Thursday, March 1, was a dark day for Minnesota, aside from the fact the blizzard had blocked out the sun. We were informed that it was illegal to travel in southwest Minnesota until the government authorities said it was allowable. Reportedly the decision to officially close the roads rather than just pull the plows was influenced by plow operators, MnDOT and the State Patrol. Handy-dandy flashing, road closed signs outside of most mid-sized cities alerted citizens that they had better not go any further unless they were willing to pay a $1000 fine and/or spend 90 days in jail.
There is now little doubt that we live in a police state. The government no longer provides services, it grants privileges. We can now be thankful when we are given the privilege to use the highways we paid for. Those in power will tell us what is best for us and we better obey or we'll be thrown in jail for 90 days. We will bow down to the powers that be or we will pay a heavy price ($1,000).
The government has become the nanny, and we are all but inept children who need our hand held before we can venture into the street. There will always be people in the world who do not use good judgment, but must the rest of us be treated as juveniles and penalized because of them? Apparently we're no longer smart enough to make decisions ourselves. We can't even be trusted with the simple task of listening to the radio to heed the warning that the weather and roads are too bad for travel.
Public employees are the only ones capable of making choices that affect our lives. As columnist Joe Sobran says, "Those who are skilled in the acquisition of coercive power are forever trying to persuade us that they are wise and benevolent in the exercise of it. The masters of force always pretend to be philanthropists." Mr. Craig Gertsema from the MnDOT Marshall office said of closing the roads, "... it was really a no-brainer...." I guess he feels he is one of the anointed, and the rest of us should just be subservient and beholden.
I've asked Rep. Marty Seifert repeatedly and Carol Molnau in person where MnDOT got the authority (such as what and when legislation was passed) to impose such harsh penalties and where funds came from to put up the flashing/road closed signs in the first place. I have yet to get a definitive answer. I heard a rumor circulating that those signs were mandated and funded by the Department of Homeland Security. I guess the homeland needs to be secure from its own citizens. This is no longer Minnesota or America as we knew it.
