Pirate's Cove

The editorial board forgets to mention what it looks like when threat passes. What are the conditions?

We the People, in Order to Defeat the Coronavirus
There are times when government must curtail individual freedoms to protect the public. But those measures must end once the threat passes.

The tension between private liberty and public health in the United States is hardly new. Americans have demanded the latter in times of plague and prioritized the former in times of well-being since at least the colonial era. Politicians and business leaders have alternately manipulated and deferred to that tension for about as long. (snip)

Temporary limitations on some liberties don’t seem to concern most Americans at this moment. Polls show that 70 to 90 percent of the public support measures to slow the spread of the virus, even if they require temporarily yielding certain freedoms and allowing the economy to suffer in the short run.

Indeed, it is wealthy and powerful conservatives and their allies, including President Trump and Fox News, who are driving the relatively small protests demanding a “liberation” of the states from oppressive lockdowns — as opposed to any overwhelming public sentiment to that effect.

First, they aren’t civil rights: they are Constitutional Rights, embedded in the federal and state Constitutions. NY State also has these provisions.

Second, it was a small group of people that fomented the American revolution against Britain. If some people are good with giving up Rights, that’s on them. It’s when the goalposts are moved, when more and more restrictions are placed on people, when they are losing their businesses, that a problem occurs.

Third, I’m betting that the editorial board wouldn’t be quite so cavalier if the Freedom Of The Press was being “curtailed”, eh? I also bet they don’t have a problem with all the May Day protests that are supposed to occur today, as they usually do on Commie Day, but they are being positioned as a “strike by essential workers”. I’m considered essential: I won’t be there.

Civil liberties may feel to some like a second-order problem when thousands of Americans are dying of a disease with no known treatment or vaccine. Yet while unprecedented emergencies may demand unprecedented responses, those responses can easily tip into misuse and abuse, or can become part of our daily lives even after the immediate threat has passed. For examples, Americans need look no further than the excesses of the post-Sept. 11 Patriot Act.

In all fairness, the rest of the piece is not that bad. Typical stupid and partisan, but not as bad. But, still, rather cavalier. Let Freedom Of The Press be put on the line and they’ll be out there protests. Speaking of protests

Protests planned for Friday in Raleigh against stay-at-home order

Raleigh police and State Capitol Police say they are aware of two planned protests scheduled for downtown Raleigh on Friday.

American Revolution 2.0 is hosting one of the events in Raleigh as part of a national movement to reopen states across the country. There are 52 protests planned on Friday, according to the group’s website.

“It’s a giant party. Let’s get together. Let’s have a good time. Let’s celebrate America,” said Josh Ellis, who founded the grassroots group on April 8. “This is unconstitutional. It should never have happened and it should never happen again.” (snip)

“We are insisting things don’t get crazy like that,” said Ellis, when asked about Friday’s event at the North Carolina State Capitol Building.

It’s reported that many may bring their firearms, like happened in Lansing, Michigan. Leave them home, folks, this is not a 2nd Amendment protest. Let’s keep it as non-partisan as possible. The article forgot to mention the time. It’s at noon.

There is apparently a group that is going to protest to stand up for the 1st and 2nd. Perhaps they should also be mentioning NC’s 12th, which allows protests.