April 22, 2020 Issue, Page 4 of 20

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Page 4 The Elk City News, Elk City, Oklahoma Wednesday, April 22, 2020 Opinion Page Leaders from poth parties need to stop the “ElkCituNews blame and solve the coronavirus crisis Serving Western Oklahoma since 1901 By Nicholas Goldberg, daily press briefings he flails tive he fears may destroy ly needed substantial per- Los Angeles Times around inarticulately, cease- him in November. He’s de- suasion before they agreed Navy troubles: A fighting OK, we can all agree. lessly praising his own ac- termined to come off as the to order dramatic changes Egregious mistakes were tions and attacking those of nation’s resolute and_all- in people’s behavior that force shouldn’t be mired made and many people are others. Last week, he actu- seeing savior - the check would infringe on personal signer in chief, the voice of liberty and cause enormous in politics dying needlessly as a result. ally said: “Everything we reason, the provider of ven- But who made those mis- did was right,” even as the tilators, the man who “calls economic damage. Even New York Gov. An- By The Editorial Board, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette takes is a matter of dispute. number of dead in the U.S. the shots” - and that means drew Cuomo, who has be- The United States Navy is dysfunctional, with a failure The left blames the right, the climbed above 23,000. The of command from the top down. Instead of projecting an right blames China and the following day, he announced he needs someone to blame come, in the eyes of many image of the most potent fleet in the world, the Navy has theatrically that he was cut- for any problems. Democrats, the anti-Trump World Health Organization. But it’s not just Trump ting U.S. funding for the - trustworthy, transparent run aground in a mire of bad decisions and foolish chest- Governors blame the presi- World Health Organization politicizing the pandemic. and reassuring - didn’t im- thumping by civilian and military leaders. The fate of Capt. Brett Crozier, the former commander dent, and he blames them in the middle of the crisis for A new analysis by two epi- plement aggressive stay-at- of the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, displays right back. “severely mismanaging and demiologists suggests that if home measures until March Eventually, those leaders covering up” the COVID-19 social distancing had been in 20. Thomas Frieden, the a disconnect between Navy leadership and sailors. The who failed to respond force- crisis and putting “political place two weeks earlier in fate of the crew shows leadership didn’t care about the former head of the Centers fully to the virus will be correctness above lifesav- the United States, as many for Disease Control and Pre- growing COVID-19 spread aboard the ship until the press called to account. But now ing.” There may be some as 90% of the lives lost to publicized their plight. is absolutely the wrong mo- truth to his accusations. vention, has estimated that if COVID-19 could have been social distancing rules had Capt. Crozier deserves an investigation conducted by ment for finger-pointing and WHO was certainly defer- an independent monitor to determine whether his removal ential to China, perhaps too saved. And Democrats natu- been put in place in New blame-shifting. York just a week or two We're deep in the throes much so, and may have gull- from command was justified. rally see this as the moment Officers do not get command of carriers by mistake. ibly accepted that country’s to blame the president for earlier, 50% to 80% of the Capt. Crozier was well-vetted and proven in service be- of an unprecedented nation- early reassurances about the letting the situation spiral deaths in that city could have al emergency and we have virus. And there is no doubt out of control. been avoided. fore he was given command of the USS Theodore Roo- sevelt. His crew knew that he was competent and cared plenty to do to pull ourselves it would have been better if “The truth is that in Janu- There will be years of out of it. With thousands of the agency had declared a ary, Donald Trump was studies and reports and anal- about the welfare of his men and women in uniform. Capt. Crozier was frustrated as the virus began to spread Americans dying of the vi- global emergency a week or warned about this pandem- yses, and more than enough among his crew. He went to the chain of command, got tus each week, this is the so earlier. ic, ignored those warnings, second-guessing and Mon- day morning quarterbacking. time for leaders across the Early mistakes may have took insufficient action and little response and then issued an email to other officers country to send clear, fo- led to a slower and weaker caused unnecessary death Undoubtedly the Novem- warning them of the situation. ber elections will be won or That letter was leaked to the press. cused, forward-looking mes- response around the world and disaster,” House Speak- lost on the basis of our how Without evidence, then Acting Secretary of the Navy sages providing accurate in- and a boom in infections. er Nancy Pelosi said. Ultimately we will want to candidates responded to the Thomas Modly accused Capt. Crozier of leaking the formation about how many It’s not that she’s wrong. know whether the 72-year- crisis - or failed to. And that people have been tested, old organization did every- Repeated news stories have email. Rather than wait for an internal Navy investiga- will be entirely appropriate. tion, he removed Capt. Crozier from command. As the are sick and have died, and thing it could have or wheth- documented that Trump was But the cynical finger- captain left his ship, his sailors gave him a tremendous explaining exactly what is er it made mistakes through slow off the mark and in fact pointing, the deflection of ovation while chanting his name. Capt. Crozier also left being asked of us and why ignorance, political correct- did many of the same things responsibility, the politiciza- with something else - he was infected with COVID-19. changing our behavior is so ness or the fog of misin- he is now accusing WHO of tion of a dreadfully serious Modly then proved that he was the man unfit for com- important. formation. We will need to doing. But again, it is hard to pandemic is not right, and mand. He visited the ship - criticized the sailors for their We need more testing, examine those missteps in see how Pelosi’s line of at- it’s certainly not right at this send-off to the former commander and launched into more protective gear, more order to prevent similar ones tack helps us out of the mess moment. Our leaders need to medical equipment, and we going forward. Capt. Crozier in a profanity-riddled tirade and criticized But why are we hearing we're in. keep their focus on getting his leadership. Modly eventually resigned. need our leaders to pull to- about it just now? Why is the Other than a handful of us through the pandemic and Civilian leadership should intervene only in the most gether regardless of their United States suddenly with- doctors and scientists, did beyond. extraordinary cases. Crozier’s case did not rise to that party. An obsessive focus on holding its funding from the anyone in government ac- Later we can go back to level. The Navy is a fighting force, not a football for poli- blame is an unwelcome and organization? quit themselves brilliantly the recriminations. ticians and civilian leaders who slam a captain for doing unhealthy distraction. For one reason only: Be- in the early days of the pan- Nicholas Goldberg is an right by his crew. The Navy must be on the high seas pro- President Donald Trump, cause Trump is ginning up demic? Many officials had associate editor and op-ed tecting American security, not mired in the mud of politi- not surprisingly, is the worst false outrage in a desperate to be educated about the n: columnist for the Los Ange- cal battles. offender. At his circus-like effort to rewrite the narra- ture of the threat and certain- les Times. Guest column: Solutions to problems should not threaten liberty By Silas Dodgen Creator with certain un- may not interfere with the ernmental powers and con- Much of the economic and churches. That’s what a As I have observed the alienable Rights, that among free exercise of religion un- stitutional guarantees of spe- disaster that is ravaging the free country looks like. Yes, current pandemic unfold, I these are Life, Liberty and less there is a pandemic. Or, cific individual liberties can nation is a direct result of it’s possible that under this have been haunted by a fear the pursuit of Happiness.-- the people may assemble be suspended at the discre- government-imposed —_re- scenario more people might that Americans are facing a That to secure these rights, peaceably, unless the state tion of municipal and state strictions on economic activ- succumb to viral illness. But danger far greater than could Governments are instituted determines they shouldn’t. executives. These rights and ity. (Again, its unclear to me freedom would be preserved, ever be posed by a virus. among Men, deriving their Or, the people have the right limits have ceased to be ab- whether government at any Simply put, itappears tome just powers from the con- to enjoy the gains of their solute, nonnegotiable prin- level has the constitutional the economy would flour- that liberty is in peril across sent of the governed, --That own industry, unless the ciples. authority to order the clos- ish at a more robust level, our land. Our nation and the whenever any Form of Gov- government decides it’s not This fiasco has established ing of businesses and oblit- and human suffering would world have faced deadly ernment becomes destruc- safe. A bill of rights with a precedent for government erate fundamental economic ultimately be mitigated to a pandemics before. For more tive of these ends, it is the such qualifications is an ob- officials to exercise author- liberty.) greater degree. information, see the CDC’s Right of the People to alter vious absurdity; such a bill ity not bestowed upon them This brings the question of We can’t afford to be page on “Past Pandemics” or to abolish it, and to insti- of rights actually guarantees by constitution or law and to the purpose of government myopic as we assess and at https://www.cdc.gov/flu/ tute new Government, lay- no rights at all. Rights then suspend clear constitutional into sharp focus. Histori- respond to this pandemic, pandemic-resources/basics/ ing its foundation on such only exist when granted by rights on the grounds of a cally, the American people but we must rather take the past-pandemics.html. The principles and organizing its threat to public health and have rejected having an om- the whim and pleasure of the long view of what will lead current pandemic in terms powers in such form, as to state. safety, whether such threat nipotent, nanny-state style of to the greatest degree of hu- of its scope and impact, de- them shall seem most likely Over the past several is real, imagined, exaggerat- government, with all power man flourishing. Deep in our spite the hysterical reaction to effect their Safety and weeks, we have seen mayors ed, or fabricated. Rights and concentrated at the top. we're witnessing to it, is not Happiness. and governors here in Okla- limits on government power Most of our people haven't American soul, we know unprecedented in terms of The First Amendment to homa and across the nation are now situationally-de- looked to the government to that any solution to any scope or impact. the United States Constitu- behave as if these docu- pendent, which amounts to save us from every hardship. problem that threatens liber- What’s unprecedented is tion prohibits the Congress ments don’t exist and as if a dictatorship, not a consti- The governmental response ty is the wrong solution and the government response from making any law “re- their powers are limitless tutionally-ordered republic we're seeing now reflects will inevitably breed more and the unbridled wielding specting an establishment as they impose numerous with government of, by, and the ascendancy of socialist profound problems and pro- of raw executive authority, of religion, or prohibiting restrictions on Americans’ for the people. Our Founders and statist ideas in our coun- liferate misery. especially at the state and the free exercise thereof;” ability to move freely, make would not be impressed. try according to which the I’'mcalling on government municipal levels, that has no moreover, it guarantees “the decisions concerning how to Moreover, the government people are treated like chil- officials at all levels to sub- clear basis in law. Across the right of the people peaceably best run their own lives, as- response to the current pan- dren, with the omniscient, mit themselves to our fed- land, we have seen the rights to assemble.” According to semble peaceably, worship demic is conditioning Amer- omnipotent state determin- eral and state constitutions of Americans trampled by the Incorporation Doctrine, as their consciences dictate, icans to meekly acquiesce ing what's best for them. In mayors and governors in a derived from the due pro- and, to use the words of our accordance with fascist doc- and govern in a lawful man- in order to “stay safe.” As a terrifyingly fascist fashion. cess clause of the Fourteenth state constitution, “enjoy thepeople, we once valued lib- trine, what the state deems ner, with the preservation of If space permitted, we could Amendment, the states are gains of their own industry.” erty first, safety second (how best for the collective good liberty being their preemi- multiply examples, but we also bound by the Bill of From what I’ve seen, long could a real American utterly trumps the rights and nent and paramount concern trust that many people have Rights of the United States there has been little attempt stand to be safe if he wasn’t needs of the individual. under all circumstances. now begun to learn of some Constitution. by mayors and governors free?). Americans once In another day, somewhere Liberty first, safety second of these outrages. Illustrative The Constitution of our to cite the constitutional or shared a common sentiment, in America’s freer past, we must be their motto. Power of the attitude of many state own state states, “Perfect lawful basis for their execu- immortalized in these stir- wouldn’t be enduring these is an intoxicating thing; our and municipal officials, the toleration of religious senti- tive actions. In some cases, ring words attributed to Pat- outrages against liberty. In- public officials need to be governor of New Jersey lit- ment shall be secured, and it seems these officials are rick Henry, “Is life so dear, stead, the government, pub- erally laughed at the notion no inhabitant of the State literally creating new pow- or peace so sweet, as to be lic health officials, medical restrained from indulging in such intoxication. I’m call- he is limited by the Bill of shall ever be molested in ers for themselves out of thin purchased at the price of professionals and scientists Rights in the exercise of his person or property on ac- air. At the risk of stating the chains and slavery? Forbid would content themselves ing on legislators and city executive powers (https:// count of his or her mode of obvious, when this happens, it, Almighty God! I know with educating the public council members to call out www.foxnews.com/media/ religious worship . . . .” Ar- all pretext of constitutional not what course others may on how the virus is transmit- officials in the executive tucker-carlson-phil-murphy- ticle II, Sections 2 and 3 of government has been aban- take, but as for me, give me ted, what persons were at in- branches of state and munic- bill-of-rights). our state constitution read as doned and a dictatorship has liberty or give me death!” creased risk of succumbing ipal government to respect Allow me to remind us of follows: “All persons have arisen. In the name of “pub- to it, and issuing recommen- freedom and rein in their fla- With businesses closing or some of the rights our people the inherent right to life, lic safety,” these officials are curtailing activity, millions dations (not mandates) con- grant abuses of power. have cherished and carefully liberty, the pursuit of hap- engaging in tyrannical be- of Americans are now job- cerning how to limit trans- Finally, I’m calling on guarded for over two cen- piness, and the enjoyment havior, and some of our peo- less. The misery and human mission and stay healthy. the people to stand up for turies. The quintessential of the gains of their own in- ple are not even questioning suffering that results from After having educated their rights and to insist that American idea is summed dustry. The people have the it, evidently prizing “safety” idleness and unemploy- and informed the public, the their elected official confine up in these words from our right peaceably to assemble over freedom. ment at this magnitude will people would then be left to Declaration of Indepen- for their own good...” In my view, the greater be difficult to calculate or use their own judgment and themselves to their constitu- dence: We hold these truths Notice that these state- danger is not infectious fully comprehend, but there make their own decisions tionally appointed roles and to be self-evident, that all ments are unqualified. The disease, but this lawless, is no doubt in my mind that concerning how to best con- functions. men are created equal, that Constitution doesn’t say, for un-American notion that the cure will prove to be far duct their personal affairs Silas Dodgen thev are endowed by their example. the government constitutional limits on gov- worse than the disease. and operate their businesses Weatherford. Oklahoma