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Replacing our regular EPA ABUSE column this month is a special feature commenting on the nationwide COVID-19 shutdown. As with EPA ABUSE these articles are reprinted with permission from www.Dailycaller.com

Authoritarianism On The Rise In America In The Age Of Coronavirus

By Williams Davis Posted April 24, 2020

To battle the coronavirus pandemic, states and cities across the U.S. have embraced authoritarian measures, but are they going too far?

Some public officials, like Democratic Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, have gone so far as to ban people from visiting friends and family unless they are doing so to perform medical assistance. Some cities have implemented mass surveillance programs, widely considered to be illegal. Police in 22 different cities have begun using DJI drones to enforce coronavirus restrictions, despite a ban on these drones by the Department of Justice.

Religious liberty has also been on the chopping block during the coronavirus response, as states and cities cracked down on Easter celebrations. Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear warned people in his state that he would have police take pictures of people’s license plates and force them to quarantine for 14 days if they attended Easter services, although a judge later ruled that churches had the right to congregate through drive thru services.

In Mississippi, police officers could be seen breaking up a service, with one officer telling the church’s pastor that “your rights have been suspended by the government.”

As shutdowns over the virus continue and crackdowns on civil liberties escalate, many Americans are making clear that they have had enough. Over 300,000 people have signed a petition demanding Whitmer be recalled, while protests have popped up across the country. Thousands of Americans have gathered at “reopen rallies” in state capitals throughout the country.

Virginians protesting in the state capital of Richmond last week held up signs saying “we will not comply,” while anti-lockdown protesters in the Texas state capital of Austin loudly chanted “Fire Fauci,” a reference to Dr. Anthony Fauci — President Donald Trump’s top coronavirus adviser. As protests have raged around the country, public officials and police have taken counter measures.

After a North Carolina protester was arrested, the Raleigh Police Department tweeted that exercising the First Amendment right to protest was a “nonessential activity,” drawing swift backlash on social media. Whitmer has taken a punitive posture towards protesters in Michigan, saying that she might extend her state’s shutdown as a result of the virus.

“The worst irony that could come about from these demonstrations is that they force us to stay in this posture longer than — longer than we’re already planning to,” Whitmer said during a Thursday appearance on MSNBC.

Meanwhile, some governments have teamed up with big tech in an attempt to shut down these protests. Facebook reportedly deleted posts promoting the protests in several states, including California and New Jersey, after pressure from state governments. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he classified posts promoting the protests as “harmful misinformation,” and had them taken down.

Benjamin Franklin famously said “those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety,” and more and more Americans appear to be coming to the conclusion that the threats to their liberty are becoming a greater risk than the threats to their safety.

The Data Is In — Stop The Panic And End The Total Isolation: Fmr. Stanford Chief Of Neuroradiology Discusses Viral Column

By Scott Morefield Posted April 24, 2020

Dr. Scott Atlas, the former chief of neuroradiology at Stanford University Medical Center and a senior fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, made a Friday night Fox News appearance to defend his viral column about why the ongoing coronavirus panic, and the ensuing government-enforced shutdowns, should end.

Atlas’ column, titled “The Data Is In — Stop The Panic And End The Total Isolation” and published Wednesday at The Hill, lists “five key facts” that are “being ignored by those calling for continuing the near-total lockdown,” along with evidence to bolster each one.

Fact 1: The overwhelming majority of people do not have any significant risk of dying from COVID-19.

Fact 2: Protecting older, at-risk people eliminates hospital overcrowding.

Fact 3: Vital population immunity is prevented by total isolation policies, prolonging the problem.

Fact 4: People are dying because other medical care is not getting done due to hypothetical projections. Fact 5: We have a clearly defined population at risk who can be protected with targeted measures.

“Leaders must examine accumulated data to see what has actually happened, rather than keep emphasizing hypothetical projections; combine that empirical evidence with fundamental principles of biology established for decades; and then thoughtfully restore the country to function,” Atlas wrote.

The former Stanford doctor appeared on Friday night’s edition of “The Story with Martha MacCallum” to discuss his conclusions.

“I think we are in a different position now than we were a month ago,” Atlas said. “That position is we have a lot of evidence. We don’t need to just simply emphasize hypothetical projections. We can combine that empirical data instead of ignoring it. We can combine that with our knowledge of fundamental biology, for decades we’ve known a lot about viruses, a lot about infections, and for decades, even about this family of viruses. And then we can thoughtfully combine that evidence with the way to restore the country in a safe way.”

Atlas defended his contention that people have a low risk of dying from the virus as being “shown all over the world” as dire death projections continue to decline as larger infection rates are discovered. Most of the infected were asymptomatic or “have zero symptoms,” he said, and the vast majority “certainly” do not require hospitalization.

“So when you look at the newer data that has come out, the estimates are that the fatality rate is very low,” he said. “Maybe 0.1%, I mean it’s not set, it’s not known exactly but these are estimates. We also know that when you take the people who are going to die, two-thirds of people are over 70. 95% of people are over 50. If you’re young and healthy you have essentially zero, near zero chance of dying.”

The former Stanford doctor pointed out that 99.2% of those who died had “some underlying condition,” a fact that should be “critical information” for policy makers.

He then argued that “protecting the at risk population” does not “mean total isolation” for everyone else.

Pennsylvania Businesses Ask SCOTUS To Stop State Lockdown

By David Krayden Posted April 28, 2020

Some Pennsylvania business owners say it’s time to get back to work and want the Supreme Court of the United States to overturn a state lockdown initiated by Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf.

These owners say Wolf had no authority to issue such a widespread declaration, Fox News reported Tuesday.

Wolf shut down much of the state’s economy early in the coronavirus crisis with an order that all “non-lifesustaining” businesses be closed until further notice. That edict included state-run liquor stores, but these facilities began offering curbside delivery last week.

Harrisburg lawyer Marc Scaringi, who is representing the business owners, told Fox News that Wolf’s shutdown order was arbitrary and did not precisely define what part of the economy was “non-life-sustaining.” Before ordering that businesses close, Wolf called for voluntary closures.

“Part of our legal challenge is the arbitrariness and capriciousness of the list, of which industry is on which classification,” Scaringi told Fox News. “The whole thing is fundamentally based on terms that have no clear knowing, understandable definition.”

The lawyer argued that the criteria for what constitutes life-sustaining is open for debate. “The governor kind of just made all of this up anyway, and he could just change his mind.”

Realtor Kathy Gregory, one of the business owners challenging the state order, said the lockdown has hurt her business as she can no longer bring prospective home buyers to locations that are for sale.

“The issue here isn’t [just] your income for March or April, but by shutting us down completely, when he reopens, you’re starting from scratch,” Gregory told Fox News. “You’re not going to have any income in May, June and possibly July. You’re starting over, like a brand new agent with no inventory.”

Although the governors of all states with strict lockdowns have argued that their decisions limited the growth of the COVID-19 virus, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Dr. Ben Carson observed last week that if Americans wait for the “last vestiges” of the pandemic to disappear, the national economy will be gone too.

Wolf has said that some businesses that cater to outdoor activities like golf, fishing and camping, will be able to reopen by May 1. Rural portions of the state that have been less affected by the coronavirus outbreak are also hopeful that they could reopen the local economy sooner than urban locations.

Defiant New York City Shop Owner Who Decided To Open Up Tells Tucker What Happened When Police Came

By Scott Morefield Posted April 27, 2020

A New York City tailor appeared on Monday night’s “Tucker Carlson Tonight” to explain why he decided to open his shop to customers in defiance of his city’s order to stay closed.

“This country’s backbone is businesses like mine all over our country,” Rabin said. “I don’t find myself being brave. I find myself being re asonable. I find myself having common sense. So my door is open. The rules are posted on my door. We’re observing every single rule and regulation that’s come down.”

Carlson asked Rabin whether police tried to arrest him:

“No, sir, they did not,” he responded. “In fact, they looked at me and said ‘you’re a veteran.’ I said ‘yes, I am.’ And they said ‘thank you for your service.'” “People want to walk in, they’re allowed to walk in,” said the shop owner. “I decided that I did not want anyone to dictate to me and destroy the soul of my business,” Rabin said.

Eliot Rabin, the 78-year-old owner of men’s apparel store Peter Eliot Blue, made news Sunday with his decision, telling the New York Post, “I’m opening my doors come hell or high water.”

After a first weekday of business that included a visit by police, Rabin remained defiant during his conversation with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who introduced him as “a very brave man.”

“I decided that I did not want anyone to dictate to me and destroy the soul of my business,” Rabin said, expressing incredulity that liquor stores would be considered essential while his business is not.

When police came to ask if he was open, the shop owner told them he hadn’t been there for three weeks, but his “door is open” and he owes “a lot of money to a lot of people.” “We’ve applied to every government “I am not forcing them in … We have maintained our distance and we have obeyed every single rule, but I feel that this country is being dictated to unnecessarily. I think personally, I’m putting no one in danger.” “You are my kind of American, and I hope that you’re rewarded for this, and I hope if you have any problems you will come back on this show,” Carlson said. “And in the meantime, I hope New Yorkers will support you in what you’re doing.” “How nice is it to share a country with people like that?” the Fox News host remarked after Eliot had gone. E “This country’s backbone is businesses like mine all over our country,” Rabin said. “I don’t find myself being brave. I find myself being reasonable. I find myself having common sense. So my door is open."