Free Republic

With COVID-19, it is like that clichéd scene in the movies where the scientist looks up from the microscope and says, ‘This doesn't seem to behave like anything I've ever seen before.’ My father-in-law recently asked me if it is hard to see hospitals and death in film because their depictions are so inaccurate. Yes, it can ruin the realism for me and make me cringe. Then I realized that just watching the news or press conferences these days are giving me the same feeling.Everyone seems to be talking about intensive care units (ICUs) and COVID-19 patients. As someone who...

Right now all of us have decisions to make about how much freedom is too much freedom. On the national lockdown loosening in some states and stubbornly persisting in others, Americans are very much of two minds. For some, including most of the media, it is an inconvenience, but a righteous one that saves lives. For others, often with smaller megaphones, it is a powerfully destructive force economically and socially. But we should be able to agree that, whether justified or not, the lockdown has been a massive infringement on Americans’ basic rights. At least since women received the right...

Blessing In Disguise. It’s Evil Social distancing is not something to celebrate. It is, according to the experts, what we must do right now. But it’s a necessary evil, not a societal good. As the U.S. government’s “30 days to slow the spread” order expires, with no indication that President Trump plans to extend it, it’s time to start asking whether it was worth it. Have the extreme social distancing and economic measures to which we have subjected ourselves accomplished the desired result? Was any of it even necessary to begin with? It’s a question we’ll be debating for years....

The basic national divide between conservative America and liberal/left America that has existed for decades – really since the 1960s – is continuing on in the new environment caused by the coronavirus crisis. The American Right continues to want a society informed by its Judeo-Christian heritage, given force by a government in which the original intent of the Constitution prevails, and its objective of limited government. The American Left continues to want an expansive government with a messianic character, empowered to do whatever is deemed necessary for its vision of “a better world,” and aided by science and technology. The...

Yet another great segment from Tucker. Highlights: Even as Moochelle sends a recorded message to all DC residents to stay home and only go out for groceries, medication or to do an “essential job”, Obama drove 40 miles to Virginia to go play golf on a nice sunny day, even though the Governor of Virginia had banned everybody else from playing golf because lockdowns “save lives” apparently. The black mayor of Chicago bans everyone else from going to the hair dressers, but then continues to go to the hair dressers herself. According to her, she needs to look cute cause...

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

As the spread of COVID-19 begins to slow nationwide, some governors are proving to be more serious than others about what comes next. As the coronavirus spread slows, governors are responding in different, sometimes wildly divergent ways. Many of them, recognizing their states are not likely to see an outbreak on the scale of New York or New Jersey, have in recent days announced plans to loosen lockdown orders and get their residents back to work. Others have taken the opposite tack, extending lockdown orders and keeping businesses shuttered even as jobless claims mount.The first set of governors, generally speaking,...

As some states begin loosening coronavirus lockdowns, all eyes are on Texas to see if a phased reopening can be done safely. In what could be the beginning of America’s resurgence from the coronavirus pandemic, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday he will let the state’s stay-at-home order expire at the end of the month and allow some businesses to reopen Friday, with restrictions. It marks the boldest loosening of pandemic restrictions since states began issuing lockdown orders last month, and could mark a path ahead for reopening the rest of the country. Retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, and malls...

Wake County, North Carolina continues to ban Christians from their central rite of communion while allowing hand-delivered food so long as it's served by restaurants instead of pastors. Like many other locales across the nation, in the name of reducing coronavirus transmission Wake County, North Carolina continues to ban Christians from their central rite of communion while allowing hand-delivered food so long as it’s served by restaurants instead of pastors. After I reported last week on threats against a local church for holding services within government social-distancing and hygiene guidelines while grocery, hardware, and other retail stores are allowed to...

The decisions that are being made during this crisis are far too important and complex to be based on such imprecise data and with such unreliable results. There’s been a lot of armchair analysis about various models being used to predict outcomes of COVID-19. For those of us who have built spatial and statistical models, all of this discussion brings to mind George Box’s dictum, “All models are wrong, but some are useful”—or useless, as the case may be.The problem with data-driven models, especially when data is lacking, can be easily explained. First of all, in terms of helping decision...

...In the survey of over 8,000 swing and “persuadable” voters in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Iowa provided to Secrets this morning, 63% said that they approve of Trump’s handling of the crisis. Just 21% disapproved. And they appear to support his gradual shift from focusing on fighting the virus to also reopening the economy, as well as a reliance more on businesses than Washington to lead the way. “Swing voters are concerned about the impact of the coronavirus and generally approve of Trump’s handling of the crisis. Moreover, they are more concerned with health risks than the economy —...

What some who don’t live in Georgia may not realize is that Gov. Brian Kemp’s original shelter-in-place order was not a total lockdown. Undeterred by his critics, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is moving forward with the bold decision to begin to reopen his state’s businesses and launch our return to normal life. According to an order Kemp promulgated Monday, nail salons, massage therapists, tattoo parlors, bowling alleys, gyms, and other businesses may reopen on Friday. In-person church services can reopen. On Monday, restaurants and movie theaters may reopen. Dentists’ and doctors’ offices and all other health care-related practices and services...

Wisconsinites are signaling they're done playing political games and aren't buying into the idea that they're 'Safer at Home.' MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin stay-at-home orders were supposed to expire Friday. Instead, thousands of disgruntled Wisconsinites descended upon the capitol in protest after the Evers administration extended the Dairy State’s so-called Safer at Home order another month. Endless blaring honks turned to white noise as vehicles backed up East Washington Avenue before circling the capitol, with many waving signs and flags out of windows and sun roofs. One man drove a Yukon decked out with Trump 2020 gear, pulling a trailer...

Now we have better data and experience that beg a more sophisticated approach as our nation grapples with balancing public health and the economy. “First, do no harm.” It’s a saying almost as old as the idea of medicine itself. I heard it a lot in medical school. And it’s a saying that our state and national leaders need to think long and hard about right now. In many respects, I am proud of the way our leaders and experts have stepped up to find ways of fighting the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. They acted quickly, on limited information, and based...

‘It’s great that dog grooming, gin, guns, and garden supplies are essential,’ says Pastor Kevin Martin, chuckling at the irony, ‘but the body and blood of Christ are not.’ It was a parishioner who called local news and possibly the police on Rev. Kevin Martin for continuing to hold services during coronavirus shutdowns, even though he had explicit state permission to do so while taking extra health precautions.Members of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Raleigh, N.C. were filmed by local television as they walked with their spouses and children into the church to worship and receive critical spiritual care at...

Across the country, hospitals shut down 'non-essential' procedures in preparation for a surge of coronavirus patients that never appeared. When the lockdowns began last month, we were told that if we didn’t stay home our hospitals would be overwhelmed with coronavirus patients, intensive care wards would be overrun, there wouldn’t be enough ventilators, and some people would probably die in their homes for lack of care. To maintain capacity in the health-care system, we all had to go on lockdown—not just the big cities, but everywhere.So we stayed home, businesses closed, and tens of millions of Americans lost their jobs....

An essential principle of the United States is that it is a free country, with individual liberties guaranteed, and government power limited. That concept is now being tested. A deadly worldwide pandemic has led to draconian lockdowns, forced closings of businesses, and even mandatory “stay at home” orders, some with Orwellian, friendly sounding names like “Safer at Home” or “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” – but still mandatory and enforced by police. The unprecedented, far-reaching orders have been issued by unelected county health officers as well as by governors of states. Are these orders legal? Do state governors have the legal...

Tuesday, during an interview with nationally syndicated talker Hugh Hewitt, Attorney General William Barr touched on constitutional protections in a time of crisis related to what powers the executive branches of both state and federal governments. Barr acknowledged that amid this coronavirus pandemic, some “temporary and reasonable restrictions” were acceptable. However, he did argue those had to be targeted, adding it was a view “a better job” was needed to be done regarding those restrictions. “I do think that executive glance, whether it be in the federal system or the state system, you know, one of its capacities is to...

Abolishing group gatherings is fine if such limits apply to everyone, but if they only apply to churchgoers thatÂ’s a moral and legal problem. The COVID-19 panic has prompted local and state government officials to temporarily shut down businesses, large group gatherings, and anything else they deem unsafe. Unfortunately, some local officials have taken this too far by targeting religious people. In some states, people of faith have filed lawsuits alleging local authorities have violated their free exercise and free speech rights.Even during a global health scare, we must fiercely protect our First Amendment rights. LetÂ’s go through some recent...

The move to reopen beaches has so far been a good one, Jacksonville Beach, Florida, Mayor Charlie Latham said Monday. “There is [sic] a lot of people that are upset that we’ve opened, but we’re not requiring anybody to go to the beach,” the mayor said during an interview on Fox & Friends. In answer to critics who said allowing people back on the beaches was the wrong move during the pandemic, Latham said social distancing rules were still in place and people were not allowed to lay out. “You’re not allowed to have coolers. You’re not allowed to...