We said the Covid-19 Pandemic would be used as a pretext for illegal and tyrannical decisions on the part of progressive elites. Many people, including some Republicans, laughed at us and dismissed us as cranks.
Well… who’s laughing now? None of us are.
Calvary Chapel Dayton Valley, a Nevada church, sued Gov. Steve Sisolak, claiming that his Covid-19 executive order placed an unfair limit on churches compared to casinos, restaurants, and amusement parks. The order restricted the number of attendees at churches to 50 while allowing other businesses to operate at half capacity.
The SCOTUS in a 5-4 decision rejected the church’s request to lift the restriction, prompting dissenting opinions from conservative-leaning justices.
“The Constitution guarantees the free exercise of religion. It says nothing about the freedom to play craps or blackjack, to feed tokens into a slot machine, or to engage in any other game of chance. But the Governor of Nevada apparently has different priorities,” Justice Alito wrote in his dissent. He was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Brett Kavanaugh. Justice Neil Gorsuch authored his own separate dissent.
Alito, 70, told a Federalist Society virtual convention last November that he thought the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic serves as a “sort of constitutional stress test.” He argued that America has “never before seen restrictions as severe, extensive, and prolonged as those experienced for most of 2020” and raised concerns over their impact on individuals’ civil liberties.
During his speech to the Federalist Society last year, Alito analyzed various trends that began emerging following the spread of the pandemic. One of the trends, Alito said, is the increased reliance on executive actions over legislation as a method to enact new laws.
Covid-19 was also unconstitutionally used as a pre-text to change how our national elections and voting is administered, without the legally required process of passing such changes through state legislatures. Once again, the elites illegally and unconstitutionally crammed through changes to election processes. This is the primary reason that the election results in at least six states should have never been certified.
“The vision of early 20th century progressives and the New Dealers of the 1930s was the policymaking would shift from what they called “narrow-minded elected legislators” to an elite group of appointed experts. In a word, the policymaking would become more “scientific”, [or so they claimed]. That dream has been realized to a large extent,” Justice Alito said.
“Every year, administrative agencies acting under broad delegations of authority churn out huge volumes of regulations that dwarf the statutes enacted by the people’s elected representatives. And what have we seen in the pandemic? Sweeping restrictions imposed, for the most part, under statutes that confer enormous executive discretion.”
Alito also warned about the possibility of abuse when officials are afforded significant discretion, adding that “simply slapping on” the label of “emergency” cannot be a ground for “abrogating our most fundamental rights.”
“And whenever fundamental rights are restricted, the Supreme Court and other courts cannot close their eyes,” Alito said.
Millions of people just like me, who poses a fundamental and correct understanding of the US Constitution, and the critical importance of “The Rule of Law”; expressed loudly and consistently that the Covid-19 Pandemic was being used as a pretext for ruling elites to fundamentally transform America into something both terrible and untenable.
Sadly, we were correct. Anything short of a massive national movement to push back against and ultimately correct this… will destine our children and grandchildren to live in a version of America that will simply no longer be American at all.