By Daniel Bobinski
Has anyone noticed how quickly, and easily, and willingly, Americans gave up their liberties?
It’s baffling. I’m watching otherwise patriotic Americans let their rights slip away as they give into media-driven fear, shame, and guilt. Just look what’s happening around us. The government now says, “Shut down your business – it’s non-essential. You must sacrifice your livelihood to protect the most vulnerable among us.”
It sounds like something we’d hear out of Stalinist Russia.
I think our Founders believed the most vulnerable among us was any individual standing up for his rights against a powerful state. Tragically, people today are rapidly saying, “Okay” to these Constitutionally questionable demands – and we’re watching our rights slip away.
We’re mirroring 1984
As of this writing, at least 38 states have “shelter in place” orders.
Los Angeles is shutting off water and power of any “non-essential” business that doesn’t close. The Virginia Governor is threatening jailtime to people who gather in groups of ten or more. New York’s Mayor is threatening to permanently close any house of worship that continues to conduct services. The National Guard is assisting police to enforce social distancing.
I expect a police state in North Korea. I am shocked beyond words to see it in the United States.
It didn’t have to be this way
In Sweden they’re taking a different tack. Businesses can stay open, they’re just limiting how many people can congregate. In a speech last week, Sweden’s Prime Minister Stefan Löfven said, “We who are adults need to be exactly that: adults. Not spread panic or rumors. No one is alone in this crisis, but each person has a heavy responsibility.”
Imagine if America had leadership like that.
Actually, we probably do, but it’s hard to keep a population calm when you’re fighting two wars at the same time. In addition to the pandemic, the Trump administration is also fighting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her media comrades who are unashamedly whipping up fear and panic to destroy the President’s economic accomplishments.
America could have done things calmly and rationally. There are common sense guidelines, like Sweden is choosing, and then there’s government overreach. Clearly, America moved way too quickly into the latter.
I never thought I’d see Americans give up so willingly and so quickly, just to avoid being called selfish by those who don’t see (or don’t want you to see) what’s going on. Is it possible the increased number of earthquakes happening around the country lately are the result of our Founders rolling over in their graves?
Truth in numbers
Lest anyone accuse me of being the cold-hearted son of an unmarried woman, let’s consider some facts about our current frenzy of fear. US News and World Report was among the many media outlets stirring up fears. In a March 21 piece we read, “A computer modeling report from researchers at Imperial College London that predicted 2 million American deaths unless stringent social distancing measures were enacted may have convinced U.S health officials to take the extraordinary step.”
I’m reminded of what my doctor once told me: “Doctors will always give you the worst-case scenario because they don’t want to get sued if it happens.”
I strongly recommend people watch a half-hour video on YouTube titled, “Coronavirus Covid-19 Fact Not Fear.” Using facts from the World Health Organization and information from countries around the world, the video shows “2 million American deaths” is a “deliberately unrealistic worst-case.” Why? It assumes every American will not only be exposed to the virus, but every American will also get sick from it. Not everyone will get the virus, and not everyone who does gets sick.
People should also read an excellent article at PJ Media, titled, “What the Media Isn’t Telling You About the United States’ Coronavirus Case Numbers.” Author Matt Margolis does a superb job of showing the real story from what the numbers are telling us.
It’s my personal opinion that Dr. Anthony Fauci, known as “the nation’s top infectious disease expert” and one of Trump’s advisors on this matter, is practicing worst-case scenario fearmongering. He convinced Trump to extend the “shelter” guidelines through April on the possibility of 100,000 – 200,000 American deaths from the virus. It this possible? Anything is possible, but Fauci’s numbers are highly unlikely. A regularly updated tracking page showing global impact of COVID-19 shows that, at the time of this writing, 57,000 deaths have occurred worldwide, and that’s with China, Italy, and South Korea already tipping their curve.
The purpose of the panic
One thing is true about life: There’s always a bigger picture. When we step back from the whipped-up media frenzy and look at a timeline of events, we see that the Trump administration declared a public health emergency on January 31, smack dab in the middle of impeachment hearings.
Then, after Trump was acquitted on February 5, Democrats continued their attacks on Trump. They criticized his budget. They accused him of abuse of power. They accused him of politicizing the intelligence community. They even criticized him for restricting travel to and from China, accusing him of fostering “racist panic.”
Not until Trump appointed Vice President Pence to oversee the coronavirus task force on February 22 did Pelosi and company realize they were missing an opportunity to criticize him for that, too. When they realized they could weaponize a drop of virus-infected blood against the President, Leftist sharks unleashed their attacks on Trump with a new level of fury.
That’s right. The purpose of the media frenzy is not about the virus. It’s to create fear and panic and smear President Trump. They want to create doubt among voters that President Trump is capable of dealing with the crisis.
Trashing our rights to get votes
Constitutional rights be damned. The Left is playing on every ounce of fear, guilt, and shame they can stir up in order to destroy Trump’s economic successes.
They don’t care if you lose your job. They don’t care if you lose your car. They don't care if you declare bankruptcy or have to permanently close your business. They don’t care that you are being made to give up your rights without reason and or that it may drive you to suicide.
That last statement is not hyperbole. According to Suicide Awareness Voices of Education, the shutdown of society is increasing the risk of suicide. This is backed up by the World Economic Forum's study on the link between unemployment and suicide. Is that playing out? According to The Federalist, “Knox County, Tennessee saw nine deaths by suicide within 48 hours this week as doomsday predictions over the novel Wuhan coronavirus panics an already anxious public and leaves millions unemployed and isolated.” And that’s just one county.
The Left is trashing our rights. They even try to destroy your hope. It's hard to decide which is worse: Them destroying our rights, or the fact that they're doing so by manipulating the population through fear, guilt and shame. They don't care. All that matters to them is you blaming Trump for these problems. They need you to believe Donald Trump is the wrong man for the job, and if your Constitutional rights must go away to make that happen, so be it.
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Daniel Bobinski, M.Ed. is a certified behavioral analyst, best-selling author, columnist, corporate trainer, and keynote speaker. He’s also a veteran and a self-described Christian Libertarian who believes in the principles of free market capitalism – while standing firmly against crony capitalism.
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