Pa. GOPs pandemic response shows its ignorant about real meaning of freedom | Opinion – lehighvalleylive.com

By Paul Tubiana

As we are approaching our third year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Pennsylvanias hospitals are again seeing a second winter of overflowing, but this time with mostly unvaccinated patients. We should reflect on the failed leadership of the states GOP to recognize the problem and its obstruction of good-faith solutions.

We should reflect on how exhausted and overworked doctors, nurses, and first responders have become as theyve shouldered the burdens of the pandemic so that greedy and irresponsible elected officials and some community leaders could maintain their power.

We should reflect on how seniors and medically vulnerable people had to lose their freedom, dignity and in many cases their very health or lives so that others could enjoy their shallow freedom and carefree lives.

We should reflect on how the governor, stripped of his ability to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic with mask mandates and other means now must call on the federal government for assistance. The 75% of COVID-19 patients who are unvaccinated in the overflowing hospitals are paying the price for their opposition, but the rest are innocent victims.

Childrens health and lives were also sacrificed by the vanity of adults and misinformation that their parents accepted as truth for political expediency. Lets also not forget the economic toll taxpayers, hospitals, and insurance companies bear for the cost of irresponsible people and their GOP enablers.

The founders chose representative government instead of direct democracy to make sure in times of crises and upheaval that we would not be ruled by popular whims and mobs. Increasingly, the GOP-dominated legislature, unable to pass their agenda constitutionally and unwilling to honor their constitutional oaths with regard to the COVID-19 pandemic, is seeking to override co-equal branches of government using legislation by constitutional amendment.

We are in a war against a virus, but the GOP is engaged in mutiny to overthrow the captain because the captain wants to save the lives of everyone on the ship. Whatever happened to the GOPs tradition of personal responsibility, self-discipline, unquestioning subordination to authority, truth, and respect for others? Two recent examples come to mind: The May 2021 constitutional referendum ballot questions concerning the governors emergency disaster powers and more recent plans to remake the Pennsylvania courts.

I contend that the state legislatures constitutional referendum was illegal and violates the U.S. Constitutions separation of powers, the system of checks and balances. The legislature successfully usurped the executive branchs emergency powers authority to the detriment of the health and lives of Pennsylvania residents.

I contend that the illegal referendum and ensuing legislation were an unconstitutional breech of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. The state legislature deprived persons of life, which also precedes liberty. The words of the 14th Amendment and Declaration of Independence both came from the writings of John Locke who also wrote:

The end of law is not to abolish or restrain, but to preserve and enlarge freedom. For in all the states of created beings capable of law, where there is no law, there is no freedom.

Paul Tubiana is a Bethlehem resident who was the subject of a 2020 lehighvalleylive.com story about his questioning of former President Donald Trump during an ABC News town hall in Philadelphia.

Read the original post:

Pa. GOPs pandemic response shows its ignorant about real meaning of freedom | Opinion - lehighvalleylive.com