At The Hill, Benjamin Powell explains that “The omicron variant is another excuse for government meddling.” Since the discovery of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, governments around the world have kicked into authoritarian overdrive, despite a lack of evidence that the variant is any worse than any other variant of the virus so far. Powell writes:
President Joe Biden announced a series of COVID-19 protocols on Thursday to combat the new omicron variant. The protocols will do little to promote health, but that’s not their intent anyway. Instead, these regulations condition Americans to tolerate continued governmental intrusions in our lives as they chip away at our freedoms on the false promise of safety.
Biden had banned travel from South Africa, where the omicron variant was first detected, and seven other southern African countries (remember when such bans were racist?) prior to the measures announced Thursday. The newly announced requirements include extending the federal mask mandate on public transport, including airplanes, until mid-March and requiring international travelers to the United States, including vaccinated U.S. citizens, to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken a day before departure.
These measures will not prevent the new variant from spreading through the United States. On Monday the president himself admitted that “[T]ravel restrictions can slow the speed of omicron, it cannot prevent it. But here’s what it does: It gives us time. It gives us time to take more actions, to move quicker, to make sure people understand you have to get your vaccine.”
Really? That’s about as believable as “15 days to flatten the curve” 21 months later.
How does extending a mask mandate until mid-March buy more time? The existing mask mandate was not set to expire until Jan. 18. The first case of the omicron variant was already detected in the United States by the time of Biden’s announcements. If a mask mandate on airplanes could slow the spread, the existing mandate would give six additional weeks to “take more actions.”
Action Line: Blue state politicians and Biden & Co. in Washington, D.C. have made it plain that their overriding goal in response to COVID-19 is to obtain more control over Americans’ lives, and direct that power toward achieving their own purposes, such as the Great Reset. As politicians amass more control over your life, you need to get back to basics and focus on Survival 101.
P.S. For a glimpse of the very real authoritarianism facing citizens of previously “free” countries, watch the story of Hayley Hodgson of Australia in the video below.
