DAN SCHINHOFEN: The law of unintended consequences

Why aren’t we demanding that Emperor Sisolak hand back his power to our elected Representatives? Why haven’t our Representatives convened and taken back their authority to govern?

I know that some of our Republican State legislators have spoken out about it, but words are cheap. Look at me I pound them out all the time to little avail, but our Representatives took an oath when they entered office much as our local elected Representatives do and most have the words, “…to protect the constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of Nevada”. Some of the oaths add “…the government of the Untied States and the Government of the State of Nevada”, which I always felt was kind of contradictory or mutually exclusive.

In this case I do not think it is, as the form of Government we have, or had, in this country and State was a Constitutional Republic. Yes, our State Representatives did draft a law that allowed the Governor OR State Legislatures the power to declare a State of Emergency, but I cannot believe that any of those that voted for that law could have envisioned a time when one Party would have a strangle hold on power and allow their Party’s leader to take control for this long.

Yes, when this emergency was called the legislature was not in Session, but the law does allow for them to call themselves into session to address this power grab. They did have two special sessions, but they would not even entertain a request by the Republicans to clean up the wording of NRS 414. Instead, what did they do? Condemned systemic racism in government and the police. Kind of funny when you consider how many of them have been “in government” for years so why didn’t they address this much sooner. (I think it is just a political stunt, but I am sure some of them honestly believed this was the most important thing to address. sic)

There is something called the “Law of Unintended Consequences”. This “law” can be clearly seen in this case. Having an Emergency Declaration WITHOUT a time frame, in which our elected Representatives must meet to determine if “dictatorial powers” should continue to be vested in one person, seems, in hindsight, a no brainer, but that is why there is the “Law of Unintended Consequences”. No law is perfect and there is always “unintended consequences” when adopting them.

I have gone on and on in other editorials or columns about why I believe this is no longer an emergency so I will not do it again. Just look at the numbers on the CDC site and how they compare to other “diseases” and even accidents. My intent here is not to try and bring sanity to the fear of this virus, but rather to try and shame those State Representatives that still believe having a one-man rule is as good thing.

Even if the State Legislators had convened and taken back their authority, which we voted to them, and then continued these same draconian measures that Emperor Sisolak has put in place, I would then accept them as “we the people” would have had a say in them through our representatives.

The Legislators cannot enact a law unless they hold meetings and vote on them. The Emperor has decided, with advice from some friends and a doctor that is not licensed to practice here, these “safety measures”. The legislature would or rather should, hear ALL the data surrounding this virus and make an informed decision about the steps to take. The public might even have some input in these discussions as we did once when we were in a Republic.

Sure, when this kicked off, we were told “just a few weeks” and that seemed reasonable at the time, but for the sake of our Republic and your honor where are our Representatives?!

All of them, and many of us, say this Pledge every week or month or at sometime in our lives; “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the REPUBLIC for which it stands., one nation, under God indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Do oaths not mean what I think they mean? Our duly elected State Representatives should be demanding an end to this dictatorship and uphold the oaths they have taken. We are not a State, or country, that should allow any form of dictatorship, but when Party becomes more important than the people this is what happens.

Having one Party in charge of Government is never a good idea, if those members are more beholding to their Party than they are the people that voted them into office. We can see this clearly now here in our State and many others, and it should be a warning to us on a Federal level. George Washington was right when he warned of political parties being bad for the Republic.

To be clear, this is not a call to violence but rather a call to reason and to upholding the oaths we have taken. When the Zombie Apocalypse does happen many of us will not believe it because we have seen what damage one man rule can cause and we may balk at allowing an open-ended dictatorship again.

Yes, the session is supposed to start soon, but if they meet, and I say if, the first order of business should be to take back their authority and fix the NRS that allowed our State to become a dictatorship. Of course, the “Law of Unintended Consequences” will still be in effect, so please take care when, or if, you get to address it.

Maybe we should follow the example of Kristi Noem, governor of South Dakota, who has said, that people should decide for themselves what risks to take. Why does that seem foreign to the press and many in Government. We allow people to take risks all the time with smoking cigarettes, drinking alcohol, marijuana and driving automobiles, but we do not think that they can decide to wear a mask or limit the number of customers in their stores. The people could decide if they want to patronize those businesses or not. Those at high risk could decide to stay home. Those who ARE sick and shedding the virus could decide to stay home, like we do, or to wear masks when in public as to not spread their sickness, again, like we do. Instead, we shut down many “nonessential” businesses, some forever, and have seen deaths of despair skyrocket and lives ruined because one man has put out another “directive”. Stop treating us like children and give us back our freedom.

There is one argument to not calling off this “state of emergency” and that is we may not be entitled to federal funds if we do. Well, here is a tip for our Emperor and the legislators who may want to use that to continue this Dictatorship. If people are working and businesses are open, they will be able to pay taxes again. In case you did not know that is how you all get money to run our government.

County governments can start this ball rolling by standing up and demanding that the Emperor hand back the power he was given and allow the people’s voices to be heard again through their elected Representatives. These actions should have been taken a long time ago by the people we voted into office to represent us. Again, I am not arguing here the threat level of this virus, as it is different in each county, but rather I am arguing that we need to save our Republic or admit that we are too stupid to govern ourselves. The Emperor seems to think we are.