UPDATE November 14, 2020: Democrats decide that government grants us freedom
I don’t have any family gathering to cancel this year. I won’t have to pull my curtains for fear of the police peering into my dining room. No overstuffed van will pull into my garage so the occupants can sneak into my house without being seen. I won’t listen in fear for a hard knock at my front door to check and see if I have more than the permitted number of house guests.
No doubt there are many Americans who will do all of these things, especially those living in states where freedom is a Democratic Party prerogative.
Many of you have already had your Thanksgiving threatened. NBC 5 reported the stark command issued by Chicago’s mayor on Thursday:
You must cancel the normal Thanksgiving plans.53
“You must” is the kind of affront to our freedom from officialdom that pandemic fear bullies us into accepting. With Joe Biden set to take office in just two months we can expect big city Democrats to flex their muscles and bring the hammer down on the people who put them in office. We fear the same thing and more from Biden as those calling the shots for his party relish the thought of controlling the greatest testament to freedom in the world.
Who owns your freedom? Guess again.
There is nothing like an economic shutdown to show Americans that freedom rests in the hands of government and not the people. America must be thoroughly broken before it can be rebuilt in the Democratic Party’s image. There is nothing better than a lockdown to accomplish that, except for one thing.
What’s more insidious than fear of a failing economy? Fear for our freedom. Freedom flows from the people. It is not something bestowed on us by the government. This is a concept at the root of the democracy Democrats sought office vowing to defend and now plan to take away with everything from crushing tax hikes, to hijacking our health care system, to destroying our sovereignty with open borders, to abolishing free market capitalism, to sneaking in WOKE-inspired legislation to control what we say and the media we can access.
Conservatives blame Democrats for threatening socialism, but we will be lucky if socialism is all we suffer. This is about liberal totalitarian Democrats taking away our freedoms because the American people asked them to. You may not be able to invite your extended family over for Thanksgiving, but rest assured the Democratic Party will be in attendance whether you like it or not.
UPDATE November 25, 2020: how many freedoms are missing from your Thanksgiving?
One of the reasons people like Thanksgiving so much is because it has so little baggage. It’s an eating and drinking holiday. Most people have time off from work. We get to see old friends. Even family members we’d prefer not to see at all are tolerable after the third or fourth glass of wine.
Not this year. Thanksgiving took a huge hit as our freedoms slip away one after another. Here are three that won’t protect you this year.
Freedom of movement
When was the last time you thought about this one? Freedom of movement took a big hit from shelter in place orders, curfews, and state travel bans. Even walking a few doors down the block to a neighbor’s Thanksgiving celebration could be a big mistake if you live in Oregon and a neighbor who wasn’t invited picks up the phone and calls the local constabulary.
Perversely, there’s never been a better time to travel. Deals are dropping from the sky. If you want to visit Cuomo’s New York, Whitmer’s Michigan, or Kate Brown’s Oregon you can do it on the cheap, but why would anyone want to?
Right to privacy: leave us alone
Unless you’re doing something flagrantly illegal most of us consider our homes to be sanctuaries where officialdom can’t intrude. Thank the Fourth Amendment for that.
This year the right to be left alone doesn’t apply. Having too many cars in your driveway might be enough to bring a hard knock on the door. Imagine your guests having to show IDs to prove who lives with you and who has to leave.
Freedom of Assembly
Is the solution to the public health war on Thanksgiving to talk politics?
Cities around the country have declared holiday gatherings of more than 10 people off limits. With the post-election celebrations over, President-elect Biden bought into that limit this week.54
We’ve been advised to only associate with our own families, or else. In Oregon where you’re welcome to have psychedelic mushrooms instead of turkey the limit on assembly is six people from no more than two families.55 That “or else” could mean jail time.
Is freedom of assembly the solution to this kind of authoritarian repression? If the police come to your door to do a guest count just make sure you’re discussing politics at your holiday table or even better, protest outside where it’s safer.
Freedom of thought
If you are having one of those banned large gatherings and you voted for Trump, how comfortable are you with voicing your thoughts on what happened with this year’s presidential election and what it means for our future?
That’s what I thought. Best to shut up, pull the blinds, and eat fast.
UPDATE December 4, 2020: did we kiss our freedom goodbye and die anyway?
Remember life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness? We lost all three this year. With Thanksgiving over public health departments are warning of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of deaths on the horizon.
The holiday fell into the laps of public health geniuses who are so blindsided by this pandemic that their only refuge is to blame the people for not doing what we are told. The threat of Christmas is already on the horizon. We’re hearing wild speculation about the number of Americans who won’t be at our Thanksgiving tables next year, assuming we will be permitted to get together. Even if we stamp out this pandemic Democrats have learned a lot. Next year’s flu season will be as good an excuse as any to clamp down again.
The worse the pandemic case count gets the more we are blamed for not giving up our freedom and bowing our heads to officials who are clearly terrified that we might turn the tables and ask them why they weren’t more prepared for the eventuality of a new, dangerous virus?
How do we know Americans aren’t wearing masks?
As much as Democrats laud science they don’t have any numbers on how many Americans are wearing masks and how many are mask scofflaws. They assume we aren’t listening because they don’t have any other excuse for their failure with this virus, but they don’t have any data to prove it. If they had this information and it showed that most Americans do wear masks, would we hear about it? There are advantages to taking away our freedom and ensuring that as many Americans as possible have to beg the House and Senate just to stay alive.
What if we already gave up our freedom and nothing happened?
While politicians threaten our lives and happiness with projections of massive, imminent death just around the corner we’re still waiting for our public health bureaucracy to approve the new COVID-19 vaccines. Progress is glacial, given what we’re up against. If I worked at a hospital I’d roll up my sleeve and sign a release right now. If this opportunity was offered, I’m not aware of it. Government does what it wants when it wants. Meanwhile, if we don’t give up our freedom we’re dead. The question no one can answer is how many of us already have and what did it get us?
UPDATE December 17, 2020: don’t ignore the freedom to petition
It’s easy to forget the freedom to petition. This First Amendment right gets covered up by heavy hitters like freedom of speech and religion.
Here’s how it works. Your business can be looted or your building burned by individuals exercising their freedom to petition. Democrats call this “peaceful protest.” Too bad for you. You lose everything.
Let’s say your business stays open. State officials have the right to step in and shut you down. They can even put you in chains if you refuse. No amount of petitioning will make any difference. Too bad for you. You lose everything.
So criminals can petition the government. It works. This is where the idea of defunding the police came from. Good for them. This is democracy in action, Democratic Party style.
Small business owners can petition the government just by staying open. This kind of criminal behavior will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.
That’s a pretty sad state of affairs. Aggressive authoritarianism is the order of the day across America as state and local leaders seize the myriad opportunities offered by the pandemic. Even when decision makers flagrantly ignore their own restrictions there isn’t much we can do about it. Restaurant owners can petition local, state, and even the Federal Government while the food they purchased spoils. I can’t recall a single instance where petitioning against a COVID shutdown made a difference. Instead, it tends to bring down the wrath of petty tyrants on the unfortunate business owner who is trying to avoid exercising the freedom to go bankrupt.
UPDATE December 23, 2020: freedom to own your property
2021 will be the year of greed. Congress and Democrats in particular have shelled out a lot of money on your well-being. They have even more to spend on themselves and their real priorities and have warned us as much.
Did you think that paltry $600 relief check Congress wants to send you is free?
The wealth gap is where it will start. Democrats may not call it that. We’ve heard about “tightening up”56 the tax code because there is too much cash at the higher end of each tier. Abiding by the law and retaining the estate your family has worked hard for and paid taxes on is part of a “tax avoidance gap.”57
“Gap” is the difference between what lawmakers take and what they want to spend.
Perhaps you thought you owned your private property. Donald Trump helped increase your ownership share by pushing through GOP tax reform, but let’s face facts. Nothing you own is really yours unless Congress says it is.
Joe Biden has already threatened our incomes with WOKE-sounding phrases like “close the racial wealth gap.”58 That means lots of spending. This is part of his economic recovery plan for working families. We found out this week how much these families matter to Democrats: $600 per head. That doesn’t let us off the hook. As we learned from the new COVID relief bill we are the least of lawmakers’ policy concerns until it comes time to fund them.
The estate tax is an especially egregious intrusion into our property rights but it’s just part of a big picture that redefines what ownership of property means.
As the Tax Foundation reports,59 our new president’s plan could tax wealth at rates as high as 67%. That includes a 45% tax on estates.
Let’s put this in perspective and redefine “property rights” for the New Year.
You can keep what you own until the Democratic Party says it’s not yours. When Congress takes your property by force of law they can rightfully claim they aren’t taking away your freedom. They’re just taking and they will do everything in their power to gain the legal right to take as much as they want. The estate tax is just a symbol, albeit an especially egregious one. Rest assured there will be much, much more in play come January 20 and it’s not just the wealthy who should be worried.
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People do not understand how the Democrats and the Obama administration are slowly strangling the very freedoms that the Revolution was fought for. The facts are clear when you see the Constitution being trampled on by Obama, and then realize that he could not pass a gun owner background check, which is why he has sealed “ALL” of his records.
If congress were to pass any new legislation on background checking it must include the requirement that “ALL” politicians running for public office must “PASS” those requirements or be disqualified.
As it stands right now, Obama could not ” PASS” a standard FBI check from the details that were written in his book, which is why his certification was challenged. The judges that had cases before them refused to hear the arguments and thusly dismissed those cases. What gutless wonders we have in the justice system including the Supreme Court.
Obama is tearing our nation apart. and he is banking on the ignorant that don’t pay attention. obama has a shady past and i am not convinced that he is a true citizen of the united states. If you vote democrat you are voting to end america as a freedom country. Obama is taking it all away and people are not paying attention. when it’s gone and you are under the control of a dictator you will wish you had paid attention. but this country has been under attack before obama but now it’s speeded up so much it will be a miracle if we can keep it
We’ll find out next week how well people are paying attention, won’t we, Sandy? I agree, it’s pretty amazing that no matter how bad things are or how misguided the actions of public officials, they still manage to convince people to support what they do. Watch what happens in the Illinois governor’s race next week. If Pat Quinn wins, it’s a pretty good sign that we are truly lost.
freedom from harm is not a reasonable freedom. Freedom from unjust aggression is reasonable, and the primary reason for government.
Thanks for your remarks, Ed. Interesting how some of what’s happening now at the hands of government could be considered unjust aggression, like the searches they conducted in Rhode Island looking for New Yorkers. It’s difficult to know where to draw the line between government overreach and the public interest, but that was quite a line to cross.
Obama signed a bill to allow the media to profess false narratives for the peoples ow good HR4310
Joseph Goebbels would be so proud.
I don’t know if the intention was to turn lies into the sole means of communicating with the people to the complete exclusion of the truth, but it has certainly paid off for Democrats and the White House.
Wow, the RWNJ is strong with this one.
I’m listening, John.