Welcome To Our New Orwellian World - UPDATED

Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, "those who surrender essential liberties to attain a little temporary safety deserve neither and will lose both".  How his words are ringing true as many American citizens are literally clamoring for martial law, believing that will keep them safe from the covid-19 virus.  Those who do so disgrace the generations of Americans who literally died to secure the freedoms that we so dismissively squander today.  Yes, we need to take reasonable measures - wash hands, stay home if we are sick or vulnerable, but to shut down our churches and our country?  For shame!

Quite a few of us see the dangers of undermining our constitution and are raising alarms.  For our efforts we are decried as "selfish" and even "murderers" by the hysterical snowflakes who are begging Big Brother Government to step in.  Unfortunately it is.  To wit:

• Virginia governor Northam issued an executive order stating that those engaging in public or private gatherings of more than 10 can go to jail for a year.
• In Greenville, MS, police raided a "drive-in" service at Temple Baptist Church and issued $500 tickets to everyone in attendance.
• In San Diego, some people went to the beach to watch the sunset.  They were ticketed for $1k each.
• In Louisville KY, a snowflake doctor got enraged at the sight of girls "not practicing social distancing" and physically attacked them, actually strangling one of them (she only has minor injuries).  Fortunately he was arrested.  All the police had to say is that it wasn't advisable for people to take matters into their own hands; rather they should simply play snitches.  Perhaps while this doctor is in jail, someone should remind him that putting his hands on people's necks is not "proper social distancing".  Josef Mengele would have admired him.
• In Pennsylvania, a woman was pulled over and fined $200 just for driving her car. Fortunately the local DA threw out the citation.
• In Colorado, a former state trooper was in a public park with his family in compliance with posted regulations.  A swarm of police officers came up to him, demanded his id.  When he refused, they threatened to "put you in handcuffs in front of your 6-year old daughter".  That they did and put him in a cruiser.  Fortuantely a local city councilperson caught the whole thing on video.  The police department apologized.  The man is considering legal action and I hope he follows through.
• Not to be outdone is my own home state, the People's Republic of Maryland. 14 arrests, 600+ citations.  Look at that chart.  Private homes?  What are they doing? Bashing in the doors?
• In Baltimore, where 10 people can congregate, police shut down a church service of 10 people. It took 8 cops to do it.
• And then there's this little gem that you see to the right, that someone found on their car.  Note that buzz-word "selfish", in keeping with the group-think mentality.

It gets worse.  Now local officials are encouraging and even paying citizens to spy on each other.  The Chi-Coms have nothing on us now.

• New York City set up a website to facilitate citizen-snitching.
• The Los Angeles mayor announced that "snitches get rewards".  What's the price?  Thirty pieces of silver?
• Bellevue, WA has gone high-tech with its snitching, offering an app to do so.
• By the way, in all these Democrat-run areas where snitching is occurring, guess what the powers-that-be hold sacrosanct?  Abortion!

I won't even address the progressive dupes who are just salivating over the obvious socialistic thrust of all this, but rather, faithful Catholics.  By your short-sighted excusing and even support of encroachment on your First Amendment rights, you have paved the way for the list that I just provided.  Be assured that this list will grow.  Please wake up!

UPDATE - More acts of tyranny courtesy of Fox News.

Collegiality Gives Way To The Police State At Vatican

Who remembers in the early days of Pope Francis' papacy all the talks of "collegiality" and him being just another bishop?  Those were the days of the silly clown noses, etc.  Well, perhaps the clown noses were just to disarm naive people for now the clown nose has given way to the hard nose.

A number of cardinals reside in Rome.  By way of the Dean of the College of Cardinals, Pope Francis ordered those cardinals, if they plan to take a trip outside the city, to tell him where they're going and how long they'll be gone.  He's treating these cardinals like minor children subject to curfew.

Of what is he afraid?  That more dubia will find their way to his desk?  Will he have them followed?  The blogger Abyssus Abyssum quips that next the pope will have them where homing tags, similar to ankle bracelets worn by registered sex offenders.  It may be farcical now, but farces seem to have a way of morphing into reality at the Vatican these days.

He clearly is afraid.  History shows that many of the most fearful, paranoid people were indeed tyrants.  Is that what we're seeing now?