HILLSBOROUGH – By now we’ve become numb to the incessant executive orders dictating, down to ludicrous detail, what we citizens subjects are allowed to do according to the unilateral decisions of Governor King Roy Cooper. It was relatively easy to oppose, and ignore, many of these overreaching orders due to the mere fact that there is no good way to enforce them.
But when local law enforcement decides to aggressively enforce executive edicts (NOT laws), those ridiculous mandates provide an all too real example of the kind of authoritarianism that they fuel. As in, if you have a New Year’s Eve party in Orange County, you’ll be tracked down and arrested.
From the Orange County Sheriffs Office:
“Hillsborough, NC (January 1, 2021) – Last night, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report of a large tent on the property at 1021 Palmers Grove Church Road, the site of the Palmers Grove Community Center. Once on scene, they found approximately 100 people attending a New Year’s Eve party. Following an investigation, deputies charged Jacob Alfred Kurtis Bethea, 30, with violation of executive order 163 section 7 (mass gathering) and section 8 (orders of closure) for opening/operating an entertainment facility.
Bethea, who lives in Burlington, advertised the event, called New Years in the Valley, through social media, dubbing it “the biggest New Year’s party in the state.” Party attendees purchased tickets online prior to receiving the address of the gathering. Approximately 10 people, carrying semi-automatic handguns, provided security for the event. One also carried an AR-15.
Deputies also served Bethea with an outstanding warrant from Guilford County for another alleged violation of executive order 163, section 7 in connection with an event in September. The Magistrate released Bethea on a written promise to appear in court and set his first court date for March 1, 2021.”
Bethea may not have made it too difficult for law enforcement to make an example out of him, obviously flaunting the flouting of the orders, but even that perspective obscures the uncomfortable reality of what is going on here.
This man was arrested for throwing a party. For inviting people to be together and have fun on New Year’s Eve, all on their own volition, the State of North Carolina wants to fine and possibly jail him. Well, not exactly the State of North Carolina. After all, the state legislature passed no such laws barring New Year’s Eve parties — because that would be asinine and wrong. Instead, this arrest and indictment is the sole result of mere whimsical decrees from one Roy Cooper.
As we head into a new year, the coronavirus numbers have indeed spiked with the season, and the Pandemic Panic mongers have mandated masks in your house and set statewide curfews. However, none of the rising metrics, renewed fears, or executive edicts negate the proper dichotomy that exists between individual citizens, their neighbors, and their government, according to the U.S. Constitution, the Laws of Nature, and “Nature’s God.”
And nothing will. That’s the thing with self-evident truths and moral absolutes; they’re not really subject to arbitrary adjustment based on current public opinion.
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