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The longest two weeks ever comes to an end

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FromEditorsDesk TonyAt the beginning of the COVID pandemic, we were told by our leaders that without a doubt, if we masked up, social distanced and shut down everything except Walmart and liquor stores, we’d have this pesky little bug whipped in two weeks.

Two years later, the last of the governmental mask gulags — commercial air travel and the FAA — have finally succumbed to common sense and lifted the mask mandate that required constant and continuous coverage while in their warm embrace.

While I can see that being cooped up in a tube with recycled and filtered air could be problematic when trying to curb contagions (I have kids. Everyone with kids knows there will be sniffles in the family till high-school graduation), the very idea that some desk jockeys can require private industries to comply with an edict that has been deemed ineffective is problematic at best.

I say that because it’s come out, and even been admitted to by the CDC, that paper and cloth masks pretty much did nothing to stop the spread of the disease.

That, however, is just an illustration of the points here. For one, even in the face of evidence — real scientific evidence (as opposed to scientific consensus) — the powers that be still maintained the mandates. They only came off once a judge in Florida ruled that the institution of those mandates was a by-God unlawful overreach by the CDC.

The feds over at the Justice Department are probably going to appeal the ruling, because of course, depending on what the CDC has to say about it. 

I applaud the efforts of everyone in fighting something like this. Where I drew, and will always draw, the line is forced compliance from a government that is supposed to be our government, as opposed to the way things are now, which is we are this government’s subjects.

We the people should not have to sue our own elected officials to exercise our freedom. We the people should not have to be treated as cattle as our “leaders” tell us what’s good for us, all behind the veiled threat of retribution, such as withholding grant funds, tax reimbursements, etc., for non-compliance. What they’re playing with is not now nor ever their money.

We the people should not have to beg our government to be allowed to choose our own destiny. This country was founded by people who wanted to be captains of their own fate instead of being a colony that exists by “if it please the crown.”

None of this was necessary, you know. Airlines were perfectly capable of requiring safety precautions on their own, and prospective passengers would have the choice of doing business with a group or not. It did not, as the judge said, require the hammer of government to maintain safety.

That’s freedom.

Same thing with vaccination passports. It’s not the airline’s responsibility, nor is it within their rights, to require and verify the inoculation status of the passengers. That’s not to say that as a private business, they have to allow everyone on board; they have the right to refuse service just as much as I have the right not to buy their tickets.

All of that is to say that the government doesn’t need to insert itself into everything; because its clumsy, ham-fisted approach not only throttles prosperity, but liberty as well.

Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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