amendments to our Constitution. Google, Facebook, and Twitter, are already censoring comments from sources they fear could harm Joe Biden’s presidential run. Even if the comments are true. It is reported that over 50% of Americans get their news from these 3 social networks. Places of worship are being closed, and we are being told how many of us can get together at any one time. So long 1st Amendment. Both Biden and his Socialist/Communist running mate have stated they intend to take guns away from law abiding citizens. They will simply ignore the 2nd Amendment. College students think it sucks that they are not enjoying the full college experience because of lockdowns. They think it sucks that the American people aren’t paying their tuition. I wonder how they will like it when the State tells them which school they must attend, or if they will be allowed to attend college at all. Joe Biden has promised to raise taxes. The government will decide who gets healthcare, and when. Forget steaks and hamburgers the government will ultimately decide what, and how much we eat. Biden and Harris have said that on day one they will cancel permits for drilling oil on federal land. When that happens, our country will no longer be energy self-sufficient. We will be forced to buy energy from the Middle East again. That means we will be forced to send our brave soldiers to that hell hole to die so that we can keep our homes heated and our lights on. When the wind doesn’t blow, or the sun doesn’t shine, we will need to get used to rolling brownouts. Millions of employees in the oil and gas industry aren’t the only ones who will need to learn new occupations. Run a google search of the byproducts of petroleum to discover which additional workers will be displaced when the oil and gas industries are eliminated. You see folks saying you will discontinue oil and gas as a source of energy carries many dangerous side effects. The self-serving fools at the top of our government can’t begin to understand all of the dire ramifications. Many of us won’t even know what hit us. I pray, for the sake of future generations, the scenario described above doesn’t play out.