That's the crux of the matter. In this case, I say legalisms and laws be damned. Save lives and alleviate suffering. Just as we praise the 18 year old who broke the law and commandeered a school bus to save himself and others, we need to assist our fellow citizens in the name of morality and humanity.
You said: That's the crux of the matter. In this case, I say legalisms and laws be damned. Save lives and alleviate suffering. Just as we praise the 18 year old who broke the law and commandeered a school bus to save himself and others, we need to assist our fellow citizens in the name of morality and humanity.
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We also aren't going to arrest those who may have "looted" food, water and necessities in this emergency, and I do understand your point. The problem is that, if what you suggest were to become precedent, the feds would be able to act whenever they thought it was in the best interest of those being served. Someone earlier in the thread asked that you state how this concept you support would be limited, and you did not directly respond. How about fed action to forcibly close abortion mills? (But it does sound tempting.) Some religious organizations don't believe in blood transfusions, perhaps the army should come in and close the doors of such religious practitioners. It would almost certainly save lives. How about federal intervention on our highways to slow down traffic? Sure, some of these may sound silly to you, but how do we define the paramater for ignoring state officials and substituting federal agencies? This is a very thorny problem, even in the face of what APPREARS to have been a tardy federal response.