OPINION:
Who knew Elon Musk, of Tesla CEO fame, would emerge such a freedom-loving hero from this COVID-19 disaster called Government Overreach — but he has.
In an epic earnings telephone rant, Musk called out the “fascist” social distancing measures ordered by government.
And then he said, as CBS News noted: “If somebody wants to stay in their house, that’s great. They can stay in their house and they should not be compelled to leave. But to say that they cannot leave their house and they will be arrested if they do — this is fascist. This is not democratic. This is not freedom. Give people back their g—d— freedom.”
Indeed.
Or better yet: How about people simply take back their freedoms.
In America, after all, government is subservient to the people.
Government works for the citizenry.
The relationship is this: The people elect politicians to represent their constitutional issues in government, for the country as a whole. But politicians are still bound by the Constitution. The rule of law still prevails — not the individual will.
Another way to put it: America is a democratic-republic, after all, not a democracy.
And in a republic, the rule of law — the Constitution — guides. By contrast, in a democracy, will of the people — or rather, more to truth, whim and every-changing wish of the people — guides.
Democrats are always trying to sell the idea that America is a democracy because they know if they successfully convince citizens of that, then rule of law crumbles, the Constitution becomes wide open to interpretation, absolutes disappear and things like the Electoral College dry up and disappear — meaning, the left can then finagle the election system so that the well-populated and largely liberal-leaning areas of the country have the biggest voices at the ballot boxes. Democrats always win.
Founders framed America as a republic for a reason: to make sure the elected body stayed true blue to the limited government aspects of the Constitution, and to give the people the right to rise up and toss out those pols who overreached.
This is the situation in America right now, amid COVID-19. Politicians are regularly overstepping constitutional bounds, based on flimsy, faulty, factually off-the-mark predictions of coronavirus-tied gloom and doom. They’re putting in place, and keeping in place, mandates and dictates and orders that don’t even make sense — that allow, say, for shoppers to flock to Walmart and to liquor stores but that prevent citizens from getting fresh air, that is, virus-killing fresh air, at the beaches and parks.
Random.
Random and maddening.
Random, maddening — and completely, unconstitutionally seizures of power and control. After all, what’s stopping those who want to wear a face mask, now, tomorrow or for the rest of their lives, for that matter — what’s stopping them from wearing them? Right. Nothing. Freedom swings both ways; to wear or not to wear, that should be the individual’s choice.
Now comes Musk, with some much-needed cut-to-the-chase criticisms of COVID-19 overhyped response.
“The extension of the shelter-in-place or frankly what I would call it, forcibly imprisoning people in their homes against all their constitutional rights … and breaking people’s freedom in ways that are horrible and wrong and not why people came to America or built this country — what the f—,” he said. “Excuse me. Outrage. So it will cause great harm, not just to Tesla, but [to] many companies.”
So, too, the Constitution.
And that Musk is pointing this out makes him a friend of freedom among a sea of fearful government-following sheep.
“FREE AMERICA NOW,” he tweeted, earlier this week.
Yes. Absolutely. Now — meaning today.
• 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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