A Higher Authority

            When inaugurated, every state governor pledged to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States. Almost every one of them has failed to some degree to do so in confronting the coronavirus. Some outrageously so.

            The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the Constitution, states clearly and unequivocally what rights we enjoy as a free people. The first and most important amendment couldn’t be clearer. It protects the free exercise of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the right peaceably to assemble, and the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. Every one of these rights has been violated during the pandemic.

            Here are just a few examples. People have been barred from going to church or even listening to ceremonies from parked cars; opinions critical of government lockdown orders have been purged from YouTube and Facebook; people have been banned from beaches and parks; protests at state capitals have incurred retaliatory measures; petitions have been summarily rejected.

            Then there’s the Fourth Amendment, which protects the people against unreasonable searches and seizures. How is New York Mayor Bill de Blazio upholding his oath of office when he tells citizens to spy on each other and report violations of his orders? How is it constitutionally permissible for authorities in Elizabeth City, New Jersey, to use a drone to monitor people self-distancing in public places and scorn them if they don’t?

            What’s next? Kites with cameras? Telescopes with facial recognition and thermal imaging? Drones that recognize if people are coughing? And here we thought that only the Chinese spied on their own people.

            When Tucker Carlson of Fox News asked New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy under what authority he had the right to overrule the Constitution, the governor sheepishly replied, “The answer to that question is above my pay grade.” That dodge, if we think about it, has some truth to it. Governors who issue edicts and mandates that violate people’s rights are asserting that they do not answer to a higher authority, even when there indeed is one—the Constitution of the United States. And when they do, they are breaking the law.

            People all over the country are fed up with prolonged lockdowns, enforced closures against stores and restaurants, and all sorts of prohibitions against small businesses. We have already seen rebellious shops forcibly closed, licenses revoked, owners cited and fined. What’s next?  Imprisonment? Internment camps?

            This country was born in revolt against an authoritarian monarchy. Do we need a revolution against our own authoritarian government to restore our freedoms? Our Founders stood shoulder to shoulder in their fight against tyranny. Should we summon their spirits to return to fight again?