You all know me, I’m not one to brag or call attention to myself, but the last column I wrote was met with astonishment that someone would defend the rights of free people to live as free people, even at Lake of the Ozarks, by the sanctimonious liberal class of the urban areas.
Well, this hillbilly has always been somewhat of a trendsetter, and since that column was published, even those in the cities have begun lowering their masks — and let’s be honest — completely abandoning any remnant of social distancing.
Imagine my gile to say that logically looking at data should allow people to live free even in the face of the feelings of some and their desire to run the lives of others; what a jerk that Faughn is.
Kinda like when Governor Parson reopened Missouri last month based on data and common sense. The big city elitist predicted that Missouri would sink into a burning ring of COVID fire. Your old disdainful hillbilly pal took a pull off his Stein of Knowledge and didn’t go along with the crowd on that one either. Who the hell am I to actually think for myself?
Well as it turns out there was no COVID death spiral. Sure, as more people congregate the virus will spread more, and others will get sick, but let’s be honest: If social distancing was ever effective, a measure of that was going to happen anytime you reopened.
Turns out that when so many were crying out for a big city, big gubment, politically correct remedy, the actual cure for what was ailing Missourah was just some Polk County common sense.
Who would have thought? Oh….ya that’s right your old hillbilly pal did.
So where does that leave us now?
The truth is the vast majority of rural Missourah never suffered anything near a pandemic and has pretty much blown off all of the gubment dictates for weeks now.
I heard someone say Missouri had extended phase 1 of something. Look, that’s all well and good — and I’m sure the politically correct crowd will appreciate it (actually they won’t care at all about anything but bad news) — but common sense will tell you it’s time for the state to remove its restrictions, turn the COVID response completely over to local governments, keep a pretty close eye on things, and focus like a laser on nursing homes.
It’s also probably time to start spacing out the press conferences. If they are about COVID, there really isn’t daily COVID news anymore. I think Governor Parson should do more press conferences overall, not just when there is a crisis, but continuing daily press conferences on COVID, when there isn’t daily news on COVID has turned into a press contest of who can out politically correct who.
The danger with the government continuing to harass restaurants and small business owners without large amounts of Missourians seeing the continued need for them is that if there is a second wave of COVID in the fall, you’re running the risk of no one believing you when you cry wolf the second time.
However, political correctness isn’t just a liberal thing. Plenty of “conservatives” are all about their own brand of political correctness. Instead of fighting with reason and logic to win the approval of left-wing liberal elites in the media, they declare their own war on common sense to get likes and retweets from the right-wingers on social media.
Which turns to the protests over the murder of George Floyd. I’ve always been a conservative, which to me means that the government should be less powerful and do less. So when I see a problem, I’m pretty trained to look for a conservative solution.
I was at the protest at the Capitol Monday night and many Missourians are angry in the way government — in this case, the police — interact with them. Even if they haven’t been beaten or strangled, they have a problem with the way they are treated in everyday situations.
Being white trash myself, I can tell you that many of my people have some of the same feelings.
So how would a conservative approach this problem?
Well, first of all, let’s look at what’s happened in our state over the past two decades since “conservatives” took control of the General Assembly.
Missouri’s search and seizure laws have been eviscerated. Essentially Missouri law states that the gubment can, “Do whatever the hell they want to your private property, and you will continue to vote pro-life and pro-gun rewarding said gubment.”
Civil forfeiture laws are a complete joke. Current Missouri law states that the gubment, “Can take private property whenever they damn well please, and you will continue to vote pro-life and pro-gun rewarding said gubment.”
Currently, there are approximately 544,234,729er reasons the gubment can pull you over. Current Missouri law states that the gubment, “Can pull you over for any reason we want to, and you will continue to vote pro-life and pro-gun rewarding said gubment.”
Maybe the conservative approach would be to strengthen Missourians’ rights against gubement searches of their private property. Maybe the conservative approach might be to make it illegal for the gubment to take your property without proving a crime was committed. Maybe the conservative approach might be to set a goal to have fewer reasons to pull you over than menu options at Golden Corral.
Instead of taking conservative approaches today, “conservatives” destroy your rights like windows in Minneapolis. This year, one “conservative” wasn’t even satisfied with letting cops run amok in your life; he wanted to grow the gubment power to let politicians do the same.
You’ll notice they never want to let the Ethics Commission have the power to investigate them. They just want to empower themselves to investigate you.
Lord, would you please someday send the long-suffering folks of Missouri a conservative or two that doesn’t require quotations?
Until that day, come visit your old hillbilly pal down at the lake.
Condolences to a couple of fixtures at the Capitol: Noel Torpey who lost his brother, and Jeff Altman who lost his grandmother.
And congratulations to Aaron Baker who won his school board race — he must have lost a bet or something.
Sunday on the show we will have House Minority Leader Crystal Quade, and we’re gonna do the history of Carter County on Show-Me Missourah with my old pal Dr. I, Gene Oakley.
Scott Faughn is the publisher of The Missouri Times, owner of the Clayton Times in Clayton; SEMO Times in Poplar Bluff; and host of the only statewide political television show, This Week in Missouri Politics.
