Rep. Nisly has introduced House Concurrent Resolution 2 declaring that the COVID emergency has ended. Gov. Holcomb’s actions to mitigate the impact of COVID on Indiana have largely been taken under the authority of Indiana’s disaster emergency law, IC 10-14-3. IC 10-14-3-12 allows the General Assembly to terminate a declaration of public emergency by means of a concurrent resolution. (A concurrent resolution is one that’s passed by both the House and Senate.) HCR 2 declares that “the various restrictions imposed upon the residents of Indiana to implement the state of disaster emergency are no longer necessary to protect the health, safety, and welfare of the residents of Indiana.” Instead, Hoosiers can simply protect themselves!
By way of reminder:
This is what the State’s recent COVID history looks like as Rep. Nisly asks the General Assembly to declare that even the relatively mild restrictions the Governor has put in place are unnecessary. Nisly’s argument that Hoosiers know enough about COVID that they can now protect themselves and their families against the disease is disingenuous and specious. It deliberately ignores that people are invisible vectors of this lethal disease. When an individual chooses not to wear a mask in public, it puts my family in danger. It creates a greater risk that I will pick up the disease from someone and unknowingly transmit it to my family and friends. It cedes public spaces to the most reckless among us. It’s like saying that stop lights are now optional, and that I should stay off the roads if I don’t like it.
Nisly and his fellow travelers want to characterize themselves as champions of liberty. But the fact is that libertarians never seem to have good plans for drainage, pollution, public health, or any other situation involving a destructive agent that doesn’t respect property lines or bodily integrity.
Don’t forget to include fellow “pro-lifer” Rep-elect John Jacob, whom might be expelled from the Republican caucus before he is sworn in, and who is co-sponsor of this very pro-life resolution.
Jacob is in my district and his election still befuddles me. I think he’s going to out-Nisly Nisly.
Oh man, this guy?
Yep, that guy won with 67% of the vote. Would be a shame if the upcoming redistricting left him having to run for re-election in someone else’s district…
If this is the only thing the Republican Party has to offer me, I’ll continue to pass.
Hi Doug,
I remember you once mentioning a must read book about Sir Francis Drake.
At least I think it was you.
What was the name of that book?
Thanks in advance or sorry to bother you and clutter your comments section.
Plenty of room in the comment section! “The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake” by Samuel Bawlf is the one I have sitting on my bookshelf that I really enjoyed. I can’t remember if I recommended it or not.
Many thanks. That’s the one.
It is now on my Christmas list.
If I wear a mask, it’s because I want to protect you from anything I have. And if you don’t wear a mask, I guess that tells me the level of empathy you have for me. Meanwhile, it looks like the old “rounding out Pi” mentality hasn’t gone away. They were elected and that makes them entitled to change the laws of nature.
Yup. They want to create reality rather than adjust to it.
It seems like more and more Republican lawmakers seemed to be intimidated by the Trump right wing. Then there are Reps like Nisly and John Jacob’ that are embracing Trump. They know as long as they keep spouting the right wing media’s propaganda they will continue to be elected, especially Indiana.
I am afraid that new far right Republicans candidates will push out the moderates and that will be frightening for immigrants, gays, minorities and any other group the right media decides to attack.
That’s been a process that I feel like has been going on for awhile now. My hope is that, at some point in the near future, there is an inflection point where voters regress to the center rather than following the rightward progression of candidates.
I appreciate your optimism, but in today’s post-truth society in which simple science or basic facts can’t even be agreed upon by “both sides”, I’m not holding my breath.