Newsweek: "Freedom Convoy" Fails to Block Beltway Traffic
The so-called "Freedom Convoy" attempting to block traffic on the Capitol Beltway around Washington, DC, has failed, not only to block traffic on the Beltway, but to have an effect on what they claim is the purpose of the convoy, which is somewhat nebulous and vague, but which they say is for elected officials to "work with the blue collar and white collar workers of America and restore accountability and liberty--by ending all mandates and lifting the state of emergency--as COVID is well in-hand now, and Americans need to get back to work in a free and unrestricted manner."
Even as they were gathering and organizing at a race track near Hagerstown, Maryland, only one state had any mask mandates still in place, Hawaii, and that one has been lifted this week. I doubt any of the truckers in the convoy had to worry about driving their trucks to Honolulu. The "system" that they are protesting worked exactly as it should have. COVID is, indeed, well in-hand, largely due to the work of the Biden Administration in getting massive amounts of free tests out to the public, along with efforts leading to the full vaccination of over 70% of the population.
There is plenty of evidence, massive mountains of it in fact, demonstrating that the declarations of states of emergency, mandates and regulations, were a major factor in mitigating the spread of COVID in the United States. Real science, not haphazard, inane pronouncements off the top of some former President's addled brain, has proven that vaccinations and masks, among the other mitigations, work very well to prevent the spread of the virus and save lives.
States which never had mask mandates, or which worked to obstruct them, experienced hospital overtopping, shortages of just about everything needed for treating both viral patients and others who couldn't get into hospitals because of it. States like California, New York, Illinois, Maryland, Massachussetts, where there were both mask mandates and vaccination mandates issued by the state, did not have nearly as many fatalities and had fewer cases, per-capita, than those who were unable to overcome the selfishness of a handful of loud bigots, like those who organized and joined this so-called "Freedom Convoy."
Too Much Fake News
I guess there wasn't anyone available to tell them that what government officials have been saying all along is that the mandates and regulations are temporary, and when COVID numbers drop, so do the mandates and regulations. Perhaps they were absent from the world that day, living in an alternative la-la land. I guess most of them skipped their eighth grade constitution and history class, or they would know that the Supreme Court gave states and municipalities the constitutional right to protect their residents and citizens with mandated vaccines in the event of a contagious pandemic disease outbreak in 1905, when smallpox was raging.
Can I assume, since pointless driving around in circles requires paying that high price for diesel fuel that President Biden is supposedly responsible for causing, that these truckers and convoy participants are just fine with the price? With the kind of money the trucking industry is gouging out of its customers at this point, it seems kind of odd that there are truckers driving around the Beltway, not really accomplishing any purpose, avoiding making the kind of money they could be earning by being real truckers with real payloads. Then again, I wonder how many of them have taken advantage of President Biden's and the Democrats' COVID relief packages, and have stuffed their bank accounts with our tax dollars, giving them all of this free time?
Surely, these people have just missed, somehow, the fact that a million of their fellow Americans have died as a result of this virus in just two years. Their insensitivity and lack of compassion can't just be due to inconsideration and selfishness, can it? Some of the trucks and vehicles carry crosses and Jesus signs, indicating that the occupants must be Christians. If they have a Bible, maybe it needs to be checked to see if "Love your neighbor as yourself" is still in theirs, or if they've removed that part, along with "Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interest of others (Philippians 2:4 from the Apostle Paul). Those are core, foundational principles of Christianity so I guess those who have the crosses and Jesus symbols fell asleep when the preacher got to that part in his sermon.
The Biden Administration is Working With Blue Collar Americans, and It Has Restored Accountability and Liberty
The biggest contrast between the Biden administration and the previous administration is that it has decided to give its tax relief benefits to the blue collar, and white collar working class in America, rather than just to the wealthiest of the wealthy, like its predecessor did. Not only did COVID relief go where it was most needed, but there's an infrastructure bill that all of those truckers will find beneficial when they decide to go back to work and earn some real money.
So, what are you protesting by driving around and around on the Capitol Beltway? As Shakespeare once wrote, "Methinks thou dost protest too much."
Driving in Circles is Pointless, and So Is This Protest
This was supposed to be an event that focused the attention of angry conservatives directly on the nation's capital city, an incursion of Trump and Confederate flags which negate any claim to "patriotism" by the protesters, into the heart of one of the bluest metropolitan areas in the country. But there aren't enough trucks and vehicles in the convoy to achieve their goal of "being a pain" to the beltway commuters. Somewhere between 250,000 and 275,000 vehicles a day traverse the various stretches of the Capital Beltway through Maryland and Virginia, hitting the District of Columbia boundary at one very short point on the south bridge across the Potomac. A hundred or so truckers and accompanying vehicles doesn't even make a dent in that.
I certainly hope the effectiveness of this convoy is a reflection of the effectiveness of Republican congressional and senate candidates in November.
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