‘Give me liberty or give me COVID-19,’ say Olympia protesters. Give me a break, we say
President Trump was right last month when he called himself a “wartime president.” Trouble is, the war in question is the one he started. To keep fires of outrage stoked under his voting base and to deflect from his own shortcomings,Trump is painting a giant bullseye on state governors.
The first rule of war is recruiting troops, and Trump likes to do his by social media; on Friday he tweeted multiple times for Americans to “LIBERATE” themselves from lockdown restrictions.
Right-leaning groups in Washington answered the call and gathered at the state Capitol Sunday. They wielded signs reading “Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Covid 19,” and other slogans harking back to the days before the Revolutionary War, when American freedom fighter Patrick Henry urged taking up arms and seceding from Great Britain.
“Live free or die,” certainly. But don’t put others at risk when people are still getting sick and dying in the coronavirus pandemic. Staying home saves lives; gathering en masse at the Capitol could cost them, especially when few protesters wore masks and not nearly enough practiced social distancing.
While protesters chanted under the warm April sun and complained they couldn’t fish or get haircuts, some fellow Washingtonians were alone in hospital rooms or nursing homes missing family they haven’t seen in weeks. By Tuesday, confirmed Washington COVID-19 cases stood at 20,282 with deaths at 682.
Some might believe there are only two ways to look at the ease with which US governors have suspended our normal inalienable rights, such as gathering in public or worshipping together at church.
We can see it as a governor’s absolute constitutional prerogative to “promote the general welfare.” Or we can see it as an all-out assault on freedom.
But there’s a third way, a more nuanced approach; it’s followed by many Washingtonians (and Republican legislative leaders) who seek clear explanations about why rights are being restricted and who ask reasonable questions in a non-confrontational manner. People are entitled to know why commercial construction has yet to resume, or why they can’t go fishing alone.
Raising legitimate questions like these doesn’t require a crowded protest that jeopardizes public health in the middle of a pandemic.
The worst thing about Sunday’s rally was that it gave political agitators a platform. State Rep. Robert Sutherland, R-Granite Falls, used irresponsible language that could incite violence.
“When we go fishing, they’re going to send their guys with guns, and they’re going to write us tickets,” said Sutherland, pistol tucked into his pants.
“Governor, you send men with guns after us when we go fishing, we’ll see what a revolution looks like.”
“You send your goons with guns, we will defend ourselves,” he added later.
Using this kind of incendiary language while frontline workers put themselves at risk to save lives isn’t only dangerous, it’s stupid, and that’s not a word this Editorial Board uses lightly.
It’s why Gov. Jay Inslee publicly asked Republican leaders including House Minority Leader JT Wilcox to denounce extreme comments made Sunday. Leaders like Wilcox, R-Yelm, aren’t responsible for words that spew from radical conservatives’ mouths, but a simple disavowal could throw water on a fire that’s shown no signs of abating.
Consider that Rep. Matt Shea of Spokane Valley, who was kicked out of the House Republican caucus last year for connections to white supremacists, is busy promoting his own “May Day Mutiny.”
Thankfully, most Americans aren’t easy marks for these peddlers of crazy talk. A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center shows that 66 percent of Americans are concerned that states will reopen public activities too quickly.
A united, bipartisan front supporting federal safety guidelines would go a long way toward eliminating the nasty politics that only inflames this national crisis and keeps Trump’s war raging on.
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 6:00 PM.