During the worst of the Covid lockdowns in 2020 pushed by the Trump administration, many states and localities issued emergency orders restricting civil liberties and constitutional rights, often in completely irrational ways. We covered a lot of those cases, particularly the negative treatment given church services compared to other gatherings. And of course, BLM protests were give a complete pass.
A lot of the emergency orders started off short term, then were renewed. ‘Twenty days to stop the spread’ became 20 months. Republican Governors who fought back, like Brian Kemp and Ron DeSantis , were excoriated by the media and Trump administration, while Governors who capitulatedin South Dakota, escaped scrutiny. Democrat Governors, particularly in California and New York, were flush with hubris and power.
Courts were hesitant to get involved because the courts traditionally took a permissive attitude towards government efforts to control infectious disease. But it was inevitable that emergency orders unrelated to Covid or the spread of infectious disease would be used to curtail other civil and constitutional rights.
People who warned that Covid lockdowns and restrictions were the gateway drug toward abolishing the 2nd Amendment and other rights deemed ‘right wing’ were dismissed as conspiracy fearmongers. As with so many other things, those ‘right wing conspiracy theories’ have come true.on gun violence: Today, I signed an executive order declaring gun violence a public health emergency. To my fellow citizens: get loud. Step up. Demand change: from your neighbors, from your friends, from your communities, from your elected leaders. Enough is enough. More coming from me tomorrow.