“States’ Rush to Reopen Is a Deadly Error, Models and Experts Warn.” — The Washington Post, 4/22/20

“Only in America when the President tweets about ‘liberation’ does he mean ‘go back to work.’ When we have this discussion about ‘going back,’ or reopening, I think a lot people should just say ‘No. We’re not going back to that. We’re not going back to working 70-hour weeks just so that we could put food on the table…” — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D, NY), Vice TV, 4/22/20

“The worry is that by trying to push a false opening of the economy, we risk putting more lives in danger, and there’s nothing about this [opening] that makes sense.” — Stacey Abrams, defeated Democrat who believes she’s the real governor of Georgia, criticizing Gov. Brian Kemp (R, GA) for easing the state’s lockdown, on msnbc’s “Morning Joe,” 4/21/20

I continue to watch in utter amazement. I shouldn’t be surprised, because after all, I’m the guy who’s been warning everybody about who the Democrats and the modern-day leftists are. But it boggles the mind to see a political party attempting to extend this damage, to prolong the harm that is occurring to average, ordinary people.

Watching TV shows and movies these days, I find myself looking longingly at scenes of busy highways, sidewalks filled with pedestrians, and crowded restaurants. Yet there are people in our country who do not want the normal American lifestyle to soon return, and it just stuns me. It ought to be everyone’s first objective.

Yet it isn’t. The left passionately wants this widespread lockdown to go on, pretending that “if it saves one life, it’s worth it.” Worth it? Really? The destruction of the economy? The ruination of the country? The heartache of millions of families who can’t pay their bills?

What’s scary is I know why Democrats are perfectly fine with the cratering of the economy. They hate it. They despise free market capitalism and entrepreneurism. They want government command-and-control over as much of life as possible. They want centralized authority — because they believe its power will be used to mold society to fit their vision. And now that we’ve given them a taste, a head start on socialism, they’re excited by it like a vampire’s first bite.

Which is why they keep broadcasting the mantra, “We can’t go back.” We can never go back to what was before, they declare. The hell we can’t! I refuse to accept that. “Come on, Rush, get your head out of the clouds. You know things will never be the same as before the coronavirus.”

Why not? There have been disruptions to the American way of life before, like the Civil War, but because of adherence to the Constitution, we’ve always gone back. Until now, we’ve not allowed a permanent sacrificing of liberties.

Look back at 1917-18, an era the President frequently references. With the Spanish flu, we had many more deaths, but World War I was the major focus of America’s attention. President Woodrow Wilson’s objective was to stop the Germans, not a virus, and there weren’t any national lockdowns. A lot of people sickened and died, but we didn’t lose freedoms.

Of course we can go back to normal. I’m not talking about going back to the fifties and Ozzie and Harriet. I’m talking about going back to the way it was in January. There’s no reason we can’t, other than this ridiculous hypnotic leftist scolding: “We can’t ever go back to the way it was.” They paint a dystopian future of shuttered restaurants, permanently empty stadiums, everybody wearing masks in public. “Rush, all those things are forever necessary now.”

No, they’re not. Not in Rush world. Not in Realville. Don’t buy it. Always examine who it is saying these things before you swallow them. I’ll guarantee if you look into it, you’ll find it’s the same people who don’t like America as founded.

Yes, it’s true; there may be great risk in reopening the country in phases. There may be great risk in sending people back out to start working, even under the guidelines. But these are risks that must be taken. They are certainly no worse than risks the American people have taken throughout our history.

It was a risk to enter World War I, but we had to in order to protect ourselves. It was a risk to enter World War II, but we had to after we were attacked by the Japanese. These were risks that we tried to avoid for the longest time, but ultimately we had to engage. We had to take risks after 9/11. We had to take risks to become a nation, and risk-taking has been our national legacy ever since. Taking risks, entrepreneurism, fearlessness, are all hallmarks of the American identity and of the American culture. This shutdown, hunkering down in total fear, is not characteristic of American history or American culture.

For the last three and a half years, whatever Donald Trump did, the left constantly claimed that “this is not normal.” Well, let’s talk about normal. Staying home all day, not socializing or going to work, losing your job and not having money — that’s what’s not normal. And this cannot be sustained. Getting up, going to work, earning a living, advancing your career, going out and about and living life is what is normal. The request was honored to temporarily put normal activities on hold in service of “flattening the curve,” but that goalpost has been moved.

So now there are revolts, most of them in Democrat states against governors who are reveling in their new autocratic powers and making stupid rules about not buying seeds or taking your kids to the playground. Thank goodness for these protests. It shows that America is still alive and well — the America that wants to work, the America that wants to be productive, the America that’s willing to take risks.

So, let the red state versus blue state economic competition begin. Barack Obama led the most anemic post-recession economic recovery in our nation’s history. Trump led the most impressive surge. Now we’ll see which states perform better and which perform worse. This can be a side-by-side, A-B comparison. We’re going to have many states with Democrat governors stay locked down. Meanwhile, other states will reopen like Georgia. This is all going to come together, folks, you watch. Positivity is infectious.

As the (mostly red) states loosen restrictions, Americans are going to stick a toe in the water. People who are a little afraid to leave home will venture out. A gym will open, and people will go, and they’ll live. They’ll survive these experiences that we’ve been told for the last month will kill us.

Medications and treatments will be announced, and they’ll increase in number. Once a few people go to the park, start feeding the ducks, let their dogs run around, once people head back to the office and survive, everybody’s going to jump in. Right now there’s an entire political apparatus that wants you to believe that if you do the things you used to do, you’ll die. And when people live, you watch — there’s going to be a rebirth of happiness and gratitude in this country you can’t even imagine. Americans will roll up their sleeves, begin the great work of rebuilding, and savor the free air again.

Illustrations ©2020 by Christopher Hiers created for The Limbaugh Letter