Headlines from the Twilight Zone! The Draconian and the Bizarre!

I posted earlier about some of the extreme measures being used to stop the coronavirus. Civil liberties are suspended now in New York, Connecticut, California, Illinois, Wisconsin, Texas, Florida, Nevada, and Pennsylvania. The Wall Street Journal has a state by state guide here.


Some places are more draconian than others. Wisconsin has set up a tattle tale website so people can report on their family and friends who....wait for it....gather with more than ten people. It reminds me of the old Soviet Union convincing children to report their parents' activities. And then there were the spies of the Read 1984

Website to report, punish gatherings of 10+ people goes live in Wisconsin

I can just see the article on the Babylon Bee satire site:

SWAT TEAM BREAKS DOWN DOOR OF FAMILY WITH TEN CHILDREN, ARRESTS PARENTS. CHILD SERVICES PLACES KIDS IN 10 LGBT HOUSEHOLDS.

Wisconsin radio host Dan O'Donnell criticized the governor's actions in an op-ed column writing:

The balance between protecting physical security and the security of fundamental individual rights to freely worship, maintain and operate private businesses, and associate on private property is a delicate one,”And as compelling as the need to protect Wisconsin’s citizenry against Coronavirus may be, the need to protect the citizenry’s freedom will always take precedence.... 

The right of the collective to security can only infringe on the individual’s right to liberty when that infringement isn’t more restrictive than it needs to be. Without an exemption for places of worship, Evers’ order unnecessarily (and, quite frankly, capriciously) tramples both the First Amendment and Wisconsin Constitution’s free exercise protections. 

More generally, Governor Evers’ decision to take a sledgehammer to Coronavirus instead of using a scalpel infringes more dramatically on free enterprise, association, and property rights than any government action in recent (and perhaps all of) Wisconsin’s history.

Yup! And the default position of many these days is to condemn anyone as "selfish" who dares to question the draconian response to the virus, despite the fact that most people are voluntarily exercising prudential judgment to limit their activities to minimize the risk of transmission.

Considering that the virus appears to be super contagious all the actions being taken realistically offer only a slowdown of transmission. The New Jersey health commissioner, with a background as an ICU nurse, predicts that everyone will get the virus. It's coming for her; it's coming for you!

Think about it. Have we ever defeated the common cold, another coronavirus? I'm not being cavalier. We must, in prudence, do all we can to avoid contracting or transmitting the virus, but for so many people, especially Catholics, to so easily accept government taking tyrannical moves against the people alarms me more than the virus. How many Catholics in history have risked death for the Eucharist?

So that's the draconian!

And now for the bizarre:

US Jesuits celebrate pro-abortion politician joining the order

Considering the state of the Jesuit order perhaps something like this is no surprise. Maybe they'll begin abortion blessings next. There is no indication that this "candidate" for the Jesuits has repented from his horrifying heretical beliefs. When an order goes bad it enters the realm of the diabolical calling down the flaming sword of chastisement on us.

Lord, have mercy on us.

Mary, intercede for us.

All you Jesuit martyrs and holy Jesuits in heaven, pray for us.