Assumed emergency powers

What a difference a few hundred miles down the road makes. Grannie Annie and I drove to Omaha to attend a young relative’s graduation party. Proud to say that she graduated cum laude. Earned great scholarships also for the next step in her life. Good celebratory party too with a lot of seldom-seen relatives present.

We were a little surprised to find the pandemic rules considerably more strict in that larger fair city with lots of signs saying that masks are required. We even had to wear them in church and do the social distancing thing. When queried the usual reply was that all is necessary until Tuesday of next week (that is today as you read this) when the edict comes down from on high (mayor’s office?) that masks will no longer be required for those who have been vaccinated and optional for those who haven’t. We noted that most people were still complying with the onerous rules which makes us glad that we live in McCook where the atmosphere is much more relaxed.

I fear that all the restrictive rules that were placed on the populous for the Covid 19 pandemic were a great experiment by the more progressive wing of our government. In the first place, the federal government is limited in its powers by the Bill of Rights and many of the dictates that came down came from Dr. Anthony Fauci who is the head of a federal agency. By the Constitution, all powers not enumerated to the Federal Government are to be done by the States. That is state government, not just the purview of the Governor. In other words, those governors who chose to rule by Emergency Powers were actually in violation of the Constitution which specifies that laws are made by the state legislatures and either vetoed by the governor or by a certain majority the Legislature can overrule their governor’s veto. Actually, a state governor has no right to declare emergency powers.

It is interesting that those states and large cities that were most restrictive to their citizens and in doing so departed from our U.S. Constitution were those of our blue states. Some of those such as the Governors of Wisconsin, New Jersey, New Your, California and others really assumed that new power to fight the pandemic by making all sorts of archaic rules that caused major hurt to their people. Don’t take my word for it. Judge Andrew P. Napolitano recently wrote that “he/she claimed that somehow they can interfere with the exercise of basic human freedom---like going to church, going to work, shopping for food, operating a business, assembling and traveling – just because they declared a state of emergency If the government declares an emergency can it thereby acquire the lawful power to interfere with constitutionally guaranteed freedoms? In a word: No.”

I favor a more reasonable approach as taken by our own Governor Ricketts who appealed to the good common sense of Nebraska’s population to protect themselves from the spread of the deadly coronavirus.

What will happen the next time some deadly danger to the public’s health comes down the pike? Will the liberal progressive politicians step up to make a lot of feel-good rules and cause further disaster to our U.S. economy as we see from what just happened. You bet they will if they are still in power and have such little regard for our Constitution with its grant of personal freedom which has been our rule and guide for over 250 years. That is why elections have consequences. Vote wisely.

With the recent good rains and mild weather, the trip to and from Omaha was pure pleasure for this old has-been farmer. The pastures are green and the winter cereal crops are a nice darker shade of green and beginning to head out. Most of the corn and soybeans are up enough that one can row it and looking out across the rows many fields have the light blush of new growth. Mama cows and their babies graze in belly-deep grass or lie down in groups to chew the cud and seemingly enjoying just being alive. Trees are mostly leafed out outlining streams the majority of which flow some water. Light traffic and good roads---well it is the season of construction so a little delay on occasion but they are only making it better for next time.

It is a good time to be alive and enjoy nature at its finest in this prairie land where we have chosen to live. Then we arrived back home under a declared tornado watch. I guess that we have to take the bad with the good and pray that all the violent weather goes around our sacred homes. I choose to take that chance.

That is the way I saw it.

Dick Trail