Well, first of all, this is the wrong question.

I’ve seen this question cropping up all over social media with various claims made in both directions. “Government doesn’t have the power to lock us down,” often answered with “government can do whatever it wants in an emergency.”

Neither of these are correct. But frankly both miss the point.

In the middle of a pandemic, the question is not what government is allowed to do. The question is whether what government is asking individuals to do, on behalf of all of the entire community, is right and reasonable. …

As the pages of the internet explode with the rhetoric of a new social distancing culture war, Americans find themselves arguing over whether the unfolding lockdown is a necessary measure to preserve life … or a case of economy-crushing overkill.

Meanwhile, the man who fed one side of the debate for weeks by downplaying the seriousness of the Coronavirus pandemic has changed his tune.

Here’s a tweet from Donald Trump on March 9th:

A long cold spell grips a proud culture. When will spring arrive?

I spent my childhood in a place called Marion, Ohio. Situated an hour north of Columbus on US-23 and two hours southwest of Cleveland along I-71, Marion is a flat, tree-lined haven of cornfields, baseball diamonds, train tracks, and steel.

It was nearly three years ago that I wrote the words below and posted them to a blog which promptly went viral. It was a fiction at the time. A wish in narrative form.

At the time, the Air Force had just come through one of the worst periods in its history. Manpower was short. Pilots were jumping out of the service far faster than they could be replaced. There was too much propaganda and institutionalized waste while airmen were being scolded to tighten their belts. Tempo and family strain were ridiculous. …

Starting in March of 2013, the day after my retirement from active duty, I wrote a blog primarily focused on instigating debate within the ranks of the United States Air Force — first using my own name and later under the pseudonym John Q. Public (more about that later).

The objective of the blog was to get the service’s leaders to recognize the severity of its cultural rot, transparently acknowledge it, and to at least start changing course.

The tactics included mercilessly exposing things which had been rug-swept for too long, casting a light on internal corruption and power abuse…

Something I’ve said countless times over the years … to kids, partner, colleagues, superiors, subordinates, friends … oft-repeated because I truly believe it: as long as people are communicating with one another, anything is possible. When they stop communicating (or communicate non-meaningfully), anything is impossible.

It’s really the case. Conflict is a bar to unity, which is the precondition for anything meaningful to happen. Conflict arises from either genuine disagreement on the merits or from misunderstanding. If conflict is from misunderstanding, authentic communication is the key to dissolving it, which will expose whether a disagreement on the merits exists. If…

I regret accepting what I should have fought.
Not shouting when they shouted.
Not raising a fist when they yelled.
Not demanding reason as dust settled on disaster.

Wish I’d stiffened sooner, dropped in two cents before it was twenty.
Refused to drink the water offered the thirsty.
Refused to pump a fist for the popular refrain.
Resisted ambition more than it seduced.

Wish I’d seen me the way she saw me.
Enough to change myself into who I was,
Avoiding conviction for who I wasn’t and wouldn’t be. …

Up there. Above the clouds.
Why wait for the sun when you can meet in the sky?
Out there. Away from the world.
A place where normal rules don’t apply.

The ultimate control. Inputs and moves.
Terra Firma beneath an untouchable soar.
The high of not being in control. Life dancing on razor’s edge.
Too busy for fear in heavenly chore.

Master and slave of wind and wave,
Unshakeable bearing, stalwart resolve.
Drinking and savouring the tenths of the hours,
Every knot and degree, every problem to solve.

Luck rides along, bouncing with glee. Keep her secure and she’ll keep…