Maryland was busy preparing for the Thanksgiving holidays this week right before Gov. Larry Hogan announced the state is ramping up the enforcement of coronavirus restrictions. The night before Thanksgiving is one of the biggest bar-hopping nights of the year, but the Governor has ordered a state-mandated 10 p.m. closing time for all bars and restaurants, as well as strictly advising people to celebrate Thanksgiving with their immediate households only.
Along with slapping a strict bedtime on the state, the Maryland State Police will also be sending out “high visibility compliance units” to counties that have experienced poor infection rates in the state. This includes Bel Air, Towson, Salisbury, Silver Spring, Baltimore’s Fells Point neighborhood, and Allegany County. Their duties include enforcing the rules of capacity limits, social distancing requirements, and rules, as well as focusing on venues/bars and expanding its 24-hour hotline for reporting violations.
“It’s sort of like saying I have a constitutional right to drive drunk. I have a constitutional right to not wear a seat belt, or to yell fire in a crowded movie theater, or to not follow the speed limit. We’re talking about a quarter of a million people dying already. You know, more than, you know, the Korean War, the Gulf War, and the Vietnam War added together. Which part don’t you understand? There’s no constitutional right to walk around without a mask. We did it in 1918, I don’t know why we can’t do it now. Wear the mask.” said Gov. Hogan in a media briefing about coronavirus.
Shortly after, Gov. Hogan’s poor analogy of the “constitutional right” in driving drunk to mask-wearing blew up on Twitter. Many pointed out that the analogy was completely misguided. Drunk driving is a crime passed by the state legislature. The same can’t be said about any of the state-ordered mask mandates this year. The government can issue mask mandates but has no constitutional right to demand them.
The Governor reiterated that celebrating Thanksgiving with people who are not their immediate
household members are “reckless.” “These important safety measures and public health orders are only effective if they are being followed and enforced,” Gov. Hogan added.
“This is a matter of life and death. If too many people violate the rules, we are left with no choice,” said Baltimore County Executive Johnny Olszewski Jr.
There is still no scientific evidence that backs up mask-wearing during a pandemic. Reading studies across the globe show that there have been no significant differences between cases of those wearing a mask and not wearing a mask. This is just another way for politicians to go full dictator and get away with it.
It’s the mainstream media’s interpretation of coronavirus cases studies that end up making our rules, not what the studies say themselves.
