“Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
Benjamin Franklin
“Reply to the Governor” in the Pennsylvania Assembly, Nov. 11, 1755
“So this is how liberty dies … with thunderous applause,” she says as the din of the legislature swells following the chief executive declaring, “In order to ensure our security and continuing stability, the republic will be reorganized … for a safe and secure society.”
Such government tyranny invariably begins with popular support first to resisting a “crisis” and then the tacit or explicit surrender of our liberties and freedoms in the name of safety and security.
“But it’s only temporary.” “It’s for the common good.” “These are extraordinary times.” “This will pass soon enough.” “It’ll be over soon.” “But it’s just a little freedom we’re giving up.”
We were sold the same lies when we were told the war on drugs would be short-lived and we had to consent to “probable cause” searches for contraband.
Half a century later, the “war” never ended and drugs are as prevalent and potent as ever.
Likewise, the “war on terror” would only last until “the terrorists” were “defeated” and their leader killed.
A whole generation of American children have grown up to fight and die in the Middle East nearly a decade after Osama bin Laden was shot, killed and buried at sea.
Liberals, who condemned President George W. Bush’s USA PATRIOT Act and have copies of Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” on their shelves are now demanding that Congress, President Donald Trump and Gov. Doug Ducey force Americans in general and Arizonans specifically to surrender their rights of free assembly and free movement.
Conservatives, who normally champion individual self-reliance, liberty and federalism — aka state independence from central government overreach — seem perfectly content to permit the federal government to usurp their rights, restrict free movement regardless of local control or public comment.
Have we truly learned nothing about government abuse over the last 20 years?
After panic-buying toilet paper are we panic-buying security?
The government officials who are announcing bans on public gatherings, demanding the closure of businesses or limits to the number of people who can gather appear to be doing so under the guise of emergency powers but in violation of civil liberties.
Some who have imposed curfews or closed businesses citywide have told the public they are doing so knowing their actions are illegal: “We’re going to err on the side of protecting lives if we can and we think it’s effective,” a Knoxville, Tenn., municipal staffer said. “We’re willing to risk legal action if it means lives will be saved.”
Criminal gangs behave this way, not municipalities. If civic leaders willingly violate the law, for whatever reason, then they cease to be governments and the rule of law means nothing. Without the law, there can be no freedom, and without justice, there can be no law.
The Constitution of the United States says many things about how our government should function on the federal and state level. However, it doesn’t say anything about forcing American citizens to remain prisoners in their homes without public debate and consent.
But it does say, several times, that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process. House arrest, blanket business closures and unconstitutional bans on public gathering by executive fiat deny Americans’ due process as protected by the 1st, 5th and 14th Amendments.
That being said, by all means, if you feel like you must self-isolate, then stay home. Make the choice to protect yourself, your family and your neighbors. If you think you are sick, or have been exposed or that your family has been exposed, stay home.
Rely on the CDC and state and county health agencies for medical information rather than cable news, which has exacerbated fears of COVID-19 with endless coverage, targeting the most vulnerable Americans: Those who are confined by health or choice to their homes.
We take the health of our city and community seriously and will continue to report the news about the COVID-19 pandemic, the response from various level from governments, health tips and advice from medical professionals and updates on treatment.
However, we will not permit any level of government to infringe on your civil rights without being challenged vigorously at every step. If governments infringe on your rights so easily now, they will do so again and again and again until the freedoms we and our ancestors fought to secure become a long-lost memory.
Do not rely on random social media posts from yahoos and wackos generating crackpot and conspiracy theories erroneously linking COVID-19 to 5G cell phones or contrails, or falsely suggesting COVID-19 is a hoax designed to affect the 2020 election, or created in a lab by a host of villains from Bill Gates to Kim Jong-Un to George Soros to Dick Cheney, presumably from his nondisclosed location.
If “facts” on social media are not sourced by a certified medical professional, don’t believe them.
The mass, illegal incarceration of thousands of law-abiding Americans — even in the relative comfort of a home — under the premise of “national security” or “public safety” has not held up well in the long view of history.
Violations of civil liberties under the premise of lawfulness occurred when President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus in 1861 during the American Civil War, an act repeated during the world wars due to Lincoln’s precedent.
The mass internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans in 1941 for no other reason than their ethnic background was a moral failing not rectified until 1988 and ascribed to “race prejudice, war hysteria and a failure of political leadership.”
Use reliable, sourced, independently verifiable news sources for updates. But whatever you do, do not be under the false impression that unlawful proclamations by government officials will hold up under legal scrutiny. Staying home by choice is liberty; if by government coercion, it is prison, no matter what the government calls it.
Christopher Fox Graham
Managing Editor
