The photos of the freedom demonstrators in Denver that went viral in the US and internationally was of the health care workers in scrubs and masks standing with crossed arms to block a vehicle cavalcade led by a crazed-looking woman hanging out of a pickup truck window demanding that the stay at home orders be lifted so she could go about her freedom, meaning free to get sick and get others sick from COVID 19. That was not the message the demonstrators intended that would warm the cockles of any person questioning whether a stay at home order
should be lifted. It was a picture worth a thousand words.
From the UK Daily Mail: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8235127/amp/Defiant-healthcare-workers-clash-anti-lockdown-protesters-Colorado.html?__twitter_impression=true&fbclid=IwAR29myojcwwlJBiJ0TU13KwrrqvQ9_r9aDwQYxcVa6R8s0DV5UK3SoUQG_U
The demonstrations have been overtly political, organized, funded, and designed by Tea Party type Trump supporters who are trying to shift blame to the governors from Donald Trump's fumbling, delayed, incompetence in handling the response to the virus. Public opinion polls show their views are very much the minority. Most Democrats and Republicans are afraid to abandon rules in place. https://fox40.com/news/national-and-world-news/ap-norc-poll-few-americans-support-easing-virus-protections/
I am puzzled why the protesters who crowded into the Castle Rock cafe mother's day to make a point they objected to any constraints about opening Colorado for business. Trump, their hero, actually praised the Democrat governor. Gov. Jared Polis was one the very first Democratic governors to begin the process of opening the state for business, but with guidelines to minimize the chances of a spike in the virus. Polis closed down the restaurant as a public health hazard for violating the rules of how to re-open for business., not wanting other restaurants in the state to think they could get away with it, too. Polis may yet prove to have been right, though he asked the President in his White House visit 5/13 for more PPE supplies, perhaps hoping the spike would not happen and hedging his bets that it would.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8324617/Man-charged-death-threats-Michigan-governor-AG.html?fbclid=IwAR2hHMukYuEmkG8Mlq2jc-sGlBz_8u_aFKOEBCkTDOiVXGY0rmoF2Q6VJxw They called it what it is: terrorism and charged him with it. This man comes from the same group that once was charged with attempted murder in a plot to wipe out local police in northern Michigan.
https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/social-media/conservative-activist-family-behind-grassroots-anti-quarantine-facebook-events-n1188021?fbclid=IwAR0Qn7_eNyRrXGPEM3AlEWwT9pMNUmH9PIkKB7ytX5HcfyUCIYpQQORY6
Their targets are swing states President Trump needs to win if he is to be reelected in November. https://www.vox.com/2020/4/19/21225195/stay-at-home-protests-trump-tea-party-reelection?fbclid=IwAR0QkYRnrTlLv5HK3N15J2UStvt89CzJExnV9rl6brM7-31-HIT_p-P85l0U
Updates: 4/30/20
Dozens of protesters, some of whom were armed, gathered Thursday inside Michigan's Capitol building to voice their opposition to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home order, with tensions high as lawmakers were poised to debate an extension of the declaration. On 4/30 the Michigan courts ruled Whitmer did not infringe on citizen's freedoms.
Militias, similar to the ones active in the Michigan demonstrations, are active in all 50 states and contend they are legal. Court cases have often ruled against their view that they are needed to be ready to revolt against an oppressive government so long as we have a democratic process that makes it unnecessary. For an interesting presentation of their history and beliefs, I found it in Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Militia_organizations_in_the_United_States
April 30 update: Not exactly going as you might have thought.. Per Business Insider, As of April 28, 2,274 people had died from the coronavirus in Sweden, making its per capita death rate nearly six times that of Norway and Finland who had very stringent stay at home rules.and similar socio-economic characteristics. https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-norway-sweden-different-coronavirus-responses-fatality-rates-2020-4
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Per Reuters,“The healthcare system is under great pressure,” said Per Follin, the head of infectious disease control in Stockholm. “We need to keep going with the measures we have so this ends quickly.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-stockholm/sweden-to-shut-bars-and-restaurants-that-ignore-coronavirus-restrictions-idUSKCN2262AX
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-sweden-stockholm/sweden-to-shut-bars-and-restaurants-that-ignore-coronavirus-restrictions-idUSKCN2262AX
Sweden has received great praise from the anti-stay at home activists in the US. Let them get herd immunity. No stay at home rules., they demand. Those advocates look to Sweden as a model of no required rules to stay at home, schools are open, and it is open for business,. It is an apples to oranges
comparison with the US. Those on the right should consider what makes Sweden different than the US. It is socialized...no one goes without good health care; there are no really poor people living cramped in rooms because they have a tax policy that accomplishes far less income disparity.. If you want to stay at home because you fear you may get the virus, you get 100% of your salary. What part of this would the right-wing in our country like to adopt.if they want that outcome. because they have a tax policy with still accomplishes little income disparity. If you want to stay at home because you fear you may get the virus, you get 100% of your salary. In spite of that, they still have 6 times the deaths as their neighboring Socialist countries who instituted stay at home and other strict.rules.
Per Financial Times in early May, Sweden will likely feel little benefit to their economy. Current growth figures are about the same as Norway and 10% better than Finland. https://www.ft.com/content/93105160-dcb4-4721-9e58-a7b262cd4b6e?fbclid=IwAR21e-GeSCoC6Yhiu-EHMKAI6EXTaOs15VrR071QGtprqcKEfmFSyGOZFoA
comparison with the US. Those on the right should consider what makes Sweden different than the US. It is socialized...no one goes without good health care; there are no really poor people living cramped in rooms because they have a tax policy that accomplishes far less income disparity.. If you want to stay at home because you fear you may get the virus, you get 100% of your salary. What part of this would the right-wing in our country like to adopt.if they want that outcome. because they have a tax policy with still accomplishes little income disparity. If you want to stay at home because you fear you may get the virus, you get 100% of your salary. In spite of that, they still have 6 times the deaths as their neighboring Socialist countries who instituted stay at home and other strict.rules.
Per Financial Times in early May, Sweden will likely feel little benefit to their economy. Current growth figures are about the same as Norway and 10% better than Finland. https://www.ft.com/content/93105160-dcb4-4721-9e58-a7b262cd4b6e?fbclid=IwAR21e-GeSCoC6Yhiu-EHMKAI6EXTaOs15VrR071QGtprqcKEfmFSyGOZFoA
The message the demonstrators were delivering ignored the fact that Gov. Polis of Colorado on April 6 had already extended to April 26 before the demonstrations as the date his stay at home orders were going to be lifted anyway. Polis's orders for re-opening business are gradual and phased in slowly, with safety valves if the disease ticks up. All schools and universities are to remain closed; people should exercise social distancing and wear facemasks. Nonetheless, there is still also local confusion over state https://www.skyhinews.com/news/criticism-confusion-follow-grand-countys-state-driven-plan-to-reopen-some-nonessential-businesses/
From Colorado Public Radio: Colorado’s Stay-At-Home Order Will End, Gov. Polis Says, Outlining A New Phase Of Coronavirus ‘Marathon’ | Colorado Public Radio
""Your May will look a lot like your April if you’re in that most vulnerable group," he said.
“We can’t lose sight of the fact that our job isn’t finished, your job isn’t finished, not by a long shot,” Polis said, as he outlined new rules for businesses that would maintain levels of social distancing that are much higher than normal, but that are greatly relaxed from the way the state has operated for nearly a month.
“Retail curbside delivery, any retail that wants to do that, that starts immediately April 27,” Polis said. Other retail would be allowed to open May 1 with some restrictions.
He said that elective surgeries would be allowed starting Monday.
Large workplaces, starting May 4, will be allowed to open at 50 percent capacity, and are advised to have symptom and temperature checks for workers as they arrive.
Polis said his own goal for bars, restaurants and clubs to reopen would be mid-May, but that he’d have to wait for data on the effects of other changes to make those decisions."
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