Blind Justice

 

It only takes one broken link.

Statues of Lady Justice, the embodied likeness of the Roman goddess Justita, adorn many courthouses throughout the United States. Blindfolded, with a sword in one hand and a scale balanced in the other, she represents a fair and impartial judicial system. Justice is meted out impartially, without regard to the station of either defendant or plaintiff. The law and the facts presented should determine the outcome of any trial, independent of the race, gender, age or wealth of the accused. In our Constitutional Republic, the rule of law is the glue that holds civilized society together. All are guaranteed a fair trial by a jury of their peers, have the right to not self-incriminate and everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty. These are the linchpins of our judicial system. These rights are enumerated in our Constitution, Bill of Rights and court decision precedent. Without them, our judicial system fails.

Unfortunately, our system of justice is being perverted by District Attorneys that use their position to reject the law and set their own standards of justice. Progressive District Attorneys in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and other blue cities decide that precedent and written laws are irrelevant when holding accountable those accused of committing criminal acts. They lead an effort to create a more equitable outcome by reducing or eliminating bail and ignoring criminal behavior in an effort to decrease the number of persons of color incarcerated. The lawlessness witnessed in the cities that have District Attorneys that embrace these ideals is unprecedented. Criminals who understand that there will be no consequences for illegal behavior will be emboldened to escalate their criminal actions.

District Attorneys fail their citizens and abdicate their responsibility to hold criminals accountable when those committing crimes are arbitrarily released without appropriate bail. Bail is meant to keep dangerous offenders off the streets. Those released instead of remaining jailed, are free to go out and commit more criminal acts. Darrell Brooks, the perpetrator of the Christmas parade massacre in Waukesha, Wisconsin was released on a $1000 bail, for felony offences in Milwaukee County, including being charged with running over his girlfriend with his car. DA John Chisholm bragged about his policy of leniency in 2007, “Is there going to be an individual that I divert, or put in a treatment program going to go out and kill somebody? You bet. Guaranteed. It’s guaranteed to happen. It does not invalidate the overall approach.” His prophesy was fulfilled. Far too many have paid the price for his recklessness. This cannot continue.

“Defund the Police” casts aspersions upon the very people charged to uphold the law and protect the citizenry from bad actors. Police are vilified and use of force incidents are criticized in an effort to divert the criminality from the offender to the police officer. Mistakes made by police in the heat of the moment are used to attack policing as a whole. Dishonest claims that “systemic racism” permeates law enforcement is repeated over and over by the mainstream media. The number of actual unlawful arrests, police “targeting” persons of color and reports of police “brutality” are so rare that each incident is amplified by the media for weeks and months to make it appear that it as common place as issuing a speeding ticket.

Without the “Thin Blue Line” our society devolves into lawlessness and anarchy. “Woke” DA’s that devalue the work of law enforcement by releasing accused criminals on low bail or fail to even charge them with a crime is extremely discouraging to officers trying their best to protect the citizenry. When these DA’s continually disparage law enforcement, morale and any enthusiasm to enforce the law wanes. When police face more scrutiny than criminals, the resolve to place themselves at risk fades. The assault upon and the lack of respect for law enforcement has begun to take a toll. Fewer and fewer people are willing to apply for positions in law enforcement. In the recent past, there were many more applicants than positions available. This has fallen precipitously. Without qualified candidates to fulfil the role to actually “keep you and your community safe”, our society becomes more and more vulnerable to lawlessness. Police need our support, not unwarranted vilification. Prosecutorial misconduct by “Woke” DA’s is increasing. Don’t stand by and allow another link in the chain of justice to break.

Time to Move On

 

COVID-19

Since pivoting from the strategy of “slowing the spread” to attempting to stop all infections, the Federal public health “one size fits all” approach from the CDC to the NIAID has been an abject failure. Guidance and mitigation efforts have been haphazard and have concentrated far too much on vaccinations to control the pandemic. The use of therapeutics has been largely dismissed as an effective treatment option by Federal public health officials. Current vaccinations are proving ineffective in slowing the infection rate and transmission of the new Omicron variant and the infection numbers have skyrocketed. Thankfully, the hospitalization and death rates are not following suit and continue to decrease in relation to the infection rate.

Federal public health policy has, unfortunately put all their eggs into one basket, and our nation has suffered great losses to our economic system, adversely affected our children’s learning and emotional development, led to an increase in mental health disorders, drug overdoses, suicides and criminality. Far too many of our fellow citizens have suffered and died as the result of what should be considered medical malfeasance by our Federal public health officials.

The dominant variant of COVID-19 is the Omicron, causing more than 90% of all infections worldwide. A recent study from South Africa indicates that this variant is extremely contagious, but the vast majority of those infected suffer mild or no symptoms with a low rate of hospitalizations. This variant follows the normal trajectory of viruses as they mutate. Higher rate of transmission with a lower rate of severe symptoms and lethality.

Pfizer will not have an effective vaccine to combat the Omicron variant until March. If the course of the disease mirrors what has occurred in South Africa, the need for that vaccine will likely have passed.

It is time that we strongly consider the fact that the pandemic phase of this disease is ending and that public health, at the local and State level, pivot to acknowledging the reality that we are entering the endemic phase of this disease. We need to concentrate on manufacturing and distributing effective therapeutics to manage symptomatic individuals and to continue to develop vaccines that are effective in mitigating symptoms of any new variants. Dr. Fauci stated on Wednesday, that we will never eradicate COVID-19. We also need to acknowledge that reality.

The published study of Omicron in South Africa; The wave increased at a faster rate than previous waves, completely displacing the Delta variant within weeks and began its decline in both cases and hospital admissions in the fifth week following its commencement.

There are clear signs that case and admission rates in South-Africa may decline further over the next few weeks. If this pattern continues and is repeated globally, we are likely to see a complete decoupling of case and death rates suggesting that Omicron may be a harbinger of the end of the epidemic phase of the Covid pandemic ushering in its endemic phase.

CDC Director Walensky testified before Congress, when compared to delta, infections with omicron were associated with a 53% reduction in adjusted risk of symptomatic hospitalization, displayed in the first panel; a 74% reduction in adjusted risk of ICU admission, displayed in the middle panel; and a 91% reduction in adjusted risk of mortality, displayed on the third panel.

No patients with omicron required mechanical ventilation. Additionally, this study found that those infected with omicron who were hospitalized had a shorter duration of hospital stay compared to those with delta. The duration of hospital stays was approximately 70% shorter, with the median of stays being 1.5 days for omicron compared to about 5 days for delta.

Looking at all hospital admissions for omicron, 90% of patients were expected to be discharged from the hospital in three days or less.

Sorry about all of you that are totally immersed in relying upon the government to keep you safe. The…...Pandemic…….is……..over!!!!!