Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf was out of line, way out of line, when he referred to state legislators as deserters because they want an end to his mini martial law decree. The governor said they had deserted in the face of the enemy.
To quote Wolf: “We Pennsylvanians are in a fight for our lives. The enemy is a deadly virus set on destroying us…Over this past weekend, some have decided to surrender to this enemy … these folks are choosing to desert in the face of the enemy…To those politicians who decide to cave in to this coronavirus, they need to understand the consequences of their cowardly act.”
That’s a pretty disgusting thing to say because, by extension, Wolf is also calling business people deserters and cowards for wanting to work and provide employment so that they and their employees can be productive and feed their families.
The governor decided in March whose work is essential and prevented others from working and earning a living. That is dictatorial. What has the governor offered in exchange? Welfare and threats. It’s welfare for the people who he has put out of work; welfare to be paid for by others. And he’s threatened business owners with the loss of their business licenses and occupancy permits. He’s basically saying, “Do what I say, or I will punish you.” That’s tyranny.
When people have solid, factual information at their disposal, information that’s honestly gathered and disseminated, they can make the best choices possible for themselves and their families. Will some choose poorly? Of course, some will, and they risk being hurt. But when a governor or any governing body makes a one-size-fits-all decision, then everyone is at risk for suffering, except those who make the hurtful decisions. Politicians still get a paycheck by feeding at the public trough while they throw others onto the unemployment line.
And when a governor has the power — by decree — to prevent people from working, the governor also has the power to force people to work.
It gets worse. Some Pennsylvania counties are pushing to reopen, and their county commissioners have written letters to the governor saying not only that they want to reopen, but that they will open in defiance of the governor. In response, Wolf has called people cowards and threatened to withhold dispensing a billion dollars’ worth of federal money earmarked for local relief.
Gov. Wolf doesn’t trust people to make their own best decisions. He wants people to obey. He claims it’s for the people’s own good. Such is the claim of despots. As H.L. Mencken said, “The urge to save humanity is almost always a false-front for the urge to rule it.”
To be fair, Tom Wolf is not the worst of the gubernatorial lot. Other governors are worse, but Wolf is pretty high up on the list.
Yes, there is a virus out there. A new one, and it has and continues to kill people. It will continue to do so, just like the other illnesses. Guess what. It’s not the first and likely won’t be the last. But ordering people about and threatening them if they don’t obey is not the way to handle it. Those who order and threaten are the enemy.