March 12, 2020. Our First Day In Covid Hell.

Never forget what happened six years ago today. And how power-drunk despots like former Gov. Ralph Northam used a pandemic - and phony science - to stomp all over the constitutionally protected rights of Virginians.

It could happen again. You’ve been warned.

Yep, it was March 12, 2020, when Northam declared a state of emergency because of the covid 19 virus.

That was quickly followed by Executive Order 51, the first in a long succession of increasingly restrictive - and nonsensical - rules spit out by a midwit in the Governor’s Mansion.

The state of emergency was supposed to expire on June 10, 2020. It was finally lifted on June 31, 2021.

By then, businesses had closed, many for good. The sick had died alone, without the comfort of loved ones in their final hours. Alzheimer patients withered away, lost in their memory centers where no one visited them and everyone wore masks. School children fell hopelessly behind in their studies. Children as young as five were forced to wear face diapers. Sobriety ended for many who relied on daily in-person AA meetings.

And churches were shuttered after Northam blamed church attendance on the spread of the virus.

I wrote this at the time:

Newsweek reports that Northam then blamed churches for the spread of Covid:

“Northam told reporters that while most places of worship have implemented safety measures, the ones that have not have contributed to a rise in coronavirus cases.

‘Quite frankly, we know that a lot of the spread is coming from this because individuals that are in places of worship and contract the virus then go out to their place of work, or to the grocery store or convenience store, and that's how it spreads,’ he said.

He asked worshippers to think about attending indoor services, saying that ‘you don't have to sit in a church pew for God to hear you.’ 

‘This year we need to think about what is truly the most important thing. Is it the worship or the building? For me, God is wherever you are.’”

Thank you for the sermon, Rev. Northam, but how dare a secular public government official tell Virginians that they needn’t go to church to be close to God. 

Frankly, this fervent supporter of abortion is the last person in Virginia who ought to be lecturing us on what the Good Lord wants

Once the governor instituted a 10-person limit on social gatherings, churches and synagogues were forced to close.

I’m still angry that the Catholic Bishop of the Richmond Diocese didn’t have the cajones to stand up to the feckless governor and declare that Catholic Churches would remain open for those who wanted to attend. Bending the knee to Northam was an act of cowardice.

Whatever happened to standing up for the Church?

By December 2020, Northam was coming up with even more cockamamie rules. A midnight-to-5 am curfew, for instance.

This was my reaction:

Northam sternly ordered us to stay home between midnight and 5 am.

Just because he can.

In fact, when asked what led him to this latest infringement on the rights of Virginians, Northam glibly parroted something his parents used to say when he was a naughty teenager.

“Nothing good happens after midnight,” he replied, according to The Roanoke Times. 

Seriously? That’s the best he could do? Why should any of us pay attention to this man’s foolish bromides?

Even if you never venture out after midnight, you should be infuriated by a government official ordering you to stay in your home. We are not children in need of a bedtime. We are adults, Northam works for us and he insults the intelligence of Virginians every time he calls a press conference and enacts some nutty new rule.

Anyone else remember Northam’s insane diktat that no one could SIT on the beaches? Walking, running and fishing were permitted, but no sitting. Eventually, the beaches were allowed to open to sunbathers, but there could be no loud music, no ball tossing and the city of Virginia Beach was forced to pay an army of workers $15 an hour to continually swab down the metal handrails leading to the beach.

So sciency!

Why revisit those awful, insane days? Because they provide an object lesson in what happens when very bad people in elected office are given unlimited power and the public is brainwashed by fear.

As it happened, restrictions were far worse in blue states, like Virginia, than they were in red states. Covid marked the beginning of the exodus from places like California, New York and yes, Virginia.

In reaction to Northam’s overreach, the General Assembly passed a law in 2022 that limits a governor’s emergency declaration to 45 days. After that, the General Assembly must weigh in.

If only that law had been in effect in 2020.