OPINION:
President Donald Trump said at a White House briefing over the weekend that the National Guard has been activated in the three states hit hardest by coronavirus: California, Washington and New York.
We are about to enter a Twilight Zone of sorts.
Military in the streets, enforcing quarantines, ensuring people stay in their homes — demanding papers that show permissions to travel and be in public — are all scenarios of police state governments. Not America.
“Through [the Federal Emergency Management Agency],” Trump said on Sunday, “the federal government will be funding 100% of the cost of deploying National Guard units to carry out approved missions to stop the virus while those governors remain in command.”
Trump emphasized the guards’ members would be under the control of governors, not the fed — not the active Army generals.
But the optics, to the people, will be one and the same.
Troops in the streets?
It’s been done in America’s past.
But not against a virus.
“DC Mayor: Police, National Guard to Enforce Restricted Access to Tidal Basin,” NBC4 Washington reported.
Not to keep bike riders from riding along the National Mall to look upon cherry blossoms.
Cue Twilight Zone intro music. These are definitely dreary times.
• 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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