Republican Death Cult Wants You To Die Too-- Otherwise They Would All Just Drink Bleach Or Inject Lysol

The Cure by Nancy Ohanian

What is Trump's consiglieri-like Attorney General, William Barr, doing to further mire the country in the pandemic? On Monday, one of the 3 or 4 worst AGs in American history ordered federal prosecutors to "be on the lookout" for Democratic governors who issue public health regulations that violate the constitutional rights of right-wing fanatics and extremists who are dedicated to steepening the curve or are too simple-minded to understand what a curve is.

Barr sent a short memo to the 93 U.S. attorneys, warning that some state and local directives are infringing on protected religious, speech and "economic rights. If a state or local ordinance crosses the line from an appropriate exercise of authority to stop the spread of COVID-19 into an overbearing infringement of constitutional and statutory protections, the Department of Justice may have an obligation to address that overreach in federal court, he wrote, trying as best he could to sound like a sane person instead of a homicidal maniac and mad dog.

He has assigned two DOJ prosecutors to "take action... Many policies that would be unthinkable in regular times have become commonplace in recent weeks, and we do not want to unduly interfere with the important efforts of state and local officials to protect the public. But the Constitution is not suspended in times of crisis. We must therefore be vigilant to ensure its protections are preserved, at the same time that the public is protected," he said, still trying his best to sound like a rational persona rather than a psychotic and sociopath like his boss.

Barr has been warning state and local governments against restrictions that single out religious gatherings even though as many as a third of all cases can be traced back to religious services in many locales. A couple of weeks ago Barr issued a statement saying that "Even in times of emergency, when reasonable and temporary restrictions are placed on rights, the First Amendment and federal statutory law prohibit discrimination against religious institutions and religious believers."

"Too restrictive"-- that's the hard core Trump-Republican base

Most-- though not all-- Republican governors don't need to be reminded by Barr. They're way into his line of thinking. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, for example-- who many people consider a worse governor than even Ron DeSantis (R-FL) or Brian Kemp (R-GA). Noem wouldn't be more guilty for the 2,245 cases in her state had she personally run around injecting people. South Dakota has an astonishing 2,598 cases per million and it has been spreading from South Dakota into North Dakota, western Minnesota, northwest Iowa, Nebraska and Wyoming. South Dakota is the Midwest's Typhoid Mary state and Kristi Noem is up for the grand Typhoid Mary Governor of 2020. But Texas fringe maniac Gov. Greg Abbott (R) has no intention of letting her walk away with the award without a fight. By the end of the week, Abbott will allow restaurants, movie theaters, churches, museums, libraries, retail stores and malls open. Texas has a very low case/million inhabitants rate-- 907. Watch what happens to that by mid-May, which will be when he expects to also open barber shops, bars, gyms and hair salons

Abbott made the announcement during a news conference at the Texas Capitol, which he began by saying he would let the stay-at-home order expire because it "has done its job to slow the growth of COVID-19." While the spread of the virus in Texas has slowed down throughout April, the number of cases is still increasing day to day, and it is unclear if the state has yet seen its peak.

...Abbott said his new order "supersedes all local orders" saying those businesses must remain closed. He also said his order overrules any local government that wants to impose a fine or penalty for not wearing a mask-- something the latest statewide rules encourage but do not mandate.

Speaking shortly after Abbott in Houston, the city's mayor, Sylvester Turner, told reporters that Abbott's new order "pretty much will take these measures, the ability to [issue] stay-at-home orders and things of that nature, out of our hands locally." He said he hoped Abbott's plan works but offered a "cautionary note," pointing out that there is still no vaccine and statistics show the "virus is still here," even as local measures have slowed it down.

Abbott's new order comes as questions continue to persist about Texas' low testing level and what is being done to increase capacity. State Rep. Chris Turner of Grand Prairie, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, said in a statement that Texas is "near last in the nation on per capita testing and Gov. Abbott didn’t present a clear plan how that’s going to change, even though experts agree that widespread testing is essential to any reopening plan."

"We don't know the magnitude of the problem," U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-El Paso, said during a Texas Democratic Party conference call after Abbott's news conference. "Without robust testing, then we continue to remain in the dark."

Raleigh, North Carolina's CBS affiliate reported yesterday evening that one of the leaders of the Re-Open North Carolina, Audrey Whitlock, posted on her Facebook page that she has tested positive for the coronavirus. She described herself as "an asymptomatic COVID19 positive patient."

Whitlock is one of the administrators of the ReOpen NC Facebook page-- which has helped organize two protests in downtown Raleigh calling for Gov. Roy Cooper to lift his stay-at-home order.

In Whitlock’s post, she wrote about how the restrictions put in place amid the COVID-19 pandemic are violating her First Amendment rights as well as her 5th and 14th Amendment rights.

She said she was “forced” to quarantine which violated her First Amendment rights.

“The reality is that modern society has not been able to eradicate contagious viruses. A typical public health quarantine would occur in a medical facility. I have been told not to participate in public or private accommodations as requested by the government, and therefore denied my 1st amendment right of freedom of religion,” Whitlock wrote.

She went on to say that “It has been insinuated by others that if I go out, I could be arrested for denying a quarantine order.”

She says an arrest in that situation would violate the Americans with Disabilities Act.

ReOpen NC said it would hold rallies in Raleigh every Tuesday until the governor’s restrictions are lifted. On Thursday, Cooper extended the stay-at-home order until May 8.

As of Monday evening North Carolina had reported 9,415 confirmed cases, and just 927 cases per million, which is very low and widely attributed to Gov. Cooper's relatively fast shelter-in-place orders, the ones ReOpen NC is complaining about. Yesterday, though, Politico noted that it isn't only Democratic governors who are coming under fire from the GOP Death Cult but Republican governors who have been acting responsibly as well.

Across Texas, Arizona, Missouri and Ohio, dozens of conservative and libertarian state leaders and business owners told POLITICO they are planning more demonstrations and agitating to open more businesses, even after President Donald Trump sideswiped Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp last week for including spas, barber shops and gyms in the initial stages of his recovery plan.

Tea Party Patriots and other groups are rallying behind Kemp in Georgia, with some activists concerned that national backlash to Kemp’s orders-- which includes resuming dine-in service at restaurants-- could discourage Republicans in other red states from forging ahead. In Texas, where Gov. Greg Abbott announced plans for a phased restart weeks ago and followed up Monday with more details, Texas House Freedom Caucus members contend it’s ultimately the responsibility of individual Texans to keep themselves safe by wearing protective gear and following social distancing guidelines. Across other red states, conservative activists are pleading with governors not to extend or bolster stay-at-home orders set to expire in the coming weeks.

Polls show widespread support for maintaining social distancing guidelines, but Republicans are more aggressive than Democrats about their hopes for the timing and scope of reopening. Local GOP officials in states where demonstrations are occurring said that their offices have been inundated with calls and letters from exasperated constituents who are urging swift action.

And with Trump sending mixed messages, they’re turning more sharply to state leaders to press their case about the damages.

Trump and political allies are torn over both the precise timing of reopening and the visuals of the demonstrations that swept the country. The president has broadly left it up to individual states to decide their procedures-- a stance that critics believe allows him to take any side of the coronavirus debate depending on how the circumstances turn. Before slapping down Kemp in successive news conferences last week, Trump positioned himself as a national leader for the “reopen” side. The president agitated early and has sent supportive tweets calling for the “liberation” of states.

“They’ve got cabin fever. They want their lives back,” Trump said at one point, swatting away at a question about whether he was inciting violence.

Trump met with retail executives and spoke with governors Monday about the virus response and “economic revival,” an approach that could put the president on firmer footing with his base.

Some on the right are distancing themselves altogether from the public demonstrations: Americans for Prosperity-- the main political arm of the libertarian-leaning Koch network-- backed away from the protests in favor of engaging policymakers to focus on standards to safely reopen the economy.

But Tea Party Patriots agreed to promote demonstrations to its members, provided they followed social distancing guidelines. Several events are also being showcased by the conservative group FreedomWorks, including rallies in Ohio and across Texas last weekend, and in Arizona and Nevada on Friday along with a big event outside the White House.

“I think that for the first month, the reason we didn’t have protests like this is people were saying, ‘OK, this isn’t going to last forever, and we should be able to get through it,’” said Jenny Beth Martin, cofounder and national coordinator of the Tea Party Patriots.

Martin credited business owners in her home state of Georgia with successfully pushing Kemp to act swiftly to get businesses up and running again, calling the governor’s order “measured” and a positive first step. She joined with scores of local leaders in imploring supporters to reach out to Kemp to show their appreciation.

“Right now, if you don’t have the cell phone or email of your elected officials or their staff it is very difficult to get through with any sort of real, meaningful communication to them,” Martin said. “A lot of these people who have left their home to go make their voices heard are only doing that because they cannot get through to the government otherwise.”

Hundreds of protesters have swarmed Ohio, where Republican Gov. Mike DeWine was an early proponent of strict state actions. They’re worried DeWine and Ohio Department of Health Director Dr. Amy Acton-- who is drawing considerable ire-- will move too slowly on May 1 when the stay-at-home order runs out.

“Government has a role, but it should not be overreaching-- and that’s certainly what’s going on right now,” said Tom Hach, organizer for an “Open Ohio Now” rally in Columbus. He and several others believe there needs to be more focus on people who had the virus but didn’t show symptoms, which Hach said could ultimately show the state and country overreached.

“Every decision comes with a price,” said Hach, a retiree from the Cleveland suburbs who serves on several local boards. “We may on the one hand be saving some lives with the stay-at-home order, but we’re going to cost lives and livelihood and diminish people’s lives in general if the economy tanks. It’s all got to be balanced. And I don’t think that it is. And that is something Gov. DeWine has to look at.”

More than 965,900 1,010,300 people have been infected with Covid-19 in the U.S., which has led to nearly 55,000 57,000 deaths as of Monday. CDC guidelines for states lifting various orders as part of a multi-phase process call for downward trends of positive tests over two weeks along with robust testing programs for at-risk hospital workers.

Protest organizers hold up Georgia, along with South Carolina, Florida and Tennessee as early Republicans models for states that have moved quickly to begin reopening. Several credited Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis with moving away from a more aggressive stay-at-home order into a new phase with more businesses able to operate-- and they want every Republican to follow.

Kemp, who held a prayer service as restaurants began reopening Monday, has stood by his decision despite not meeting the federal guidelines. Many Georgia business owners say they don’t plan to open right away and Kemp’s moves have already revived political feuds in the state. Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA) sided with Trump and accused his opponent in the November Senate special election, GOP Sen. Kelly Loeffler, of taking both Kemp’s and Trump’s side in the fight.