Editor: Public service used to mean working for the common good. It was a noble thing. It was the definition of what elected officials were elected to do. Apparently that is an outdated concept for today’s Republicans in Aurora’s city government. To them, being Republican is more important than obeying the law or serving their constituents.
People, there is now a pandemic in our world, a deadly, extremely contagious disease which is spreading faster than we can control it, despite the fact that our modern technology has created effective vaccines in record time. The virus is spreading and mutating rapidly. Those who are doing the spreading are almost entirely the unvaccinated, who are choosing to remain so despite the threat to their own lives and the lives of others. It is also spreading through the air when infected people exhale, which is why public health officials have issued a mandate that masks be worn in public places, where human exhalations are concentrated. These are FACTS. But these facts are being ignored and defied by the Republicans elected to our city government, whose job it is to protect the public in general and Aurora in particular.
Do these “public servants” really expect to pass laws for the city of Aurora, which the citizens will then feel free to disregard by the dictates of their political party? The Republican party used to claim to be in favor of “law and order.” I am infuriated at this irresponsible, hateful, STUPID behavior which is based on lies being spread faster than the virus. I demand that our mayor and city council people start fulfilling their responsibilities by obeying the law and wearing masks in public places.
— Martha Karnopp, via letters@sentinelcolorado.com
The “law” to which you are referring is actually no law at all. Basic civics teach that laws are formed through the legislative branch, approved by the executive branch, then checked by the judicial branch. They are meant to be formed through a process of checks and balances. Have you ever considered that these mask and vaccine “mandates” may be forming an alarming precedent for a breach of that due process of law? This will always lead to abuse of power, which historically has ushered in tyranny and dictatorship. Conspiracy? …no. Please look at the history of the French Revolution and Robespierre’s Reign of Terror, specifically his “Committee of Public Safety.” Hint: They were responsible for administering the guillotine… for the common good.
The vast majority of people that are against the mandates are not against masks or the vaccine (when will people finally understand this?!)… In fact, many of them are vaccinated and wear masks when common sense dictates. They/We are not anti-science, anti-math, etc. (Especially when you look at the death rate for anybody under 60 – the math is in OUR favor). What we are against is precedents being set to ignore the rule of law and to install unchecked “executive orders” at any ruler’s whim. That is tyranny, and that is what people are against. (And FYI: I was just as much against Trump’s executive orders as I am Biden’s.)
Citizen1 appears to be thinking in ideal, not the real. There are times when emergencies require fast action. Fast action is NOT something the American people are known for. The anti-vaxxers and the anti-maskers are a great danger to society. Someone has to take action and, of course, it will not be our legislators who are mired in identity politics. And, now, of course this is particularly true of the Aurora City Council which has left its so-called non-partisanship in the dust.
The “law” to which you are referring is actually no law at all. Basic civics teach that laws are formed through the legislative branch, approved by the executive branch, then checked by the judicial branch. They are meant to be formed through a process of checks and balances. Have you ever considered that these mask and vaccine “mandates” may be forming an alarming precedent for a breach of that due process of law? This will always lead to abuse of power, which historically has ushered in tyranny and dictatorship. Conspiracy? …no. Please look at the history of the French Revolution and Robespierre’s Reign of Terror, specifically his “Committee of Public Safety.” Hint: They were responsible for administering the guillotine… for the common good.
The vast majority of people that are against the mandates are not against masks or the vaccine (when will people finally understand this?!)… In fact, many of them are vaccinated and wear masks when common sense dictates. They/We are not anti-science, anti-math, etc. (Especially when you look at the death rate for anybody under 60 – the math is in OUR favor). What we are against is precedents being set to ignore the rule of law and to install unchecked “executive orders” at any ruler’s whim. That is tyranny, and that is what people are against. (And FYI: I was just as much against Trump’s executive orders as I am Biden’s.)