On Apr 18, 2020, at 7:25 PM, AB via groups.io <abater@...> wrote:

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Dear right-wing protesters: your 'liberty' to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins

Apr 16, 2020 4:21pm PDT?by Dartagnan,?Community

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There’s an old saying in the law:?“Your liberty to swing your fist ends just where my nose begins.”?such a diverse cast of characters as Oliver Wendell Holmes, John Stuart Mill, and even Abraham Lincoln, the exact genesis of the quote is uncertain, but in general it conveys the principle that your right to exercise whatever “liberty” you think you’re entitled to ends when that liberty threatens my life and safety. Perhaps John B. Finch expressed the intended meaning best when he declared “Neither in law nor equity can there be personal liberty to any man which shall be bondage and ruin to his fellow-men.”

Over the past week, we’ve seen crowds both tiny and large exercising their right to protest at state capitols around the country. The protests purport to oppose "social distancing" measures and business closures ordered by various state governors, and most of them, not coincidentally, are occurring in states where Democrats are in charge of the statehouse. The protests arebut are actively being ginned up by right-wing, anti-government organizations and so-called “Tea Party” activists that led similar self-righteous protests against the “tyranny” of the Affordable Care Act.

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In some cases, protesters are being exploited and encouraged by??eager to capitalize on any personal grievances that might help them politically.?The vehicle for these protests is social media,?and the one in Michigan, known as?“Operation Gridlock,”?was?by the, and the Michigan Freedom Fund,?a?that is?linked to the DeVos family.

Michigan Gov.Gretchen Whitmer?correctly described that protest: "It was essentially a political rally — a political statement that flies in the face of all of the science and all of the best practices from the stay-at-home order that was issued.” Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also??on Twitter.

"Using your right to peaceably protest in such a manner as to spread a virus which may endanger your life, the lives of your friends, family and neighbors, and the lives of countless food service, law enforcement and healthcare workers does not make you a patriot," she said. "A 'patriot' is defined as a person who vigorously supports their country and is prepared to defend it against its enemies. The enemy here is the virus-not each other."

But it seems the right-wing?an opening to do what they do best: Channel resentment and discontent to achieve their political goals. That they should try to do this in the midst of potentially the worst public health crisis ever to strike this country is despicable, but hardly surprising. A political party that relies on inflaming racial divisions between Americans to maintain its power is clearly capable—even practiced—at harnessing the worst aspects of human nature. And they have a fine role model in the current president, who is as bereft of human decency as they come.

But this is not a debate about “Obamacare,” nor is it the bread and circuses atmosphere we have come to expect from one of Donald Trump’s Nuremberg-style rallies, in which people are encouraged to vent their foulest impulses. We, the rest of the country, have stood by, gritting our teeth while you exercised your “freedom of speech” and the thinly-disguised racism that drives that speech. Certainly we held you in contempt, but unlike you, we liberals actually do understand what the Bill of Rights stands for. And if you wanted to waste your lives screaming about how brown people or black people or gay people or Jews or Democrats or?whoever?you think infringed on your sense of entitlement, or how “government health care” was somehow a path to “tyranny,” then as odious as your opinions were, we never said you had no right to express them. It’s a “free country,” after all.

This, my right-wing friends, is a little different situation. And yeah, it’s a little personal.? Because what you’re doing now is essentially asserting your right to potentially kill me and my family. You’re saying my state governor ought to reject the advice of public health experts, physicians, epidemiologists and infectious disease experts—people who actually know what they’re talking about—so you can go get your hair done or?

So you??just so you can strut around and boast about your “freedom.”

You say you want to go back to work. I get that. You know what? Everyone, every single one of us, wants to go back to work. Wants to go out to a restaurant. Wants their kids to go to back to school. You’re not special. And just because you “think” you’re special doesn’t give you the right to do whatever you please and risk infecting me, my family, my parents, my kids, my friends.?Your right to swing your fist ends right where my nose begins.?And your right to be a self-absorbed asshole ends when you threaten or try to intimidate?my?governor for trying to protect?my?family against even more risks of contracting a potentially deadly virus, brought about and encouraged by self-deluded fools such as yourselves.

Some of you jackasses actually had the gall to bring weapons to your protest. Were you planning to hold us all at gunpoint, marching us into the schools and stores just so you could feel good about yourselves? What the fuck is wrong with you? Guns? Really? To protest “social distancing” measures imposed in the heart of a deadly pandemic?

You know what you can do with that AR-15?? You can shove it straight up your ass.

I’m not going to waste my time explaining the seriousness of this pandemic. Assuming you know how to operate a TV remote you should already know that. You should also be aware by now of how fast this virus spreads when people don’t practice common sense measures like distancing. And what happens if you open up businesses, restaurants, hair salons and “paint” stores when the virus hasn’t even peaked. If you don’t, then God help you. Actually, I take that back—if you don’t get it by now, then God damn you, ‘cause you’re just stupid. I certainly don’t want my kids or myself infected because we reopened the economy based on your whims and misguided beliefs, or worse, so you and the people that back you can score some cheap political points.

And if you want to get practical about it, I don’t want to be the one who has to give up a ventilator or lose a doctor for my family just to save your sorry ass when your lungs start turning into glass shards and you’re coughing up a rope of blood.

Because I live in a state where the governor has some common sense, I’m going to write him a letter thanking him for taking the political risk of dealing with shitheads such as yourself in order to protect me and my family. In fact, I’m going to encourage others to do the same.

Bye now. And hey, thanks for your attention!

On Apr 19, 2020, at 9:11 AM, AB via groups.io <abater@...> wrote:

?On Sat, Apr 18, 2020 at 06:10 PM, Sal Sunshine wrote:

It’s just almost impossible for me to believe this kind of selfish, myopic thinking even exists. ?Do these f*ckers think any of the rest of us like the isolation? ?

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Saw this gem tonight on a friend’s FB ?page, pretty much encapsulates the “my portfolio/pantry/state of mind is more important than your life, peon“ ethos especially the reference to “them” going back to work.

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“I can't stand trump, but personally, I'm far more scared of poverty, despair, hunger, and the breakdown of society than a nasty but not terribly lethal virus. It's only been a few weeks, and already the food system is straining. Factories are shutting down, food is being dumped, and crops are rotting in fields. The "cure" has the potential to be far more lethal than the virus itself. Realistically, a vaccine is 12-18 months out, and vaccines for viruses that mutate at a fast rate are crapshoots at best. At some point, people are going to have to go back to work, and when they do, the virus will inevitably spread through most of the population.”

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Notice some of the phrases taken right from the Bible According to Trump, like the cure being worse than the disease. ?And of course the breakdown of the social order that’s being deliberately organized by right-wing organizations so “they” have to go back to work and risk getting sick, leading to...what? ?An even greater breakdown of the social order? ?So what, as long as “despair” is held at bay, however artificially. ? And if you get the virus and the hospitals near you are so overwhelmed you can’t get the care you need, or if you have cancer or heart disease and can’t get in because there’s just too many virus cases? Well that’s tough luck I guess, or something. ?

Sal

Interestingly, this writer makes some valid points but they are points we all recognize - that no matter how you go about dealing with the pandemic there is going to be hardship. It is easy to say we should open up the economy when you aren't sick and you haven't lost anyone to coronavirus. For many, this virus is simply numbers and something that happens to other people. Everyone who feels like this should walk down the halls of hospitals dealing with hundreds of cases. Eye opener. For sure, the "cure" for this disease is difficult and is resulting in massive unemployment, bankruptcies and lost night's sleep. There is no easy solution to this thing - we all just have to sit in the middle of this metaphorical fire and wait for it to burn itself out which will take a long time, like years. The vaccine is the only real solution.?

Of course, trump continues to foment this terrible idea of "liberating" ourselves from the tyranny of the state Governors. If staying healthy is tyranny I will take it. Luckily, in Canada, things seem a lot more cohesive and our PM is not inciting his citizens to rise up and rage against common sense. Most are resigned and on board to do their part and the statistics reflect this with a fraction of the sickness and death found elsewhere. We Canadians are a genial lot, law abiding and polite - it is not just a stereotype! Even I, the brash American that I am, am happy to toddle close to home and socialize with no one. Groceries are mostly delivered and I spend a lot of time in the isolation of the great outdoors up on this beautiful island I live on. I am lucky, though. I am retired and don't have to fret about anything other than the stock market. It could be so much worse for me and I am grateful it is not. Luckily, Canada is not opening the border with the US for at least another 30 days and I hope that Trudeau will hold tough against fat ass and hold out for another 4-5 months after that. Until the shit show south of my border gets cleaned up I don't want Americans wandering up here spreading their germs that are more prevalent due to the haphazard approach the US has taken with dealing with this virus. Am I sounding germaphobic? You betcha. The Yanks can stay home until they get a clue on a mass scale. So many are acting like entitled children refusing to have a little self discipline. I know there are those experiencing real hardship, be it they are stuck at home with abusive family members, or watching a business go belly up or unable to visit an elderly parent languishing in a nursing home. I happen to be one of the luckier versions of those practicing social distancing (at least I am healthy so far) but I am well aware of those who are not so fortunate. Nevertheless, no matter how we go about this, there is a huge price to pay.?