Friday, March 20, 2020

COVID-19 and the Loss of Liberty

Justin Smith contends much of the economic/financial difficulties America is facing is less from the Coronavirus and more from Big Government intrusion into markets at home and abroad. The Pandemic is merely the straw utilized to crush the economy. The crush is bringing forms of Anti-Liberty solutions robbing freedom to favor government control of people’s lives. THINK OF THAT when the government tells you what to do and where you can go with the OR ELSE insinuation of martial law.

Communists should be pleased as Americans are tricked out of Liberty again.


JRH 3/20/20
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COVID-19 and the Loss of Liberty  
America Trends Towards Martial Law

By Justin O. Smith
Sent  3/20/2020 1:10 AM

"One detects a pattern in American politics: Every challenge is a crisis, every crisis is a Moral Equivalent of War, and winning that war, we are told, means giving the Left everything it demands, without opposition and generally with no regard for the Constitution, process, or democratic norms."  ~ Kevin D. Williamson, Fellow at the National Review Institute [Quote: “MEOW, They Roared;” National Review; 3/13/20 12:09 PM]

Hard as it is to imagine, many people are buying the current propaganda being generated by the World Health Organization, the Trump administration and governments around the globe, as some, such as Greg Gutfeld of Fox News, are agreeing that this COVID-19 scare is tantamount to a war against an unseen enemy, after President Trump declared a national emergency on March 13th and later essentially called himself "a wartime president". COVID-19, as bad as it is, is nowhere close to visiting the horrors of war on America, that the world saw during the invasion of Normandy during WWII, when 10,000 men were wounded and killed. And far more than the severe and highly dangerous and deadly pandemic COVID-19 has been painted to be, it is actually serving as cover for the greatest economic collapse in U.S. history, a global collapse in fact, and an excuse to go full steam ahead with a Modern Monetary Theory that facilitates out-of-control spending and printing as much money as a nation wants, along with passing any new "law" that ensures public compliance with everything to follow this complete reset of the global order and a loss of liberty.

America is being told it now faces a "serious and deadly" COVID-19 outbreak, that has only resulted in 88 deaths in the country, so far, and that is terrible to hear on any day, and especially so for the family members; but, COVID-19 isn't any greater a threat or more virulent or deadly than the yearly influenza virus this flu season. And yet everywhere in the nation, America is being placed in quarantine by way of arbitrary commands and unconstitutional orders, similar to the likes of those that were contrived, connived and agreed upon by President Trump and the Democratic Party tyrant wannabe, Governor Andrew Cuomo, for the State of New York, while the national guard is preparing for "urban lockdowns" in several states, through heavy-handed and oppressive social and economic control [some refer to it as "soft tyranny"], even though the worse case scenario that predicts millions of deaths in our country will NEVER happen, unless the sun suddenly doesn't rise bright in the morning.

The current "pandemic" is just the latest "enemy of the state", that is being manipulated by the U.S. federal government emboldened over the past three decades and more willing now than ever to fabricate fear to secure a political end. Political ends are always about greater control, corruption, and too often hiding government wrongdoing, cover-ups. [Blog Editor: Bold emphasis mine]

Once upon a time, Frederic Bastiat, the magnificently profound philosopher, noted: "The politician attempts to remedy the evil by increasing the very thing that caused the evil in the first place: legal plunder."

Just recently, the Federal Reserve Bank approved $1.5 trillion more to bail out the Repurchasing Markets, bringing the total to approximately $5 trillion spent since September 2nd 2019 to essentially cover the massive leverage built by banks and hedge funds again, the same exact bad practices that led to the economic crisis of 2008; and, despite President Trump's assurances that corporate America isn't to blame this time. This is the equivalent of adding $40,000 more in taxpayer debt to every American household. And it went unnoticed by ninety-nine percent of America.

It is important to note here, that the Fed began its second epic "bank bailout", another massive theft and transference of wealth, on September 2nd, and so, from that alone, it should be readily apparent that the current financial crisis has absolutely nothing to do with the COVID-19 virus, although the current charade is certain to exacerbate it and make the crisis deepen, providing all the excuse the government needs to continue to suppress our individual liberty along the way.

On March 16th, the U.S. stock market suffered its worse point loss in U.S. history, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average took a loss of nearly 3000 points and wiped out all gains in the last three years. Its 12.93 percent loss was greater what we saw on October 28th 1929 when the Dow lost 12.8 percent, but it is only the second greatest percentage loss in U.S. history, far from the 22.6 percent loss of Black Monday, October 19th 1987

Although we could not have predicted COVID-19, it was only the trigger for the ongoing financial crash, the proverbial straw that broke the finance sector's back. With asset price bubbles across the world and the total global debt over 322 percent of the world gross domestic product in the third quarter of 2019, something was certain to break, and we are seeing the results now.

On March 17th 2020, Pam and Russ Martens, financial experts, observed: "And yet no matter what pundit you see on TV, all that one hears is that Wall Street banks have plenty of capital. These two things cannot be simultaneously true: the Fed cannot have had to be pumping hundreds of billions of dollars each week into Wall Street banks and their trading arms for the past six months (long before there was any coronavirus outbreak anywhere in the world) if these banks actually did have adequate capital."

Despite all the blame being laid upon the COVID-19 outbreak, one must note that over a century ago, in 1918-19, a true pandemic and epidemic of the Spanish flu created chaos, as 500 million were infected worldwide and 50 million people died from the virus, and approximately 675,000 of those deaths were Americans. And even though this pandemic was the deadliest in history, the Dow Jones rose throughout the year from 76 to 81. Now isn't that interesting? 

Once again, I iterate the fact that our leaders are further destroying the economy, by printing trillions of dollars more, and throwing good money after bad without any sound reason, other than corrupt politicians and bankers are benefiting and pocketing massive amounts of real asset wealth that will be seen in catastrophic retail inflation, similar to 1923 Germany, and later tax rate hikes for the average taxpayer on down the road, especially if a 1929 credit collapse is currently underway.

If any government assistance of any kind is distributed, it should be given to the elderly and those with the most severe symptoms and reactions to COVID-19, not just handed out like a security blanket to everyone and anybody; however, on March 14th, the House passed the Families First Act that offers two weeks of paid sick leave to COVID-19 victims, paying their entire salary up to $511 per day (approximately $130,000 a year). And ironically and typical for our corrupt government, large companies with over five-hundred employees are exempt. 

As I have stated in other articles, President Trump believes he has no real choice except to be seen acting proactively in the face of COVID-19, no matter the unintended consequences of those actions, as he also deals with the very real and separate crisis of an economy under threat of a massive collapse. However, the guidance he has set in place and his tacit support of the continued fear-mongering by advisors, such as Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is giving rise to many egregious and tyrannical local responses, all from his own fear that he cannot get re-elected, unless he rolls with the current Deep State project, postures for political gain and allows our Bill of Rights to be trashed in the process.

There is not any federal authority in existence than can legally force everyone across the nation everywhere to stay home and self-quarantine or "Self-isolate", however, federal powers combined with extensive state and local emergency powers can and are, essentially effecting a national shutdown, as we also find the largest corporations, like Amazon and Nissan and many others operating in the U.S., now going along with the suggested two to three week closures, or restricted operations. This is forcing millions of Americans to stay at home, sick or not, when millions are one paycheck away from homelessness and other catastrophes that go hand-in-hand with financial ruin; this applies equally to small businesses too.

And yet, all across America we see a new trend, whereby military and police now act as if America is under martial law without a formal declaration of such. Many states, such as New Jersey, California, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington, have already taken unconstitutional martial law measures without an official declaration, exhibiting our potential unconstitutional future under any new fear, real or imagined, once this crisis has passed. 

Americans are being forced to stay home by New York Governor Cuomo, if they are not deemed "essential workers". He has issued an arbitrary, selective and unconstitutional executive order that requires companies to send fifty percent of their people home to "Self-isolate". Well, don't essential workers get sick? What's the difference, when there isn't any "cure" and the only recommended treatment is identical to what one would do with the common cold?

Worse yet, according to Fox 5 San Diego, on March 19th, the Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, issued a "stay at home" order effective immediately and to remain in place "until further notice". And, in clarification, Fox 5 also reported, "Everyone is required to stay home except to get food, care for a relative or friend, get necessary health care, or go to an essential job." 

San Francisco has ordered county and city law enforcement to "ensure compliance" with its recent "shelter in place" order, prior to Gov. Newsom's order, although officials stated they would not "rush to enforce" the directives, while residents were fully informed to what is permissible. Any violation of the orders will supposedly be considered a misdemeanor punishable by a fine or jail time. 

One certainly cannot help but wonder, who will be the first American arrested for violating a "stay at home" or "shelter in place" order?

On March 12th in Champaign, Illinois, Mayor Deborah Feinen declared a state of emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak granting herself the power to ban firearms, alcohol and gasoline, during the "crisis", along with the power to prevent individuals' from accessing gas, water and electricity, and even to take possession of private property, according to the Washington Examiner.  

The Mayor of Nashville, TN, John Cooper, not to be outdone by anyone, ordered bars on Lower Broadway and  throughout Davidson County to close their business, on March 15th, until further notice. All restaurants were told to limit their maximum seating to fifty percent of available seated capacity, all of which is absolutely in violation of the spirit of our Declaration of Independence and the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness and the Constitution itself. The orders are certain to be met with challenges along the way, such as already presented by the owners of Tootsie's Orchid Lounge, Honky Tonk Central and Kid Rock's establishments, who called Cooper's orders "unconstitutional", as they vowed to remain open until Governor Bill Lee issues a statewide mandate. 

Nashville's Downtown Merchant Association responded to the rise of unconstitutional orders across the country, in part, with the following statement: "We are compassionate with those who have contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus and all who are helping manage the crisis as the entire world addresses the outbreak. However, a Tootsie's patron as immediate as last night, mentioned having lived through the polio epidemic and didn't recall such extreme measures being handed down in history." 

In one breath the government tells us all to stay home for two weeks, and in another they disingenuously claim there isn't any reason to hoard anything. But just how are Americans then expected to survive, if they don't stock up for what could extend into eight weeks or longer?

Political posturing is the rule today in our polarized country, as politicians go through the motions of a contrived COVID-19 crisis. Political concerns seem to be more important than what is the best course for everybody's health and finances, in their fear that a refusal to shut the nation down will result in blame for every death being blamed on their political inaction. And there will be a steep price to be paid, at the expense of our individual liberty. 

Nobody really knows how deep and harsh this will get, and just maybe those who do have an inkling aren't sayin', but it goes without saying that a good deal of disorder will come of this ordeal. One must wonder what America looks like in the aftermath, once all the dust has settled. 

Former Congressman and Presidential candidate, Ron Paul, wrote the following on March 16th: "Governments love crises because when the people are fearful they are more willing to give up their freedoms for promises that the government will take care of them. After 9/11, for example, Americans accepted the near-total destruction of their civil liberties in the PATRIOT Act's hollow promises of security.

It is ironic to see the same Democrats who tried to impeach President Trump last month for abuse of power demanding that the administration grab more power and authority in the name of fighting a virus that thus far has killed less than 100 Americans." 

Our Constitutional Rights have steadily been attacked and eroded for decades now, but especially so with the PATRIOT Act and the FISA Reauthorization Act, but if anyone thinks the U.S. federal government has trashed their rights, just wait. The worse is yet to come. 

Every current action being taken by Congress is to save Wall Street and the mega-corporations who control it, while President Trump and his administration follow the exact same playbook from the 2008 economic collapse, as the average Americans lose jobs and watch their 401k portfolios wiped out for the third time in the last two decades. Main Street is once again getting the worse end of any deals coming out of current legislation, as the Zero Interest Rate Policy harms senior citizens' retirement funds, while the propaganda from the media continues to move the most ignorant masses within the nation to beg the government, their "Keepers", to save their lives. Critical thinking Americans have already concluded that their elected and unelected government officials -- so-called "leaders" -- have once again proven themselves to be incompetent, corrupt and evil. 

More than any threat from any virus, Americans should worry for the cause of liberty in our country, as we see our government evolving into a thing far too willing to take control over every segment of our lives and imprison us, if we do not comply with their fiats and diktats. Liberty faces a very real threat from the socialists and communists of the Democratic Party, who urge a far too willing President Trump for more dictatorial measures in the face of a manufactured crisis, as the CDC pulls the wool over the nation's eyes and our massive debt seems poised to come crashing down like an avalanche, while the Federal Reserve continues to act like a whore for the Wall Street bankers; and, in the meantime, the nation is mere steps away from military vehicles patrolling our streets threatening citizens with arrest or death, once the current social order begins to be swept away, as decades of thievery, corruption, lies and corporate fascism come crashing down. And, if America is still strong enough to face the gravest of consequences, the wheat will be separated from the chaff and those proponents of truth, life and liberty will pick up the pieces and determine the future of this America I love so well. 

By Justin O. Smith
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BLOG EDITOR (In Fascistbook jail since 1/20/20): I’ve apparently been placed in restricted Facebook Jail! The restriction was relegated after criticizing Democrats for supporting abortion in one post and criticizing Virginia Dems for gun-grabbing legislation and levying protester restrictions. Rather than capitulate to Facebook censorship by abandoning the platform, I choose to post and share until the Leftist censors ban me completely. Conservatives are a huge portion of Facebook. If more or all Conservatives are banned, it will affect the Facebook advertising revenue paradigm. SO FIGHT CENSORSHIP BY SHARE – SHARE – SHARE!!! Facebook notified me in pop-up on 1/20/20: “You're temporarily restricted from joining and posting to groups that you do not manage until April 18 at 7:04 PM.”
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Edited by John R. Houk
Embedded links and text embraced by brackets are by the Editor.

© Justin O. Smith

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