U.S. Attorney William Barr compared slavery to the coronavirus lockdowns during an appearance in Virginia last week where he talked about the history of intrusions on civil liberties.
“Putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest,” Mr. Barr said during an even at Hillsdale College in Northern Virginia. “It’s… you know, other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history.”
The anti-Trump media sectors, characterizing Barr as a henchman for President Trump, swiftly criticized his comment.
Joy Reid, the MSNBC host, said, “Let’s just be clear: 245 years of forced labor, rape, and the breeding, selling, and violent subjugation of human beings is slavery. And nothing, certainly not being asked to cover sneezes in Walmart, comes anywhere close to that.”
Aaron Rupar, a journalist at Vox, tweeted, “On one hand you have slavery. On the other, you have to do Curbside Pickup at Applebee’s. They’re basically the same, according to Bill Barr.”
“The person in the white coat is not the ‘grand seer’ who can come up with the right decision for society. A free people makes its decision through its elected representative,” Barr said, according to Politico.
Joe Biden, the Democrat running against Trump in the Presidential Reality Show®, said Barr’s comments were “outrageous.”
“I will tell you what takes away your freedom, not being able to see your kid, not being able to go to the football game or baseball game, not seeing your mom or dad sick in the hospital, not being able to do the things, that’s what is costing us our freedom,” Biden said.
TRENDPOST: From Biden’s statement, he and other critics, however, did not prove Barr wrong.
None mentioned when, in the history of America, the government has locked down its citizens, closed down the economy, and chose what businesses were essential (i.e., selling alcohol from stores but not in bars, Walmart: OK, Mom & Pop: No) and non-essential without a vote and based on the opinion of unelected health officials.
Defenders of Barr say the lockdowns that have been implemented have far greater ramifications than whether or not a person covers their sneeze inside a store. As we have forecast, the Executive Orders have launched the “Greatest Depression.”
Tens of thousands of businesses were forced to close, leading to the demise of jobs and permanent closing of businesses – not due to a bad product or market conditions – but rather because the state determined the business to be “non-essential.”
TREND FORECAST: In the Presidential Reality Show®, “Masks vs. No masks” plus “end lockdowns and restrictions vs. keep lockdowns and restrictions” will be key points of difference between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.
As we have noted, for Trump to win, he must appeal to voters in swing states who are opposed to lockdowns, loss of freedoms, and resistant to shelter-in-place rules and regulations imposed on them. Thus, this will be a major theme from now to Election Day.
As the cold weather sets in and businesses such as restaurants and hospitality, which were picking up a bit during the summer, begin to slow down, more voters will favor opening up the economy rather than re-locking it down.
A negative for Biden is the “get the youth vote” who want to go out, have fun, go wild, and party. They will not rush out to vote in big numbers for a candidate who said in mid-August, “Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum”… and would shut down the economy if scientists told him to.
