Lockdowns and masks have not been scientifically shown to affect COVID transmission or disease, much less deaths from COVID. Nevertheless, on March 18, 2020, without any discussion, debate, legislative deliberations, or scientific evidence, almost all 50 governors, from both parties, locked us all down, in violation of the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights. When the Constitution was written, the Founding Fathers knew of pandemics such as malaria, yellow fever, black death, and smallpox. Minor infections would quickly lead to death — antibiotics and antivirals were unknown, as was the very existence of bacteria and viruses. And yet there are no constitutional provisions for locking down the American population or for restricting interstate travel and commerce on the grounds of an infectious-disease pandemic, except in the most dire circumstances.
It is now 16 months after the lockdowns began, and many governors have refused to relinquish their dictatorial powers and end the emergency, despite the lack of meaningful or demonstrable evidence that such measures affect the course of the pandemic. If we can’t end a pandemic emergency after all COVID-19 disease trends have been positive for months, when will we end it? Can’t an executive always argue that the virus may come rocketing back, so leaders need this emergency power indefinitely? Look at the example of Philippine strongman President Rodrigo Duterte, who keeps renewing some of the harshest lockdown measures on the planet and expanding his power.
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