OPINION:
President Donald Trump, in a series of recent tweets, shouted at Democrat governors to “liberate” their citizens and quit using coronavirus as a tool to drive their long-lusted-for liberal agendas into law.
On that, Trump is right.
Democrats, juiced by the coronavirus outbreak, have really tipped their tyrannical hats.
“LIBERATE MINNESOTA,” Trump tweeted.
“LIBERATE MICHIGAN,” he then tweeted.
“LIBERATE VIRGINIA,” he also tweeted.
On that last, Trump also added: “[A]nd save your great 2nd Amendment. It is under siege!”
Ain’t that the truth.
Gov. Ralph Northam, under cover of coronavirus night, signed a flurry of gun control bills — five of them, to be exact — expanding background checks; enacting an “extreme risk protective order,” also known as a red flag law; banning private sales of firearms; and limiting purchases law-abiding citizens can make in any give month.
These are the very same measures Second Amendment supporters flocked to Richmond in January to protest — successfully.
Oh what a lucky day for Democrats when bans on gatherings of more than 10 people came into coronavirus being. It meant they could push forward far left agendas without all those pesky protesters in the streets.
Virginia’s Dems aren’t the only ones taking advantage.
Michigan residents have been facing some harsh crackdowns on seed buying implemented by their Democrat governor, Gretchen Whitmer.
Minnesota citizens have been battling Gov. Tim Walz, another leftie, over that state’s strict stay-at-home order — ultimately taking to the streets in front of his mansion to chant, “open up” and save signs like, “I need a haircut” and “Walz is the virus,” Fox News reported.
And New Jersey’s Gov. Phil Murphy has really gone far and above the Democrat “never let a crisis go to waste” call of coronavirus duty by showing his real authoritarian roots and explaining, on a recent Fox News interview, his rationale for police breaking up a funeral gathering at an synagogue and arresting 15 men, with this eye-opener: “I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this.”
Indeed.
And that’s about as honest as a Democrat can get.
Democrats, with coronavirus, see a political wedge.
That’s not to say they don’t care about the coronavirus sufferers — the patients, the health care providers, the business owners who’ve lost money, the citizens who’ve been forced to stay home, out of work, out of pay, and so forth.
But it is to say that leftists see disaster — and say to themselves, hmm, maybe there’s a win-win here.
And what they mean by that is taking rights from individuals that can ultimately bring the left greater power and control.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE.
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