Police Officers "Following Orders" Should Study History

Here in Raleigh, yesterday, I did notice more traffic on the roads.  However, church services remain a mostly online affair.  The "Tech Team" in our congregation has moved to having online services on Youtube.  Wonder how long that will last?

Meanwhile, Derek hunter has a very clear explanation of exactly what is going on over at Townhall.com entitled If 'Congress shall make no law...' Why Can Governors? And of course, it is a good question. The Bill of Rights, which consist of the first 10 Amendments to the U. S. Constitution, were incorporated into State Constitutions by the 14th Amendment after the Civil War. Therefore, what Congress can not do, the Governors of States theoretically can not do.

Hunter:

The First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” That’s unambiguous. Not “pretty unambiguous,” just unambiguous. Full stop. Yet governors across the country are ignoring or suspending almost every one of those rights enumerated at the top of the Bill of Rights, with little to no pushback from the press, which just happens to be the only part of the first two amendments not under assault.

It’s actually not under assault -- it’s gone -- suspended indefinitely in the name of “the common good.” Governors have declared coronavirus emergencies and wiped clean the rights our nation was founded for the purpose of putting those rights beyond the reach of government.

These suspensions were not done by vote; they were done with the stroke of a pen. Constitutionally, they can’t be done by either. There is no provision of the Constitution allowing for the waiving of rights under any condition, but most legislatures are content to sit back and watch this all proceed without their fingerprints anywhere near it.

Governors made a point of canceling Easter services, even at drive-in churches set up in parking lots. “You’re not allowed to leave your home,” they declared. The irony of placing innocent Americans under house arrest while releasing prisoners in the name of “compassion” was lost on journalists too busy expressing indignation that people might want to worship even in the face of a pandemic.

The same journalists were perplexed by why those same innocent Americans might want to exercise their Second Amendment rights, another right with which we are born that shall “not be infringed” that is being infringed all over the place without concern from the media. “Gun stores are non-essential” in a time prisons are being emptied seems like a set-up for a bad joke, not a public policy.

Hunter lays the situation out pretty clearly in those first several paragraphs. At first, most people complied because we believed what we were being told. But as more data have come in, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Wuhan Flu is no worse than the usual seasonal flu. While every death is a tragedy for those close to the victim, we do not stop living our lives because of it.  Yet we find ourselves with some Governors doubling down on house arrests and other lunatic orders, many of which have no bearing on efforts to stop the spread of the virus.  Governor Whitmer of Michigan comes to mind for completely insane orders.  In Kansas City, Missouri that Mayor (arrested for DUI, no less) has ordered churches to give up the names, addresses, and telephone numbers of members and attendees at their services (Hat Tip to Drakes Place).

Our rights can not be trampled on because of an "emergency."  If that were so, we would be in a constant state of emergency.  Not unlike what is happening before our eyes, politicians and the "Ministry of Truth" mainstream media would drum up one emergency after another to keep the people in a state of panic.  Just read Orwell's book 1984 to see how that turns out.

That Democrat Governors in particular seem to have a authoritarian itch is no surprise.  Nor that the mainstream press, including Fox News, is in the tank with 24/7 coronavirus panic.  No, the question I have is why to the police violate their oath of office to enforce these Unconstitutional orders/ After World War II, we learned, if we didn't know it falready, that "following orders" was not enough. Each officer who takes that oath has a duty to determine for himself that the orders he is given are legal. It is a difficult burden to follow, but it must be done, for their actions may be scrutinized in the future, and history may not take kindly to their actions during this pandemic.