We are citizens, not subjects

To The Eagle:

Amongst the letters a few weeks back was a tutorial on constitutions. Comprehensive as it was, it omitted the crucial fact, the singular feature, that makes the U.S. Constitution absolutely unique among similar documents, both now and historically: It confers sovereignty upon the individual citizen; not a king or governor or politburo, but We the People, you and me. From this basic concept comes the passel of freedoms outlined in the Bill of Rights.

For over two hundred years we’ve pretty much stuck to those rules (with a few minor excursions) and that resulted in the most powerful nation on earth, with a free market economy and freedom to practice (or not) any religion. For the individual citizen, it was as close as possible to the idealistic closing of the poem Invictus: “I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.” Then came the pandemic, and all that was canceled. A bit of lockdown and quarantine was justified during the first few weeks, while we took the measure of what we were up against, but after that, individuals should have been free to seek their own information and take their own action in concert with their own doctors and families. Businesses, schools, and churches should not have been closed.

In last week’s Covid-19 update, the WHHS director said that the Feds and State were considering new and improved treatment options but not sharing them, and other “health groups” were recommending strategy changes, but they are not “decision making entities.” Right! They are not, and the Fed and State shouldn’t be, either. They all should be information sources, and the decisions should be made by us: moms, dads, business owners, school principals, family doctors. Meanwhile, as the evidence stacks up on the detrimental effects of masks and the shortcomings of vaccines, our so-called leaders are doubling down on mandates that threaten both health and livelihood.

Reminder: we are citizens, not subjects.

Howard Brawn

Puget Island