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I think we are going to need to seriously visit this topic when this crisis is over.
What “emergency powers” should anyone in government possess”
350 million Americans locked in their homes indefinitely? What if this lasts 3 months? What if there is a 2nd wave as some are predicting and last lasts 3 months? What if this happens every year? Do we start issuing this order every flu season to stop influenza as well? So far it’s killed far more than corona.

If it’s constitutional to ban you from leaving your home during an emergency is it also constitutional to do so when there isn’t an emergency?

“I think we are going to need to seriously visit this topic when this crisis is over.”

I pretty much agree. I’m no lawyer, but I taught history for many years. I think a lot of the powers being exercised are ancient. An historically more recent case is Typhoid Mary. She was a carrier of Typhoid, but didn’t get sick herself. I think she worked as a cook/waitress and infected many people. She committed no crimes but was nonetheless confined for the rest of her life.

Perhaps this is an instance of where our Federal form of government shows its genius. If three governors restrict their citizens’ movements and 47 don’t, we’ll know that there’s something fishy going on. If on the other hand 47 restrict movement, then maybe there is something real happening.

I’m judging this from the perspective of what is happening around the world, not just here in the US. If all of Europe locks down, most of civilized Asia, even India, then maybe it’s not just a few power-mad dem state governors. Maybe it’s something real and something really scary.

I hope that a vaccine and treatment are developed as rapidly as this Wuhan virus has hit and that we’ll be able to stem the tide. On the other hand, long before we were born, our ancestors coped with repeated visitations from the plague and their nations, cultures, traditions survived.

Right. And what’s the definition of “emergency” and who says so?

Is an emergency a bunch of hysterical predictions by some British guy, or is it actual quantifiable threat that warrants the level of action we’re experiencing?