Category: zerohedge

In the continuing saga of contradictory US efforts to thwart the Russia to Germany natural gas pipeline Nord Stream 2, the US Treasury on Friday hit Russia with more sanctions – specifically announcing that three more Russian entities and 13 vessels will come under sanction for their work on the project.

“Among the sanctioned vessels are the Akademik Cherskiy, the Vladislav Strizhov, the Yury Topchev and the Baltiyskiy Issledovatel, along with others,” Treasury announced. “The sanctioned companies are Russia’s Marine Rescue Service, Mortransservice, and the Samara Heat and Energy Property Fund.”

Of course, the bizarre thing about this is that it was only on Tuesday of this week that the Biden administration revealed it would actually remove Trump-era sanctions on Nord Stream 2 AG and CEO Matthias Warnig (considered a personal friend of Putin) – which is the German company overseeing the project.

The removal of the punitive actions took place Wednesday and Axios’ Jonathan Swan wrote of the decision that it “indicates the Biden administration is not willing to compromise its relationship with Germany over this pipeline, and underscores the difficulties President Biden faces in matching actions to rhetoric on a tougher approach to Russia.”

Germany had long rejected Washington’s punitive measures over the project as interference in its domestic affairs, but Wednesday’s removal for the overseer of the project served to drastically east tensions with Berlin over the matter, with German foreign minister Heiko Maas thanking the Biden administration for doing so: 

“We understand the decisions that have been taken in Washington as taking into account the really extraordinarily good relationship that have been built with the Biden administration,” Maas said.

Biden was immediately slammed for the act of “capitulation” after long vowing to get “tough” on Russia by Republicans but also Democrat hawks, including in conservative and independent media outlets which pointed out that Trump would have no doubt been accused of being under “Russian influence” had he been the one to relax sanctions.

Authored by Vanessa Serna via The Epoch Times,

Fourteen cities in Los Angeles county have issued no-confidence resolutions against District Attorney George Gascon, claiming his reforms went too far.

Diamond Bar’s city council passed a no-confidence motion during its May 18 meeting, with some councilmembers wishing to address Gascon’s perceived leniency to horrific crimes throughout the county.

“Gascon is making it less safe for our residents and businesses,” Diamond Bar Mayor Nancy Lyon told The Epoch Times.

 “He’s more concerned about the criminals than the victims. You can’t do special enhancements on things like hate crime, elder abuse, child physical abuse, trauma, [or] human trafficking.”

Lyon added, “Even if they’re 17-and-a-half-year-old and they committed a double murder and tortured people, they can’t be tried as an adult… and he’s no longer going to seek the death penalty in any case.”

The residents’ response to the agenda item was “overwhelming,” Lyson said, adding she has never seen the community more involved. While most residents were in favor of the no confidence vote, a few voiced opposition to it.

One Diamond Bar resident said council should vote against the notion, as Gascon’s sweeping reforms were justifiable.

“The common practice of conditioning freedom solely on whether an arrestee can afford bail is unconstitutional,” the speaker said.

“DA Gascon’s policy encourages the use of diversion programs, which provide treatment rather than prosecution in jailing for many minor offenses.”

The resident continued, “Public expense jails, prisons, and courts are not the best way to manage the root causes of many misdemeanors, we must step up the availability of community support services…We must stop thinking that imprisoning people longer reduces crime or addresses issues that our society fails to address…Depriving people of life and liberty after serving a sentence only keeps them from becoming productive members of society.”

Conversely, some Diamond Bar residents who said they originally voted for Gacon expressed disappointment in the district attorney.

“While I voted for him initially his truth was really a lie and he proved it on his first day in office,” a speaker said.

“[We] did not elect him to destroy our system of justice.”

The City of Manhattan Beach also voted in favor of no confidence for the district attorney on May 18.

“We share the DA’s desire for criminal-justice reform,” Mayor Suzanne Hadley told The Epoch Times.

“Our Concern is that the DA is choosing not to enforce the law—rather than tackle the necessary, difficult, and legislative work of true reform.”

The no confidence votes from 14 cities came less than a year after the district attorney took office last December. Other cities to pass symbolic no confidence resolutions include Covina, Azusa, Beverly Hills, Lancaster, La Mirada, and Whittier, Santa Clarita, Pico Rivera, Redondo Beach, Arcadia, Rosemead, and Santa Fe Springs.

On his first day in office, Gascon signed a special directive that announced policy changes including potential sentence reductions for inmates, a ban on sentence enhancements, and elimination of the death penalty.

Gascon received $2 million in funding for his district attorney campaign from Hungarian-born billionaire George Soros, who is known for financing leftist causes.

It’s a dynamic familiar to fans of the Harry Potter franchise: a villain so powerful that ordinary people fear to even mutter his name aloud. In Harry Potter world, characters use phrases like “You Know Who” to reference the series arch-villain, Voldemort. But in China (where Harry Potter is, unsurprisingly, banned), ordinary citizens (even those who genuinely support the CCP) are afraid to utter the name of President Xi Jinping, the most powerful Chinese leader since Chairman Mao.

An interesting piece published in the latest issue of the Economist pointed to the dynamic:

Open criticism of the most important man in China is taboo. Last year Ren Zhiqiang, a retired property tycoon and vocal critic of the government, published an essay about a speech by Mr Xi in which Mr Ren said he was not an “emperor” showing off his new clothes but a naked “clown”. Shortly afterwards, Mr Ren was sentenced to 18 years in prison for corruption.

Chinese citizens’ euphemisms for President Xi – which include, most notoriously, comparing the leader to “Winnie the Pooh” – are evolving so fast by necessity that China’s online censors are having trouble keeping up.

Earlier this month, Meituan CEO Wang Xing posted a classic ninth-century poem mocking an ancient Chinese emperor. While Wang insisted the poem was an oblique jab at the company’s competitors, too many people interpreted it as a jab at China’s leadership. Meituan’s stock subsequently slumped, wiping $2.5 billion off Wang’s net worth. The company, China’s largest food-delivery app, has since been caught up in the CCP’s anti-trust crackdown.

Even at pro-Beijing media outlets and private gatherings of pro-government diplomats and executives, people take excessive precautions as soon as discussions veer toward the politically sensitive. In conversation, Chinese citizens use phrases like “you know who,” “big number one” and our “eldest brother” or “big uncle” to reference Xi.

Others insist on turning off their mobile phones when the subject of Chinese politics arises.

Such is the current climate that even those who broadly support the government are sometimes nervous about mentioning Mr Xi’s name. Some employees at a state-run media group have taken to substituting the word “Trump” for Mr Xi in chat groups. At small social gatherings, people frequently stop short of uttering the name, even in the most benign contexts. They use instead phrases such as “you-know-who”, “big number one”, “the eldest brother” or “our big uncle”.

When, at a recent private gathering that included diplomats, executives and bankers, the talk turned to Chinese politics, it was suggested that all switch off their mobile phones. No one thought it likely that government snoops were really listening in and no one had anything particularly controversial to say. But all agreed it was better to be safe.

Electronic eavesdropping isn’t the only tactic employed by China’s censors and secret police. Beijing is once again popularizing a tactic used during theCultural Revolution and Stalin’s Red Terror: encouraging people to snitch on their friends and neighbors.

Electronic eavesdropping is not the only concern. The old-fashioned sort is also encouraged. Last month, the government launched a new system, with a website and hotline, for citizens to snitch on one another for making “harmful” political commentary. This can include “denying the excellent traditional Chinese culture, revolution culture and advanced socialist culture” as well as attacks on political leaders or their policies.

If this trend continues, pretty soon, ordinary Chinese citizens will risk jail time just for mentioning Harry Potter, or Winnie the Pooh, or Xinjiang.

By Cam Edwards of BearingArms,

Rochester, New York Mayor Lovely Warren is a typical Democrat politician when it comes to gun control. She’s complained about the number of “illegal guns on the streets” of the city, supported the state’s draconian gun control laws, and even announced a gun “buyback” earlier this week, claiming once again that “getting guns off our streets must be a priority.”

“That’s why I’m glad our police department is partnering with the Attorney General’s Office and our churches to host a gun buy-back event next week. I know Chief Herriott-Sullivan and her team are working with their partners in law enforcement to stop the flow of illegal guns into our city. We must continue working together with our citizens to take these guns off our streets so our residents can feel safe in their neighborhoods and live the lives they deserve.”

Turns out Warren should have been more concerned about illegally possessed guns in her home. On Wednesday, the New York State Police raided the home that Warren shares with her husband Timothy Granison and allegedly discovered him to be in possession of 31 grams of cocaine as well as a firearm, which is a no-no since Granison was convicted of armed robbery 24 years ago.

According to the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Granison was one of seven people arrested as part of an ongoing drug investigation that’s been going on for months.

New York State Police stopped Granison’s vehicle Wednesday afternoon on Birch Crescent in Rochester and cocaine was found inside his car, said New York State Police Major Barry Chase.

On Wednesday evening, New York State Police conducted a search at the home that Warren and Granison share at 93 Woodman Park.

New York State Police on Wednesday and Thursday executed search warrants at seven locations within city limits, including Mayor Warren’s home. More than two kilos of powder and crack cocaine were recovered, as were three firearms and a semi-automatic rifle and more than $100,000 cash said Doorley.

One unregistered hand gun, a loaded magazine and the semi-automatic rifle were recovered from the mayor’s house, New York State Police Major Barry Chase said. It was not yet clear if the rifle is illegal.

For the moment, the only gun charge that Granison faces is possession of an unregistered firearm, though his felony conviction back in the 1990s makes him ineligible to legally own a firearm, regardless of whether or not it’s registered with the state of New York, as required under the terms of the state’s draconian SAFE Act. During a court hearing on Thursday, Granison pleaded not guilty to the drug and gun charges, and so far his wife has been silent about his arrest and the guns found in the couple’s home.

In the past, however, Warren’s been a vocal supporter of the SAFE Act and other restrictions on legal gun owners in the state, even as she’s sought to cut the Rochester Police Department’s budget amidst a sharp increase in violent crime in the city. Last August, she even lauded the Rochester PD for confiscating hundreds of guns, and vowed to keep up the pressure against those possessing them illegally.

“But we can’t legislate morality,” Warren said. “We can’t… We legislate consequences. So. The thing is. We are focusing on bringing these people do justice that are picking up these weapons but also getting the weapons off the street.

Well, I suppose the good news for Warren is that there are two fewer guns in Rochester today. Too bad for her that they were seized from her own home. I wonder if Warren is still big on ensuring that there are consequences for possessing a gun illegally in the city she oversees, or if she’s suddenly had a change of heart over the past 24 hours.

The US Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) explores options for transforming Lockheed Martin’s C-130 Hercules four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft into an amphibious plane that would support operations in the Indo-Pacific area as great power competition between China continues to gain steam, according to military intelligence website Janes. 

USSOCOM revealed the interest in Lockheed’s MC-130J Commando II fitted with floats during a presentation at the virtual Special Operations Forces Industry Conference on Wednesday. 

USSOCOM wants the MC-130J Amphibious Capability, or MAC, to operate from water and traditional land-based runways. An artist rendering of the concept plane is shown below. 

MAC’s Program Executive Officer, Colonel Ken Kuebler, suggested during the virtual conference that the new plane could “land and take off” from land and sea during the same mission.

USSOCOM’s Fixed Wing Technology Insertion Roadmap, which was illustrated at the event, said a timeline of the plane’s development and when it could operate would be between 2022–25. 

Kuebler suggested there was “enough command interest” at USSOCOM to pursue building the MAC. 

“There is enough of a focus on peer and near-peer as we look at emerging threats. Is it going to be cost effective? That’s why we have several lines of effort early on and there will be plenty of off-ramp [opportunities] along the way to determine if we move forward,” he said.

USSOCOM is focusing on the great power competition in the Indo-Pacific region against China. The importance of an amphibious transport plane for special forces is imperative if conflict breaks out. 

According to the foreign policy and national security website “War On Th Rocks,” the US currently operates zero military seaplanes. Japan and Russia operate a small number of seaplanes, but China has unveiled the largest and most modern operational seaplane, the AG-600.

In a great power competition, one that is underway in the Pacific, the US is in desperate need of seaplanes if conflict breaks out because it currently has none.

Authored by Isabel Van Brugen via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) on Thursday wrote a letter to the state Board of Education opposing the teaching of Critical Race Theory (CRT) and its “dangerous ideology” in public schools.

“This divisive, anti-American agenda has no place in Georgia classrooms,” the Republican governor said in a statement on Twitter.

He urged educators in his letter “to take immediate steps to ensure that Critical Race Theory and its dangerous ideology do not take root in our state standards or curriculum.”

Kemp said that parents, students, administrators, and educators in Georgia have come to him in recent weeks with concerns about the teaching of CRT in state schools.

“Like me, they are alarmed this divisive and anti-American curriculum is gaining favor in Washington D.C. and in some states across the country.”

CRT has gradually proliferated in recent decades through academia, government structures, school systems, and the corporate world. It redefines human history as a struggle between the “oppressors”—white people—and the “oppressed”—everybody else—similar to Marxism’s reduction of history to a struggle between the “bourgeois” and the “proletariat.” It labels institutions that emerged in majority-white societies as racist and “white supremacist.”

Like Marxism, CRT advocates for the destruction of institutions, such as the Western justice system, free-market economy, and orthodox religions, while demanding that they be replaced with institutions compliant with the theory’s ideology.

Proponents of CRT have argued that the theory is merely “demonstrating how pervasive systemic racism truly is.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in March denounced critical race theory as hateful, while Republican lawmakers in Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa, New Hampshire, and West Virginia have said that they aim to ban the teaching of critical race theory in schools, workplaces, and government agencies.

Earlier this month, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law a bill mandating the teaching of CRT in schools, while Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt signed a bill banning its teaching in the state’s public and charter schools.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Education has proposed a grant priority that seeks to promote controversial racial concepts in the classroom. The proposal, known as the “Proposed Priorities: American History and Civics Education,” would incentivize schools to teach the quasi-Marxist critical race theory to its students.

One of the priorities encourages schools to “incorporate culturally and linguistically responsive” teaching approaches that would contribute toward what the department calls an “identity-safe” learning environment.

Referring to the proposal, Kemp said in his letter that it is “ridiculous” that the Biden administration is considering using taxpayer funds to push a “blatantly partisan agenda” in Georgia classrooms.

The state must instead focus on its goal of providing the highest quality education to every child in Georgia “without partisan bias or political influence.”

“Education in Georgia should reflect our fundamental values as a state and nation—freedom, equality, and the God-given potential of each individual,” the governor wrote.

The State Board of Education didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment by The Epoch Times.

Richard Woods, Georgia’s elected Republican state superintendent, said in a May 11 Facebook post for his campaign that the Georgia Department of Education has no current or proposed standards that include “CRT concepts.”

“We will not be adopting any CRT standards nor applying for or accept any funding that requires the adoption of these concepts by our state, schools, or classrooms. We will not provide trainings that seek to promote these teachings to educators and support staff,” he said.

Petr Svab contributed to this report.

Police departments across the country fail to attract new recruits after a year of social justice warriors and liberal-run city councils defunding police and the leftist media throwing the men and women in blue under the bus. 

Recruiting deficits come ahead of what is expected to be another violent summer. Reduced funding and a hard time recruiting potential officers could cause overtime or burnout among law enforcement agencies, Axios reported Wednesday. 

Demonstrations demand police reform last year crushed departments’ recruitment efforts leading to widespread pressure. The recruitment deficit could send some law enforcement agencies into crisis this summer: 

“The warmer months always usually give us more problems when it comes to violence,” NYPD Chief of Department Rodney Harrison said, the WSJ reported.

Axios noted officer applicants at several law enforcement agencies across the country had seen drastic drops compared to last year. 

For instance, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department told Axios that applications plunged 26% during the first four months of 2021 compared to the same period last year.

In Des Moines, Iowa, the metro’s police department received 300 applicants last month for its newest round of recruits, approximately 50% fewer than a year ago. 

The Fayetteville Police Department in Northwest Arkansas hardly received any applicants this year. 

There’s also the issue of officer exodus. In Minneapolis, the metro area where the police-killing of George Floyd sparked nationwide social unrest in spring 2020, has seen more than 105 officers leave, more than twice as normal.

Over the past year and a half, about 20% of Seattle cops have quit. The revelation comes after police in the metro area have been battling anti-police protesters from BLM and Antifa, and a city council that has neutered cops’ ability to use crowd control devices. 

In Denver, where police funds are running short, the city could not meet its goal in hiring the required quota of yearly officers it needed. 

A tweet by the Baltimore City Fraternal Order of Police recently disclosed the city is 500 cops short of what is needed to keep the city safe. 

The bottom line is the systematic dismantling and shaming of police across the country ahead of what is expected to be a summer of violence continues to transform the county into a violent mess. 

So it comes as no surprise that gun and ammo sales are through the roof and urban flight is at a record. 

Authored by Simon Black via SovereignMan.com,

Fourteen year old Gao Yuan was attending a boarding school in China when the Cultural Revolution broke out in 1966. And that’s when his life changed forever.

Even though the communists had won the Chinese Civil War and been in total power since 1945, Chairman Mao still believed that there was too much capitalist influence in China.

So he decided to completely rewrite literature, history, and the entire education system.

School instruction switched from teaching math and science, to activism.

Students like Gao Yuan were encouraged to find and punish “revisionists” who sought to undermine the revolution’s progress, including their own parents and teachers.

One teacher fell under suspicion because, even though he routinely spoke of China’s natural beauty, he didn’t ever praise Chairman Mao.

Other teachers were denounced for wearing western clothes or engaging in borgeois activities—  like drinking wine or buying an expensive radio.

Gao Yuan liked his teachers and hesitated to participate. But he was even more afraid of being labeled an evil revisionist himself. So he joined the mob and began accusing teachers and parents.

The assistant headmaster committed suicide when accused of revisionism. Gao Yuan found his body, and even though he had liked him, Gao assumed the suicide proved the man must have been guilty of thought crime.

Another teacher died under mysterious circumstances. Soon the rest of the faculty fled, and the school fell under the control of the students.

That’s when the situation really turned bizarre.

Factions quickly formed like rival gangs, and the students turned against one other. Each group accused the other of failure to live up to the full revolutionary spirit, finding micro-transgressions everywhere.

Students were killed— one suffocated after have had a sock stuffed in his mouth. Another was tortured to death. One girl committed suicide rather than be captured by a rival student group. Several children died in an accidental explosion while attempting to make bombs.

This was NOT an isolated incident; as the Cultural Revolution spread, similar incidents occurred across China in government offices, factories, schools, and the military.

Gao Yuan eventually fled the school, only to find that his father had been “canceled” by local students for caring too much about farming and economics, and not enough about party politics. He lost a prominent position in county government.

When Gao Yuan finally returned to his school months later, he found the campus destroyed— shattered windows, unmarked graves, bombed out buildings, and utter chaos.

Years later he recounted his experience in a book called Born Red: A Chronicle of the Cultural Revolution.

Now the US is entering its own Cultural Revolution. While any rational person can see many forms of discrimination that still exist, we are being force-fed a narrative that White Supremancy is at the core of everything.

It has become so ridiculous that, according to one California state math education group, saying 2+2=4 perpetuates white supremacy.

The only way to fix it is for “anti-racists” to identify and punish the oppressors, i.e. people who believe that 2+2=4.

This is among the many lessons that now dominate school curiccula in many districts in the Land of the Free.

Kids are being taught Critical Race Theory, and a brand new history based on the New York Times’s 1619 Project.

Books that have been at the cornerstone of literature classes for more than a century are now being cancelled. Math and science are blasted as racist and transphobic.

Students at an elite private school in Manhattan called Grace Church High School now dedicate hours each week to “anti-racism” instruction.

Segregated sessions force white students to attend classes which teach them that objectivity and individualism are features of white supremacy.

They are taught to find and report racial “micro-aggressions” of their teachers and peers— for instance, if someone insists they don’t care about someone’s skin color.

Challenging, questioning, or engaging in discussion about systemic racism is taken as proof that the transgressor is racist.

A former teacher at the school, Paul Rossi, attempted to introduce debate about the topic in a segregated, ‘whites only’ learning session.

He was accused of harassment, and told his failure to accept as gospel the critical race narrative created “dissonance for vulnerable and unformed thinkers” and “neurological disturbance in students’ beings and systems.”

This is what educators honestly believe— that differing opinions and constructive discussion are literally harmful to students’ brains.

Rossi was forced to resign. But it’s not just teachers who are cancelled.

Students are also punished for questioning Critical Race Theory, and they are reprimanded if they don’t speak up in support of it.

Teachers suggested that the school “officially flag” students who remain silent, believe in meritocracy, or suggest that everyone be treated with respect regardless of skin color.

Incredibly, a new government regulation proposed by the US Department of Education last month will prioritize special federal funding to schools which focus on this sort of thought control .

The national media reinforces this dogma. When parents speak out against Critical Race Theory being taught in their children’s schools, the media blasts them as white supremacists.

Recently, 70% of a Texas town voted for school board members vehemently opposed to Critical Race Theory, in a local election where about three times as many voters as usual turned out.

Yet NBC reported it was a “bitterly divided election”.

Really?

Does a 70% to 30% victory with massive voter turnout sound bitterly divided?

It’s clear based on these (and other) election results that the majority of the population opposes this cultural revolution.

The people who are trying to cancel Western Civilization are just a small, extremely vocal minority. The problem is, they control the media, the big tech companies, the universities, and most of the federal government, so their message seems much more popular than it really is.

This revolution has even spread to the military and intelligence agencies, with everyone from the CIA to US Special Operations Command prioritizing wokeness over national defense.

And of course, dozes of major corporations from Disney to Coca Cola have jumped on the bandwagon too.

History has much to teach us. And the key lesson from China’s cultural revolution is that these movements don’t suddenly disappear.

Now, you might be surprised to hear me say that the strongest way to fight back against this movement is to VOTE.

But I’m not talking about the broken political process.

I’m talking about the vote you make with your money.

If you disagree with a company’s woke politics, stop buying their products. Honestly. If you hate the fact that Disney is ultra-woke, but you’re not willing to give up your Disney+ membership, then you may need to rethink your priorities.

Same goes for Woka Cola, or any other major brand.

There’s also the vote you can make with your feet.

If your state or local government has totally lost its mind, consider moving. You can’t fix your neighbors’ way of thinking, but you can might be able to find greener pastures elsewhere.

*  *  *

On another note… We think gold could DOUBLE and silver could increase by up to 5 TIMES in the next few years. That’s why we published a new, 50-page long Ultimate Guide on Gold & Silver that you can download here.

Doctors in Houston, Texas are scratching their heads after a handful of COVID-19 survivors developed massively enlarged tongues.

The condition, called macroglossia, makes it impossible for patients to eat, drink or talk. Last fall, KHOU reported that there were two documented cases in the United States, which has swelled to nine patients – eight of whom are black, according to Dr. James Melville of the UTHealth School of Dentistry, who has become an expert in the condition.

Two of the patients had suffered strokes, while the other seven were hospitalized with COVID-19 before developing the rare condition.

More via KHOU:

Melville says the patients who had survived COVID-19 had inflammatory cells in their tongue tissue, which means there’s something about the virus that is making certain people more prone to the rare condition.

“I think it has a lot to do with where the virus is attaching itself and the body’s immune response to it,” said Dr. Melville.

He is now doing a study to figure out if there’s a common link in those patients’ genes. If doctors can answer that question, they hope they can also figure out how to prevent it.   

 

Authored by Andrew Napolitono, originally published at Creators.com,

“The Constitution of the United States is a law for rulers and people, equally in war and in peace, and covers with the shield of its protection all classes of men, at all times and under all circumstances. No doctrine involving more pernicious consequences was ever invented by the wit of man than that any of its provisions can be suspended during any of the great exigencies of government.”

– Ex Parte Milligan, Supreme Court of the United States, 1866.

Last week, the media in New Jersey began to ask Gov. Phil Murphy when he would surrender his emergency powers. He claimed emergency powers in March 2020, and he also claimed that those powers are not limited by the Constitution when he said on Fox that the Bill of Rights is above his pay grade. His reply to the media inquiries was that he will surrender them when he surrenders them!

I am using the example of Murphy in order to address the concept of emergency powers, but there is no hyperbole here. Murphy quite literally issued executive orders barring folks from doing what the Constitution guarantees them the right to do, and he imposed criminal penalties for violating his orders, and he had folks who defied him arrested and prosecuted. Stated differently, he assumed the powers of the state legislature — which is to write the laws — and he violated his oath to uphold the Constitution.

He claimed that somehow he can interfere with the exercise of basic human freedoms — like going to church, going to work, shopping for food, operating a business, assembling and traveling — because he declared a state of emergency.

If the government declares an emergency, can it thereby acquire the lawful power to interfere with constitutionally guaranteed freedoms? In a word: No.

Here is the backstory.

When the states formed the federal government in 1789, they did so pursuant to the Constitution. The Constitution was written to establish and to limit the federal government. In 1791, just two years later, the Constitution was amended to add the Bill of Rights. The original understanding of the Bill of Rights was that it restrained only the federal government by articulating negative rights.

A negative right restrains the government from interfering with the exercise of a preexisting right. Thus, the First Amendment does not grant the freedom of speech — because it comes from our humanity — but it does prohibit Congress from infringing upon it.

After the War Between the States, Congress sent the 14th Amendment to the states for ratification. Its history is tortuous, and in part repellant, but it was ratified, and it is the law of the land. It has been interpreted and applied by the courts as imposing the Bill of Rights upon the states. Thus, any right expressly or arguably protected from federal interference by the Bill of Rights is protected from state interference as well.

The Ninth Amendment — which today restrains the feds and the states — is the work of James Madison’s genius. Madison, who chaired the House of Representatives committee that wrote the Bill of Rights, wrestled along with his colleagues about the best way to protect unenumerated rights.

The big-government crowd in Congress did not want any enumerated rights to be expressed. They argued that by listing a few, the unlisted rights would be subject to government assault.

The small-government crowd argued that by listing no rights as immune from government interference, the Constitution would invite the government to assault whatever rights it wished.

Madison’s solution to all this was to add a Bill of Rights and include the Ninth Amendment. That amendment recognizes that we all have pre-political, fundamental, natural rights — too numerous to enumerate — and prohibits all government from disparaging them.

During the War Between the States, Abraham Lincoln did more than disparage them. He ordered the military to arrest newspaper editors and even public officials in the North and confine them without trial because he disapproved of their criticism of him. One of them, Lambdin P. Milligan, sued for his freedom, and he won.

In a unanimous decision, cited hundreds of times, the Supreme Court rejected the concept that “emergency” somehow creates or increases government power. The court condemned “emergency” as a doctrine the fruits of which none is “more pernicious.” This condemnation is still the law of the land today, and it applies to the states as well as to the feds.

Thus, no matter the exigency — war, floods, pandemic, fear, myth — individual natural rights, protected from government interference by the Ninth Amendment, trump the unconstitutional words of government officials and invalidate their efforts to enforce compliance. Murphy’s orders contain empty words because they do not have the force of law since they were not legislatively created and they directly contradict the Constitution and the Supreme Court’s most definitive interpretations of it.

When Murphy became the governor of New Jersey, he took an oath to enforce the Constitution. Whatever personal ignorance or mental reservations he may have had, the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and every public official, federal and state, is bound by it.

If government officials could declare an emergency whenever they wished and thereby be relieved of the obligation to defend the Constitution — and the rights it guarantees — then no liberty is safe.

Because our rights are natural and individual and because we did not all consent to their suspension, no government may morally or constitutionally suspend them, and we must resist all efforts to do so. Of course, there is a dark side to this. The government that has destroyed liberty and property has also immunized itself from financial liability for the consequences of those destructions.

Yet, as Thomas Jefferson wrote in the Declaration of Independence, whenever any government destroys liberty and property, it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it.