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by Causes | 9.17.20

What's the story?

Attorney General William Barr on Wednesday blasted efforts by governors to prevent the spread of coronavirus with stay-at-home orders, calling such lockdowns the \"greatest intrusion on civil liberties\" since slavery.

\"You know, putting a national lockdown, stay-at-home orders, is like house arrest. Other than slavery, which was a different kind of restraint, this is the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history,\" Barr said in a speech at Hillsdale College in Michigan.

Barr continued: \"Most of the governors do what bureaucrats always do, which is they... defy common sense. They treat free citizens as babies that can't take responsibility for themselves and others.\"
Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the most-senior Black lawmaker in Congress, slammed Barr’s remarks as “the most ridiculous, tone-deaf, God-awful thing I’ve ever heard.”

“It is incredible that (the) chief law enforcement officer in this country would equate human bondage to expert advice to save lives. Slavery was not about saving lives, it was about devaluing lives.”

What do you think?

Do you agree with Barr's remarks? Are lockdowns \"the greatest intrusion on civil liberties in American history\" since slavery? Take action above, then share your thoughts below.

—Josh Herman

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Won’t listen to slogans, chanted mantras or generally any kind of marketing spin or “rebranding” crap. I firmly believe that everyone else is entitled to their erroneous opinions. Citizen vigilance and due diligence is price we must pay to live in a thriving, functional democracy.\nI fear that our citizens are too easily swayed by politician’s pablum about “babies”, “jobs” and now, in particular, perceived “enemies”. I fear that a citizenry focused on the “here-and-now” is easily tricked by short term benefits that have negative long-term consequences. I fear that our legislators are more concerned about buffing their constituents than looking out for the long-term welfare of our country- and are way too eager to provide those short-term benefits to the “here-and-now” crowd.\nI fear that honor is generally being sacrificed/replaced by expediency. 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A foul is a foul- even if the referee doesn’t catch you.\nI fear that each of our federal governmental branches have devised or discovered shortcuts which tend to protect them from the checks and balances our founders intended.","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"jimk","issue_count":4,"is_following":null,"influence_score":44820,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":1529,"following_count":81,"position_count":539,"id":"9odrQBnb","partner_id":null},{"name":"Pru","vote_count":6,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/235162504493037/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/235162504493037/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/235162504493037/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/235162504493037/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/ZxxXjJG7/following","followers":"/api/users/ZxxXjJG7/followers"},"about_me":null,"twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":0,"influence_level":0,"follower_count":1,"following_count":4,"position_count":6,"id":"ZxxXjJG7","partner_id":null}],"article_comment":{"flagged":false,"id":1349562,"body":"Barr isn’t fit for the role he holds. 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