By Douglas V. Gibbs
Author, Speaker, Instructor, Radio Host
WARNING TO READER …. this is an opinion piece, as are most articles on this website. Don’t cry FAKE NEWS after you read it. If you don’t like it, don’t read my articles.
I have been very critical of the coronavirus, and how we have tossed aside constitutional principles in the face of this invisible invader. I do not believe we should hand over the keys of our liberty to ruling elites, even in the name of protecting ourselves against a pandemic, especially when the evidence tells me the whole thing is being overblown, exaggerated, and that the virus is milder than we are being told. (82% of cases are asymptomatic or has mild symptoms, about 20% actually contract the virus which tells us that contrary to what we are being told most people have a natural immunity, the mortality rate if you base it on estimated cases worldwide rather than actual confirmed cases is less than a half of a percent).
But, I am one who always seeks the truth, and so I was happy to get into a conversation about the coronavirus (COVID-19) with a local friend of mine who works as an emergency room nurse. So, in all fairness, and willingness to provide the truth, even if it may not fully agree with my opinion, I now am relaying to you, the faithful Political Pistachio readers, and whichever visitors have come here for this article, what I was told by my friend.
She said that a few weeks ago she was one hundred percent in agreement with me. They had an empty hospital, almost all cases of COVID-19 were mild, and the only serious cases were involving persons who already had other health issues and all the coronavirus was doing was moving the date of death up a few months.
Then, she went on a week vacation, and came back recently, only to see that the whole thing had changed drastically. While she told me that I am right that most people are either asymptomatic, or have very mild symptoms, and that not everyone exposed necessarily gets the disease, the reality is that those who do get it in a bad way get it in a very bad way. The number of serious cases had dramatically risen to the point that they had to add rooms for the ICU unit. She said they suit up in more gear than they do with tuberculosis patients. And, since she’s been back, now the cases are not just people who were already immunity system compromised. Younger folks, people who eat healthy and exercise a lot, are getting really sick, as well. “And,” she said, “it’s not just the lungs (fibrosis) that is being attacked. This virus hits everything. A loss of smell and shortness of breath is the beginning, but this virus does crazy things to the blood, liver, and kidneys. That’s the scary thing. It’s horrible when it is at its worse, but you don’t know who it will hit in such a bad way. We had a husband and wife, both testing positive for the coronavirus, she was healthy and had no symptoms, but he was so sick he could barely stand it. You just don’t know who will be the one that gets super sick.”
As I have written before, I get it, there is a deadly virus out there that, for some people, can be a very horrible thing, and even a deadly thing. And while the percentages regarding how may get it really bad may be low, the reality is, when it is really bad the person is more miserable than if they had contracted any other virus.
That all said, I must ask a few questions. Is that a reason for government to lock us down? If we are to agree the government is there to protect us from things that can kill us, especially the horrible things that kill us in a miserable way, then why not outlaw cars, or going rock climbing? If we are going to use the “gosh, it is a horrible way to die” meter to allow government to tell us we must stay home, or we must wear a face-covering in public, at what point does that government become authoritarian, and remains in our face with their policies even after the emergency passes? What is there to stop them from manufacturing emergencies once they’ve trained us to give up our freedoms for the hope of safety and security from the government?
While, after talking to my nurse-friend, I am more educated about the coronavirus, I still don’t believe that a nasty virus is reason enough for us to toss the U.S. Constitution out the window. Okay, fine, I don’t want to get sick with it. I’m with you on that. But, should government be allowed to tell us if we are allowed to go outside, ticket us for sitting in our car with our window down, or tell us we can be fined for being in public without a face-covering on?
Pandemic or not, Liberty is too precious for us to toss it aside for promised security in the name of quarantine laws.
— Political Pistachio Conservative News and Commentary