Crippling blizzard closes highways, schools in Massachusetts
Gov. Charlie Baker declared a state of emergency and implemented a travel ban Monday as a crippling blizzard began to bring the state to a standstill and ravage the state's shorelines.(emphasis mine) Because government is responsible for telling you when it is and isn't safe to drive, right? I mean, telling folks that if they're out on the road they'll be ticketed and potentially arrested, why, that's nothing like an overreaching police state, right? I mean, this is public safety, right? Too many people out on the roads means the plows have a hard time clearing the road, so this is clearly a case of public safety.
Forecasters are calling it a "potentially historic" storm that could bury communities with 2 feet or more of snow. National Grid warned that fully one-third of its 1.2 million customers could lose power.
Right?
I mean, it's not like the last time the State of Massachusetts declared a lockdown, they were allowing Dunkin Donuts to be open. Because it's all about safety, right? It has nothing to do with exercising petty authority over subjects or anything like that, right? I mean, capriciously allowing one business - one that is heavily trafficked by police and emergency workers - to remain open when others are forced at gunpoint to close (and if the police can confiscate your car for being on the road, the ban is literally enforced at gunpoint) is totally not tyranny.
Right?
Look, I will be the very first to admit that if you don't want to drive in the snow, don't. If you get nervous, tense up, drive irrationally, etc. don't. Call in sick. Call in scared. Make other arrangements with someone that doesn't mind driving in the snow. But for the love of everything that's good and wholesome, don't cheer on the nanny state when it forces businesses to close out of some nebulous "public safety" campaign.
I mean, think about how many lives could be saved every year if we banned driving all the time, right?
That is all.
10 comments:
Jay, just like Scott Brown before him, we all look at Baker and understand that were he anywhere else, that letter after his name would be a D.
My only surprise in all this would be if you're surprised by this.
Much is closed here in eastern NY due to the frantic forecasts and we haven't seen a flake. Wonder if they will make the forecasters pay the cost of closing all the schools for literally nothing.
It's completely true that if private driving was banned it would save 33,000+ lives every year.
Don't think it isn't coming.
Having worked for my share of emergency services, who're all required to report for work regardless of driving bans, It really doesn't help.....everyone ends up out on the roads if they want to regardless....
It's sad that my Democrat governor, Maggie Hassan, is more conservative/libertarian than MA's Republicans.
They did the same in NJ and NY, at least NYC and surrounding counties. I don't recall that step ever being taken before. Just another case of "give up another little bit of your freedom for some supposed security or safety.
+1 on Knucklehead... sigh
Has happened every few years here in NW Indiana when the weather gets bad enough (note: *WHEN* the weather gets bad enough....not before)
I believe it to be unConstitutional, so I ignore it....In a very heavy and capable 4WD truck. Got flagged down once by a cop at an intersection...he told me I was breaking the law and driving on the roads was unsafe. I laughed and told him if he could catch me he could arrest me, then drove off.
Once again, I say that the cabin in the backwoods is looking better and better every day. Can you say "separatist"?
B at 8:08 I like your style!
"how many lives could be saved every year if we banned driving all the time" Cheese and Crackers, Jay! Don't give 'em any ideas!
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