‘Drunk with power’: U.S. said plagued by dysfunctional leaders

FPI / May 21, 2020

Democratic officials have gone "crazy" with power in imposing wide-ranging lockdown orders even as coronavirus curves have been flattened and the pandemic "recedes," Fox News host Tucker Carlson said.

Carlson slammed several “drunk with power” leaders including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, and New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio in Monday night’s broadcast of “Tucker Carlson Tonight”.

“Power is the drug they’ve been searching for,” Carlson said. “It’s why they went into politics in the first place — not to help you or their fellow citizens, or to improve our society, but to fill the empty space inside themselves. These are profoundly damaged people.”

Despite the fact that the virus has “recede[d]” and those areas that have “cautiously reopened are reaping the benefits,” some “lockdowns are becoming more restrictive, not less, and much, much weirder.”

Carlson cited Illinois Gov. J.B. Prizker’s emergency order and promise to “imprison business owners if they try to reopen” and de Blasio’s promise to remove people out of the water at New York City's beaches on Memorial Day weekend.

In other coronavirus lockdown news:

Most and least free states

The personal finance website WalletHub conducted a survey on which are the most and least free states during the pandemic.

WalletHub said it compared the 50 states and the District of Columbia across 11 key metrics: Whether masks were recommended or required; travel restrictions; large gathering restrictions; school closures; restaurants and bars status; reopening of “non-essential” businesses; child care; strictness of “shelter-in-place” orders; whether a state is part of a multi-state arrangement; suspension or postponement of legislative sessions; and medical services, including elective surgery.

The survey found the state with the least restrictions is South Dakota (Republican Gov. Kristi Noem).

Wisconsin moved into the second spot for least restrictions after the state Supreme Court voided the stay-at-home order of Democrat Gov. Tony Evers.

The other eight states in the Top 10 with the least restrictions are, in order, Idaho (Republican Gov. Brad Little), Missouri (Republican Gov. Mike Parson), Utah (Republican Gov. Gary Herbert), Wyoming (Republican Gov. Mark Gordon), Montana (Democrat Gov. Steve Bullock), Arizona (Republican Gov. Doug Ducey), North Dakota (Republican Gov. Doug Burgum) and Iowa (Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds).

The most restrictive states, from 41 to 51 in order, are: Michigan (Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer), New York (Democrat Gov. Andrew Cuomo), New Mexico (Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham), Washington (Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee), Hawaii (Democrat Gov. David Ige), Vermont (Republican Gov. Phil Scott) , Massachusetts (Republican Gov. Charlie Baker), District of Columbia (Democrat Mayor Muriel Bowser), Rhode Island (Democrat Gov. Gina Raimondo) and Illinois (Democrat Gov. J.B. Pritzker).

Progressives tracking lockdown protesters

Progressive activists are using cellphone location data to track the movements of anti-lockdown protesters, and are passing on that data to left-wing journalists, Breitbart News noted on May 19, citing a report by the Guardian.

According to the Guardian’s report, progressives were able to obtain the location data via third-party apps that allowed opt-in data collection. The data was provided to the Guardian by the progressive campaign group the Committee to Protect Medicare.

The anonymized location data was captured from opt-in cellphone apps, and data scientists at the firm VoteMap used it to determine the movements of devices present at protests in late April and early May in five states: Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Colorado and Florida, the report said.

Virtually every app downloaded onto your smartphone will ask to collect location data, often without clearly disclosing where that data will be sent.

"What this means is that progressives groups are able to use so-called 'anonymized' data to pinpoint the location of attendees of anti-lockdown protesters, many of whom are conservatives," Breitbart News noted.

For a list of apps that have access to your location data, as well as options to switch off data-sharing, go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services on Apple iPhones.

On Android devices, you can turn off location data for all apps via Settings & Security & Location.

Pennsylvania governor scolds beachgoers, quarterback

Pennsylvania Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf warned residents of his state against visiting beaches over Memorial Day weekend, saying “I wouldn’t go to the beach. There are people there who aren’t wearing masks and you’re putting yourself at risk.”

“I wouldn’t do that, I haven’t done that, and I’m not sure why the governors of Maryland and New Jersey have opened their beaches, but they have,” Wolf added.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley on Monday also warned against flocking to the beach: “Don’t go to the beach. We’re not recommending people go to the beach this weekend. It is true that being outdoors is probably less risk than being close to people indoors, but if you go into crowds anywhere, there’s risks.”

Wolf also took a shot at Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for visiting a barbershop in violation of Wolf’s coronaviraus lockdown orders.

Roethlisberger was seen getting a haircut and beard trim in a video on the Steelers Twitter feed on Monday. But Wolf was furious that it was done in Pennsylvania and against his orders.

“My concern is just a general concern,” Wolf said on Tuesday. “Anybody who puts himself or herself into harm’s way is something that I think we have to try to avoid. When you go to something like a barbershop and you’re not protected, I don’t care who you are, the chances of that virus actually wreaking havoc on your life increases. I don’t personally think any Pennsylvanian ought to take that chance. I certainly don’t want to take that chance myself.”

De Blasio lowers the boom on Orthodox Jewish gathering

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday unleashed his crackdown on an underground yeshiva, saying it was “absolutely unacceptable” for the Orthodox Jewish school to violate his order against large gatherings.

“It’s absolutely unacceptable what the folks at this yeshiva did,” said de Blasio on the PIX 11 Morning News. “They had been warned, everyone had been warned so many times.”

The gathering at Nitra Yeshiva in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood had about 70 people.

“The NYPD, if they find any gathering, they’re going to break it up,” de Blasio said. “But the first goal is just for people to disperse and not come back. The summons is there for anyone who resists, so in this case as I understand it, they immediately dispersed.”

He added, “They will not be coming back, I assure you, and if we have to shut down that building entirely, we will.”

Free Press International