Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
Benjamin Franklin's famous quote often arises in the context of government overreach.
In this age of Wuhan Flu – or COVID-19, as those pushing political correctness would say – it still applies today.
On Monday evening, Gov. Jay Inslee followed the lead of California Gov. Gavin Newsome and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown in ordering residents to remain in their homes and businesses and offices to close their doors at least two weeks.
The order came only three days after he chastised Washingtonians for not listening to his sagely advice to avoid being out in public. And it came as Western Washington media continued to pester him about ordering residents to "shelter-in-place."
Is the governor kow-towing to election donors? Or is he truly acting in the best interest of the public? Who knows.
One thing's for sure, if his two-week order becomes something more, our state will be facing a constitutional crisis. Will residents continue to remain at home? Will they say enough is enough and venture out? Will they demand restoration of the rights guaranteed by the U.S. and state constitutions?
For now, Inslee has sound legal footing. Indeed, we have precedence for short-term infringements of our rights in time of emergencies.
But our nation's forefathers were not oblivious to epidemics and pandemics. And yet, they left cessation of rights for health emergencies out of U.S. Constitution. That's likely because they could see such an infringement as a power grab.
I've lived through many declared emergencies – Mount St. Helens, Hurricane Andrew and others, 9/11, the Carlton Complex wildfire and now COVID-19. In each instance, new regulations arose from those declarations, and American life was never the same.
That's likely to be the case here, too. Will your constitutional rights be fully intact when this ends? We'll have to wait and see.
– Roger Harnack is the publisher of Free Press Publishing. Email him at Roger@freepresspublishing.com
Roger Harnack is the co-owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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