What does former United States House of Representatives member and three-time presidential candidate Ron Paul think about the coronavirus and actions governments have taken in the name of fighting it? The prominent libertarian communicator discusses these matters in-depth in a new interview at CrossPolitic.
Continue readingIn August and November I wrote about the strangeness of United States House of Representatives member and then 2020 Democratic presidential nomination candidate Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) regularly playing up her 16-plus years and counting employment in the United States military, and other Americans’ service in the US military as well, as a virtue while she at the same time makes opposing major actions of that military, including the carrying out of certain wars, a focus of her congressional work and campaign.
Continue readingTraveling freely, visiting friends and family, and continuing operating a business or working at a job are all being prevented by coronavirus fear and the government crackdowns pursued in the name of countering coronavirus. Also apparently being prevented by the same factors is the ability of Americans to vote in elections this year on ballot measures that would roll back aspects of the drug war.
Continue readingOn Saturday, I wrote about Rhode Island Governor Gina M. Raimondo adopting a set of draconian orders in the name of countering coronavirus. In particular, I wrote about her orders targeting people who have entered Rhode Island from other states or countries. Included among these mandates was Raimondo’s direction to state police to pull over cars with New York license plates and order the people inside to quarantine for 14 days if they intend to stay in Rhode Island.
Here is an update on the order regarding cars with New York license plates. Raimondo has repealed that order. But, before you cheer a victory for liberty, consider the rest of the story. Tom Moroney reports at Bloomberg that Raimondo replaced that order with a new order that applies the same policy toward all out-of-state licensed vehicles. In other words, she massively expanded the police action.
Military abuses, including house-to-house searches, were among the primary reasons Americans offered to explain why they sought to secede from Great Britain in the 1700s. Now, an American governor is sending national guard forces house-to-house in the name of countering coronavirus.
Continue readingThe freedom of business owners to operate their businesses and of employees to continue working at their jobs is under attack in America in the name of fighting coronavirus. Run afoul of the many restrictions on businesses found in the proliferating crackdowns on commerce justified to counter coronavirus and you can find yourself and your business facing extreme consequences.
Continue readingA soon-to-be-released 255-page report from a congressionally mandated commission recommends that women, in addition to men, be subject to a United States military draft, should one be imposed. So reported Lara Seligman at Politico on Tuesday based on a review of the report that Politico obtained early. Seligman further relates that the “11-member commission’s final report, which was required by the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, was briefed to the Pentagon on Monday and will be presented to the White House and congressional staffers Tuesday.”
This report will likely add substantially to the already strong momentum in Congress behind requiring women to register with Selective Service and be subject to any future draft — the same requirements long imposed on American men.
Continue readingFirst, the Twitter company went on a rampage banning Twitter posts and people from the social media platform, largely targeting tweets and people who do not fall in line with ideas pushed by the United States government and US mainstream media. Now, Twitter is using extreme scare tactics to try to stop people from even opening links placed on Twitter to web pages that contain such alternative views. Included are links to web pages containing information about a very important matter — coronavirus.
Continue readingGovernments at the local, state, and national levels in America have been instituting this month increasingly draconian crackdowns on the public in the name of fighting coronavirus. Politicians supporting these oppressive actions, including “stay at home” orders that state governments have imposed on the general populations of several states, may be booted out of office by angry voters come election day.
Continue readingFear of coronavirus, or the use of such fear being present among the people to justify expanding control, is driving decisions in much of American local, state, and national governments. Limiting international travel, prohibiting people from eating or drinking in restaurants and bars, imposing curfews, ordering “nonessential” businesses shut, and banning gatherings of more than a certain number of individuals are among the mandates governments have put in place in the name of fighting coronavirus.
This has all happened while extraordinary danger from coronavirus is not established and government actions being imposed, which carry health dangers of their own, tend not to be clearly helpful for countering what danger there may be from coronavirus.
However, not everyone in government is doing the coronavirus Chicken Little dance. United States House of Representatives member Thomas Massie (R-KY), who also is an Advisory Board member for the Ron Paul Institute, has been pretty much saying “hold on there guys” to fellow politicians who are rushing to disrespect the liberty of Americans in the name of countering coronavirus.
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