Josh Hammer: Progressivism Versus Popular Sovereignty
On Thursday, the Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall submitted a letter on behalf of 16 state attorney generals to Kevin McCarthy, U.S. House Speaker (R-CA). This letter, which concerns the Biden administration’s policy on COVID-19 is important for its own merits. It is also significant insofar that it encourages the new Congress to act. But it is more importantly because it shines a light on the insatiable desire of the American ruling class to govern through perpetual crisis.
The letter cleverly cites President Joe Biden’s September 2022 admission. “the pandemic is over,” The administration’s continued reliance upon “emergency” The power to implement COVID policies, particularly those pertaining to the “emergency-use authorizations” This has allowed the government to mass-produce and distribute the COVID vaccines, despite not being approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
“Things have changed,” According to the attorneys general, this is because “emergency authorization was granted two years ago to get the first vaccines distributed.” They keep going: “In short, things have changed. The American people, in their characteristic spirit of resilience, have learned to live with COVID-19. Even President Biden noted that people generally are no longer wearing masks, and mandates to do so have disappeared from all but the most sensitive areas. Schools, shops, restaurants, and businesses are open. City streets are bustling. The idea that we are still in the midst of a medical emergency flies in the face of the facts on the ground. Yet, (Health and Human Services) and FDA continue to perpetrate the myth that an emergency exists to aggrandize their power at the expense of people’s freedom.”
The letter ends with the following: “We encourage the new Congress to move quickly to limit HHS’ and FDA’s ability to unilaterally declare an emergency and approve unproven drugs that could cause harm to Americans, override any remaining emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 vaccines, consider reforms to the sweeping liability shield created in 2005, and ensure that our liberties and system of government are robustly protected against any such future attempts at medical tyranny.”
Following Gov. The letter follows a similar successful petition by Ron DeSantis (Republican-Florida) to the Florida Supreme Court for an empanelment of a grand jury to examine COVID-19 vaccine manufacturer’s potential wrongdoings and fraud. (Notably former President Donald Trump is still a strong advocate for the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines.
DeSantis’ latest move was amplified by the attorneys general who are smart to add another shot at the bow at the “unproven” mRNA vaccines are mostly defective products that don’t prevent viral transmission. They are also correct in pointing out the Biden administration’s desire to govern through constant crisis. This was exemplified by their recent decision to appeal Judge Kathryn Mizelle’s original district court ruling. The administration sought to restore the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s useless, since-defunct public transportation mask mandate.
“This is not about an urgent matter of public health,” Brant C.Hardaway, the lawyer who represented initial plaintiffs and won the case to repeal the mask mandate in April last year, announced last week that the Biden administration would seek an appeal. This would be an “emergency,” As he observed, the Biden Justice Department would have acted more urgently after Judge Mizelle’s April ruling, and sought an emergency stay. (Which, notably, it didn’t do).
Hardaway is right that the actions of the Biden administration are not about an “urgent matter of public health” — or any other type legitimate public “emergency,” For that matter. The entire act is, however, emblematic of progressivism’s overall ethos, as this column previously noted. It was best captured by Rahm Emanuel, former Chief of Staff to the Obama White House and Chicago Mayor,’s famous exhortation: “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” According to the American ruling classes and progressive elites, the only motivator is to keep grabbing onto anything, in any form, for as long as you can. “emergency” To justify, fig leaf “enlightened” Rule is usually imposed in a top-down, antidemocratic fashion.
This larger societal dynamic is not limited to the United States. It involves a substantial (often outright majority) right-leaning segment of the body politic that faces constant roadblocks from an isolated, progressive elite. Last week, I highlighted Israel’s intense judicial reform discussion. It is a disturbingly similar situation, with elites represented by not the biomedical security states but an equally unaccountable court oligarchy.
There are many other global examples. It is not clear if the means are available. “enlightened” Progressivism’s hate of juristocracy (cloistered bureaucracy), or any other combination thereof “We the People”The terrain where today’s civil wars are being fought has been shaped by the rooted sovereignty of the people and the zeal to rule through unaccountable decree. It should be the goal conservatives as well as nationalists. re-politicize The law and policy as it was before is as close as possible to the present. de-politicized Administrative or judicial fiat. Re-politicization and democraticization of the most important societal issues away from unaccountable elites is a worthy counter against globalism’s top down, homogenizing modus operandi. This was demonstrated by the recent Davos rendezvous of jet-setting elites.
In other words, 21st century civilizational battles are those waged by the popular sovereigntists against the globalist progressives who hold on to every would be “crisis” Oder “emergency” In a desperate effort to gain and weaponize more power. I like the odds that popular sovereigntists will prevail. However, for now, my admiration goes to the 16 state attorney generals for admirably highlighting the battle lines.
You can find out more information about Josh Hammer on the Creators Syndicate website, www.creators.com. Also, you can read cartoons and features written by other Creators Syndicate writers.
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